Traffic Cars

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geobas
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:11 am

Traffic Cars

Post by geobas » Mon Oct 11, 2010 3:05 pm

Hi all

Could someone please tell me where are (location folder) the cars appearing if freeway traffic .

Thanks in dvance for replies

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luisfeliztirado
Posts: 436
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Location: Santo Domingo

Re: Traffic Cars

Post by luisfeliztirado » Tue Oct 12, 2010 1:14 pm

The AI traffic vehicles are in the FSX vehicles_land.bgl file located in the Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Scenery\Global\scenery directory.

Best regards.
Luis

geobas
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:11 am

Re: Traffic Cars

Post by geobas » Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:00 am

Thank you Luis ,

Is there a way to change them with , say , some of the vehicles in SimObjects/GroundVehicles ?
l opened the .bgl file with bgl2xml and it contains only GUIS ?

Best regards
George

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luisfeliztirado
Posts: 436
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Re: Traffic Cars

Post by luisfeliztirado » Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:43 pm

Hello George,

The vehicles in SimObjects/GroundVehicles are used in missions and as airport vehicles and have container files (sim.cfg) that allow them to be used other than as scenery (i.e. the AI traffic vehicles.)

You can extract all the AI vehicles from their bgl and then use any model file that you wish to create a complete aircraft container file using the SimObjects/GroundVehicles as a model.

Normally, the decompilation will result in the extraction of all the model (MDL) files and a list of their names and corresponding GUIDs. You can use those model files to create a new "aircraft" by adding all the relevant folders and files (sim.cfg, air file).

Best regards.
Luis

geobas
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:11 am

Re: Traffic Cars

Post by geobas » Tue Oct 19, 2010 1:27 pm

Thank you Luis ,

Although your reply seems to be explicit , for an ignorant like me , it's like climbing a mountain.
l was OK with FS9 until a friend persuaded me to start FSX , and l must admit that one of the reasons
l did was that l was impressed by freeway traffic .
Some of the terminology you logically use is Greek to me , so l wonder whether it's possible to spend
a few minutes on my account and explain which file(s) , bgls or whatever am l going to manipulate
where are they , what to do with them and what program should l use for the purpose .
If you consider the above a tall order , forget about it .
Thank you anyway .

Kind regards

George

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luisfeliztirado
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Re: Traffic Cars

Post by luisfeliztirado » Wed Oct 20, 2010 1:04 am

Yikes, sorry, George, I always try to avoid condescension so I assume that people know what I mean without detailed explanations, and then await further questions from those who don't. Which is the case.

Pleased to provide more details. The point is that you can use the MDL (model) of any AI vehicle to create a typical "aircraft" by simply adding the missing ingredients: panel, sound, texture folders, and sim.cfg and air files.

Try using another decompilation program such as NewBGLAnalyze by Winfried Orthmann - it should be in the Avsim library unless it was wiped out by the hack last year. If so, glad to send it to you if you wish.

So:

1. You can copy the vehicles_land.bgl to the same folder as NewBGLAnalyze.

2. Drag and drop the bgl onto the BglAnalyzeX.exe application (there is also a version for FS9, but don't use it for FSX files.)

3. The result will be an xml file with a list of all the models in the file, and all the MDL (model) files - I did this for the water objects blg and the xml file list is something like the following:

<!-- GUID {751E7208-417F-4DA4-96DC-27182068A60D} -->
<!-- gen_marina_large02 -->

<ModelData
sourceFile="C:\FS Construccion\BGL Analyze X Orthmann\new\waterobjects_00.mdl"
fileOffset="0"/>

<!-- GUID {C08DD808-D268-434F-B46D-E18766DB2F92} -->
<!-- gen_wharf_02_extension -->

<ModelData
sourceFile="C:\FS Construccion\BGL Analyze X Orthmann\new\waterobjects_01.mdl"
fileOffset="0"/>

<!-- GUID {EA573B0F-69AD-45C4-A345-B3563AD1A506} -->
<!-- gen_dock_seaplane_3x12-5B -->
etc., etc.

4. You can see that there is first the GUID, then the name of the object, then the name and location of the MDL file.

5. Choose the model that you want (too bad there is no Ferrari in there, but there are some small sporty cars!)

6. Make an aircraft folder that resembles any of the typical examples in the SimObjects folder.

7. Place the MDL file in there in a model folder with its cfg file.

8. Make panel, sound, and texture folders, making sure each has a cfg file and you can alias the cfg files to other folders or directories if you want, or just copy the necessary files in there.

9. Create a sim.cfg (or aircraft.cfg) file using any of the default as a template, make sure to change the title, name, and all other references to those of your new MDL and other folders.

10. If you want to fly it, then you will need an air file as well and it should appear in the sim.cfg file in the "sim=" line.

Once you have all that, then you will have converted an AI traffic vehicle to a normal FS X "aircraft" that can be "flown" down the highway.

Take your time with the above, don't worry if it is not all clear, just ask if something seems obscure and I, and others, will be happy to help make it understandable.

Best regards.
Luis

geobas
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:11 am

Re: Traffic Cars

Post by geobas » Wed Oct 20, 2010 11:54 am

Hello Luis ,

Thank you for your detailed and explicit reply , but unless l am a complete moron , l think we are in the wrong track .
What l was asking was , whether there was a way to replace the vehicles appearing when you make a freeway traffic with sBuilderX with the vehicles in SimObjects/GroundVehicles or any other "aircraft" vehicle ,
say for instance the "aircraft" vehicle BMW by Hamaguchi .
In other words , as you have stated , sBuilderX when making a freeway traffic bgl , reads the vehicles_land.bgl located in Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Scenery\Global\scenery directory. Can we change the contents of this bgl with the vehicles as mentioned above ? And how ?

Best reagards
George

PS The only version l could find in Avsim or elsewhere was NewBGLAnalyze 143281 which is stated to be for FS9 . If it's not trouble for you pls send me the FSX version .

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luisfeliztirado
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Re: Traffic Cars

Post by luisfeliztirado » Wed Oct 20, 2010 2:09 pm

Ah, thanks for clearing that up, George.

It is not SBuilderX that decides which cars display as freeway traffic, rather it is the FS X Artificial Intelligence code that randomly places and animates those vehicles.

So, you would have to

1.decompile the vehicles_land.bgl,

2. optionally remove those vehicles that you don't wish to see any longer,

3. then include the models (MDL) of those vehicles you want (should be in FS X MDL format),

4. and recompile the bgl.

5. Then, you would probably have to change the simpropdef (simulator property definitions) xml file that determines what vehicles display so as to include references to your new vehicles. I think that the simprop files can only be modified with the SDK tools, not manually, because of cross-referencing between files and file integrity issues.

A complicated affair, as you can see.

If all you want is to see animated vehicles of your choice, then there were a few free packages in the Avsim library for FS9 and FS8 that created this type of scenery, and that should still be compatible with FS X. And more specifically for FS X, you can try Living World V1.2 by Ron Haertel - here is his description of the program:

This is a freeware animation that uses the Microsoft FSX animals and ground vehicles and through the SimConnect SDK.

The file LivingWorld.exe was created with Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2005 (free!! by the way). The sample .cpp file for AI Objects and Waypoints was used as a template.

You can now place animations anywhere in the world. Add elephants next to your airport, whales in the Great Lakes. Trucks racing across the desert. Oh did you see that? - The Loc Ness Monster!!


Again, it may or may not be in the Avsim library, but I can also send it to you. Please send me a private message with an e-mail address where you can receive the decompiler.

Best regards.
Luis

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