Aliasing textures

[SabreAce]

The system I currently have FS9 installed on has a rather small hard drive. Before my last system died, I managed to back up my aircraft files onto my external drive. As this drive is much larger, I'd like to use it to store the majority of the textures on, and then alias out to them with the aircraft.cfg for each plane, thus keeping the file size on the new install lower (as the files that take up the majority of the space - textures and sound, would be out on the external). Is there a way to do this?

I've aliased sound and panel files for a long time in my previous installs, so I followed the basic methods used to do that. I was hoping that I could put a line similar to "G:\Aircraft\c172\texture" as an example for the texture line in the aircraft.cfg for that particular model/texture. When I loaded up the sim, I got a blank model. I also tried it with a "G:\Aircraft\c172\texture.1". Blank model again. I thought I'd maybe seen something like that way back when, but I might have been imagining it. I did see a post on here that said you could alias within the same general area (ie, having it be texture=..\..\c172\texture.3), but nothing for textures on another drive.

Here's how I had it looking when I was getting the blank model:
[fltsim.0]
title=Cessna 172SP Skyhawk White/Blue/Gray
sim=Cessna172SP
model=
panel=
sound=
texture=G:\Aircraft\c172\texture

The other idea I thought of involved the FS9.cfg. I know in the FSX.cfg, there were ways to add new paths so that FSX would look in other folders besides the SimObjects one to find the planes. Can this or something similar be done in the FS9.cfg? That would certainly save a lot of time in copying/aliasing files.

 

[WarHorse47]

I'd be interested if you ever find a solution.

I've only come across one aircraft that aliased textures in another folder, and that is the Fouga Magister.

This is how they did it within the aircraft.cfg file, to reference a folder called FougaMagisterTexture..

[fltsim.2]
title=FOUGA Magister PAF 66
sim=CM170
model=Magister_PAF1
panel=Magister_PAF
sound=
texture="..\..\..\FougaMagisterTexture\texture.PAF_66"
​

I tried to duplicate their method with the AS F-22, but wasn't very sucessful.

--WH

 

[Mick]

Yes, textures can be aliased.

I believe there are two ways, though I'm only certain of one.

The first way (the one I'm not 100% certain of) would be useful if you have many paints of the same plane that use the same basic textures. Put the common textures into the main FS9 texture file. When the model looks for them and doesn't find them in the specified texture file within the aircraft folder, it will then look in the main texture folder. I've never actually done this myself, which is why I can't vouch for it with 100% certainty, but it's a method I've read of.

The way I've used would be helpful if you have different versions of a plane that use the same paints, such as land plane and floatplane versions of the same plane. You can't combine them into one aircraft folder because the land plane and floatplane have different contact points in the aircraft.cfg file. Instead of having duplicate texture folders in both aircraft folders, you can put the texture folders in one aircraft folder and alias them to the other aircraft folder.

Just make sure that you have all the required textures for both versions of the plane in all the texture folders. For example, there might be a texture file for the floats that doesn't appear in paints meant for the land plane, so you'll have to make sure there's a "floats" and a texture file with the wheels on it, for example, in every texture folder.

Here's an example of how it's done. The Nord 3202 requires separate aircraft folders for the versions flown from the front and rear cockpits (because the aircraft.cfg files have different Views sections, and possibly other differences.)

One aircraft folder is named "Nord 3202 front cockpit" and it contains all the texture folders, and they are presented in the aircraft.cfg file in the usual way.

The other aircraft folder is named "Nord 3202 rear cockpit" and the "texture= " line in each UI section of the aircraft.cfg file looks like this example:

texture=..\..\..\Nord 3202 front cockpit\texture.AJY

You can also alias sounds and panels, like this:

sound=..\..\..\Nord 3202 front cockpit\sound

The reason your efforts didn't work was that you didn't use the proper syntax in the texture= lines. You had the right idea but not the right syntax.

I fact, you can alias anything except the aircraft.cfg file and the IR file. As long as those two files are present, FS will recognize that the folder is an aircraft, and it will read the cfg file. For example, in David and my Granville Brothers Sportster package, the Gee Bee Model F aircraft folder contains only those two files.

 

[SabreAce]

Thanks for the help Mick - the only issue is my textures and such are out on another hard drive from the actual FS install/aircraft.cfg files. I've seen that ..\..\file syntax before with aliasing, but I didn't think that would work for pointing out to another drive entirely. Aliasing the sound/panels is easy enough with the

[fltsim]
alias=G:\Sounds\c172

entry in the respective .cfg files, but I don't know of a way to have something similar work with the textures.

 

[Mick]

Hmmmm...

I can see why the syntax I posted wouldn't work for something on another drive; that syntax assumes that both aircraft folders are in the same main FS9 Aircraft folder.

Seems like the way you did it should work the same way for textures as it does for sounds. It's hard to imagine why it would work for one and not the other.

Curious...