FS Dream team GSX for FSX and P3D

[gray eagle]

If anyone here uses fsdt GSX for FSX https://www.fsdreamteam.com/products_gsx.html


Please let me know. I have a couple questions about their airport configuration program and I tried posting a few questions on their forum and no one responds.

I appreciate it.

 

[scotth6]

Hi GE,

I use FSDT's GSX. I don't use it every flight, but every now and then I do use it. If you have some questions feel free to post them and I will try to help.

Cheers,

 

[gray eagle]

Hi GE,

I use FSDT's GSX. I don't use it every flight, but every now and then I do use it. If you have some questions feel free to post them and I will try to help.

Cheers,

First of all thanks for chiming in.


I am trying to add gsx support to MILE HIGH SIMS NAS Miramar airport.


https://secure.simmarket.com/mile-high-sims-knkx-nas-miramar-top-gun-fsx.phtml


After reading thru the GSX manual for guidance on how to establish a spot at this airport that will facilitate GSX support, I am not able to achieve any results. Sure, I can click on the appropriate button and see results as per manual however, to actually build/change the outcome is futile.

After reading thru the GSX manual for guidance on how to establish a spot at this airport that will facilitate GSX support, I am not able to achieve any results. Sure, I can click on the appropriate button and see results as per manual however, to actually build/change the outcome is futile. I save the customized chart and reopen P3D V3.4 and when I call for deboarding I get red letter that say no GSX support available. So after countless attempts at doing this over and over I am getting nowwere and I would like to ask anyone what does it take to make this work? I am trying to modify a payware scenery and perhaps the author has locked the AFCAD so that it can not be modified - that has occurred to me.

I am under the impression that if I save and use the "Y" key all is saved - not so in my case. After building custom airport option, and select request GSX service,
I get a message "Parking is isolated" - "GSX services not available"

Again, this is MILE HIGH SIMS - Nas Miramar airport

https://secure.simmarket.com/mile-high-sims-knkx-nas-miramar-top-gun-fsx.phtml




I wanted to add that I also have the GSX level 2 - This is where animated passenger board and depart aircraft via ladder or a jetway.
You can choose number of Pax to load/unload and the name of the servicing vehicles - boarding ladder/tow truck/cater service.
It's a pretty cool program - one you get it working. You can edit the positioning of pax and cargo ladders/equipment to align with doors on your aircraft.

https://www.fsdreamteam.com/products_gsx_level2.html

 

[tgycgijoes]

Parking Spot

I am certainly NOT an expert with GSX. I have had on occassion in both payware and freeware that same error and I interpreted it as the parking spot not GSX. GSX is supposed to recognize every airport freeware and payware according to its description. For example, I created with Google Earth, Jeppsen charts and ADEx, Manistee County blacker Airport, a small airport in Michigan for myself. From what I could see in Google Earth all parking was small GA so that is what I installed. GSX is not designed to support "Small GA" so no passengers; no support. Now the DO328 twin jet services from Chicago Midway flies to this airport in the real world with 20 plus passengers daily which is why I created it also since the default in FSX was a joke. Even the layout was not Jeppsen of runways or taxiways. So I redid it with custom hangers and a custom terminal and runways and taxiways according to photos from online. IMHO it turned out well. It wasn't until I reopened it in ADEx and added "Small Gate 1" outside the terminal where passengers actually exit and board that GSX recognized that this parking spot was supportable.

Now, you are not going to be able to open up your airport obviously since it is payware not freeware so try some other parking spots and see if ANY of them are supportable with services. Also, I DID get a response from FSDT in their forum in the past that they were going to add military service vehicles but i have not seen that yet. You CAN customize the vehicles so I may look at that sometime just to see if its possible to make some gray trucks for our NAS's.

 

[gray eagle]

Also, I DID get a response from FSDT in their forum in the past that they were going to add military service vehicles but i have not seen that yet. You CAN customize the vehicles so I may look at that sometime just to see if its possible to make some gray trucks for our NAS's.

That would be cool if there could be some mil vehicles. I realize that it is what it is but it's sometime amusing to watch the civies walk down/up the boarding ladder. Some of the
females strut their stuff when the go down/up the ladder. Except the older ones, they mosey on down the ladder.

At some airports i.e. NAS Pensacola, when I request parking, some of the spots offered are mil combat (too small) and if the author of the airport made some med/large
parking spots , GSX will offer them; and I have options to call for marshaller or just warp to the selected parking spot. After that, I can call on GSX options to either let
Pax leave plane/call for refuel truck/call for cater or request tow.

At the Mile High Sim Nas Miramar, I have to page thru bunches of screens for parking sports till I find one and warp there and then find out that "Parking is isolated" - "GSX services not available"

This is where things get wierd. I can then customize the airport parking space so that GSX will provide the GSE services listed in its menu. So in GSX I select the customize air
port location and this screen pops up

All that needs to be done is to click on the APPLY button (power right corner) and I think sim has to be restarted, not sure.

Anyway, after all that busy work, there is no change to that parking spot i.e. Instead of seeing the select gsx service, I get this:

"Parking is isolated" - "GSX services not available"

Which makes me wonder if the AFCAD is locked.

Edit: I just installed the ADE program and was able to create a parking spot but still have same issues with GSX......

 

[scotth6]

The "Parking spot is isolated" message makes me think that it is an orphaned parking spot. You can tell if this is the case by using ADE's "Fault Finder" tool to scan the AFCAD for issues. This will tell you if this parking spot is orphaned. Orphaned just means that the taxiways between the parking spot and the runway are not complete or have a break somewhere. I wasn't aware that this would be an issue with GSX but perhaps it is. Maybe you could experiment and alter the AFCAD slightly yourself. Just add taxi links so that the parking spot is no longer orphaned. I realise it is a payware airport, but modifying a file on your own PC for your own use should not be considered an issue.

I am not sure what type of parking spots are accepted by GSX, but that particular parking spot seems to be as it has shown up in the Customization screen at least.

Here is another FSDT post where someone else had the same issue, and they fixed it by fixing the parking spot.


http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=15454.0


Cheers,

 

[BendyFlyer]

I used to use GSX but I don't any more I only wanted the flexible stairs option for small airports and non jetway places for the types of sim aircraft I was operating. The major reason I stopped using it was the background scripts and rewrites of certain parts of the various scenery config and fsx config files by GSX which caused me issues here and there. Generally it would cause my system to hang while it did updates, check airport caches etc etc. GSX is basically a kit of models (tugs, buses, baggage carts, refuel trucks etc that GSX have created and via their interface you can use in FSX. It replaces these models with theirs in most places but not all. The reason for that is the way these models work in the first place in FSX they rely on Microsoft's 'Living World' random object programming and the way and where this happens is controlled by areas around the globe etc which designate certain types of vehicles for certain places. This living world stuff is not in the scenery file but in the LWcft file in the App Data/Roaming/Microsoft/FSX directory. This is a completely different type of config file. I have only ever seen one mod done on it for vehicles on airports but that was to subsitute vehicles for a certain geographical area, I am sure GSX is merely doing this as well.

A couple of things re the GSX issues. GSX does not lock any parking spots but uses the designated spots as per the aerodrome AFCAD. I am not sure what the logic is that GSX applies but in my experience if the parking spot is designated for a certain type of aircraft then if you try and use that spot, GSX will not allow you to be there if your a large aircraft (too small is the response). The same goes for refuelling facilities etc., if they have not been built into the AFCAD for the airport then GSX will not provide them.
In my experience the customisation menu simply gives you some extra leeway at certain spots to designate or add GSX services but you cannot create a parking spot using GSX. If there is no AFCAD parking spot or other designated area GSX will not recognise the area you want to use.

My bugbear which led me to remove it was for small airports where I knew the airport and environs were capable of handling say a big aircraft and used to in real life was the GSX would read the AFCADS and basically not do anything because of the above issues about the way it works. I only have one model that does not have stairs so that was ok in the end. I did like its look a feel but it was a memory hog too.

 

[gray eagle]

The "Parking spot is isolated" message makes me think that it is an orphaned parking spot. You can tell if this is the case by using ADE's "Fault Finder" tool to scan the AFCAD for issues. This will tell you if this parking spot is orphaned. Orphaned just means that the taxiways between the parking spot and the runway are not complete or have a break somewhere. I wasn't aware that this would be an issue with GSX but perhaps it is. Maybe you could experiment and alter the AFCAD slightly yourself. Just add taxi links so that the parking spot is no longer orphaned. I realise it is a payware airport, but modifying a file on your own PC for your own use should not be considered an issue.

I am not sure what type of parking spots are accepted by GSX, but that particular parking spot seems to be as it has shown up in the Customization screen at least.

Here is another FSDT post where someone else had the same issue, and they fixed it by fixing the parking spot.


http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=15454.0


Cheers,

I think you've nailed it. I opened the BGL with ADE and there were a few orphaned links. When I park in a spot that has a taxiway, I can't seem to get GSX to customize the spot
I am on. I'm not sure which number spot it is - GSX will offer to park the aircraft in Mil Cargo spots but then when I choose one of them it cannot provide ground service.
So on one side of the issue, using ADE I can pack in a so called mil cargo spot and switch back to P3D and GSX will offer me a parking spot and not use the one I am parked
at.

As you can see, there are a few "Orphaned parking spots there. I am located on a spot that has a taxipath but if I could find out which # spot that is, I would try to see if GSX
could park me there and then try again for GSX ground service.

 

[tgycgijoes]

Parking Spot Number

I see that you have the AFCAD open in ADEx. If you "mouse" over the green parking spot it should tell you the type and the number of that spot so that you will know what number it is. I did not encounter "orphaned" parking spots until I was doing NAS Alameda a few years ago, my first complex airport creation and my ai aircraft wouldn't taxi for that reason. One of my helpers who knew a lot more than I at that time opened up my AFCAD and saw all the disconnects of the taxiways which was an actuality in some places by the real airport no longer in service and I did my AFCAD from Google layout. When I re-connected them voila! ai aircraft working. Check out the green circles with your mouse. When it's not your airport you created it's always a lot harder to fix things even more when the support like GSX is not your creation either. Double trouble.

 

[Butcherbird17]

From the looks of it none of the parking spots are connected to the taxiways. When they are connected, when you put your mouse on the line and left
click it should only turn yellow up to the parking spot. In your first pic of the airport bgl in ADE you can see that its yellow from one node to the other
and doesn't stop at the parking spot. So that is why GSX is giving you that message.

Joe

 

[gray eagle]

From the looks of it none of the parking spots are connected to the taxiways. When they are connected, when you put your mouse on the line and left
click it should only turn yellow up to the parking spot. In your first pic of the airport bgl in ADE you can see that its yellow from one node to the other
and doesn't stop at the parking spot. So that is why GSX is giving you that message.

Joe

I fuddled with it and tried to connect the dots (so to speak) all to the nearest taxiway and it still remains the same. I used the taxi way icon and reconnected the nodes from
where the air craft is parked to closet taxiway. (Outlined in red) I reconnected well below the view of the screenshot to a taxiway. Parking spot is #180. GSX can ID it
for what is (Mil cargo) I guess because it too can read the bgl like ADE does.

 

[tgycgijoes]

Didn't Notice Before

I did not notice before but I see what Burcherbird17 is talking about. All of the taxiways connect right through the parking spaces which is not normal. Maybe that is how they are in real life at MCAS Mirmar, but I don't think that either GSX or the Flightsim can operate with that. I opened up KSFO stock just to see what it looks like at a large airport in FSX and not a single parking space is connected like that. A taxiway connects to a parking space with an apron link and stops in the middle of the parking space. At least that is how I have always created them in any airports I made.

 

[jmbiii]

Butch, try this.

 

[jmbiii]

I did not notice before but I see what Burcherbird17 is talking about. All of the taxiways connect right through the parking spaces which is not normal. Maybe that is how they are in real life at MCAS Mirmar, but I don't think that either GSX or the Flightsim can operate with that. I opened up KSFO stock just to see what it looks like at a large airport in FSX and not a single parking space is connected like that. A taxiway connects to a parking space with an apron link and stops in the middle of the parking space. At least that is how I have always created them in any airports I made.

Joe, you are certainly correct. None of the parking spots on that pic are connected. They will show up as parking spots, but none of the AI flying to that airport will ever see them and the ATC in the tower probably won't either.

Joe (jmbiii)

EDIT: I'll check back in a bit - I'm halfway between two outback dirt strips right now.

 

[tgycgijoes]

Checking Out

I opened up a free KCHS Charleston AFB I have and there is parking connected from both sides to taxiways but the way that author did it was with an apron link from each side into the parking stopping short from either side of the middle, not connecting to each other. I went there with an aircraft but GSX said it did not support that parking or something like that.

Then went to NAS Oceana by Pro Skies and GSX would not recognize any of the parking spots and told me to pick a runway to takeoff as the only selection. I don't remember running into this before. Going to try MAIW Kaneohe Bay as see what happens there. Back later.

Add: There are no parking spots available at MCAF Kaneohe Bay HI according to GSX either though there are as far as FSX is concerned so I am going to go on the premise that GSX will either find the parking or it won't and it's going to be up to GSX. I'm through playing with it. I'll leave it on my computer for when I get back to the present day but since lately I'm flying off USS Saratoga, CV-3 in 1936 for a while I won't be seeing any GSX there. LOL! Good Luck Butch. Sorry i couldn't be more help. BTW, my version of GSX is V1 too not V2 with people.

 

[gray eagle]

Butch, try this.

There is a yellow line there I just edit the pic with editor and traced over it with a red line to show where there is a yellow line.

 

[scotth6]

There is a yellow line there I just edit the pic with editor and traced over it with a red line to show where there is a yellow line.

Most likely the only reason that line is yellow already is because you have Fault Finder open. When you select a fault which is identified in the Fault Finder's list, it will highlight the item on the screen so you can see where the fault is. The line will usually be blue just like all the other taxi lines you can see. When you place the mouse cursor over it in ADE it will turn a light pinkish colour. That is when you know it is highlighted by the mouse cursor and you can click the left mouse button to select it. it will then turn yellow, which means it has been selected.

If you are having issues feel free to PM me and I will see if I can help you alter the AFCAD.

Cheers,

 

[gray eagle]

Most likely the only reason that line is yellow already is because you have Fault Finder open. When you select a fault which is identified in the Fault Finder's list, it will highlight the item on the screen so you can see where the fault is. The line will usually be blue just like all the other taxi lines you can see. When you place the mouse cursor over it in ADE it will turn a light pinkish colour. That is when you know it is highlighted by the mouse cursor and you can click the left mouse button to select it. it will then turn yellow, which means it has been selected.

If you are having issues feel free to PM me and I will see if I can help you alter the AFCAD.

Cheers,

Here is original bgl with no fault finder open - looks like taxiways are established where my plane is parked yet GSX says I'm in isolated area.

 

[scotth6]

As the guys said above, it looks as if either the taxiwyas are not joined correctly or the parking is not joined to the taxiways. In ADE it can look OK, but not actually be connected. If you follow jmbiii's advice above, you should be able to fix it up with a few clicks. How easy it is to fix will depend on how deep the problem lies. Just work on the one parking spot for starters, making sure it is connected to the taxi links which lead to the runway. You may have to delete and redraw some taxi links and parking spots to achieve this.

 

[jmbiii]

Butch, I've returned from Numbulwar !
Just select and delete the peach-colored link in the above picture.
Then do what I outlined in step two of my above post.

Joe