How Hard is it to Convert a FSX/P3D airplane to MSFS?
- Thread starter jmig
- Start date
That would be a question for Ryan Sundheimer. You can find him on Facebook. He's the guy that did the Milviz Sabre and Phantoms. Really nice guy btw!
Personally, I'm not too knowledgeable about this. I've done a few ports in the beginning, but with mixed results!
Cheers,
Priller
Personally, I'm not too knowledgeable about this. I've done a few ports in the beginning, but with mixed results!
Cheers,
Priller
Navy Chief
Senior Member
I have tried a few times. To really do it right, there is a fair amount of tweaking and I have never really been successful. Ryan has prefected the art, it seems, as he has released a few. Good luck! If you can get proficient at it, let us know!!! NC
delta_lima
Charter Member 2015
I’m curious about this too, and why the apparently inevitable loss of cockpit “clickability”
I’ll be honest, that’s a dealbreaker for me insofar as simulating somewhat realistic flying basics such as navigation, radio, and autopilot.
I’m not asking this to disparage-but to understand why and how other folks who enjoy a similar level of immersion achieve that in these conversions.
Thx
I’ll be honest, that’s a dealbreaker for me insofar as simulating somewhat realistic flying basics such as navigation, radio, and autopilot.
I’m not asking this to disparage-but to understand why and how other folks who enjoy a similar level of immersion achieve that in these conversions.
Thx
tiger1962
SOH-CM-2024
The gauge, switch, knob and button code has changed significantly, and cannot easily be converted where those functions were coded into the FSX model itself. It's easier to start from scratch I imagine.
jmig
SOH-CM-2024
Well, I am a VR pilot. So, I guess I will do without. It does sound interesting, however. I watched a YT vid and read up on it. FSDevelopers has a bunch of stuff on it.
It is tough to discuss imports/conversions in a broad sense because the answer really depends on how good you are at problem solving. Lots of people have misconceptions of these aircraft based on limited experience so let me provide some clarification that might give you a better idea of what happens.
First off, there are two labels that I try to use consistently - imports which are aircraft based on FSX mdl files, and conversions which are gltf files native to MSFS. The differences are very important.
Importing Aircraft
MSFS supports mdl file models that are the same format that FSX used, so theoretically you can take an FSX aircraft folder and put it into an MSFS package and it will work. However, MSFS does not treat it 100% the same as FSX so some things tend to break - including transparent objects like cockpit glass. Some models have colors hard-coded instead of using textures, and these are also not supported by MSFS. So in practice, you really need to use ModelConverterX to adjust the mdl file for use with MSFS. This is not necessarily hard as long as you have the patience to learn what the common problems are and how to solve them. Even setting MCX up properly requires tracking down multiple other packages and installing them properly to allow exports - this step is what stops most people before they even start.
Imports also have many limitations - MSFS no longer renders them as reflective so they always appear 100% matte (very ugly). They cannot have interactive click spots in the cockpit. Also many aircraft in FSX relied on 2D gauges that no longer display in MSFS so many panels appear totally blank. Some aircraft might have modeled 3D gauges which might work unless they rely on a code gauge running in the background, which may or may not work in MSFS. Imported aircraft are not supported in VR at all - they will CTD immediately. The final limitation is that these aircraft will likely not be supported in MSFS2024 so they have a limited shelf life.
Back when imported aircraft were a little more worthwhile, a very smart guy wrote the MSFS Legacy Importer, which attempts to automate as much of the process as possible. However, it has not been updated as Asobo has steadily cut back support for imported aircraft and it also cannot solve all of the little issues I mentioned above, like transparent textures. So while it can help you, it almost always still requires some manual adjustment of the files. Many users do not understand how this works so they just crank something through and post a low quality "FSX Port" for download.
Converting Aircraft
A step beyond just importing aircraft is actually converting them from mdl files to the native gltf format. This is pretty advanced stuff; basically you take the mdl file, use MCX to export it in a way that it will open in Blender, then you rework it and use the Asobo exporter tool to export from Blender as a gltf file. Then you need to process the gltf file using the games "Package Builder" which is a whole other complicated process. MCX has the ability to do most of this work for you, but the author of MCX is afraid it will be abused so he has disabled the functionality without a special license that he grants manually to trusted users. This means that in order to convert a plane, you are forced to export it from MCX in a way which strips all animations from the model and then you need to manually rebuild all of the animations within Blender, and also write xml code to control the animations. You also need to reassign all of the materials in the model to their texture files.
However, once you do all of this the end result is a fully native model that is just the same as any other aircraft developed for MSFS. You can do anything that official aircraft can - add click spots, set material properties, attach effects, fly them in VR, etc. The aircraft will take full advantage of the reflections in game too so it will look beautiful! It's just a lot of work to get to that point.
Personally I see no value in imported aircraft any more and I am only working on full conversions, and given the looming MSFS2024 changeover I would not suggest that anyone spend time simply importing a plane.
Happy to answer any more questions!
First off, there are two labels that I try to use consistently - imports which are aircraft based on FSX mdl files, and conversions which are gltf files native to MSFS. The differences are very important.
Importing Aircraft
MSFS supports mdl file models that are the same format that FSX used, so theoretically you can take an FSX aircraft folder and put it into an MSFS package and it will work. However, MSFS does not treat it 100% the same as FSX so some things tend to break - including transparent objects like cockpit glass. Some models have colors hard-coded instead of using textures, and these are also not supported by MSFS. So in practice, you really need to use ModelConverterX to adjust the mdl file for use with MSFS. This is not necessarily hard as long as you have the patience to learn what the common problems are and how to solve them. Even setting MCX up properly requires tracking down multiple other packages and installing them properly to allow exports - this step is what stops most people before they even start.
Imports also have many limitations - MSFS no longer renders them as reflective so they always appear 100% matte (very ugly). They cannot have interactive click spots in the cockpit. Also many aircraft in FSX relied on 2D gauges that no longer display in MSFS so many panels appear totally blank. Some aircraft might have modeled 3D gauges which might work unless they rely on a code gauge running in the background, which may or may not work in MSFS. Imported aircraft are not supported in VR at all - they will CTD immediately. The final limitation is that these aircraft will likely not be supported in MSFS2024 so they have a limited shelf life.
Back when imported aircraft were a little more worthwhile, a very smart guy wrote the MSFS Legacy Importer, which attempts to automate as much of the process as possible. However, it has not been updated as Asobo has steadily cut back support for imported aircraft and it also cannot solve all of the little issues I mentioned above, like transparent textures. So while it can help you, it almost always still requires some manual adjustment of the files. Many users do not understand how this works so they just crank something through and post a low quality "FSX Port" for download.
Converting Aircraft
A step beyond just importing aircraft is actually converting them from mdl files to the native gltf format. This is pretty advanced stuff; basically you take the mdl file, use MCX to export it in a way that it will open in Blender, then you rework it and use the Asobo exporter tool to export from Blender as a gltf file. Then you need to process the gltf file using the games "Package Builder" which is a whole other complicated process. MCX has the ability to do most of this work for you, but the author of MCX is afraid it will be abused so he has disabled the functionality without a special license that he grants manually to trusted users. This means that in order to convert a plane, you are forced to export it from MCX in a way which strips all animations from the model and then you need to manually rebuild all of the animations within Blender, and also write xml code to control the animations. You also need to reassign all of the materials in the model to their texture files.
However, once you do all of this the end result is a fully native model that is just the same as any other aircraft developed for MSFS. You can do anything that official aircraft can - add click spots, set material properties, attach effects, fly them in VR, etc. The aircraft will take full advantage of the reflections in game too so it will look beautiful! It's just a lot of work to get to that point.
Personally I see no value in imported aircraft any more and I am only working on full conversions, and given the looming MSFS2024 changeover I would not suggest that anyone spend time simply importing a plane.
Happy to answer any more questions!
jmig
SOH-CM-2024
Thank you so much for such a detailed and articulate reply to my question. I have some familiarity with MCX, and Blender having created FSX/P3D scenery in the past. However, I have forgotten most of what I knew.
My question was based on the desire to have an airplane that I was comfortable and which I was familiar. I enjoyed the FSX/P3D era Cessna 210 and would love to see it created again.
Carenado hasn’t released a new conversion in some time. I suspect they won’t until MS 2024 arrives. Just for grins, yesterday I attempted to rework the C-182 RG engine CFG with numbers from the PD version of the C 210. I totally FUBARed it. Now it CTDs every time you try and load it.
I guess I will just go back to trying some of twenty or so aircraft I have purchased and never flown.
J.Case
Members +
Check for typos in the *.cfgs - missing caracters and stuff.... you probably still have the ones you started with were it was still working.
And don't ask .....
I guess one has to learn somehow
jmig
SOH-CM-2024
I just went back to the orininal CFG. I might look at it more later. Too many airplanes and too little time. Yes, I know I am retired. I have to go now, however. Doctor's aappointment.Check for typos in the *.cfgs - missing caracters and stuff.... you probably still have the ones you started with were it was still working.
And don't ask .....
I guess one has to learn somehow
ryanbatc
Charter Member
I know their T182RG isn't quite as fast as the 210 but it's a really nice plane - I definitely recommend it and I fly in VR as well! It's also fairly affordable.
Here's some pics I took of it a few months ago
Gorgeous PNW - Fall City to Anacortes
I'm dreaming of warmer weather with this flight from Fall City (1WA6) to Anacortes (74S) in the C182 RG. Lovely paint by the very talented Tim-HH. GTN 750Xi by TDS - now featuring updatable Navigraph database/charts. I tried to really capture the essence of the Pacific Northwest in these pics - p...
jmig
SOH-CM-2024
Hi Ryan!I know their T182RG isn't quite as fast as the 210 but it's a really nice plane - I definitely recommend it and I fly in VR as well! It's also fairly affordable.
Here's some pics I took of it a few months ago
Gorgeous PNW - Fall City to Anacortes
I'm dreaming of warmer weather with this flight from Fall City (1WA6) to Anacortes (74S) in the C182 RG. Lovely paint by the very talented Tim-HH. GTN 750Xi by TDS - now featuring updatable Navigraph database/charts. I tried to really capture the essence of the Pacific Northwest in these pics - p...www.avsim.com
Good to see you again. Yes, the C-182 RG is a nice airplane. I am just a speed freak. I remember in pilot training thinking how the T-37 was slow. I like to go from point A to point B as fast as possible. I need to do little flights like you did in the photos (very nice BTW). I have visited most places in the USA for real and a lot of Europe. It might be cool to revisit them from MSFS airways.Dangerous Beans
SOH-CM-2022
The Carenado C207 is no slouch and its on sale in the marketplace at the moment.
Looks real pretty in VR too.
Looks real pretty in VR too.
jmig
SOH-CM-2024
Thanks for the suggestion, I have it. However, it is a pickup truck and no faster than a C-182. Last year, I got to spend a hour at the controls of a C-206, which, if I recall correctly, is a shorter version of the C-207. It was nice and solid, as well as easy to fly.
Dangerous Beans
SOH-CM-2022
There is a freeware 206 available at FS.2
flightsim.to
The interior textures are a bit flat but according to AvAngel there is an update in the works that will improve those plus add an amphib version among other fixes.
Cessna T206H for Microsoft Flight Simulator | MSFS
✓ Cessna T206H is a Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 mod created by sal1800. Explore the skies with the versatile Cessna T206H, equipped with a turbocharged Lycoming engine and seating for six. This addon offers two flyable aircraft with unique features like operable doors,...
flightsim.to
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