I tried something stupid with FTX Central

Daube

Daube

SOH-CM-2024
Hi all,

I'd like to get your view on some simple experiments I've done this weekend.
As everybody knows, it is not genuinely possible to install the OrbX PNW scenery in P3Dv2, because the main programs are not "P3D-aware". They know only about FSX.

There are some instructions somewhere that explain what to tweak in the registry to install the OrbX sceneries, but at first glance this seemed too long and complex for me. There are also some external tools which manipulate the registry entries to try to redirect the OrbX programs to P3D, hoping it won't notice. I didn't want to use these programs because I didn't really like the way they worked, so I prefered to wait for OrbX to update their installer programs.... Unfortunately, this might take a while, and I'm bored already :wiggle:

So, I took a look into the ORBX folder on my hardrive (I have PNW, Concrete and Darrington installed on my FSX, and P3Dv2 is installed as well). I noticed that the FTX Central files have some XML files in which the FSX path is mentioned. So I made some backup copies, then altered these files in order to replace the FSX paths with the P3Dv2 paths. And it worked. :jump: But not completely :banghead:

The FTX Central seems to work. It inserted the FTX entries in the scenery.cfg of P3D, and I suppose it also moved the FTX files (textures and such) to the various P3Dv2 folders. I mean, all the stuff that is supposed to happen when you click on "FSX Default" or "North America" buttons in the FTX Central, right ?

In the sim, I launched a flight from Concrete. And the Concrete scenery was there :) But in the forest, I noticed some strange textures: it seems that some of the trees are not getting their texture correctly. Also, shortly after taking off, I get a crash to desktop without explanation, just an error popup "fatal error".

So, in the end, what I did was just to:
- modify the 3 xml files found in the OrbX main folder
- create a symbolic link to the OrbX folder in my P3Dv2 folder (with the command "mklink -J blablabla...").
- and that's all.

Was this too simple to work ?
 
I have a saying at work that I use when things go to Hell in a hand basket: if it was easy, anybody could do it.

From what I know about the Estonia Migration Tool (which I have been using for months without incident), it changes a lot of things under the covers to make the "transplant" as seamless as possible. So, yes, it is likely you missed something ("if it was easy, anybody could do it"). I am not sure from your comments, but did you also copy over the Orbx texture library? That may account for the wonky trees and the CTD - you probably have an incomplete install.

And FWIW, I am very happy with the EMT. I run P3D 1.4, but have a combination of Orbx DVD packages and online patches that makes juggling them a royal pain. So, I just turned EMT on and left it on, and it has worked flawlessly.
 
Thanks for answering :)

What texture folder are you talking about exactely ? I thought all OrbX files were in the OrbX folder/subfolders, and I made a symbolic link in my P3D to that folder.
Also, I know that each time the user clicks on the "North America" button in the FTX Central, some files are transfered into the FSX/P3D folders, like the autogen definitions and some textures. But somehow, it seems the transfer is not completely done.... The sceneries ARE added to the scenery library, and I can access all my airports. Sceneries are active in the sim and I could successfully fly over Concrete, Darrington and Bowerman. But *some* little things are missing. These textures for example, and the wind socks are missing as well. Strange...
 
Daube, I also used the EMT for awhile, but it also made a mess of my FSX installation as well. . .you can read some about it here:
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?84728-Ver-1-4-All-Over-Again

I did manual installations of a lot of my Orbx scenery and simply turned off some of the fancier options that aren't recognized by P3D (like the "People Flow" and a few others) I don't have any CTD although the tree textures are a known problem discussed in the P3D Forums. Best option is to wait for P3D Installers, but as you say. . .that could be awhile.
 
Thanks for the info Falcon.
I'm at a point where most of the things work, excepted some of the tree textures. I'll see what I can find in my next tests.
That technique I used is quite nice because it only requires modifiying three files (for which you can create a backup easilly).

Ah, also it seems the FTX NA AI traffic causes an immediate crash to desktop.
I'd like to know what were they thinking when they decided to create that AI traffic using FS9 planes. Why FS9 planes ? I can't understand this...
 
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