Question on Instant Scenery for FSX

Marvin Carter

Marvin Carter

Charter Member 2015
Guys I have question about Instant Scenery for FSX by flight one, Will it work with Vista 64, with out any probs. Would like to fix up some airports around where I fly??? Any advice will help Thanks!!!!

Marvin Carter
 
yup!! now if I can only find out how to build an exclusion file.
 
That would be way over my head,Thanks didn't want to buy it and not work with vista.
Thanks again!!!

Marvin Carter
 
tigisfat said:
yup!! now if I can only find out how to build an exclusion file.
Click to expand...

Supposedly there is an exclusion box you can download (at Avsim, I think) and place it like any other object using Instant Scenery.

I haven't tried it because I have AFX and use it for exclusions.

Jim
 
One thing to note about Instant Scenery in FSX that won't bother most people, but might annoy some, is that it doesn't use FSX XML coding for the files it generates - it's closer to FS9 but better described as "an almighty mess".

This won't bother you unless you need to merge or decompile/recompile files, but I've stopped using it altogether now and just use ADE for everything.
 
IanP ...... I'm sorry but it does use XML. I have decompiled many bgls made by Instant Scenery to a XML file and edited it to what I wanted. Somethings that IS does is not exactly "straight" XML but it is. One thing that confuses it is if you apply bank or pitch to an obj. Another is the fact a line is inserted that excludes Autogen unless it's turned off. If you want to exclude autogen all you need do is insert a flock of birds. If you want autogen under those you need to choose 'move or delete objects' and under the options button there is a tab named 'current object. choose that and you can choose the little square to 'Do not remove autogen under object'.
When I decompiled a BGL I added a fuel square or other object that cannot be added in the IS program. You cannot open the bgl again in IS after an edit like that, you must open the xml and manually remove the objects you added that are not part of the standard objects.
 
ADE ... Airport Design Editor. Scruffy Duck Software. This is the AFCAD for FSX but a lot stronger. NJopt only can you build airports,You can place library objects with it and place Excludes. It's at Avsim ...... Search for Airport Design Editor and or Jon Masterson. The latest version is 1.35 or 1.39 ... not sure about that. There are some tutorals for it too.
 
FS9 used XML as well, Joe.

The difference is that if you decompile a true FSX tool BGL file, you end up with a usable file. If you decompile an Instant Scenery one, you end up with an almighty mess that takes hours to sort out before you can use it.

So, XML, yes. Good XML? Very much not.

Compare the output from ADE, SBuilderX or FSXPlanner with the output from Instant Scenery and you'll see what I mean.
 
IanP said:
FS9 used XML as well, Joe.

The difference is that if you decompile a true FSX tool BGL file, you end up with a usable file. If you decompile an Instant Scenery one, you end up with an almighty mess that takes hours to sort out before you can use it.

So, XML, yes. Good XML? Very much not.

Compare the output from ADE, SBuilderX or FSXPlanner with the output from Instant Scenery and you'll see what I mean.
Click to expand...

I know ..... The first thing I did when it was in beta was to decompile a bgl and add a fuel square. I tryed to get the author to add the friendly name in with the number but he wouldn't do it. I also wanted that line with the autogen exclude removed... I think he uses that to tell if the bgl is compiled with IS or not. At any rate ... it knows when the bgl is compiled with that program. The last items I would add is the fuel square and windsock to that bgl. That made them decompile proof. You could decompile but not with IS.
 
Just out of interest - as I said before, I use ADE to do everything now - have you tried decompiling the output from Whisplacer, Joe?

From what people tell me, it's very similar to IS, but free. I've never tried it so I don't know whether it is lacking features that IS has, or how well it compiles and decompiles code.

It was trying to add an NDB to an IS file that caused me to give up on it the first time. The second time I think it was a fuel square again. I haven't used it since. It has two major advantages over "external" design tools in that you can see what you are placing compared to the surroundings and it's very easy to use, but I wouldn't use it for more than placing "clutter" around an airfield, or potentially putting together a very small, disorganised, bush scenery.

The version of Airport Design Editor I have installed is 1.37, but I believe there's a later version than that which I should get around to putting on.

I'm not aware of any problems running either ADE or IS under Vista64, but haven't tried either personally yet because Im keeping my Vista64 FSX installation "clean" for beta testing purposes at the moment.

I thought there was a trial of IS, which allowed you to create scenery, but only within x miles of Seattle and to a maximum number of objects?
 
I have Whisplacer insta;;ed but never tryed it. I tend to use what works best untill I have a problem then I look at oyher programs. Microsoft has a lottle program, 'XML Notepad' that will "fix" most pronlems with an XML file upon loading and you can add or edit and save then compile. This will work for an unedited IS scenery xml to make it more readable. If you don't add any item cut and pasting it can be re-compiled and opened in IS.
Jon is working on a module to add sound with ADE. I sent him all that he needs to know in order to do this.
I have a copy of Vista 32 but it's not installed yet so I'm using XP as an OS. There was a trial version of IS but it would not let you compile to a bgl. you could make a scenery but not save or compile. I think that was the way it worked.
 
Ian, your complaints about IS and decompiling to XML caught my eye, probably because I do it all the time in my work, and never with any issues. Maybe I'm overlooking some hideous deformity in the code, but to my eye it looks pretty much exactly as I would expect it to; straightforward, and simple to edit. One possible explanation is that we're using different decompile tools. What are you using to convert your IS BGL files? My current weapon of choice is Bgl2XmlGUI.exe. I've output quite a few XMLs using this one, and never a whisper of a problem. Wonder what gives?
 
Not sure, Bill, because that's exactly what I used and it came out as a pile of mashed and merged code, repeatedly.

Maybe IS has been patched since I used it? I can't see any sign of an update or new version on the page, though.
 
I checked, and I'm running Instant Scenery version 1.04. I don't know if Jon has released multiple versions of Bgl2XmlGUI, but the one I'm using I downloaded maybe a month or two ago. Just for reference. The code I'm getting on decompile is well-ordered and easy to read.
 
spotlope said:
I checked, and I'm running Instant Scenery version 1.04. I don't know if Jon has released multiple versions of Bgl2XmlGUI, but the one I'm using I downloaded maybe a month or two ago. Just for reference. The code I'm getting on decompile is well-ordered and easy to read.
Click to expand...

I've no problem with decompiled IS files, they are normal SceneryObject LibraryObject sections.<SCENERYOBJECT p sections.< <LibraryObject and>
 
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