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MSFS20 create scenery with custom aerial images WITHOUT SDK or WITH a standalone tool

mcenroe

mcenroe

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16
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germany
dear community,

i have some questions regarding the simple task, to create a scenery package with custom arial images georeferenced in qgis and converted with tiles2bing BUT WITHOUT the msfs 2020 sdk. the goal is a usable package that can be copied in the community folder and loaded in the sim.

i found this github - library to create a BGL file:

github.com

MSFSTools/BGLLibrary/README.md at main · alfonsosiloniz/MSFSTools

Generate a MSFS2020 Scenery using a MSFS Flight plan file to help you to reference visually - alfonsosiloniz/MSFSTools
github.com github.com

and as far as i understand the structure of the scenery packages used in MSFS 2020, i need to create a BGL file with the custom arial images. am i right?

so is there anyone out there who has a clue how to use this BGL Library to compile a scenery package with custom arial images?

is there any other way to create a scenery with custom arial images for MSFS 2020 without compiling the package with the simulator itself? further is there any (free) standalone tool to create scenery with custom aerial images for MSFS 2020 or any workflow to do this?

thanks in advance!
 
Interesting idea, but AFAIK, MSFS requires use of the FSPackageTool for BGLs and CGL Compiler for CGLs.

However, there are a number of different workflows and tools to prepare the MSFS Project itself.


You might find a utility by Eugen_1975 useful to work with Aerial tiles; you will find his first post about his toolkit here::

https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/aerial-images-airport-background.448431/post-851318


IIRC, he updated and posted a few more times in that same thread, so read through all pages.


GaryGB
 
hey @GaryB, thank yo very much for your reply!

@rhumbaflappy

first and foremost, the goal is to compile scenery packages on a computer without a flight simulator installed and to be able to work as independent as possible of Kill Bill's Microsoftware, provided you use QGIS and Blender in your workflow.

That would be possible with the https://github.com/alfonsosiloniz/MSFSTools/blob/main/BGLLibrary/README.md C-library, but unfortunately I have no idea how to use it - or which tool to use - to compile scenery packages with that.

I was hoping someone here might have an idea on how to use it and integrate this library into the workflow.
 
I don't believe it's possible, or even desirable, to bypass the BGL creation process. The github link you gave only applies to flightplans or object placement. Seriously, this is a dead-end. To compile a package in MSFS2020, you need the sim installed, and used.
 
Last edited:
Hi,

I agree with Dick. The link you mentioned talks about placing objects and those BGL files are relatively simple, so they could be generated without the fspackagetool. But for aerial images it is very different. Even for FSX/P3D the BGL format used to store these is not well known and there are no non-SDK tools to make them. In MSFS the way the aerial images are stored has changed and I have seen not tools beside the SDK to make them.

So I think all you can do is prepare all packages for your sources on the machine without MSFS, but then still compile the package on a machine with MSFS.

I do share your frustration that it is annoying that the SDK tools are now integrated in the sim. For FSX/P3D it was indeed very easy to just install the SDK on another machine and then be able to make some addons and only having to copy the BGL to the sim to test it. I also like that more flexible approach more and I think it is more developer friendly. But I guess we just have to accept that it is not how MSFS works.
 
@arno Many thanks for your reply! it's pretty much obvious that how the community can create their own content gets more an more restricted compared to the predecessors of this sim. but yes, we have to accept it and use it the way it is meant to be used. It's probably only a matter of time before these features also become paid services as well in the next phase.
 
mcenroe said:
@arno Many thanks for your reply! it's pretty much obvious that how the community can create their own content gets more an more restricted compared to the predecessors of this sim. but yes, we have to accept it and use it the way it is meant to be used. It's probably only a matter of time before these features also become paid services as well in the next phase.
Click to expand...
If so they can keep their simulator on the shelf as many will not buy it.
 
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