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afcad
- Thread starter chiastra
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tgibson
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Probably the most likely help will come from the ADE forum, since it is a very similar program. (Airport Design Editor)
www.fsdeveloper.com
Airport Design Editor
Use this forum to discuss your questions related to the Airport Design Editor (ADE) tool.
www.fsdeveloper.com
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tgibson
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PS. Technically there is an AFCAD forum, but that forum is rarely used.
www.fsdeveloper.com
BGLComp XML, AFCAD, SceneGenX
Use this forum to discuss issues related to airport design with BGLComp XML code or design tools supporting this format (for example SceneGenX, AFCAD)
www.fsdeveloper.com
=rk=
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Thanks for asking. "Afcad," as software, is not used in development of current and recent version of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Because the "bgl" format is proprietary, Afcad created text documents called "airport facility files," that got concatenated to "AFCAD," which were compiled into .bgl's.
ADE does not generate "AFCAD's," ADE generates actual scenery .bgl's, that are far more complex and more productive, than airport facility files ever were, considering Afcad was developed for FS2002. Do not confuse the added power, for increased complexity, instead, the software allows greater freedom and understanding.
Again, thanks for the opportunity to properly credit Jon's ADE. You may be excited to learn he has collaborated with other excellent developers, to expand the ability of ADE to improve airports. ADE has been facilitating development through at least seven iterations of the flight simulator series and far longer than Afcad's "active" years. We should all be calling these files "ADEF's" and I hope this answered your question.
When you post a question this way, developers that have been around long enough to remember "Afcad,"software don't know whether to take you literally. I think most assume "afcad" refers to the slang for the generated document and direct inquiries to the ADE forum. The only real use for Afcad nowadays, would be to edit legacy airports, using only the tools available at the time.
ADE does not generate "AFCAD's," ADE generates actual scenery .bgl's, that are far more complex and more productive, than airport facility files ever were, considering Afcad was developed for FS2002. Do not confuse the added power, for increased complexity, instead, the software allows greater freedom and understanding.
Again, thanks for the opportunity to properly credit Jon's ADE. You may be excited to learn he has collaborated with other excellent developers, to expand the ability of ADE to improve airports. ADE has been facilitating development through at least seven iterations of the flight simulator series and far longer than Afcad's "active" years. We should all be calling these files "ADEF's" and I hope this answered your question.
tgibson
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I can't tell you all the differences, because you didn't tell me which sim you are creating scenery for. The differences will vary.
But the short answer (some of which Rick has already stated) is that ADE can do everything that AFCAD can do, and much more. I find the user interface of AFCAD more elegant and that makes many operations easier, so I still use AFCAD for FS2004 airports that do not include anything that AFCAD cannot do (like taxi signs and ATC approaches). Other than that I always use ADE.
The major difference in usage is that AFCAD saved all changes directly to the BGL file, so "save" also meant "compile to a BGL file". With ADE those are separate things - you Save to an AD4 file for later editing, and you Compile to a BGL file for use in FS. You do not open the resulting BGL file to re-edit the airport, you Open the AD4 file instead. This actually has some nice benefits over AFCAD - the constant re-compiling to the BGL file as you save your work led to "number creep", objects moving or changing their size slightly. This cannot happen with ADE, if used properly.
But the short answer (some of which Rick has already stated) is that ADE can do everything that AFCAD can do, and much more. I find the user interface of AFCAD more elegant and that makes many operations easier, so I still use AFCAD for FS2004 airports that do not include anything that AFCAD cannot do (like taxi signs and ATC approaches). Other than that I always use ADE.
The major difference in usage is that AFCAD saved all changes directly to the BGL file, so "save" also meant "compile to a BGL file". With ADE those are separate things - you Save to an AD4 file for later editing, and you Compile to a BGL file for use in FS. You do not open the resulting BGL file to re-edit the airport, you Open the AD4 file instead. This actually has some nice benefits over AFCAD - the constant re-compiling to the BGL file as you save your work led to "number creep", objects moving or changing their size slightly. This cannot happen with ADE, if used properly.
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The term afcad is also some times used for the bgl file that is creates. E.g. the afcad file for EGLL. this is in fact a bgl file.
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Short answer is, yes, you can use both.
But that prompts a question already mentionned above :
- why would you use both, or more precisely, which one should you use ? It depends on what you want to do now, and what you will eventually want to do later, or next year, or when you will get FSX/P3D, MSFS, etc. Now you want to fix runway lights, ILS, VOR, etc. in FS2004. Afcad (the program by Lee Swordy) can do that, and ADE (the program by Jon) can also do that. But let's say next month, you want to add a pylon, a generic building, and some taxiway signs on your airport, in FS2004. Afcad cannot do that ! ADE can ! Next year, you get P3D (or MSFS), and you want to change a taxiway lights and markings (and other things like you do with FS2004). Afcad cannot do that, but ADE can.
As Tom said, I also find Afcad interface lighter, a matter of taste, so it was hard to say goodbye to Afcad, go ADE and learn something new again. But, your goal drives the decisions you take. If you want to stay with FS2004 for years to come, and only do basic editing of airport layouts (runways, aprons, taxiways), then Afcad is perfectly fine. If at some point, you want to do more than that, Afcad just won't help you. Either you go directly ADE, or you install other tools to do other things (like grass around airport, you need SBuilder, but if you already used ADE, ADE can do that aswell, starting from FSX if I'm not mistaken)
I recommend you to directly use ADE. It is very similar to Afcad anyway, just start with the basic things you want to do, then later, learn more about the other things ADE can do over Afcad.
For language barrier, ask a question in Google in your native language (italian I presume) to find explanations in that lang. Example :
"ADE aeroporto aperto FSX"
That would give you results like youtube videos or forum discussions explaining you how to use ADE.
But that prompts a question already mentionned above :
- why would you use both, or more precisely, which one should you use ? It depends on what you want to do now, and what you will eventually want to do later, or next year, or when you will get FSX/P3D, MSFS, etc. Now you want to fix runway lights, ILS, VOR, etc. in FS2004. Afcad (the program by Lee Swordy) can do that, and ADE (the program by Jon) can also do that. But let's say next month, you want to add a pylon, a generic building, and some taxiway signs on your airport, in FS2004. Afcad cannot do that ! ADE can ! Next year, you get P3D (or MSFS), and you want to change a taxiway lights and markings (and other things like you do with FS2004). Afcad cannot do that, but ADE can.
As Tom said, I also find Afcad interface lighter, a matter of taste, so it was hard to say goodbye to Afcad, go ADE and learn something new again. But, your goal drives the decisions you take. If you want to stay with FS2004 for years to come, and only do basic editing of airport layouts (runways, aprons, taxiways), then Afcad is perfectly fine. If at some point, you want to do more than that, Afcad just won't help you. Either you go directly ADE, or you install other tools to do other things (like grass around airport, you need SBuilder, but if you already used ADE, ADE can do that aswell, starting from FSX if I'm not mistaken)
I recommend you to directly use ADE. It is very similar to Afcad anyway, just start with the basic things you want to do, then later, learn more about the other things ADE can do over Afcad.
For language barrier, ask a question in Google in your native language (italian I presume) to find explanations in that lang. Example :
"ADE aeroporto aperto FSX"
That would give you results like youtube videos or forum discussions explaining you how to use ADE.
ADE is great. It works for FSX through all P3D versions and I guess MSFS now. Don't use MSFS. I like the greater LOCAL flexibility and Study level addons available for the FSX/P3D family. Xplane is also a very flexible and flight realistic platform but requires a learning curve to tinker with for one coming from the MS line.