OK, I looked at the threads pertaining to using AIFP,but all that information is mostly for existing airports. What I want is to get AI traffic to use MY airport and land and take off from my custom airport. Is there any sort of tutorial (a simple one please) that can explain how to program AI air traffic to use a custom airport without needing to be some kind of 'colledge graduate" to figure it out? From looking at the available threads on the subject, there are litteraly 'hundreds' of steps you have to do just to create the darn plan. You have to copy this, copy that, edit this,edit that, compile this, de-compile that, and then create all sorts of list files, then copy those, geezz...is it really that complicated? If it is, never mind this message, too much of a headache for me if I have to go through days,weeks,or months just to gather all the information and files just to create the flightplans. I mean what's the point of using a program to create the plans, if you have to do all the work yourself? Kinda pointless don't you think? I want a simple straightforward way to do a simple task. Why the heck is doing the most simplest of things ,so darn difficult to do? Is there a simple way to get AI traffic to use your custom airport, yes, or no? If yes, please point me in the right direction, if no, then just tell me so I can abandon the idea and move on.
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FSX AI Flightplans
- Thread starter Tomt478
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If all you want to do is moan about something you don’t understand, then go and shout at the moon. Creating traffic files isn’t the matter of a moment (though it really isn’t difficult), but if AIFP is too complicated for you, please don’t ever look at Traffic Tools, the in-game method for creating traffic.
Start by reading the manual.
Start by reading the manual.
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The FSX SDK will provide you with all the tools and information you need to generate AI traffic wherever you like.
All the information you need is included in the associated html documentation, including sample files for the default aircraft and airports.
At it's most basic you simply need a list of the aircraft you want to feature in your traffic and a list of which airports you want them to fly to and from.
The program can then generate a selection of random flights using those two sets of parameters.
If you want scheduled flights using specific aircraft to and from particular airfields you'll have to provide all that information as a flightplan, but you can start with one airplane and two airfields and build up from there.
Good luck
All the information you need is included in the associated html documentation, including sample files for the default aircraft and airports.
At it's most basic you simply need a list of the aircraft you want to feature in your traffic and a list of which airports you want them to fly to and from.
The program can then generate a selection of random flights using those two sets of parameters.
If you want scheduled flights using specific aircraft to and from particular airfields you'll have to provide all that information as a flightplan, but you can start with one airplane and two airfields and build up from there.
Good luck
See, now that's the kind of answers I am looking for. I wasn't complaining, I was only trying to point out that whenever I ask for a simple answer I always get these, "upload this,upload that, download this,download that " kind of answers, no "real" help, just a bunch of complicated stuff. I'm new at developement, I don't have all the knowledge that everyone else has, I need simple explanations not a bunch of complicated stuff that requires years of experience to figure out. Your answer is the kind of things I am wanting, simple and to the point. I will take your advice and look over the SDK stuff and see what I can come up with. I don't like AIFP because it is too complicated to figure out. I like to actually 'fly' my sim and not spend days or weeks trying to do something complicated. Thanks for your insight, I will check out the SDK information. Will you be around if I need a little help ,in case I don't understand something? All I want to do is add in some random flights to and from the various airfields in my project. It's a little boring with just empty airports and roads, like I'm in some abandoned town or something. I have all my scenery working and I'm in the process of adding the vehicle traffic, I just need airline traffic now.The FSX SDK will provide you with all the tools and information you need to generate AI traffic wherever you like.
All the information you need is included in the associated html documentation, including sample files for the default aircraft and airports.
At it's most basic you simply need a list of the aircraft you want to feature in your traffic and a list of which airports you want them to fly to and from.
The program can then generate a selection of random flights using those two sets of parameters.
If you want scheduled flights using specific aircraft to and from particular airfields you'll have to provide all that information as a flightplan, but you can start with one airplane and two airfields and build up from there.
Good luck
Yeah, I found that out the hard way, AIFp is way too involved for my taste, you almost have to be a rocket scientist to figure out how to use it, not for me. I'm going to take both your advices and look at the SDK , I'm not expecting a 1 step process, just something that won't take me a lifetime to figure out. I do like to use the sim for what it was made for, flying..................Just want to spice up my own airport project to add some excitement to things. I create my own missions because just flying from point A to point B is boring, need something with purpose instead of just hopping in a jet and flying accross the world for no reason. Thank you both for some 'usefull' information.
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AIFP is not difficult. But traffic in FS9/FSX/P3D is a huge subject - as it covers the entire globe and up to 50k airfields, you would expect it to be huge.
If you really lack the ability to study and understand the tools made available to you (for free) to manipulate the in-sim traffic, then I suggest you buy one of the many traffic-generation programs that exist like Just Flight’s Global Traffic, Ultimate Traffic Live, or AIG’s Traffic Controller/Manager combination (also free).
If you really lack the ability to study and understand the tools made available to you (for free) to manipulate the in-sim traffic, then I suggest you buy one of the many traffic-generation programs that exist like Just Flight’s Global Traffic, Ultimate Traffic Live, or AIG’s Traffic Controller/Manager combination (also free).
You see, I didn't even know about any other software available for this purpose. I'm going to write those down and take a look at them. Like I said earlier, I'm not expecting any 1 step click this kind of solution, just something that won't take me months to figure out. It took me months to design my own airport and still don't know how to do one simple task, and that is making a landable mountain, or for that matter making an island in the middle of a lake without using aprons. I know developement takes time, that's why programmers make the big bucks. But I'm not trying to be a professional, just wanting to add a little extra to my fliying experience, anything wrong with that? FS is a great sim, I've always liked it, but over the years ,people just want more so they look to other sources to learn how to make the sim do things that it was never meant to do. Bassicly you're modifying an already written and established complicated program that just wasn't written with modification in mind.
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FSX (and its derivatives) was explicitly written to allow user modification, and an entire amateur and professional industry has developed to do just that. Most have moved on to MSFS20, MSFS24 and X-Plane, but there's still a huge number invested in FSX and its predecessor, FS9, as well as its derivatives, Lockheed Martin Prepar3d v1- v6.
There are many programs available to achieve the things you mention, but this isn't a simple piece of software and any modification of it needs careful preparation and study, not least because you can seriously stuff it up if you get it wrong. There are also many, many forums and online resources to help you learn the necessary skills, as well as the websites of the huge number of commercial suppliers to this modification scene. This is the best and most in-depth, but it is populated by people who take the whole process seriously - indeed, for many it is their living. They won't respond well to rants and aimless walls of text.
I didn't realize that FSX was actually written to be modified. I thought it was like any other program, use as is or forget it. No wonder people like it so much. I don't plan on making a living out of this, it just gives me something to do. I have to take care of my wife most of the day because she is bedridden, but I need something to do to unwind at the end of the day. FSX gives me that tool for unwinding. But as I stated, flying from A to B with no purpose is just plain out boring, so I turned to developement to 'spice' things up by making an airport (more of it's own world) that I can change and modify to build my own adventures and missions to fly. I've done pretty good so far with help from here, I thank Gary for helping me with a lot of things that I could not figure out. There are still a couple of things that still eludes me though, like making a landable mountain, and making an island without having to use Aprons. This traffic thing is just another 'brick in the wall' to add to the list of "to-do" things. I just thought it would be a little easier than it appears to be. I was wrong there, boy was I wrong.I'm still gonna give it a try though. If it gets too complicated, I will just back down from it and move to something else.
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P3D is a more complex and capable variant of FSX, so it takes more resources. P3Dv5 or v6 (the current version) is very much a system hog, and will be no more likely to give a good result on a low-end computer than MSFS24 will - indeed, it may be argued that MSFS24 is better optimised than P3Dv6.
In general, P3D will be able to use any FSX assets, but they will lack features and display far less well than native P3D assets.
On my Ryzen 9 5850/9070XT computer with 64Gb RAM, I get 30-40fps out of P3Dv6 in most circumstances, but it can drop to the low 10s in heavily-populated scenery areas like big airports.
In general, P3D will be able to use any FSX assets, but they will lack features and display far less well than native P3D assets.
On my Ryzen 9 5850/9070XT computer with 64Gb RAM, I get 30-40fps out of P3Dv6 in most circumstances, but it can drop to the low 10s in heavily-populated scenery areas like big airports.
AIFP is actually quite simple to use. I find the SDK a bit overpowering so actually choose AIFP over the SDK. What you are wanting to do is also easily done. Set yourself up a second flightplans file, you can name it all you like as long as it starts with the word FLIGHTPLAN, although I'm not sure this is even a requirement in FSX. Remember that AIFP works on UTC/GMT best as on local time it can be confusing. All of my AI is built around the Airline as the denominator and my GA and military files are separate again so I have something like 500 AI flightplans on my FSX system and having them this way makes for much easier editing.
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So I need to build an FSX flightplan first. That is what I was getting from some of the threads I was reading. I got to read the users manual for AIFP fist to see how to use the program. I can never get it to import any of my aircraft or airports, so I must be doing something wrong somewhere.
You know, that is the same problem I have, at times I get a good (decent) 28FPS, but other times it drops all the way to 8 or 9FPS. FSX used to run really well on this 'old' computer. Never had any problems until recently.
I'm around and about most days ... just leave a message and I'll find it
Talking about "various airfields in my project", in the autumn of last year I finished what turned out to be a rather "extended" project, (12+ months), adding or expanding over 1,000 small airfields around FS9 Europe, solely with the intention of generating lightweight GA AI in the area! Now, wherever I fly, there's little Cessnas, Pipers, Jodels, Vans etc. etc. buzzing hither and thither. Makes the whole experience so much more "involved"
See, that's what I want, just to add a little extra, but on my own custom airport which is still a work in progress, I've been slowly building it for a good 5 years now, started on it when I first got FSX and have been adding this and that to it since then. It's kind of turned into its own little world now. I even changed the color of lakes and rivers to give it more of a "other world" feel. I'm not sure what's going to happen when I start adding AI traffic to it. It may just slow things down so much that it winds up being a waste of time, but I'm willing to give it a try.
I figured out somewhat how to use AIFP, but for some reason I cannot get any airports to show in the airports list, so I can't make a Flight Plan. I can get my aircraft to show up, but can't get any airports to show in the list. I've looked through the manual, but it doesn't offer any help. I did exactly as it stated but no luck.
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Tom, it’s good that you’ve had a go. All you have to do is write the flight plan. You don’t have to pre-populate the airport list. Your custom airfield ICAO code may not be recognised by AIFP, but it will prompt you to enter the position details and then you’re good to go. It’s early and I’m not up yet, but I’ll put a quick guide together in a couple of hours’ time.
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OK, here we go.
The first thing is that you have to make sure that traffic is visible in FSX. Go into the Options menu and ensure that the sliders for Airline and GA traffic (and vehicles and ships if you want them) are turned up to max. You can turn them down later if this setting loads your rig too much. FSX has its own built-in traffic, and you should see the various fake airlines plus a good deal of GA traffic anywhere in the world. It may even automatically populate your custom airfield, but I'm not sure about that.
To make a flight plan in AIFP, first you have to import the aircraft you want to use. Don't import flyable aircraft; they're too resource-intensive for AI and will reduce your computer to a pale shadow of the beast you once knew. Use only AI-optimised aircraft. The default flyable aircraft in FSX are fairly lightweight and are what the built-in traffic files use, but even they carry a bit too much redundant information for AI use - you don't need much of an interior or working instruments in an AI aircraft. If you don't have any specific AI aircraft, Orbx offers two free AI packages: AI Traffic Australia and New Zealand and AI Traffic North America General Aviation. These include many AI aircraft models from the smallest GA up to the A380, and a whole host of flight plans for those areas. You can use any of these aircraft for your own flight plans. Many other AI aircraft and repaints are available in the various forums.
To import the aircraft into AIFP, go to the Aircraft menu and use either 'Bulk Add' (allows you to select a number of aircraft from a list that AIFP compiles from what it knows you have on your system) or 'Add Single Aircraft' which allows you to navigate to the exact model and paint you want to import. Once you have the various aircraft you want to use for your first flight plan, you can move on. Don't import too many; keep it simple to start with. Make sure the 'Target Version' on the left hand side of the AIFP window is selected to FSX, and the time zone is whichever you want - I recommend GMT (all real-world schedules are in GMT), but you may wish to use local time.
Next, click on 'Start New Flight Plan' (down at the bottom of the left-hand column). The Flight Plan Editor window opens, and this is where you do most of the work. You can see that I've imported a single aircraft from the Orbx North America General Aviation package...
Starting at the top, enter the information in the empty boxes:
Registration (if you want ATC you use the reg as the callsign)
Activity level that you want this flight plan to be visible at - this refers to the activity level you set on the sliders in FSX's Options menu. It's a way of filtering flight plans so the system isn't overwhelmed.
Interval: for short, repeated flights, use the 1/2/4/8/12 hour selections. If you want to do a weekly schedule that goes to various places, select that. You won't have the 2/5/8wk selections - that's for P3D and MSFS only.
IFR/VFR determines several things about how the flight is conducted. There's lots of info in this forum about this; it's too big a subject for this post. Use IFR for now.
You won't have the 'week' selection, but if you've gone for the '1 wk' schedule, you can select on which days your schedule runs.
'TNG' stands for 'Touch And Go', which is about the aircraft's behaviour when it reaches its destination. IFR plans will do repeated ILS approaches to go around; VFR plans will do visual circuits to touch-and-go until the selected landing time. This is selectable per leg.
ATC Callsign: as referred earlier, if you entered a registration, you can select that as the ATC ident. If you enter a Flight number (FN) in the leg info, ATC may use that as the ident.
There follows three bits of info that AIFP derives from the sim - Distance, Duration and ETA. These are good 'gross error checks' that you've set the right departure and arrival airfields.
Flight number: whatever you like (numerals only); if you're replicating an airline flight, you may wish to enter the correct flight number for that leg.
From: the ICAO code for your departure airfield. If the ICAO code is not in AIFP's database then it will prompt you for more information. If the airfield is, however, in FSX's database, some of the information will be pre-populated in the AIFP dialogue.
Departure time: if you've selected a 1/2/4/6/8/12 hour schedule, this is the offset from the beginning of the selected period. In my case, I've selected 20 minutes after the start of the rolling period.
To: your selected arrival airfield - which can be the same as the departure airfield.
Override ETA: this allows you to make an aircraft arrive at the destination at a time you select rather than whatever time it would get there at its cruise speed. That time must be at or after the calculated time (which appears in the Duration/ETA boxes above this box). If you want an aircraft to do circuits for a specific amount of time, this is how you make it do that.
FL: the selected cruise altitude.
In the image you can see that the airfield list has begun to be populated as I enter the leg information. There are three airfields because I entered a code that P3Dv5 and MSFS don't recognise as the airfield I intended (St Mawgan) because that ICAO has been allocated by the sim to a new location - which I don't want. I can delete that unwanted airport later, or let AIFP do it when I save the file set.
You must enter a second leg, even if it's a repeat of the first. FSX won't accept a single-leg flight plan, so AIFP won't either. The last leg must take the aircraft back to the original airfield. To add another leg, click on the 'Add Leg' button. If any of the information needed has not been entered, AIFP will flag the error.
In the new leg, the departure airfield will be the last arrival airfield, and the departure time will have been automatically entered as 20 minutes after the arrival. You can adjust this to whatever value you like, but if you make the interval too small your aircraft may never arrive - this can be a useful factor in complex flight plans, but that's beyond the scope of this post.
Complete the info as for the first leg.
Note that I've overridden the ETA to allow the aircraft to shoot a couple of approaches, and the arrival time is after the 2 hour window. This is OK, as long as it's not more than two hours from the original departure. If it is, use a longer window.
If no more legs are needed, you can now 'Add FP to List'. Note that the Flight Plan details now appear in the FLIGHT PLAN LIST - the first of the three windows.
To get this flight plan into the sim, it must be compiled. In basic FSX installations, the file needs to be in Scenery\World\Scenery. Close the Flight Plan Editor window and click on the Compile button at the lower left. AIFP may already have selected the right location, but if not you can do that by clicking on the 'Select Compile Parameters' button and telling the program where you want the file to go and what you want to call it. Once that's done, hit 'Compile' and your flight plan will be saved and active.
To complete the process, you should really save the file set (Files/Save File (Set) As...). This saves the plan, airport list and aircraft list in txt files wherever you might want to access them later.
OK, there's your starter for 10. Try it and see how you get on!
The first thing is that you have to make sure that traffic is visible in FSX. Go into the Options menu and ensure that the sliders for Airline and GA traffic (and vehicles and ships if you want them) are turned up to max. You can turn them down later if this setting loads your rig too much. FSX has its own built-in traffic, and you should see the various fake airlines plus a good deal of GA traffic anywhere in the world. It may even automatically populate your custom airfield, but I'm not sure about that.
To make a flight plan in AIFP, first you have to import the aircraft you want to use. Don't import flyable aircraft; they're too resource-intensive for AI and will reduce your computer to a pale shadow of the beast you once knew. Use only AI-optimised aircraft. The default flyable aircraft in FSX are fairly lightweight and are what the built-in traffic files use, but even they carry a bit too much redundant information for AI use - you don't need much of an interior or working instruments in an AI aircraft. If you don't have any specific AI aircraft, Orbx offers two free AI packages: AI Traffic Australia and New Zealand and AI Traffic North America General Aviation. These include many AI aircraft models from the smallest GA up to the A380, and a whole host of flight plans for those areas. You can use any of these aircraft for your own flight plans. Many other AI aircraft and repaints are available in the various forums.
To import the aircraft into AIFP, go to the Aircraft menu and use either 'Bulk Add' (allows you to select a number of aircraft from a list that AIFP compiles from what it knows you have on your system) or 'Add Single Aircraft' which allows you to navigate to the exact model and paint you want to import. Once you have the various aircraft you want to use for your first flight plan, you can move on. Don't import too many; keep it simple to start with. Make sure the 'Target Version' on the left hand side of the AIFP window is selected to FSX, and the time zone is whichever you want - I recommend GMT (all real-world schedules are in GMT), but you may wish to use local time.
Next, click on 'Start New Flight Plan' (down at the bottom of the left-hand column). The Flight Plan Editor window opens, and this is where you do most of the work. You can see that I've imported a single aircraft from the Orbx North America General Aviation package...
Starting at the top, enter the information in the empty boxes:
Registration (if you want ATC you use the reg as the callsign)
Activity level that you want this flight plan to be visible at - this refers to the activity level you set on the sliders in FSX's Options menu. It's a way of filtering flight plans so the system isn't overwhelmed.
Interval: for short, repeated flights, use the 1/2/4/8/12 hour selections. If you want to do a weekly schedule that goes to various places, select that. You won't have the 2/5/8wk selections - that's for P3D and MSFS only.
IFR/VFR determines several things about how the flight is conducted. There's lots of info in this forum about this; it's too big a subject for this post. Use IFR for now.
You won't have the 'week' selection, but if you've gone for the '1 wk' schedule, you can select on which days your schedule runs.
'TNG' stands for 'Touch And Go', which is about the aircraft's behaviour when it reaches its destination. IFR plans will do repeated ILS approaches to go around; VFR plans will do visual circuits to touch-and-go until the selected landing time. This is selectable per leg.
ATC Callsign: as referred earlier, if you entered a registration, you can select that as the ATC ident. If you enter a Flight number (FN) in the leg info, ATC may use that as the ident.
There follows three bits of info that AIFP derives from the sim - Distance, Duration and ETA. These are good 'gross error checks' that you've set the right departure and arrival airfields.
Flight number: whatever you like (numerals only); if you're replicating an airline flight, you may wish to enter the correct flight number for that leg.
From: the ICAO code for your departure airfield. If the ICAO code is not in AIFP's database then it will prompt you for more information. If the airfield is, however, in FSX's database, some of the information will be pre-populated in the AIFP dialogue.
Departure time: if you've selected a 1/2/4/6/8/12 hour schedule, this is the offset from the beginning of the selected period. In my case, I've selected 20 minutes after the start of the rolling period.
To: your selected arrival airfield - which can be the same as the departure airfield.
Override ETA: this allows you to make an aircraft arrive at the destination at a time you select rather than whatever time it would get there at its cruise speed. That time must be at or after the calculated time (which appears in the Duration/ETA boxes above this box). If you want an aircraft to do circuits for a specific amount of time, this is how you make it do that.
FL: the selected cruise altitude.
In the image you can see that the airfield list has begun to be populated as I enter the leg information. There are three airfields because I entered a code that P3Dv5 and MSFS don't recognise as the airfield I intended (St Mawgan) because that ICAO has been allocated by the sim to a new location - which I don't want. I can delete that unwanted airport later, or let AIFP do it when I save the file set.
You must enter a second leg, even if it's a repeat of the first. FSX won't accept a single-leg flight plan, so AIFP won't either. The last leg must take the aircraft back to the original airfield. To add another leg, click on the 'Add Leg' button. If any of the information needed has not been entered, AIFP will flag the error.
In the new leg, the departure airfield will be the last arrival airfield, and the departure time will have been automatically entered as 20 minutes after the arrival. You can adjust this to whatever value you like, but if you make the interval too small your aircraft may never arrive - this can be a useful factor in complex flight plans, but that's beyond the scope of this post.
Complete the info as for the first leg.
Note that I've overridden the ETA to allow the aircraft to shoot a couple of approaches, and the arrival time is after the 2 hour window. This is OK, as long as it's not more than two hours from the original departure. If it is, use a longer window.
If no more legs are needed, you can now 'Add FP to List'. Note that the Flight Plan details now appear in the FLIGHT PLAN LIST - the first of the three windows.
To get this flight plan into the sim, it must be compiled. In basic FSX installations, the file needs to be in Scenery\World\Scenery. Close the Flight Plan Editor window and click on the Compile button at the lower left. AIFP may already have selected the right location, but if not you can do that by clicking on the 'Select Compile Parameters' button and telling the program where you want the file to go and what you want to call it. Once that's done, hit 'Compile' and your flight plan will be saved and active.
To complete the process, you should really save the file set (Files/Save File (Set) As...). This saves the plan, airport list and aircraft list in txt files wherever you might want to access them later.
OK, there's your starter for 10. Try it and see how you get on!
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