MSFS How to make a static library asset follow a path?

[deHavilland]

I put simobjects in their own folders.

It seems for every simobject I want to create in a project I first need to create a new Simobject Asset Group? Because the Simobject Asset Group requires the AssetDir path and the OutputDir path to be down to the 'name' folder where the sim.cfg sits.
Is that correct?

 

[superspud]

Yes. It has to be a new asset group for every single one.

 

[deHavilland]

Thanks Superspud. I'd done so withour your affirmation, but it would have left me with that dull feeling of not doing it the 'proper' way. Especially since the naming (asset GROUP) is somewhat contradicting to the fact that I create one for every single SimObject. In a chaotic life I like the things I do to be 'streamlined' and, if possible, even neat and tidy. How many hours have I wasted with replacing workaround solutions by better (looking and feeling) ones! 🤦‍♂️
The fact that the GLTFs have to be exported with the correct orientation (to move headon between the waypoints) already applied, is such an ugly issue. But I take it as foreseen in the Worldscripts and just not (yet) implemented...

Thanks also for hinting at the fallback paths ─ which I had completely forgotten about. They work fine. It seems that the pointed texture folder needs to be part of another SimObject and can't 'float freely' in the Boats or Simobject folder? But that has, at least on second thought, some logic in it.

 

[deHavilland]

Yes. It has to be a new asset group for every single one.

Uhhh, same for the Worldscripts? One asset group per script?

 

[mamu]

Uhhh, same for the Worldscripts? One asset group per script?

You can have several script .xml in the same folder, so a single AssetGroup for several scripts

 

[deHavilland]

Thank you caro mamu! My problem may have derived from the fact that I copied my test-worldscript for another ship and only gave the SimContain.Container InstanceId a new GUID and not exchanging the GUID of all waypoints.
This brings me to something I would have approached you anyway ─ when I (hopefully and thanks to you and Superspud) soon can start to send my sailships on routes among some nice islands. Superspud mentions somewhere your wonderful waypoint creation tool. In fact, you do it yourself in at least one of your turorials. Still hear you saying (in a very triumphal manner 😇) 'ta-ta-ta!'
I follow you on Discord and noticed there that you are somewhat reluctant to give the tool away. Which, of course, I do understand.
Nevertheless I dare to ask: do you accidentally have any tip for me how I could manage to obtain that tool?
You may name any amount of coffee (and I speak of real coffee, espresso con crema) that I can buy you and I'll gladly do so. That tool will be a life-safer for me when Google Earth sputters out dozens of waypoints that I have to transfer into worldscripts and provide with GUIDs. 🙏

 

[superspud]

With large ships especially you want to keep the waypoints to very shallow and occasional turns, so the less complex the route the better.

So far the ground turn time figure doesn't seem to do anything for me. It'll do an instant and inelegant lurch in the new direction no matter what you type.

 

[deHavilland]

Yesterday when I cranked up the value to like 25 I had the impression the ship wasn't turning 'on the spot' anymore. But I need to look into that more closer.
And yes, keep it simple, that's my intention too, but shallow turns rather increase the number of necessary waypoints than decrease? In the end you need a total of at least 360° for a closed loop.

 

[superspud]

I guess if you got the turning time to slow up then you need less waypoints.

Maybe I wasn't experimenting hard enough.

 

[deHavilland]

I had the idea of creating a small flotilla/formation of sailships and to work with the local offset values for that ─ like you describe them in the 'animated people' tutorial. However, no matter how I changed the first (X) value, the ships would always sail absolutely in line. The third (Y) value seems to work. I can set up a Pirates ship 'chasing' another one all across the Isles of Scilly, always 200m behind it, never reaching it.
My first thought was ─ in case lateral offset is not correctly implemented by Asobo ─ to ask @mamu to add optional waypoint offset to his (already fabulous) tool. On second thought I reasoned that this might not be the same? Waypoint offsets would be in world coordinates, while the Y-offset in the worldscript is referencing the path vector. The Pirate ship is always following the other, even after a 180° turn.
I probably don't need to mention that all Simobjects are of category 'Boat' and I also choose that in Mamu's Toolbox.

 

[superspud]

This is a worldscript with a royal navy strike group with working offsets. There are ships in front, behind and on either side.

I'm afraid I can't be arsed to unravel it, but you can see if there's anything different about it compared to yours.

This one is landable so there's some extra code.

 

[deHavilland]

Thanks so much again, Superspud! On a first glance I spotted quite some new tags. The most promising look <ObjectReference> and <AttachedWorldObject>. I also notice that you sometimes set values in <Orientation>.
I open my mouth wide when I say 'No, you don't need to unravel the script', but believe it or not, there's some tiny gravel of proud left inside me and it usually takes quite some hours of nihil research and trying before I ask here. But rest assured, this won't have been the last time... 🙈

P.S. I actually got some results with what I call an 'ugly 4 scripts/3 paths workaround'. So I'm really keen to dig into your clean script!

 

[deHavilland]

'Same' pic, one clean script ─ you're a genius, Superspud! 🙇‍♂️

Now I only need to integrate my own waypoints (the pic is one-click-placing). Actually not my waypoints, the ones from mamu's toolbox.

 

[superspud]

Actually I should've unraveled that much at least.

You have one prime simobject and then attached ones with orientations in relation to the main one.

Same goes for library objects.

 

[deHavilland]

I thought so. The prime simobject in your example being the AI-carrier?
However not sure completely: do the waypoints need a seperate script with the 'prime' object?

 

[superspud]

Waypoints for the main simobject, which is the carrier hard surface in this case, the actual model is attached to that.

Everything else will follow the main object. So that means you may end up with some very cheesy turns.

 

[deHavilland]

Actually you already elaborated quite a bit on the script some months ago.
However you then also bemoaned that the only route working was the default 'top gun 30-mile-stretch' and all custom waypoints would end in flickering objects. Has since changed anything?

Comparing the February script with the one you sent me last week I notice the following differences:

• tag <IsOnGround> is now 'false'
• all WorldBase prefixes are removed. So is, of course, the <WorldBase.Activated> tag. The only reference to 'WorldBase' left in the script now being <WorldBase.AttachedWorldObject> (line 33).
• <KeepLastHeading> is now 'false'
• <CanReverse> is now 'true'
• <AIType> of attached vessels mostly changed from 'Linked_Object' to 'Boat' ─ except for objects that have a 'part' in ContainerTitle.

One thing I haven't found an answer yet: Where do the ContainerIDs come from? I had hoped they were redundant with ContainerTitle?

And finally a bit of success : Going back to your first suggestion in this thread (attaching static library objects to a moving SimObject) I attached 3 static lib ships to a 'leader SimObject' with its waypoints, and voilà, the formation moves nicely hence and forth. Yes, with cheesy turns. Those wouldn't bother me so much, but using (and loading) static versions of assets I already have loaded as SimObjects is just not the 'elegant' way. And the ship comes with 10 liveries that handle much nicer (and probably more perfomant?) as one SimObject compared to ten static models.
Maybe I'm asking too much of our sim world?

 

[superspud]

I think the flickering is down to the user's framerate settings, but it does seem to be worse with waypoints rather than a straight line.

Can't remember anything about container ids or variants thereof, or any differences in the values. It was a long time ago and it all seems to work the same.

I need to do a bit more experimenting before updating my moving ship library so might find a revelation or two.

If you have library object ships rather than simobject ships then you won't have wakes.

 

[deHavilland]

@superspud and @mamu Thanks to your never running dry help I finally was able to publish my first sailship scenery. I simply can't imagine how I could have handled those hundreds of waypoints without Mamu's toolbox. Thanks a lot! 🙏

 

[superspud]

I'll look forward to checking it out.

I did some fairly noodly routes a few times manually before he blessed me his tool's presence.

I found it... hypnotic. I was still seeing guids and coordinates days later.

Maybe he can sell it to Asobo for a few million dollars.