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FSXA Proper Installation?

Ripcord

Ripcord

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us-texas
I was having troubles getting the SODE section to show up in the Animation Manager in GMAX -- FS Tools.

I was following these instructions:
http://sode.12bpilot.ch/?document=filefolder-setup/the-modeldef-xml-file

My problem turned out to be that I had multiple FSX SDK's installed on my computer. My GMAX installation was reading the one under C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games. Once I updated the modelde.xml file in that SDK in that specifc location, then I was able finally see the SODE category in the Animation Manager -- as shown here.

I originally intended to post this as a question, but I decided to post this as info for others that are beginning their SODE journey. I am familiar with it as a user in other payware airports but I am still pretty new to modelling and animation, so I am experimenting.
 
Gah! I hate having multiple versions of FSX & P3D SDKs installed. I have wasted so many hours wondering why if I change something in modeldef.xml and have everything work in GMax or Max tagging, etc., and work without problems while exporting...

...then have the XToMDL.exe compiler fall over dead and not include any animations, only to discover that I'd screwed up and forgotten to update paths in my compiler shortcut with the "latest" SDK's path! :banghead:
 
Yes I probably need to do away with the others -- but now I've made a note to myself (and all of you reading this) that it will read the SDK in the default location first.
 
I do not seem to be able to locate the file with the sample XML examples...? I do have some installed sceneries that I can use as a guide, something to copy for proper syntax, but they all seem to be focused on conditional visibility (time of year, weather, seasons, etc). I'm interested in seeing those hangar 1 and hangar 2 triggered animations.
 
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Hi,

Have you installed SODE from here, then you have the option to install the sample files including the SODE_Samples.xml. You can run the installer again and modify the parts you want to have installed.
 
Ah I see, I didn't have it selected when I ran the installer hte first time. Now I have the sample xml. Thanks Jeffrey.
 
OK so I managed to replicate sample model Hangar 2, but not sample model Hangar 1. Strange -- all I changed were the coordinates.

Or can there be only one used at a time?

EDIT: Nevermind, it's right there, I just didn't get close enough to it. Proximity of 100 meters, that's pretty close.
 
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Is there supposed to be an entry in dll.xml file? I have it in exe.xml showing up fine, but still SODE doesn't load automatically (I have to start it manual each time).

Here is some info from the SODE.log file:

1434724671 DEBUG SODE.FSPROCESS : Trying to connect to FS...
1434724672 FATAL SODE.FSPROCESS : Not able to connect to FS! Shuting down...
1434724672 DEBUG : Terminate SODE.

I guess it cannot connect to P3D when it is looking for FSX. But SODE does in fact work in P3D.
 
Well if it works when manually starting it, then there's something wrong with the exe.xml file. And no, no entry in the dll.xml file is needed for the SimObjectDisplayEngine.exe file.
So you are running P3D in this case, the installer however writes into the FSX's exe.xml file! Please check if Prepar3D's exe.xml is updated and if not, manually add the entry there.

Can you post your exe.xml contents?
 
Certainly -- here it is.

<Launch.Addon>
<Name>SODE</Name>
<Disabled>False</Disabled>
<ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>
<Path>D:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2\SODE\SimObjectDisplayEngine.exe</Path>
</Launch.Addon>
 
Looks damn fine to me...

And you are sure that this is within the Prepar3D exe.xml, located here "C:\Users\(user name here)\AppData\Roaming\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D"?

And that log messages you posted, are they generated from a manual invoke or from an automatic one fired up by the exe.xml?
 
Well it is v2 but yes, that is exactly where it is>

AppData\Roaming\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2
 
Jeffrey Stähli said:

And that log messages you posted, are they generated from a manual invoke or from an automatic one fired up by the exe.xml?
Click to expand...

It was a manual invoke -- I just decided to take a look at the log.

Somehow I believe this 'disconnect' is made by one of the payware sceneries I have that use SODE -- I have 4 in total, the most recent one was the Kilaminjaro scenery that was just released. I think I will go back and uninstall and reinstall those and see what changes.
 
UPDATE - not sure what specifically was the cause here, but I reinstalled two of these 4 sceneries and now SODE activations automatically. In fact now it doesn't turn off when I exit P3D, something I remember from before. But I can live with that.
 
Good to hear. The next SODE version will terminate itself if the simulator crashed or has been closed. This is to avoid multiple instances of it after restart of the sim.
 
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