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Tutorials
Here you will find tutorials on installing add-ons
n.b. they have been created for use with Flight Sim 2004
Installation of FS2004 aircraft TIP! FS2004 aircraft are installed in the exactly same way as add-on aircraft to FS2000 and FS2002.
1. There are many ways to pack a FS2004 aircraft, so first you must determine how the aircraft
has been packed to the ZIP file. So double click the ZIP to open it in WinZip (or similar) program.
2. Look to the right hand side of the WinZip window to see the Path paragraph. This will tell you
4. If the directory structure is similar to Type 1: 1. Unzip all files to the main directory of your Flight Simulator. For example:C:\FS2004\.
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1. Unzip all files to the AIRCRAFT subdirectory of your Flight Simulator. For example:
C:\FS2004\AIRCRAFT\.
6. If the directory structure is similar to Type 3: 1. Unzip all files to a new subdirectory of the AIRCRAFT subdirectory of your Flight
Simulator. The directory should be named after the aircraft name. For example: C:\FS2004\AIRCRAFT\A321FIN\.
2. NOTE! You must have the Use folder names button checked in WinZip's Extract
window when you extract the files. Otherwise the files will not go to the correct subdirectories.
7. Installation is now completed. 8. If the directory structure is not one the listed above, you must copy the files manually to correct
directories. 1. Unzip first all files to a temporary directory. 2. Create first a new directory for the aircraft under the AIRCRAFT of FS. Name it after the aircraft name. For example: C:\FS2004\AIRCRAFT\A321FIN\.. 3. Then move to this new directory, and create the following subdirectories: MODEL, PANEL, TEXTURE, SOUND. 4. Now move files from the teporary directory to correct subdirectories: AIRCRAFT.CFG to main dir, eg. ...AIRCRAFT\A321FIN\. *.AIR to main dir. MODEL.CFG to MODEL folder. *.MDL to MODEL folder. PANEL.CFG to PANEL folder. SOUND.CFG to SOUND folder. *.WAV to SOUND folder. Texture files (*.*AF / *.BMP) to TEXTURE folder.
5. If the directory and file structure looks about like this in the new directory, everything
should be fine.
9. Now open your simulator and you should see the new aircraft in the aircraft listing menu.
contain sound
files. All of these three file types go to their own directories. 2. First unzip all gauge files, .GAU and .CAB, to the GAUGES subdirectory of your Flight Simulator. For
example: C:\FS2004\GAUGES\. NOTE! Do not extract the .CAB files into individual files! Just copy them to the gauges directory as they are (= single .CAB files).
3. Now create a new directory for graphic and configuration files under the AIRCRAFT\FSFSCONV
subdirectory of your Flight Simulator. Name this directory according to your panel. For example: C:\FS2004 \AIRCRAFT\FSFSCONV\PANEL.A320\.
4. Unzip PANEL.CFG and all graphic files (*.BMP) to the directory created in the previous step.
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5. Go now to the PANEL subdirectory of the aircraft where you wish to use this panel. For example: C:\FS2004
\AIRCRAFT\A320FIN\PANEL\.
6. In this directory, open PANEL.CFG file which is located in this directory. File can be opened with Notepad
program.
7. The contents of the opened PANEL.CFG file should look like this (xxxx being the name of the current panel
your Flight Simulator. For example: C:\FS2004\SOUND\. Note, that they do not go to the SOUND subdirectory of your aircraft.
11. Now open FS2004 and you have your aircraft equipped with a new panel.
also self extrating packages or installation programs, which are not covered by this tutorial.
NOTE! FS2004 approves also add-on scenery intended originally for Flight Simulator 2002. Please note that
although most of the FS2002 sceneries work in FS2004, you may encounter some problems - so use FS2004 scenery when available.
Simulator's Addon scenery subdirectory is a good choice. Make sure you have Use folder names button turned on.
3. Make sure you create a own subdirectory for the scenery you are about to install. All BGL files must be
located in the scenery's scenery folder and all textures (.bmp etc.) must be in texture folder. For example:
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4. Now start your Flight Simulator 2004. 5. Select Settings and Scenery Library from the main menu.
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7. Browse to the main directory where you unzipped the scenery files. For example: C:\FS2004\Addon
Scenery\EFHK\. Amend the scenery area title if needed. Keep setting Use this scenery directly and press OK.
8. The scenery now appears on the scenery library listing. You can use Move Up and Move Down buttons to
move the scenery up/down in the priority layer listing, but for normal sceneries you can keep the default setting.
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What are AFCAD files? With AFCAD program users can create add-on files for MSFS, which change various aspects in the scenery of the simulator. The AFCAD files can include modifications in scenery startup positions, parking stands, traffic taxi routes and AI traffic movement routes / parking. One can also modify the elements seen on GPS and flight planner screens. AFCAD can also affect the actual visible scenery of an airport, by adding / modifying runways, taxiways, aprons and their lights and signs. Full listing of all functions is available on the AFCAD manual. To enhance any of the items mentioned above, users have created AFCAD add-ons for airports in the Flight Simulator. The AFCAD file may be an addition either for the simulator's default scenery or for any additional third-party add-on scenery. Most common reason to release an AFCAD file is to update the parking stands and AI traffic movement for a new add-on scenery. You can find both the AFCAD program and AFCAD files from our file library. For this tutorial, you only need AFCAD files - the program itself is not required.
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AFCAD files in FS2004 The current release version of AFCAD program is version 2.x. It is the only version compatible with FS2004. The older (1.x) versions work only with FS2002. Same applies also for AFCAD output files. If you wish to install any AFCAD file into FS2004, it must have been created with AFCAD 2 to work. All FS2004 compatible AFCAD files are .BGL files!
1. Installation of AFCAD files in FS2004 is the most simple procedure. Simply copy the .BGL file from the downloaded AFCAD package into Flight Simulator's Addon Scenery directory. For example: C:\FS2004\Addon
Scenery\Scenery\.
2. If the AFCAD file is for some add-on scenery you have already installed, it is best to install the AFCAD file to the same directory than the add-on scenery. For example: C:\FS2004\Addon Scenery\Helsinki\Scenery\. This way the AFCAD file is also removed if you decide to remove the add-on scenery. 3. Note that you do not need to have the AFCAD program installed. You can install the AFCAD files straight to the simulator. 4. Installation complete!
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1. First we shall download the flightplans used by the AI traffic from the website of Most Realistic AI. You can
find similar packages also from FS Nordic's file library and from various other websites.
2. Most Realistic AI group is located at http://www.mostrealisticai.com/. 3. Download the flightplan package via their website. In this example we use Finncomm as the airline to be
installed.
4. Unzip the downloaded file to a temporary folder. Package contains three files that we need, and they control
the airplane models, airports and flight routes/times this AI airline uses. Besides of these, the package has a readme file and also a file for Most Real AI's own installer program (setup.cfg), but that we won't be needing here. Contents of the folder is as follows:
5. Next we need the information about what individual airplane models does this flightplan package use. These
needed AI airplanes must be installed to the simulator, and this is what we'll be doing next. The airplane models required can be found from the airplane configuration file of the flightplan package, which in this case is the Aircraft_MRAI_Wi04-05_Finncomm.txt
text file. 6. The contents of this file tells you the airplane models you need. Each used airplane model is on it's own line
in this text file and the Flight Simulator name of the airplane is the last item on each row. In our example, we need just one airplane model, which is Finncomm Embraer RJ145 as you see from the image.
7. You can download the basic airplane package and Finncomm livery package from Project AI's website. You
can also use any other Embraer ERJ-145 AI aircraft if you wish, but in the example we will use Project AI's plane.
8. So go to http://www.projectai.com/. We need the ERJ-145 base pack, and second package for Finncommin
textures.
9. The ERJ 145 base pack can be found from Official files section, in menu PAI Models & Flight Dynamics
packages.
10. Finncomm textures can be found from PAI Libraries. There select Browse & search the PAI Libraries in
text mode and make a search with Finncomm when you will find the package Texture.FC-Finncomm Airlines ERJ145 NO CALLSIGN.zip which we will be using in the example.
11. Once downloaded, unzip this texture package to a temporary directory. You will see the following files:
In this example, I recommend that we rename the long folder name texture.WBA-Finncomm Airlines ERJ145 FINNCOM to some easier format. So change the name of this folder to Texture.Finncomm.
12. Now we have downloaded all the needed files and they can be installed.
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1. Project AI has created their own installer program system, and each one of their "official" packages must be
installed using this installer program. As we use Project AI's ERJ-145 model in our example, you must use the installer to get it properly installed. Since there are also other options for AI aircraft models, which do not need these installer programs, and since Project AI provides usage manuals for the installer, we will not discuss it here. You can download the installer program and manuals for it from PAI's site.
2. Generally speaking - the installation procedure for AI aircraft is (excluding the PAI aicraft) is completely the
same as installing normal aircraft models for FS2004. If you are unfamiliar with this, please see the tutorial How to install add-on aircraft to FS2004 from FS Nordic.
3. So install now the AI airplane model (base pack) into your simulator, either by using the Project AI installer if
you use their airplane model, or manually if you use some other model.
4. When you have installed the airplane model, we need to install the texture package for our own airline (base
pack includes only the model, no textures). The folder that we created in part 11 of last tutorial section contains the textures for Finncomm that we use as our example. Now move the whole Texture.Finncomm folder into FS2004's AircraftPAI E145 subfolder (the folder that contains the ERJ-145 AI model what was just installed).
5. The directory for ERJ-145 in your simulator should now contain a new subfolder called Texture.Finncomm.
Next we will be adding the needed parts to the Aircraft.cfg file, so that the Finncomm livery is accessible.
6. Open the Aircraft.cfg file from the directory of the AI aircraft, in our case the file is located at
C:FS2004AIRCRAFTPAI_E145AIRCRAFT.CFG. Beginning of the file contais either one, or more, fields that start with text [fltsim.x], where x is an increasing number starting from zero. These [fltsim.x] fields define the texture packages that use this current airplane model.
7. To add a new texture package / livery for this airplane model, first look what is the last [fltsim.x] number in
the Aircraft.cfg file. Then add the following lines to Aircraft.cfg, and replace the x on the first row with the number that is next on the [fltsim.x] list. Example: if the last [fltsim.x] field that you found from Aircraft.cfg was [fltsim.6], then you need the following field number is [fltsim.7]. The lines you need to add to Aircraft.cfg can be found from the readme file of each package. The Finncomm ERJ has the following lines in it's readme. Copy/paste these into the Aircraft.cfg file: [fltsim.x] // <<< this number is always x+1, where x is the previous fltsim. number in the file title=PAI E145 Finncomm sim=paierj145v6 model= panel= sound= texture=Finncomm // <<< remember that this corresponds to texture.Finncomm folder. kb_checklists= kb_reference= atc_id=OH-EBE atc_id_color=0xffffffff atc_airline=Finncomm atc_flight_number= atc_parking_codes=WBA atc_parking_types=GATE,RAMP ui_manufacturer=Project AI ui_type=EMBRAER ERJ-145 ui_variation=Finncomm atc_heavy=0 description=Project AI E145 Only for use with AI Traffic!
8. Check also that the texture field information is correct (in the above text). This must correspond to the
directory name that we created in items 4 & 5. So as we are installing the airplane textures in our example to
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subdirectory texture.Finncomm, the "texture" field in Aircraft.cfg file must then read Finncomm.
9. The AI airplane model and airline textures for it have now been installed.
TrafficTools program that is used to convert .txt formatted timetable files to a format that Flight Simulator can understand. You can download TrafficTools from our file library.
2. First you must make sure that the airplane model in the timetable files is the same that we installed in the
previous part. To check this, move to the directory that contains the timetable files which we downloaded in item 4 of the first chapter.
3. Open the file that contains information about airplane models, which in our example is Aircraft_MRAI_Wi04-
05_Finncomm.txt. Change the airplane model name in this file to match the airplane model that we installed in item 7 of previous chapter. The name of the airplane model in this file must be the same as the name of the airplane we wish to use, as defined in the Aircraft.cfg file of this particular airplane. In our example, we installed the ERJ-145 aircraft, and it's name (title) is PAI E145 Finncomm. So replace the Finncomm Embraer RJ145 text with the correct name of the aircraft, which in our example would then look like this:
4. Now we will compile the timetable data. Copy the three .txt files of the timetable package to the folder where
TrafficTools program is located. The files were unzipped to a temporary folder in item 4 of the first chapter of this tutorial, and in our example the files are Aircraft_MRAI_Wi04-05_Finncomm.txt, Airports_MRAI_Wi0405_Finncomm.txt and FlightPlans_MRAI_Wi04-05_Finncomm.txt.
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5. Now start TrafficTools, from TTools.exe. 6. Source Files list contains now our three files that we are about to install. To compile this information, and to
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8. TrafficTools automatically compiles all the data to a format that is used by FS and also automatically copies
the output files to correct subfolder in the simulator. This completes the installation and now you can see the AI traffic of this airline flying in the simulator.
9. You can use this installation style to all AI traffic airlines that you've downloaded. All you need is suitable
airplane models, texture packages for that particular airline, and timetables (routes) for it. You can find these AI traffic items as single packages, or as full bundled downloads where all these three items are in one package.
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Of these two alternatives the first one is the quickest and easiest to do, but then you can only use the sound package in the airplane you installed it in. With aliasing you can use the same sound package in different add-on aircraft and so you will save hard-drive space, but the installation is a bit more complicated. Decide before starting installation which way you want to use. Installing sounds directly to the aircraft sound folder Using this way of installing the sound package is only available for that airplane you decide to install it.
1. Unzip all files from the sound package to a temporary folder, for example C:\B757_SOUND\. 2. Open the temporary folder where you unzipped the sound package. The folder includes .WAV files and a
SOUND.CFG file.
3. At this time remember to read the readme file that comes with the sound package. It usually contains vital
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6. Now move to FS directory and open that airplane's SOUND folder where you want to install the sounds in to.
In this directory you will see one SOUND.CFG file. If there are other files already installed in this SOUND folder (for example already installed sound package), you can remove all of those files (with this action you replace the old sound package).
7. In the SOUND directory you opened, paste files to this directory from the clipboard by pressing CTRL+V
keys (or choose from the upper menu Edit - Paste). Press Yes, when you are asked if you wish to replace the SOUND.CFG file.
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8. Finally remove the temporary folder you created in the first step. 9. The sound installation is now finished. Now you can hear them in the add-on aircraft you installed the
sounds in to.
Installing sounds using aliasing method By using this installation style, you can use the sound package in several add-on aircraft simultaneously. Still the sound package stays only in one place at your hard-drive.
1. Make a new folder for the sound package in Flight Simulator's AIRCRAFT folder. Name it according to the
sound package. In our example we are installing sounds for the B757 and thus name the folder as Boeing 757-200. In general for example C:\FS2004\AIRCRAFT\BOEING 757-200\.
2. Make a new sub-directory under the newly created folder called SOUND.
3. Unzip all .WAV sound files and the SOUND.CFG file from the sound package you downloaded into the
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4. Now open the Windows Notepad via the Start-menu. 5. Write the following rows to the empty Notepad:
[fltsim] alias=Boeing 757-200\sound Replace the 'Boeing 757-200' with the name of the directory you created in part 1. Remember that we are using B757 only in this example.
6. Now save the file as SOUND.CFG to the directory you created in Part 1, for example C:\FS2004
\AIRCRAFT\BOEING 757-200\. We save the file to this folder so that we can copy it later to the add-on aircraft of our choice. Note! Do not save the file to SOUND subfolder and do not replace the original SOUND.CFG file that came with the sound package. Remember that saving with Notepad that 'Save as type' choice is set to 'All Files' and that the name of the file is SOUND.CFG and not SOUND.CFG.TXT.
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7. Now our sound folder (in our example the Boeing 757-200) should look like this:
8. Finally you have to copy the SOUND.CFG you just created to the SOUND folder of the add-on aircraft you
want the sounds into. The old SOUND.CFG for that add-on aircraft must be of course replaced with the one you created so that aliasing works correctly. You can also delete all other files in the aircraft's SOUND folder so that there is only the SOUND.CFG you created.
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9. With aliasing you can use the same sound package in as many aircraft you like. Just repeat the latter part
and copy the SOUND.CFG you created into the SOUND folder of your choice.
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