****************** *** DOODAD.TXT *** ****************** The following is a brief list and review of the major programs available which are enhancements for MicroSoft's Flight Simulator (IBM version). They are divided into two sections: I. Commercial Programs and Accessories, and II. Shareware. The first *always* cost money, and the second usually! Section III is a list of and comments on various text files of help to the FS user; Section IV consists of notes on general (non-FS specific) utilities; Section V, Miscellaneous. Some of these sections are subdivided as general FS material and that specific to the Aircraft and Scenery Designer (ASD). Jim Ross/Ass't Sysop 70235,143 Flight Simulations Forum (GO FSFORUM) CompuServe __________________________________________________________________ I. Commercial Programs and Accessories ____________________________ ASD by MicroSoft and the Bruce Artwick Organization MicroSoft's Aircraft and Scenery Designer allows the user to make scenery files (which have the extension .SC1) to overlay the regular default scenery or scenery on one of the SubLOGIC scenery disks. The user can create runways, roads, mountains, navigational aids (VORs, NDBs, and ILS systems), lines, rivers, polygons, and a great variety of buildings, including towers, trees, and automobiles. All of these can have different colors, sizes, and shapes. It is quite possible to create a whole city with its airport, roads, and buildings. ASD, as it is usually called, also allows the user to create dynamic scenery (.DY1): flying airplanes, moving fuel trucks, and sailboats. These look much like the dynamic scenery on the default scenery. ASD comes with an interesting variety of planes, and has a plane designer which is much more powerful and complex than that provided with FS itself. *********************** Note: Even if you don't *design* scenery or planes with ASD, it is required to *fly* any of the planes provided with ASD, and it is required to *use* any scenery (.SC1 files) created by it. *********************** The use of ASD has become a whole separate branch of simulatordom; designers have so far created over 300 airports, available on the FSFORUM of CompuServe. It will be quite possible to establish .fpd files for RMMFP which will allow all of these to be used in flight planning. When installed, ASD becomes a part of FS, and is accessed through a special item on menu 1. ASD is easily available at most software stores. ______________________________ NFL by SubLOGIC The New Facilities Locator (there was an older one: Instant Facilities Locator) enables the user to proceed immediately to any airport or VOR on default scenery, the SubLOGIC scenery disks, and even SubLOGIC's Instrument Pilot's Scenery (which contains all of the paved public access airports in the continental US). You can place yourself at any threshold, or, in the case of VORs, at any distance and bearing from them. One can also set the ILS frequency. The user can also set up his/her own database of waypoints frequently visited. When installed, NFL is accessed through a special item on menu 5 in FS. NFL and other SubLOGIC products can be obtained from SubLOGIC, 501 Kenyon Road, Champaign, IL 61820. 1-800-637-4983. ______________________________ FSPRO by Joe Lincoln FSPRO was the first "Flight Simulator shell." Its primary use is to start FS with any mode (starting position, plane, etc.) without having to go through the rather complicated FS mode menu. One can also make "NOTAMS" on those modes for later reference. Furthermore it is possible to do some rudimentary flight planning, and to keep records of aircraft types. One of the most recent innovations (FSPRO has gone through many modifications) is the ability to place the user at any position in FS scenery. In this respect FSPRO can double for SubLOGIC's own New Facilities Locator (see above). Although classified here as a commercial program, FSPRO is available for downloading to registered members of the LINX BBS. Or call 1-800-TEKMATE. ______________________________ PROSIM by Simutech From PROSIM.TXT in lib 2 of the FSFORUM: ProSim is an AUDIO TAPE/HANDBOOK system. The audio tape has the voices of the air traffic controllers who talk to you...the pilot of Cessna 51367. The tape leaves time for you to respond, then acknowledges, or gives clearances, heading, altitude assignments, etc. ProSim takes you from clearance delivery to ground at your destination in pre-designed flights. The HANDBOOK has both sides of the conversations, so you follow along and learn the flight and the procedures. When you don't need the handbook anymore, you should have gained a confidence in dealing with ATC. Recorded by real pilots and air traffic controllers, and with authentic engine/cockpit sounds, ProSim is a realistic duplication of real flying. There are other pilots on the frequencies also! Listen to their drama, but pay attention for your call sign, and listen to how the pros, and not-so- pros talk. Also pay attention to what is happening with other pilots further along in the same flight plan as yours. Can be used independently or along with Flight Simulator. Call 800 226 7820 for information on ProSim. ______________________________ SOUND, GRAPHICS, AND AIRCRAFT UPDATE (SGA) by BAO/Mallard SGA gives you airplane sound either through your PC Speaker (as usual) or through the following sound boards (which must be purchased separately): AdLib, Soundblaster, Soundblaster Pro, ATI Sound F/X, and Covox Voice Master. In addition there are drivers for various graphics cards, such as the Video7 1024i, two ATI Wonder cards, and any Super VGA card with the Tseng 4000 chip set. With these one gets a 800 x 600 resolution Enhanced Instrument Panel and a 640 x 480 747 "Glass Cockpit" panel. With the Soundblaster cards, you also get spoken ATIS and COM messages. There are four new aircraft: Concorde, P-51D, Spectrum Beaver Ultralight, and a 1939 Laird-Turner Meteor. The P-51D and the Laird-Turner are "tail draggers". For details see BAOIBM.TXT in library 2. ______________________________________________________________ All of the following can be obtained on the FSFORUM on CompuServe. The specific libraries and library names are noted with each program/file. ______________________________________________________________ II. Shareware or Free Programs and Accessories ******** NOTE: Several of the programs listed below are shareware; the author expects that if you download them and find them useful, you will send him/her a registration fee (quite modest). These are indicated with a note: SHAREWARE: REGISTRATION FEE. We certainly encourage the payment of such fees (again, if you find the program useful); that's what keeps our people writing such neat things! ******** A. General Flight Simulator Utilities ___________________________ JFL by Joe Lincoln The Jiffy Facility Locator places you at airports and presets radio frequencies, heading, altitude, N&E coordinates, loads matching ASD scenery, sets ASD memory allocation. Allows you to add facilities. Free version. Shareware version available. JFL.ZIP in library 2. ___________________________ DEMITOR by Laemming Wheeler This is an editor for FS demos. It allows the addition of comments, changes of view, zooming, etc. to enhance your original demos. There is also a utility to attach a startup mode to a demo. SHAREWARE: REGISTRATION FEE. EDITOR.ZIP in lib 2. ___________________________ FS4BFN.ARC (lib 2) by Ray Cannon Various fixes for the FS Multi-Player mode. __________________________ MODCLONE by Robert Fields MODCLONE allows you to export the parameters of any FS mode file to any other or all other mode files. For example, if you *always* like to have titles appear (COCKPIT, SPOT, TOWER, TRACK), you can establish a mode which does that, and then export that (and any other) parameter to any or all modes you have in your directory. Or full screen external views; sound on/off; size of windows; etc. MODC24.ZIP in lib 2. ___________________________ RMMFP by Robert Mackay Flight planning program especially designed for FS. RMMFP uses databases of airport and navaid coordinates, and allows either the automatic or manual (you punch them in yourself) preparation of a route from any airport to any other airport (in that particular database). Text summaries and graphic plots of the resultant route are available. See below for a more extensive review (section IIIA, FLTPLN.TXT). SHAREWARE: REGISTRATION FEE. Upon registration the user will receive more RMMFP databases. RMMFP.ZIP in lib 2. ========================================================= There is now a Windows 3.0 version of RMMFP; see RMMFPW.ZIP in library 2. The latest versions of both the DOS and Windows programs are available from Mallard Software, Inc., 550 Edmonds #201, Lewisville, TX 75067 phone 214-436-0044, as commercial programs. ========================================================= B. ASD Utilities __________________________ SEE by Laemming Wheeler SEE allows a great many enhancements, changes, and duplications of ASD scenery. It uses a data file produced by the user (note however SEEPLUS below); examples are provided with the program. Among other things you can: 1. Set the range of any scenery element, that is, the distance from which it will be visible, or, in the case of navaids, from which they can be tuned. 2. Change the color of certain scenery elements depending upon whether the time is day, dusk (and dawn), or night. 3. Turn lines into dots, so that they appear to be lights (such as the borders of taxiways at airports), visible only at dusk or night. 4. Transform roads into a series of dots (again lights). 5. Add hazard lights, which will appear at dusk and night only, on buildings over a specified height. SEE can also add certain ASD objects outside of the regular editor of the ASD program. Among these are: 1. Navaids (VORs, NDBs) 2. ATIS (weather information, as in regular FS) and COM (communications from a tower) And it can delete selected objects, somewhat more precisely than can ASD itself. Furthermore SEE can export an ASD element from one file and then import it into another or the same file (thus making a duplicate; see also ASDMOVE below for this kind of operation). There are also a good many SEE "library objects" which can be added with SEE itself. Among them are transmission towers, balloons, whales, docks, road signs, rotating beacons, and skid marks. All of these can be raised above ground level and even tilted (pitch and bank): it is quite possible to design a flying whale. These objects can be custom-colored and, in many cases, provided with a certain height. Laemming produces new libraries of these objects from time to time. The day/dusk/night effects of SEE can be produced quite easily in any scenery file by using a file called EZC.DAT, supplied with the program. EZC.DAT does not do anything which could not be specified by a user-generated data file, but it is somewhat more convenient. SEE automatically produces a report when it runs any data file. This report (which is kept on your disk with an extension of .rpt) gives the coordinates of each scenery element organized by type (navaids, buildings, runways, roads, etc.), and certain other data. This information is necessary when running LEVITILT (see below). SEE03.ZIP in lib 6. See also SEEPRO.ZIP in lib 6 for advanced SEE commands. The SEE library objects are in SEEL01.ZIP and SEEL02.ZIP in lib 6. SHAREWARE: REGISTRATION FEE. ========================================================================== The latest version of SEE is SEE04. It is not, however, available on the FSFORUM (although there is a demo and an order blank: SEE04.ZIP in library 6). Rather it must be purchased from TEKMATE, 15307 Parkville, Houston, TX 77068; phone 1-800-TEKMATE. In addition to the features outlined above, SEE04 has the capability of making new SEE library objects and drawing lines and polygons with user-supplied data, among many other features. There are several new SEE library objects, as well, and more objects can be "colorized". ========================================================================== ____________________________ SEEPLUS by Joe Lincoln SEEPLUS is mainly a program which can write the data files required by SEE. You specify the scenery file, the changes or additions you want to make with SEE, and then execute: SEEPLUS then invokes SEE to make those changes. It can also just produce a SEE report, and run SEE with EZC.DAT. There is a built-in text editor to view and change the data file before execution. Not all possible SEE commands can be produced directly by SEEPLUS-written data files, but the majority of the popular commands is provided. You can also run ASDMOVE, LEVITILT, or APTFIX (see below) from SEEPLUS, and also run Flight Simulator itself. Thus it is often called a "FS Shell". SEEPLU.ZIP in lib 6. ======================================================================= The latest version of SEEPLUS is called SEESHELL, and is also available from TEKMATE (see above on SEE04 for ordering details). It is especially designed for use with SEE04. ======================================================================= ____________________________ SCMAN by Christopher Trent A selection of tools for scenery file addition and deletion for FS4 ASD utility, featuring file grouping. All run from the DOS command line. Allows a small working set of scenery files (.SC1, .DY1, .MOD) in the main working directory with all others in a set of subdirectories. SCMAN.ZIP in lib 6. ____________________________ OVERLAP by Jim Ross Determining the boundaries of ASD scenery files (.SC1) to ascertain overlap and "dead space" between files; text and graphics output. OVELAP.ZIP in lib 6. ____________________________ SA by Frank Styron SA is a utility to reduce the size of runways on Sublogic scenery disks SD 1-6 to their correct size and, as necessary, move runways to maintain the original airport layout. Requires any of the converted scenery disks SD-1 through SD-6. This version allows use with APTFIX. SA.ZIP in lib 6. ____________________________ LEVITILT by Jim Ross LEVITILT will levitate (raise above ground level) any ASD scenery element specified by the user, and in addition tilt (pitch, bank) most buildings, as well as thermal generators. It is useful to levitate lines which run between towers to produce power lines, make roads which go over the tops of mountains, and things of that sort. As noted it can be called from SEEPLUS. LEVTIL.ZIP in lib 6. ___________________________ ASDMOVE by Steve Wigginton ASDMOVE allows you to move a whole block of ASD elements from one part of your scenery file to another. Or it can save out those elements into another ("cut") file, and that file can in turn be added to still another scenery file, thus duplicating the block (this can be done within one file, too). It is also possible to delete a whole group of objects from a file, and to rearrange the order in which they will appear. It is thus possible to break up a large .SC1 file into several smaller files. A program supplied with ASDMOVE is ASDLIST, which produces a report on any given ASD file, similar to but sometimes more informative than the report provided by SEE. ASDMOV.ZIP in lib 6. SHAREWARE: REGISTRATION FEE. A program much like ASDMOVE is Hans van Wyhe's FSMOVE (FSMOVE.ZIP in lib 6). It does not have all the "bells and whistles" of ASDMOVE, but some users will find it more convenient to use. _____________________________ APTFIX by Chris Manrique In many cases when designing an airport at the site of an airport already provided on one of the SubLOGIC scenery disks, the author wants to eliminate the old runways so that they will not interfere with the new runways. One way to do this is to draw a large (usually green) polygon over the old runways, but this takes file space and run time. APTFIX will delete any of the normal (black) runways from the SubLOGIC scenery disk, so that this polygon-drawing is not necessary. It thus works on the basic SD-#.SCN file, unlike any of the other programs discussed here. A backup copy of the original SD-#.SCN is automatically kept. In the course of eliminating runways, APTFIX also keeps a separate file of data which can be used by another user to produce the same results. This file has the extension .PRM, and is invoked by a program called AUTOFIX.EXE, provided in the same package. APTFIX.ZIP in lib 6. SHAREWARE: REGISTRATION FEE. ______________________________ BIGLIT by Jim Ross BIGLIT merely allows the user to expand or reduce any ASD object (except navaids and runways), and, in the case of expansion, change the range of visibility as well. Expansion factors are 4, 16, 64, and 256, and reduction 4, 16, and 64. BIGLIT.ZIP in lib 6. _____________________________ FSPASD by Joe Lincoln Automatic configuration of memory for ASD files. This utility is included in SEEPLUS. FSPASD.ZIP in lib 6. III. Text files A. General FS ____________________________ VOR.ZIP (lib 2) by Jeff Horrocks This is an archive. It includes a help file on VOR Radio navigation, and a FS4 .MOD file to start you on the adventure/walkthru. The walkthru takes you on a flight from Chicago Meigs to Champaign Willard. Air time about 1 hour. ____________________________ ILS.TXT (lib 2) by Jeff Horrocks How to use the ILS (Instrument Landing System) in FS. ___________________________ DEMOS.TXT (lib 2) by Jim Ross How to make demos in FS. ___________________________ FS4B.TXT (lib 2) Fixes in FS 4.0b to original FS 4.0, and how to get it. __________________________ EFIS.TXT (lib 15) by Jim Ross How to use the EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument Systems) utility in FS. _________________________ FLTPLN.TXT (lib 2) by Jim Ross Review of several flight planning programs, including RMMFP summarized above. _________________________ CONFIG.TXT (lib 13) by E. J. Peiker Optimal system configurations in various price ranges for maximum flight simulator performance. ________________________ TRIM.TXT (lib 2) by Rick Lee What "trim" means on aircraft, and how to use it with FS. ________________________ SDREVU.ZIP (lib 6) Don Simmons, Jeff Horrocks, Jim Ross and others Reviews of the SubLOGIC scenery disks. _______________________ LANDIN.ZIP (lib 2) by Rick Lee How to make good landings with FS: complete with mode and demo files. ________________________ CONVER.TXT (lib 6) by Jim Ross Converting to/from latitude and longitude to FS coordinates. ________________________ FSCORS.TXT (lib 6) by Jim Ross Corrections to FS and SubLOGIC charts, documentation, and diagrams, for default scenery and disks up to SD-12. See also 12CORS.TXT. _______________________ 12CORS.TXT (lib 6) by Jim Ross Corrections to charts and airport directories for SubLOGIC's Scenery Disk 12 (Montreal, New York, Halifax) B. ASD files __________________________ GNDELE.TXT (lib 6) by Fred Kuhl Notes on ground elevation in Microsoft FS, what it controls, how to manipulate it. __________________________ DISC1S.TXT (lib 6) by Jim Ross List of ASD .SC1 files by scenery disk, with alphabetic list of airports on each, distinguished by new or enhancement to old. Updated October 1, 1991. __________________________ ASDTIP.TXT (lib 6) by Jim Ross How to fly with ASD files. _________________________ AER101.TXT (lib 5) by Ben Krauskopf Designing aircraft in FS4/ASD. ________________________ DESIGN.ZIP (lib 6) by Mike Barrs Design tips for ASD. _______________________ DESGN2.ZIP (lib 6) Compiled by Nels Anderson A second series of tips on using ASD. IV. General Utilities (not specifically FS) _______________________ PKX110.EXE (lib 1) The utility to "unzip" files with a .zip extension. V. Miscellaenous ______________________ AIRPTS.ZIP (lib 6) by Jim Ross A Toolbook database of all airports in FS default scenery and on SubLOGIC scenery disks to date (through SD-12). You must have Windows 3.0 and Toolbook (runtime or commercial) to use this material. See AIRPTS.TXT, lib 6, for a further description. There is an accompanying file in the same library: VORDAT.ZIP, a Toolbook database for all VORs in the continental US, including some not in FS or on the SubLOGIC disks (for ASD design). _____________________ LVKOAK.DEM (lib 2) by Charles Gulick A demo showing a standard flight from tiedown to landing, Livermore to Oakland. Useful for beginning flying. ______________________ PATERN.ZIP (lib 2) by Jeff Horrocks Flying the standard "pattern" around an airport, from takeoff to landing: a demo file. Also useful for beginners. ______________________ FLIGHT.EXE (lib 2) by Charles Gulick This is a "self-extracting" program which will produce several graphics screens and text files. Running through them with the command "INTRO" will give you an excellent introduction to flying with Flight Simulator. The screens are divided into "Airports," "Airfoils," and "Instruments." Two demos and some modes are also provided.