MSFS to Flightgear scenery converter
I found this software called SCONE which converts MSFS scenery packages to fightgear, it works and quite straight forward.
The authors says he working on XPLANE one in the future.
I found this software called SCONE which converts MSFS scenery packages to fightgear, it works and quite straight forward.
The authors says he working on XPLANE one in the future.
Comments
I read about this on the dev list the other day.
It looks really bloody interesting and if it works I can imagine is going to be very impressive indeed.
I had a little play around with it today. Downloaded a free airport addon from flightsim.to and converted it. Added it to my scenery list and it loads. Only thing is that it conflicts with the default airport buildings.
CJ
OrbitalMartian
Callsigns: G-ORBI
Always a problem when you have existing OSM buildings. Yu need to edit and remove the offending buildings from the scenery first.
I had to do that when I did the Ibiza scenery.
See, that's where it becomes above my pay grade.
CJ
OrbitalMartian
Callsigns: G-ORBI
First test with it and it didnt generate any ac file
I can't remember the exact option but if you go into the debug menu there's an option there to print scene or something similar which shows all the visible 3d models in a view.
That should tell you what you need to remove in order for it to stop the conflict.
What, if any, will this 'improved' scenery impact graphic card performance?
Also, Current MS scenery packages, if I am correct , requires other than that provided with standard download installation, to be purchased.
Also what are the licence/legal issues regarding conversion of copyright MS code?
First time in along time hope I'm wrong.
Good questions mate and it's an interesting point raised.
1) Will it impact graphic card performance? Possibly is the answer. If a model is done nicely with well optimised models and textures there's a chance it'll have no impact over and above that which a normal FG scenery would have. If it's a very object/texture heavy scenery it could have a negative impact. That can be said for a standard FG scenery though so It's not entirely fair.
The issue will be that MS stuff likely to be converted is probably going to be more detailed than what's in FG (or it wouldn't be worth converting) so could it have a negative impact? Probably - but a bit of work might be able to sort such things out.
2 & 3 ) There's no chance, to my mind, that any stuff converted will have any financial implications. It SHOULD only be freeware & open source software that's being converted. MSFS has a surprisingly high amount of very high quality open source stuff that should be available - thus perfectly fine to convert to FG as the objects and textures are open source just like FG stuff. Nobody should try and convert things against the terms of the license so that shouldn't be an issue.
As a couple of examples there's a truly excellent freeware Gatwick for MSFS that potentially could be converted (probably need a check with the dev but I can't see why not) - however it's a very very detailed model, something like this would realistically be expected to hit the old framerates: https://flightsim.to/file/5784/gatwick-egkk-ultra-star-edition-phase-1-0
This project here is an Airbus A320 NEO, as well as an Airbus A380 - it's some of the highest fidelity stuff out there, developed in conjunction with type rated pilots.
https://www.youtube.com/@FlyByWireSim
There's no reason that some of that stuff couldn't be converted for FG.
We do have to admit though that FG tends to, but not always, attract those with lower spec hardware than the simmers that build their rigs for MSFS / X-Plane so keeping the audience in mind is a good idea.
That's not to say we should settle for lower quality stuff - just that we need to keep in mind that some things really might need a lot of optimisation (time fiddling with removing uneccesary textures model geometry etc) to ensure it's not going to cause people's PCs to grind to a halt.
Thanks m8, very informative. Graphically I'm maxed out. So bottom line Ortho is my best, standard terrain my fall back.
'Should be' open software for scenery for MS Flight? (Nope its not.)
Is this where we at FGUK are going? 'That's not to say we should settle for lower quality stuff'.
And for those who can 'not' afford to do other than 'settle for lower quality stuff'?
There is always something better out there, being content and enjoying what you have, thought we were about that.
Well......
That's exactly what we are about. Making sure FlightGear runs on a potato is always half the fun.
I think the challenge of taking a 3rd party, open source, MSFS / X-Plane scenery and optimising it so it runs nicely on FlightGear for as many people as physically possible is where groups like us lot come in. Those people making stuff for MSFS want everything to be rivet perfect. If we can take the same sceneries and reduce as much of the computing overhead as possible, then get it to run in FG with a miniscule frame rate hit but 90% of the visual impact then it's win win for everyone, right?
Plus, as with anything in FG, the customisability is why a lot of people choose it. There's the option to set it up exactly how you want.
Flightgear (hopefully) and certainly FGUK will never force anything on anyone.
Plus we get the benefit of testing it on a range of PC spec's. If something is created that runs like dog-toffee on 80% of our machines then we can create 1, 2 or even more versions with different levels of detail to cater to as many different PCs as possible.
I run MSFS just as much as I run FlightGear, they are entirely different simulators for entirely different reasons. My FG is so I can tinker, play, create and have fun with like minded people. That, for me, will never change.
Got your point now, yep if it works ok then all good. Fair enough m8.
Once loaded ( and that can be slow), no frame rate loss over the standard scenery.
Worked nicely for me and no FPS hit on these
Works in HDR too
Outstanding! What part of Wales is that??
Dyffryn y Cofadeiladau
Winding neck in now lol!!!!!
Not at all mate.
It was just a rarebit of fun.
I'm trying to think of more Welsh puns...
Welsh rarebit! Haaahaaaa
See? I'm funny as fuck, I am.
SCONE works fine if the MSFS package contain a lots of scenery (I did Portsmouth habour, which added some of the historical ships etc to FG) but it can't cope with small airfields i.e. small private strips such as the Air Ambulance base near Wakefield (the authors says it could be that these use a lot of shared libraries).
When merging the new scenery you need to copy the contents of the .stg file into the orginial .stg file in terasync or install as custom scenery addon.