FSX Power Project 4.2

[mickrick 0]

Hi Has any one had experience of this

after I have downloaded and run/selected this programme. All Cooling Towers Stacks and wind Turbines instead of being concrete colours are Black The smoke effects are working the power pylons are fine as so are the power stations It's just Cooling towers. Stacks (chimneys) and Wind Turbines that are solid black in colour

I would put in a screen shot but I can't see how to

Cheers in advance Mike

[flybytes 34]

Mike,

make sure that the following texture files:

 

FSXPPCoolTower.dds

FSXPPCoolTower2.dds

UKgridConcrete.bmp

FSXPP_white.dds

& all others beginning with FSXPP or UKgrid are loaded into the Microsoft Flight Simulator\scenery\Global\Texture folder

 

Ray (FSX Power Project designer)

 

[sleightflight 1]

I used it and got it working in DX9 but I got ooms very quickly with this package activated, and I mean quickly, so I removed it.

I haven't tried it in DX10.

[flybytes 34]

Paul,

 

I have come across FSX Power Project users with similar issues on various forums, but I have never seen these 'OOM' problems myself under normal usage, despite running huge numbers of add-on sceneries, such as treescapes, Ultimate Terrain Europe & many UK2000 airports, although I have been able to force my PC into producing them by loading other memory intensive applications such as Google Earth & not completely switching off the PC, but putting it into 'sleep mode' between usage for a few days.

 

FSXPP v4.2 did undergo some radical changes to the animated wind turbines which improved the look of the scenery animations & vastly improved frame-rates around large wind farms.

 

If you can narrow down your problem - i.e. rather than say FSXPP is the problem, but try disabling the pylons, or effects or objects folders In turn. Do suspect that you will find that it may be the pylons, which by sheer numbers (tens of thousands) are overwhelming your system. But those pylons are only mainly replacing what were removed by the designers of the photo ground sceneries - albeit positioned to align with the Horizon scenery.

 

No doubt that running lots of complex airport scenery, traffic & detailed aircraft add-ons are pushing the 32-bit FSX to its limits & possibly FSXPP is just enough to push it over the edge. But I'm an old school software designer where every byte has to earn its keep - hence the whole Global project being less than 2-MBytes when zipped.

 

Ray (FSXPP designer)

[sleightflight 1]

Thanks for the reply, I really liked the power projects package bacause it did give that extra dimension to the horizon photoreal scenery.

I do also have the entire uk filled with treescapes and all of the UK2000 airfields so was quite disappointed at having to remove the package.

I will download the latest version and give it a go in DX10 mode and report back here how it plays with Steves DX10 fixer.

[Christopher Low 63]

Do you disable any photoscenery and other scenery packages that you do not need for particular flights? This can also reduce the risk of OOMs. I actually removed some parts of the package (everything outside the UK since I only fly in this region, and also power stations and stuff like that), because the electricity pylons and wind turbines are the most important landmarks to me.

[JohnY 1]

Has anyone tried Power Projects 4.2 in Lockheed Martin's P3D 2.5+?

 

I'm a bit worried that some of the models are FS 9.  If that is so, I understand they will cause real problems with P3D..

 

John

[Christopher Low 63]

John,

 

As I mentioned in the post above yours, I only use the electricity pylons and wind turbines from the FSX Power Project. However, I can confirm that these all work fine in P3D v2.4.

[JohnY 1]

Yes Christoper, but as I mentioned, I'm using P3D 2.5+ which is quite significantly different from 2.4 and seems to be quite sensitive to say the least. I just don't want the job of starting from scratch again.  It takes forever to reinstall everything and franky, is so boring to do.

 

By the way, what do I have to click to get a notification of replies?  I can't find the button for it.

 

John

[flybytes 34]

John,

 

FSXPP v4.2 (disregard this post for earlier versions)  has two model libraries - FSXPower Project models & FSXPower Project models2, the latter contains all the fsx type models & covers most of the models including all animated types & the boat landing platforms in the offshore wind farms in the project. Both of these libraries are in the FSX...\scenery\global folder. Hopefully the next version of fsxpp will only have fsx type models.

 

If you have problems with the models in the FSXPower Project models library, as a temporary fix you could delete that library (or change its file type, bgl to say bgx for example), resulting in some chimney stack types missing & if memory serves me, also some radio dishes missing. Some of the smoke files associated with those chimneys would also require deleting to prevent smoke appearing out of thin air.

 

Note that the electricity pylons use the  default fsx model which I would assume is fsx type.

 

Hope this will resolve any potential problems within P3D.

 

Regards,

Ray.

 

 

[JohnY 1]

Yes, I think it will.  Thanks for the explanation Ray.  I'll now go ahead and put it on my new installation of P3D2.5+

 

It's never ending is it?

 

I wonder  there's time to fly!!

 

John

[flybytes 34]

_John,

 

_{Very astute comment, I dropped into this hobby via the back door, as an electronics engineer I was fortunate to be paid to learn to fly on numerous military & civil jet aircraft , bypassing the usual route of many expensive hours in a single engine prop aircraft before advancing further. Now I can enjoy the delight of flying so many single engine prop aircraft, curtesy of FSX,}

_{My favourite simulated aircraft with so many analogue pilot & flight engineer dials will always be the 747-200, unfortunately non of the MSFS models of this aircraft's flight dynamics are in any way a match to those of the official Boeing performance graphs, although a freeware Airbus A380 flight dynamics seemed to match the 747-200 (by seat of the pants flying) almost perfectly.}

 

_{As you imply, this hobby is never ending, sometimes in attempting to expand it,  'flyiing' times are limited, but at the end of the day the sky is only the limit!}

 

_Ray

 

ps the line spacing of this post & font size is not how I submiitted it, attempted modifications do not rectify it.

[JohnY 1]

I've put Power Projects 4.2 on with P3D 2.5+ and sorry to report that the wind turbines are black.  Obviously a texture problem.  And I haven't seen a pylon or chimney yet.  Having printed your installation instructions and worked to them carefully  I'm sure I put it all in.  I don't think P3D 2.5 likes stuff mucking about with its files!

 

John

[Christopher Low 63]

Where are the textures located for the pylons and wind turbines? I would have thought that they would be in exactly the same location in P3D v2.5 as they are in v2.4.

[JohnY 1]

Yes, files destined for them need careful placement.  There are Textures in Lockheed Martin\Prepar3Dv2\texture and in Scenery\Global\texture.  Goodness knows why they should be in two places but they are.  Of course, there are texture files with every addon too, so it can all get a bit confusing.  I don't know if anyone has ever tried an 'All In One' file for them?  Would vertainly make it all a lot simpler.

 

Despite all the care I took, I was missing a few texture files.  I think actually I probably put them in the wrong location.  Anyway, I'm now happy to say I've got millions of Pylons all over the place and all the Wind Turbines in white with their sales flapping around quite nicely,  I've yet to see some Chimneys, but I expect they're there.  Its just I haven't yet flown anywhere near their location.

 

It all adds interest when low and slow flying over photographic scenery which can be a bit featureless at times.

 

John

[flybytes 34]

The fsxpp pylon textures  are located in the FSX...\scenery\global\texture folder.

 

Its a long time since I looked for the loacation of the fsx default pylons, but something at the back of my mind thinks the model is in FSX...\scenery\global\scenery\hazards.bgl

 

Ray.

 

[Sabre 28]

A couple of questions.

 

Does this work with ORBX scenery?

 

If it does how do I change to the new version from Version 4.0?

[flybytes 34]

A couple of questions.

 

Does this work with ORBX scenery?

 

If it does how do I change to the new version from Version 4.0?

 

I don't have any ORBX scenery so not sure how fsxpp interacts with it.

 

fsxpp v4.2 can be found on this site in members' scenery files, or on the Simviation site:

 

http://simviation.com/1/search?submit=1&keywords=ray+porter&x=19&y=15

 

V4.2 has almost 13,000 wind turbines around the World with about 3,000 here in the UK including the London Array offshore wind farm (175 turbines - try flying through it at 60-feet to appreciate its size). It also has an improved model library resulting in smoother wind turbine animations & up to twice the frame-rates in the vicinity of very large wind farms.

 

Ray.

[brett 2,316]

It has worked for me so far and I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. Not that I would notice anything out of place anyway but nothing like a big conflict.

[Sabre 28]

I don't suppose anyone knows how to either upgrade or remove Power Project? Not sure which way to go yet but can't work it out either way up to now

[flybytes 34]

I don't suppose anyone knows how to either upgrade or remove Power Project? Not sure which way to go yet but can't work it out either way up to now

 

Graeme,

 

Delete the FSX Power Project v?.? folder from the Addon scenery folder to disable the project or before installing a newer version.

 

To install fsxpp v4.2, unzipping the download will reveal a folder called Microsoft Flight Simulator X. Drag & merge this with your existing folder of the same name. All sub-folders & files will then be installed into FSX.

 

Don't forget to add fsxpp to your scenery list.

 

The fsxpp readme does contain full instructions.

 

Cheers,

Ray.

[Sabre 28]

Thanks Ray.

Must be my eyes as I didn't see the instructions but that'll just be me. I've done that much reading and tweaking this last week getting back up to speed with FSX and all the addons that my head's a bit battered to put it mildly.

Thanks again.

[flybytes 34]

Graeme,

 

We all have these 'moments', no one more than myself. I'm retired now, but one part of my job was to teach engineering training courses, involving writing documentation in a form more concise than some of the longwinded technical detail buried in some of the huge technical manuals provided with the kit.

 

To do this successfully I had to put myself inside the mind of someone who was not familiar with the equipment - so many technical authors assume that their target readers already know aspects of what they are trying to get across.

 

Ray.

 

[JohnY 1]

First of all I can't see Power Projects working well with Orbx Scenery.  Besides, I think Orbx has its own although I've yet to see any.   Even if Power Project shows, it will be in the wrong place!   Remember, Orbx is not a reliable or accurate representation of the actual scenery.  It only provides a flavour of what a place looks like.    Only photo scenery can give you sight of the actual scenery.   Power Projects enhances it because it shows objects in the actual place which the photo scenery can't show or wasn't there when the pictures were originally taken - the wind turbines for example.

 

To remove Power Projects is easy.  Its an 'addon' so you can just delete it from the FSX or P3D scenery library, then go to the disc you've got it loaded on and delete it from there.  And remember to delete the entries you made in the effects folder.

 

To upgrade it.  Do those things,  then install the latest version.

 

John

 

PS - Sorry Ray, I could swear your post wasn't there when I started this message.

[flybytes 34]

First of all I can't see Power Projects working well with Orbx Scenery.  Besides, I think Orbx has its own although I've yet to see any.   Even if Power Project shows, it will be in the wrong place!   Remember, Orbx is not a reliable or accurate representation of the actual scenery.  It only provides a flavour of what a place looks like.    Only photo scenery can give you sight of the actual scenery.   Power Projects enhances it because it shows objects in the actual place which the photo scenery can't show or wasn't there when the pictures were originally taken - the wind turbines for example.

 

To remove Power Projects is easy.  Its an 'addon' so you can just delete it from the FSX or P3D scenery library, then go to the disc you've got it loaded on and delete it from there.  And remember to delete the entries you made in the effects folder.

 

To upgrade it.  Do those things,  then install the latest version.

 

John

 

PS - Sorry Ray, I could swear your post wasn't there when I started this message.

 

Hi, John.

 

Fsxpp was started more than 4-years ago (perhaps even 5-years - time moves on) as a personal scenery enhancement of the Horizon UK photo scenery which I perceived as brilliant at that time, but low level flying in 'flat' parts of the country did lack a sense of height & distance, although freeware such as UK Ano, Ports & a few other scenery projects made good contributionns.

 

As my modelling skills improved I took the scary move of uploading my early project to the internet - with various updates as my skills progressed.

 

As you imply in your post, fsxpp is very about much accuracy (where possible), I do try to put my scenery in the correct global locations and to scale (unlike so much of the default fsx scenery).

 

Regards,

 

Ray.