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FSX Ai Ferryboat

Messages
32
Country
greece
l have a couple of ferryboats running from the mainland to an island l've made and they run fine ,
but l hate to see them coming and going empty of cars .
Is there a way to attach some cars in them ?
 

=rk=

Resource contributor
Messages
4,450
Country
us-washington
You can model the cars and use MCX to attack the sub-model to the AI ferry model.
 
Messages
32
Country
greece
Thanks . l have the mdl's of the ferry and the cars l want . Seems l have to do some reading as to how l do it with MCX .
 
Messages
32
Country
greece
l haven't been able to find how to attach a sub-model into a model with MCX .
Could someone direct me how to do it ...
Thanks
 
Messages
5,214
Import the AI ferryboat in MCX > click on 'Attached Object Editor' > with the arrow next to 'add' choose 'Library Object' > fill in the GUID number of the model of the car you want to put in your ferry and its position in the AI ferry model. Repeat this operation for every vehicle you want to have inside your ferry.
Do not forget to export the model again:).

Cheers,
 
Messages
32
Country
greece
Hi Robby,

Thanks for enlighten me . However after filling the GUID of the model of the car , l don't
see the car so l can place it . Please note that l have a separate folder with mdl's of both
the ferry and the cars , and their texture folder as well .
What am l missing ?
 
Messages
5,214
If you click on 'display attached objects' you will see a red square where the object (car) is attached. You can then position it.

Alboran.jpg
 
Last edited:
Messages
32
Country
greece
Attached.jpg
Sorry Roby but l can't see any red squares except the already attached effects to the ferryboat .
 
Messages
32
Country
greece
Sorry Roby but l can't see any red squares except the already attached effects to the ferryboat .

Edit ....

OK , there was a YELLOW square , placed it , gave it a new name and GUID and exported the mdl .
Imported the new mdl .... no car
 
Messages
5,214
I guess you do not see it because it is at the center of the ferry and hidden by the hull. Try to increase the height to 20 meters so that it shows up and then lower it to its correct position.
Nice model, by the way.
You do have it as an AI sim object, don't you?
 
Messages
32
Country
greece
Yes , l though so and as you see in my edit , did and placed it , but when l import the new MDL after l gave it a new name and a new GUID , the car is not there .
What could be wrong Roby ?
 
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5,214
The only things I can think of is that either the library (that is where the cars are in) is not activated in the scenery library, that the bgl's of the cars are not in an activated library (remember they are scenery objects unlike your simobject ferry), that you have not put the textures in the right place or that you made a eenie weenie tiny mistake in naming the GUID.
 

=rk=

Resource contributor
Messages
4,450
Country
us-washington
Hey slow down, guys...Is this your own model ferry? Regardless, can I recommend you do your object placement in 3d software, where it is much easier to control placement, export those placed cars as a .dae and then pick up that model with MCX? For example, let's say you use Sketchup and for conversations sake, let's say the ferry is not your own original and this would be for your own personal use. So from MCX you export your ferry as a format Sketchup can import, probably .3ds. If the auto's are also .mdl or .bgl format, export those. Now in Sketchup import the ferry model and group or lock it. Now import the auto's and place them on the deck where you will, maybe even duplicate one or two. Now delete the ferry model and export the placed cars as a .dae; use the combine tool to merge this model with the ferry model in MCX and everything should be placed properly.
If you do not have 3d software and have to place models using the placement tool, make sure all models are in the same folder and all textures are in the same texture folder within the same parent directory.
 
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5,214
Slow down?
Knowing George for ages :), it is his own model and so is mine.
Suppose you explain once more from the point of view that those models are our own because I am lost as what you mean exactly as an alternative. The cars/trucks inside the ferry (in my case) are just the default FSX ones. The ferries: mine is made in SketchUp, George's may have been made in Gmax.
But thanks for helping out George. I have no problems and he did not use to have any either but the fact that he has not done development recently and now does not recall how he did it, may be a sign of early Alzheimer :D.

Cheers,
 

=rk=

Resource contributor
Messages
4,450
Country
us-washington
Ah, all good. Ok what I mean to say is that you can easily set position using an application like Sketchup. It even allows the adjoining model to kind of "stick" to the surface you are moving it to. You could presumably do the same operations in Gmax, but I doubt that software has the funky "magnetic" feature Sketchup has, anyway. So the autos are default and you'll have to recompile them for this technique to work, so if you're good with that, just export the autos using MCX to .dae and place them on the deck of the ferry. This way you'll have the added benefit of being able extinguish those annoying headlights on the default parked cars by slightly editing them before export.
Granted, if you are really adept at orienting imported objects into MCX, that would be the way to go. I tend to think 3d modelling should be done in 3d software and simulator specific adjustments be performed in MCX, but that's just what most efficient for me, for George it's an alternative solution.
 
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