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MSFS Premium vs Default airports in ADE

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unitedkingdom
So i have discovered that Premium package airports such as LHR or CDG are strange when loading into ADE. As seen below it loads in with huge surface areas of aprons whereas in the sim these are not there, so why does ADE load them like this?
 

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scruffyduck

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ADE loads what is sees in the airport bgl file. I assume that the sim loads the enhanced airport when you select the ICAO but to be honest I have not checked. Be aware that some of the aprons shown in ADE have a CLEAR_SURFACE which would not show in Sim

1639997108092.png
 
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unitedkingdom
ADE loads what is sees in the airport bgl file. I assume that the sim loads the enhanced airport when you select the ICAO but to be honest I have not checked. Be aware that some of the aprons shown in ADE have a CLEAR_SURFACE which would not show in Sim

View attachment 79063
But below this area of the field you can see a huge block of apron when loading the stock LFPG, even though this does not show in the sim, remove it and you lose sections of taxiways which you would then have to rebuild. So i have no idea why it does this. When you delete you see 'clear surface' underneath that layer of apron which should be on top i guess.
 

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scruffyduck

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When you delete you see 'clear surface' underneath that layer of apron which should be on top i guess.
That may be because of the order that aprons are drawn in ADE. It uses the order specified from FSX which may be changed now since there was no clear surface back then. You can remove drawing layer constraints which should allow you to order items in the ADE display as you wish. This ordering does not have any effect in sim.

1640687846721.png


Moving the grey apron to the back of the display stack probably shows what you are expecting?

1640687969375.png


The above better reflects what is shown in the sim

1640691107524.png


There is also a priority attribute for aprons which I believe sets a draw order in sim but I have not been able to test this yet. ADE does not handle this properly forcing it to zero but this is fixed in the next update. I could probably arrange that the priority given in the apron attribute does get reflected in the ADE drawing order but that is likely not a trivial update. I have added that to the list.
 

scruffyduck

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The properties for an apron in MSFS are extensive compared to those for FSX especially in setting it's appearance and drawing order

1640692110963.png


1. Opacity can be set to any value which does mean that an apron can 'disappear' in sim
2. Priority should reflect drawing order in sim but I have not tested it
3. Coloration can be used to change the displayed color of an apron
4. Is the old FSX attribute - not sure what effect it has
5. Is an old FSX attribute as to whether to show the surface or not. Again I have not tested if this is effective
6. New attribute which will force priority to a value that sets the apron above runways.
 
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unitedkingdom
What is the display stack? Sorry, never heard of that, if i can can get it to look like you've made it here it may sort my issue. You say ordering display has no effect in sim so surely this block of apron is just stuck here now for some reason yet it does not show in the game without editing the airport. Really got my head screwed... :D
1640710856060.png
 
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sweden
So i have discovered that Premium package airports such as LHR or CDG are strange when loading into ADE. As seen below it loads in with huge surface areas of aprons whereas in the sim these are not there, so why does ADE load them like this?
Hi. Where do you find the .bgl files for premium de luxe or de luxe airports? I have searched but thought I hade to resort to the stock/default airports.
 
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germany
What I learned is that when you create aprons on the virtual ground level 0 of the landscape there is a new and flat level 0 to place objects like taxiways and visible aprons with lights aso. I placed taxiways on an airport that didn't show lights left and right. After placing invisible aprons under these taxiways made the taxiway lights appear as expacted.
 
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scruffyduck

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As stated above they are in the official one store folder

1641985925052.png


Some are listed with asobo-airport and some with microsoft-airport

1641985980694.png


These are 'proper' MSFS packages. Stock airports are stored in bgl file in the same way they are in FSX.

1641986065573.png


Found in one store folder under fs-base\scenery

1641986097347.png
 
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sweden
It is strange that there is no .bgl file in the asobo-airport-egll-heathrow folder. The closest I get going throught the layout.json file is "scenery/bzqzrexp.fsarchive", all other "path"''s in the layout.json address textures. There is no mention of .bgl files. The manifest.json files are almost identical, however.

The same goes for LEMD, EHAM and EDDF, but not for LPMA nor EIDL, LFPG or LFLJ. Those who lack reference to .bgl files with their names seem to have "scenery/....fsarchive" in common but no .bgl's.
 

scruffyduck

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Sorry but I don't see asobo-airport-egll-heathrow. Same for LEMD, EHAM and EDDF. not under microsoft-airport-.. Perhaps I am missing an update. What folder are you looking in for these?
 
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Sorry but I don't see asobo-airport-egll-heathrow. Same for LEMD, EHAM and EDDF. not under microsoft-airport-.. Perhaps I am missing an update. What folder are you looking in for these?
My current versions:
Application 20.21.8008.16836
Engine 20.00.8007.27997
MSFS 1.21.18.0 Store version.

In LocalCache\Packages\Official\OneStore I have asobo-airport-egll-heathrow dated 2022-01-08 11:25, and asobo-airport-eddf-frankfurt dated 2022-01-08 11:27. asobo-airport-lfpg-paris-charles-de-gaulle 2022-01-08 11:07. EHAM is asobo-airport-eham-amsterdam 2022-01-08 11:24. asobo-airport-lemd-adolfo-suarez 2022-01-08 11:24. In microsoft I have for instance microsoft-airport-lfmn-nice 2021-10-28 17:41. microsoft-airport-lszh-zurich 2021-11-18 18:04.

I have restarted modifying LFPG from the folder indicated here and so far this has worked with visible changes to taxiways and taxi signs. But for the others there seems to be nothing to work with. The mods I have made from stock of the airports named here are not visible.
 
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scruffyduck

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OK - we both have the same apparent version of MSFS but I do not have the airports you reference and ran a computer wide folder search without finding them. I have checked to see if there is any update to my content manager which might load those folders but there is none. I am reported up to date as far as scenery is concerned. There is obviously some difference in our installations. I also check the Steam Edition (I have both) and that is also up to date. Maybe someone else can check to see if these folders have been installed by an update I have missed.
 
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To add to my (and perhaps your) confusion, almost all green areas with clear_surface in LFPG disappear just from opening the enhanced LFPG.bgl of MSFS2020 in ADE, and recompiling it without any changes. However, that might be possible to manipulate through other means. Just being able to change/correct taxiways and taxi signs is rewarding.
 

rhumbaflappy

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Are these airports in the premium edition? I don't have them either.

Deluxe Edition Content
Deluxe Edition includes all base-game content.

Airports
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (Netherlands)
Cairo International Airport (Egypt)
Cape Town International Airport (South Africa)
O’Hare International Airport (USA)
Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport (Spain)

Premium Deluxe Content
Premium Deluxe Edition contains the base-game and deluxe edition content.

Airports
Denver International Airport (USA)
Dubai International Airport (UAE)
Frankfurt Airport (Germany)
Heathrow Airport (UK)
San Francisco International Airport (USA)
 
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scruffyduck

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I have the standard editions so I guess there is stuff not available at that level
 

scruffyduck

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To add to my (and perhaps your) confusion, almost all green areas with clear_surface in LFPG disappear just from opening the enhanced LFPG.bgl of MSFS2020 in ADE, and recompiling it without any changes. However, that might be possible to manipulate through other means. Just being able to change/correct taxiways and taxi signs is rewarding.
Clear as a surface type is new in MSFS and if an airport with clear surface aprons is loaded into ADE they may be in the wrong priority order. That is ADE shows them above other apron surfaces where they should be beneath to let other aprons show through. There is a way to draw clear surface aprons lower in the drawing order in ADE. What I need to do is identify the actual drawing order for apron surfaces in MSFS.
 
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I'm seeing some confusion around standard and premium or premium deluxe versions of airports. While airports that are available in the premium or premium deluxe editions are also available in the standard edition, they are "enhanced" or "hand crafted" in the premium or premium deluxe editions, BUT those enhancements are encrypted (hence the *.fsarchive files). While it is possible to modify a standard edition airport via the usual means, it is not possible (at this time) to modify an enhanced airport for those that have the premium or premium deluxe edition.

From what I understand, if one has the premium or premium deluxe edition, when MSFS is loading an airport into the virtual file system, it loads the standard edition data, then loads the premium data over that, then loads the community addon data over all that. But, since the community addon does not know anything about the premium or premium deluxe data, lots of weird things can happen. Which is why one must uninstall the premium airport from content manager in order to use a community addon airport.

The upshot of this is that if one simply wants to fix up the parking spaces and/or taxiways at an airport that is enhanced and encrypted for the premium or premium deluxe editions, one would have to start with the standard edition airport, make the changes to the parking and/or taxiways and then add in everything that the premium or premium deluxe airport adds/changes without knowing exactly what those changes are. And then instruct the end user to uninstall the premium or premium deluxe airport.

Of course, I could be completely wrong about all this.

...jim
 
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