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MSFS Today's update changes heading for ALL new objects

Messages
149
Today's update to MSFS "fixed" the Asobo default windsock orientation problem, not by rotating their object 180 degrees, but rather by changing the default orientation for the placement of ALL new objects from the previous default of -179.999 degrees to a new default of zero degrees. This has no impact on any objects already placed in sceneries, but it means that new objects placed after the update will default to a heading of zero degrees. For most objects, this is a non-issue. But for libraries of SimObjects designed to rotate with the ambient wind direction, this is a big deal. If the object was designed to point the right direction when placed with the previously default heading of -179.999 degrees, then there is a difficult choice to make. If you do nothing to the object library, newly placed objects will now have the same problem that the default windsock used to have: they will point the wrong direction unless you rotate them 180 degrees when placing them. But previously placed objects will still work, because they already have a heading of -179.999 degrees. If you rotate the source object in the object library, newly placed objects will point the right direction, but previously placed objects will now point the wrong direction unless you edit the existing sceneries to change the headings of these existing objects to match the new default heading of zero degrees. A real mess.
 
Messages
149
I found a solution to the problem introduced by today's Asobo windsock "fix" by digging into the animation code that is used by SimObjects to rotate with the wind. The standard windsock uses this template to animate with wind direction:
XML:
<ModelBehaviors>
    <Include Path="Asobo\Misc\SimObjects.xml"/>
    <Component ID="WindSock">
        <UseTemplate Name="ASOBO_WindDirection_Template"/>
    </Component>
</ModelBehaviors>
In turn, the ASOBO_WindDirection_Template looks like this:
XML:
<Template Name="ASOBO_WindDirection_Template">
    <DefaultTemplateParameters>
        <ANIM_NAME>Orientation</ANIM_NAME>
    </DefaultTemplateParameters>
    <UseTemplate Name="ASOBO_GT_Anim_Code">
        <ANIM_CODE>(A:AMBIENT WIND DIRECTION,degrees) 180 + dnor</ANIM_CODE>
        <ANIM_WRAP>1</ANIM_WRAP>
        <ANIM_LENGTH>360</ANIM_LENGTH>
    </UseTemplate>
</Template>
The key bit of code is this: <ANIM_CODE>(A:AMBIENT WIND DIRECTION,degrees) 180 + dnor</ANIM_CODE>, which orients the windsock using the wind direction plus 180 degrees. It turns out that you can make a windsock or flag orient itself to the wind, regardless of the rotation of the underlying SimObject in the scene by simply taking the object's heading into account. So I rewrote the ModelBehaviors code as follows, and now all of my Windy Things library objects maintain their proper orientation to the wind, no matter how you rotate the object in the scene:
XML:
<ModelBehaviors>
    <Include Path="Asobo\Misc\SimObjects.xml"/>
    <Component ID="WindDir">
        <UseTemplate Name="ASOBO_GT_Anim_Code">
            <ANIM_NAME>Orientation</ANIM_NAME>
            <ANIM_CODE>(A:AMBIENT WIND DIRECTION,degrees) (A:PLANE HEADING DEGREES TRUE,degrees) - dnor</ANIM_CODE>
            <ANIM_WRAP>1</ANIM_WRAP>
            <ANIM_LENGTH>360</ANIM_LENGTH>
        </UseTemplate>
    </Component>
</ModelBehaviors>
I simply subtract the heading of the object from the wind direction, and the result keeps the windsock or flag perfectly aligned with the wind.
 
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