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A R T I C L E C O N T E N T S
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1. Introduction/Article Overview
2. The MSFS 98 Installation or Program Directory
3. Installing Aircraft in MSFS 98
4. The "Aircraft" Sub-Folder and it's component Files/Folders
5. The "Texture" Sub-Folder and Texture File
6. The "Gauges" Sub-Folder and Gauage Files
7. The "Scenery" Sub-Folder and Scenery Files
8. The "Sound" Sub-Folder and "Wave" Sound Files
9. The "Adv" Sub-Folder and Adventure Files
10. Global File Pool Folders
11. Legal Disclaimer
Microsoft's Flight Simulator is very diverse in that you can create your own Add-on modules
such as Aircraft, Scenery, Adventures and Sound, or even customize the existing ones!!
This article serves to explain the fundamentals of Flight Simulator's component files, and
how they are organised in a specific directory structure of Sub-Folders. There are also
descriptions of files, explanations of there purpose and information on how to go about
creating such components.
2. MSFS 98 Installation or Program Directory
--------------------------------------------
This is the directory in which you installed MSFS 98. The MSFS 98 program directory is
usually something like...
However it depends on where you installed MSFS 98. Mine for instance is...
"D:\Programs\Flight\FS98\"
This is because this is where I installed MSFS 98 (I prefer the shorter and more logical
path!).
3. Installing Aircraft in MSFS 98
---------------------------------
There is an "Aircraft" sub-folder underneath the MSFS 98 Installation directory, i.e.
"[MSFS 98 Installation Directory]\Aircraft"
This is the folder that contains the Aircraft files. Each Aircraft has its own sub-folders
within "[MSFS 98 Installation Directory]\Aircraft". All aircraft you add to MSFS 98 should
installed within sub-folders of "Aircraft"
4. Summary of Aircraft's Sub-Folder and its component Files/Folders
-------------------------------------------------------------------
As each aircraft has its own sub-folder, this contains other sub-folders containing the
component files that comprise the aircraft, such as panel bitmaps, texture files, sound
files, model files, air files and configuration files. You will find that the Aircraft's
aub-folder will have the following layout...
*.air (Aircraft Files)
*.cfg (Config and Checklist files)
Any other files such as documentation.
This is the Aircraft's main directory and will contain the *.air file(s). The Aircraft file
defines the Flight Characteristics of the aircraft. Sometimes documentation can be found in
this or other sub-folders. The Configuration file defines the Name of.
(appearing in the "Select Aircraft" list in MSFS 98).
Checklist files may also be present.
*.bmp (Panel Bitmap)
*.cfg (Panel configuration files)
Any other files such as documentation.
Contains Bitmap image(s) and Panel configuration file. The panel configuration file
determines how to draw the Bitmap on the screen (as the cockpit), what Gauges are to be
loaded and where they are to be positioned on the screen.
To find out more about the Panel files, see the Microsoft SDK...
Download the Microsoft MSFS 98 SDK (Software Development Kit).
*.?AF (R8 texture files)
*.??? (Any other texture files)
Contains Texture files that are applied to the Aircraft's visual model. These texture
files give the aircraft it's color and Livery. Texture files are Raw bitmap images
(without the Header info).
5. The Texture Sub-Folder and Texture Files
-------------------------------------------
The texture folder is a global file pool containing R8 texture files that are used to
cover objects or the ground. Textures are usually tiled and wrapped around an object such
as a building, mountain or even water.
The R8 texture file is actually a bitmap without its header information, as all textures can
contain 256 colors with the FS Palette, this means that the Header information is not needed.
To convert an R8 texture file to a bitmap (bmp) file you need to add Header information.
Conversely to convert a bitmap file into an R8 texture file you need to strip the Header
information. However FS expects/assumes a particular specific header information of 256
colors and 64x64 pixel dimensions..
R8 Texture files can be created in PaintBrush (.bmp format) and converted to R8 files.
6. The Gauges Sub-Folder and Gauge Files
----------------------------------------
The guages folder contains guage files that are placed on the cockpit panel bitmap(s) and are
responsible for presenting the flight data in a visual format. Gauge files are actually DLLs
(Dynamic Link Library files) that are used by windows to store portions of re-usable code that
are loaded when required and binded dynamically to the program running.
Gauge files can be created using C++, see the Microsoft SDK...
Download the Microsoft MSFS 98 SDK (Software Development Kit).
7. The Scenery Sub-Folder and Scenery Files
-------------------------------------------
The scenery folder contains scenery files (*.bgl) that contain data regarding terrain and
objects for a particular geographical location. BGL files are like tiles that are placed
around the surface of the globe. Terrain and Objects defined in the BGL can use Textures
(i.e can wrap a texture around the object or terrain), for example if a BGL file defines
a mountain within its area then it could use a Mountain texture file (called something like
Mountn.R8) that can be used for the mountains texture.
The scenery folder has sub-folders that define geographical regions. These geographical
regions have been pre-setup by default but can be altered or added to using the Scenery
Manager. You can arrange your scenery in layers.
BGL Scenery files can be created by writing a script and then compiling it with a BGL
compiler such as BGLComp or SCASM (Scenery Assembler).
8. The Sound Sub-Folder and "Wave" Sound Files
----------------------------------------------
The scenery folder is a global file pool containing sound files which are in Wave format,
i.e you can use Windows Sound Recorder to record Wave files.
9. Adv Sub-Folder and AdventureFiles
------------------------------------
The Adv folder contains Adventure Files (*.Adv). You can create you own adventures using
Microsoft's Adventure Programming Language (APL). Once you have created your APL program
you can then compile it using APLC (Adventure Programming Language Compiler) which is part
of the MSFS SDK.
Aventure files can be created using APL, see the Microsoft SDK...
Download the Microsoft MSFS 98 SDK (Software Development Kit).
10. Global File Pool Folders...
-------------------------------
A global file pool is a folder that contains files that can be accessed from all flight
simulator files that require its files. For example the Aircraft Sub-Folder contains a
Texture directory, if an R8 texture file required by an Aircraft's *.Air File is found
in...
"[MSFS 98 Installation Directory]\Texture"
It takes presidence over a file with the same name in the aircraft's Sub-Folder...
In other words it will use files from the "Global" Texture folder in preference to files
with the same name in the Aircrafts Texture folder.
You should therefore be careful when placing files in the "Global" folders, because they
are used in preference. This phenomenon also applies to the "Sound" folder as well.
11. Legal Disclaimer
--------------------
The Information contained herein is strictly for educational/entertainment purposes only. Neither Pakistan Virtual Aviation nor myself will be held responsible for keeping it up-to-date, any mistakes within. or any harm that is caused to you or your computer.
You may freely distribute this document (within full ZIP archive), un-altered and without charge.
