MCAS Yuma
Version: 1.0
For FS 2004 / FS9
Initial Release Date: May 2008
Package Integrator: Cornelius Black
What would MCAS Yuma be without its signature aircraft, the AV/8B Harrier II? You don’t have to worry about it as Nick Black’s AI
Harrier takes to the skies over Arizona. Tag along with the US Marines of MAG -13 as they fly low and slow through the ranges in Arizona and Southern California. Included with this outstanding new AI model is custom scenery for MCAS Yuma. Fly with the Harriers and find their targets (look for smoke and fire!) throughout military ranges in the Southwestern United States.
(use hyperlinks to navigate)
1. About MAIW
2. Credits
3. Units Included in This Package
4. Installation
7. Permissions and Disclaimers
Military AI Works (MAIW) is a loosely affiliated, international group of flightsim enthusiasts who share the common goal of seeing realistic military AI traffic in MS Flightsim. Our goals:
1) Produce only high quality, freeware packages and products
2) Create military AI traffic accurately within the bounds of MS Flightsim
3) Promote new freeware military AI models, scenery and products
4) Advance military AI modeling of countries around the globe
5) Respect the rights of designers and contributors
To learn more about MAIW or to become a contributor, visit our website at http://www.militaryaiworks.com.
2. Credits
Flightplans
- Cornelius Black
Afcad
- Edith Black
Repaints
- Graham King
Voicepacks:
- Edith Black/Mike MacIntyre
Models
- Nick Black’s AV/8B Harrier II
FDE Design
- Mike MacIntyre
Scenery/Landclass
- Edith Black and Cornelius Black/ Others
Effects
- Edith Black/Mike MacIntyre
Marine Aircraft Group 13
VMA-211
AV/8B Harrier
Callsigns: Wake
VMA-214
AV/8B Harrier
Callsigns: Ram, Sheep, Driver
VMA-311
AV/8B Harrier
Callsigns: Cat, Sniper
VMA-513
AV/8B Harrier
Callsigns: Nightmare
Step 1) Install this package
1) Install the package in accordance with the on-screen prompts
Step 2) Remove duplicate AFCAD files
1) Open your “Flight Simulator 9/Addon Scenery/scenery” folder and remove any previously installed AFCADs for Yuma (KYUM). Look for any AFCADs with MAIW or nMAI in their name, where "n" is any single digit number.
The installer will have added the following
AFCAD files to your Addon Scenery/Scenery folder:
KYUM
BG01
BG02
BG03
BG04
GB01
MA31
MAI6
MAI7
MAI8
NOTE: Failure to remove these duplicate files may result in problems with AI aircraft parking and operation. It is recommended you move these to a temporary folder instead of deleting them; however, you should not need them again as the AFCADs included in this package are thoroughly researched and highly detailed.
Step 3) Install callsign voicepacks
A) If you don’t have the EditVoicepack 3.1 freeware installed, download it and install it.
B) Run EditVoicepack and import these.vcpmod files included in with this installation:
Callsigns
Cat
Driver
Nightmare
Ram
Sheep
Sniper
Wake
Waypoints
Bristol MOA
El Centro Range
Goldwater 1
Goldwater 2
Goldwater 3
Goldwater 4
Range 1
Socal Range
Aircraft
Harrier
C) Choose “Import” from the “File” menu
D) Find the folder “Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9\Military AI Works\USA\USMC\ MCAS Yuma\Voicepack Callsigns” in the “Look in:” window
E) Click CTL +A and select all files, then click “open”
F) Update the Voicepack for FS9 by choosing “Update Voicepack” from the “File” menu--ensure the “Custom/Callsigns” box is checked in the left hand window. (Note: the update may take a few minutes—do not attempt to start FS9 until the update is complete. Look for “Ready” in the lower left corner)
****Note: You may perform steps 4 and 5 at the same time if required.
Step 4) Activate the MAIW Scenery Library Objects folder
***Note: You only need to enable this folder once, all MAIW packages with scenery enhancements will now use this folder and the objects will automatically load into the sim as long at the folder has been added to your scenery library previously.. If you already have this folder activated, you may skip this installation step.
4a) Open up FS9 and click on the “Settings” menu.
4b) Click on the “Scenery Library” menu.
4c) Click on “Add Area”
4d) Locate your FS9/Addon Scenery folder and click on it
4e) Inside your FS9/Addon Scenery folder, find the folder titled: MAIW Scenery Library Objects and select that folder to add it to your scenery library.
4f) Once the new folder (MAIW Scenery Library Objects) is displayed on your scenery library list, make sure it is located below (a lower priority) than your Addon Scenery folder.
4g) Make sure the “Enabled” check box is checked and select “OK” from the bottom of the screen.
4h) Exit Flight Simulator and restart so that the new scenery objects will be activated.
Step 5) Activate the MAIW MCAS Yuma Custom Scenery
5a) Open up FS9 and click on the “Settings” menu.
5b) Click on the “Scenery Library” menu.
5c) Click on “Add Area”
5d) Locate your FS9/Addon Scenery folder and click on it
5e) Inside your FS9/Addon Scenery folder, find the folder titled: MAIW MCAS Yuma and select that folder to add it to your scenery library.
5f) Once the new folder (MAIW MCAS Yuma) is displayed on your scenery library list, make sure it is located below (a lower priority) than your Addon Scenery folder.
5g) Make sure the “Enabled” check box is checked and select “OK” from the bottom of the screen.
5h) Exit Flight Simulator and restart so that the new scenery objects will be activated.
That’s it! You’ve successfully installed this package. Your AI traffic files will be automatically updated the next time you run FS9.
Problems addressed:
“I’ve installed the package, but there are no Military AI aircraft at the airports”
“When I go to an airport, there are AI planes parked on top of one another”
“I can’t find the aircraft in the aircraft selection menu”
“When the Military AI planes talk to ATC, they use only numbers, not callsigns”
“I’m following the Military AI aircraft, and they won’t come back for touch-and-go’s”
“I’ve installed the scenery enhancements per your instructions, but nothing shows up”
“Only some of the scenery enhancements are showing up”
“I’ve got other scenery buildings interfering with the MAIW scenery enhancements”
“I’ve got civilian traffic taxiing across my military ramps”
Problem: “I’ve installed the package, but there are no Military AI aircraft at the airports”
Potential issue: FS9 AI traffic density set too low
Fix action: In FS9, set the AI traffic density slider to at least 60%.
Problem: “When I go to an airport, there are AI planes parked on top of one another”
Potential issue: Multiple AFCADs active for the same airport
Fix action: Using Windows Explorer, open the folder “Flight Simulator 9/Addon scenery/scenery.” Look for duplicate entries for the following airport identifier:
KLRF
Files may be named in several ways. The most common are “AF2_KXXX.bgl,” “AF2_KXXX_DEFAULT_XX.bgl” and “PAI_AF2_DEFAULT.bgl.” Keep the files named “AF2_KXXX_DEFAULT_RM.bgl” and remove all others with duplicate airport identifiers.
Problem: “I can’t find the aircraft in the aircraft selection menu”
Issue: These are AI aircraft and have been programmed to not show up in the flyable aircraft selection menu
Fix action: If you simply must select these aircraft, use an editing program such as AirEd and change the Aircraft type from “0” to “2”
Problem: “When the Military AI planes talk to ATC, they use only numbers, not callsigns”
Potential issue: Callsign Voicepacks were not installed correctly
Fix action: Run the EditVoicepack software. Look in the “custom modifications/callsigns” section of the program and check that all the callsigns in the folder “Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9\Military AI Works\USA\USMC\MCAS Yuma\Voicepack Callsigns” were added.
If any of these are missing, choose “File/import” and open the appropriate .vcpmod file in the folder “Program Files/Microsoft Games/Flight Simulator 9/Military AI Works/USA\USMC/MCAS Yuma\Voicepack Callsigns”
Once this is complete, or if all callsigns are present, ensure the “Custom/Callsigns” box is checked in the left hand window and choose “File/Update Voicepack” to install them into FS9 (this may take a few minutes, do not open FS9 until the lower left of the EditVoicepack screen says “Ready.”)
Problem: “I’m following the Military AI aircraft, and they won’t come back for touch-and-go’s”
Potential issue: You’re following your AI aircraft
Fix action: Stop following your AI aircraft. For some reason, a watched AI aircraft does not always behave the way it is programmed to. If you wait for the aircraft at the airport, it will usually arrive on schedule
Problem: “I’ve installed the scenery per your instructions, but nothing shows up.”
Potential issue: You failed to activate the scenery folders by restarting Flight Simulator.
Fix action: Close Flight Simulator and restart.
Problem: “Only some of the scenery is showing up.”
Potential issue: Your scenery complexity slider is not set high enough.
Fix action: Open up your “Settings” menu, select a higher slider level for the “Scenery Complexity”. For the Yuma scenery, the minimum level must be set to “Normal”.
Problem: “I’ve got other scenery buildings interfering with the MAIW scenery.”
Potential issue: You’ve got conflicting sceneries for the same location.
Fix action: You must decide which files to keep and which to discard. If you have other sceneries for this location, you may be able to selectively delete certain objects, one at a time to prevent conflicts from the other scenery files. You cannot delete individual objects from the MAIW scenery, they are all contained in one file.
Problem: “I’ve already got the scenery libraries that you included with this package, do I need to install them again?”
Potential issue: You may have duplicate files which are unnecessary, or interfering with this or other sceneries..
Fix action: MAIW will be locating all generic scenery libraries (and their associated files) that we plan on using repeatedly such as the ground service vehicles from John Stinstrom, inside the MAIW Scenery Library Objects folder from now on. Certain other scenery libraries that we only plan to use once will be located within the custom scenery’s main folder. We can not predict what potential issues this may or may not cause on an individual’s system. If you have multiple versions of the same libraries, you can try deleting the files one at a time to see if they are affected. However, as long as the scenery libraries that are being used for scenery on your computer are located inside an active scenery folder on your system, the actual location of that scenery library, should not matter. So in theory you should be able to use just one copy of a scenery object library for all of your sceneries that might make use of those objects. As always we encourage our users to visit our forums for any support issues relating to our packages.
Problem: “I’ve got civilian traffic taxiing across my military ramps.”
Potential issue: Limitation of the Flight Simulator ATC engine..
Fix action: The easy solution is to just live with this situation. However, if you are ambitious, there are a couple of possible ways to deal with this. One would be to rename your KYUM afcad ICAO identifier to something like “YUM1” and change all of the flightplans for military aircraft using this base to the new identifier. However if you do this, you will not have any civilian traffic using Yuma unless you create a new, invisible afcad to go underneath the original MCAS Yuma afcad. The civilian afcad would carry the correct KYUM identifier. However there are issues with ATC frequencies, ground control, conflicting traffic etc. to this method. Another method you might try if you know the procedure is to apply the “star” afcading technique. In initial testing we tried to use this method to activate multiple runways at Yuma. While the takeoffs and landings worked, there were a host of issues related to how the aircraft taxied around the field. Many aircraft got stuck and would time out or ended up in a head to head situation with another aircraft which causes both aircraft to time out. Unfortunately the Flight Simulator ATC engine just can not properly handle a multiple runway, multiple use airport such as Yuma.
This package was built by the Military AI Works online community. If you are interested in making Military AI traffic more realistic, visit this site!
Flightplans:
Flightplans were installed using Lee Swordy’s TrafficTools freeware traffic compiler.
Callsigns:
The callsigns used in this package are actual callsigns used by these units based on information found online. While squadrons generally use several different callsigns for training missions, the aircraft in this pack have all been assigned one of the callsigns available at random.
All callsigns were created using the ingenious EditVoicepack freeware. This program is extremely simple and fun to use—if you need a new AI callsign, give it a try!
AFCADs:
All AFCADs were created using Lee Swordy’s AFCAD v2.21. This has got to be one of the finest freeware programs ever created. Want to add some AI parking to your local airport? AFCAD makes it fun!
7. Permissions and Disclaimers
Credits:
Graham King: for painting a hundred aircraft of some obscure country at the drop of a hat. Thank you so much.
Stewart Pearson: Get better soon..
John Stinstrom: Thank you for your invaluable help, John. You can see much of John’s work on Avsim and all of the pretty yellow vehicles at Yuma belong to John! John also has a texture on one of the hangars…you can tell that one is better than the rest!
Kevin Wynn: Thank you for use of your excellent Fed Ex trucks. These small details really make a scenery come to life. Kevin has some work available on Avsim and word is; he is getting back into the flight sim scene. You just can’t get away can you!
Matthew Tomkins: If you have downloaded any add on sceneries you probably have on of Matt’s tree libraries. Matt has graciously allowed MAIW to use his trees in our freeware sceneries and you will find elements of Matt’s Trees Voulmes 10 and 11 in this package. You can find all of Matt’s libraries on Avsim, of course.
Adverse Effects:
The contents of this package should not adversely affect your FS9 or computer operation if installed according to the instructions. The authors make no guarantee and bear no responsibility for adverse operation or lost/overwritten files on your computer.
Use of Contents:
THESE FILES MAY ONLY BE UPLOADED TO AVSIM or FLIGHTSIM.COM BY THE AUTHOR(s)
THESE FILES MAY NOT BE UPLOADED TO ANY OTHER SITE WITHOUT THE AUTHOR'S WRITTEN PERMISSION. THESE MODELS,REPAINTS AND FLIGHTPLANS ARE FREEWARE AND MAY NOT BE SOLD, OR PUT ON ANY SITE THAT CHARGES FOR DOWNLOADING FREE FILES. THE FILES FOUND IN THIS ARCHIVE MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED ON CD OR ANY MEDIUM FOR ANY KIND OF FEE, INCLUDING THE COST OF PRODUCTION, MATERIALS OR POSTAGE. THE MODELS, REPAINTS AND FLIGHTPLANS OWNERSHIP REMAIN WITH THE AUTHORS AS MENTIONED IN THE PACKAGE
Upload to FSPLANET.com will never be allowed by Military AI Works.
Any questions, suggestions and feedback on the contents may be directed to the forums at www.militaryaiworks.com.
Sources:
All information used to create this package was obtained via online, open-source research. All flight plans and schedules, while reasonable for military units, are fictional.