AI Carriers .NET

[PhantomTweak]

Woofta!
THAT is a program. I will try it out as soon as the RTWR is over...
Pat☺

[PhantomTweak]

Here I go again! 
Does anyone know what the line
<NewConsole>True</NewConsole>
Means in the EXE.xml file? The example exe.xml file (sample_exe.xml) provided with the latest AICarriers .NET release I just downloaded contains that line in the AICarriers section. I just want to be certain I have the right setting in it, or if I should delete the line, comment it out, whatever.
My thanks in advance for any advice on this.
Pat☺

[andy1252]

Hi folks,

I know this wonderful add-on is only shown as being for FSX, FSX/SE and P3D v1 & v2, but is there any known workround to get it working under P3Dv3? I had it working fine under P3D 2.5, but with 3.1 it seems to actually load into memory ok, but doesn't appear to function (doesn't show up in the Add-ons menu and won't pop-up via keyboard). Plus, it remains in memory and sits humming at around 10-15% CPU even after P3D shuts down.

Some folks on the P3D forums seem to be implying it works but I can't get it to do so. I know it's being recognised in the exe.xml as I set that to request manual loading and it did issue the request to load. As it is also quite apparently running on the machine, I assume there's a connection issue with P3D v3 but I don't know enough about simconnect (I assume) to know where to look.

Any advice gratefully received

Andy

[ctec1]

I can confirm it is working with P3DV3.2. I havent installed Javiers Nimitz just yet but the default carrier is working just fine but there is hiccup using the P3D menu with my mouse. That could be an issue on my end so for now I just select items on the menu via keyboard.

Different versions of SimConnect can be found in your P3d install folder.  For example,  D:\P3D_V3\redist\Interface\FSX-SP2-XPACK\retail\lib\SimConnect.msi to install

[andy1252]

Hi Ctec1,

thanks for the pointer, but I think I'm still a bit in the dark here. Found those simconnect installs, tried the FSX-SP2 one as shown, didn't make any difference. Can't see any reference to simconnect in the AI Carriers readme - would it assume it's available anyway?

Sorry to be a bit dense, but am a bit puzzled by this.

Andy

[ggi]

P3Dv3 and Win10 - I've edited the exe.xml and the AI Ships option appears in P3D header, but only item on the header menu is <Press Shift + J for menu>. I've installed the SimConnect for FSX SP2 but still no ship pop-up menu appears. Tried running AICarriers.exe manually, but still no ships menu.
Any ideas?
Gary

[ctec1]

Sorry guys not sure whats going on with your setups. I never went the exe.xml route on my system , always load it manually. This discussion got me looking into my install and I got something that may be the culprit. When I first installed the AICarriers2 (net version)  I had to make an exclusion in my antivirus program (BitDefender). After that was done it worked fine. Ive been using the same install of AICarriers2 (net version) since release even through multiple upgrades of P3D and it always worked. Only had to reinstall Javiers Nimitz with each upgrade.

Sorry I didnt mention this fact earlier but I cant remember what I did yesterday not alone things I did over a year ago. Hope it helps.

[andy1252]

Hi again,

still not loading (post av exclusion). If I load it manually after P3D is started everything is fine, so I guess there's got to be something weird about my exe.xml. Can't see it but will continue to experiment. Probably a typo that I'm having a blind spot about.

cheers,

Andy

[PhantomTweak]

Can you post your EXE.XML so maybe we can see the typo or whatever it is that you are missing?
Are you using the included example exe.xml entry in the AICarriers.NET download, with only the path to YOUR installation of AICarriers.NET changed? Are you certain your path is correct in the exe.xml entry? All the backslashes, dots, commas, and so on correct? No doubles or missing ones? All the folder names correct? Is AICarriers.NET executable correctly specified? IE: Aicarriers.exe. Is the path to a shortcut, or to the actual executable?
Just a couple possible ideas...
Pat☺

[andy1252]

Hi Pat (and everybody else),

Ok, got a resolution now. My AICarriers directory had been sitting outside of the P3D main directory (i.e. I had "G:\P3DV3" with all its subdirs like ORBX etc, but also "G:\000 Utils\AICarriers" as I had set up all my utilities in this subdir as they were shared with FSX). My exe.xml was set to point to this "G:\000 Utils\AICarriers" for the AICarriers.exe - <Path>G:\000 Utils\AICarriers\AICarriers.exe</Path>.

I moved the AICarriers directory to be under P3D (G:\P3DV3\AICarriers) and amended the exe.xml to <Path>AICarriers\AICarriers.exe</Path> and all is now ok.

Pretty sure it was working fine the original way with my P3D 2.5 system, but can't check now as all deleted and replaced with 3.1. AICarriers was one of the last things I was setting up after the upgrade. So not sure I'm any the wiser, but I guess there may be something in the way an "external" path is handled via xml. Good to have it working again though, I'd forgotten how much fun it is!

cheers,

Andy

[PhantomTweak]

Congrats! Glad you got it going!
Having AICarriers under the P3D folder may be a quirk of P3D3.1, since I have my AICarriers no where near my FSX-SE folder, and it works fine in the EXE.XML file. From what I can tell, your pathing was correct, at least from what you showed as to where it was located, but again, maybe a quirk peculiar to P3DV3.

A way to test it is to put vLSO (presuming you have it) outside of the P3D folder someplace, like maybe your Utils folder or on your C:\ drive or whatever, and see if the EXE.XML will load it up. If it won't, but does if you move it the P3D folder, you will have a certainty about it. You will know for sure it just a P3dv3 quirk.

Make certain you have admin rights to the folder it's in too, like your Utils or wherever. That may have, in some odd way, have been you problem.
I'm just grasping at straws, though.

Glad you got it going, anyway
Pat☺

[72westy]

I'm unable to get AICarriers to start with P3Dv3.2. It (AICarriers) will start and operate/function correctly by clicking on it's .exe after minimizing P3D. It will then shutdown correctly after exiting P3D. The following is my line within the exe.xml. Anyone got any idea/s?

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?>
<SimBase.Document Type="Launch" version="1,0">
  <Descr>Launch</Descr>
  <Filename>exe.xml</Filename>
  <Disabled>False</Disabled>
  <Launch.ManualLoad>False</Launch.ManualLoad>
  <Launch.Addon>
    <Name>AICarriers</Name>
    <Disabled>False</Disabled>
    <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>
    <Path>D:\Prepar3D v3\AICarriers\AICarriers.exe</Path>
  </Launch.Addon>
</SimBase.Document>

[PhantomTweak]

All *I* can see as a possibility is that maybe the path to the AICarriers.exe file is mistyped/typo'd somehow?
Everything else looks right to me, for whatevre good that is. IE: it looks the same as mine (other than the path, obviously), and mine works correctly. In FSX-SE, but I believe the exe.xml is pretty much the same...
I would double check the path, if it were me. I always take and cut-n-paste the path right off the screen, rather than try to type it in, given my...ahem...capabilities as a typist.
Pat☺

[Orion]

I don't have Prepar3D v3 and thus haven't been able to test it myself.  You shouldn't need to install any legacy SimConnect libraries as AI Carriers .NET makes use of Tim Gregson's managed SimConnect library.  As long as Prepar3D v3 sets the registry key for the SimConnect ports for previous versions of the simulator (and previous versions of P3D have done this), I don't see why it shouldn't work.  I've heard reports of FS Active Fires (another utility I've made) working with Prepar3D v3, so I suspect AI Carriers .NET should work as well.

Here I go again! 
Does anyone know what the line
<NewConsole>True</NewConsole>
Means in the EXE.xml file? The example exe.xml file (sample_exe.xml) provided with the latest AICarriers .NET release I just downloaded contains that line in the AICarriers section. I just want to be certain I have the right setting in it, or if I should delete the line, comment it out, whatever.
My thanks in advance for any advice on this.
Pat☺

I'm not sure where you downloaded, as AI Carriers .NET hasn't been changed since the initial release on December 25, 2014, and the initial release doesn't contain that line in the sample exe.xml file.  The only place I've uploaded it to is GitHub (https://github.com/ollyau/AICarriers/releases).  Any other download should be at your own discretion; I can't vouch for the validity or integrity of the package if you've obtained it from other sources.

That said, I suspect that entry in the exe.xml file would create a new console (i.e. command line) window for whatever entry you add it to, provided it's set to true.

[Tregarth]

72Westy,

I may be telling you what you already know but I am in the process of moving to P3D v3.3 on a Win 10 PC.  One of the programs I am moving from FSX is AICarriers.

After much trial and many errors I have used the following approach.

1.  Create a folder AICarriers In the P3D v3 directory.
2.  Copy Conf.d , AICarriers.CFG and AiCarriers.EXE into it.
3.  Copy the file Sample_EXE.XML into the AppData\Roaming\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3d v3    folder
4.  Open the XML file (I use Notepad++, it is very easy to use)
5.  Click on the Sample_EXE.XML file; in the address bar this will show the file's path as   C>ProgramFiles(x86)>.....>AICarriers>AICarriers.exe
6.  Click on the address, you will see the file's a address change to C:\Program Files(x86)\.....\AICarriers\AICarriers.exe
7.  You can copy this and paste it into the .XML file (after removing the existing text)
8.  Save

The advantage of is method is that the path and file name is created by the PC so all the ":" and spaces etc. are correct and there is no confusion over "l" and "1" etc.
     
Good luck,

Tregarth