Creating Carriers in "Free Flight".

[micro]

A lot of people have been having trouble with the carriers in free flight. And while they are around, they do move so it's tough to find them (just like in real life!). So here is the step by step to making your own carriers where ever you want without any add-ons.

Make sure you have the Acceleration SDK installed. If you don't, or if you have another version other than the one that came with Acceleration, you need to install the Acceleration version.

IMPORTANT: YOU MUST INSTALL THE ACCELERATION VERSION OF SDK FOR IT TO WORK.

The proper SDK version is on your Acceleration disk. To install it, insert your disk into the ROM drive as normal. If it begins to Autoplay, exit out. Then right-click on your ROM drive and choose "Explore". There you will find the SDK installer. Double-click the installer and follow as promted.

IMPORTANT: INSTALL THE SDK INTO THE DEFAULT FOLDER. IF YOU CHOOSE ANOTHER FOLDER IT WILL CAUSE PROBLEMS LATER.

The next time you fly in FSXA you should see a "Tools" option when you click "ALT" for the Menu Bar. (If not PM me).

Create a flight at any coastal airport of your choosing. Take off and fly out to sea. When you are in a position over the water that you like (you must be over the water for this to work), pause the game. Hit "ALT" to get the Menu Bar. Under "Tools" choose "Traffic Toolbox" and then "Explorer". In the Explorer window, right-click and then click "Create".

Click the "Non-Aircraft" option toward the bottom. Then, from the vehicle drop-down list, choose "veh_carrier01_high_detail_sm". Back toward the bottom, click the "Select Coords" button. At the top of the new window select the "User aircraft" option. The postion of your airplane will then appear in the coordinates. Finally, make sure that you enter a "0" in the "altitude" section. Otherwise the carrier will have a long drop down to the water.

Click "OK". Unpause the game and look down. If you did it all right there should be a carrier right under you.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. -Micro

[SUBS17]

Will this work in MP? As so far I have yet to see Carriers moving in MP.

[vortex_25]

will it be a moving or stationary carrier?

also, what is this "SDK" thing I keep reading about?

[micro]

Not sure if it will work in MP as nobody wants to fly with me . Give it a shot and let me know. They will be stationary for now. When I figure out how to get them moving I'll let you know.

SDK (Software Development Kit) comes with FSX Deluxe only. It is various tools that allow you to configure FSX the way you want it. Traffic, terrain, objects, effects, etc. All can be tweaked with SDK. While it's not a "must have", it is a "should have".

[fael097]

i'll fly with you lol
i've been flying in a server where the host's aircraft is a carrier, wich you have to download so you can see it and use it...
the idea is cool, it also has a 2d cockpit, but most of the instruments are there just to fill space, and the carrier is buggy, catapults doesnt work, and looks like its 10 times more difficult to land on that carrier than on a regular AI carrier lol

[SUBS17]

So that must be why I keep seeing a 747 floating in the ocean on some servers claiming to have a Carrier. So far I've only seen one online and it was in a port (Norfolk I think) and the meatball and wires weren't working.

[fael097]

So that must be why I keep seeing a 747 floating in the ocean on some servers claiming to have a Carrier. So far I've only seen one online and it was in a port (Norfolk I think) and the meatball and wires weren't working.

lol exactly, it will appear as a floating 747 if you dont have the carrier downloaded... you can also make your own carrier and put the same name as the server one and it should be fine.
the only problem with player controlled carriers, is that nobody ever made a carrier that works... well i havent seen one with the catapult working

[SUBS17]

So what if someone created a mission for MP that used the FSX-acceleration carrier would the carrier load then for the clients. I wonder if the mission script for the Carrier Quals mission could be modded for MP? Then you could also have LSO. What I think MS needs to do is say right from now on Acceleration carrier should be the standard and all others should use it as a template. They should also fix it for MP so the Norfolk one in particular can be seen by everyone and tracks the same path in MP. Before my Squadron would use FSX they'd need to add TACAN/ILS and LSOs/ATC and of course working weapons.

[fael097]

i read somewhere a way to make ai traffic carriers work for MP... not sure where tho, i'll check out if i find something

[Intrepid]

I have a working carrier (catapults and traps ) it came with the Flight Deck 4 add-on
only real problem is Carrier is stationary.It does show on the GPS though, Abacus has
a new Flight Deck 5  out now but I don't have any experience with it (yet)
Randy

[SUBS17]

I've heard that FD5 is not quite compatible with acceleration and also I think the Acceleration carrier ops are better than from what I've seen eventhough FD5 features ground crew I'd have to try it out before I could give it the thumbs up. BTW accelerations Hornet and its pit far,far better than anything from Abacus.

[fael097]

flight deck sucks, i had to uninstall my fd5

[Intrepid]

I've heard that FD5 is not quite compatible with acceleration and also I think the Acceleration carrier ops are better than from what I've seen even though FD5 features ground crew I'd have to try it out before I could give it the thumbs up. BTW accelerations Hornet and its pit far,far better than anything from Abacus.

I am glad to read that someone has experienced FD5. I was thinking about buying the abacus update.I very much agree with your comparisons(Acceleration vs. Abacus)but you can fly Accelerations Hornet on to Abacus's carrier for something different when the need arises
Randy

[SUBS17]

Yeah I wish that MS and abacus sat down and agreed to one standard to allow maximum compatibility for both online and MP enviroments. Its like the devs went just halfway by not making the 3d objects MP compatible. I've found in SP if I use the AI carrier it needs to be staionary if I wish to use it to make movies otherwise I have to record in realtime with FRAPs. Because the fleet moves if I try to play the mission back using the FS recorder. Theres alot of potential there as FSX has alot of features that could be used to make pretty much the ultimate carrier sim with ATC,LSO animated deck crew and scripted launch/recovery procedures. The Hornet and carrierOps in FSX acceleration is the best I've seen since DiDs Super Hornet which featured animated deck crew in that you're not limited to just trapping and ending the missions like JF/A-18.

[Cpt_AaronB]

Will this work in MP? As so far I have yet to see Carriers moving in MP.

Yes a carrier has been made for MP. I and our ATC Manger did this some time back and did an update after AC come out.

http://downloads.fs-mp.com/sceneyfiles.html

This carrier group is stationary, but has 10 spawn points, ILS, and working MP twr.

We fly events off of this senery every so offten at FS-MP.com.

Enjoy.