Parking too far forward - FSX -SE

[Luckyleaf6]

I downloaded a few days ago, great product! I am running the PMDG NGX 737-800, FSX SE - all default scenery, no addons, never tampered with any files.

The problem is GSX is parking too far forward of the gate. I read this is an issue caused by the AFCAD file, and the center of the PMDG NGX.

Seeing as I have not tampered with anything, and everything is default, I can't believe you guys haven't got this plane parked perfectly nose wheel on the "T". You have gotten everything else to work so well with the NGX and FSX SE... why can't it park it right on the T?

I have been searching and even posted in the PMDG forum for help. I've seen other topics and understand the AFCAD file is the underlying issue, but have you come up with some sort of patch or something... perhaps to have GSX read the center of the PMDG NGX 30 feet forward of where the model has the center of the aircraft?

Can anyone help?

[Dave_YVR]

 As you've said yourself, it's part of the afcad. What kind and size of gate are you parking at? Specific example or what airport and gate?

[virtuali]

Seeing as I have not tampered with anything, and everything is default, I can't believe you guys haven't got this plane parked perfectly nose wheel on the "T". You have gotten everything else to work so well with the NGX and FSX SE... why can't it park it right on the T?

This has been discussed many times on the forum: the parking "T" and its distance from the center of the parking is not something that is known from the AFCAD. Well, not exactly: the SDK for the .BGL file format says there IS a data field to offset the T, but no scenery (neither default or 3rd party) has ever used it.

So, the only data GSX has, is the center of the parking, so the marshaller, by default, will guide you to place the *center* of your airplane (the red cross you can see in Top Down view), in the *center* of the parking. This might match or not the parking T.

For CUSTOM sceneries (FSDT sceneries, basically), we have the ability to create a specific GSX file that has extra information about the actual parking T, even when the yellow lines are entirely custom, and we can even specify different offsets for different plane types, which GSX applies when it recognizes the plane. But this must be made for each scenery, especially those with custom parking Ts made with custom textures, since GSX must know how to calculate real world distances against the texture size in pixel, and where the different T for different plane types are drawn in the texture.

This is not something users can customize right now, basically because we would need some kind of graphic interface that we don't have now, so for the time being, it's a feature available only to us, as part of a scenery customization.

[Luckyleaf6]

I can't remember a specific gate, I'm not at my home of now. It's whatever gate fsx assigned me though, and it's happened at all gates I've been assigned.

So if I understand it, for now it's just a limitation of the product. I'll just deal with it. You think there will be a fix someday that's a simple download and install?

[virtuali]

I can't remember a specific gate, I'm not at my home of now. It's whatever gate fsx assigned me though, and it's happened at all gates I've been assigned.

Have you read my explanation ? There's no need to report a case. GSX is SUPPOSED to park the CENTER (the red cross you see on Top Down view) of your plane, in the CENTER of the parking. If this is happening, than is all fine and that's how is supposed to work.

So if I understand it, for now it's just a limitation of the product. I'll just deal with it. You think there will be a fix someday that's a simple download and install?

No, you don't understand. It's NOTHING that has anything to do with GSX. FSX itself doesn't have the information about the parking T so, of course, GSX cannot create this info from scratch.

But as I've said, GSX CAN park precisely on the T, when WE supply it with information that is missing from a standard .BGL file, but this can only be done per-airport, when we supply airport customizations that comes with FSDT sceneries.

[Luckyleaf6]

I have read your post, and I do understand. I understood the problem before I posted the topic. My first portion of the response was to the post before yours. I was asked to cite a specific gate.

So far the plane is consistently parking too far forward. I understand gsx parks the center of the plane at the center of the gate. This is how you programmed it, and this is what it is doing. Problem is with the default fsx se and the pmdg 737 (both popular and common setups) the jetway has problems getting to the door due to the way you programmed the plane to park.

I am sure that you have not found a way around this, otherwise you would have done it. I am ok with this issue and will deal with it, everything else Imo is worth what I paid for it.

I haven't read through the fine print, but you guys may want to add a disclaimer about the compatibility issue with your product and fsx with respect to the parking. I understand it is a limitation, I get that the t is just a graphic, and that its position is independent of the afcad file, and that the afcad file is how gsx parks (therefore the parking and the t are independent). If the afcad is off its fsx's fault, I get that. I wasn't sure if you created an afcad fix or something that resets all the default center of gates to line up or not. I see you included a gate customization too,I'm assume this could be used to fix the afcad issue. I wanted to also make sure this was the only way to do it, and that someone hasn't already made the changes that could be downloaded easy.

It was brilliant to use the afcad file for pushback. I don't know how you could have got the plane to park on the t (maybe it's just impossible to program it that way). I just wanted to know if there was an easy fix or not.

[virtuali]

Problem is with the default fsx se and the pmdg 737 (both popular and common setups) the jetway has problems getting to the door due to the way you programmed the plane to park.

That's because the default jetway *assume* you will park VISUALLY on the T.

I haven't read through the fine print, but you guys may want to add a disclaimer about the compatibility issue with your product and fsx with respect to the parking.

We don't have to add any disclaimer, because the product is available in TRIAL, and it works on some default airports. On top of that, it also works on ALL FSDT airports (even if they are in Trial), and several of them have the GSX customization data we made, to add the data about the T, which is MISSING FROM FSX.

And, since most users want to use GSX on 3rd party airports, the whole issue become moot (so we fall back, again, into the case of "having to provide a GSX customization file"), considering most of the best 3rd party sceneries out there draw their own custom textures for the parkings, and bypass the AFCAD altogether.

I wasn't sure if you created an afcad fix or something that resets all the default center of gates to line up or not.

Again: the AFCAD doesn't even *have* that information, so it's nothing we can "fix" with it, unless you are suggesting we would go manually to each and every of the 20.000 default airports, create a GSX customization file for all of them, like we did for some of our own.

It was brilliant to use the afcad file for pushback. I don't know how you could have got the plane to park on the t (maybe it's just impossible to program it that way). I just wanted to know if there was an easy fix or not.

Using data from the AFCAD is just the only way GSX could work *everywhere*, but we cannot make up data that just doesn't exist. We HAVE that data where we could: in the GSX customization file for our own sceneries.

The most we can do for future versions, is to allow users to customize the stopping point for airports they are interested in, but expecting we could do it for all the 20.000 default airports is not reasonable.

[Luckyleaf6]

No offense to you or your product. I think it's great, and having thought about the problem your right there's nothing you can do about it really. You did the best you could do with what's available. It's just not feasible or possible to have a patch of sorts to adjust all the parking spots in all airports in fix for all airplanes out there.

Hope your not ticked too much, you filled a void in fsx very well.

[virtuali]

It's just not feasible or possible to have a patch of sorts to adjust all the parking spots in all airports in fix for all airplanes out there.

The issue is not making a patch: it's just impossible to obtain a data source for it, unless someone would go manually, for each airport, and fixed all parkings.

And that's just for default airports, without even counting that, even if you use a default airport, the AFCAD might not be default, but it might have been modified by a 3rd party AI product, and what they usually do is precisely changing/adding parkings, so all the (impossible) work we might do to "fix" the default AFCAD, would become useless if the AFCAD is not default anymore and the parking list/position/size is different.

[Luckyleaf6]

Ok, I'm convinced. All things considered, still would buy it again.

[Dave_YVR]

 The reason I mention what Gate he had been trying it at was to establish if he's seeing what he's seeing because he's using a heavy or medium sized gate. The larger the radius, the further a smaller aircraft will be from the "ideal" parking for each gate even though it's still technically in the center of the parking spot as defined by the afcad. It only takes a meter or two to look mildly out of place.