Welcome If you're new to either the Airport & Scenery Designer or the "The Airport & Scenery Designer Flyer", you'll be glad to know that we have additional information on our Web site. In fact, we may have already answered questions that you have. Visit our site at http://www.abacuspub.com, click on the ASD Central icon and then "FAQs and Tech Support".
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About the ASDESIGN.INI file The first time you run ASD, you're asked to enter your ASD ID and SN found on your Registration Card and tear-off portion. Next ASD checks the version of Flight Simulator, its location on your hard disk and the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive.
If you've lost your ID and SN, you can find them by viewing the contents of ASDESIGN.INI. To do this, use Window's Notepad program and follow the same steps for deleting the files (see below), except double-click the file name ASDESIGN.INI instead of pressing the DELETE key (Step 6). If Windows asks you to choose a program to view the file, scroll down and select Notepad. Listed at the top of the file will be your name, ID and SN number. I suggest you write them in the manual for quick reference.
If you move or reinstall ASD, ASDESIGN.INI will most likely contain information that is no longer valid. In this case, you'll want to delete the previous ASDESIGN.INI. Here's how:
Many ASD user problems can be traced to the ASDESIGN.INI file.
Watch the Wizard! When you use the Wizard and select a state and airport, you also choose the texture for the tile that goes beneath. While all this seems terribly easy to do, ASD is quite busy behind the scenes. Based on the selected airport, it finds the information for the runway headings, their Latitude and Longitude, elevation, the number of tiles required for the airport and the Exclude area information. Then ASD looks at which texture you chose and assigns that to the tiles. From the Latitude and Longitude, it creates a miniature map, places the airport with all the information in place including the tiles and exclude.
ASD also finds the ID for the airport from an internal database. ASD then takes the map and saves it using the ID for the airport as the filename and adds the SCB extension (e.g., RFD.SCB). ASD next tells the SCASM program to compile the text files for the scenery. SCASM generates the scenery files (*.BGL files) for the airport. Finally, the files are copied into the FS's main scenery directory. All this happens in a blink of an eye.
By default, ASD copies the new *.BGL files to the main FS Scenery folder. This can cause some small problems. If you attempt to takeoff from this new airport, FS first reads the default *.BGL files for this area (the ones that come with FS). Since the new *.BGL files are also in this same FS folder, these are also loaded. Thus two overlapping sets of scenery are loaded at once and may cause a problem if the airport information in the two BGLs are different.
Here's how to avoid this problem.
Have ASD create only the map with the new airport information and do not compile the scenery. You specify this at the last screen of the Wizard. Before clicking Finish, remove the check mark from Create Scenery Files. ASD will now only create the map with the airport. From here you can create the rest of the airports for a region or state the same way.
Starting your plane at different locations Here's how. Open the new map and double-click on the airport. Select Diagram view. Place your mouse pointer at the spot on a polygon where you want your plane to start. Write down the Latitude and Longitude coordinates from the bottom-right corner of the ASD window. Now double-click on the polygon and click the Menu tab at the top. Click the Enable button. Now enter these Latitude and Longitude values in the appropriate fields.
Fill in the Menu entry as you see fit. What you type here later appears when selecting this location to start from FS. You may have to adjust the heading unless you know it off hand. This is the direction your plane will be facing when this airport is selected in FS. You will also want to be sure the elevation is set the same as your runway, or you could have problems. If you wish you can set frequencies and such, but most use these features for airport runway entries only.
Now select your features and compile the scenery, and you will have a new menu entry for your airport. You will want to keep in mind that the more menu entries you have, the more confusing and cluttered your FS menu will be when attempting to choose an airport or starting point. I try to keep one or two entries per airport at the most.
Other Abacus Flight Sim Products
FS FLIGHT DECK
AROUND THE WORLD COPILOT - Version 2.0 Coming
FULL THROTTLE MAGAZINE - Our "Sister Company" Previous Issues
Welcome to the latest edition of the "The Airport &
Scenery Designer Flyer" the newsletter for ASD users.
When you run ASD, it looks for a file named ASDESIGN.INI in your main \windows folder. If it cannot find this file, it creates a new one with this name. This file contains information about the setting for ASD, your computer and your version of Flight Simulator.
The Wizard is a great way to begin your scenery design. Here's a quick description of how the ASD Wizard works.
The Wizard also places your aircraft at a default location for the new airport. Would you rather place your aircraft at a terminal instead of at end of the runway?
FS Flight Deck is an impressive collection of 25 classic and modern naval aircraft, new panels and four aircraft carriers for FS95 and FS98. Using the included Situations you are catapulted from the deck of one of these carriers: USS Kitty Hawk, USS Ranger, USS Enterprise, or the USS Essex. FS Flight Deck tests your flying skills as you try an ILS approach to one of the carriers at night in the fog. Do you think you can handle a landing?
http://www.abacuspub.com/catalog/s338.shtml.
Around the World takes you back 60 years to the era in which flying was so adventurous. With this 1937 scenery and an authentic Lockheed Electra L-7, Around the World is a great add-on historically, educationally and recreationally speaking. You'll try to complete the flight that Amelia Earhart was so close to finishing. For more information see http://www.abacuspub.com/catalog/s337.shtml.
CoPilot is our best selling add-on for over a year and is an all-in-one utility that every flyer can use. It features easy flight planning, GPS Navigation and prints airport charts, navigation maps and ILS Approcah plates from all of your scenery - including any add-ons. Coming up in June is a new Version 2.0 with even more features such as a new FS98 GPS gauge and complete intersection and fixes for more authentic navigation. For FS95 and FS98. See
http://www.abacuspub.com/catalog/s336.shtml
Full Throttle Magazine is now in full operation and is turning out dozens of practical, informative and ground-breaking articles for flight sim enthusiasts. Managing Editor Tim Dickens heads up the completely new staff of expert flight sim writers. Visit the Full Throttle website at http://www.ftmagazine.com
The following issues of Airport & Scenery Designer Flyer also available:
Written by: Adam Howe, Justin Tyme, Jim Oldfield, Jr
Customer Support: Julie Snider, Beverly Gay, Karla Muss, Jeff Tynan
Published by:
Abacus
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Grand Rapids, MI 49512 U.S.A.
Phone 616 698-0330
Fax 616 698-0325
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