Post by xpel on Sept 6, 2019 1:07:38 GMT -5
About AIs : Which are the best to use ?
I've been experimenting with AI planes characteristics & behavior for years, since I had them
flying in my FSX Military Missions in a.) dynamic Wpts relative to user or other AIs with
use of "simvar.exe", thus serving as Wingmen or engaging other AIs & b.) in static Wpts for
taxiing, take off & land back to base or follow a customed route.
What I found & my conclusions are :
Best AIs are :
1. Planes that are provided as AIs, like MAIW, UKMIL, etc. Ie, don't have panel & gauges folders.
They have simplistic but not unrealistic FDEs. Saying that, designed primarily to fly in AI flight
plans, the do have the advantage of consistenly landing accurately (provided Landing Wpts are designed
correctly ) and following wpts in general during flight. It's what the FS AI engine likes and handdles
well.
On the other hand, usually I had to edit their cruising speed in their Aircraft.cfg from 350 knots they
usually have, up to 600 knots. This way, they accelerate faster and can keep up with me as wingmen
when I'm flying with more than 350 knots. Drawback is that due to higher speeds they fly, takes more
time for them to settle in their wingman position, using more manouvering to achieve that.
But during dogfight, they perform much more agile and dynamically...
2. The simple designs, either the default FSX planes or other freeware planes out there
3. Another important consideration is that planes made for AIs are low on LODs, so the impact on frames is
minimum, compared of using "real" planes. When you have many planes flying, this can affect pc resources
with an impact of AI engine functioning also.
Following these findings, I create my own AIs to suit the performance I need for military flying :
A. 3D Model : I check of available AI planes of the type I need and if is easy on frames (most FS9 portovers aren't).
Then I check for an available FSX plane model that's easy on frames. If not either, I may use that in MCX to
reduse the LOD of the plane and use that 3D Model for my AI.
B. Airfile (.Air) : I use the closest Airfile that muches my AI aircraft from planes described above.
Examples : for WWI fighters I use the C176 airfile, for WWII fighters I use the P-51 Racer airfile, while
for bombers the C47 airfile. For Jets, I've found that the AI UKMIL Tornado airfile (native FSX) serves
very well.
Another point of using Airfiles as above mentioned is the fact that most AIs present a nasty bank trembling when they
fly. Flying in formation with'em, kills some immersion. Use of mentioned airfiles corrects the problem.
C. Aircraft.cfg : I may use the default coming with the AI plane, editing the cruising speed as I said, or even
the files of planes mentined in B. if I get the performance that I want, editing the first 3 entries of static points (so that
plane sits correct on her wheels on ground - or even all the static points).
On another note, Flight characteristics/Behaviour of the same AI, is different in FSX than in P3D in terms of agility.
I remember that from days I've installed both (P3Dv3).
I've been experimenting with AI planes characteristics & behavior for years, since I had them
flying in my FSX Military Missions in a.) dynamic Wpts relative to user or other AIs with
use of "simvar.exe", thus serving as Wingmen or engaging other AIs & b.) in static Wpts for
taxiing, take off & land back to base or follow a customed route.
What I found & my conclusions are :
Best AIs are :
1. Planes that are provided as AIs, like MAIW, UKMIL, etc. Ie, don't have panel & gauges folders.
They have simplistic but not unrealistic FDEs. Saying that, designed primarily to fly in AI flight
plans, the do have the advantage of consistenly landing accurately (provided Landing Wpts are designed
correctly ) and following wpts in general during flight. It's what the FS AI engine likes and handdles
well.
On the other hand, usually I had to edit their cruising speed in their Aircraft.cfg from 350 knots they
usually have, up to 600 knots. This way, they accelerate faster and can keep up with me as wingmen
when I'm flying with more than 350 knots. Drawback is that due to higher speeds they fly, takes more
time for them to settle in their wingman position, using more manouvering to achieve that.
But during dogfight, they perform much more agile and dynamically...
2. The simple designs, either the default FSX planes or other freeware planes out there
3. Another important consideration is that planes made for AIs are low on LODs, so the impact on frames is
minimum, compared of using "real" planes. When you have many planes flying, this can affect pc resources
with an impact of AI engine functioning also.
Following these findings, I create my own AIs to suit the performance I need for military flying :
A. 3D Model : I check of available AI planes of the type I need and if is easy on frames (most FS9 portovers aren't).
Then I check for an available FSX plane model that's easy on frames. If not either, I may use that in MCX to
reduse the LOD of the plane and use that 3D Model for my AI.
B. Airfile (.Air) : I use the closest Airfile that muches my AI aircraft from planes described above.
Examples : for WWI fighters I use the C176 airfile, for WWII fighters I use the P-51 Racer airfile, while
for bombers the C47 airfile. For Jets, I've found that the AI UKMIL Tornado airfile (native FSX) serves
very well.
Another point of using Airfiles as above mentioned is the fact that most AIs present a nasty bank trembling when they
fly. Flying in formation with'em, kills some immersion. Use of mentioned airfiles corrects the problem.
C. Aircraft.cfg : I may use the default coming with the AI plane, editing the cruising speed as I said, or even
the files of planes mentined in B. if I get the performance that I want, editing the first 3 entries of static points (so that
plane sits correct on her wheels on ground - or even all the static points).
On another note, Flight characteristics/Behaviour of the same AI, is different in FSX than in P3D in terms of agility.
I remember that from days I've installed both (P3Dv3).
