X-Plane 10.10r3 is out – release notes here.  Go use Rc3!  This might be the final RC – we’ll know in a few days.

Now that people are using 10.10 more frequently, I’ve received some bug reports that turned out to be problems prioritizing scenery packs.

The rules for how scenery packs are prioritized have changed!  Please read this carefully!

The Rules

Old: Scenery packs are loaded alphabetically by name.

New: Scenery packs are loaded according to the .ini file in Custom Scenery

That’s pretty much all there is to it.  The .ini file means that you can organize your scenery by reordering the .ini file rather than renaming packs.  That in turn means you don’t have to worry about having crazy names like a_Overlay b_SecondOverlay, and you don’t have to do a massive rename of a lot of packs to get the names right.

If you don’t want our scenery, disable them in the .ini file (by replacing SCENERY_PACK with SCENERY_PACK_DISABLED).  The installer won’t re-download them.

The .ini file sets the stage for a future UI or third party utilities that edit priorities, and installers that can set up custom priorities.

How Packs Are Added

When X-Plane runs, any packs that are found in Custom Scenery but not in the .ini file are added to the top of the .ini file.  If more than one “new” pack is found, the new packs are added in alphabetical order (but still before every old pack).

Any missing scenery pack is removed from the .ini file when X-Plane runs.

This means a few things:

  • If an overlay isn’t high priority, you can remove it, run X-Plane, then put it back and run X-Plane.  This moves it to the top of the list.  (Or just edit the .ini file – which is probably easier.)
  • If you simply want alphabetical order, delete the entire .ini file – every pack will then be added on the next sim run, in alphabetical order.

 

About Ben Supnik

Ben is a software engineer who works on X-Plane; he spends most of his days drinking coffee and swearing at the computer -- sometimes at the same time.

21 comments on “Scenery Packs – the New Rules”

  1. Thank you sir, this is great and highly efficient..

    BTW.. Here is a tip for future designs.

    “Option to select startup gates/parking on quick setup”

  2. I am getting great performance with the latest beta !

    One issue that hasn’t gone away is the shimmering/flikering when HDR is enabled. Is that a bug or is it hardware related, or is that just the way HDR works ?

  3. Pingback: » XsimReviews : 22nd Sept 2012 : Edition – 10.10rc3 update – Caravan 208B liveries – Elanport’s Beaches – Boeing 777 update Xsimreviews

  4. You noted earlier in the year Ben that the traffic if it continues to build large enough it can then run you out of memory (on a Mac?)…has this been fixed?

    1. No — this isn’t a “bug”. The bug is that we don’t use more memory. EVERY rendering feature can run you out of memory…that’s why 64-bit is in progress now.

  5. I’ve noticed that if you reload the scenery with XPLMReloadScenery the contents of scenery_packs.ini is not taken into consideration: e.g. even though I disable some sceneries by editing the file just before calling XPLMReloadScenery they still will be loaded.
    Is it the way it is supposed to work or should I file a bug?

    1. Design limitation. We do _not_ support any of these while flying (or reloading scenery):
      – Changing scenery pack order
      – Adding scenery packs
      – Changing the library
      – Changing an apt.dat file.

      If these extensions would be useful, file a bug requesting the feature.

  6. 10.10 is really a great improvement IMHO. Just tested RC3 with a nightflight HDR/FXAA and performance and visuals were just great. Airport lighting hits the point now.
    The only issues (regarding brightness /lights) worth mentioning are the orange lights on major roads. They are too bright in the distance (5 miles away and they doesn’t seem to fade at all) and they seem to (or actually do) pop up. And why are clouds shining white all over (looking up or down and even in the cloud) in the deepest night and even without moonlight?
    Anyway, I know and agree that this is not a priority right now. If people start to rant about things like that you know you have done good work 😉
    I’m looking really looking forward for the V10-updates of airplanes once 10.10 is final.

    Thanks
    Flo

    1. Agreed – the .ini file is meant as a foundation on top of which a GUI will (someday) be built. But for now it solves the problem of installation/update thrash.

  8. Please pardon my total noobness, but could you please point me to a resource that explains exactly what is important while sorting the scenery_packs.ini file?

    I am trying to understand the difference between priorities and prerequisites. In other words, how does one properly arrange the scenery files and libraries (e.g. OpenSceneryX, RuScenery, etc.) so that the number of errors in the root X-Plane logfile are kept to a minimum.

    Evidently, with great flexibility comes great responsibility. 😉

    1. I don’t think the in file is documented beyond this blog post. But also I am not sure that what you are looking for is a function of the sim – if any scenery pack has a requirement on something else (and hopefully most do not) then the scenery pack needs installation instructions.

      The only other rule is: overlays should be higher on the list than orthophotos/meshes. (This replaces the old rule “overlays should be earlier in the alphabet than orthophotos/meshes.)

  9. Ben (or Chris S.), “slightly” off topic here. I am trying to collaborate with another scenery designer. He is doing the graphical and I am providing the ATC taxi routing. He was finished with changes to apt.dat and only working with Overlay Editor, while I started with his apt.dat and did the ATC. When I replaced the apt.dat with mine in his finished package, WED will not read my information, but XP reads it fine (I assume the issue lies with the XML file being out of sync)? Unfortunately, I am not finished with the route creation. Is there a way to get my apt.dat data to sync with the XML file or am I SOL and need to start over?

    Thanks!

    Brian

  10. Awesome! Thank you sir! Importing an old .dat into a newer version did duplicate the airport, but I was able to group my work, drag it into the new airport list and delete the remainder of the old.

    You rock, and saved me a ton of work!

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