I see a lot of folks suggest edits to .cfg to increase draw distance/LOD and other suggestions to edit .xml files to reduce foliage/tree density or height.
How simple is it to just create a mod for these edits which you can pull from community folder when needed rather than edit the base game files and making them read only?
Is there tutorial for something like this anywhere?
I’m no expert at this , but I think an issue may be.
If you just want to change a single parameter, you can either
(1) Edit it (simple)
or
(2) make a MOD file, which is the original file, with the edit done, and have it take precedence over the original file (by putting it in a suitable place in Community etc etc)
In either case, all is well, till an update, and then it needs to be looked at again.
This is exactly what I want to do yes. Then I can change between various settings like this simply by toggling these different mods on and off in Addons Linker.
is it as simple as editing an .xml and dropping that edited file into the community folder or does it need any processing?
Someone please step in and help here … I am no expert in this area – but
I believe, basically, the answer is YES – with a few additions
Its more than just the file (Xml, cfg, html, js, css etc ) you want to replace
You have to build a Mod with the correct folder structure, that includes certain necessary files, ie layout.json and manifest.json, and of course your version of whatever modified file you want,
Rather than a long description, I can give you an example of one I made for to modify just an XML file for a certain aircraft.
It corrects (whats I believe) to be an inaccuracy in the planes Voltage/Current Gauge,
The most tricky file you need to create is the layout.json, but if you get this far, there is NICE 3RD PARTY TOOL THAT WILL GENERATE IT AUTOMATICALLY FOR YOU.
My example MOD, provides a Modified Gauge_VDC_AMP_DIG_BG.XML, and the mod folder is placed in the Community folder.
Like any file from a “Stranger”, download and use at your own risk.
But all files in this mod are text and readable, added to which, I am not going to ruin my reputation here on the forum, by posting destructive files !!
You can look at this one, and its structure and content, and hopefully build a similar mod for your own use,
As far as MY mod is concerned, it way be used in whatever way anyone wants, including Carenado, as a suggestion to modify their MSFS Ovation !!! (No charge !! )
Yes, I was looking at other mods and figured I may need to process it in some way get said folder structure and files etc. - this nice 3rd party tool then? It’s in the archive you link or I can find it some place? It’s name?
These .cfg files can not smply be overridden by a file in the community folder.
Really? That’s a little disappointibg.
What about the .XML files? I’m actually playing around with tree density too…
Its called “MSFSlayoutGenerator” by Hughes-MDflyer4
he is active on fsdeveloper forum – FSDeveloper
Awesome. Cheers!
Hello,
I am trying to do basically the same thing, but am wondering if there is a way to set up a “proper” devmode project so that you can debug the changes using the tool? For example, if I just want to modify the flight_model.cfg of one of the default (non-encrypted) Asobo planes? Or do you just have to hand-roll these files and then how do you test changes?
Thank you!