FSNorthwest.net

Overview: The premise here is to outline a method whereby Sling Load/Hoist operations can be conducted in a multiplayer session on Game Spy using the shared aircraft option. The desire effect is to have two players, one in the pilot role and the other as crew chief, working together to add additional realism to these operations. These operations are conducted in a “free flight” environment as opposed to the “multiplayer missions” scenarios now available with FSX Acceleration. Using a saved flight as the bases this method enables both players to see the same objects while sharing an aircraft, and simultaneously see the actions of those objects while conducting their Sling load/Hoist operations. It should be noted that while I and another player have used this method with success it does take some time for the players involved to become coordinated with each other.

The pilot flies the aircraft and the crew chief calls the aircraft in on the sling load or hoist object.

Gettinng Setup For Success:

For our purposes here we will use the default EH-101. It is important that both players’ aircraft are identical or weird things can happen in the session. First we need to create a “saved flight” for the area of operation. Open FSX and create your flight i.e. select aircraft, weather, season etc. in the desired area and save it (i.e. Sling Loads Flight). Be sure to use the default EH-101 as your aircraft. FSX will save your newly created flight to the “Flight Simulator X Files” folder under user “Documents”. Next we need to create a scenery object file for our operations.

With your saved flight loaded, open the Object Placement Tool. Enter the filename that you saved the flight as, i.e. Sling Load Flight in the mission title field. Go to the Object tab, and click “Add”, in the top field select “AI”, in the second field select “Other”, and in the third field select your desired lift able object. Click “Add” again to place the object.

In the object property field, edit the object “Descr” value to the filename of your selected object (should be the same as the text in the “container title” field). Repeat these steps to add additional objects if desired. Now, click “OK” and save using the same filename as the flight, Sling Load Flight to the “Flight Simulator X Files” folder, and close FSX.

Now browse to your Documents/Flight Simulator X Files/ folder, you should have four new created files:

Sling Load Flight.FLT
Sling Load Flight.WX
Sling Load Flight.FSSAVE
Sling Load Flight.xml

Note: If you find a “Sling Load Flight.SPB” file, delete it. We need to make a couple of edits. Open the Sling Load Flight.FLT in notepad and scroll down near the bottom. Locate the following entries:

[Sling.0.0]
Object=
CableLength=0
HoistSwitch=0

[Sling.1.0]
Object=
CableLength=0  
HoistSwitch=0

Should look like this:

[Sling.1.0]
Object=
CableLength=35
HoistSwitch=0

Continue to scroll down to the bottom and add the following section:
 
[ObjectFile]
File=Sling Load Flight  

Restart FSX, and load the flight you’ve just created. You should see your load, and the sling cable on your aircraft.

Let the Games Begin:

If every thing has gone well so far it’s time to have some fun in multiplayer. Remember it takes two players so get one of your flying buddies to join you in a session on Game Spy. Begin by sending him/her your saved flight files (4 files) and have him/her drop them into their /Documents /Flight Simulator X Files folder. Check with your co-player to make sure the chosen aircraft (EH-101) are the same. If one of you has a modification to you aircraft.cfg or panel.cfg that the other doesn’t, there are problems ahead for you.

Create a session on Game Spy loading the saved “Sling Load Flight” and be sure to enable the “Shared Aircraft option. Have your co-player join the session and also load the saved “Sling Load Flight”, then have them choose to join your aircraft. Once you are both in the session you can alternate between roles as pilot/crew by transferring control using Shift+T. From here on out it’s up to you and your co-player. Have fun!

Optional View:Here’s an optional camera view you can both add to your aircraft.cfg that might be helpful. It gives a through the floor view of the sling cable for the role of crew chief to aid in calling the aircraft over the load.

[CameraDefinition.007]
Title = "Crew Floor View"
Guid = {25D95E2C-639A-41c2-931B-DDE162C11916}
Description = View of the sling load cable
Origin = Center
SnapPbhAdjust = None
SnapPbhReturn = FALSE
PanPbhAdjust = None
PanPbhReturn = FALSE
Track = None
ShowAxis = FALSE
AllowZoom = TRUE
InitialZoom = 0.30
ShowWeather = Yes
InitialXyz = 0, -3, 0
InitialPbh = 90, 0, 0
XyzAdjust =
Category=Aircraft
MomentumEffect=FALSE
ClipMode=Minimum