msfsmissions

Microsoft Flight Simulator Missions

This is a first attempt to create missions in the new Microsoft Flight Simulator. As for now (and from what I've understood), the only way to add an activity in MSFS is to create either new LandingChallenges or new BushTrips. This first test mission (in TestProject) is declared as a BushTrip and a thumbnail will be added in the Bushtrip menu of the simulator. Directories are reparsed every time you open the menu, thus easing testing. You may also modify and compile using the dev tools while you are flying the mission, you just need to restart the mission for changes to take effect. Before restarting you need to copy back the compiled package (found in local Packages directory) to the Community directory of your MSFS installation. I'm not sure but it seems that .flt files are not reloaded without restarting the simulator.

Mission packages

Compiled mission packages are in the missionpackages directory.

Under TestProject

• Test mission This first mission is derived from the Boeing Field mission found in the Mission Creation Kit of the FSX SDK, I just located the mission in La Tuque (Canada PQ). There is a first release archive of the test mission, just unzip the file under the Community directory.
• Bushtrip mission latuque-chalet-cylq This a first attempt to create a bushtrip mission. It does not work as is because each leg should end/start in an airport and I tried to use unexisting seaports here (on the numerous lakes found in Canada). However it shows that you may define many packages in a single project.

Under BushtripStLaurent

• Single stlaurent bushtrip mission package in its own project. This one uses airports for each leg, and works as axpected. You may use it as a framework for your own missions.
• first release

Creating a package in its own project

• I use in this example the project BushtripStLaurent, using geehalel as creator. The project will contain only one package, a bushtrip mission package.
• Refering to Asobo practice, I name activity/package in the form creator-type-name
• In a MSFS projects directory (whatever you want), create a BushtripStLaurent directory.
• In this BushtripStLaurent directory:
  • Create a PackageDefinitions directory
  • Create a PackageSources directory
  • Create a bushtripstlaurent.xml file (named after the project name) which enumerates the packages defined in the project:

<Project Version="2" Name="BushtripStLaurent" FolderName="Packages">
	<OutputDirectory>.</OutputDirectory>
	<TemporaryOutputDirectory>_PackageInt</TemporaryOutputDirectory>
	<Packages>
		<Package>PackageDefinitions\geehalel-bushtrip-stlaurent.xml</Package>
	</Packages>
</Project>

• In the BushtripStLaurent\PackageDefinitions, create the geehalel-bushtrip-stlaurent.xml referenced above:

<AssetPackage Name="geehalel-bushtrip-stlaurent" Version="0.1.0">
	<ItemSettings>
		<ContentType>MISSION</ContentType>
		<Title>Saint-Laurent mission package</Title>
		<Manufacturer/>
		<Creator>geehalel</Creator>
	</ItemSettings>
	<Flags>
		<VisibleInStore>false</VisibleInStore>
		<CanBeReferenced>false</CanBeReferenced>
	</Flags>
	<AssetGroups>
		<AssetGroup Name="stlaurent">
			<Type>Mission</Type>
			<Flags>
				<FSXCompatibility>false</FSXCompatibility>
			</Flags>
			<AssetDir>PackageSources\stlaurent\</AssetDir>
			<OutputDir>Missions\geehalel\BushTrips\stlaurent\</OutputDir>
		</AssetGroup>
	</AssetGroups>
</AssetPackage>

I am not sure what the ContentInfo asset is used for.

• In the BushtripStLaurent\PackageSources directory:
  • Create the PackageSources\stlaurent\ file referenced above
  • Inside this directory, you will have to put your mission files: stlaurent.flt which defines your initial flight position, stlaurent.xml which defines your mission (and will be compiled into a .spb file by the fspackagetool), images subdirectory for activity/briefing/loading/legs/sublegs illustration, overview.htm and/or stlaurent.pln (draws the flight path in Briefing, NO), sound files...
  • images/Activity_widget.jpg (786x602) is used as a thumbnail in the bushtrip menu. Briefing Text is not displayed. I don't know how to create the fly path in the 3D wrold map. If UseLiveWeather is set to true in the .flt file, you can not change the current time, but, on the second loading the time is read from the .flt file. See below how I proceed for other infos.

Creating a BushTrip

• Use a flight planner to generate a flight plan in .pln format. The flight should have valid departure and destination airports. You can not use GPS/user defined locations as departure or arrival. I use LittlenavMap in this BushTrip (latuque-chalets.pln).
• Start Microsoft Flight Simulator, select the World Map widget, select the aircraft to use in the BushTrip, and then load your flight plan using Load/Save button. You can not load a .pln file after you have started the flight. Start the flight.
• Immediately save your flight in the simulator, this will create a .flt file we will use in the BushTrip. Note that it creates also a .fssave file and a .spb file. They will be saved by default in your user's AppData\Local\WindowsApps\Microsoft.FlightSimulator... directory (latuque-chalets.flt).
• Create a new directory for your bushtrip inside your package source directory (PackageSources\latuque-chalets-cylq). You may add a images directory inside it (PackageSources\latuque-chalets-cylq\images).
• Copy the .flt flight file you saved in the simulator in the PackageSources\latuque-chalets directory (PackageSources\latuque-chalets-cylq\latuque-chalets-cylq.flt).
• Extract from an existing BushTrip .spb file the skeleton used for the mission .xml file. I won't detail that part here, it should hopefully be soon included in the SDK documentation. If you know how to extract the .xml file, you will find that the XML elements are self-explanatory enough.
• Fill the legs/sublegs of your BushTrip with comments and images as needed. The waypoints in the legs/sublegs are linked to the ones from the .flt file using a fake Region identifier (these are the !A, !B, ... ids you find in the .xml file) and a usual name ID (usually ICAO, here POI1, POI2, ...) . You should modify your .flt file accordingly by updating each waypoint in the ATC_Aircraft.0 waypoints list with its corresponding fake region identifier and name ID. For instance:

[ATC_Aircraft.0]
ActiveFlightPlan=True
RequestedFlightPlan=False
AcState=ACSTATE_CTAF_TAKEOFF
ActiveVFRAirport=CYLQ
Waypoint.0=, CYLQ, , La Tuque, A, N47° 24.56', W72° 47.34', +000548.00, , , , , , NONE, 0, 0, -1
Waypoint.1=!A, POI1, , Motocross field, U, N47° 23.43', W72° 47.13', +000750.00, , , , , , NONE, 0, 0, -1
Waypoint.2=!A, POI2, , Chemin du Lac Wayagamak, U, N47° 23.43', W72° 45.85', +000900.00, , , , , , NONE, 0, 0, -1
Waypoint.3=!A, POI3, , Intersection, U, N47° 23.82', W72° 44.75', +001050.00, , , , , , NONE, 0, 0, -1
...
Waypoint.9=, , , Chalet Doucet, U, N47° 21.01', W72° 26.69', +002000.00, , , , , , NONE, 0, 0, -1
Waypoint.10=!B, POI1, , Climb south to the powerlines, U, N47° 20.04', W72° 26.28', +002000.00, , , , , , NONE, 0, 0, -1
Waypoint.12=!B, POI2, , Follow the powerlines, U, N47° 14.92', W72° 25.46', +002000.00, , , , , , NONE, 0, 0, -1

In the .xml file, you would refer them as follows:

...
		<SubLegs>
            <SubLeg>
              <Descr>Take off from La Tuque and search for the Motocross field just right after the end of the runway</Descr>
              <ImagePath>
              </ImagePath>
              <ATCWaypointStart id="CYLQ" />
              <ATCWaypointEnd id="POI1">
                <idRegion>!A</idRegion>
              </ATCWaypointEnd>
            </SubLeg>
			<SubLeg>
              <Descr>When you reach the motocross field, turn left to the east while you climb</Descr>
              <ImagePath>
              </ImagePath>
              <ATCWaypointStart id="POI1">
                <idRegion>!A</idRegion>
              </ATCWaypointStart>
              <ATCWaypointEnd id="POI2">
                <idRegion>!A</idRegion>
              </ATCWaypointEnd>
            </SubLeg>
		</SubLegs>
...

• For each leg, you should specify a trigger which signals the end of the leg. This is usually an AirportLandingTrigger. In the current BushTrips, these triggers are extended with specific computations (using speed, runway distance, ...), the XML element being AirportLandingTriggerEnd. Those computations use a Reverse Polish notation which you see referenced at the end of the SDK documentation. The same computation has to be repeated in the .xml file as it depends on the airport ICAO to get Lat/Lon/Elev. Thus for each leg you should add the same bunch of code to check if the aircraft has correctly landed on the given airport (I don't know if there will be a way to factor these computations using an airport ICAO parameter).

• I try to use an AreaLandingTrigger instead in this particular BushTrip as we are landing on water here. Looking at the propmission.xml file this is not supported.

• The next part concerns the goals and objectives. The SimMission.MissionBushTrip element has an Objectives element which may reference one or many Goal elements. Those Goal elements are triggered as usual using GoalResolutionAction. Success is triggered using the OnFinishedActions element of the SimMission.MissionBushTrip element, which should trigger when you end the last leg. Failures may be triggered as usual or using a flight loop computation (out of fuel in the current BushTrips). What I am not sure is that failures are part of objectives.

• The last part concerns the interaction with the simulator. There seems to be a Finite State Machine (FlowState actions/events) used to interact with the simulator flight loop/interface. There are predefined events and actions, particularly two predefined objects referenced as actions:

  • id="RTC_Ground_Airport_Aircraft_Intro" InstanceId="{306B2AE4-06BA-48C3-93A0-BD5569E6EF5B}"
  • id="RTC_Ground_Aircraft_Outro" InstanceId="{5DAADB19-3BA3-4235-BCC0-39CD6F4CD4D9}" />

  They seem to be used as predefined actions between legs. I won't go further here as I would need to know more about the semantics of this FlowState machine.

• As of now I simply reuse the existing elements found in the Asobo scripts. There is no need to generate other GUIDs for those elements in each mission. I suppose these objects only exist the time of the mission.

• The Node graph editor in the sim is cool to see what's going on in the mission.

  

Some notes for myself

• FSX/ESP 1.0 mission elements are parsed as before. There is a bunch of new elements however. Better wait all this to be published in the next SDK release.
• Use .GUID app from the Microsoft store to create Guids
• Images: use jpegs (not sure pngs are ok), Briefing/Loading images may be any size (screenshots), the Activity_Widget thumbnail should be 786x602. There is a marketplace thumbnail too, which should be 412x170 (not tested). Use paint to edit/resize screenshot captures.
• Flight starts directly after loading (no preflight screen)
• End of mission: nothing happens in the current version.
• No menu, vfr, atc during the mission, but you can change view
• Try to put multiple missions in a package
• Add scenery objects: use Model GUID, need to decompile BGL files, don't find them in the Scenery Editor
• Add Sim objects: animation may have changed