Mission Creation

An ESP mission is a structured experience that can be an adventure, a tutorial, a test of knowledge or skill, a performance evaluation, or whatever the creator can dream up. Mission Creation is a fairly complex process involving many elements. The process is implemented using a powerful tool called the Object Placement Tool. Tutorial: Creating a Mission explains how to install the tool, how to create a simple mission using it, and how to add that mission so that it shows up in the simulation. These missions are stored in XML files and are made available to the user through the options described in the Solution Deployment section of the SDK Overview.

The Mission Object Reference section explains all the options available to make more complex and involved missions.

ESP offers a variety of mission types; see Sample Missions for a complete list. The Object Placement Tool is primarily designed to create the basic structure of a mission. Manually editing the XML mission code, or the development of proprietary tools, provides a broader range of possible mission variations. See Manual Editing of Mission Files for more details.

See Also

Flight Files

SDK Overview

Table of Contents

• Setup
  • Testing for a successful setup
• Tutorial: Creating a Mission
  • Step 1: Design the Mission
  • Step 2: Create the Mission Metadata
  • Creating New Categories
  • Step 3: Link the Mission to a Flight File
  • Step 4: Test for successful creation of the Mission
  • Step 5: Record the Audio for the Mission
  • Step 6: Introduce the Mission to the User
  • Step 7: Add a Property Trigger, or two
  • Step 8: Add a Proximity Trigger
  • Step 9: Add an Object Activation Action
  • Step 10: Add an Airport Landing Trigger
  • Step 11: Add Goals and Rewards
  • Creating Rewards
  • Step 12: Test and Refine the Mission
  • Creating an SPB file
• Hints and Tips using the Object Placement Tool
• Mission Object Reference
  • Mission File Structure
  • Actions
    • Generic Action Properties
    • Activate Waypoints Action
    • Adjust Payload Action
    • Attach Droppable Payload Action
    • Attach Effect Action
    • Change Object Type Action
    • Count Action
    • Custom Action
    • Dialog Action
    • Disqualify Player Action
    • Failure Action
    • Goal Resolution Action
    • Grant Reward Action
    • Object Activation Action
    • One Shot Sound Action
    • Play Animation Action
    • Play Flight Recording Action
    • Play List Action
    • Point Of Interest Activation Action
    • Random Action
    • Race Course Start Action
    • Race Course Activate Action
    • Refill Action
    • ResetTimer Action
    • Rumble Action
    • Spawn Action
    • Time Penalty Action
    • Timer Adjust Action
  • AI Objects
    • AircraftAI Object
    • TakeoffAI Object
    • LandingAI Object
    • TaxiAI Object
    • GroundVehicleAI Object
    • Waypoint List Object 
    • Waypoint Object
  • Area Definition Object
  • Group Object
  • Mission Objects
    • Allowable Container List
    • Camera
    • Attached World Position
    • Attached World Object
    • Condition Race Point
    • Gate Race Point
    • Living World Exclusion
    • Picture In Picture View Controller
    • Player
    • Point Of Interest
    • Pylon Race Point
    • Race Course
    • Race Info
    • Realism Overrides
    • Ridge Lift
    • Scenario Metadata
    • Thermal
    • Volume Race Point
  • Scenery Objects
  • Mobile Scenery Objects
  • Spawn List
  • Triggers
    • Generic Trigger Properties
    • Airport Landing Trigger
    • Area Landing Trigger
    • Collision Trigger
    • Counter Trigger
    • Last Lap Trigger
    • Menu Prompt Trigger
    • Parking Trigger
    • Property Trigger
    • Proximity Trigger
    • Race End Trigger
    • Timer Trigger
  • Goal Object
  • Disabled Traffic Airport Object
• Sample Missions
• Manual Editing of Mission Files
• Complex Condition Statements
• Testing that an Object Exists
• Starting AIPlayback
• Incorrect Type Entry

Setup

The Object Placement Tool is coded in Object_Placement.dll. Object_Placement.dll can be found in the Microsoft ESP\1.0\SDK\Mission Creation Kit directory. To install a new library first locate the dll.xml file. On Windows XP this should be in the C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data\Microsoft\ESP folder. For Windows Vista the file should be in the C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\ESP folder. The dll.xml file defines all the libraries that are to be loaded along with the simulation, not just the one for mission creation.

If the dll.xml file already exists in this folder, check it contains the following lines that are in bold -- and ensure that the Disabled parameter is set to False. If the file exists, but no reference is made to the Object_Placement.dll, then add the bold lines to the file. If the dll.xml file does not already exist in the right folder, then copy the dll.xml from the Mission Creation Kit folder over to the folder mentioned above.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?> <SimBase.Document Type="Launch" version="1,0"> <Descr>Launch</Descr> <Filename>dll.xml</Filename> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad> <Launch.Addon> <Name>Object Placement Tool </Name> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad> <Path>SDK\Mission Creation Kit\Object_Placement.dll</Path> </Launch.Addon>   </SimBase.Document>

Note that the Path parameter is either absolute, or relative to the installation Microsoft ESP/1.0/ folder. The path given above might change if the SDK or ESP were not installed to their default folders. If there are other add-ons that need to be loaded in addition to the Object Placement Tool, such as the Special Effect Tool, then they will also need Launch.Addon entries.
This is all the setup that is necessary.

Testing for a Successful Setup

You will know that the tool has been correctly installed when you start up ESP. Do this from the command line prompt: ESP -dev, as this will ensure that you are in dev mode while developing missions (so the menu options you will need are available). Refer to the Solution Deployment section of the SDK Overview for more details.

First, there will be a diagnostic window for SimConnect that should report that the dll has been launched. Second, the tool will be available in the Tools menu of ESP.

Ensure that ESP is running in Windows mode and not full-screen mode (you can toggle between these modes by pressing ALT+ENTER).

If you get an error message in the SimConnect diagnostic window, check the SimConnect.xml file for the correct path to the tool, and check that the tool is where it should be.

If the tool has been installed correctly, clicking on Object Placement in the Tools menu will give you the dialog below:

Recommendation

Because of the size of the dialogs, it can be easier to create missions using dual screens: one containing the tool dialogs, and the other showing the terrain where the Mission objects are being placed. If you are using a single small monitor, you will have to keep moving the tool dialogs out of the way to correctly position your objects.

Close ESP for now. The first step in creating a mission is done outside of the program.

Tutorial: Creating a Mission

This section details all the steps necessary to create a simple mission involving a takeoff, a single task, and a successful landing.

Step 1: Design the Mission

For experienced mission designers, it is a very good idea to design the mission in some detail before starting to use the tool to create it. However, for those new to using the tool, it is easier to simply start with a basic outline. For this tutorial, the outline of our mission is:

1. Fly a Cessna out of Boeing Field
2. Reach a certain altitude and speed (1000 feet and 80 knots)
3. Complete a left or right traffic pattern
4. Land back at Boeing Field, trying to land on the runway number
5. When the aircraft has landed, the mission is over

The next stage is to do a bit of preparatory work before working the tool. ESP loads up the missions that are in the Microsoft ESP/1.0/Missions directory, so start by adding a subdirectory to this called Missions in Progress, and a subdirectory to this called Creation Tutorial.

Now add three files to the Creation Tutorial directory: two image files and one HTML briefing file. The two image files should be square and will appear in the Missions list of ESP. The first will appear before the mission has been completed by the user, and the second when the mission has been completed. The images should be 380 pixels wide x 232 pixels in height and either 256 color or 5-6-5 format (use the Imagetool utility to convert 24-bit bmp files to 5-6-5 format). The image should give some idea of what the mission is about. For our tutorial, we will use a picture of a Cessna:

The briefing file should be an HTML file describing the mission. You will probably not be able to complete the briefing file until the final mission is completed and tested, but for now, use one of the images and our mission description. For example:

Mission Creation Tutorial

Fly a Cessna out of Boeing Field, reach a certain altitude and speed (1000 feet and 80 knots), and then land back at Boeing Field.

In summary, the Creation Tutorial directory now contains three files:

• Cessna_Complete.jpg
• Cessna_Incomplete.jpg
• MissionCreationTutorial.HTML

Step 2: Create the Mission Metadata

The next step is to create metadata for the mission. Some of this information is just for your own use in organizing and retrieving the missions that you are working on. Start up ESP again, and select the Cessna C172P Skyhawk, and for airport, select Boeing Field King Co Intl. Then click on the Object Placement Tool from the Tools menu.

In the main Mission tab, first click New Mission, and then enter a suitable name and description such as Mission Creation Tutorial, and some appropriate text for the description. These do not appear when the mission is being run but are for your own use in cataloging and maintaining your own missions. Next, click on the Objects tab. This will bring up the following screen:

Click on the Add button, and then in the first drop-down list box (activated by clicking within the box), select MissionObject. Click in the second box to display the drop-down list of mission objects, and then select ScenarioMetadata. Click on Add again, and the dialog should look like this:

Note

If you get the error message "You need to be looking at or closer to the ground," use the hat switch on the joystick to lower the green crosshairs so that they point at the ground. This can be necessary even though the object being entered is not relevant to any particular ground location.

The next step is to add the appropriate values for the properties of the metadata. To edit any value, double-click the entry in the Value box. For this mission, enter Mission into ScenarioType, Seattle into LocationDesc, select Beginner for skill level, and  enter 15 minutes for EstimatedTime. The DifficultyLevel can be any integer value and is used to sort the list of missions by difficulty, with the easiest appearing first. For the sake of convenience, leave this at 0 so that the mission appears at the top of the list each time you start ESP. When you have completed creating the mission, if it is to be used by others, compare the difficulty (and the DifficultyLevel value) with other missions and then change this to an appropriate value.

UncompletedImage refers to the bitmap that is to be displayed before the mission has been completed by the user, so type Cessna_Incomplete.jpg here. Obviously, the CompletedImage refers to the bitmap that will be used when the mission has been completed, so type Cessna_Complete.jpg. For MissionBrief, type MissionCreationTutorial.HTML. 

Leave the text messages and CategoryRef unchanged for now.

Note

It is important to not add a filename to the metadata until that file actually exists, otherwise the tool may crash. This is why we created the briefing file and images first.

Now save off the mission by going back to the Mission tab and clicking Save Mission. The default is to save the mission file into your My Documents\ESP Files directory, but instead, navigate to the Microsoft ESP\1.0\missions\Missions in Progress\Creation Tutorial directory, and save the mission there with the filename MissionCreationTutorial. Saving a mission will write out the details of the mission to an XML file. If you open up the file that has just been saved, it should look similar to this:

Now is a good time to enter the category of your mission. The category (referenced by a GUID in the CategoryRef property of the metadata) will identify the mission as one from the following list:

• Tutorials
• Just for Fun
• The Good Life
• Backcountry
• Pilot for Hire
• Emergency
• Airline Pilot
• Challenges
• Military
• Test Pilot
• Racing

To set the category GUID in your metadata, cut and paste the value out of this Category file. We will use the Tutorial category for this mission. Typically, a tool such as Notepad is used to make this kind of edit to the mission data. Make sure to include the brackets {} when you cut and paste the GUID.

Creating New Categories

It is possible to make your own categories. To do this, create a new XML file and add the appropriate text and GUID entries to it. The file should be placed in the Microsoft ESP/1.0/Categories folder. ESP will open and read all XML files in this folder (not any subfolders, though), and read all SimMissionUI.ScenarioCategory entries. Care should be taken to save off the file in Unicode (not ANSI) and to name the new XML file appropriately so that it will not be identical to any other third-party category file (use your company name, a GUID, or some other reliable file naming convention). Do not update the FSCategories.XML file, as this data can be lost when updates to ESP are installed.

Refer to the Hints and Tips section of the SDK Overview documentation for information on how to generate your own GUIDs. The format of a new categories file follows; add as many <SimMissionUI.ScenarioCategory> elements as necessary (change the items in bold appropriately):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16" ?> - <SimBase.Document Type="AceXML" version="1,0" id="FSCategories"> <Descr>AceXML Document</Descr> <Filename>YourFSCategories.xml</Filename>   - <SimMissionUI.ScenarioCategory id="{GUID}"> <Descr>Description of your new category.</Descr> <Title>Title of your new category </Title> <PreviewImage>banner_image.bmp</PreviewImage> </SimMissionUI.ScenarioCategory>   </SimBase.Document>

The banner image should be 335 pixels wide x 75 pixels in height, and it, too, should be placed in the Microsoft ESP/1.0/categories folder.

References

Scenario metadata mission object

Step 3: Link the Mission to a Flight File

The next step is to link the mission we have just started to a flight file. It is flights that are loaded into ESP, not missions, so we need to attach the two. If you did not do so at the beginning of Step 2, set up the starting location within ESP -- that is, create a flight with your chosen aircraft at the chosen airport. For this sample mission, we are using a Cessna at Boeing Field airport.

Having placed your aircraft at the right location, select Save Flight from the Flights menu and save it off. Name the saved file MissionCreationTutorial. Now close ESP.

Next, go to the My Documents\ESP Files directory and cut and paste (or move) the flight file and weather file of the flight that you just saved over to the location where you saved the mission. In our example, the mission was saved to the Missions in Progress\Creation Tutorial directory, which, after moving the flight and weather files, should now contains six files:

• MissionCreationTutorial.xml
• MissionCreationTutorial.FLT
• MissionCreationTuturial.WX
• Cessna_Complete.jpg
• Cessna_Incomplete.jpg
• MissionCreationTutorial.HTML

In the Creation Tutorial folder, open up the flight file (MissionCreationTutorial.FLT) in Notepad.

The first section of a flight file should be [Main]. Under this should be Title= and Description=. This is the text that will appear as the title and description for the mission in the Flight/Load menu (along with the image file created earlier), so edit the text, perhaps adding spaces, so that it is as you want it to appear. For example:

[Main]
Title=Mission Creation Tutorial
Description=Takeoff and fly!

Now, go to the very end of the file and type the following section entry:

[ObjectFile]
File=MissionCreationTutorial

Note that the XML file extension is not added to the filename, and that there are no spaces around the equals signs. This links the mission to the flight file.

Now save off the flight file.

Step 4: Test for Successful Creation of the Mission

The next step is simply to test what we have done so far. Start up ESP, select the Flight/Load menu, and check that the Mission Creation Tutorial has appeared with the correct image and text.

Select the mission. The first thing that should appear is the short briefing file we created. Start the mission, and you should be sitting on the runway in a Cessna at Boeing Field. If all is well, select End Flight. An End of Mission dialog should appear but without any goals or rewards, as we have not yet added any to our mission.

If all this appears correctly, then the first steps are complete; if not, examine the XML and flight files to check for mistakes.

Step 5: Record the Audio for the Mission

You can, of course, record the audio for your mission at any time, but as you are going to start adding dialog and other actions to the mission, now might be a good time to do it. Each piece of spoken text -- by a co-pilot, ATC, instructor, passenger, or whomever -- should be recorded, probably in mono. Also, any special sound effects should be created, too; these could be in mono or stereo sound as appropriate.

Most sound files should be created as 22KHz mono wave (.wav) files. There is no point sampling at a higher rate, as the sound engine will down-sample any such files to 22KHz. An option is MS-ADPCM compression, but it is not required. Audio content tends to sound better uncompressed, but this will use up about four times the storage space as compressed audio.

You will probably have to revisit your sound recordings during the testing of your mission, but having the recordings handy now will increase the value of that testing.

Create a subdirectory of your mission directory called sound, and move all the recordings into this directory.

For our mission, add the following recordings to the sound directory:

• Mission1.wav: "Welcome to Boeing Field. Takeoff when you are ready."
• Mission2.wav: "Good, now climb to an altitude of 1000 feet with a speed of at least 80 knots."
• Mission3.wav: "Great, now complete a left or right traffic pattern and land back at Boeing Field. Try to land on the runway number."
• Mission4.wav: "Nicely done, now bring the aircraft to a complete stop."
• Mission5.wav: "Good job! You have completed the mission."

Of course, a real mission will have many more recordings, including good advice for when the participant is not doing so well.

Note

The audio engine does not support pre-rendered 5.1 surround sound (six channel wave files), but will render mono sounds (not stereo) in the correct 3D location, and will render in 5.1 surround sound if such a system is installed. However this does not apply to sounds recorded for missions,  so mission audio is limited to mono and stereo.

Step 6: Introduce the Mission to the User

Ensure you have ESP up and running. First click Settings, then General, then select the Show Captioning check box, as shown below. This will ensure that you can both see the dialog text as well as hear the sound file. By default, the Show Captioning check box is left unchecked.

When you have done this, make sure the Allow realism changes during Missions check box is selected. This will make adding triggers and actions easier. Now click the Mission Creation Tutorial in the list of Missions, and then click Go To Briefing. When the briefing document appears start flying, and then open up the Object Placement Tool.

Most missions begin by introducing the mission to the user with some speech and text. The text will appear on the screen at the same time as the text is being rendered by the audio system. The first step is to add the dialog actions. Do this by clicking Add, selecting Action in the First box, then DialogAction in the Second box, and then entering the Text and SoundFileName properties as appropriate:

Repeat this process of adding Dialog actions for all five recordings you have made for this mission. In each case you should only be typing into the Text and SoundFileName properties. Notice how each action is appended with a number in the All Items list.

The next step is to add a timer trigger, which will initiate the first of our dialog actions.

To do this go to the Object tab of the tool, click Add, then select Trigger from the First box, and TimerTrigger from the Second box. Click Add again and you will see the list of properties associated with a timer trigger:

It is best to let the user wait a few seconds before introducing the mission to the user, so change the StopTime value to 5.0. Leave the StartTime at 0.0, so the timer starts when the flight is loaded. Actions are initiated by timer triggers when the stop time is reached, so these two values will initiate the text and speech 5 seconds into the mission.

The property OneShot set to True simply means that the action should only be fired once (this is not very important for timer triggers, which are only fired once, but you will have to decide with other triggers whether you want them to keep firing their actions if a user keeps triggering them). Activated should be True -- this means that this trigger is to be considered active, and is not waiting for any other event before it is to become active. Leave the other properties as they are.

Note

The All Items box, in the top right corner of the dialog, now contains the additional item we have added. Clicking on any item in this box will bring up that item and its properties to the boxes below.

We have not finished yet, as we have not yet linked the timer trigger and the dialog action. Do this by clicking on Property Set for the Actions property. This will bring up a list of items in the Elements box that this trigger could be linked to. Double-click on DialogAction1 in the Elements box to link the trigger and action. This will be shown both by a + sign appended to the name in the Elements box, and also an entry in the References box, as shown below:

This is all we need to do to introduce our mission.

Go back to the Missions tab and save off the mission. Then exit the flight, start the mission again, wait five seconds, and you should both see and hear the text Welcome to Boeing Field. Takeoff when you are ready. If you do, then all is well, if not, go back and check the properties for the trigger and action.

This is one of the most simple examples of a trigger and action, but this process of linking these two elements of a mission applies throughout the tool.

Notes

The Latched property appears in all the triggers, but this is not a value that is set when creating a mission. Latched will be set to True when a trigger fires, so if a mission is saved off part way through, and reloaded later, the system will have recorded where the user is within the mission.

Actions in a mission are queued up one after another as they are fired. Dialog actions do not pass processing to the next action until the attached wave file (if there is one) has completed playing. There can also be an additional delay added to the end of a dialog action by entering a value into the DelaySeconds property for the action. This is to ensure the user both has time to read the text and/or hear the wave file, but also extra time to respond to any request that this speech has made, as the next action may well be testing for that response.

References

Dialog actions

Timer triggers

Step 7: Add a Property Trigger, or Two

If it is not still loaded, reload the mission and open up the Object Placement Tool.

All our mission does so far is ask the user to takeoff. To give them the next stage in the mission, we can give them some more details just after the aircraft has taken off. To do this we can use a property trigger and link it to our second dialog action.

Click Add, then select Trigger and PropertyTrigger. A property trigger is one that tests one or more conditions, typically speed or altitude of the aircraft, but there are many hundreds of other possibilities.

In the Properties box of the property trigger, ensure Activated is True, and click on the Property Set for Actions. Then double-click on DialogAction2 (in the Elements list) to link it to the property trigger. Then double-click on the Property Set for the Condition property. This will bring up the Conditional Editor dialog box. Click Add Term and select Simvar.AltitudeAMSL for the left hand side of the condition (LHS). Leave the Operator as Greater Than, and type 50.0 for the right hand side (RHS), so the dialog looks like this:

The simple condition we have entered indicates that the trigger will be fired when the user's aircraft is more than 50 feet above ground level. The units of a condition appear under the Simvar property. If the unit of measurement for any simulation variable is not obvious, refer to the Simulation Variables document. Click OK to add the condition to the trigger.

Notes

Both the left and right hand sides of a condition can be one of: Property, Double, Long, Unsigned, Boolean or String. If Property is selected the next box will by default contain [User]. [User] refers to the user's aircraft, obviously, but there can be other aircraft under control of the AI component of ESP, and if these aircraft existed property triggers could be set on them too.

 

There is an issue with the Object Placement Tool that some options are presented that simply do not apply given the selections that have been made. This applies both in the main dialog and the Conditional Editor. Mission designers should study the Mission Object Reference, and be prepared for some trial and error, in the creation of missions using this tool.

For reference, the PropertyTrigger2 properties should now look like this:
In our sample mission we want the user to fly up to an altitude of 1000 feet, with a minimum speed of 80 knots, before returning. To do this we should now enter a second property trigger, this time with two conditions, and of course a link to the third speech dialog to indicate when this has been done.

Enter two conditions into the property editor:

• Simvar.AltitudeAMSL        Greater Than             1000.0
• Simvar.IndicatedAirspeed   Greater Than                 80.0

And click on the Actions Property Set to link to DialogAction3.

Notes

In the first property trigger the AltitudeAGL (above ground level) value is used, to ensure that the aircraft has taken off, but in the second property trigger AltitudeAMSL (above mean sea level) is more appropriate.

With multiple conditions usually they will all have to be true for the trigger to fire, so the default is for conditions to be ANDed together. Set the Term list operator box value to OR if only one condition has to be true to fire the trigger. Note that conditions involving both OR and AND logical operators cannot be created using the Condition Editor. It is easy to see how quite complex conditions could be entered as property triggers. They can test for both success and for troubling situations like excessive G forces, pitch angles, airspeed and so on.

If multiple conditions are entered each can be edited or deleted by selecting them in the condition box (which will have the number of the condition and the total number of conditions preceding it), such as:

Save off the mission, then restart it and test that both property trigger dialog actions are triggered at the appropriate points. Notice how simply climbing above 1000 feet does not fire the second property trigger, it is necessary to increase the speed to 80 knots before it does fire.

References

Property Trigger

Step 8: Add a Proximity Trigger

A proximity trigger will fire if the specified object (usually the user's aircraft) enters a specified box. The box is defined by a length, width and height, and can be placed anywhere in the world. It is usually most useful to move to the approximate location for the proximity trigger first. The joystick and hat switch can be used to move the crosshairs, you may also want to use the Slew feature to move larger distances. In our example we want to create a proximity trigger at the ideal landing spot on the runway (the runway number). First use the joystick to select the center of the runway number, then click Add and select AreaDefinition and RectangleArea. The length, width and height property values can be edited, so change them to a length and width of 100 (units are in meters), and a height of 20.

The orientation about each axis can also be changed (though is not necessary in this case), and set the Rendered property to True if the box should actually appear in view. Set Rendered to be True for this sample.

The next step is to add the proximity trigger and attach it to this area definition. To do this select Add then select Trigger and ProximityTrigger, then in the Properties box click on Areas, then double-click RectangularArea1 in the Elements box. This links the trigger to the area. Also, select the OnEnterActions property and link it to DialogAction4, to link entering the area with the appropriate speech.

For this proximity trigger we do not want it to be activated until the user is airborne, and has completed the previous step (climbed to 1000ft with a speed of 80 knots), so we set the Activated property to False. The next step is to change the activated property to true, at the appropriate time.

Notes

When a mission is saved off, area definitions become locked, and the properties cannot be edited until the Locked box is unchecked. This is to help prevent accidental changes to a carefully placed area.

For future reference, more than one proximity trigger can be attached to a single area definition, and it is also possible to attach proximity triggers to moving objects. This is more advanced than we need for our first mission, but refer to the reference for more information on how to do these things.

Make sure you are saving off the mission regularly.

References

Area Definition object

Proximity Trigger

Step 9: Add an Object Activation Action

To link the inactive proximity trigger to the completion of a previous action, go through the following steps.

First, add an ObjectActivationAction to the mission. It only requires a few properties: leave NewObjectState as True, and click on ObjectReferenceList to display a list in the Elements box. Double-click on ProximityTrigger4. This means when the object activation action occurs it will activate the proximity trigger.

Next, select PropertyTrigger3 (with the altitude of 1000 feet and speed of 80 knots condition) from the All Items list, and click on Actions. Double-click on the ObjectActivationAction5 entry under Elements. PropertyTrigger3 now fires two actions, a dialog action and the object activation action.

The logic here should be fairly clear. The proximity trigger is inactive until the user's aircraft reaches the required altitude and speed. When the aircraft does meet these requirements the proximity trigger becomes active.

Note

A trigger can activate any number of actions.

References

Object activation action

Step 10: Add an Airport Landing Trigger

Many missions will end with a successful landing. Add an AirportLandingTrigger and enter the four digit Airport identification code to identify the correct airport (KSEA for Sea-Tac International or KBFI for Boeing Field, for example). Again set the Activated property to False. Set the Actions property to trigger DialogAction5, which is the appropriate mission completed text. For this case leave the landing as FullStop (the alternatives are TouchDown and Any), and leave the RunwayFilter entry for now (it is possible to specify which runway must be landed on to fire the trigger).

Go back to the ObjectActivationAction created in Step 9 (click on it in the All Items list) and add the AirportLandingTrigger to the actions that become active when the object activation action fires.

References

Airport landing trigger

Object activation action

Step 11: Add Goals and Rewards

For this mission we might decide that there are two goals, one for the user to enter the proximity trigger box and land on the painted runway number, and the second for a correct landing (coming to a complete stop).

Add goals by clicking Add, then selecting Goal. The goal state should be left as pending. The text entered here will appear in the End Mission dialog, along with the final state of the goal (pending, completed, or failed). Enter two goals, one for landing on the runway number, and another for a correct landing. The text can be Landed on the Painted Number , with an Order number of 1, for the first goal, and Complete Stop, with an Order number of 2, for the second goal.

Next, add a GoalResolutionAction for each goal. The Goals property of this action should be linked in the usual way to the goals themselves. Go to the ProximityTrigger and add the second goal resolution action (Landed on the Painted Number) to its list of actions. Finally go back to the AirportLandingTrigger and add the correct goal resolution action (Complete Stop) to the list of  actions which it fires.

There is currently no concept of an optional goal in the Mission system.

Creating Rewards

Rewards are different from goals, they are persistent and added to the user's pilot records. A reward can be serious in the sense of a certificate for achieving some level of skill, or more trivial, for example a reward for photographing a humpback whale off Hawaii. The rewards that ship with ESP are integrated into the missions and tutorials that are provided, so it makes most sense to create your own rewards, if you choose to use them.

To create the simplest form of reward, go through the following steps:

1. Create artwork for the reward. Use appropriate art tools to create one detailed piece of art for the reward (300 pixels wide x 370 pixels in height) and one thumbnail piece of art (100 pixels wide x 80 pixels in height). These will be referenced by the reward file and appear on the user's screen when aiming at and achieving the reward. The artwork can be .bmp or .jpg files.
2. Fill out an XML file that matches the following format.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?> - <FSData version="9.0"> - <Reward rewardId="{GUID}" name="name of the reward" description="description of the reward." type="TROPHY" bitmap = "artwork_small.bmp" rewardDetailBitmap="artwork_large.bmp"> </Reward> </FSData>

3. Create and enter a GUID for the reward, to be referenced by the mission itself.
4. Enter a name to appear in ESP.
5. Enter a description to appear when the user selects View details.
6. Enter a type for the reward, which can be one of: TROPHY, BADGE, MEDAL, CERTIFICATE, POSTCARD or SPECIAL_ITEM.
7. Enter the filename for the thumbnail piece of art, and the detailed piece of art.
8. Ensure that both pieces of art and the XML file are in the same folder, then run the command line tool, BGLComp with the XML file as input (entering the command: BGLComp reward.xml). Alternatively drag the reward XML file over the BGLComp icon. The BGLComp tool is in the Environment Kit\BGLComp SDK folder. This will create a rewards file, with a .rwd extension. Copy the rewards file to the Microsoft ESP/1.0/rewards folder. This file includes the artwork, so is the only file required.
9. Add the reward to a mission by selecting its GUID in a Grant Reward action, and then link this action it to the final trigger.

A rewards file can contain any number of rewards, simply by entering as many <Reward> </Reward> entries in the XML file as there are rewards. More complex rewards can be created by adding a <Criteria> section to a reward. The following table shows an example with all the possible criteria.

<! An example comment: hours include decimal places, 2.5 hours for example >   <Criteria landings="2" differentAirports="2"> <RewardHours hours="10" hoursType="ANY" /> <RewardHours hours="10" hoursType="DAY" /> <RewardHours hours="10" hoursType="NIGHT" /> <RewardHours hours="10" hoursType="VFR" /> <RewardHours hours="10" hoursType="IFR" /> <RewardHours hours="10" hoursType="SAILPLANE" /> <RewardHours hours="10" hoursType="LANDPLANE" /> <RewardHours hours="10" hoursType="SEAPLANE" /> <RewardHours hours="10" hoursType="ROTORCRAFT" /> <RewardHours hours="10" hoursType="MULTI_ENGINE" /> <RewardAirport ident="KORD" /> <RewardAirport ident="KSEA" /> <RewardAirport ident="KBFI" /> <DependantRewardId rewardId="{GUID}" /> <DependantRewardId rewardId="{GUID}" /> </Criteria>

The criteria in the above example are not very realistic, they require the user to have completed two landings at two different airports and landed at the list of the three specified (KORD, KSEA, and KBFI). It also requires 10 hours experience in a whole range of situations, and that two other rewards must have been earned before this one can be given. All criteria are logically ANDed to make up the requirement for a reward, and all equals signs should be interpreted as greater than or equal to (in other words, at least 10 hours experience in all the aircraft and situations listed in the example above). The following table gives some more realistic examples:

- <Reward rewardId="{GUID}" name="10 hours flying " description="Earn a medal for flying any aircraft for a total of 10 hours flying time." type="MEDAL" bitmap="small.jpg" rewardDetailBitmap="large.jpg"> - <Criteria> <RewardHours hours="10" hoursType="ANY" /> </Criteria> </Reward>

- <Reward rewardId="{GUID}" name="15 hours at night " description="Earn a certificate for flying any aircraft for a total of 15 hours flying at night." type="CERTIFICATE" bitmap="small.jpg" rewardDetailBitmap="large.jpg"> - <Criteria> <RewardHours hours="15" hoursType="NIGHT" /> </Criteria> </Reward>

- <Reward rewardId="{GUID}" name="25 landings" description="Earn a badge for completing 25 landings." type="BADGE" bitmap="small.jpg" rewardDetailBitmap="large.jpg"> <Criteria landings="25" /> </Reward>

- <Reward rewardId="{GUID}" name="Remote location" description="Earn a postcard for landing on Easter Island." type="POSTCARD" bitmap="small.jpg" rewardDetailBitmap="large.jpg"> - <Criteria> <RewardAirport ident="SCIP" /> </Criteria> </Reward>

- <Reward rewardId="{GUID}" name="Busy airports " description="Earn a trophy for landing at 3 of the busiest airports in the world: London Heathrow, Atlanta and Singapore." type="TROPHY" bitmap="small.jpg" rewardDetailBitmap="large.jpg"> - <Criteria> <RewardAirport ident="EGLL" /> <RewardAirport ident="KATL" /> <RewardAirport ident="WSSS" /> </Criteria> </Reward>

References

Goal objects

Goal resolution action

Grant Reward action

Step 12: Test and Refine the Mission

Having completed building the mission, ensure you have saved it all off, and then test it thoroughly. The best designed mission can still exhibit strange behavior during testing.

There are of course many cases where the mission might inappropriately reward a user. For example, the proximity trigger in our example will still fire correctly if the aircraft is landing upside down, without its gear down, too fast, or whatever. To tighten up a mission you will need to add conditions to many of the triggers, especially the proximity triggers.

This ends the tutorial section of this document. The most popular and useful actions and triggers are covered in the tutorial, but there are many others, and the following reference section describes all the Mission Objects.

You can also refer to the missions provided with ESP (by loading them into the Object Placement Tool, or viewing the XML in an appropriate editor) for examples of how different triggers, actions, goals and rewards can be used. Mission files created using this tool are in an open XML format. Mission files supplied with ESP are in a binary format with the .SPB extension. To help in the understanding of the mission system, the XML files used to create the Sample Missions are supplied in a subfolder of this SDK.

Creating an SPB file

Mission files can either be in XML or SPB (Sim-Prop Binary) format. See the section Creating an SPB File in the Creating XML Gauges document for details on how to use the simpropcompiler tool.

Error Reports

To get more detailed error reports when there is an error in a mission file, make sure the following entry is in the ESP.cfg file, which is in the Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\ESP folder.

[DEBUG]
ReportLoadErrors=1

Hints and Tips using the Object Placement Tool

This section describes a few techniques that mission designers should find helpful when using the Object Placement Tool. Also, some very helpful information is available at Mission Building Tips.

Selecting an Object

To place an object using the mouse, first double-click on the Value entry of the World Position property, and then click on the desired location in the 3D view. This will place, or move, the object to that location. In the image below an Area Definition object is being placed as part of a taxiing route.

Rotating an Object

To rotate an object using the mouse, first double-click on the first or last of the three Value entries of the Orientation property. To rotate around the X axis, double-click on the first Orientation value, then move the mouse up or down. To rotate around the vertical Y axis, double-click on the third value and move the mouse left or right. There is no mouse control over rotation in the Z axis (these should be entered by hand into the Orientation property). The image below shows a car being rotated into position.

Completing Triggers

It is good practice to complete the entry of triggers before loading a mission into the simulator. For example, the OnEnterCondition should be entered, and an appropriate action referenced. Triggers that are not complete in this way can lead to unexpected behavior during testing with the simulator.

Mission Object Reference

This section reference information for mission designers, including the file structure to follow, and of all the properties that apply to each of the Mission Objects. For examples of the use of these objects, refer to Sample Missions.

• Mission File Structure
• Actions
• AI Objects
• Area Definition Objects
• Group Objects
• Mission Objects
• Scenery Objects
• Mobile Scenery Objects
• Spawn Lists
• Triggers
• Goal Object
• Disabled Traffic Airport Object

Mission File Structure

The missions that you create should be placed under the ESP\Missions\ folder, and follow the same folder structure as the sample missions provided -- with the briefing file, and other files referenced by the mission, in the same directory as the mission XML or SPB file, and the audio in a \Sound sub-folder. These files can reference other files, such as the images in the Common folder, for example, but should not reference files outside of the ESP\Missions folder.

Actions

An action is a declarative way to cause something to happen in the world.  Examples of actions are playing a sound file, completing an objective, showing text in the adventure window, failing an engine, completing a goal, etc.

In multiplayer mode, actions with the TargetPlayer property will affect the players specified by the property. If an action does not contain this property the action will affect only the local player, with the exception of Race Course Start Action and Race Course Activate Action, which affect all players.

• Generic Action Properties
• Activate Waypoints Action
• Adjust Payload Action
• Attach Droppable Payload Action
• Attach Effect Action
• Change Object Type Action
• Count Action
• Custom Action
• Dialog Action
• Disqualify Player Action
• Failure Action
• Goal Resolution Action
• Grant Reward Action
• Object Activation Action
• One Shot Sound Action
• Play Animation Action
• Play Flight Recording Action
• Play List Action
• Point Of Interest Activation Action
• Random Action
• Race Course Start Action
• Race Course Activate Action
• Refill Action
• ResetTimer Action
• Rumble Action
• Spawn Action
• Time Penalty Action
• Timer Adjust Action

Generic Action Properties

All actions include the following properties.

Property	Description
id	Reserved. Do not edit this field.
Descr	The name of the action. The system will generate a name such as DialogAction1, simply by appending the number of the next action to the type of action. This name can be edited to help identify it further, though it is a good idea to maintain the type of action in the name, as this information is not clearly available through any other mechanism. Make sure though that the name is unique.
InstanceId	This is the GUID generated to ensure the object has a unique reference. Do not edit this field

Activate Waypoints Action

Waypoints are essential for the movement of certain AI objects. The activate waypoints action provides one or more AI object with a new list of waypoints.
 

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
ObjectReference	List of one or more AI objects that are to use the new waypoint list.
WaypointList	List of one or more waypoints that are to become active.

Adjust Payload Action

An adjust payload action is used to set, or add to, the weight on a payload station.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
ObjectReference	The list of objects to which the payload adjustment applies.
StationIndex	The index number of the station.
AdjustmentType	One of: Set or Add.
Weight	The quantity of the adjustment.
Units	One of: number, feet, g_force, knots, pounds, percent, boolean, degrees or radians.

Attach Droppable Payload Action

An attach droppable payload action is used to change the payload that gets dropped when the user presses a key configured to drop the payload.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
PayloadName	The name of the container that becomes the object to be dropped.
PayloadCount	The number of payload objects that should be attached.
ObjectReferenceList	The objects which are each to get the assigned payload.

Attach Effect Action

The attach effect action attaches a single special effect (such as smoke, fire, contrail etc.) to one or more objects.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
EffectName	Filename of the special effect. The effect should be in the ESP/effects folder.
AttachPointName	The name of the attach point (physical location) of where the effect is to be applied. See the Using Modeling Tools documentation and the Library Objects table for information on attach points.
ObjectReferenceList	List of objects that the effect applies to.

Change Object Type Action

A change object type action changes the object the user is in. For example, it can be used to change from one type of aircraft to another.

Note

Using this action with landing triggers is no longer allowed, as it can cause serious problems with multi-player races. If this functionality is required, the landing should activate a one second timer trigger which in turn fires the change object type action.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
ObjectType	The identifying title of the new object, from an aircraft.configuration file.

Count Action

A count action will add the value of the Count property to the Counter value in the given list of triggers (which should all be Counter triggers). Counter triggers will fire when a certain specified count is reached.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
Count	Value to be added to the Counter triggers current counter. The default is 1.
Triggers	List of Counter triggers to have their counts incremented. Note that these must be counter triggers, even though the Object Placement Tool lists other trigger types.

Custom Action

A custom action is used to enable communications between a mission and a SimConnect client application.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
PayloadString	Text that will be transmitted to the SimConnect client when the action is initiated. The text can be any string that the client might find useful.
WaitForCompletion	Set this to True if a completion message must be received from the SimConnect client, before the mission progresses. Set to False otherwise.

Dialog Action

A dialog action is used to add speech to be rendered over the audio system, and/or text to be displayed on the screen. See the explanation in the tutorial for more examples.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
Text	The text to appear on the screen. Can be left blank.
SoundFileName	The wave file to be rendered by the audio system. The file should be in the \sounds directory of the mission. Can be left blank.
DelaySeconds	A delay in seconds after the text and audio are rendered. Can be used to allow time for the user to respond to the dialog, before performing another action.
TargetPlayer	The players who should receive the dialog. One of: Local Player, All Players, Triggering Player, All but Triggering Player.

Disqualify Player Action

A disqualify player action is used to disqualify and remove usually one player from a race.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
TargetPlayer	The players who should be disqualified. One of: Local Player, All Players, Triggering Player, All but Triggering Player.
Text	Text displayed to the disqualified players.

Failure Action

A failure action is used to change the behavior of one of the aircraft's systems. It is possible also to change a failing system's status back to fully functional, by changing its HealthPercent value to 100. Failures only apply to the user aircraft, unless the TargetPlayer property specifies otherwise.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
System	One of: (Engines and systems) Engine, EngineFire, Coolant, OilSystem, OilLeak, VacuumSystem, Pitot, Static, ElectricalSystem, Generator, FuelPump, FuelLeak, APU, APUFire, TurbineIgnition, HydraulicPump, HydraulicLeak, LeftMagneto, RightMagneto (Control surfaces and structural) Elevator, LeftAileron, RightAileron, Rudder, RearTail, LeftFlap, RightFlap, LeftWing, LeftWingTip, RightWing, RightWingTip (Landing gear) CenterGear, RightGear, LeftGear, AuxGear, LeftBrake, RightBrake, BrakeSystemHydraulicSource (Instruments) AltitudeIndicator, AirspeedIndicator, Altimeter, DirectionalGyro, Compass, TurnCoordinator, VSI (Radios) ComRadios, NavRadios, ADFRadios, Transponder
SystemIndex	If an aircraft has multiple systems (usually applies to engines or instruments), enter the index of the system that the failure should apply to.
Behavior	Not implemented, use the HealthPercent property.
HealthPercent	Enter a value of between 0 (complete failure) and 100 (fully functional). For System entries such as OilLeak or FuelLeak the lower the HealthPercent the greater the leak. For control surfaces such as LeftWingTip the HealthPercent determines the lift. For instruments and radios no partial or intermittent behavior is implemented, so set the HealthPercent to 0 for not operational, or 100 for fully operational.
TargetPlayer	The players who should experience the failure. One of: Local Player, All Players, Triggering Player, All but Triggering Player.

Goal Resolution Action

The goal resolution action is used to set whether goals have been completed or not. See the explanation in the tutorial for more examples.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
GoalResolution	Set to completed or failed.
Goals	List of Goal  Objects to have their resolution changed.

Grant Reward Action

The grant reward action rewards the user with a single reward, to be placed in their pilot records. See Creating Rewards for more details.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
RewardRef	GUID of the appropriate reward.

Object Activation Action

The object activation action will change the state of  most different types of object, Triggers, AI objects, Scenery objects and some Mission objects. Do not use it for points of interest, use PointOfInterestActivationAction for that particular case.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
NewObjectState	Set to True or False.
ObjectReferenceList	List of objects (AI Object,  Scenery, Mission Objects and Triggers) to have their status changed.
TargetPlayer	The players who should experience the object activation. One of: Local Player, All Players, Triggering Player, All but Triggering Player.

One Shot Sound Action

The one shot sound action will render a single wave file. Use this for sound effects rather than dialog (use the Dialog action for speech audio).

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
SoundFileName	The wave file to be rendered. The file should be in the \sounds directory of the mission.

Play Animation Action

The play animation action will initiate an animation sequence on one or more objects.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
AnimationGUID	GUID of the animation. Refer to the section on Creating a New Animation in the Using Modeling Tools document, which describes animation GUIDs.
LoopAnimation	Set to True to loop the animation.
ObjectReferenceList	The list of objects that the animation is to apply to.
TargetPlayer	The players who should experience the animation. Note that the animation may not apply to the user aircraft, but is specified in the ObjectReferenceList. One of: Local Player, All Players, Triggering Player, All but Triggering Player.

Play Flight Recording Action

A play flight recording action is used to add a prerecorded flight to a mission, usually a multi-player racing mission. As the AI pilot in ESP is geared towards commercial and general aviation traffic, and not racing, an additional method of adding an aircraft to a race course is to record an aircraft (under user control) taking part on the race course, and then replaying that flight file during the actual race. Refer also to the AirplanePlayback property of AI objects.

Recording flight video during missions is disabled by default, in order to turn it on, enter the following line in the [USERINTERFACE] section of the ESP.cfg file:

AllowFlightVideoInMissions=1

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
Filename	The filename of the recorded flight file (with an .FSR extension), that should be placed in the mission's specific folder (the same folder that contains the mission XML or SPB file).
ObjectReference	The AI object that should fly the recorded path.

Play List Action

The play list action will play the specified music items on the adventure music track.  Individual play list items can be set to a random position within the play list.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
PlayListItem	Play list item object. To enter a play list, double-click on the PlayListItem Property Set, this will bring up an Objects dialog and select New, Insert Before or Insert After to add items to the list. Click OK when there are enough items in the list. This list will then appear in the Property Sets box of the Objects tab. Clicking on any one of these items will bring up the properties for each item.

PlayList Item Object

A playlist item is an audio track that forms part of a playlist action.

Property	Description
id	Reserved. Do not edit this property.
Descr	The name of the item. The system will generate a name such as PlayListItem1. This name can be edited to help identify it further. Make sure though that the name is unique.
SoundFileName	The name of the wave file (typically music track) to be played.
RandomizeInList	Set to True to randomize the playing of this particular track in the playlist.

Point Of Interest Activation Action

A point of interest activation action will change the state of one or more Point of Interest objects. It is very similar to ObjectActivationAction, but also sets the current point of interest to be the one with the lowest cycle order in its list.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
NewObjectState	Set to True or False.
ObjectReferenceList	List of one or more Point of Interest objects to have their status changed.
TargetPlayer	The players who should experience the activation. One of: Local Player, All Players, Triggering Player, All but Triggering Player.

Race Clock Start Action

A race clock start action can be used to start the race clock This action is only necessary if the ClockStart property of a Race Info object is set to OnAction.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.

Race Course Activate Action

A race course activate action can be used to activate the course. This action will typically be called from a Timer trigger, though could be called for example from a Proximity trigger -- say requiring participants to do a warm-up lap of the course. This action will set the RaceCourseActive property of a Race Info object to True, and is only necessary if this property is currently False.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.

Random Action

The random action is used to initiate one action from a list of possibilities.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
ProbabilityPercent	The probability that any action at all will fire. Enter 100 to ensure an action will fire.
Actions	List of actions from which one is chosen at random.

Refill Action

A refill action is used to refuel aircraft with one or more types of fuel. Refer to the Aircraft Configuration Files document for more information on Nitrous and AntiDetonation fuel types.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
PercentFuel	Set to a number between 0.0 and 100.0, indicating how much fuel, as a percentage of the capacity of the fuel tanks, should be added to the tanks.
PercentNitrous	Set to a number between 0.0 and 100.0, indicating how much fuel should be added to the Nitrous tanks.
PercentAntiDetonation	Set to a number between 0.0 and 100.0, indicating how much fuel should be added to the AntiDetonation tanks.
SystemIndex	The index number of the fuel tank, if the aircraft has more than one. Indexes start at 1.
TargetPlayer	The players who should receive the fuel. One of: Local Player, All Players, Triggering Player, All but Triggering Player.

Reset Timer Action

The reset timer action is used to set the current time of a list of timers back to their start times.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
Triggers	List of Timer Triggers to be reset.

Rumble Action

The rumble action is used to initiate rumble in the Universal Controller (typically an XBox controller).

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
Intensity	One of: Off, Low, Med, High
Duration	Duration of the rumble in seconds, or fractions of a second.

Spawn Action

A spawn action will create all the new objects (including AI aircraft, scenery, actions and triggers) specified in a Spawn List object. A spawn action that is called multiple times will create multiple objects.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
SpawnLists	List of one or more Spawn List objects.

Time Penalty Action

A time penalty action is used to add a number of seconds to a player's race time. Note that this number can be negative, so adding a bonus rather than a penalty to the player.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
Deltatime	Floating point time penalty in seconds.
TargetPlayer	The players who should receive the time penalty. One of: Local Player, All Players, Triggering Player, All but Triggering Player.
Text	Text displayed to the players receiving the time penalty.

Timer Adjust Action

The timer adjust action adds the DeltaTime property value to the timer trigger's internal clock.

Property	Description
Generic Action Properties	See description above.
DeltaTime	A positive or negative timer adjustment, in seconds.
Triggers	List of Timer Triggers to have the timer adjustment.

AI Objects

AI objects are computer-controlled vehicles. Four types of vehicle can be controlled by the AI (artificial intelligence) component of ESP:

1. Aircraft
2. Boats
3. Ground vehicles
4. Other

AI objects appear under the title PATH_CONTAINER_OBJECTS in the All Items list.

• AircraftAI Object
• TakeoffAI Object
• LandingAI Object
• TaxiAI Object
• GroundVehicleAI Object
• Waypoint List Object 
• Waypoint Object

If an AI-controlled object is added to the mission, the following properties apply to it:

Property	Description
Descr	The name of the object. The system will generate a name such as Aircraft1 or Ferry1, simply be appending the number of the next object to the type of the object. This name can be edited to help identify it further. Make sure though that the name is unique.
InstanceId	This is the GUID generated to ensure the object has a unique reference. Do not edit this field
ContainerTitle	The make and model of the aircraft, or type of boat or vehicle. This is the title that is listed in the Aircraft Configuration File.
ContainerID	An ID number given to this object. This can be used by ChangeObjectTypeAction to change, for example, the user's aircraft from one type to another.
IsOnGround	Set to True or False.
WorldPosition	Latitude, longitude, and altitude in feet. For example: N22° 21' 44.68",E114° 1' 15.01",+000000.00
Orientation	Pitch, Bank and Heading, in degrees.
EngineStarted	True or False.
IdentificationNumber	An aircraft identification number such as NAA000. Not used for ground vehicles or boats.
AIType	One of: None, Airplane, Helicopter, WanderBoat, GoundVehicle, FuelTruck, BaggageCart, BaggageLoader, AirportAmbient or AirplanePlayback For ships on a course use GroundVehicle. For small boats on the sea or lakes use WanderBoat. Only Airplane and GroundVehicle take objects that can be further specified.
GroundVehicleAI	If the AIType is GroundVehicle then clicking on this entry will initiate a GroundVehicleAI object. Expand the entry in the Property Sets box to expose the new objects.
AircraftAI	If the AIType is Airplane then clicking on this entry will initiate an AircraftAI object. Expand the entry in the Property Sets box to expose the new objects.
AirplanePlaybackAI	Refer to the section Starting AIPlayback.
TrafficDBFile	Unused.
TrafficDBKey	Unused.
Activated	Set to True or False. This can be changed during a mission using the Object Activation action.
MDLGuid	Optional. If a model GUID is entered here, it will override the models referenced in the aircraft model.cfg file.
LabelMode	One of: UserDefined, On, or Off. If UserDefined is set, the label format will be taken from the user settings in the Settings/Display/Traffic dialog.
Effect	For internal use. Use the AttachEffectAction to attach an effect to an object.

AircraftAI Object

AircraftAI objects are referenced by AI Objects.

Property	Description
Unit_Mode	One of: Sleep, Zombie, Waypoint, Takeoff, Landing, Taxi, Working, Waiting
GroundCruiseSpeed	Ground speed in knots.
GroundTurnSpeed	Turning speed in knots.
GroundTurnTime	Time in seconds to make a 90 degree turn. A recommended minimum turn time is 0.5 seconds.
YieldToUser	True or False.
WaypointList	WaypointList object.
Schedule	Used internally only, for saving flight/mission information.
TakeofAI	TakeoffAI object Provide this object only if the AircraftAIState is set to SIMPLE_TAKEOFF.
LandingAI	LandingAI object. Provide this object only if the AircraftAIState is set to SIMPLE_LANDING.
TaxiAI	TaxiAI object. Provide this object only if the AircraftAIState is set to SIMPLE_TAXI.
ICAOIdent	Airport ID, such as PAFA.
AircraftAIState	One of: SIMPLE_FLIGHT, SIMPLE_TAXI, SIMPLE_LANDING, or SIMPLE_TAKEOFF.
SimDisableTimer to Flags	This set of properties are for internal use only.
MaxBank	The maximum bank angle the aircraft should make, in degrees.
WaypointTouchDistance	The distance in meters from a waypoint that is acceptable as having reached the waypoint.
PatternEntry	One of: Downwind, Base, or Straight_In.

TakeoffAI Object

Takeoff AI objects are referenced by AircraftAI objects.