FILE SETUP

When you go to start modelling your aircraft, there are a series of important conventions that should be followed to ensure maximum compatibility and ease of setup within Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 later. This page outlines these conventions and we strongly recommend that you follow them.

 

 

Setting Up

When you first create your file in your modelling program (3DS Max in this tutorial), you should follow these guidelines:

 

• The file units setup should be Metric Meters: 1 Unit = 1 Meter.
  

• The aircraft must be positioned so that top view displays the nose pointing downward.

• The aircraft should be positioned in the file so that the center is approximately 1/3 of the way down the fuselage from the front as shown in the image below. For the Z axis, the center should be approximately where the water level would be if the aircraft had to emergency land in the ocean.

  

• All objects must have their xforms and transforms reset (100, 100, 100 scale - 0, 0, 0 rotation).

 

 

Layer Construction

When setting up the file for your aircraft within your modelling tool, you should be aware of the modular nature of aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. When exporting your aircraft from your modeling software, you will be exporting it as seperate parts and each part will have it's own LODs, and include livery details, frost details, and dirt details. As such, you will need to setup your file taking this into consideration. The following image shows a breakdown of the layers that go into the creation of an aircraft for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024:

 

It is also very important to note that each part of the aircraft has its own root node.

 

 

Naming Conventions

When it comes to LODs, you should use the conventions in this table for naming the layers:

 

Layer Name	Description
Default	Empty
x0	All objects prefixed "x0_"
x1	All objects prefixed "x1_"
x2	All objects prefixed "x2_"
x3	All objects prefixed "x3_"
x4	All objects prefixed "x4_"
x5	All objects prefixed "x5_"
x6	All objects prefixed "x6_"

 

Each layer set may have nested layers within without any issues as long as the object names are prefixed correctly with the suggested LOD identifier and follow the correct naming convention. This naming is important as it ensures that the 3DS Max plugin tools work correctly and is also required for certain things to work correctly when the aircraft is imported into the simulation. As a general rule, however, the format is as follows:

[lod]_<SYSTEM>_<typeOfInput>_[name]_[subname]_[position]_[subPosition]

 

Note that the SYSTEM and typeOfInput parts should only be used when creating objects that the user will be able to interact with. The list below shows some examples of object names:

x0_HANDLING_RudderPedals_Brake_Spring_L_1
x1_HANDLING_Yoke_1
x0_FUEL_Selector_1
x2_ENGINE_Lever_Throttle_2

 

The table below shows the typical naming scheme for aircraft objects and sub-elements:

Bodypart Object Name	Mesh Type	Description
FUSELAGE	Static	The airframe fuselage.
FUSELAGE_XX	Static	Used for additional fuselage geometry that adds details, where XX is an extra identifier, eg: x0_FUSELAGE_Details.
WINDSHIELD	Static	The airframe windshield and window glass.
PROPELLER_Blade_i	Animated	An aircraft propeller blade. This can be can be broken down into 1, 2 or 4 propellers depending on the plane.
PROPELLER_Side_i	Animated	The propeller nose cone.
PROPELLER_Nose_i	Animated	The propeller nose cone.
TAIL	Static	The airframe tail section.
TAIL_Details	Static	Used for additional tail geometry that is used to add details.
RUDDER	Animated	The rudder section.
RUDDER_Trim	Animated	The rudder trim.
STABILIZER_Vertical / STABILIZER_Horizontal	Animated	The vertical / horizontal stabilizers.
ELEVATOR / ELEVATOR_Left / ELEVATOR_Right	Animated	The (left / right) elevator.
ELEVATOR_Trim / ELEVATOR_TrimLeft / ELEVATOR_TrimRight	Animated	The (left / right) elevator trim.
WING_Left / WING_Right	Static	The main left / right wing sections.
WING_LeftBody / WING_RightBody	Static	The body left / right wing sections.
WING_LeftTip / WING_RightTip	Static	The left / right wing tips.
WING_LeftDetails / WING_RightDetails	Static	Used for additional wing geometry that is used to add details.
AILERON_Left /AILERON_Right	Animated	The left / right ailerons.
FLAPS_Left / FLAPS_Right / FLAPS_LeftN / FLAPS_RightN	Animated	The left / right flaps. If multiple flaps are present they can be numbered (or suffixed with an addition name) to identify them individually, for example: x0_FLAPS_LeftInner.
SPOILER_Left / SPOILER_Right / SPOILER_LeftN / SPOILER_RightN	Animated	The left / right spoilers. If multiple spoilers are present they can be numbered to identify them individually.
ENGINE_Left / ENGINE_Right / ENGINE_Center / etc...	Static / Animated (depending on requirements of the objects)	The engine object or objects. Depending on complexity you may need to expand the naming, for example: x0_ENGINE_LeftInner, x0_ENGINE_RightFan, etc...
UNDERCARRIAGE_Center / UNDERCARRIAGE_Left / UNDERCARRIAGE_Right	Animated	The sections of the wing and/or fuselage that animate when the landing gear is deployed.
GEAR_Central / GEAR_Left / GEAR_Right / etc...	Animated	The landing gear. Depending on complexity you may need to expand the naming, for example: x0_GEAR_CentralSupport, x0_GEAR_RightSuspension, etc...
WHEEL_Center / WHEEL_Left / WHEEL_Right / etc...	Animated	The landing gear wheels.
LIGHT_XX	Static	The aircraft lights. Lights are created using a mesh that then has an emissive material applied to it. They should ne named such that XX references the light type, for example: LIGHT_StrobeLeft, LIGHT_NavigationRed, etc... Please see the section on Exterior Lights for additional information.

 

Doing things this way means that when you get to exporting the model using the Multi-Exporter or The Blender Exporter, they will be exported based on the layers (and sub-layers) that you created: