GENERAL ENVIRONMENT XML PROPERTIES

While most XML files will have elements that are unique to the type of environmental content being created, there are some elements that are more general in use, and these can be used in multiple different contexts within the different XML files. This page documents these general elements and lists all the places where they can be used.

 

 

<Vertex />

This sub-element is used to add a vertex position to another element either as a fixed point or as a bias . Note that you should only use one of the following set of attributions for a single vertex, and that this is a self-closing element:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
lat Latitude of the vertex, in degrees between -90.0° and 90.0°. Float

Yes

(only if biasX and biasY are not used)
lon Longitude of the vertex, in degrees between -180.0° and 180.0°. Float

Yes

(only if biasX and biasY are not used)
biasX Bias from airport reference along the longitudinal axis in meters.

Float

Yes

(only if lat and lon are not used)
biasZ Bias from airport reference along the latitudinal axis in meters. Float

Yes

(only if lat and lon are not used)
spline If this attribute is set to "TRUE", then the vertex being definied will be considred a point on a spline, creating a "smooth" curved corner between the other vertices. Bool No

 

This element can be used in the following places:

  1. <Apron>
  2. <ApronEdgeLights>
  3. <PaintedElements>
  4. <Trigger>
  5. <Car Parking>
  6. <VectorPlacement>

 

 

<VisualModel>

This element is used to add a single visual model to an element. This element may also contain <BiasXYZ /> data and can have the following attributes:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
heading Heading of the model placement, between 0.0° and 360.0°.

Float

 No
imageComplexity

Minimum image complexity setting in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 for the objects to appear. For example, objects set at NORMAL will appear if the setting is DENSE, but not appear if the setting is SPARSE.

IMPORTANT! This element is DEPRECATED in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. It should not be used and is only listed here for legacy context.

Enum:

  1. VERY_SPARSE
  2. SPARSE
  3. NORMAL
  4. DENSE
  5. VERY_DENSE
 No
name GUID of desired model object. You can find more information on GUID's here: GUIDs GUID Yes
instanceId Optional GUID used to identify this instance of the VisualModel element. You can find more information on GUID's here: GUIDs GUID No

 

This element is used in the following places:

  2. <Ils>

 

 

<BiasXYZ />

This element is used to add an X, Y, Z bias in meters to the placement of an object. The acceptable range of values is unbound, but it is recommended that biases only be applied for small distances.

 

Attribute Description Type Required
biasX Bias along the longitudinal axis in meters. Float Yes
biasY Altitude bias in meters. Float Yes
biasZ Bias along the latitudinal axis in meters. Float

Yes

 

This element is used in the following places:

  1. <VisualModel>
  2. <AttachedObject>
  3. <SceneryObject>

 

 

<Coloration />

This element can be used to change the color blending for an element. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
red Red component of the coloration (between 0 and 255). Integer Yes
green Green component of the coloration (between 0 and 255). Integer Yes
blue Blue component of the coloration (between 0 and 255). Integer Yes
alpha Alpha component of the coloration (between 0 and 255). Integer No
override Override any base color already added. Boolean No

 

This element is used in the following places:

  1. <Runway>
  2. <TaxiwayPath>
  3. <Apron>

 

 

<Material />

This element can be used to change the material used for another element. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
guid The unique GUID of the material to use. You can find more information on GUID's here: GUIDs String Yes
type The type of blending to use for the material.

String:

  1. "Base tiled"
  2. "Base and tire marks"
  3. "Base and end cap"
  4. "Border"
  5. "Center"
  6. "Patch"
  7. "Tire gum"
 Yes
tilingU The texture tiling along the width of the runway Float Yes
tilingV The texture tiling along the height of the runway Float Yes
width Ratio of the width of the item being textured with the material. A value of 1 would be full width. Float No
falloff The distance in meters of alpha blending at the edges. Note this does not permit any suffixes like other distance values and is in meters only. Float No
opacity The material opacity from 0 - 255. Integer No

 

This element is used in the following places:

  1. <Runway>
  2. <TaxiwayPath>

 

 

<WorldScript />

This element can be used to define a script file that is attached to the scene elements. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attribute:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
containerTitle The container title of the SimObject to use. String Yes

 

This element can be used in the following places:

  1. <SceneryObject>

 

 

<ObjectReferenceList>

This is a container element for a list of different <ObjectReference> sub-elements. The element has no attributes and you can only have one <ObjectReferenceList> element within each element. This element can be used in the following places:

  1. <State>
  2. <SimMission.SendMessageToAIAction>

 

<ObjectReference>

A reference to a single Action to be executed when the service enters this state. You can have multiple <ObjectReference> definitions within a single <ObjectReferenceList> element, and they can have the following attributes:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
id Informal description of the action. Not an actual identifier, but designed to make scripts much more readable. String Yes
InstanceId Reference to the GUID of the corresponding action. You can find more information on GUID's here: GUIDs String Yes

 

 

<Ndb>

This element is either used to define general NDB navigation beacons, or - when used as a sub-element of the <Airport> element - it is used to add an NDB to the airport facility database.

NOTE: Editing NDB data may prevent the simulation performing further automatic updates to the NavData for the airport. Please see the following section for more information: Note On Navigation Data

For example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<FSData version="9.0">
    <Ndb lat="-31.28611115" lon="-64.20872218" alt="1604F" type="H" frequency="262.0" magvar="2.00000000" region="SA" ident="H" name="CORDOBA" >
        <VisualModel name="{2fb72c66-290c-4727-b970-da20984cee83}" />
    </Ndb>
</FSData>

 

This element may contain a <VisualModel> sub-element and has the following attributes:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
lat Latitude of the NDB beacon, in degrees between -90.0° and 90.0°.

Float

 Yes
lon Longitude of the NDB beacon, in degrees between -180.0° and 180.0°. Float Yes
alt Altitude of the NDB beacon, in meters. You may add the "F" suffix to convert the value to feet, for example: "13.0F".

Float

 Yes
altType This is used to determine the referential for the alt field.

Enum:

  1. GEOID
  2. ELLIPSOID
 No
type The type of NDB being used.

Enum:

  1. COMPASS_POINT
  2. H
  3. HH
  4. MH
 Yes
frequency The NDB frequency in KHz, from 0.0 to 1737.0. String Yes
range Range of NDB in meters or nautical miles. If no suffix is supplied, then the range will be set in meters, however using the "N" suffix converts the range into nautical miles, eg: "45N". If this attribute is not set, it will default to "27N". String No
magvar Magnetic variation at the NDB to True North in degrees. Negative for values to the east and positive for values to the west, measured in degrees between -360.0° and 360.0°. Float Yes
region The beacon region code (maximum 3 characters, based on iso-3166-2). String Yes
ident ICAO code identity for this beacon, with a maximum of five characters. String Yes
name Friendly name for ILS beacon. String No

 

 

<Vor>

This element is either used to define VOR navigation beacons in the world.

NOTE: Editing VOR data may prevent the simulation performing further automatic updates to the NavData for the world. Please see the following section for more information: Note On Navigation Data

This element may contain the following sub-elements:

  1. <Dme />
  2. <VisualModel>

 

For example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<FSData version="9.0">
    <Vor lat="-41.14027786" lon="-71.18877770" alt="2800.00000000F" type="HIGH" frequency="117.40" magvar="-9.00000000" region="SA" ident="BAR" name="SAN CARLOS DE BARILOCHE" nav="TRUE" dmeOnly="FALSE" dme="TRUE" >
        <Dme lat="-41.14027786" lon="-71.18877770" alt="2800.00000000F" />
        <VisualModel name="{c0b537c3-808a-48ba-8eff-e1ca1a872e84}" />
    </Vor>
</FSData>

It has the following attributes:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
lat Latitude of the VOR beacon, in degrees between -90.0° and 90.0°.

Float

 Yes
lon Longitude of the VOR beacon, in degrees between -180.0° and 180.0°. Float Yes
alt Altitude of the VOR beacon, in meters. You may add the "F" suffix to convert the value to feet, for example: "13.0F".

Float

 Yes
altType This is used to determine the referential for the alt field.

Enum:

  1. GEOID
  2. ELLIPSOID
 No
type The type of VOR being used.

Enum:

  1. LOW
  2. HIGH
  3. TERMINAL
  4. VOT
 Yes
frequency The VOR frequency in MHz, from 108.0 to 117.95. String Yes
magvar Magnetic variation at the VOR to True North in degrees. Negative for values to the east and positive for values to the west, measured in degrees between -360.0° and 360.0°. Float Yes
range Range of the VOR in meters or nautical miles. If no suffix is supplied, then the range will be set in meters, however using the "N" suffix converts the range into nautical miles, eg: "45N". If this attribute is not set, it will default to "27N". String No
region The beacon region code (maximum 3 characters, based on iso-3166-2). String Yes
ident ICAO code identity for this beacon, with a maximum of five characters. String Yes
name Friendly name for the beacon. String Yes
nav Boolean Yes
dmeOnly Sets whether the beacon should be considered as only DME. If set to "TRUE" then the dme attribute should also be "TRUE" and a <Dme /> element should be added. Boolean Yes
dme Sets whether the beacon should also have DME. If "TRUE" then a <Dme /> element should be added. Boolean Yes
tacan Sets whether the VOR is part of a Tacan system or not. Boolean No

 

 

<Dme />

This is a sub-element of <Vor> and is used to set up the DME for the beacon. It is a self-closing element and can have the following attributes:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
lat Latitude of the DME, in degrees between -90.0° and 90.0°.

Float

 Yes
lon Longitude of the DME, in degrees between -180.0° and 180.0°. Float Yes
alt Altitude of the DME, in meters. You may add the "F" suffix to convert the value to feet, for example: "13.0F".

Float

 Yes
altType This is used to determine the referential for the alt field.

Enum:

  1. GEOID
  2. ELLIPSOID
 No
range Range of the DME in meters or nautical miles. If no suffix is supplied, then the range will be set in meters, however using the "N" suffix converts the range into nautical miles, eg: "45N". If this attribute is not set, it will default to "27N". String Yes

 

 

 

Related Topics

  1. Environment
  2. The Scenery Editor
  3. Debug
  4. Modeling Scenery