Ground Assist: Possible to change Tug-Model?

[Manschy]

Hi,

wow, this seems to be a very fresh forum, just the 3rd member. But hey, really looking forward to what has to come hear near future.
Okay, to make the first post:

Since a few days, I own GroundAssist and I am very excited - finally a tug action almost like my imagination. I was even able to exchange the tug model like it was operating at RAF Gütersloh those days:



But this is working only by exchanging the model itself but still using the same terms from the "veh_skyware_ga_tug_grey".
There is no option to use any other tug from the listing or adding any other tug model, like for example my Mercedes Unimog model additionally to the "veh_skyware_ga_tug_grey" model.
I can't find any hints inside the manual how to make this possible.

So each help is much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Manfred

[MELKOR]

wow, this seems to be a very fresh forum, just the 3rd member.

lol yup, brand new. At least you have dibs on "first post"!

There is no option to use any other tug from the listing or adding any other tug model

Right, there's only the one. The problem with your workaround is that GroundAssist needs to know two things in order to properly animate the tug: the distance from the model center to the end of the towbar (what we call the "contact point"), and the distance from the model center to the middle of the rear axle.

I will add a new "Custom" model option, where you can specify the model name and these two values. First cut would be to just allow you to manually enter the model name (as defined in the model's sim.cfg file), and I'll add the ability to select from a list at a later point.

I'll push this out as a Beta, so be sure to select the Beta channel in the Miscellaneous settings.

Cheers.

[Manschy]

Thank you very much, William.

That is indeed a really interesting project!

So as I understand, there is still no option to add more models into the sim.cfg for example? I had a hope to work with it like SODE, where you can add models with its animations (like jetways). Just ask because there are so many different tug versions inside your programme.

Anyway, looking forward to all next improvements. Keep on doing this great project!

[MELKOR]

The ones that start with veh_fsdt are actually "stubs" for GSX. When GSX is installed, what we do is symlink the stubs into the actual models in the GSX/FSDT install. In other words, they are not used at all unless GSX is installed.

What I am adding allows you to specify a custom model by title. The model can be anywhere you like, doesn't have to be in the GroundAssist folder. So, you can customize your sim.cfg how ever you like. So long as the simulator knows about it, you'll be able to use it with GroundAssist.

Hope that clarifies things.

[MELKOR]

FYI, I just pushed out a preliminary cut at this to the Beta channel.

[Manschy]

Wow, this is a big step forward in a short time. Unfortunately I don't know anything about the Beta channel, but I am satisfied with any announcements about this fantastic little gift.


Regards,
Manfred

[MELKOR]

In GroundAssist, go to the Miscellaneous tab of Options and select Beta from the Channel combobox under Updates. Then go to the Windows Start menu, find SkyWare and select "GroundAssist Check for Update".

To use a Custom model, go to the Pushback tab of Options and select Custom from the Tug Model combobox. Click the Edit button to the right of the combobox to select the SimObject title (you can either type it in, or select from the dropdown) and set the offsets.

The only thing I can't really help you with are the correct values for Contact Point offset and Rear Axle offset, as those are specific to the underlying model. If you're familiar with modelling, you can use modelling tools (such as 3ds Max, Blender, etc) to exactly determine these values. Otherwise, you'll just need to experiment. I'm looking at ways of interactively determining these.

Contact Point offset: The distance from the model center to the end of the towbar, in feet.
Rear Axle offset: The distance from the model center to the middle of the rear axle, in feet.

Cheers.

[Manschy]

Great, thanks for information, William

Indeed, I know how to work with Gmax and MCX and the Unimog tug is my own model.

In the meantime, I did some experiments with the Unimog and different aircraft and helis, and the Unimog matches some of them.
So using the possibility to add custom tugs, it will be possible to simply choose the suitable tug for the respective aircraft.

That's very cool to get this tool (should be a quote on a t-shirt )

Thanks again for sharing this work. I will have a look at the BETA shortly...

[Manschy]

Hi William,

I need a little help to know where to put my new tug model.
I don't know which subfolder I have to use. Firstly, I did add a new model folder inside the "veh_skyware_ga_tug_grey" folder (model.unimog_tug) and its texture folder. Then I did add a new entry inside the sim.cfg file according to your PMDG_SkyWare_GA_Tug entry with ongoing flightsim number like iside the aircraft.cfg, hoping doing this the Unimog will appear. But no luck.
Afterwards, I did create a complete new folder according the "veh_skyware_ga_tug_grey" folder named "veh_skyware_unimog_tug" with same contents like your working folder but using paths to the unimog. But no luck as well.
So I don't know really where to add my model successfully.

Each help is much appreciated.

[MELKOR]

The problem with making any changes to GroundAssist files: When you install a new update, the changes will most likely be lost!

Therefore, you really need to put your models elsewhere. This is fine for GroundAssist, as all models are "global" to the simulator. i.e. the model does NOT have to be in the GroundAssist folder in order to be used by GroundAssist!

You have a couple options:
1) Add your models to the "SimObjects\GroundVehicles\<your-model>" folder of the simulator, where <your-model> is a name of your choosing. These will be automatically recognized by the simulator.
2) If you are using P3D, the models can be anywhere you like. You then need to add an "add-on.xml" that references these models, in your Documents folder, under the "Prepar3D vx Add-ons" folder (where x is the version of P3D you're using). If you need help creating the add-on.xml, you can take a look at the "SkyWare GroundAssist" sub-folder in the same "Prepar3D vx Add-ons" folder.

Once that is done, you simply enter the model title in the GroundAssist Custom Model, figure out suitable values for Contact Point and Rear Axle, and you're good to go.

Hope that helps!