By: Clarence Boudville

HOW TO CREATE AN ORGANISED X-PLANE CUSTOM SCENERY DIRECTORY

Introduction

X-plane’s custom scenery are based on layers so it is important to ensure the files in the custom
scenery folder is properly arranged to avoid a lesser priority scenery file blocking the one that is at
a higher priority. Airport files are of the highest priority while meshes and orthophotos are at the
lowest layer and hence the lowest priority.

The normal method to organise the file priority is by manually editing the “scenery_packs.ini” file.
While this method works, it can be a problem especially when the scenery_packs.ini file is not
edited correctly or if the file becomes corrupted causing massive headaches.

Here is an alternative method that will make it much simpler and almost automatic and at the same
time making it much much easier to locate a specific file (a very time consuming task when you
have lots of scenery files in your custom scenery folder).

It will require a bit of effort initially by renaming the files in this manner. Before proceeding, its
advisable to bake a backup of your custom scenery folder. Note that the following types of files in
the custom scenery folder are to be left as they are, so do not rename the following types of files:-

1. X-plane standard scenery that comes when you freshly install X-plane because if you rename
those, you will end up with two copies of the same scenery when you update X-Plane.
2. All object library files such as Mr.X, Open scenery, Ruscenery etc are to be left as they are
because the scenery files references their original names.

Lets Begin

Step 1. Airport Files:-

Rename the all airport file (Except the scenery that comes standard in X-plane which you leave
them as they are) as this:-

A_Country_ICAO Code_Scenery Pack name

Example

A_USA_KJFK_John Kennedy Airport

Here is a screenshot of how the airport files should look in the custom scenery folder
 By: Clarence Boudville

Step 2:- City, VFR sceneries, landmarks etc.

Next we look for any scenery without airports e.g. city scenery, VFR objects,landmark objects etc
and rename it as

B_Country_Scenery Pack Name

Example

B__VFR-Objects_GK_+47+010_D_Nordalpen Part 2 Fuessen 1.0

Here is a screenshot of how the files should look in the custom scenery folder

Step 3: Autogen, Overlay scenery files

Search for all your autogen files and rename them as follows

C_Autogen file name

Example

C_USA_Orbx_KCGX_C_Overlay
 By: Clarence Boudville

Here is a screenshot of how the files should look in the custom scenery folder

Step 4:- Ortho4XP Overlays

Search for all your Ortho4XP overlay folder and rename as such

yOrtho4XP_Overlays

Step 5:- Ortho4XP Orthophotos

To keep your ortho4XP files organised and easier to search and replace, rename your ortho4xp
files as:-

zOrtho4XP_-standard lat-long__Region or city_Zoom Level_Source

Example

zOrtho4XP_-24+133_Australia_Alice Springs_ZL17_BI

Tip:- If you do not have enough space in your main HDD, you can create an Alias
(for Mac) or shortcut (for Windows) and past this in the custom scenery folder and it
will look like this. Do that for your Ortho4XP overlays too.

zOrtho4XP_-24+133_Australia_Alice Springs_ZL17_BI alias

 By: Clarence Boudville

Step 6:- Meshes

Terrain meshes are of the lowest priority and hence must be at the lowest layer.
Rename the meshes as follows:-

ZZZ_Terrain Mesh Name

Example

ZZZ_USA_Orbx_KCGX_Merrill_C_Meigs_Field

Step 7

Once completed, backup and delete the scenery_packs.ini file and restart X-plane.
A new scenery_packs.ini will be rebuilt and all the files will be automatically placed
in the proper order. With this arrangement in place, you can easily add ortho4xp
scenery or new airports (by following the naming convention) by merely deleting the
existing the scenery.ini file and restart x-plane. Your new scenery will automatically
be placed in the right order in the scenery_packs.in file.