fs9 Toolbox

What is it?

If like me you still like FS2004 and do not want to switch to FSX, fs9 Toolbox is the utility you're looking for.
fs9 Toolbox contains several tools that will make your life easier when flying with Flight Simulator 2004. Some of the features included in fs9 Toolbox will reduce the difference between FS2004 and FSX, so they should make the life longer for you beloved FS2004.

Virtual cockpit camera controlled with the mouse
Fly-by camera implemented as an additional view
Steerable pushback
Aircraft selector
Key auto-repeat and key sequencing fixes

Each feature of fs9 Toolbox is described in the following paragraphs.
A documentation is available for comprehensive information.

A demonstration video clip is available to demonstrate the VC Camera and the Fly-by view:

Important Note

The product described here is fs9 Toolbox version 1.
The second version of fs9 Toolbox has been released, which is more expensive but has many additional features.
SimScape is not allowed to sell it, you can find more information here.

Download

Click the button below to download the installer for FS2004. Remember this product is for FS2004 only.

Download fs9 Toolbox Installer

Purchase

This product is available for 8.90 Euros only. By clicking the button below, you will access the purchase page that will let you pay securely using Paypal.
As soon as the payment is received, you will get a key to register.

BUY fs9 Toolbox NOW

VC Vamera

The VC Camera is designed to be used in Virtual Cockpit mode. Not only it allows you to move freely in the aircraft (virtual cockpit and virtual cabin), it also lets you control the view direction and zoom with the mouse, making it much easier to look around, no moe need for complex key combinations.
This feature is very similar to F1 View, except that you don't have to roll the mouse wheel for hours to move along the A380...

Features provided by the VC Camera:

Free movement in the aircraft, without any limit. If the aircraft has a virtual cabin, you can walk there. You can even walk outside of the aircraft.
Configurable walking speed. By default, the tool is configured so that you move in the direction where you look, like in FPS games.
Use the mouse wheel to set the zoom factor.
Use the mouse to set the view direction (like in FSX when pressing the 'O' key). The mouse precision depends on the zoom factor so you can accurately set the view direction even with high zoom factor.
Fully compliant with the Virtual Cockpit mode, any clickable area can be clicked when using the VC Camera.

With the virtual cockpit camera, you can...


...walk outside of the cockpit	...see AI traffic	...look closely at the instruments	...watch scenery details	...sit wherever you want in the aircraft	...see AI traffic closely

(press any image to enlarge)

For a comprehensive information about the VC Camera, you can have a look at the documentation that explains all the features in details.

Fly-by Camera

The fly-by camera is a new view that exists in FSX but not in FS2004. Today fs9 Toolbox brings it in FS2004 for you.
Unlike some other fly-by camera tools available here and there, the fly-by camera in fs9 Toolbox does not replace the tower view. All the standard views available in FS2004 (2D cockpit, virtual cockpit, spot view and tower view) remain available when fs9 Toolbox is installed, and a new view mode is added to handle the fly-by camera.
In addition, a ground camera mode is available to simulate a camera that stands on the ground. I love using this mode to watch my low-level flights with jet fighters!!

Features provided by the Fly-by Camera:

Fly-by distance or time is fully configurable through the configuration window
Configurable lateral and vertical offset to see your aircraft from the side and from above/below
Ground camera mode available

Ground camera mode

For more information about the fly-by camera, a video clip is available here. It shows the fly-by camera features and shows that the existing view modes are still available.
You can also have a look at the documentation that explains this feature in details.

Auto-Repeat Fix

This feature is very useful because it fixes a very annoying problem that exists in FS2004:
In some panels, the auto-repeat feature of FS2004 is made wrong by a panel gauge that continuously generates events. Consequently, some basic functions become unusable. For example, when you try to adjust the autopilot heading or the VOR course, it changes 10 by 10 instead of 1 by 1, or the altitude changes 1000 by 1000 instead of 100 by 100.

With fs9 Toolbox, this is not a problem any more. You just have to activate this feature in the fs9 Toolbox menu and it will be fine.
(As far as I know, this feature is similar to the "Fix acceleration control" feature available in the paying version of FSUIPC)

Key Sequencing Fix

This feature is designed to fix another problem that exists with FS2004:
Like said earlier, some panel gauges keep generating key events and this prevents you from using key sequences such as Shift-E 2 to open the second exit.
This is because a gauge generates key events so quickly that a generated key event is generated between the Shift-E and the 2 that you press. This is why FS2004 simply ignores your key sequence, it believes that you pressed Shift-E, another key and then the 2 key. For FS2004, this makes no sense, and the second exit does not open.

fs9 Toolbox fixes this problem when the "Fix Key Sequencing" feature is activated in the menu. You now have 2 seconds to press Shift-E and 2, and it works with any panel, in any case. It also works with any other key combination used in FS2004.

Steerable Pushback

I have always thought that the pushback in FS2004 was poor. It is a nice feature, but I never liked the way the aircraft can be steered during pushback. Pressing Shift-P to inerrupt the pushback and then Shift-P 1 to make it turn right is not very natural to me.

This is why fs9 Toolbox provides a new way to manage the pushback:
You just have to engage the pushback using Shift-P as usual. Then you can steer the aircraft using the rudder controls (keys or pedals if you have). The aircraft will turn left and right during the pushback according to the rudder position.

Aircraft Selector

This feature ifself justifies the price of fs9 Toolbox.
The idea of this feature came when my aircraft library became so large that selecting an aircraft in FS2004 takes almost 1 minute. There are so many good aircrafts today, freeware and payware, that it is hard to keep a small aircraft collection. But what's the use if you can't use them easily...

What problem does it solve?
When you use FS2004 and you want to select another aircraft, here is what you do:

You go to the aircraft menu and click "Select Aircraft"
If, like me, you have many aircrafts and variants in your library (1000 or more),it may take some time and... the aircraft selection window appears.
The currently used aircraft appears in 3D. The textures are loaded if necessary.
You select the manufacturer of the aircraft you want to select. The first aircraft of this manufacturer is loaded and its textures are loaded, it appears in the 3D window.
You select the aircraft model you want to fly.The textures of the first variation are loaded and the aircraft appears in the 3D window.
You finally select the variation you want. Its textures are loaded and it appears in the 3D window.

It means you have loaded 4 aircraft textures to be able to select the aircaft you want to fly !! Nowadays textures are quite heavy (32 bits or DXT3 are heavy files), so loading 4 textures can take a significant time.

This is where the Aircraft Selector comes to the rescue. Whatever the number of aircrafts you have in your library, this new aircraft selection appears.
When you want to select another aircraft, this windows shows a list of aircrafts, sorted by categories that you define, with a thumbnail image if it exists. Selecting an aircraft from a sorted list is much faster because no texture loading is required.

(press the image to enlarge)

To know more about the way this aircraft selector works, you can refer to the documentation here.

Quick Switch

This feature is related to the Aircraft Selector described above. It has been designed for developers, for a very specific purpose:
When you develop an aircraft, XML or C/C++ gauges, you can not update the gauges if the aircraft is currently loaded in FS because the gauge files (.xml or .gau) are locked by FS. So you have to select another aircraft, generate the gauges, and re-select your aircraft again.

This is exacty what Quick Switch does. It allows you to switch to a pre-defined aircraft by just pressing a key and come back to your aircraft by pressing this same key again. This is extremely convenient when you work on an aircraft panel.