How do I install add-on scenery in (Steam) AFS4?

[dohh]

-I recently downloaded an my first add-on online for AFS4: "la reunion island new."
-Once I extracted the file, it shows 3 folders: "airports", "images", and "places".
-How do I install them into my (Steam) Aerofly FS 4 game (into what folders, etc)?
A few things to note (of concern to me,actually):
-I'm running WIN 10 on a Dell gaming-desktop PC. I have the complete (Steam) AFS4 game, along with all (Steam) AFS4 DLCs installed and running eprfectly. I have never used a non-Steam add-on for AFS4 yet (see WHY below).
-I ceased downloading and installing add-ons for my (Steam) XP 12 game, because I couldn't get the hang of where to put the files and how to stack them...too complicated, and it wound up screwing up my XP 12 game so much I had to uninstall everything and simply re-install the vanilla Xp12 game with it's (Steam) DLCs. NO more add-ons for me for XP 12, thus.
-Is it the same overly-complicated process (for computer experts only, which isn't ME) to install add-ons for Aerofly FS 4 that it is for XP 12 (stacking files under other files in folders, etc), or can my "airports", "images", and "places" folders that come with my reunion island add-on simply be dragged into AFS4 folders?
Thanks.

[Jan (IPACS DEV)]

You can copy these folders into your Aerofly FS 4 folder located in your user documents directory.

[dohh]

THis didn't work for me.
-I first tried copying the THREE SEPARATE folders from the "la reunion island new" downloaded add-on folder (that is, the 3 folders within the downloaded add-on folder, titled "airports", "images", and "places") into my PC's "Documents/ Aerofly FS 4" folder.
I then re-started the game after rebooting my PC just in case.
The airport (either under "la reunion" or "reunion") didn't show up in the nagivation search bar. Neither did the 3 airports within my downloaded folder that I copied: FMEE, FMSP, and LF9742.
-Then, I deleted the three (above) folders and copied the entire "la reunion island new" folder that I downloaded, that had the 3 separate folders (above) WITHIN IT, into my PC's "Documents/ Aerofly FS 4" folder.
Once again, this new location/airport did NOT show up in my game.
-FInally, I tried copying the folder itself...then just the 3 subfolders (all listed above) into my PC's "Documents/ Aerofly FS 4/ add ons" folder.
Same thing: nothing showing up.
-So I MUST be doing something incorrect. The folders were completely and properly downloaded, with material within them, so I don't think it's an issue with the add-on.
IS there another step I need to do? Thank you

[Jan (IPACS)]

Inside the documents Aerofly FS 4 folder there should be the sub-folders "scenery" and "addons".

Inside the scenery folder (Documents/Aerofly FS 4/scenery/) you can paste the "airports", "images", and "places" folders from your downloaded package.

Alternatively you can move these three folders into Documents/Aerofly FS 4/addons/scenery/
Make sure you put it into a "scenery" folder, otherwise Aerofly does not know if it's a scenery or aircraft directory.

[dohh]

I will try the above, THank you.

[dohh]

I'm sorry if I sound like a complete PC-newbie, but I followed the instructions above to a T, and I still don't see my add-on airports,etc. in the game when I search for them.
-I copied the "images","airports" and "places" folders from within my downloaded add-on ("la reunion island new") folder...into my PC's AFS4 (Steam) game's "Documents/Aerofly FS 4/ scenery" folder. None of the airports from la reunion (FMEE, FMSP and LF9742) show up in the game, although they ARE in the "airports" folder.
-I then tried copying the 3 (above) folders into my PC's AFS4 (Steam) game's "Documents/Aerofly FS 4/ addons/ scenery" folder. Again: the airports/scenery, etc from la reunion add-on are STILL not showing up in-game.
Just so you know: the add-on download takes up about 500 or so MB, and the add-on was completely and properly downloaded before copy/pasting the folders from it into the game.
So something is incorrect in what I'm doing. Sorry I seem so clueless here.

[jayeye2011]

You did not read the title fully for the download page. Currently only the sattelite imagery tiles are for AFFS4, the airports and cultivation only work in AFFS 2.
"Island of La Reunion — Photo Scenery for FS4 and FS2 / Airports, Cultivation and Special Objects only for FS2"
Unfortunately that is currently the case for all freeware addon orthophoto scenery currently being produced for AFFS4. You will see cultivation and airports only if it already exists in the default IPACS scenery.

[dohh]

THanks for clarifying.

[jayeye2011]

Originally posted by Jan (IPACS):

Inside the documents Aerofly FS 4 folder there should be the sub-folders "scenery" and "addons".

Inside the scenery folder (Documents/Aerofly FS 4/scenery/) you can paste the "airports", "images", and "places" folders from your downloaded package.

Alternatively you can move these three folders into Documents/Aerofly FS 4/addons/scenery/
Make sure you put it into a "scenery" folder, otherwise Aerofly does not know if it's a scenery or aircraft directory.

@Jan (IPACS) According to at least one community dev, the IPACS scenery SDK does not support generation of cultivation buildings for freeware addon scenery.
https://www.aerofly.com/community/forum/index.php?thread/20059-hakodate-new/&postID=124571#post124571
You might want to clarify what and what cannot be done on the Aerofly.com User content forum. Right now, my conclusion as a potential user of community developed scenery addons for AFFS4 is that all such non-IPACS orthophoto scenery is just the base imagery tiles without any cultivation.
https://www.aerofly.com/community/forum/index.php?thread/20059-hakodate-new/&postID=124568#post124568
Personally, I don't want to bother downloading a multi-gigabyte community developed satellite imagery scenery addon if there are no buildings, trees, or airports available for it.

[dohh]

Exactly. Thank you. ANd now NONE of my airports are showing up in AFS4...NONE (all grayed out), so I have to do a complete uninstall and then re-install of vanilla AFS4 (along with Steam's DLCs for it), which at 250 GB will take all day. NO more add-ons for me for my AFS4 or XP 12 games unless they are directly from Steam and are DLCs on Steam from AFS4 or XP 12. Not worth all the agida.
At least purchasing,downloading and installing marketplace addons work like a charm with MSFS2020. Not so with the other two.

[jayeye2011]

Originally posted by dohh:

Exactly. Thank you. ANd now NONE of my airports are showing up in AFS4...NONE (all grayed out), so I have to do a complete uninstall and then re-install of vanilla AFS4 (along with Steam's DLCs for it), which at 250 GB will take all day. NO more add-ons for me for my AFS4 or XP 12 games unless they are directly from Steam and are DLCs on Steam from AFS4 or XP 12. Not worth all the agida.
At least purchasing,downloading and installing marketplace addons work like a charm with MSFS2020. Not so with the other two.

Actually, as long as the addon specifically states that it is for the flight simulator you are using it should be alright. But you are correct that if it mentions only AFFS2 or XP11 than there is no sure bet it will work for the newer versions of each flight simulator (especially trying to use X-Plane 10 aircraft in X-Plane 12 like all those Alabeo and Carnedo v3.2 XP10 ones)
Edit: Also, as long as you only install third party freeware addons both aircraft, scenery, airports into their respective folder in your Users\username\Documents\Aerofly FS 4\ folder it should not mess up your AFFS 4 installation. If your install is bad, just run the "Verify integrity of game files..." under AFFS4 steam>properties>local files.