G1000 Simulator Setup Guide

Unpack Application Directory

Extract the zip file downloaded from the Simgeneering.com website. This contains the FIP G1000 Simulator application and all associated data. The extracted directory can be installed in any location.

Install Java JRE

FIP G1000 Simulator is a Java application. To run it, you must have the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed. It is necessary to have the 64-bit JRE version installed on your computer to run the FIP G1000 Simulator software and to connect it to the flight instrument panel and flight simulator drivers. If you are using any 32-bit flight simulator software, such as FSX, Logitech Flight Instrument Panel 32-bit drivers, and/or the Logitech 32-bit flight simulator plugin, you will also need to install the 32-bit (x86) JRE version on your computer. At the time of writing, the latest 32-bit (x86) version v8_351 can be installed using the x86 Installer available from https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads/#java8-windows, and the latest 64-bit version v22 can be installed using the x64 Installer available from https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads/#jdk22-windows


To check that Java has been installed correctly, open a command prompt (cmd.exe) and enter java -version. Java version information should be displayed as in the picture below:

SPAD.Next Setup

See the following setup video if you are going to use the G1000 Simulator with SPAD.Next. This step should be done before running the setup utility to configure the G1000 Simulator. If you are using Logitech drivers for your flight instrument panels, go to the next step.

Run Setup Utility

A software setup tool Simgeneering_Setup_Utility.exe is included with the G1000 Simulator package. Run this program to configure the simulator. The program will guide you through the configuration process step by step.


Step 1: The setup utility checks the Java installation on your computer is correct to run the G1000 simulator:



Step 2: The setup utility checks the status of, and lists, the software licences linked to your user account:


If no valid licences are found, the following page will be displayed which will allow you to create a user account and software licence using a purchased serial key:



Step 3: Select the flight simulator software that you are using:



Step 4: Select the flight instrument panel driver software you are using. There are two options: Logitech, which is the driver software provided by Logitech for the flight instrument panel (which can be downloaded from https://support.logi.com/hc/en-150/articles/360024848713–Downloads-Flight-Instrument-Panel), and SPAD.Next, which is a third-party software for the flight instrument panel and can be purchased from https://www.spadnext.com.



Step 5: If you chose the Logitech driver option in Step 4, the setup utility will try to find the file DirectOutput.dll in your /Program Files/Logitech/ directory. If this file cannot be found automatically, a file browser will allow you to manually locate it. Once the file is found, use the Test FIP Driver Settings button to confirm that the flight instrument panels are connected and can be accessed by the G1000 simulator.
If you chose the SPAD.Next driver option in Step 4, you will need to input some parameters from SPAD.Next so that the G1000 simulator can connect to it.

The web port parameter can be found in Settings > Application Settings > MSFS 2020 > MSFS:FlyByWire compatible websocket port in SPAD.Next (remember to turn on MSFS:Enable FlyByWire CDU Websocket in the same settings page).

The API token parameter can be found by using the Settings > Application Settings > Web > Copy API token to clipboard button in SPAD.Next.

The version parameter should be set to 1.0.

Once the SPAD.Next parameters are set, use the Test SPAD.Next Settings button in the setup utility to confirm that the the G1000 simulator can communicate with SPAD.Next. Make sure SPAD.Next is running before running this test.



Step 6: In this step, the setup utility tries to find the application data folder for your flight simulator software. This is the folder where flight plan files are stored. If the folder cannot be found automatically, you can select it manually using the file browser window.



Step 7: SimConnect is the name of the protocol used for communication between your flight simulator software and the G1000 simulator. In this step, choose the type of SimConnect to be used. The Server option specifies that the G1000 simulator connects to a local port on your computer to send/receive data to/from your flight simulator software. The DLL option specifies that the G1000 simulator uses a Logitech flight simulator plugin to communicate with your flight simulator software.



Step 8: If you chose the Server option in Step 7, the computer address and port for communication with your flight simulator software need to be set. The setup utility will try to set these automatically by accessing the flight simulator settings file SimConnect.xml. If this file cannot be found by the setup utility, a file browser will be shown allowing you to manually select the location of SimConnect.xml.

Unless you are running your flight simulator software on a separate computer from the G1000 simulator, the Server Address parameter should be set to 127.0.0.1. Otherwise, set this parameter to the IP address of the computer running your flight simulator software.

The Server Port parameter will be loaded from the SimConnect.xml file. Usually this is port 500. You can change the port parameter if necessary. Make sure the chosen port is not blocked by your computer’s firewall.

Once you have set the SimConnect parameters, use the Test Simconnect Settings button to check communication between the flight simulator software and the G1000 simulator. The flight simulator software should be running with an active flight loaded. The setup utility will check that the G1000 simulator can communicate with the flight simulator, and that the battery and avionics switches in the flight simulator are in the “on” position (this is required for the G1000 simulator to function).

For more information, see the SimConnect section of this setup guide below.
If you chose the DLL option in Step 7, the setup utility will try to find the file SimConnect.dll, which is a component of Logitech’s flight simulator plugin software that is used to connect Logitech flight instrument panels to flight simulator software. If this file cannot be found automatically, you can use the file browser window to manually select its location. You will need to have the Logitech flight simulator plugin software appropriate for your flight simulator installed on your computer.

Once the location of the SimConnect.dll file is set, use the Test Simconnect Settings button to check communication between the flight simulator software and the G1000 simulator. The flight simulator software should be running with an active flight loaded. The setup utility will check that the G1000 simulator can communicate with the flight simulator, and that the battery and avionics switches in the flight simulator are in the “on” position (this is required for the G1000 simulator to function).

For more information, see the SimConnect section of this setup guide below.



Step 9: The final step of the setup is to install the G1000 simulator databases. First, the setup utility checks the validity of the G1000 simulator database files already saved on your computer. Once the check is complete, the setup utility displays the database versions that are already saved on your computer, and the current database versions from the Simgeneering server. If any database files on your computer need to be udpated, this will be shown in bold next to the current database information (for example, “1 of 6 files needs to be downloaded”). If any update is needed, use the Download button to start the update process. If the update process is interrupted, it can be resumed by closing and restarting the setup utility.

To download additional databases that are not already saved on your computer, use the radio buttons to select the databases that you want to download before pushing the Download button.

SimConnect

SimConnect is a protocol used for communication between the G1000 simulator and the flight simulator software.

If the Server option is chosen in the setup utility, a file called SimConnect.xml is used set the parameters for SimConnect in the flight simulator software. If SimConnect.xml does not already exist in the app data folder for the flight simulator, you can create it with the following content:

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”Windows-1252″?>
<SimBase.Document Type=”SimConnect” version=”1,0″>
<Descr>SimConnect Server Configuration</Descr>
<Filename>SimConnect.xml</Filename>
<SimConnect.Comm>
<Disabled>False</Disabled>
<Protocol>IPv4</Protocol>
<Scope>local</Scope>
<MaxClients>64</MaxClients>
<Address></Address>
<Port>500</Port>
</SimConnect.Comm>
</SimBase.Document>


This new file needs to be placed in the app data directory for your flight simulator software:

For FSX (Box Edition):
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\FSX

For FSX (Steam Edition):
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\FSX

For Preapr3D:
%APPDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2
%APPDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v3
%APPDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4
%APPDATA%\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v5
depending on the installed version of Prepar3D

For MSFS (Store or XBox Gamepass Edition):
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache

For MSFS (Steam Edition):
%APPDATA%\Microsoft Flight Simulator

For MSFS (Box Edition):
%LOCALAPPDATA%\MSFSPackages

%APPDATA% and %LOCALAPPDATA% are environmental variables that can be found using the following commands typed into a command prompt (cmd.exe):
echo %APPDATA%
echo %LOCALAPPDATA%


If for some reason the Server option does not work correctly, which may be the case for older versions of flight simulator software, you can choose the DLL option in the setup utility. A Logitech flight simulator plugin is required for this to work, these can be downloaded from https://support.logi.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360024848713–Downloads-Flight-Instrument-Panel. The plugin needs to include the file SimConnect.dll, not all Logitech flight simulator plugins include this file.

Download Databases

The database files contain all the geographical and aviation data for the multi-function display (MFD) module. These can either be downloaded using the Setup Utility (see previous step), or from within the G1000 Simulator. To download the databases using the G1000 Simulator, see the following video: