How to install expansion packs on Realflight 8 steam version

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fbarbas

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How do you install expansion packs on Realflight 8 steam version

Sorry if this has been posted, but have looked high and low, including the manual.
I cannot find a way to access the launcher in Realflight 8 steam version. There is no shortcut on my desktop or executable file I can find. I have installed the expansion pack (7) by pointing it the steam directory, and it installed. But it will not work till I input the serial number, which I can't do because there does not seem to a real flight 8 launcher.
 
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jjuneau said:
I could be wrong but I don't think any of the expansion packs will work with RF 8 or RF-X...
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They work fine with my DVD install of RF-8. I don't do Steam so can't help on that. I just wish I could locate the serial for my Heli Mega Pack one.
 
Expansion Packs are fully supported by the Steam version of RealFlight 8, and will prompt for the required serial number after installation is complete. Though there are some differences between the versions of the software resulting from their respective distribution frameworks (such as the Steam version not having a Launcher), they really are the same product. It was important to us that users not be penalized for purchasing from one place over another.

You said you pointed the installer at your Steam directory. If what you mean by that is you specified the target installation directory yourself, things had already gone off the rails. You should not need to do that. (If I could go back in time I would remove that option.) For things to work properly the installer needs to detect your RealFlight installation(s) automatically.

Here's how the process should go:

  2. Insert Expansion Pack/Mega Pack disk.
  3. When prompted, install the Pack or run setup.exe as applicable.
  4. The Installer searches for RealFlight installations that support this particular Pack.
  5. If you have only one qualifying RealFlight installation, the Installer appears with the correct installation path filled in for you. If you have more than one qualifying RealFlight installation, a dialog appears asking you to choose which of them you want to install for (e.g., RealFlight G4, RealFlight 7, RealFlight 8). Make your selection, then the Installer appears with the correct installation path filled in for you. Either way, you should not touch or otherwise modify the target installation path. (If the Installer cannot locate a qualifying RealFlight installation, it will display an error message to that effect. Stop here. You have bigger problems to solve before trying to install an EP.)
  6. Click Install.
  7. Files will be copied to the correct place and you'll get an "Installation complete" message when done. Click OK to dismiss it.
  8. A serial number entry dialog will appear. This is your chance to enter the EP serial number.
  9. Click OK when finished. It will complete silently.
  10. You may get a Program Compatibility Assistant message at this point saying "This program might not have installed correctly" and offering you the chance to reinstall using some different recommended settings. Do not do that! It installed just fine. Windows just gets a little confused because content for an existing product doesn't look the same as a standalone product being installed, and it thinks nothing happened. So either choose the "This program installed correctly" option or just cancel/close that dialog to move on.
  11. You may now run RealFlight 8 and the Expansion Pack content should appear in the sim.
Obviously things did not go that way for you. From the information you provided so far, I can't tell if everything installed fine and you simply skipped the serial entry step, or whether larger problems exist and things are not in a good state. Let's look at the two possible scenarios and what to do about each of them.

A) If the EP7 installer found a qualifying RealFlight installation, and you had it install in the directory it automatically filled in for you, the fix should be simple:
  1. Locate your Steam RF8 installation (by default this would be in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\RealFlight 8).
  2. Go into the Helper directory. Applications in this directory are not intended to be run directly by end-users, but in this very specific case it turns out to be exactly what we need.
  3. Run RealFlightHelper.exe.
  4. If it detects your EP7 installation it will prompt for the serial number.
  5. Click OK when finished. It will complete silently. You may now run RealFlight 8 and the Expansion Pack content should appear in the sim.
B) On the other hand, if the EP7 installer never found a qualifying RealFlight installation and you proceeded by manually entering an installation directory for it, the picture looks a bit different. One should never reinstall the same RealFlight software over an existing installation because it will generally screw things up, albeit sometimes in esoteric ways that aren't immediately obvious. But if we're just talking about an Expansion Pack and not the main product, it's not such a problem. In your particular case I recommend trying again from scratch following the steps above. If anything doesn't match up, stop and come provide as much detail here as possible about exactly how it diverges.

I hope this helps you and others!
 
Thank You

I had scenario 3, Realflight expansion pack could not find Realflight 8 install directory. I manually browsed for the correct folder, let it install.
Started real flight 8 gave me the error no serial number.
Then I went back with your advise into the helper directory, started the helper program manually typed in the serial number and everything works.

Thank You!
 
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Donamy said:
where can you get the expansion pack discs ?
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ebay try not to get scalped on them. I don't know what they are selling for now the price may have gone up. alternatively your local hobby shop may have one or two still lying around at MSRP.
 
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