Posts by Indiafoxtecho

    I am still experimenting with the porting of some of my aircrafts from FSX/P3D to AF2... and this time I tried the T-45C, which is looking quite good in this simulation, and it is probably worth completing.

    ...which makes me think that AF2 would be a quite nice platform for virtual naval aviation...so this is more of a "feature request post". I believe the FSX:A implementation in that respect is quite good:

    From the carrier side:
    - moving boat
    - up to 4 catapults (with arm/disarm functions)
    - up to 4 arrestor wires (with possibility for the sim to tell which one has been engaged)

    From the aircraft side:
    - Launch bar (inhibits nose wheel steering)
    - Tailhook
    - Possibility to arm/disarm the catapults (if in the proper area)
    - Possibility to toggle catapult assisted takeoff (which may be helpful for gliders)

    ....then, of course we would need a nicely rendered, dynamic sea (which I think it is already in the to-do list).

    Sorry if it is a bit off-topic!

    Thanks for your reply and for the additional information on the shaders...

    ...it worked, to some extent. I can get rid of the shining, by setting the reflection map to black (as you suggested) and by setting the specular_color map to black too, of course. This produces the "no shining at all" effect.

    What does not seem to behave as I expected, however, is the control of the specular_color of the specular_color map over the shininess. If it is black, no shininess OK. But if it is dark grey I would have expected a "dim" shininess - so that the orange paint would look "lighter" in those areas but not white.... but that does not seem to be the case. Even a very dark grey results in a fully "white" spot...which is larger or smaller depending on the specular_alpha as expected.

    I am making slow but steady progress with the 326 conversion...but I have one issue with the "shininess" (for lack of a better word). I have set my materials so that the specular channel is assigned to a XXX_specular.bmp, while a XXX_specular_alpha is in the aicraft creation folder.

    I am using a specular .bmp which is dark grey, expecting to have a mild "brightness" of the surfaces... but what I get seems always a bright white "shining", regardless of "how white" the XXX_specular.bmp is. The XXX_specular_alpha.bmp seems to do its job. The "whiter" the smaller the reflection is (more glossy appearance as expected).
    Any guess of what am I doing wrong?

    ...or you could do that with a "modeled" (i.e.part of the aircraft model) pilot figure, have the head as separate object and blank it as I described above.
    Some of my users in FSX/P3D often ask for this...but this comes at the price of losing accessibility to some controls/swicthes etc.

    Thanks

    The rationale for wanting geometry to selectively appear or disappear in the views, for me, is the fact that in my FSX/P3D development more often than not the external and internal models do not match perfectly. So it would be much faster to convert one of my old FSX projects if I could just "flag" the visibility - with no need to rework the geometry so that they match perfectly (which I had to do for the Mb326).

    Aside, I have to rectify my previous statement - the code above in my post does not work as intended. The "modeled" pilot indeed shows only in external views, and not in the VC.... but it is completely black (no textures). Using a rigid body graphic element seems to work.

    <[string8][object][rigidbodygraphics]
    <[string8][Name][Pilot]>
    <[string8][GeometryList][ PilotFigure1 PilotMask1 PilotHelmet1 PilotTube1 PilotVisor1 ]>
    <[uint32][PositionID][Fuselage.R]>
    <[uint32][OrientationID][Fuselage.Q]>
    <[uint32][ShowInside][ CameraFuselage ]>
    >

    Actually, with a little experimenting, I have found the code below does the trick for me - the geometry specified does not render in the cockpit view.


    // --------- Pilot ------

    <[string8][object][graphics_human]
    <[string8][Name][Fuselage008]>
    <[string8][GeometryList][ PilotFigure1 PilotMask1 PilotHelmet1 PilotTube1 PilotVisor1 ]>
    <[uint32][PositionID][Fuselage.R]>
    <[uint32][OrientationID][Fuselage.Q]>
    <[uint32][ShowInside][ ]>
    >

    // ---------- Pilot End ----

    Thanks for your answers... but I have few more questions (sorry)!

    Provided that I (must?) use one of the stock pilot figures... how is it linked to the aircraft model? What sets the figure position within the model space?

    Also can we use custom figures at all (meaning, modeled with the aicraft)? If so, can we selectively exclude them from certain views (i.e.internal views) - or in general can we exclude part of the model from the views?

    I am in the process of converting some of my FSX planes to AF2 - namely my MB326 and T45...and then possibly move to the F-35A... I am having several issues, as the process is quite different from FSX/P3D especially for what concerns animations...anyway, I am making slow but steady progress.

    The problem I have now is that apparently both my new aicrafts start at 30000ft. I mean if I choose an airport, and select the runway or the parking lot, both the T45 and the MB326 start at 30000ft. This does not happen with stock aircrafts and the DR400 which start on the ground as they should. Any guess why?

    Good day

    It is not clear to me what is the standard procedure for AF2 for pilot figures.
    Should they be modeled as part of the aircraft? It does not seem to be the case for the DR400...

    In any case can we model them as part of the aircraft? If so, how can we make them disappear in the cockpit view?

    An explaination would be much appreciated - these are probably trivial questions, but have mercy of a designer with more 10 years of the Microsoft SDK... :)

    Thanks in advance!