Posts by larrylynx

    As Master Obi Jan said, 'model the exterior parts first. though not necessarily all of them down to the last detail.' My grandad suggested workflow would be.

    Model the exterior. NO INTERIOR at all for now as its not needed yet and just wastes time and effort. UV map and texture the exterior, a simple colour would suffice to start with, no need for fancy liveries. Export your model to the intermediate folder, which should ideally not be your working folder. With all textures that you need in that folder try to covert it to show in the sim and that is where the problems start. You will need a workable TMD file in the intermediate folder plus others to make this happen, read up in the wiki. Do remember the config.tmc file.

    Getting the model into the sim will be a nightmare to start with as the aircraft TMD (if you plan on just one variant) or aircraft.tmd plus system.tmd (If multi variants) will need to be stripped down variants of, I assume, the A320 files. I think I have that right Master Obi Jan. I might even suggest a single variant tmd until you have it showing in the sim, you can then remove bits and set up a systems.tmd. Look at the A320 tmds for the work flow on multi variants.

    So in short, a basic textured model and get it into the sim.

    Once it's in, you can then start to add things and build it up. Its then, model, uv, texture, tmd, convert and it keeps on like that, The BIG RED cube will become a constant reminder you cocked things up. The tm.log in \Documents\Aerofly FS 4 will be a great help in tracking down all those errors. I use notepad++ plus Master Obi Jan's language plugin as it makes it look pretty and much easier to read.

    As a developer its no good shying away from the TMD files as you really need to understand them, so just get stuck in and work it out. Yes there will be questions and help is never far away.

    Liveries are the last thing on the list for a developer and a realistic timeframe is 6 months or so for a new model, if you know what you are doing.

    Building the model is the easy bit, (sorry Pilot boy but eventually you will agree with me), getting it into the sim ( and that is just to look at) will take some effort and systems/flying characteristics etc will take a lot of effort. However.....

    The joy of sitting in a Virtual cockpit, especially in VR, that you have designed and built is well worth all the effort.8) and taking it flying., thats where the fun starts.

    Its a long and lonely road for a solo developer but I'm sure he will get there with our encouragement and help.:thumbup::thumbup:and we are always here to help, though at 67, that may not always be the case with me :/ Yes I really am that old=O

    I watch this with interest and I will feel your pain as there will be plenty of that.

    Try to do the UV mapping for each item before moving on to the next as UV mapping lots of objects together sucks. If you plan to copy items doing the UV mapping will (or should) be carried over to the copy. If you do not then each item will need to be UV mapped or you learn from your mistake and UV map first. You will need to UV map to a texture map 4096*4096 so you might as well setup your materials at this point and don't let the fuselage take up the whole map, remember there are lots of other objects waiting in the wings for a place on that map. Talking wings, put them on there own texture map and again keep the poly count down, Did I mention, keep the poly count down as the sim does a great job and no one will ever notice whether your fuselage has 32 sides or 64 sides.

    Any faces that will never be seen delete them, (be ruthless and don't miss this step) before you UV map (no point UV mapping faces you are going to delete) and do try to keep the poly count down. As I said, your fuselage has perhaps 40% extra. I have never used Blender but check your smoothing as the faces look to be non smoothed at the moment.

    Any help needed give me a shout, cant help with Blender but I'm Ok with work flow, textures and TMD (ish). Master Obi Jan Kenobi will become your best friend with regard to TMD. Might not hurt to scare yourself to death and have a look at a TMD file =O. They look scary but are not that bad, he lied ;)

    Steve

    My advice would be to keep the external polygons to the minimum required to obtain a pleasing look and use those extra polygons in the cockpit where the count will rise when you are not looking. The fuselage at present has too many polygons around its circumference, let the sim smooth things for you.

    You may also have to think about the MFD screens and what it is you are going to use to make them work. Much of the flat screen coding is unique to a particular model so research where you are going to steal the TMD coding before you get much further.

    Steve

    As a developer, I never really get time to actually fly in the sim, a quick look or check of something then back to the drawing board. I can't actually recall doing a full flight.

    I agree about only being VR and to me it should look like the real thing as much as possible and as many systems as possible should be represented as faithfully as possible. I'm not sure IPACS would be too thrilled with a cockpit only variant but I may try as it's quicker to delete stuff than insert stuff. I'm afraid the new project is slightly heavier than 2 ton's by some margin, but then I do go overboard. A book I co-wrote with my brother started life as a theory and ended up being 700+ pages, so we added yet more pages to a total of 1200+ and its now broken up into 4 books. All helps to keep my 67 year old brain ticking over I guess. TMD torture sessions on the horizon.||||||||

    Hi Jan

    When exported the aircraft looks fine on the runway so I assume its the correct scale.

    When sat inside (in VR) the width of the cockpit appears Ok as its quite a wide beast, but the gauges, switches radio drum displays etc all look out of scale. The OverHead looks narrow as does the interseat console, I am wondering if things get reduced down too much the closer they are to the camera point of view.

    Will PM a link for you to download and check.

    I guess the short answer would be twice as much work. You want the long answer too.

    It would not be a simple case of replacing a low poly switch with a high poly switch. Both switches would need to be fully modelled and then UV mapped. Simple enough for a single switch but imaging doing this for the pilots seat for example. Building an aircraft from scratch is already time consuming, I have so far been working for some 2 months and I can safely imagine another 6 or 7.

    In theory I could build an aircraft with no exterior at all and use all those wasted polygons for more detail in the cockpit, which, let's face it, is where we all should fly from. Its a flight simulator not a fashion show. But, I think the user base might throw a few tantrums if I did. I used to build custom models for P3D hardware simulators which contained only parts of the aircraft that the pilot could see and a landing lights/taxi setup. In the case of the hardware Vulcan simulator, it was landing/taxi light and a refuel probe, everything else couldn't be seen.

    Question to Master Kenobi. Why does everything in the cockpit look smaller than it should. For example, a 2 inch gauge looks more like a 1.25 inch gauge.

    Thank you Master Kenobi...a million polygons mmmm all those lovely polygons. Perhaps a three legged stool for the pilot and copilot. I do remember sitting on one of those in the Concord flight deck, but that was a lifetime ago.

    A well earned break from modelling, time to start the TMD in earnest.......Lots of questions incoming =O

    Ah the magic of the delete and try again.....:/ always works for some reason, even in TMD coding:rolleyes:

    Lynx Mk 7 is now up and if you think the Apache is sensitive its easy compared to the Lynx. The Lynx is a true cat, treat it harshly and it will scratch and bite your a**e

    Both are more difficult due to the very early AFCS autopilot systems we were using in FS2. The sim has moved on but my coding hasn't and I'm not party to any updated coding at the moment.

    It is also easier to fly helicopters in VR as you need that spatial awareness not available on a flat screen.

    Hi all

    Santa is a little busy so he asked me to upload the Mighty Lynx MK7 for you.8|

    Lynx MK7 Is back - Flight-Sim.org
    Hi all Santa is a little busy so he asked me to upload the Mighty Lynx MK7 for you. Please don't complain its a pain to fly, I know, helicopters are just…
    flight-sim.org

    Please don't complain its a pain to fly, I know, helicopters are just like that and if you think its that bad, then delete it, it was free after all. There is no easy hold my hand option with this one. It was also difficult to make it ready to jump in and start flying, it was never designed to be that way. I have got it as close as I can but you will have to wait 15 seconds or so for the rotor speed to catch up, it was either that or spin around on the spot. A Skid Friction value would help but there isn't one yet. It will give you time to set your radios, navigation aids etc. Do check the AFCS is engaged before you fly, all lights should be on except Bar Alt. It does have VOR and ADF. Tans now displays Lat/Long and hdg/dist for VOR or HDG for ADF (How accurately is another thing entirely just like the real one)

    For those who want to experience what a pain the Lynx was to start, use the cold and dark setup. Read the manual on full start procedure. Some eng/rotor figures will not be the same as quoted in the manual as FS4 has changed somewhat since FS2.

    Easier if you map throttles to hotas throttle pots if you have them like the X52. Also rotor brake to a slider, again like the X52. If you want Heading Hold and Bar Alt, these have been assigned to lights Taxi and Beacon (read the manual) as there are still no user assignable commands in FS4. Both Heading Hold and Bar Alt are not very accurate, the coding is very old and I'm not party to any new code for autopilot stuff. They are useable but you need to be gentle and keep an eye on them. Bit like the real thing.

    Like the Apache it does use fuel so keep an eye on your tanks.

    Any problems give Santa a shout as I'm closing down till the New Year. Hint. I think Santa resides in the IPACS forum not Flight-Sim.org

    Steve

    PS. Controls are lively (like the real thing) so don't say I didn't warn you||