Posts by larrylynx

Hi Nickhod

Whilst you are looking at aircraft design may I suggest a TMD err toolkit, can't really think of another thing to call

The TMD file seems to have lots of entries that are similar in structure but refer to different objects, systems etc, so perhaps a graphical interface to call standard code snipets might help get people started, as an example.

I want to start the electrics system so a graphical tree like system could assist with questions that lead to the TMD outputs

Details of system, voltage, loads, (piston or Jet) etc

Do you want a battery switch...give position, type and direction

Do you want generators or alternators..switch position, type, direction how many,

load gauges..needle pivot point, direction, rotation angle, scale (0 to 30 volts example)

etc etc with other systems, instruments until we have enough info to output the TMD entries

Whilst this may not give us a final TMD file it will get things started, also control.tmd entries could be generated

May this is just pie in the sky but there has to be a better way than ploughing through lines of code looking for similar stuff to copy across

Steve

Guess I might have to cheat with the Starfighter, add some extra thrust whilst no one is looking

The biggest problems when modelling or painting humans is we are all experts, we know instantly when something is wrong, it can be a few millimetres but we just know. A very good reason why I started painting animals and not portraits.

Kai, stick a helmet, a visor and an oxygen mask on him like I did, yep, I may be old but not stupid unless it comes to the TMD file

Eyes are too narrow, bit like Clint Eastwood in many of his westerns

Cue music

Whilst I understand the need for secrecy, security, keeping control, call it what you will this closed file system does not aid developers. So here's my request

If there is a way to open ttx files can developers, who prove there credentials, be given some sort of access .

I ask as, without this sort of help we are left scratching our heads as to how to do things, ie HUD and Afterburner effects. Texture files are not great security threat so how about it developers

If its not possible to open ttx files, or you don't want us to, then can the wiki be updated to include these 2 issues

Steve

Hi Kai and Jan

Thanks for the input, seems it was contact spheres, must have used an old TMC file

Steve

Hi Jan

A simple one for you...speedbrakes

I can get the speedbrakes to simply rotate outwards, unfortunately on a Starfighter they do not do this, they move backwards and rotate outwards. A piston at the front effectively pushes against a brace and it all does its thing. I know where all the pivots should end up in numerical terms but entries in the TMD are ......confusing

Speedbrake rotates 60 degrees and translates (slides) backwards 0.2279 along the fuselage inside a slide

Brace rotates 45 degrees and slides forwards 0.276 in the fueselage

Piston rotates 55 degrees to speedbrake whilst extending

Any pointers would be appreciated

Steve

Kai, if push comes to shove ( as we would say in my parts) I will simply make my own preview and let it get converted.

HI Kai,

I would have thought if it was the contact sphere's then the aircraft would not sit correctly in the sim, if anything the aircraft is slightly above the ground as it settles slightly on loading. Also the pilot and ejector seat seems to be missing, Guess its just another FS2 learning curve

Hi HiFlyer

The things I have learnt could easily be attached to a pin head, Jan is the TMD wizard, I simply copy and paste from another aircraft, try to work out what it does and then adapt it for the Starfighter. Most of the time its bull in a china shop routine and if I can't get it to work I leave it till later as it's going to slow down the modelling process. Having locked texture files does not help one bit, it's very difficult to see what the developers do so makes it near impossible for some things, ie the HUD

Steve

Hi all.

Work continues, we now have a pilot and ejection seat ( most important part of a Starfighter). Mip cover, HUD bits and pieces.

I also have a pilot figure in the cockpit view so I can see my legs etc and not a bare seat and floor, so much better.

Jan... when the preview is generated the model and reflection are not in the same place. Looks like the model is offset, any ideas what could be causing this. And wing normal's now fixed, built some new ones

Steve

Hi Kai and Jan

Having looked at the default aircraft I can confirm you are correct Kai. It would appear the alpha is part of the color, specular, glass etc maps as there are no separate alpha map. Would have been handy to know days ago, perhaps something else for the wiki.

Many thanks to you both

Steve

Hi Kai

That was my feeling to, seems to be redundant to have a XXX_specular_alpha map if you have to include an alpha channel.

Will PM you with my email

Steve

Hi Jan and Kai

Managed to sort some of the problems.

Some color maps had somehow been resized to not powers of 2, ie 2042 and 2046.. perhaps finger trouble at my end but I hadn't adjusted any colour maps as they are 4096, weird.

I removed the specular maps from the intermediate folder which I think was the main cause of the converter not working, quite why it should not convert the color maps is a mystery to me, only thing I could think of was the specular is burned into the color map. The wiki mentions alpha channels when talking about specular, perhaps this should be looked at as it seems confusing as your not saving the specular map with an alpha channel but a separate map named alpha, unless I'm wrong.

Still unable to get any alpha maps to be converted. Have included them in the intermediate folder as glass_color_alpha.bmp for example but they do not appear in the aircraft folder

My elderly brain is fried so that's my till monday

Thanks Steve

Hi Kai

Thanks for the help,

Its the diffuse colors that the converter will suddenly not find. For a full list see my post on the converter.

Guess I'll take a few hours off and have another crack at it

Steve

Hi Kai

Keep up the great work its looking first class

A quick question if I may as you have experience with max. I needed to add specular alpha to all my materials. I did this in the material editor and then re-applied all the materials to the model parts. The aircraft converter fails to register this and throws up errors which I have posted elsewhere. From a max standpoint is there anything you can suggest as I'm stumped.

If you have a spare Martin Baker mk7 ejector seat doing nothing it would be helpful, yet more things to model .

Steve

Hi

Aircraft converter fails to convert a whole bunch of maps saying they are not used when I know they are.

I added the specular alpha to all the materials in the editor. I then re-applied all the new materials to the model, re-exported and thats when the problems arose.

Here is a list of the report.txt

texture ext01_fuseandwings_color.bmp not used

texture ext01_fuseandwings_light.bmp not used

texture ext01_fuseandwings_specular_alpha.bmp not used

texture ext02_wheelsandbits_color.bmp not used

texture ext02_wheelsandbits_light.bmp not used

texture ext02_wheelsandbits_specular_alpha.bmp not used

texture ext03_extras_bump.bmp not used

texture ext03_extras_light.bmp not used

texture ext03_extras_specular_alpha.bmp not used

texture glass_color.bmp not used

texture glass_color_alpha.bmp not used

texture glass_specular_alpha.bmp not used

texture hud_color.bmp not used

texture hud_specular_alpha.bmp not used

texture int01_illumination.bmp not used

texture int02_panel_illumination.bmp not used

texture int04_color.bmp not used

texture int04_illumination.bmp not used

texture int04_reflection.bmp not used

texture int04_specular_alpha.bmp not used

texture perspex_color.bmp not used

texture perspex_specular_alpha.bmp not used

Never been able to get the hud.color to convert even before this problem.

Until this is corrected I'm stuck. So HELP needed

Thanks Steve

Hi Jan

Would there be any chance we could have a mini tutorial on how to do a HUD, materials and modelling mainly, TMD entries not required yet. This is a big drawback of TTX files and no backwards converter, we don't have a clue what you guys have done.

Also when I run the aircraft converter it refuses to convert a color map even though it is used. It will convert the spec, bump etc just not the color. Report.txt says the texture hud_color.bmp is not used. When running FS2 there are no errors and it runs ok just doesn't show the object with the material, namely the hud glass.

Glass does seem to be a problem to me in general. It can be seen from the outside so I know its there but the preview doesn't show any. Have applied a shader as instructed in the wiki.

Thanks Steve

Quote from Jet-Pack

Fuel used is not a physical property of the aircraft, that is why there is no fuel used per default. If you look into the a320.tmd you will find an integral that sums up the fuel flow over time to give you the fuel used. With the fuel flow being in kg/s and the time being in seconds this gives you fuel used in kg (which we can only do because of the SI units! otherwise we would spend all computing power on unit conversions)

Not sure if this is relevant but here is a quote from Jetpack in the Starfighter posts

Steve

Hi Jan

Once again your help is much appreciated.

KG/sec was the only one I didn't try.....

Until the sim fully supports engine performance as we don't start from z eroI have decided to cheat with fuel flow and N1, I simply moved the needle to the idle position and recalculated the smaller steps in Radians. Still have jump in fuel flow when the afterburner kicks in and the nozzle needle position seems to lag behind. Changing the idle factor to 0.65, which I had already tried causes the aircraft to move without power as the brakes cannot hold it and the N1 remains at 10% anyway. More for a rainy day.

The MB339 does use N2 but I couldn't get this to work, is this an older system.

Steve

PS must remember to use the 4.014257 Radians approach next time I use the ILS into EGCC, I believe that 230 degrees in old money

Hi Jan

Once again thanks for the help

I now have working RadAlt, Oil pressure, EGT, FuelFlow (sort of as it jumps from 50% to 100%), N1, Nozzle position and VSI. Just fuel and hydraulics and that's the simple stuff done.

It's very frustrating, time consuming and dis-heartening not knowing what units the gauges work in and how little information there is available, for instance, fuel flow seems to be a percentage going from 0 to 1. I would have thought this would have been in kgs/hour or Kgs/min. Is this why the sim fails to record fuel used as it doesn't know what units to use. There was very little wrong with the code but even after inputting your correction it still failed to work until I saw it just move at full power, after much time and effort I finally realised it was a percentage. Lots of time wasted

I would also like to access N2 rather than N1 as N1 seems to give strange values but the sim fails to find N2. The idle speed is currently 10% when it should be 65%, don't see any way to adjust this. Engines in fast jets don't have N1 or N2, that's the domain of bypass and free turbine engines, they just have %RPM

Steve

HI Jan

Yet more TMD questions whilst taking a break from vertices pushing

I managed to get the Vario to work so pushed on with a simple gauge, or so I thought. Have I mentioned I hate programming and the TMD file

This is the entry you placed in the TMD file for me.

<[output][EngineFuelFlow][]

<[string8][Input][Engine.OutputFuelFlow]>

>

I added this entry in the GraphicObjects section after the vario entry but the needle remains much like me, fat-dumb-happy and refuses to move

// Fuel Flow

<[graphics_input][FuelFlowInput][]

<[uint32][InputID][FuelFlow.Output]>

>

<[graphics_mapping][FuelFlowMapping][]

<[string8][Input][FuelFlowInput.Output]>

<[tmvector2d][Map][(0.0 0.0) (45.3 4.188) (90.71 5.759) ]>

>

<[hingedbodygraphics][FuelFlowNeedle][]

<[uint32][PositionID][Fuselage.R]>

<[uint32][OrientationID][Fuselage.Q]>

<[string8][GeometryList][ FuelFlowNeedle ]>

<[uint32][InputAngle][FuelFlowMapping.Output]>

<[tmvector3d][Axis][ -0.9659 0.00000 0.2588 ]>

<[tmvector3d][Pivot][ 6.0680 -0.2487 0.3323 ]>

<[float64][AngleMax][1.00]>

// <[string8][InputIllumination1][InstrumentLighting.Output]>

// <[string8][InputIllumination0][PanelLighting00.Output]>

>

The flow is 45.3 kg/min at 4.188 radians and 90.71 at 5.759 ( fill afterburner I assume)

I can follow what should happen but no idea where it all breaks down

Steve