Posts by MDIvey

    I have noticed the same problem with UH60 doors. I can open some of the rear doors from the pilot seat but cannot close them again. I imagine it's a problem with how the clickspots are set up in the control file. It's actually a very clever and flexible way of doing things if you get it right... But if you get it wrong it won't work correctly. I had a similar thing happen when working on the Buffalo. I could open the canopy but the click spot moved off to some point on the model I couldn't find. I imagine a similar mistake has been made here that can be fairly easily fixed by IPACS when they can find the time... they're always busy. Perhaps they could just let us know they've clocked it and will get to it when they can.

    Matt

    Thanks Kai

    it's always nice to have something new to fly... and I know how much work goes into getting them to that point :)

    I like your sense of humour in naming the "readme.txt" as "do not readme.txt"... a bit of reverse psychology eh! wish I'd thought of it for my models

    Matt

    Loadout Pack 1 for Aerofly FS4 F-18C Hornet

    Supplied as freeware and you use entirely at your own risk. Supplied as is with no guarantee of any kind.

    Made by MDIvey using the AC3D, and some help from Jan (IPACS Jet-Pack)… Thank you Jan.

    A collection of Loadout options for the IPACS Aerofly FS4 F18 Hornet. They are easily added to any F18 repaint by adding one line of code to the repaints option.tmc file (before starting up the SIM). I’m afraid it’s all very basic and simple, no clever programs to do it for you on the fly. Consider this little bit of work the ground crew setting up your aircraft for your flight.

    The purpose of this addon: I wanted to do some repaints for the F-18C and to add a bit of interest while flying I wanted to add some fuel tanks, wing pylons and inert Air 2 Air missiles (hence the blue paint). Bare in mind Aerofly FS4 is not a combat simulator, nor would I want it to be. However you seldom see these jets flying in the real world with a completely clean configuration. For one thing Jets are thirsty brutes and often need drop tanks to extend there range. All the options are purely visual and I haven’t done anything to make them affect weight and drag. It could be done but I don’t have the time or inclination.

    installation:

    These instructions assume you are familiar with basic file management and text file editing. Installation and use is entirely at your own risk. Always make a backup before changing anything.

    If you don't have an f18 folder in your C:\Users\........\Documents\Aerofly FS 4\aircraft ..... directory then create one. The exact path will depend on how your machine is set up but if you're not familiar with installing aircraft repaints into Aerofly FS4 then you should seek advice on the IPACS Aerofly Web site.

    Once you have a folder "f18" you can extract the loadout folders from the zip file and install them into the f18. They are essentially repaint folders.

    At this point they are installed but they will not appear on any aircraft. In order for that to happen you need to open each repaints, option.tmc file, in a text editor like notepad and add one line of code… vfa81loviz used below as an example:

    The unedited option tmc file looks like this…

    You need to add the following line of code…

    <[string8][Requirements][loadoutX]>

    Where X is the number of the loadout you want to use, thus edited the option.tmc looks thus:

    Save the file and then go into the SIM… that F18 repaint should now appear with the selected loadout. Below is a visual description of what each of the 9 loadouts are:

    Loadout Options:


    The 9 loadouts are made up of various combinations of the following: Wing Pylons, Belly pylon, Belly Tank, Wing Tanks, Sparrow Medium Range AA Missile, and Sidewinder Short Range AA Missile.

    Repaint Pack 1 for Aerofly FS4 F18 Hornet

    Supplied as freeware and you use entirely at your own risk. Supplied as is with no guarantee of any kind.

    A collection of repaints for the IPACS Aerofly FS4 F18 Hornet

    Made by MDIvey using the IPACS Paintkit

    This collection of F18 repaints are artistic representations of aircraft flown by the US Navy and US Marine Corps, some in HiViz color schemes and some in the workaday LoViz grey

    installation: If you don't have an f18 folder in your C:\Users\........\Documents\Aerofly FS 4\aircraft ..... directory then create one. The exact path will depend on how your machine is set up but if you're not familiar with installing aircraft repaints into Aerofly FS4 then you should seek advice on the IPACS Aerofly Web site. Once you have a folder "f18" you can extract the repaint folders from the zip file and install them into the f18. Installation and use is entirely at your own risk.

    Released on flight-sim.org

    Both the Helicopter and scenery are top notch... and my wallet thanks you for generously making them updates to what I've already bought :)

    that said I'd be glad to see more content coming through even if they were payware addons (all that works got to be funded somehow) ... keeps it exciting and interesting... A bad landing on the white house lawn and bouncing into the porch was certainly interesting :)

    One thing I noticed on the Hawk was I could open the left side doors from the Pilots seat with click spots, but I couldn't find the click spots for closing them. Knowing what trouble, I had setting them up on the Buffalo, maybe they're not set correctly? Would it be possible to have external click spots for door opening so you could open them in exterior view?

    Matt

    USN Version UPDATED TO VERSION 1.22

    RAF Version still VERSION 1.2

    As Well as changes required by the latest version of Aerofly FS 4, there have been model improvements and Custom Sound files installed (Donated by Dan Hopgood) and the RAF package now includes as a bonus a Royal Navy version of the Buffalo.


    Released at flight-sim.org

    Release Notes for Brewster Buffalo B339E & F2A-2 Addon for Aerofly FS4

    Disclaimer: This Freeware Aircraft Addon for Aerofly FS4, including all associated files and documentation are supplied as is with no guarantee of any kind. You use entirely at your own risk. Information is not intended for Real World Aviation.

    Credits and Copyright Ownership:

    3D External Model and Texture Art Matthew Ivey

    3D Cockpit Internals and Texture Art Dom Henry

    3D Pilot and Texture Art Bertrand Augras (beber)

    TMD Coding Matthew Ivey & jet-pack (IPACS)

    Custom Sounds Supplied by Dan Hopgood

    Dom Henry and I have collaborated on quite a few aircraft projects for X-Plane11, where I created the external model and cockpit shell, and Dom created the cockpit, the sounds and physics. A special thank you to Dom for letting me use his cockpit work, without which it is unlikely the project would have ever been completed

    A special thank you to Bertrand too, for the use of his pilot figures. It’s a difficult thing to create pilot figures that look human without using a lot of polys. He has created a number of these figures, that Dom and I have used in our aircraft and we’re very grateful to him for it.

    Installation:

    This assumes you’re familiar with basic file management tasks. If you need more help try asking for help on the IPACS Aerofly forum.

    Extract the files from the zip file and copy the buffalo_usn or buffalo_raf folder into your user documents aircraft folder. The address will be something like below depending how your machine is set up (where dotdotdot….. will be the name of your computer)

    C:\Users\............\Documents\Aerofly FS 4\aircraft

    The Buffalo now has custom Sounds included Donated by Dan Hopgood

    The Prototype:

    The Brewster Buffalo was the first monoplane fighter ordered by the US Navy. It narrowly beat the Grumman Wildcat design. Indeed as the Wildcat design matured and the Buffalo’s shortcomings (weak undercarriage and engine overheating) became more apparent, the Wildcat superseded and replaced the Buffalo. By the time WWII broke out the aircraft was considered obsolete. It was used in combat by the US Marines at the battle of Midway, and by export customers Britain and Holland in the far-east with disastrous results when pitted against Japan’s Zero and Oscar fighters. The Finns where spectacularly successful with it in there conflict with the Russians. There were a number of reasons for that, such as the fact that their engineers came up with a solution to the engine overheating and the climate was cooler there anyway. Anyway none of that matters to us in Aerofly, which is not a combat simulator, but if you’re interested in the Historical context there’s plenty to be found on the Net.

    Flying the Buffalo in AFS4:

    In Aerofly the model flies quite nicely, no major dramas. The large area of glass of the cockpit allows a good view all round, the 1000 hp engine allows a reasonable turn of speed. With good energy management (speed for height, height for speed) you can do most aerobatics at low level.

    The performance in climb is not stellar. On a test flight it took me about an hour to get to 20000 ft with 2000rpm, throttle at about half and mixture leaned off a couple of notches. Because of the limited modelling of the engine, you can run the engine flat out at 3000 RPM and full throttle, without the disastrous consequences it would have in real life. The settings I suggest are probably more realistic. I managed to climb to about 25000ft by upping the RPM’s to about 2500, increasing the throttle to about ¾ and putting down 10 degrees of flaps. The Buffalo had a two stage supercharger in real life, and that would have helped at height, but this is not modelled in Aerofly FS4. So I figured the above settings are a reasonable compensation / cheat. I did try bumping the aircraft up to 30000ft using the feature in aerofly that allows you to do that (F2A-3 max ceiling), but it can’t maintain that height… it just becomes a very heavy glider.

    It should be mentioned the aircraft is a Tail Dragger, with all that implies for ground handling. If you can fly the F4u you should have no problem with the judicious use of Rudder required to keep the Buffalo tracking straight down the runway, and not getting in to a yaw Oscillation that will end badly. If you’re unfamiliar with this concept then do some ground school by looking on the Net. Then learn on a plane like the wonderful Piper Cub by Krzysztof Kaniewski (you can get access to that from flight-sim.org)… things happen a bit slower, so you can get used to the Rudder control that is needed.

    Well I hope you enjoy using the Buffalo. It is what it is… many shortcomings and limitations, but a lot of work has gone into getting it to this level. If you like it that’s great, but if not keep that to yourself please. By all means report any bugs you find in the release thread on the IPACS forum... but don’t demand anything to be done about it… updates will be at my discretion. I’m not sure how it will perform in VR as I don’t use it, but hopefully it will be ok. Anyway I think all that remains is to take a look over the cockpit layout:

    Front Panel:


    1) Manifold Pressure 2) Altitude Indicator 3) Magnetos

    4) Airspeed Indicator 5) MkII Gunsite 6)Side Slip/Turn Indicator

    7) Artificial Horizon 8) Starter Button 9) Climb Rate Indicator

    10) Volt Meter 11) Backup Compass (Main to Right of Altimeter)

    12) Fuel Primer 13) Fuel Pump 14) Flap Indicator

    15) Gun Site On/Off 16) Hydraulic Pressure


    Right Side Panel:


    25) Canopy Open Lever 26) Battery Master ON/Off

    27) Beacon Light, vertical off, right brighter version, left dimmer version

    28) Beacon Red 29) Beacon Amber (these don’t seem to do a lot)

    30) Nav Lights 31) Landing Lights 32) Landing Light Dimmer

    33) Formation Lights On and Brightness adjust (Right Full Bright)

    34) Panel Lights On and Adjust Brightness (Right Full Bright)

    35) Arresting Hook(Navy Model only)

    Left Side Panel:


    17) RPM Gauge 18) Oil Pressure Gauge 19) Mixture Lever

    20) Throttle 21) RPM Lever 22) Aileron Trim

    23) Elevator Trim 24) Rudder Trim

    Start up:

    • Battery on
    • Fuel Primer on
    • Fuel Pump on
    • Mixture Lever Full FWD
    • Throttle slightly open
    • Mags set to both
    • Push starter button (goes green)
    • After Engine start, push start button again to disengage starter (goes red).
    • Primer off

    10)Fuel pump off (Only needs to be on again above 20000ft)

    Parking brake can be operated by a lever to the left and below the front panel. Twist vertical to release… this will be confirmed by a green light. Before landing check light is green.

    Gear Up/Down Indicator: There is an indicator in the centre of the front panel that gives a visual confirmation that landing gear is up or down.

    Gear & Flap Levers: There are two levers to the right of the pilots seat. The front one is the landing gear lever and the rear one is the flap lever. Ensure the Gear lever has full travel or you may end up with a partial Retraction/Extension of the Undercarriage.

    Night Lighting:

    I’ve added a red glow to all the instruments and controls for use when night flying. The look is aimed at giving the impression that all the controls have luminance created by luminescent paint and picked up by a low intensity red light in the cockpit. I don’t do a lot of night flying and it took a lot of work to implement this, so I hope it was worth it for those of you who enjoy night flying. The panel switch, controls on/off and adjustment of the brightness level. Panel Lights are Overridden by Battery Master Switch. The Gunsite ring for the MkII Gunsite (used on the RAF model) is not on this circuit but has its own independent control. The USN version has an Aldis Optical Site, and this has a site ring that is controlled by the instrument glow.


    Update for Aerofly FS 4 May 24th 2023 Update.... Version 1.2

    Is it ok to ask for information here related to the use of the SDK and plugins?

    I've been trying out some ideas to try and get my props looking like your ones do on the 109 and Corsair for example. Not all progress was forward but in the end I was fairly happy with the result, but I couldn't say if what I did was the best solution. I created a bit of Prop root geometry sized to fit inside the prop blades (so scaled down slightly) so they shouldn't show when the prop is stationary and made it rotate with the spinner. I applied the blade shader

    here is result...

    Anyway it got me to thinking Is there any information available about what shaders to use in which situations so as to know the best data to put in the material field... I've no idea if this is still the best way to specify external glass for example... I notice with a lot of your models your using a normal texture instead of a specular one (along with a reflection one)... something I've been unable to replicate so far

    Matt

    Seems the new plugin is fussy about capital letters being used in object names whereas previous versions I've used where not. I had to go in and change all the object names so that for example, LeftWing has become leftwing now. It was that in the TMD anyway but previously it had not mattered.

    Matt

    thanks very much. I may download version 9. The version I have installed at the moment is 8.6.11 so it appears I'm a little behind. Could you post or link to the version of the plugin for my current version... I think I'm still covered by free updates, but not sure and don't want to have to get a paid update just yet. I'm just going to go and check my status.

    Matt

    Does it work with the 64 bit version of AC3D? If so any chance that I could have it soon, as I've been doing some work on my Spitfire and Buffalo (with some assistance from Jan) and at the moment I haven't had to make any changes to the TGI file, but that may soon change.

    On another subject.... I'd like to offer this as a suggestion for down the road for a plugin.... one that allows the user to adjust the position of your pilot figures, and corrects the the related bone entries so we can trial and error your pilots into our models. I'll probably end up using a Static pilot figure in my models if I can source some free ones. Its a lot of work to build pilot figures (especially for freeware) even if you're any good at it and I'll be honest I'm not... and you're ones are very good... you're P38 or F4U pilot would look pretty good in my aircraft. I do hate seeing an empty office in the external view :)

    Matt

    I use AC3D to create my aircraft. One of the reasons I went down that route rather than blender was that plugins were available for AFS and XP11. Does the fact that you have provided a plugin for Blender above mean that you've dropped support for AC3D? or have you just not got round to doing it yet? I'm using the 64bit version of AC3D now (I mean why wouldn't you if you have a 64 bit operating system and 32 bit no longer seems to be an option anyway) so will that be catered for?

    Matt

    So Far my experience with AF4 has been very good.

    I got the delux combination with the extra aircraft but finding this in the aircraft line up was a very nice surprise....

    Are you going to create a new screenshot thread just for AF4 BTW

    Matt