MD-11 and Lightning

[Carolus39 0]

Hello Capt'sI have this wonderful MD-11 and it works perfect, there is one thing that is missing in my case and that is the lightening of the passengers cabin and the overall lightning of the cockpit.I have turned around all the knobs on the Lightning panel but alas.When I look outside at night the passengers cabin and cockpit are not lighted.Especially in the VC mode I can not see any more. The instrument panel is lighted but the rest is dark, incl the pedestal. Even if I use the L key it remains the same.What am I missing?????Carlos Oosterling

[downscc 1,327]

Cabin lights are available, but need to be assigned to a key with the keycommand menu. The cockpit, even when lit, will appear dark from the outside. This has already generated at least one other thread, but a cockpit at night is a relatively dark place (unless you have the floods on).. and there is a known problem with the cockpit floodlight, which will get fixed.

[Guest]

and there is a known problem with the cockpit floodlight, which will get fixed.

Is this the 'known problem'? I just did my first night flight after the patch (yeah, have been flying during daytime for some weeks) and I noticed when I turn on the lights there seems to be a layer laid upon almost everything, which makes it almost impossible to see the knobs. On this screen you can see the fuel levers and the engine starting knobs stick out while the rest is hidden underneath something er...brownish... The overhead looks the same: you can hardly see the knobs and switches. Turning the light on and off DOES make a difference, but not really for the better. I wondered if this is the 'known problem' or that I should open a specific topic about it.

[downscc 1,327]

I've stared at the picture for a minute but at that resolution I can't see any brownish layer over the "rest ." Also, I'm not sure rest of what? I can't read the fonts on the SDCP but I can clearly tell where the buttons and knobs are, and the MDCUs look normal. You might also want to add what lighting you are using, for example %50 panel and flood lighting and no overhead; and if this is FS9 or FSX (FSX really looks better than FS9).

[Guest]

Hm, er... :( :( look at the fuel levers: they are clearly black, just as the starter knobs. Look at the spoiler handle: it should be a lot darker too, just as dark as the side of the MCDU behind it. Look at the throttle: the black parts should be just as black as the fuel lever tops. There is no contrast at all in the affected parts of the pedestal. Etc. etc. There are a lot of parts that should be just as black as the fuel levers or the starter knobs, but they are not: the spoiler, the throttle, the trim, they look greyish brownish and without any contrast as if there is a brownish layer cut out above it. You DO see the starter knobs and engine levers sticking out, don't you...? Anyone else see what I mean...?

[downscc 1,327]

Are you using FS9 or FSX version?I looked for the same lack of visual fidelity on the throttle quadrant that you are getting but it looks pretty good to me (FSX version). If you have FS9 then the quality is less, not because they designed it that way but going backwards from FSX looses the lighting effects:

[Guest]

Sorry, forgot to say (again) I'm using FSX on Vista 64 bit.But er... I DO see the same effect on your screenshot, although not as clear, which might depend on the angle you look at it. So I downloaded your picture and made it lighter in Photoshop and added some information. Maybe that will make it more clear.Take note that I did lighten the COMPLETE picture, not just the affected part that's clearly too light now (where I put a red border around after making the picture lighter)! If everything was normal and as it should be, it should ALL look like the very light and dull part OR as the rest of the picture, but now you can clearly see a difference between the pedestal, which has lost all contrast and is looking way too 'flat', and the rest. Of course this is an exaggeration, but it does show more clearly what I am seeing while flying at night. And it's not pretty... It's as if a Photoshop mask has been layed upon some parts of the VC and they forgot to set the right layer options for it!EDIT:To get a better and unobstructed view, here is the picture without the red lines and so on: again, this picture has been made lighter completely, without selecting anything. You can clearly see where things go wrong. (Also note the little part where the throttle is connected with the pedestal (underneath the handle: I don't know how to call it) which is also black, while the rest is not!)

[Carolus39 0]

Thanks for replying.Yes, this is exactly what I was talking about.I can produce the same pictures as J van ECarlos Oosterling