Does anyone own the FSD Cessna 337 Skymaster?I installed mine yesterday and for some reason when I hover the mouse over the panel (2D or VC) the text is all garbled:(Not seen this before in any of my addons (see pic attached with red circle).It also appears to have bits of the VC missing. So far - not impressed - this is supposed to be payware! :( Can anyone help?ThanksTrafficPilot

Does anyone own the FSD Cessna 337 Skymaster?I installed mine yesterday and for some reason when I hover the mouse over the panel (2D or VC) the text is all garbled:(Not seen this before in any of my addons (see pic attached with red circle).It also appears to have bits of the VC missing. So far - not impressed - this is supposed to be payware! :( Can anyone help?ThanksTrafficPilot

This happens with almost all my port-overs. Switching to Windowed mode (ALT+Enter) is the only way I know of overcoming this.RegardsFrog

Try here...http://www.fsd-international.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl

Thanks for your replies guys.It turns out that (according to FSD) the texture corruption is "common" on many FSX addons. Not mine it isn't - until now.And the missing VC I am told is due to the person who designed the model leaving the company so they haven't bothered to fix it.Thanks FSD. This is the last time I ever buy any payware. Am sick of being ripped off by amateurs thinking they can get away with publishing faulty software and selling it. PMDG and Real Air Simulations are the only companies I've been 100% happy with.

Although my judgement is not as harsh as yours I really think FSD should stop selling the Skymaster, as well as the Navajo, Saratoga, Seneca and Porter as FSX aircraft. They don't comply with the current day standard of FSX with SP2 or Acceleration. Nowhere on their site is it made clear these aircraft have some serious glitches under FSX SP2/Acceleration.

Guys:I am the former FSD designer of the 337. Please let me set one thing clear..1. I do not work or represent FSD any longer2. FSD is right about the gauge lettering.. the garbeled text is a graphics issue and is linked to drivers.3. The weird gauge changes in background when light are turned on is in fact a GAUGE issue NOT and I repeat NOT a VC issue. Look at the missing polygons and they coincide with gauge placement. I also went back into the actual source file and the the problem is on the way the gauge is rendered.... One interesting question is why are half the gauges rendered correctly and others not. The same technique has been used to place each and every gauge within the VC.4. I would strongly suggest that FSD review their gauges and if there is an error in their programing to just come out and state so and FIX IT, instead of pointing the finger and passing blame to others for some of their shortcomings. 5. The aforementioned planes ARE NOT specifically designed for FSX, but they worked well with the first version of FSX. When FSX ACC was released the program introduced a lot of incompatabilities with older FS9 AC and you already have seen the results. If these aircrafts are to be brough to FSX AC quality, they have to go through substantial upgrades.6. Please ask FSD to look into their gauge programing I an sure they will find the problem.I hope this tries to at least point you in the right direction to get the problem fixed once and for all.I apologize for the spelling but I am running to a meeting and do not have time to check the spelling.BestJim

Add to that Win 7 and what you have is potential problems. Not FSD's fault IMHO.FSD recently released a patch for their Commander, so they do listen to their customers.Now it's time for me to order the new V-Tail Bonanza.

THe Commander problem (missing VC) is an actual gauge programing issue. THe VC is linked to the gauge pack.... and for some reason or another when switching from repaint, the gauge pack is seeing the new paint as something illegal and actually turning off the VC. I am sure this can be fixed easily and the solution and problem probably will be found in the FSDX.dll file.BestJim

Guys:I am the former FSD designer of the 337. Please let me set one thing clear..1. I do not work or represent FSD any longer2. FSD is right about the gauge lettering.. the garbeled text is a graphics issue and is linked to drivers.3. The weird gauge changes in background when light are turned on is in fact a GAUGE issue NOT and I repeat NOT a VC issue. Look at the missing polygons and they coincide with gauge placement. I also went back into the actual source file and the the problem is on the way the gauge is rendered.... One interesting question is why are half the gauges rendered correctly and others not. The same technique has been used to place each and every gauge within the VC.4. I would strongly suggest that FSD review their gauges and if there is an error in their programing to just come out and state so and FIX IT, instead of pointing the finger and passing blame to others for some of their shortcomings. 5. The aforementioned planes ARE NOT specifically designed for FSX, but they worked well with the first version of FSX. When FSX ACC was released the program introduced a lot of incompatabilities with older FS9 AC and you already have seen the results. If these aircrafts are to be brough to FSX AC quality, they have to go through substantial upgrades.6. Please ask FSD to look into their gauge programing I an sure they will find the problem.I hope this tries to at least point you in the right direction to get the problem fixed once and for all.I apologize for the spelling but I am running to a meeting and do not have time to check the spelling.BestJim

Hi Mr. Goldman,When you say "the way the gauge was rendered", how many ways can it be rendered, and why do we not see this in other quality gauges built by other commercial vendors of existing ac currently being used? Is there not some form of standard that developers use? Was this error caused because the developers decided to try a new approach?RegardsBob G

Hi Mr. Goldman,When you say "the way the gauge was rendered", how many ways can it be rendered, and why do we not see this in other quality gauges built by other commercial vendors of existing ac currently being used? Is there not some form of standard that developers use? Was this error caused because the developers decided to try a new approach?RegardsBob G

There is a standard for the way tooltips are created in Flight Simulator, according to the published SDK, and those on the Cessna 337 are no exception. They are standard FS gauges. As several people have pointed out, this is a common problem with previous designs that have been ported into FS X. It is not a gauge programming issue.We continue to sell the Cessna 337, and the others, because many people still want them and have them work in FS X. They do work quite well, as is the case with a lot of port overs, but there are some minor display issues such as this which can occur.

There is a standard for the way tooltips are created in Flight Simulator, according to the published SDK, and those on the Cessna 337 are no exception. They are standard FS gauges. As several people have pointed out, this is a common problem with previous designs that have been ported into FS X. It is not a gauge programming issue.We continue to sell the Cessna 337, and the others, because many people still want them and have them work in FS X. They do work quite well, as is the case with a lot of port overs, but there are some minor display issues such as this which can occur.

Hi Tim,Well, I guess I missed that this was a port. I did not realize that ports were still happening after all this time. There was so much controversy way back concerning transparency on the part of the developers concerning the verbeage as to whether it was a "true" FSX model, or a port ,and it got heated enough to finally make it law so to speak. And since this was so far back, I made an assumption that this was a true fsx compliant model. I hope it gets sorted out.Thanks TimBob G

We continue to sell the Cessna 337, and the others, because many people still want them and have them work in FS X. They do work quite well, as is the case with a lot of port overs, but there are some minor display issues such as this which can occur.

I'm not so sure about "they do work quite well," because my experience with the FSD 337 is somewhat different. I love the Skymaster, I think it's a beautiful plane, and that's why I bought the FSD version. I'm sure that when the FSD version was released it was probably top of the line and an excellent plane compared to other payware, but notsomuch anymore.I recently took the plane for a half-hour flight or so, which is the longest that I've been able to put up with it since I bought it back in December. The flight model overall seems great, and visually I don't have much to complain about the exterior (it's obviously an older model, but I wasn't expecting much, I knew it was a port from 2004). I only fly in VC mode, since I have a TrackIR and love it far too much to use a 2d panel. The VC textures are also showing their age, but still passable. Overall it's not a bad plane at all, but it's the little things that add up (keep in mind these are things that I noticed in the course of a 30-minute VFR flight, not an extended multi-hour cross-country):

• The fuel selectors aren't interactive in any VC view, and appear to be locked at "OFF." The O-2 version doesn't have this problem.
• Mouse scroll wheel behavior seems rather inconsistent. The cowl flap levers and magnetos, for example, seem to scroll "backwards." Two-position toggle switches will happily toggle back and forth each detent of the scroll wheel, regardless of which direction you're scrolling. The AP elevator trim roller wheel scrolls "backwards" but only if you're in the correct half of it. The AP turn wheel doesn't respond to the mouse scroll wheel at all. The fuel selectors in the O-2 will scroll one way but not the other.
• Heading and VSI bugs don't move. They'll twitch in the direction I'm telling them to move, then go straight back to where they started.
• Animations "stutter" and aren't smooth--for example, the landing gear animation, or the control yoke rotation. They seem to "jerk" from one point to the next at a set rate. Other planes, including FSX default planes, don't have this problem. I don't know if it was designed to look right at a certain framerate and my framerate is higher than that, but it doesn't look very good :(

Those are really just nitpicks, to be honest, but it's the sum of them that makes them annoying. The following one, though, is pretty much a dealbreaker because it very negatively affects my normal way of doing things in FSX:

• The entire right half of the VC isn't clickable when the view is in the left seat. I see on the forums that there's a service release which may apply, but you have to be registered on the forums to get it (currently awaiting registration confirmation). I tried downloading the installer again from http://www.fsd-international.com/Download/c337.htm (which states "All installers are 100% up to date and do not require the addition of any service release that may be available for previous installations"), uninstalling the old one, and reinstalling, but this didn't change anything. I still can't click on anything in the right half of the VC unless I'm sitting in the passenger seat. The most annoying evidence of this is in the nav radios: I can't change channels unless I'm in the passenger seat.

I think, if those could be fixed, I would be flying the C337 as my plane of choice in FSX. As it is, it's given me such a bad impression that I've stayed away from other FSD aircraft as a rule, and I really wanted to try that Bonanza :(.If it helps (because I would love to see these fixed), I'm on Win7 64-bit, using Acceleration. If there's any other information I can provide (or testing I can do) I'd be happy to help.Sorry for the rant,Brandon

I'm going to resurrect this rather than start a new thread.  I just purchased the Skymaster/O2A combination, and boy did it teach me not to take the risk on payware.  Perhaps there are very good payware aircraft out there, but FSD realized my worst fears about investing in them, so sadly I'm out of that market.  Plenty of good freeware to choose from.  Captains log (SP2 with all required hardware from FSD site):

 

* Night (panel) lighting doesn't actually illuminate the panel

* Gauge controls flicker and are nearly impossible to adjust

* Panel is very cartoon-like as compared with many other (freeware) aircraft

*337 yoke obstructs controls but can't be hidden

* Once 337 fuel selector is set to off, can't turn it anymore without reload

 

It goes on.  If SP2, or some other component were interfering, this should have been stated on their site.

The best thing about the FSD Skymaster is the documentation.  It's some of the best from a payware vendor.

 

However, I wouldn't let the FSD experience sour you on all payware.  There is some darn good stuff out there.  Carenado makes a pretty decent 337H, which is one of my favorites.

 

 

However, I wouldn't let the FSD experience sour you on all payware.  There is some darn good stuff out there.  Carenado makes a pretty decent 337H, which is one of my favorites.

 

X2 on all three comments.  I logged about 40 hours in the Carenado 337 in 2013 and it is one of the better aircraft in my fleet.  Most of those hours were overflying MSE2 states I added during the year as the 337 affords very good visibility of scenery.  Integration of my RXP GNS530 is also very well done.