Adding Auto Pilot ect.

[Spook 95]

Hello folks,Ive downloaded a freeware plane..Lovly, isnt it? :)Here the VC :Now the question is, how hard would it be to add the autopilot, and change a few guages?Ive looked in my guages folder in fsx for the default autopilot, but cant find it.Ive had a read through this forum, but i cant get my head around it :Confused:I had a look FS panel studio, but from what i can make out it only deals with 2d panels.Ive added ''gauge53=Bendix_King_Radio!Bendix-King Radio AP,'' to the panel config, but obviosly that didnt work as im missing the xml,dll and bmp from the cab files.. ( or thats my understanding of it)Would i be right in thinking that if i did have the bitmap of the AP, dll and xml and zipped it into the cab files for this aircraft, that would be all that's needed and will work?Thanks.

[n4gix 4,297]

No, that is the wrong approach entirely. Let's try to straighten out a few things first...1. FS Panel Studio can edit existing virtual cockpit entries, although it cannot create new entries at this time.2. Unlike a 2d panel, the virtual cockpit doesn't have a single bitmap on which to place gauges. Instead, a virtual cockpit has many "virtual bitmaps" on which to place gauges.3. Gauges are displayed in a virtual cockpit similar to the way a movie theather projects a film. In the model itself, the modeler creates one or more "projection screens" (polygons) on which the sim can "project" the gauges specified.4. Depending on which technique the modeler used, it may be possible to add new gauges without too much drama. Essentially, there are three methods of which the modeler might choose to use, and in some cases the modeler may have used a combination of all three in a single aircraft! These three methods are:

1. Zoned projection screens - large rectangles that cover the width of the main panel on which many gauges may be projected
2. Cookie-Cutter screens - a set of "gauge shaped screens" on which individual gauges are projected.
3. Hide-and-Peek screens - holes are "punched" into the main panel with the "projection screens" positioned behind the main panel. Such screens may be either zoned projection screens, cookie-cutter screens, or a combination of both.

As you've no doubt guessed by now, there simply isn't an easy way to answer your questions definitively......and I know that "It depends" isn't really of much satisfaction as a reply, but that's the best that can be said without knowing how the modeler chose to build his/her virtual cockpit.Perhaps if you provide the precise filename and where you found this aircraft, someone might be kind enough to download it, and examine the virtual cockpit to determine which method the modeler used. For further information and some pictures illustrating the techniques I've described above, I'd recommend reading both of my White Papers on "Emissive backlighting" that are referenced in the sticky posts in this forum.

[Spook 95]

Thanks for reply bill, much appreciated.I got it from here : http://flightsimulatornewsbrief.blogspot.com/2011/10/freeware-dornier-do-28-for-fsx.html (28B-1 model)I see it's a bit more involved than i thought, and clearly i was going about it completly wrong :Doh:So the reality is that i would need something like 3DSMax to make the mods?I'll take a look at white papers, thanks for the help Bill

[n4gix 4,297]

You cannot (easily*) modify a compiled model (.mdl) file, so no, 3ds Max or GMax would be useful at all.*Nota bene: I use the modifier "easily" simply to keep the rivet-counters from flaming me for being technically incorrect. Although there are tools available that would eventually allow anyone with enough motivation to reverse engineer a compiled model file so it could be loaded and modified in Max/GMax, the actual truth is that the amount of effort in reconstructing all of the animation code, re-rigging all of the animations, separating welded "Draw Call" mesh back to individual mesh elements, et cetera......would take far more effort than simply creating the entire model from scratch. This also doesn't even begin to address the ethical and moral issues of modifying* someone else's work, even if only for one's own benefit. :( * Edited for clarity, replacing the original "purloining" as it seems the alternate definition is so infrequently used that it is virtually unknown!

Edited January 2, 2012 by n4gix

[Spook 95]

...how do you come to the conclusion im stealing? All i wish to do is add a autopilot and a modern vor.I dont see the problem, its all for my own benifit to suit my needs a little better than it already does.Its not like i want to modify the whole vc and re-release it calling it my own work.So i take it from that remark, and that its not my work, your not willing to help?

[fxsttcb 1]

There was no conclusion of theft! Just a simple statement that; decompiling, modifying, and recompiling someone elses work, even for your own edification, has moral and ethical implications. That type of thing is frowned upon by many, but, is your decision to make.I downloaded it and checked it out. Because all of the mouse controls are on the 3D "outies", I could find no way to add/swap on the VC.IMO, a 2D popup is the only realistic way to add functionality that wasn't included in the original...Don

[Spook 95]

Hi Don, thanks for your reply, and thanks for taking a look.I'll leave it then i suppose.

[n4gix 4,297]

...how do you come to the conclusion im stealing?

As Don replied, I made no such "conclusion!" I do so wish people would read what I actually write and not "read into it" what simply isn't there... <sigh>In fairness though, perhaps "purloining" might have been confusing. I used it in the sense of "to convert the property of another" rather than "steal..." Since it might seem ambiguious, I'll edit my reply to use "modify" instead of "purloin."However, Arno's marvelous ModelConverterX* is the tool I'd use, were I so inclined. I've actually used his tool to help me migrate some of my GMax models over to Max9 so I could take advantage of the more advanced features. Note that they are my models, so I have no ethical or moral quandry to bother my conscience.I make no value judgements whatever about what other people do, I have more than enough to keep my own house in order! :).* http://www.sceneryde...pment-releases/

[Spook 95]

That was indeed whats happend there Bill, my brain box read it as stealing.Its one of those words..no harm done.Anyway, rather than going ahead with this i will email the developer(s) for 1) permission and 2) if not, can they edit it.Thanks for the link..will be handy for other things :)(P.s Purloin does actually mean steal.)

[n4gix 4,297]

(P.s Purloin does actually mean steal.)

See definition #1 - http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/purloin1. (transitive) To convert the property of another, often in breach of trust; to appropriate wrongfully.

[Spook 95]

yes..and with respect, from your link definition number 2 says..

1. (transitive) To convert the property of another, often in breach of trust; to appropriate wrongfully.  
2. (intransitive) To commit theft; to thieve.

So there lies the confusion.As i said above, ''its one of those words'' (same word meaning more than 1 thing, like - there, their, they're)

[n4gix 4,297]

So there lies the confusion.As i said above, ''its one of those words'' (same word meaning more than 1 thing, like - there, their, they're)

I wonder just how many people actually know the difference between transitive and intransitive verbal usage any more? :unknw:In any case, "convert" in this definitional usage is a legal term which implies improper usage of something. I have the (sometimes) annoying habit of using obscure words... :(