using custom 2D panels in P3D

[Romflyer 0]

Hello all
I am a long time FS9 user who has recently made the jump to P3D 2.3 and I am really happy with this new platform.....I am struggling a bit as I am trying to get my dual monitor set-up to function as I had it in the older sim platform. I have made custom 2d undockable panels to be moved onto my second monitor using FS panel studio, on my old set-up I was able to build these 2d panels into most planes on my install, and it has been a very effective flightsim  set-up for me.... Here is a link with a bit of background on my set-up http://forums.simviation.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=166438
My question....or request for help..... I have managed to get only 2 planes to work correctly with my 2d  custom panels (DHC2 and 737-800) every other plane I have tried to set-up with a custom 2d panel, simply refuses to work.

Can anyone with some experience in manipulating panels offer me some advise on how to get these undockable panels to behave consistently for me.....I had this system of panels completely working in FS9, and I have been spinning my wheels now for about a month...unable to really enjoy my new P3D simulator without everything working properly..........Any help would be much appreciated

Thanks in advance

Cheers

Romflyer
 
here is a some text from the Beaver panel which works

[Window Titles]
Window00=Main Panel
Window01=Radio Stack
Window02=GPS
Window03=IFR Panel
Window04=Center
Window05=Flaps
Window06=Trim
Window07=Mini Panel
Window08=Pit

[Window08]
file=Pit_single.bmp
size_mm=1600
position=7
visible=1
ident=5

gauge00=DeHavilland_Beaver_DHC2!asi, 17,96,314,314
gauge01=DeHavilland_Beaver_DHC2!attitude, 369,89,314,314
gauge02=DeHavilland_Beaver_DHC2!altimeter, 705,97,314,314
gauge03=DeHavilland_Beaver_DHC2!turn_bank, 21,501,312,312
gauge04=DeHavilland_Beaver_DHC2!dg, 339,495,331,326
gauge05=DeHavilland_Beaver_DHC2!vsi, 698,500,318,319
gauge06=DeHavilland_Beaver_DHC2!flap_indicator_needle, 1205,100,232,111
gauge07=DeHavilland_Beaver_DHC2!manifold_pressure, 1085,269,227,228
gauge08=DeHavilland_Beaver_DHC2!rpm, 1324,271,222,218
gauge09=DeHavilland_Beaver_DHC2!glideslope_vor, 1087,517,222,221
gauge10=DeHavilland_Beaver_DHC2!rmi, 1319,520,228,228
gauge11=DeHavilland_Beaver_DHC2!oil_fuel, 1089,756,223,223
gauge12=DeHavilland_Beaver_DHC2!fuel, 1325,763,228,221

And here is similar text from c172 which doesn't work...???

[Window Titles]
Window00=Main Panel
Window01=Radio Stack
Window02=GPS
Window03=IFR Panel
Window04=Landing View
Window05=Mini Panel
Window06=Pit

[Window06]
file=Pit_single.bmp
size_mm=1600,900
position=8
visible=1
ident=PIT
zorder=4

gauge00=Cessna172!Airspeed, 18,89,314,314
gauge01=CessnaWAlpha!Attitude_Alpha, 369,89,314,314
gauge02=Cessna!Altimeter, 699,83,314,314
gauge03=Cessna!Turn_Indicator, 23,443,312,312
gauge04=Cessna!Heading_Indicator, 354,439,323,321
gauge05=Cessna!Vertical_Speed, 700,443,318,319
gauge06=CessnaWAlpha!VOR1_Alpha, 1094,232,215,201
gauge07=Cessna172!Tachometer, 1324,237,218,202
gauge08=CessnaWAlpha!VOR2_Alpha, 1092,449,219,205
gauge09=Cessna182s!Oil_Press_Temp, 1330,454,218,204
gauge10=Cessna172!EGT_Fuel_Flow, 1092,663,215,207
gauge11=Cessna172!Fuel, 1329,671,223,197

 

[n4gix 4,955]

I don't spot anything in your example that could cause the failure to display, but I did discover something very interesting about FSPS last week.

 

It seems that if you configure any of the 'sim options" in FSPS to point to your Prepar3D path, it will work just fine! how about that! :Big Grin:

 

I have configured my "FS9" path to use P3D instead of FS9, since I rarely even bother with FS9 any longer.

 

EDIT: This is the only difference I could spot: ident=PIT. I don't know if that might be the cause of your non-display, but it definitely is not a valid ident (which must be any of the pre-defined "names" or a number.

[Romflyer 0]

Thanks for your response....I will explore the ident options, do you by chance have any explanation of ident or zorder and what exactly they relate to?

As for FSPS......I have no experience with it, but did I understand you correctly that you where able to connect the two programs together using FSPS....?

Cheers

Romflyer

[n4gix 4,955]

Um, you are the one who said you had experience with FS Panel Studio (FSPS), so I expected you to recognize the letters "FSPS..."

 

...my bad!

 

The SDK lists the following as valid panel ident "names".

See: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc526956.aspx

MAIN_PANEL
MAIN_PANEL_ALTn (where n is 1 to 9)
THROTTLE_PANEL
RADIO_STACK_PANEL
COMPASS_PANEL
MINI_CONTROLS_PANEL
ANNUNCIATOR_PANEL
ANNUNCIATOR2_PANEL
IFR_MAIN_PANEL
COLLECTIVE_PANEL
GPS_PANEL
OVERHEAD_PANEL
PARKING_BRAKE_PANEL
FLAPS_TRIM_PANEL
FUEL_PANEL
ELECTRICAL_PANEL
TRIM_PANEL
LANDING_GEAR_PANEL
MISC_POPUP_n (where n is 1 to 10)
MINIPANEL

If your panel windows description does not fit any of above, use any number between 10000 and 19999. Lower and higher numbers are used internally.

There should be a MAIN_PANEL for every aircraft, otherwise other panels may not be rendered correctly.

 

zorder -

  Determines the order of appearance of the panels on the screen. Takes values from 0 (bottom) to 100 (top).

[Romflyer 0]

Thank you very much.....the link is excellent!!

 

FSPS=FS Panel Studio  ....DOH!!