VC shadows in Majestic Dash 8 Q400

[Fi5kuS 57]

Steve, correct me if I'm wrong but the FSX SDK would deliver two separate model files, one for the externals and one for the VC, right?

 

If that's the case, the new Q400 (mind you, they also offer a fairly old Q300, maybe you had that one in mind) offers both and I confirm that she shows shadows in the VC with your fine fixer tool and no legacy options ticket. Just like any FSX aircraft.

 

Try enabling 'force VC Walls', that should cure the shadows coming from the overhead buttons and dials. You can leave that enabled for all aircraft from my experience. No downside so far.

 

No, if you read my previous post you can see that I got VC shadows to work by UN-ticking this box. If I tick it, all VC shadows disappear.

 

I first tried this with the A2A Cherokee 180 and it worked, so I tested with the Dash Q400 as well. Its strange that I get VC shadows by unticking this box though.

[CoolP 283]

No, if you read my previous post you can see that I got VC shadows to work by UN-ticking this box.

Ok, lets clear the terms up. I spoke about 'force VC walls', your texts, as far as I can see, always tackled the 'force VC shadows' option.

 

Next, there seems to be another issue. Are you using any of those legacy options/modes Steve suggested? I think his advise was aimed at the older Q300 from Majestic and may, therefore, not apply to your Q400 which is a current FSX standard (SDK) aircraft.

 

So, in the correct context (read: no legacy mode or options active), the force VC walls option is the one disabling the shadows from the overhead buttons, as intended. It'll cause a uniform shadow from the overhead surface, which is good.

 

As for the rest of the Q400, she works just fine (I just ran a test flight) and if you don't receive this result, perhaps start over with uninstalling the Fixer and libraries.

[Fi5kuS 57]

Ok, lets clear the terms up. I spoke about 'force VC walls', your texts, as far as I can see, always tackled the 'force VC shadows' option.

 

Next, there seems to be another issue. Are you using any of those legacy options/modes Steve suggested? I think his advise was aimed at the older Q300 from Majestic and may, therefore, not apply to your Q400 which is a current FSX standard (SDK) aircraft.

 

So, in the correct context (read: no legacy mode or options active), the force VC walls option is the one disabling the shadows from the overhead buttons, as intended. It'll cause a uniform shadow from the overhead surface, which is good.

 

As for the rest of the Q400, she works just fine (I just ran a test flight) and if you don't receive this result, perhaps start over with uninstalling the Fixer and libraries.

 

Sorry for the confusion, I meant the "force VC walls" option actually. I did what you said, and it worked - finally. Even the PA-28 casts cockpit shadows with this option now. But what does the legacy options do really? I doesn't seem to affect anything anyways...

[CoolP 283]

Good news. :smile:

 

Re: the use of legacy options, I think those apply when you have a model without a dedicated model file for the VC (the FS9 ports only have one model file) and/or some textures/materials which are not bound to the FSX standard. Details and workarounds in the manual.

 

Means that you can most likely skip all the legacy stuff for your planes if you are using somehow current ones.

 

When it comes to scenery, there could be more cases if a dev for example sticks to FS9 means due to his policy. But I think the Fixer already fixes most known elements, so maybe very old scenery, which does not benefit from simply converting the textures with the DX10 toolbox, is in need for any legacy settings.

 

As you see, it could well be that these are fairly rare cases.

[SteveFx 258]

CoolIP is entirely correct.

 

Almost any aircraft built with the current FSX SDK (with a separate VC model) will have VC Shadows provided the 4 points on page 55 of the manual are true. One exception is the PMDG 737NGX which has a box around the VC which prevents shadows.

 

A legacy aircraft built with the FS8 SDK will appear grey and untextured at night without the fixer libraries installed. For these old aircraft it is still possible to have VC shadows using the legacy settings. The legacyshadow settings may interfere with shadowing on other aircraft so I suggest the creation of a separate DX10SF profile if you have any of these.

[Fi5kuS 57]

Thats exactly what I did, and its working perfectly fine. Thanks for the input, really didn't think I could get this good looking shadows in the Q400.

[SuperCell 10]

Can you post a screenshot... and maybe repeat the steps in order to get the shadows working in laymans terms?

[Fi5kuS 57]

Can you post a screenshot... and maybe repeat the steps in order to get the shadows working in laymans terms?

 

Sure, I will do it later today np

[SuperCell 10]

And say all the steps please.

[Perry333 7]

Hey Fi5KuS I would be great full too if you could post those steps too,

[Fi5kuS 57]

Hi!

 

Sorry for not posting!! Im in a process of reinstalling Win 7 after a virus attack. But its very simple. In order to get VC shadows to work for the Majestic Dash 8 Q400 in FSX DX10 follow these steps:

 

1. In the DX10 Scenery Fixer Panel, press the Legacy option

2. Un-tick "Legacy Aircraft Self Shadow"

3. Un-tick "Legacy Aircraft Force Shadows"

4. In the Shadows Options bar, tick "Force VC walls"

 

Now, its should work. Additionally, I have un-ticked the V2.0 Transparency logic option under the Legacy option as well because it interferes with Aerosoft Gardemoen X. And really, I don't know if it makes any difference to new scenery. Oh, and the slider at the top of the Legacy option is moved all the way to the left or else I get trouble with FlyTampa Copenhagen. But this shouldn't affect VC shadows, I think. 

 

And before I forget, you might want to add this line in to your FSX.cfg if you don't get VC shadows in the Majestic Dash:

 

ForceVCShadowMap=1

 

under the Display section

[Perry333 7]

Thanks Fi5KuS looks like what I was missing was ForceVCShadowMap=1 in my display section, Thanks again for taking time to post : )

[funkyj4ever 2]

I cant seem to get the vc shadows working :( this are my settings http://puu.sh/dQxiZ/0a6d1e6878.jpg

I have enabled ForceVCShadowMap=1 and also with the toolbox.

[funkyj4ever 2]

I reinstalled the fixer and used steves profile and then it worked. Dont know why because the pmdg 777 was working.