777 Virtual Cockpit Issue

[Brian Doney 127]

 I do not think they were made by Posky.

 

 

Not sure what ya mean here, seems like you still might not be sure about the source of the included VC, so...

 

...here is AVSIM's review from 2008 covering the initial release of the Project Opensky 777 incl. virtual cockpit

 

If that wasn't what you meant, then please disregard 

[duesenwerni 735]

Hi mate,

 

it´s not just the liveries that you need. It´s also the correct model files as well als the *.AIR files that match the model entry in the livery´s aircraft.cfg. They differ by the engines (PW or RR) and the basic model (200, 300, ER or cargo). So when downloading a livery, open the aircraft.cfg and look for the needed model= ... line. Then look in your existing 777 folder and see, if that model is already there.

Otherwise you have to download that model file from the posky archive (the VC versions!!) and place it into your 777 folder. Then just copy the livery folder to your 777 folder and from the livery´s aicraft.cfg file copy and paste the section [flightsim.x] down to description and copy it to the aircraft.cfg in your already existing 777 aicraft.cfg. Take care to adapt the [flightsim.x] number, so that x is the next number following the last [flightsim.*] entry.

Also place the air file, that  corresponds with that in the line "sim=" of the livery´s aircraft.cfg into your existing 777 folder.

That´s just about it but if you still Need help I´ll be at my sim computer at evening (central european time and can have a closer look at my 777 folder Contents and structure).

BTW I guess you might have activated dx10 preview that made your cockpit windows intransparent. This can be corrected with the OS777_VC_10_t.zip and I have my 777 working under dx10 without any problems.

 

Cheers from Austria to Australia,

Werner

[Mike777 163]

I just copied the texture folder into my fsx folder and added the relevant text into the .cfg but it doesn't show up in my planes.

Hi, RancidViper,

 

What you did should have worked, if you copied the texture into the specific aircraft folder, which would be a subfolder of FSX/Sim Objects/Airplanes. But it is easy to make a mistake in the aircraft.cfg file entry, such as to have the line for the model= , for sim= or for panel= not match what is in the aircraft folder.

 

I think you might be better off installing each package as a separate aircraft, which is how most of them come. There are three different engine types for the 777-200 and 777-200ER, and there are several different thrust levels for each engine. The three engine types are GE (General Electric), PW (Pratt & Whitney) and RR (Rolls Royce). There has to be the correct model to go with the texture. American Airlines -200ERs are RR engines, if I remember correctly, so if you put an AAL texture in an aircraft folder with a GE model, the engines won't display properly. There has to be a separate folder in Sim Objects>Airplanes for each model (unless you know how to alias folders) and there has to be a separate folder for each different thrust of the same engine type (GE -200ER for example comes, as I recall, in 90K, 92K and 94K thrust, so if you have three GE model liveries, each with a different thrust, you need three complete aircraft folders).

 

There are also different models for FS9 and FSX. For FS9 there are VC and no VC models (but the FS9 VC models can be made to work in FSX).

 

Yet another issue is that SkySpirit has produced updated models and paintkits for the 777, but if you mix POSKY models with SkySpirit repaints or visa versa, you may have display issues, such as black lines along the line of windows.

 

If the repainter knows what he/she is doing (usually the case, but not always), each package will have the correct engine model and thrust. Yes, having a different complete aircraft folder for each aircraft takes up more space. But unless you want to become very knowledgeable about aliasing, IMHO it is best to just install the packages as they come.

 

One thing that is relatively easy to share is the panel. Most likely a package designed for FS9 will be aliased to the stock 777; if for FSX probably to the 737 as there is no default FSX 777. If you let us know what panel you are using, I and others can help you assign the same panel to all your POSKY aircraft. Also, if you install a package meant for FS9, it is not too hard to install an FSX model.

 

Mike

[RancidViper 37]

it´s not just the liveries that you need. It´s also the correct model files as well als the *.AIR files that match the model entry in the livery´s aircraft.cfg. They differ by the engines (PW or RR) and the basic model (200, 300, ER or cargo). So when downloading a livery, open the aircraft.cfg and look for the needed model= ... line. Then look in your existing 777 folder and see, if that model is already there.

 

Gahh I should have figured that out! *hits head* 

 

Thank you so much guys!

 

Mike I managed to find a way around having to use multiple folders, for now! Here's what I did;

 

So I wanted to add in the Singapore Airlines Livery. And it's using the "Boeing 777-200ER Rolls Royce-Trent 895" engines, for which I already had the corresponding '.air' file in my folder. But the 'model=' and 'sound=' sections were blank, so I just copied the text for those sections from a model already using the same engine, i.e. the Emirates model and now it works!  B)

 

The Asiana livery I downloaded uses a completely different '.air' file though. "Boeing 777-200ER-PW4090". I'm assuming if I copy the '.air' file into my FSX folder it should work, but if not I'll just keep it in another folder. Either way I'm a happy camper! Thanks for all the help!

 

And Werner, cheers mate! Austria is on my bucket list for sure! For now though I'll just marvel at it's beauty through FSX. Innsbruck is one of my favourite airports to fly in and out of!

Never in a 777 though! Haha!

 

Cheers!

Randy

[Jim Young 2,356]

Not sure what ya mean here, seems like you still might not be sure about the source of the included VC, so...

 

...here is AVSIM's review from 2008 covering the initial release of the Project Opensky 777 incl. virtual cockpit

 

If that wasn't what you meant, then please disregard 

I think you need to read the review again Brian.... here's an excerpt:

 

"The result of having a Virtual Cockpit or Flight Deck as I prefer saying, in full Boeing 777-200 glory is a fantastic achievement on behalf of the POSKY team (Project Open Sky) and it is true that the FSX conversion is not really fully supported, and there are a couple of aircraft in the market place that look as good on the flight deck. But they cost MONEY, and this model is FREE, so, OK they have more switches and systems that operate as per the real thing. Given a choice of FREEWARE or PAYWARE, the answer, unless you are as dedicated to the Boeing 777 as I am, is a no-brainer."

 

" Cockpit/Panels

 

In this area, the POSKY team has really excelled themselves. The basic aircraft without VC is not to my liking because it isn’t real looking. Why? Well, the team chose to use the default Boeing 737-800 flight deck, and although in my experience there are some likenesses, it isn’t really a Boeing 777-200. Much better to use the Virtual Cockpit, a separate download, but with a bit of jiggling can produce a stunning flight deck, just as real as it can get without 3D."

 

Hope this helps.

 

Best regards,

[duesenwerni 735]

Hello Randy,

great you finally got that heavy bird working. In case you find yourself with some spare time and even more patience - make a copy of your existing 777 folder on your desktop (as a safety), download the Greg Wilson jb777 Panel, carefully read (and re-read)  the included instructions and have a try installing it. It´s definitely worth the effort, since it brings full eicas as well as the 777 electronic checklist!

If your 777 ever brings you near Austrian skies, have a cold Victoria Bitter and give me a wave from virtual above


@ Jim: I just went to the posky archive, opened the 777-200 virtual cockpit section, downloaded the vc model files for the GE90model and had a look at the copyright section. It reads:

"Copyrights:

This aircraft is made by Project OpenSky...

CREDITS:

Model builder:
Hiroshi Igami
Yosuke Ube
And with support of Posky members

Virtual Cockpit builder:
Jacob Kubique

FDE designer:
Brandon D Henry
Warren C. Daniel

Master Painter:
Yosuke Ube

Aircraft advisory:
Corey Ford
Aaron Seymour"

 

Anyway,

Regards from Graz

Werner
 

[Mike777 163]

 

 

In this area, the POSKY team has really excelled themselves. The basic aircraft without VC is not to my liking because it isn’t real looking. Why? Well, the team chose to use the default Boeing 737-800 flight deck, and although in my experience there are some likenesses, it isn’t really a Boeing 777-200. Much better to use the Virtual Cockpit, a separate download, but with a bit of jiggling can produce a stunning flight deck, just as real as it can get without 3D."

 

Hi, Jim,

 

As Werner is suggesting, I think the reviewer is referring to downloading a POSKY model with built-in VC.   In FS9 AFAIK there is no way to merge a separate VC with a given external model.  If there is a VC, it must be built into the model.  In FSX of course it is possible to merge a VC from one aircraft with the external model from another one.  But I don't know of any available free 777 aircraft w/ VC (or a separate 777 VC-only model) that one could use.  The POSKY FS9 VC models do work in FSX, and the Greg Wilson JB Panel provides very nice gauges for the POSKY VC (again, using the FS9 VC model, since there are no FSX POSKY VC models). 

 

 

 

So I wanted to add in the Singapore Airlines Livery. And it's using the "Boeing 777-200ER Rolls Royce-Trent 895" engines, for which I already had the corresponding '.air' file in my folder. But the 'model=' and 'sound=' sections were blank, so I just copied the text for those sections from a model already using the same engine, i.e. the Emirates model and now it works! B)

 

Hi, Randy,

 

Glad it's working!  I take it you have separate model folders (each w/ a model file inside that includes "VC" in its title) for the three different engine types?  I am a bit of a purist, so when I was making heavy use of POSKY 777s in FS9, I had separate folders for the different thrust levels and engine types, but aliased them to the same model and panel folders, so they didn't take up too much space.

 

Also want to note that POSKY put out a Service Pack G FDE in which there is just one .air file for all versions.  It is not on the POSKY archive site, but you may be able to find it somewhere.

 

Regards from yet a third continent, more specifically from Alabama, southern U.S.

 

Mike

[RancidViper 37]

Hey guys,

Was a bit busy yesterday and had no time to sit down with FSX. Just got back into it today and Werner, thanks for the tip mate, just downloaded and installed the jb777 panel and she works like a charm!   

 

Can't wait to go flying now!

 

 

 

I take it you have separate model folders (each w/ a model file inside that includes "VC" in its title) for the three different engine types?  I am a bit of a purist, so when I was making heavy use of POSKY 777s in FS9, I had separate folders for the different thrust levels and engine types, but aliased them to the same model and panel folders, so they didn't take up too much space.

 

That's sort of what it looks like. More specifically I have 3 .air files namely, "Boeing 777-200 General Electric 90-77B", "Boeing 777-200ER General Electric 90-94B" and "Boeing 777-200ER Rolls Royce-Trent 895", but just two model folders, Trent and GE. Seems about right me thinks?

 

While trying to install the Asiana livery however I realized it has a lot of different entries in the Aircraft.cfg relating to key flight systems. So I may just use that as a separate model. Folder aliasing sounds interesting though, do you know of any guides that I can follow?

 

Cheers!

[Mike777 163]

 

 

While trying to install the Asiana livery however I realized it has a lot of different entries in the Aircraft.cfg relating to key flight systems. So I may just use that as a separate model. Folder aliasing sounds interesting though, do you know of any guides that I can follow?

 

Hi, Randy,

 

You are missing a PW model folder w/ the proper files inside it.  Asiana uses PW engines, so you need a pw model.  Since you are using the VC, you need the VC model from here:

http://poskyarchive.com/category/boeing/b777-200/

 

Scroll down until you see the "VC" title and then choose the PW4000 or PW4000 L Cargo model (I think Asiana has the large cargo door).  Make sure that the zip file (and the model file inside it) has "VC" in its title.  Put the model folder in your 777-200ER aircraft folder, put the texture there, add the entry in Aircraft.cfg, copy the air file from the Asiana package into the main aircraft folder, make sure model=[NAME OF MODEL FILE], sim= [NAME OF AIR FILE] and voila!

 

Aliasing is fairly straight forward.  It is described in the FSX SDK.  Here's an example:

 

In FSX/Sim Objects/Airplanes let's say you have three aircraft folders:

777-200 PW

777-200 RR

777-200 GE

 

Inside each of these folders will be a panel folder.  Let's say you set up your panel and it's working fine in 777-200 PW/panel.  You want to share the panel w/ the other two aircraft.

 

In the other two aircraft panel files you create text files using notepad called "panel.cfg".

 

In each of these panel.cfg files you type:

 

 

[fltsim]

alias=777-200 PW\panel

 

Save the panel.cfg files.  That's it.

 

This links all the aircraft in the other two aircraft folders to the panel in 777-200 PW.

 

The same works for models as well, except that the file is called "model.cfg" and of course is found in the model folder in each aircraft folder.  Same for sound.

 

You can also alias textures in FSX.   You can see how this is done by looking at the texture.cfg folder of a stock aircraft such as the B737-800.  You will see that all the repaints share the textures in the "texture" file. 

 

I haven't covered all the eventualities for errors in this setup, but if something doesn't work post back and I (and I am sure others) will try to help.

 

Mike

[RancidViper 37]

Oh wow, that sounds great! I seem to love messing around with stuff like this. I'm pretty sure something might go wrong! Haha! But let's hope not!  ^_^

 

Thanks for all the help mate!

Have a good one!