Hello, after a very long time!

[patrikmore 10]

I keep ddfix (plus dgvoodoo) for fog management, AI planes going through hills, and above all, because joykeys.cfg file didn't work with dgvoodoo2 (on windows 10). My main tweak in ddfix.ini is to remove TrippleBuffer (and of course no postprocessing).

;Triple buffering. Boolean.
TripleBuffer=0

for performance and no crashing.

[patrikmore 10]

Ansgar, thanks a lot

I'll tell you about "my fokker". It's interesting I guess.

First of all this info: resviewer and cockpitdesigner work under Windows 10, but be careful, do not "nest" exes. Path levels no more than 4 levels: C:\Level1\Level2\Level3\Level4\ResViewer132

Second information: LG tools or FU3 tools planeunlimited.exe stripres.exe and restool.exe do not work under Windows 10, but happily I have Oracle Virtualbox installed, so I did it inside Windows XP virtualized.

Finally, Ansgar you gave me just the right tip.

I changed X axis for left wheel position and right wheel position a little, 0.70 -> 0.78, based on another similar plane (I compared with two others) and now I can taxi or land without doing weird things.

I had cockpit already modified before, because I couldn't see the "horizon", and now Fokker (my Fokker), is no more an oddity.

Great, great, great.

[AnsgarA 9]

Good morning patrikmore,

I' m glad that I could help you a bit - as you me. It is exactly this the "spirit of the team" of FU3 useres and developers - motivating us to invest a lot of our time in it - to see the results, to tweak our beloved models and the sim to exactly what we would like to see and how it react much more realistic for us.
All the tools we got from our kernel developers are so important to help doing it.
It would be a shame to let it die.
I learned a lot during tweaking the B747 to realistic behavior in contact with a real B747 pilot and professional simulator engineer (still my great thanks to Peter + Thomas!).
The main limits of the old FU3 (max.polygon numbers, axles, lights and terrain details, accoustic tweaks etc.) missed actual graphic cards support etc. are still there, but the used flight simulation kernel, it' s characteristics and the handling at ground is quite realistic to trim - if you know the "right screws" to turn - as you know and experienced now.
It' s simple a small but good kick to get than the+YOUR result you dreamed of all the time.
I i.e. could create the models I would like to see around, could give them their form (also with small polygone numbers), cockpit, sound! as realistic as possible.

As example info for you:
For my Concorde model in FU3 I used some original HiRes photos from different perspectives, corrected their geometrical lense effects and used it as background in the 3D-software to gave him the "special bows" in the wing shape. Implemented all the axles working, the gear etc. It' s still fantastic to see and fly than the result in the sim flying around or in "fly by". But to finish it complete there is so much more to do (cockpit! internal 3D models and crash models etc.). Often for this the needed cockpit fotos in perspective and details, or time is missing. But limits in the FU3 physics you latest see if you come to hypersonic speed simulation. The B747 was near the limit - going over it and the model reacts really crazy. The SR71 blackbird is such an example: overtweaked and... unrealistic.
Also with my Concorde I was not able to get it flying in hyperspeed in any way realistic - and so simply used it to the max. possible. And I can fly it - the real one - we will see never in our skies.
For standard prop models, turboprops, normal jets etc. it is quite nice and impressive how realistic it is to tweak in FU3.
You know now why I wrote:

 On 11/7/2020 at 6:36 AM, AnsgarA said:

Enjoy and successful trimms 😎

I meant it that way - based on the above reasons.

Nice greetings and
use this weekend to fly your own Fokker now, in the best corners you can find in FU3.

Ansgar

Edited November 8, 2020 by AnsgarA

[Christopher Low 5,338]

Nice to see you drop in for coffee, Ansgar

[AnsgarA 9]

Oh, woow Chris, very nice to meet you here - love it 😀.
Yes from time to time I dedust my old HDD-section which homes our beloved old FU3 sim and all it's added babies. I hope everything is well with you?

[patrikmore 10]

 Moving to hear here both of you. You brought many things to FU3 game, and improved the game, game in some ways unsurpassed today. 🙂

[Christopher Low 5,338]

My time with FU3 (2000-2008) was probably the most enjoyable time that I have ever had with flight simulation. I really liked being able to use FLED to extensively modify the existing airports and airfields, and create what turned out to be several hundred additional scenery packages (with the expert help of 3D modellers Jon Point and Robert Driscoll). It was also great fun to collaborate with Ansgar (and Jouko Huovinen) on the upgraded AI Enhancement Pack (which made such a massive difference to the realism of the AI plane models and ATC environment). I am also proud of the two articles that I wrote for PC Pilot, and I was pleased to be able to meet Mark Embleton (the assistant editor of the magazine at the time) in person for the first time in 2015 at the Cosford Flightsim Show. I will be forever grateful to him for giving me that opportunity, and also for being able to write the articles in my own "style"

I am probably repeating myself here, but it is nice to be nostalgic now and again

Edited November 8, 2020 by Christopher Low

[AnsgarA 9]

Ahhhh Chris,

I could remember the beloved article about Flight Unlimited II very well,  with an outlook to FU III on page 41 written by an person where everybody who has readed all this lines can feel the lifeblood of the autor who has written this pages for FU2 and FU3 - you Chris - in PC Pilot, Sep/Oct 2002 No.18 at the pages 38 to 41....
Followed by PC Pilot Nov/Dec 2003 No.25 at pages 42 to 45 the hymn to our Flight Unlimited III as freeware... with all the nice improvements and photos we developed all together (as "team" just as I stated 10h ago).

How I could remember all that details so good in our age(s) nowadays?
No problem - I just have an very good original of each! of this beautiful sim magazines got from my table behind me and now helding in my hands and could read it again line per line ....  seems just to be yesterday for me you wrote it. 😃
Thanks a lot for it to you Chris - also if we would love (or dream) to read such an article again about FU-IV - as you thought at your end lines there in 2002.
Just as you said - must be an nostalgic dream... BUT it is one of the very, very nice sort of dreams we could have, still love it.

Ansgar

[Christopher Low 5,338]

I wish that we could all meet at one of the future Cosford flightsim shows. It would be amazing to chat face to face about FU3 with all of you

[patrikmore 10]

Another improvement with "myFokker":

There are 6 wings, and they are divided in two pieces each, so each wing has a mass of 14 kg (7 + 7) (there was a mistake, one right wing was 20 kg 10+10). I made all wings to have 8 kg near the fuselage, and 6 kg the other wing half. Much better.

[patrikmore 10]

About the Fokker modified, it's more complicated than that, I had in addition to remove a hole between the two half of each wing (what for ???) and I adjusted the length of each wing (remember there are 3 on each side), more accordingly with the Fokker picture.

The whole thing sounds very freaky, but this plane really existed once, and I was very curious how it was flied. Takeoff is OK, but landing is peculiar. You have to reach the runway very very slow, and for that, with no flaps, the plane has to fly almost parallel to ground to lose power, it's almost stalling, but don't be to short, because trees could be there on arrival, keep a bit of power. After touchdown, engine to idle (instead of brakes), and once the tail touches the ground, try to keep the plane straight, because it goes off left or right.

Don't worry, normally I prefer other planes with flaps and trim (and brakes). Beechjet is another challenge.

[patrikmore 10]

The Fokker modified by me has from now a satisfactory behavior, on taxi, on takeoff, on landing, and on flight.

On landing it needs some little touches of rudder, but that seems normal.

That's the cockpit modified by me:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aigh3EjyJKT3j-0hjokABKB9fyA19Q?e=8zwwle

[AnsgarA 9]

Hello patrikmore,

I'm glad you could make it. Your cockpit looks really nice for this historic Fokker.
That you need rudder may be based on the big propradius and it's torque effect. On the other sight - during landings that effect should be limited since the motor and prop is nearly ideling.

An other question for me, also adressed to Chris Low - based on his tip - I looked around a bit to the actual "Sim-Scene" (also if I know it wakes us up out of our beloved FU3-dreams 😉):
Which other sims you like to use nowadays - based on their realism (flight model, ground handling, AI, KI, radio traffic and atmosphere / "look+feel"?
There are some of them which made quite tremendously improvements around.
Actually I'm not that active there, tricked a bit with flightgear(Linux) - but it's still buggy and tricky to handle in several points. Also aerofly RC-sim makes a good job - but it' s an RC-sim for which I use it.
But around the big "civil sims" I would like / or thinking about an "update" nowadays:

• X-Plane 11, may be with VR?
  The graphic looks really impressive and supporting VR may give a good feel of simulation.
  And it's run still under Win7 (I didn't like the Win10 app-design in any way!). Only it seems to use some addons to be usable around the world and some points of interest....
• MS-Flight Simulator 2020?
  => Never thought that MS would really make "flightsims" that really earn that name, according their handling in air and ground. In my known histors they are often only nice looking "games only".
  Only with  some great addons they are able to gave us really realistic flight behavior in that sim - on the other hand: should it go only with that way? Thats not what I would expect from a good simulator base.
  But Actually I must state it looks really impressive which was announced about the FS2020!
  All the models and air foil simulations seems to be really hard overworked.
  For me it seems to be to very hardware resource intensive package - that will make it cost intensive to realice good framerates and Win10 seems a "must". On the negative side I only read about some crash problems and impressive loading times may drop down all that.
  Have anybody of you tested this both and can comment this thoughts? (not the right platform I know, but FU3 will realistic not the one which will go alive on that levels again).
  Woluld it be worth to invest all that money in hardware and software to get it running really live in your opinion?
• or any other ideas?

It would be glad to hear your thoughts, or experiences about... but not to long - It shouldn' t become a promotion tour against FU3...

Ansgar

[patrikmore 10]

Ansgar, glad to hear you.

First of all, about my Fokker, I forgot to say that the rudder need, when on landing, is just on the ground. The fact is: the tail wheel doesn't roll much, and acts like an anchor. But this is necessary, because if not, the plane never stops when taxiing or landing, (unless you stop engine), as there are no brakes!

Coming back to your topic, me too, I'd like  to know if there is somewhere a good flight sim. About Flight Simulator 2020, according to my search in internet, the game is not achieved or terminated. Very very long time (hours they say) is necessary to install or load FS 2020. Very buggy, as if it has been issued without been terminated. Freezes. Very accurate scenery, but as usual, don't be near the ground. And on top of this, you need the very last more powerful computers, if you get to achieve installing it or playing it.

For the moment I stick to FU3. Very good physics. Radio talks to you and requires from you to give answers. Airports are very lively. Sound is pretty good. Weather changes are very good. And scenery is pretty good also (in part thanks to you and Chris Low), with improvements that not existed when FU3 was issued, like DGvoodoo anti-aliasing, and now Reshade. In my settings I'm looking for cockpit a bit darker and exterior with some flare. That's more real. (I play it in landscape mode, is it a sin?). The weakest part in FU3 are cockpits resolution, but you forget about it, and it is nevertheless immersive.

[Naji 5]

About FS 2020. I got the Standard version from day one, and from that day it has been a pleasure to fly. Bugs are there but, for me, they are not affecting the joy of simming in it. I would rate it personally a solid 9 out of 10. Updates and fixes come every 2 weeks! Updating for me is headache-free.

Two days back, I was flying in Africa, over the Sahara, in the middle of nowhere. But the textures, the villages, the roads were unbelievable to see in a sim.

And I still fly FU3 hehe... Each sim has its charm