I managed to get backlighted VC gauges working, but somehow they got "broken," meaning gmax crashed before I had a chance to save the file, and the autobackup got overwritten before I noticed the problem...Basically, I created a pure black (0,0,0) file named $dvc.bmp and used that as the diffuse material for the gauge 'screen.'I created a nearly pure white 254,254,254 file named dvc_l.bmp and used that as the self-illuminating mask in the Material Editor.It worked great, except for being tied to the landing lights, but now... this 'trick' won't work at all.Anyone have a clue?

Make sure when you compile that you have "HAS LIGHT MAP" selected in Middle man :)Otherwise FS thinks there are no lighting textures

>Make sure when you compile that you have "HAS LIGHT MAP" >selected in Middle man :) >>Otherwise FS thinks there are no lighting textures Unfortunately, that does not work either... In fact, IRC the 'trick' won't work at all if "Has Light Map" or "Has Night Map" is used in the [interior] VC. Oddly enough, if "Has Night Map" is enabled, the gauges disappear entirely at night...

that leads me to think then it's a problem with the texture itself..I use (but I dont know how relevant it is) standard 32 bit BMP, No Alpha and NOT Converted to DXT?

>that leads me to think then it's a problem with the texture >itself.. >>I use (but I dont know how relevant it is) standard 32 bit >BMP, No Alpha and NOT Converted to DXT? Well, I haven't changed the textures at all from when it was working.I simply created a 520,400 bitmap in Photoshop, painted it with 0,0,0 and saved it as an 8 bit/channel Indexed Color .bmp file named $bdvc.bmpI then painted the same image with a very light grey, and named it bdvc_l.bmp...Then, in GMAX, I applied the $bdvc.bmp as the base texture, and used dbvc_l.bmp for the self-illumination mask. I put a copy of bdvc_l.bmp into the texture folder of the a/c, and "voila!" it worked nicely.I played with various shades of grey for the map, and tried a few other variations, and all was still working nicely.Now, whenever I try the exact same steps, there's no joy... I'm giving up on this for awhile, and moving on to other parts of the project. I've squandered two, eight hour days on this already! :(Thanks anyway!

a 520,400 bitmap ??They have to be square for FS to see em mate ... 32x32 64x64 128x128 etc How it worked 1st time is beyond me Bill :)Also as a final tip .. as it's just a colour swatch for the lighting effect why not just make it 8x8 and save space and load time

>a 520,400 bitmap ?? >>They have to be square for FS to see em mate ... 32x32 64x64 >128x128 etc >How it worked 1st time is beyond me Bill :) >>Also as a final tip .. >as it's just a colour swatch for the lighting effect why not >just make it 8x8 and save space and load time Hmmm... Now that's interesting. The 'first time' I was using 512,256 bitmaps (still powers of two) and it worked. When it 'broke,' I was still using 512,256 bitmaps...However, since I have six different planes on which to apply gauge maps, I think I'll stick with the vc_interior lighting then... Here's a quick pic of just the panel assembly, firewall and front cowling. I've since added the gauges to the pilot's kneepanel, and will do the copilot's kneepanel, the compass (not shown on top of the center console) and the throttle console today.

hi,dont give it up. you are on the right way. i used a 1024x1024 bitmap ($mfd.bmp) as diffusemap and a 1024x1024 (vc_l.bmp) as self-ilumination map in gmax and it worked perfect in fs2002. the lightmap should be a dxt3 compressed 32 bit (rgb plus alpha, same like the chrome effect) texture. paint the alpha black and the rgb white. if you dont want the entire panel bright, you can paint parts of the RGB darker, but keep the alhpa black.its a very nice light effect for the vc and its 1000 times better as the default vc floodlight. cheerstom