Got started on this about a week ago and this is what it looks like so far. I just got a bunch of interior photos from the Lake dealer to use for the VC. The right front and passenger doors will open.John Woodward

After the Aircoupe, I have a feeling this Lake will be every bit as good!-John

>Got started on this about a week ago and this is what it >looks like so far. I just got a bunch of interior photos >from the Lake dealer to use for the VC. The right front and >passenger doors will open. Thank you John! Now I'll be able to 'retire' my aging FS2k Lake Renegade... :)BTW, the Aircoupe is really a nice flying model. The red panel is a bit hard on my eyes, but very nicely done. It may simply be my vision, but the VC seems a bit 'fuzzy.' :)

Hi Bill,Now that you mention it, I was just getting ready to ask you some questions. The gauges in the Lake are also not very sharp. I tried to create a 1024x1024 bitmap but FSDS2 would not accept anything larger than 512x512. Next, instead of using the panel shape itself, I drew a large square panel. That didn't improve the gauges. I have an idea now to break up the panel into a bunch of small squares, say one for the flight instruments, one for the radio stack, etc.The Seabee and P39 each have small panel sections, so maybe thats why they came out better. Well, I'm getting tired. Will try it tomorrow.John Woodward

John this is Greg here I have not tried what you have done on the textures infact I have decided to holt any of my projects as of now, I have decided to focus my attention to competition aerobatics any good aerobatic routines that you think I should try in the acrosport2 for FS2002? thanks Greg aka awash2002 on avsim forums

>Now that you mention it, I was just getting ready to ask you >some questions. The gauges in the Lake are also not very >sharp. I tried to create a 1024x1024 bitmap but FSDS2 would >not accept anything larger than 512x512. Next, instead of >using the panel shape itself, I drew a large square panel. >That didn't improve the gauges. I have an idea now to break >up the panel into a bunch of small squares, say one for the >flight instruments, one for the radio stack, etc. John, for the projection panel(s), first create one 'shaped' panel (assuming the panel surface is on one plane) that fits exactly, then separate that surface into two (or possibly more) separate projection surfaces.Then, apply the largest $panel.bmp you can (apparently 512x512) to each of them.This will allow you to place each gauge on the panel using the largest possible pixel size. Of course, the resolution of the individual gauges is limited by their bitmaps, but as long as the gauge is crystal clear at it's normal resolution, it will remain crisp and sharp in the VC.If you have any difficulty, simply export the VC parts and send me the .gmax file with the VC components and I'll give 'em a once over.

One *can* use pixel_size=1024,1024 though, but I found the framerate impact too high to be of much value.

Hi Bill,Here is a first try. I superimposed a square panel over the original panel. That made the gauges round and clearer. I might break it up into more sections after I add some more parts. The Lake has overhead engine controls, trim handle on the side panel, and a water rudder lever between the seats. Should make an interesting layout.I will probably fix the Ercoupe sometime.PS- searched all over for the information on panel lighting, but haven't found it yet.John

Lookin Good John :-) Hey Can you send me that yoke you're using... I'ts lots better than the one I'm using :-)Brian

>Hi Bill, >>Here is a first try. I superimposed a square panel over the >original panel. That made the gauges round and clearer. I >might break it up into more sections after I add some more >parts.That's looking a lot better already. The gauges appear 'crisper' and more readable.Keep in mind John, that the surface to which you apply the $texture.bmp may be any shape you choose to use; square, rectangular, trapezoid, octagonal, round... IOW, whatever works best for you... Remember, where there is no surface - there is nothing visible at all! This becomes a critical point when it comes time to apply lighting. :)The only requirement is that the $texture.bmp files must be square, and 256x256, 512x512, or 1024x1024... and 8 bit format.Also, you can group several planar 'gauge projection surfaces' and apply a single $texture.bmp to cover 'em all in one shot.>PS- searched all over for the information on panel lighting, >but haven't found it yet. John, you'll have to search back in the archived threads in this forum, searching from mid-October to mid-November to review that information on lighting.

Hi Brian,Can you send me your email address or post it? I will send you the part file.It took 3 attempts to make the yoke. I also was just getting ready to ask for one, then I made one more try. It is actually made out of several boxes tied together, then I kept adding more points in order to shape them. Tried tubes and templates and ended up with a mess.It would be neat if we had a way to upload parts instead of re-inventing them each time.John [email protected]

>It would be neat if we had a way to upload parts instead of >re-inventing them each time. What's to stop anyone from uploading a zipped .gmax file of 'parts' that could be shared? There is a miscellaneous category in the file library! :)

[email protected] a while back I put together a collection of FSDS parts thats on my website and over at flightsim.com. I haven't updated the project but maybe with a couple of designers working together we could make a nice "parts bin" for both FSDS 2 and GMax.Brian

Brian,Yoke is on the way, hopefully, as I am having trouble with the connection.John

>The only requirement is that the $texture.bmp files >must be square, and 256x256, 512x512, or 1024x1024... and >8 bit format. Just thought I'd add some info we discovered "the hard way" ;) If, for some reason (a wrapper being typical I guess) the gauge texture "square" becomes "rectangular" - there is a hefty penalty in framerate involved.I.e., if you find it necessary to enter a gauge value for a square gauge to be gaugexx=test!test,xpos,ypos,100,80 - you'd better off fixing the problem in gmax rather than trying to update the gauge sizes in panel.cfg - as the penalty is too big.You might not even notice it until the virtual cockpit and/or gauge code becomes a frame penalty in itself.Just a little something to have back there - if not using wrappers, the problem shouldn't arise. Although Gmax/Fs2002 has a bad habint of throwing in a surprice or ten :(