Been playing with FSDS 2 and the setting up of aircraft windows.... I think I've found a solution that may help beginners like myself, as long as no reflective textures are required on the fuse....Basically, I have found that I can define the windows with these steps:-I mark the fuse part as having transparent textures.-I use an alpha channel mask on the texture, only where the window is to be applied.-I copy the fuse to a second model, then "flip" the polys.-I repeat the same process for the alpha channel mask on the "interior" side of the window.This process seems to work well, as long as I have no reflections associated with the part. I've found I prefer the specular lighting anyway....Any thoughts on this....drawbacks? I'm still a beginner, but it certainly has improved the "look" of some of my first efforts...-John

I used to make my planes that way. However once I got the handle on cutting out windows, it's not that hard. Dave Eckert has a great tutorial on cutting out doors and windows that is quite easy to follow.BrianDave's site... Look for tutorialshttp://www.daviator.com/

I looked at Dave's tutorials before, but they are still a bit more of a challenge for me--in part because of lack of patience on my part. As I gain confidence and skill with some of the tools, I am sure I'll be able to adapt a bit better to his method... I'm still a long way off from a project I can be "proud" of--I'm only getting a day or two a month to practice.... But at least I know there are types of aircraft I can now work with using this stopgap method. Probably not good enough vs. today's freeware standards to release....but good enough to enjoy the process of learning :)

The only "drawback" to the texture method (and it's been around since FSDS1) is that it works great for squared windows.... if you have oval/round windows, you run the risk of "jaggies" since the darn pixels tend to be square... if you zoom in too close, that is...