Here is the "hole plugged" between the floor and the rear bulkhead...Also, the galley cabinet now has a nice woodgrain finish... :)http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/82862.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/82863.jpg

Awesome Bill!!! :-hah

>Awesome Bill!!! :-hah Here are the cockpit doors (closed, of course!)...http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/82899.jpg

:D

Hi Bill,That looks great! Thanks for working on updating Rick Salasa's Gulf IV model a little. I've never used gMax before but I installed it several days ago and pulled up Rick's source in it. Looks intersting! ;) I went to some sub-windows where it should the path to numerous .bmp's, which of course I didn't have those .bmp's on my hard drive. How do you work with them? Are they in the gMax source nad you extract them somehow? I was trying to figure out how to get to the VC .bmp's, hehe. I wanted to see if I could work on fixing the VC lighting. But I guess you're working on that now eh?Cheers,Jim

Hi Jim...You need to use DXTBMP (or Imagetool) to convert the basic texture files included with the release package to "normal 24 bit" .bmp files, and then place them in the gmax folder you're working from. My standard practice is to use the folder tree as follows, to keep all files organized:gmax....gamepacks.......FS2002.......FS2004...........G-IV Project...............(.gmax source files here)...................textures...................UVW MapsThis will keep everything neat and tidy... :)There are no actual textures provided for the VC, since these are dynamically generated by FS at run time. For GMax purposes, all we need is a texture of appropriate size, and properly named, since it is the FILENAME we need, not the 'texture' itself! All VC texture files are prefixed with a $ (or _panel_), which tells FS to autogenerate the texture at runtime.If you create a texture file with the same name, but without the prefix, and specify an entry in the panel.cfg file, you can have both a "real texture" applied to the gauge poly, as well as the "dynamic texture" that's used for the gauge projection screen.VC gauge backlighting couldn't be simpler! You simply need to create a texture file with the same name as the $_XXX.bmp, and put a _L extension on it, and assign it to the "Self-Illumination" slot in the Material Editor. For example, $vc_left.bmp for the Diffuse Color Map, and $vc_left_L.bmp for the Self-Illumination Map. :)The "nasty pink" seems to be a combination of .fx files (which are easy to change via the aircraft.cfg), and a "self-illumination color" having been applied to the cockpit part of the interior model. It was while trying to "remove" this that I experienced the system crashes, as described below.There seems to be a "bug" in the "interior" source that's causing GMax to crash unexpectedly while trying to work on it. I've tried "Merging" the original parts into a new workspace, but the "bug" has migrated along with it... :( This makes any serious work a major PITA, since I'm spending more time waiting to cold-boot the computer and restart GMax than I am actually working!I thought perhaps it might be a local machine hardware/video card issue, so I tried the same file on another, newer, faster computer with the same results.My tentative hypothesis is that because of the very non-standard way that Multi-Materials was used, this might be the source of the "bug," since the crash only occurs when trying to use the Material Library and/or the Material Editor.In any case, I've had to return to my 'pay projects' for a few days, but will likely have some time this weekend to finish up the few things I intend to do with this.

Hello Bill,I just wanted to say thanks for that informative and interesting answer to my question! :)I hope you are able to get the problem you are having with the gMax souce of the Gulf IV worked out ok. Could the problem be that some intermediate software was used such as Middleman or something?Cheers,Jim

>Hello Bill,>>I just wanted to say thanks for that informative and>interesting answer to my question! :)>>I hope you are able to get the problem you are having with the>gMax souce of the Gulf IV worked out ok. Could the problem be>that some intermediate software was used such as Middleman or>something?Nope... MM and MC only come into play whenever you export a model, but have zero effect on the .gmax file itself. I still believe it is due to the somewhat unusual (some would say "unnatural") use of multi-materials on the model. :)

I mamanged to squeeze in a few minutes yesterday to soften the taxi & landing lights (they were WAY too bright!), and begin developing the new gauge backlighting. It should be pretty obvious where the lighting technique has been applied. :)Obviously, there's still a LOT to do with the panel layout, but all small steps will eventually lead to a finished end... :)http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/83948.jpg

Wow! That already looks sooo much better than the former VC lighting. :-eek Your heoric efforts are going to be greatly appreciated Bill! Thanks for taking to the time to give this bird some work. :)This is a pretty nice bird, but that (prior) VC lighting made for not to great of a nighttime experience. If you like VC's that is. ;)Cheers,Jimmy Richards

That's looking awesome Bill. I have just one question though, how did you get rid of that red lighting in the cockpit???

>That's looking awesome Bill. I have just one question though,>how did you get rid of that red lighting in the cockpit???By removing all references to the panel_l.bmp from the Material Library (about 132 entries!).That .bmp was nothing but "red" with a black alpha, so any part(s) that had that texture applied would "glow in the dark" when the lights were turned on... :~P