Liberty Ship Fixes

[Guest pecrowther]

For those who downloaded Liberty Ship v2, you might have noticed that I forgot to mention that it included a separate AI version, along with related files. You can use the AI files to create aninated ships using the method pioneered by Holger Sandmann. (See his ai_ships file.)If you use the AI version, you will have some trouble getting the wake and smoke to work because there is an error in the cfg file. To correct this problem, go to the [effects] section of the aircaft.cfg file, and replace:concrete = fx_AI_ship_wake_lsn ;wake + black smokewith either:concrete = fx_AI_ship_wake_lsw ;wake + white smokeorconcrete = fx_AI_ship_wake_lsb ;wake + black smoke(The reason for this problem is that I renamed the effects files at the last moment and forgot to make a corresponding change in the cfg file.)Also, if you are having trouble getting the ship model to smoke, be sure to go to the 2D or 3D cockpit view. That should activate the smoke, using Rob Barendregt's gauge. (For some reason, I don't have to go to cockpit view to make it work on my machine.:))Let me know if you run into any other problems, and I will post all the fixes to a "corrections" file.Enjoy,Phil

[rcbarend 37]

Hi Phil,I just downloaded the file, but haven't tried it yet.The pictures looks very nice though.One thing I noticed for improvement though: :-)The reason the SMoke gauge always works,is because you have defined it in the VC section; in this case, a gauge always works without having to visualise the 2D cockpit first.So indeed, the best place for defining "invisible" gauges is in the VC section of the panel.cfg.BUT: you also defined it in window00 section, which means that TWO instances of the gauge are active. You should never do this, because for these kind of control gauges, the result of what they are doing may become unpredictable. One instance of the gauge may set Smoke ON, while the other may turn it Off again. (depending on how the gauges are scheduled in FS).By sheer luck, this gauge doesn't have this problem because it uses smoke-on / smoke-off events instead of smoke-toggle. In the latter case this problem would have become appearant.So loose the gauge10= definition in the window00 section of the panel.cfg.Cheers, Rob

[Guest pecrowther]

Rob,Thanks for the advice (and the gauge). That may be why the smoke would shut off every now and then.I am slowly fixing the other small "bugs". For example, the swings in speed were not due to a change in the speed of the ship, but due to a delay in the gauge, which I have eliminated. (Of course a real ship does not have a speed gauge, so I was creating my own problems.)The ship is proving surprisingly popular. Some people have converted it for use in CFS2 (to use as a target!) and others have emailed pictures showing whole convoys of Liberty Ships.In the meantime, I am working on a postwar version for those who prefer to fly in the 1950s.Thanks again for all your help,Phil

[rcbarend 37]

Hi Phil,Yes, I also noticed the changes in speed.Beside the delay, I also suggest you use:(A:GROUND VELOCITY,knots)instead of Airspeed.For a slow moving ship, airspeed (which is the result of grondspeed and windspeed) is not really relevant.Or even better: use an engine RPM meter instead, which is more logical for a ship.Cheers, Rob

[Guest pecrowther]

Rob,Great idea! I have changed it to:(A:Ground Velocity, knots)What should the following parameters be?I tried changing AIRSPEED to GROUNDSPEED and that didn't work.I agree that RPM would be even better. The problem is that this ship uses a huge steam engine with a max RPM of 76. I tried to model this kind of engine, but ended up with something that was either too fast (30+ knots) or too slow (0 knots). The 4-engine jet cfg/air files provided the best performance. But they run a lot faster than 76 RPM.Thanks,Phil

[rcbarend 37]

Hi Phil,Use:Speed: %((A:GROUND VELOCITY,knots) )%!d! knotsSecondly, a gauge that shows RPM doesn't necessarily have to show RPM directly read from a FS variable, does it ?? You can simulate it.E.g. read out N1 or N2 (or whatever variable is appropriate), and just divide the read value of that variable to get a measure for RPM.So e.g. N1 100% = 76 RPM (so 50% N1 is 38 RPM)Cheers, Rob

[Guest pecrowther]

Thanks Rob,The tooltip indicates that the ship is going a lot faster than the gauge is showing - by a factor of almost 2! (I thought it looked a bit fast.)How does one divide a value by another? (I hadn't really planned to learn all about XML gauges, but this has been an education all around. :)In truth, on these kinds of ships, there are only about 2 speeds - full speed and 1/2 speed.Phil