LIGHT_LAND does not appear in FS2002

[Guest unglajo10]

Hi AllI've got a problem concerning light cones. I'm trying to create a light cone for my scenery which should light up the ground.I'm designing in GMAX. Light points with LIGHT_NAV, LIGHT_BEACON and LIGHT_STROBE work fine. (Created a spline,changed to editable mesh, applied the material with the correct materialname as defined in the FS SDK).But I can't get the light cones to work. I used exactly the same procedure, created the spline. Named the material and changed the pivot Z-Axis for the angle, but the cone does not show up.Does anybody has an explanation why it does not work?Thanks in advance.ByeJ

[arno 1]

I have had a lot of trouble with this as well in the beginning. It seems you need to make two triangles and then link them. After that the light appears.But I must add that I got a working example from someone and now I just copy that all the time :).

[Guest unglajo10]

Hi ArnoThank you for the answer. Can you please sent me this example? I'm still struggling and have no solution. How do you "link" objects in GMAX. I've never used this functionality. ByeJ

[arno 1]

Just drop me an email then, and I will send you the example (arno_AT_nl-2000.com).

[bob.bernstein 0]

Jorg, I had to learn this the same way..(using Arno's example). Study the link order in tracker window...that was the easiest place I found to see the link orders. Review linking in help. then, note that the triangles will be an an angle...I've found that this can be important.....you need the purple arrow in your pivot to point away from the light direction, but if it doesn't work, tweak that angle a bit...Good luck, its a tad fiddley.Bob B

[Guest unglajo10]

Hi ArnoI just found out why the landing light didn't work. There is no need to link any other second polygon to the first one. The important thing is the right name for the polygon object. I just created a triangle (closed spline), changed it to editable mesh. In the name it is important to include the LOD name e.g. for LOD 100 my polygon was named LIGHT_TEST_LOD_100_1.I created a material named light_land_1 according to the SDK. Diffuse color defines the light color. Here the prefix "light_land" is the important part. I set opacity to 100, set shaders basic parameters to Blinn, Metal seems to be also working.Then I modified the pivot of my LIGHT_TEST_LOD_100_1 polygon. The Z-Axis direction needs to point in the opposite direction of the light beam. I was able to create several lights from scratch with this setup, with no need of any other linked polygon.Maybe you can try it.So I don't need the example anymore, but thank you anywhere for the offer I'm looking forward to talk to you again.ByeJ

[rigpig 1]

Aha,I've been bashing my head against the wall trying to figure this out over the past couple of days. I've printed off Jorgs method and will go off and try it straight away.Watch this space.....I may be back (with a sore head ;))Rig

[rigpig 1]

No, no and no. Still can't get this to work.I am using GMAx to produce the objectI have created a pole with a light head (box)on itI have created a simple triangular polygon and converted it to an editable meshI have positioned the polygon just below the 'light head' and linked it to the light head box (box is parent, polygon is child)I have orientated the light head box's Z axis so that it is pointing vertically upwards away from the ground. he polygons Z axi also points upwardsI have created a yellow coloured material, called it light_land and applied it to the polygonI have exported the bgl file ensuring the 'haslightmap' option is checkedWhen I run FS2002, there is the pole but no light. It stubbornly refuses to show a light cone.Can anyone see from my decription what 'm doing wrong. Alternatively, can any kind soul Email me a Gmax lamp model they have successfully exported and got to work in Flight Sim? If I can't get that to work then I'm surely doing something else wrong.ThanksJeff (rigpig) davis - jmdavis@btinternet.com

[bob.bernstein 0]

I just sent you a working example, with a following email that contains the textures...hope this helps.Bob B

[Guest knnygar]

Do you have the newest MakeMDL?

[Guest unglajo10]

Hi JeffIt also took me some days to get this landing light working.Finally I found out that the link is not the important part. As far as I now linking is important for animation, the light works without the link. But I found out that the naming of the triangle part is very important. After changing it to e.g. LIGHT_TEST_LOD_100_1 it worked. Naming it LIGHT_TEST_1 did not work. So it seems that this LOD part is important.ByeJ

[rigpig 1]

GuysThanks for all the advice and example files. This prolem has had me completely stumped. I am using the latest version of MAKEMDL at it still dind't work :(Stil, I've got a couple of examples that DO work, and I can check them out or clone the templates for use in my scenery.Thanks again