Light effects in GMAX - possible/how?

[Guest jstevenson]

GaryGB,I think I'm OK for now Screenie-wise. I just finished upgrading everything to FS2004 (FlightSim itsefl plus now I'm using Ground2K4, etc). I noticed some talk of FS 9.1 (some patch?). I purchased FS2004 just this weekend - how would I check to see if this is recent enough to already have the resolution fix that 9.1 appears to relate to?Also, Before getting UT Canada I'm going to make one final attempt to fix my "missing land" problem. I have tried everything suggested in the Monaco Ground2K tutorial (esp. the bit about creating a LWM Polygon and then assigning Land Classes to the new area which are off-shore from the default coastline). However - the main problem still seems to be that the default Land/Sea demarkation is trumping all my attempts at moving the cliffs east!I'm shifting my discussion over to the "Terrain Mesh" forum since I think the missing hi-res DEM and missing Land may be related.Cheers,Jon S.

[GaryGB 10]

Hi Jonathan:Browse in a My Computer > Windows Explorer window to your physical installation location of FS2004 (default is C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFlight Simulator 9 ) and right-click on fs9.exe, then select Properties > Version Tab and note whether it is 9.1.0.40901; if so you have the latest version.If not (ex: you have 9.0.0.30612), you might do well to first go to these pages and read the important info there:http://msmvps.com/blogs/thenakedmvp/archiv...0/08/15269.aspxhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/911208http://support.microsoft.com/ph/1823http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894732http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894274/en-...d=1823&sid=1514Then download the FS9.1 update here:http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&DisplayLang=enIt is very desirable that you install this update if you aren't at version 9.1!Hope this enhances your FS world even more! :-) GaryGB

[Guest jstevenson]

Gary,I just checked and yes, I do have the latest version (9.1.0.40901 confirmed in properties). I was amused to see the fs2000 and fs2002 exe's in there too. Reminds me of a "nerd" joke that circulated back when I was working for LM Canada in late 1997 (when Windows98 first came out - to the cynical reaction of many who were just getting used to dealing with Win95!) It was title "source code for Windoze 98" and basically poked fun at the seemingly senseless upgrading of OSs every 2-3 years. It was the SAME source code except for a few choice add-ons, mostly dummy arrays called something like "float Make_w98_look_bigger_then_w95(0x40000000)", etc.. You had to be a C/C++ programmer to get most the joke though....-Jon

[GaryGB 10]

Hi Jonathan:OK, time for a brief 'comedy relief' during all this serious SDK stuff! :-hah //Program describing how a chicken would cross the road in Borland's object-oriented version of the Pascal language.//It was designed so that even an inexperienced programmer could read it.//It elicited many guffaws and an even larger number of groans, and appeared in Windows Tech Journal//(in an ad for the magazine, of all places). It went like this:program KFC;usesSalt, Pepper, Flour, HotOil, Poultry, MackTruck;constMPH = 90;var{Don't reference your chickens before they're declared!}Chicken : Poultry.Fowl;Truck : MackTruck.EighteenWheeler;beginChicken.Hatch; {Constructor}Truck.Start; {Constructor}Truck.Rev(MPH);Chicken.Cross(Road);Truck.Horn.Honk;Truck.Brake := TRUE;Truck.Tires.PutStr('Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...');Chicken.PutStr('Scra-daaaaaaaaaaaaaawk!');Stop; Look; Listen;if Chicken.Flat thenOutput(Colonel,Chicken);end.:-lol GaryGB

[Guest jstevenson]

Pretty funny (I get it). Used to do some Pascal<->C++ programming back in the '90s afterall ;-)!Im guess this woould definitely mean we're "off topic" though. So, to keep things legit - do you know how to define proper lighting effects in GMAX/FS2004? I'm looking for some way of creating things like porch lights and spot lights for buildings/structures (versus using phony nighttime textures to mimick the effect). I have a test object that perfect for this sort of thing - a large dumb oil storage tank with "Irving" on it. In reality, a large spotlight casts a light on the name at night for all to see in St.John's (the tank is one of many which sit up on the Southside Hills - overlooking the harbour).-Jon

[GaryGB 10]

Hi Jonathan:I have only a vague memory of how that might be done, as it has been so very long since the early FS2002 days when I briefly dabbled with GMAX, and attached smoke to a chimney object; not my strong area!Possibly some of these links on the initial ideas Arno shared would merit further investigation:AVSIM Forum Search String "AttachToolGmax.ms"http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...ing_type=searchhttp://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...ing_type=searchhttp://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...ing_type=searchhttp://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...ing_type=searchAVSIM Forum Search String "GMAX Lighting"http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...24482&mode=fullAlso, many of the scenery gurus who frequent this forum tend to be seen more often lately at Arno's FSDeveloper.com website forums.Search page:http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/search.phpForums:http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/index.phpHope this helps! :-) GaryGB

[Guest jstevenson]

GaryGB,I just joined the FSdevelopers forum and posted a message there. Essentially all I'm trying to do is get something working in FS2004 that mimicks what you can do natively in GMAX (or 3d Studio) - using Spot or Omni lights. I naively thought that this was how you got lights in FS2002/FS2004 but have since learned that these GMAX/3ds entities (i.e. lights) do NOT translate across to MDL/BGL. -Jon

[Team_P3DSpacePort 6]

Ah yes, and now we come to a full circle with this thread :)Effects for simple lights can be derived from the stock effects (for beacons, for example). The syntax for the effects can be found in the FS2004 SDK (Effects portion). It is possible to do quite a wide range of effects with the options - for instance, I've created a street light on a pole, with the ground lit underneath - all in the "fx" file, no gmax models or any other code.If you own FSX (Deluxe edition, I think) there is an app that will let you edit the "fx" parameters right inside the sim, so you can see the effect on changes interactively. I am 90% certain that the FSX fx files are backwards compatible to FS9.Cheers,