Seems to me that fly!II is harder to make add onsor does nobody have the time to make any addons.I know of some things that ROTW has on the aggenda,but it seems to me that msfs(sorry to mention) has files booming on avsim file library, Could some body please teach me how to use some kind of 3D design program,paint program, as i would like to help make fly! II better than the other sims,I JUST DONT WANT TO USE ANY OTHER SIM ON THE MARKET!!!!! THANKS FOR ANY FEEDBACK Jeff Akins

Jeff,When it comes to "add-ons", Fly!II has exploded with 3D scenery and landscaping programs, DB editing software, scripting programs, designing and import utilities, Sky files, Cloud files, Terrascenery, Terramodels creations and many more. Now, since you mention aircraft, I'm guessing that you really are referring to that type of add-on. Personally, I believe Fly!II has a much better structure for designers and developers to work with. Why do you think ROTW's Socata does such a great job of simulating the systems and operation of the real aircraft? Same goes for the outstanding work of RealAir, PMDG, and others that have come out with wonderful planes.Now, because of this realism, it takes a lot of skill, research, and patience to build a new Fly! aircraft. When you build a Fly! aircraft, you're not just building a paste-on. :-) You're simulating the real thing, right down to the electrical wiring and the hydraulic plumbing. If you are patient, and are really interested in starting this type of work, I would hop into the Fly! Developer's Forum. There are many designers here that have different and varied skills - working together, we'll achieve wonderful things.

>>Now, because of this realism, it takes a lot of skill, >research, and patience to build a new Fly! aircraft. When >you build a Fly! aircraft, you're not just building a >paste-on. :-) You're simulating the real thing, right down >to the electrical wiring and the hydraulic plumbing. No intention of flame wars here......But I did want to mention that a temendous amount of research, patience, time, & skill, also goes into various add-ons for MSFS. It's even getting much tougher with the newer versions of the virtual cockpits. I believe the amount of aircraft produced has much more to do with the ratio of FLY/MSFS users than anything else. The amount of work needed to produce a fine aircraft for either sim seems to be pretty even these days.L.Adamson

Jeff, this hits on a, for some, senstive topic, that Randall nicely side-stepped. Bare in mind this thread MUST NOT be degraded to "Fs Addons are plastic or static or just new 3d Models, some are, but there are some that are not, look at the POSKY and DF stuff.)There are a few factorsissues that have been raised (Regarding A/C)1) Fly! is more complex in; a) structure (.NFO, .SVH. .WNG) :( Data in those files. c) Systems Modeling2) Difficulty in obtaining that data3) Altering that data to make it "work"4) Creating 3d Models5) Panel design and implementation, Count those switches, each one has many lines of code, the guages more. 6) We, the end users, are tough customers! An example, all-be-it not a very good one, look at the expanded 46Mb for the ROTW TBM700 and the I think 35Mb for the expanded FS2k2 Debonair B33, 11MB is a big deal... But we do have a LOT in the pipeline, I think the next 3 months could seee some of THE best Aircraft, no let me rephrase; I am confident that the next 3 months will see the arrival of THE BEST aircraft for FLy! II, along with some superb and ingenious scripts. Wouldnt you like to build part of it?http://flytsim.itgo.com/sigi.jpg

Larry, On the topic of VC's does the Debonair have one? Just curious...http://flytsim.itgo.com/sigi.jpg

G-max chewed it up & spit it out in pieces!! .....no

Lol, Ok.http://flytsim.itgo.com/sigi.jpg

I developed sceneries for both fly2 and fs2002 and I definitely agree with Randall that Fly!II has a much better structure for designers and developers to work with.When it comes to scenery making ; Fly 2 features some of the best freeware addons like terrascene, terramodels, taxiways and allmodels ;) .They are easy and fun to work with.FS2002 is a succesful product though and if 88.5% of the simmers use it as their preferred flightsim, it is normal to expect that addons for msfs will outnumber fly2. regardsBiberwww.LTBA.net

I agree. The quality of the add-on aircraft is no longer dictated by the platform but by the amount of work one puts into it. There are examples of aircraft in FS2002 that at this point may surpass even the best FLY aircraft yet there is a sea of mediocre creations that is not worth a whole lot. FS2002 happens to have the best and the worst and considering how many developers work on it it should not be a big surprise.Michael J.

Hi,Yeah you're right, and among the best to come : the ATR-42 by ROTW.

"On the topic of VC's does the Debonair have one? "Yes in progress! soon to be released!Propilot, FuIII, Fly2,??,??,??BestPaul

Thats a rather insidious signature you have there Paul...Some would definetly disagree with your implication.http://flytsim.itgo.com/sigi.jpg

YES I WOULD LIKE TO BE A PART OF IT! BUT TO NO AVAIL, I HAVE TRIED TO LEARN C/C++ ON MY OWN W/O GOING TO SCHOOL FOR IT. IS IT THAT HARD TO LEARN?OR THE 3D MODELING PROGRAM ,JUST CANT FIGURE IT OUT? I KNOW THAT YOU PEOPLE ARE HARD AT WORK, DONT GET ME WRONG,BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT FLY II IS HARDER TO WORK WITH,I KNOW HOW TO DOWNLOAD , BUT NOT BEING ABLE TO MAKE ANYTHING MY SELFIS KIND OF DISSCOURAGEING. Jeff Akinsthanks for your reply`s

C/C++ WOW! Thats overkill. Al you need is a text editor and photoshop to do some very nice repaints. Throw in 3d Modeling and you can make A/C. What we really need is people to learn the python script, not everything has to be .dll! I have been looking in the Python Scripting Doc.'s ad it seems quite user friendly. It wouldnt be too hard to learn I dont think. So when school exams are over and I have done my BAK and GFPT, im giving away repaints and a/c and moving to scripts.The secret, Jeff, is to find somthing you want to have, or would like to make, and set about doing it. Be patient, and dont be affraid to ask the great people around here for help.Take somthing in Fly!II apart, back it up first, and then play with it, if you crash the set up delete what you did. Thats how I learnt almost everything I know today.http://flytsim.itgo.com/sigi.jpg

Jeff,on the contrary I believe that developing sceneries for fly2 is easier. many people have created beautiful work here over the last years with zero knowledge at start.pls have a look at two of my earlier posts below to have some idea about itBiberwww.LTBA.net------------------------------------------------scenery making is fun!------------------------------------------------Scenery making is easy in fly2. Afterall, you have two great and free programs terrascene2 and terramodels2.TS2 and TM2 are terrific programs with ease of use.They have great tutorials as well.If you would like to go deeper into scenery making then you will need the followings;1.A 3D modelling program for creating objects. Probably you will choose either of 3ds Max, Truespace,FS Design .You can find free or inexpensive versions of Truespace and FS Design studio in the web whereas Max can cost you a couple of thousand dollars. The FREE copy of Truspace 1.0 is available here http://www.pcplus.co.uk/article.asp?ID=8556 .There is a nice tutorial in Norman's scenery tutorial package as well.2.A paint program for preparing textures for your objects.I can recommend either of Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro.3.Informationthe archives of Avsim developers library.Norman's tutorial on scenery/model creation which includes almost everything.Allen Kriesman's terramodels tutorial which also gives valuable hints on the scenery logic of Fly2.4.Scenery making is fun!---------------------------------------------------------------tutorials---------------------------------------------------------------There are two must-read tutorials for fly scenery developersFirst is the terramodels tutorial which provides very helpful hints on the basics of fly2 scenery and modelling .The second is an excellent tutorial compiled by Norman Cleesattel. It is in avsim/Fly!library but is almost wholly applicable to Fly2.I have learned alot from it.great work!download link (copy and paste into explorer adress bar) http://205.252.89.41/library/sendfile.php?downloadID=7897From the readme;--------------------------------------------------------Title: Scenery Project TutorialVersion:0.80 - Strategy guide, Tool guide,3D Studio tutorial, Truespace tutorial,Fly Editor tutorials, Tips and Tricks Simulator:Fly! - All VersionsAuthor:Most text was written by Norman Cleesattel.Contributions (text) to this tutorial by Jeff Davis, Marty Schulz, Doug Beam, Jean SabatierContributions (pictures) to this tutorial by Evan Baker, Martin Bugajski, Ryan Gaddis, Jay Robinson, Peter SchulteContributions (other) to this tutorial by Jak FearonFeatures:- General information you need to know about scenery- How to make a scenery- What reference materials do you need (and where to get them from)- What tools to use (3DStudio, Truespace, PaintshopPro, FlyEdit...)- How to use the different tools (tutorials)- How to get your work into Fly!- 385 pages with many pictures-----------------------------------------------------------