New uploads

[Guest R_Driscoll]

I have posted some new uploads:1) a comprehensive set of scenery models for Seattle. No point in doin g a set for San Fran as the Seattle models haven't been converted to San Fran textures yet. When I do that I will upload my complete set in the same way. By comprehensive, I mean it includes all add-on models, including Captain Bazza, Tomi Lehto etc. But if I have missed any or got some of them wrong, please let me know. I have posted this set of models in response to comments in AVSIM about not having a complete set available, and asking if models could be included in packages distribution ZIPs. Since this would increase the size of packages by a factor of up to 20, I thought this might be more economical! Some statistics - this list is (approx) 122 models in additions to the over 300 stock models (in MODELMIP.TAG - mostly runways and buildings) - not including signs. I have contributed about 48 models to this set.2) a revised McChord AAF, with some ground texturing and featuring a lot of the new models (see below).3) for those who have faithfully downloaded models as they became available, you can choose this update download which contains only the latest models (i.e. this weekends) - a balloon (developed from Tomi Lehto's development of a freeware 3DS model), a hangar with doors thatclose after you have flown a short distance away (I think if GliderNut hits Mike the mechanic then he's not the sort of person to remember to shut hangar doors, is he) - the hangar has a sign saying "The GliderNut Flying School" and other things, in recognition of his efforts in getting pilots to turn the motor off whilst flying. Alsoin the package is a tree and a chainlink fence, both celebrating that I can now make textures see-through. And there's a roadway, built up about 20 inches to help with landscape undulations, but still difficult to use except in very flat areas. Whew. Busy weekend.Hope you enjoy them all!Get out there and use FLED then! its so easy my grandmother could use it. There are about 500 models in total now available for landscaping Seattle.And its easy to make models - let me know if you are having difficulties at any point and I can try to help. Once you can make one model, its great fun and difficult to stop! I will try and make a simple start tutorial in the next few weeks to help.Pozdrawianko, (as Bogdan would say)Robert.

[Guest jonpoint]

My, my!Geez, Rob, you are getting carried away, aren't you? Seriously, this is great. I've almost finished my little OT project - it almost looks like inner terrain! I used taxiways for the road (taxi1) but left the taxiways grass 'coz there weren't enough taxi bits to do what I wanted. After all, it is a small airport in the mountains with a grass runway ;-)The streetlights look unreal (well, real actually), the fences hit the spot and the concrete's great. Only thing is, my taxi lines don't appear on the concrete. Do I have an airport altitude problem here or is this normal? Anyway, I'm just downloading your latest collection and I thought 'maybe I should look at doing some myself'? I don't wish to bore anyone with my requests but I am looking forward to having a go myself soon.3 months ago (remember the VW bug problem?) I gave up and couldn't be bothered - now, with your input I can't wait! Thanks, Rob.BTW, how'd the trip go? I heard that Mike didn't appreciate my comments about deodorant - he gaffed a soap bar to my seat :-lolIf he doesn't start smelling better soon, tell him I'm going to re-texture him as a box of Cold Power :-eekJon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest glidernut]

I hapend to be the first to get your last upload, the FixMip.exe,It bikame avalabl on avsim at 3,30 in the morning hear in the UK.At the time I was bisy trying to get the DC3, the net is sumtimes a bit faster at that time in the morning.But I still not got the DC3 yet.But I did get your FixMip 2.0 But I carnt use it.Yes I need help. Im dying of frustration.If the trooth be known, I diliberatly run over your littel man,out of frustration, cus he reprisents all the sukses yourhaving latly.Not only that, but your doing it all without a deesent paint progran,or a proper modeling program.I on the other hand, have Paint Shop Pro7.And 3D Studio MAX R2.5.And every other tool there is. But I keep geting stuk on "MAKEMIP.EXE"I carnt use you program, not vershon 1. or vershon 2.0cus I carnt get "MAKEMIP.EXE" to make a mip file from an 8 bit gif file with any 2 of the foloing texturesizes, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, pixels Width-Height.So Iv been trying to do the see-through models in a diferant way.Iv found that an un-rendered model can clerely be seen in Fled,but in the game its 99% see-through.My idere was to only render the colourd parts of a model.Iv converted NTREE10.BIN to cob useing ModelViewer, and then to3Ds useing a program caled Crossrods.And then I can import it into 3D Studio MAX and ply about with it.To get the 3ds back to FU3, I convert it to "e" useing "N3ds.exe"and then to "bin" useing "BSP.exe".I can sumtims get thees DOS tools to work by droping a file ontothem, but most of the time thay dont, and Im stuk. "MAKEMIP.EXE" is the werst fore not working lick this.If I open "MS-DOS Promp" in Windows Explorer and then type "start" folloed by a space and a period and press "Enter"I can then navigate to the folder that contanes my gif and the MAKEMIP.EXE file and double-click on the MAKEMIP.EXEbut nuthing hapens.I get a split second flash of black, and no mip.This is on Windows 98. But the 3D Studio MAX R2.5 will only run on Windows 95,So I have that on another PC.But the DOS tools dont work any beter in Windows 95.MAKEMIP.EXE will not give me a mip.Any sergestyons bifor I throw my self off a cliff ? glidernut.

[Guest glidernut]

Im sory if the abuv post sounds a bit negativ.I always feel a bit lowe when things dont go right.But Robert,s new models have cheered me up no end.A hanger fore the internationally renowned organisation known asthe famous GliderNut flying school.Yep, flatery will do it every time.And its got a proper concreet flor too, grate.The tree is exalant, I think as time gos on it will be the most used add on model in FU3+2.And the fence is a briliant demonstrashon of ! TRANSPARENCY !WOW.Yep that ses it all.And that balloon is so colorfall it can be seen fore myials,and reealy brightens up the place.And the roads are grate too.I dont know how you did it, but thay are stronger than any othermodel in FU3. Thay are plenty strong inuf to land on, or drive along.Im going to use them as briges.Even unsuported by the terrane, I dont fall throo, or sink into them.And thay look so good.Thay are briliant, all of em.Thank you Robert.Well dun.The internationally famous GliderNut.

[Guest R_Driscoll]

thanks JOn, appreciate all that! Look, I haven't done thatflight yet. I've barely taken the wrapping off the DC3. Too busyenjoying models - and the only flying I do is when I'm dive bombing my new airportds to check the textures. No thats not quite true I didget across to eastern creeek a coupla nights ago/. Mosty of my flights are start motor, drive to new object, exit, fix. Lots of fixing.I am trying to write a tute to help people get started. Might put a draft version out, get feedback, then see what needs fixing.You said you had trees? I would like to make some more but don't have good pictures. But maybe I'll leave that to you anyway - they;'re hard work cause you have to black out all the sky bits and the see through bits to get transpraent effects. I don't needd hard work. I want to try out the Lear 45 too - see what changes have been made.Mike says he is already Cold Power. Says he can lift a 747 with a beer in the other hand. He's scared of no one (except glider pilots). Says deodorant is for sussies who go fishing. I'm just passing these on.Made Big Ben yesterday. Houses of Parliament look like a bit more work. Arrrgghhhh. This'll take time.Thanks for all your encouragement, regardsRobert

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Craving the attention of the famous proprietor of GliderNutFlying School, glad you enjoy the hangar!Using MAKEMIP:1) you can start DOS. I'm not sure how well you can use DOS commands, but you need to know a few and they're not hard. 2) Make a directory modelsnewtree in Explorer in your Flight3 home directory. Place a copy of the program MAKEMIP.EXE in this directory, and also place a 128x128 GIF picture in there. I'll call it 'TREE2.GIF'.3) Start a DOS shell and maximise it to whole display. It probably placed you in C:WINDOWS. So we need to move. CD (change directory, nothing to do with music) Eg: CD flight3modelsnewtree (where 'models' and its subdirectory 'newtree' already exist - created in Explorer for example). Type in the example command from the DOS prompt directly. You may have used a different name for your FU3 home directory. Use that. If you are successful, you should see the directory prompt change to: c:flight3modelsnewtree> or similar.4) Now we can run MAKEMIP (you did put it in this directory already, didn't you?) MAKEMIP tree2.GIF . There are spaces between the command 'MAKEMIP' and the first argument, 'tree2.gif'. There is also a space between the first and second argument ('.'). The capitals are not important. If successful, there will be a message like this: making tree2.gif mip And there you have it. No message means it didn't work.Possible reasons for it not working: - wrong type of GIF file. - wrong shape of GIF file (128 x 128 is safest). - not working in the DOS shell directly.I really want you to get this working - there's too much to buildand few limits on what can be done. And hopefully during the week Iwill put together a tutorial to help more. And when you do, I expectthe tentacular claws of the GliderNut International Flying School tospread their monopolous grasp over all known civilisation ... or maybe just some more trees.Confident you will succeed, I am hanging up my modelling glue for the moment and hope to spend some good airtime in the new old DC3.Bye for now,Robert.

[Guest jonpoint]

Rob,Maybe I can do some tree textures for you. I'm sure I can do the required jiggery-pokery in Corel. Not sure how this lines-up with a tree 'model' though. Should I just DO the textures (128x128 GIF) and send them to you? I'd really love to be able to DO the models but I think I just lack the software (and knowledge/brains/common sense/ability with money/rockclimbing skills/credibility etc).Yeah, Mike says a lot doesn't he? Could have something to do with the beer - most people think they can do anything with a beer in one hand :-beerchugKen reckons that Mike doesn't admit to fishing so his boss thinks he's WORKING down at the marina on Saturdays - the pile of empties at the end of the wharf tell a different story though. :-smile12BTW Glidernut, he told me he was going to bend your wigtips for running him over. Just for that, I now have him running around the FBO at Coupville airport (at 5m/s in an endless loop, screaming 'moooo' :-8 ). I'll leave him at it until he apologises for sitting on your jelly sandwiches :-hahAI - an oxymoron.Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Jon, after exhaustive international advertising you just gotthe job. Congrats!I will send you some tree templates. All you have to do ismake the graphics, change the name of the template and changea reference in the template to point to your graphic name, andfinally convert your graphic to a Seattle MIP. Check it looks OK,and bob's yer uncle (as they say in France).I ended up using 256x256 pixel GIFs - I think they look better.Also I have experimented with a more complex tree shape thancross-over - see what you think.I will get these to you shortly and I think you'll enjoymaking them. I can probably make them but it would be nice ifother people joined in and worked out new / better methods.Oh, and of course you get paid per model. Just see Mike (ofcourse you knew that he's the accountant and mechanic?) ... I'm notsure where he is today ...Thanks Jon, cheersRobert.PS. I flew the flight. Well not exactly - I skipped Sacramento, took off from Haywood - early morning, easterly front moving in, Oaklands and San fran yelling at me at the same time to come up on guard freq and fly at 1500 ft - OK, got to just south of SanFran main with the DC3 at about 150 kts, close to peak temp and very quiet, then did an untimed leg at 240 deg straight towards the front - some turbulence and then magic as the islands appeared. pics below.You might think it was a bit irresponsible to take the DC3 into the canyon like that. I would just like to say that I took careful account of all possible risks and made a considered judgement that it was safe before proceeding.And to that bungie jumper on the bridge, whoops, sorry mate. We gave each other a bit of a scare didn't we?The DC3 is a dream to fly, handles very precisely apart from the takeoff kick at 68 kts - well forwarned is fourarmed - but it caught me a bit on touchdown too. You didn't tell me Ken was so thin. The fisherman I made is as thick as two planks, around the middle I mean.I might have to republish him thinner to match - I threw him together quickly as a joke based on your comments.Regards,Robert.

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Jon, can you or someone tell me what the funny front panel bit isfor, where it has those grey knobs with what looks like "alcohol",etc. I don't know much about these things. I'm from Sydney.

[Guest jonpoint]

Rob,Hey, thanks for the job offer.I finally got some time last night and dug out (!) my tree pix and did some playing. The palette's a breeze 'coz I loaded into corel and, working from 24bit originals, just use the actual palette & some dithering to create an original gif, already in the correct palette. It looks identical on the desktop AND in FU3. The new utility works much better too - congratulations :-)Now, I can create gifs with transparency but I think FU3 always uses the same palette number for transparencies? Regardless of what I set the image transparency to, my magnificent, 65ft tall conifer has a square, black border. I used a 't' prefix and the model looks fine in Modelview (against a black background - duh!). I note that there are quite a few 'black' colours in the palette. Is it the hue or the actual palette number I need. Of course I still haven't worked out how to add the other one at 90 degrees so it looks like an FU3 tree. I was impressed by the colours though, I have the same tree in winter and autumn ('fall' for you northerners) colours and they look great! The cherry tree looks too red in bloom though! Got a few eucalypts for something different too.Meanwhile, alcohol? Typical Aussie :-beerchug Yeah, it's a drink mixer - ethyl alcohol on the left followed by orange juice, coke, then soda water. Don't forget to hold your glass under the tap BEFORE turning it. Limit - one drink per leg. Sorry, no drinks on final :-eekSeriously, the aluminium panel is a hangover (!) from the old days. Most DC3s had it ripped-out years ago and the controls relocated. See photos below. VH-ABR's is gone all together. 3d7ea5995f99b2fa.jpgwhilst this other one has been severley hacked into - Heck! 3d7ea5c65feeb73d.jpgThe GPS has to go somewhere! In our case, the controls are: wiper (l), demister (l), demister ® and wiper ®. They're all dummies in FU3. When someone works out how to do working windscreen wipers I'll change them to real switches!Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest jonpoint]

Whoooops!Somehow didn't re-paste the photos properly. Sorry.Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest glidernut]

Hi Robert,Sory to be a pest.Your step by step instructions are very good but Im still notsuccessful yet with MAKEMIP.exe.I get to the last step of your instructions and press Enter, but Iget this, "see snap-shot".If the letters are to small to reade, this is wat the gray box says.This program has performed an illegal operationand will be shut down."and gose on to say"MAKEMIP caused an invalid page fault inmodule MAKEMIP.EXE at 016f:0040142c.And this is wat the black DOS skreen says.Microsoft Windows 98 Copyright Microsoft Corp 1981-1999.C:WINDOWS>CD modelsnewtreeC:modelsnewtree>makemip grass10.gif . The instruction at 0040142c referenced memory at ffffffffThe memory could not be read fromC:modelsnewtree>I get the same thing on a diferant PC with win 95.Perhaps I have a duff MAKEMIP ?Perhaps you can send me a new MAKEMIP.EXEThe one Iv got is from jon.I dont know where on the net to get it.My "Paint Shop Pro 7" will save snap-shots in 32 diferant formats.But only one with the file extention of gif.CompuServe Graphics Interchange (*.gif)Is this the right type of GIF file ?My DOS memory setings are all set to Auto.Is this OK ? Wat are your setings ?I bileev the path and file names are right, cus if thay are notthe DOS promt tells me so.Any sergestyons ?glidernut.

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Glidernut, I have sent you a utility from Jon Point which convertsGIFs to simple GIFs. You may have the wrong GIF format. But haveyou resized your GIF image to 128 x 128 or 256 x 256? These arethe safest picture sizes (that I have found).

[Guest R_Driscoll]

A drink mixer? Of course.Transparency is hard-wired in FU3 to palette index 0. No choice.Read the stuff I sent you - it will show you how to make quitecomplex tree structures - good enough anyway for a fishing picnicdown by the old lake with a Renegade bobbing off shore.I can almost smell the cockpit in those shots - they have allthe atmosphere of the old planes - reminds me of airshows andmuseums ... that's something about the DC3, its full of atmospherefrom the moment you look out the window and see how far down the ground is. I fly the DC3 a fair bit when I'm not object debugging - for that I need something quick and light.You're making good progress - I hope you get the critical breakthroughs you need soon. It took me over 4 years to getthis far.Cheers,Robert.

[adams 1]

I've been making other sizes ( 8x16 ) for example and no problems with makemip.Robert, do you know how are made flashing lights ?Bogdan