B747: a welcome to the great "Calypso Queen" as new AI!

[Guest Ansgar]

Thanks Rich (for the files) and Jon (for the good description),if we are talking about the texturing of my existing B747-400 V1.13 here, I must say that I made there the textures for the fuselage NOT SQUARED because I thought this would improve a bit the vertical resolution. But that improve isn

[Guest jonpoint]

Ansgar,I suppose the question is, how much detail is required for the top and bottom anyway? On the 747 there is little detail on top (well, the 'upstairs bit') but, potentially a lot underneath (with the gear doors etc. I faced the same issue with the GeeBee and I went for straight textures due to Anim8or's lack of planar mapping - hence the lack of detail on top and bottom. It certainly is easier to draw textures this way as it can be started from a photo. I'll leave it to the expert (you!). I think most people would find it easier to do repaints with square mapping.That's my 2 cents worth :-hahJon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest Robs]

Ansgar,Far too go for AI, I wanna fly it...can you release it as a repaint for your 747 or is that difficult?Rob.PS - I have done my first 3d model - it was a shed it too about an hour and the polygon count was 13 but I am please with it.I wrote the *.e file by hand - I like the look of gui of GMAX given I would like some more detailed models!I really am beginning to appreciate how long a new plane could take!!!

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Well Rob, if you can build a shed, you can build anything. I use previous E files as templates for the next job, and copying and pasting extensively. My experience is that reasonable scenery objects should take about 60 polygons for buildings, maybe 100 for objects that wil move (eg people, tractors), 600 for stationary planes (and I have never built one, but FLED tells you polygon counts), thousands for AI planes. Sure you can use more in buildings, to add realism, but avoid going overboard since the framerates will suffer! Simple is better since simple means more! Even the London buildings that I made were low in polygons, since I anticipate many scenery models in the London city and you don't want stutter vision as you admire St Pauls.So up close they look boxish. But this sim is about being able to fly low everywhere, not just at airports! Once you're a hundred feet up, who cares if the runway signs have rust spots on their nail heads?But you will find your own balance, and I look foward to seeing the results!Rob D.

[Guest Ansgar]

Hello together,a short status update in the meantime:"Lady Penelope":I

[Guest Ansgar]

Hello friends,as stated some day

[Guest]

Hi AnsgarJust to let you know I've downloaded the AI package and used it with no problems.The new AI planes are unreal. I've even got a screenshot of the jet in the Delta livery on my desktop, it's that good!ThanksGraemeUK

[Guest Ansgar]

Hello Graeme,very good that it works for you without problems. As small tipp:If you have enough PC-power (and if you havn

[Hans_Petter 1]

Yes, I did notice and have installed it. I didn't max out the AI traffic but I'll do so on my next flight. It works fine! Until now I've mostly seen a lot of Lufthansa AI planes and I'll look out for the other ones.The frame rate hit isn't bad on my PC but then, I'll need to "up" the AI traffic before making any conclusion.best regards,Hans Petter

[Guest DLM]

Ansgar,I will run a test later today or tomorrow.Should be extra interesting for me since i have the AI traffic set to twice the maximum value.// Daniel

[Guest Ansgar]

Hello Hans,hello Daniel,BOY, that was a fast answer! :-jumpyThanks for your help. I

[Guest DLM]

Ansgar,My first reaction when i pressed "shift+p" to see what you have done was "WOW! this is what it always should have been like!"Seeing those airliner with the same detail (well almost anyway) as my own aircraft really gives that famous "i am there" feeling a boost :-)However i saw two things that IMHO should be improved.The first is that when looking into one of the new AI airliners front windows you see straight through it (see picture below).Could you perhaps add a wall to the cockpit or make the windows non-transparent?http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e47f02a6ee12680.jpgThe second thing is that some of the old AI airliners textures get mixed (probably easy to fix?)http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e47f14f77f4180b.jpghttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e47f163786f82be.jpghttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e47f17378fb6e31.jpgFinally i can tell you that I will not uninstall this add-on as I rate it "a must have" eventhough we have a long way until version 1.0 :-beerchug// Daniel

[Hans_Petter 1]

A radical idea -- could we replace the old boxy AI aircraft and get the new ones by Ansgar only? Hans Petter

[Guest Ansgar]

Hi Hans,hehehehehe.....Yes that idea is good, but I did this already for some of the old AI

[Guest Quaxo]

Hi Ansgar,I just wanted to add that I tried your package, too; and except for the "missing wall" in the cockpit, it works perfectly, and without any major framerate hits.And for the missing wall... it's only visible if you look closely, and from certain angles... I could very well live with that, especially because in the future I'll probably look at AI planes from inside my aircraft... ;-)Cristian