=Hollywood=

Thanks for the heads up, will check it out

You might want to take a look at the pseudo haze effect I added in to the Top Gun Tomcats and effects upgrade that I posted here and at flightsim.com don't forget to download the update...Note: Some of the textures for the tomcats appear to be in the wrong format and has been known to crash FS, if that happens just run imagetool.exe available through the SDK's and convert them to 32 bit or DXT3... Whichever it is I can't recall...

Just a quick link to a pick of a review someone posted here at avsim that shows the whales... ;) Second picture down...http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho..._id=7303&page=2Notic in particular that the tail fluke for the right hand whale is clearly underwater, but still visible...Oh hey cool, now we can model animated dolphins next to our boats, riding the bow waves :D

There are dolphins and whales... One of the ACES bloggers talks about his daughter being awed by the dolphins or was that whales? I can't recall, but if you look through the various preview pics on the internet you can see the whales... Look like orcas but I can't be sure as they were far away, all I know is they were very dark grey or black...

The fact that the team has kept so quiet about this area of FS makes me wonder what they're about to spring on us... :-rotor I am sure we're in for some pleasant surprises... :)

Man, one day maybe hardware and software can let us go dive the depths of the ocean as well... I still envision FS becoming more of a world simulator *dream dream*...Actually as for viewing stuff below the surface of the water, take a careful look at the screenshots for FSX... You can see whales and dolphins below the surface in some shots, with the rest of their bodies above water... ;)I'm a certified diver (PADI/SSI) as well... One day I'm sure we'll have something like this, for now, I'm just happy with dolphins and whales... Something I've been planning on creating and animating in FS since FS98... I used to work at a resort where a pod of wild dolphins came in to feed every night... www.tangalooma.com (which btw is where they filmed the first scooby do movie), and I was originally planning on creating dynamic scenery based dolphins but then FS2000 came out and then FS2002 and then FS2004 and never got around to it... :( lolOn a side note, what is possible today is to get flight data from aviation companies such as piper/boeing/airbus etc etc etc and model that into FS... Also what is entirely possible is getting 3D CAD drawings from aircraft companies and converting them for direct use in Flight Sim where things can be accurate 100%(ish)... Of course poly counts would need to be reduced etc and stuff remodelled to make the planes frame rate friendly, but it's possible...What's also possible is to work with 3D Film FX companies and import their meshes into FS as well, of course all of the above would require business negotiations, contracts, licensing etc etc etc blah blah blah...Anyway what were we talking about???Oh yeah a lot of the other requests appear to already be in FSX as has been disclosed publically before... The pigeons, well if they haven't been modelled yet, a 3rd party dev I'm sure will make em...

I have to compose this post offline due to internet connection issues...I'm sorry but the argument that the introduction of mission based aviation into FSX is turning it into a game is completely false and is based on assumptions that people haven't even seen yet.To start with, every flight in the real world is mission based. You fly a passenger jet full of people across the world, you get paid. You fly a cargo plane in the Caribbean you get paid. You fly a cropduster you get paid... You work in Search and Rescue or the Coast Guard, your mission is to rescue people from burning oil rigs, guess what, you get paid. Mission based flights in the real world help feed families! Need I go on?The only flights in the world that are not mission based are recreational flights, but these are a minority in comparison to the number of flights taking place around the world at any given moment.Did you know that there are over 1 million people in the sky around the world at any given moment? I think I heard that when I was at NASA or something...Anyway the point is, that every flight in the real world has a mission to it... I am almost starting to resent the insinuation that the missions are a game... They are simulated missions. The Air Force runs these types of simulations every day in training, so do the major Airlines with their full size simulators that flight crew must pass every 6-12 months, not to mention line checks etc etc etc...I remember very clearly when my father had been affected very heavily by the flu. I remember how many times he failed his simulator check and when it came down to the last chance he had to pass the simulator he passed. I know the tension of what not passing the simulator means, I know what it is like to nearly have a father lose a $100,000 per year job and the ability to provide for his family because the flu has messed with his ability to pass the simulator...So if anyone is going to knock the new mission based features come here and talk with me, I'll tell you what it's like in the real world... This is a very important feature to have in FS, and it could have been something that my father could have used to not have come so close to failing the real sim, if he had been able to prep for it in Flight Sim. Which by the way he often used, along with a program he wrote himself to help him prepare for his simulator and line checks...BTW my father was flight crew for a major airline and flew 727's and then 767's. I personally hold a private pilot's licence and won the award for the best Air Force Cadet pilot in the state when I was learning to fly.

Even FS2002 could do it... All you have to do is create and place the FX files... It's not that hard to create a burning ridgeline of fire...Read the SDK's they will tell you how to do it... I did it by reading the SDK's

Wow, I've been away from the forums for a few days and I'm glad I was...Mike, your post was well said and I think the irony and sense of humor in your post was timely... :)I could see the whining building which I tried to encourage the community away from, but looks like some in the community persisted...As an avid FS user, I thank you for everything in FS, your valuable contribution and that of the whole ACES team... I personally found out at work this last week that sometimes people are just really immature and just let them be dumb... It's not worth worrying about...You know when you look back to FS 2.0 or before FSX is way more than any of us back then could have ever imagined... And for everyone who has complained about your wanted feature not being in FSX, there's always FS11 or FS12, the ACES team listens and will read your request, make sure though you are polite and treat the guys there as you would want to be treated yourself. Or you could become an FS Addon Developer yourself if you have that much vision...There are countless features in FSX that I submitted requests for that are now in FSX... All my dreams have come true for FSX, and I can't ask for anything more from the dev team...Mike, we support you guys and the whole team there... Don't let the knucklheads get you down...SincerelyDean

lol it's been a few days, my internet has been down...actually i only saw the video about 5 times at most, one was frame by frame as I couldn't see the HD trailer so I watched it frame by frame...

Must not have looked closely enough at the trailer...http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...g_id=8358&page=Although a trailer really can't show you what happens with flight dynamics etc, although the sailplane/glider shot should be enough to give a fair idea...The high definition version of the trailer has been spoken about in the forums here and there is a link to it listed...Someone please pass the cheese :-lol

Congrats, and welcome to the Flight Sim community :):-wave

hmm, I might take a look at it, I'll have to contact my friend at the satellite imaging company that has the contract with the USGS... If they come from USGS DOQQ's then they should also have data available for the other islands... Time to call my friend "T.O."...The reason I know this info is that my associates and I have had a photoscenery for the islands in development... We put the product development on hold temporarily while we looked into possible licensing fee structures...Part of the USGS data might be a mix though as Oahu has been the hardest island to orthograph due to constant cloud cover... I would have to look into that...Airphoto though is a company that specializes in orthography from aircraft and *not* from satellite images. PC Aviator is clear that their imagery comes from airphoto's sources...I know from conversations at one of the satellite companies that the USGS DOQQ's have been contracted to them. Hence my questioning about the assumed sources...

It's possible to create a pseudo effect through the SDK's there's some already available for FS2004...I believe that haze effect is also a real frame rate hog in Lomac from what I've heard?? If memory serves correctly...

><Maybe I haven't got the volume up high enough.>>>>You can ask the guys in offices next to mine how real it is>because I *have* had it turned up enough. ;)Okay, sounds like it's time for me to also budget for a THX 5.1 surround sound system.. :)

>2. Very realistic ocean animations What animiation? there>was no water animation Look closely in the HD version, there's nice water animation, it's kind of a cross animation and the 'phasing' issues have been resolved...I also noticed on the CES video that the boats in the dock were 'rocking' due to wave action, thanks Tdragger for making reference to that in another thread... :)Some of the stuff in the videos is real subtle, but it's there... :D

You can always look up the Autogen SDK and create a house or something with a smoke effect added and add it in to your autogen xml...I might end up doing something like that for Africa and South America as you can often see smoke over those regions while flying in certain areas...That just gave me an idea... I remember once being 7000' up a mountain in Mexico and helping the vilalge hunt one night. We walked along trails next to very steep drops and you could see all over the mountain ridges lines of fire from sugar cane being burned...I wish I had a GPS back then because I'd love to go visit those places again in FS...

Okay here's an interesting exercise... How many improvements to FS have you noticed by watching the trailer...?For me I noticed:1. Reflections of objects on the water2. Very realistic ocean animations3. Wintip vorticees (747)4. Animated people5. Animated wildlife6. Higher res terrain and textures7. Sunlight bloom? as you fly through clouds <- very nice8. Almost mirror like reflection on metal scenery objects9. Improved rotor wash fx10. Very realistic sunlight modelling on waves (aka environment modelling)11. Scenery reflected in ocean/waters12. Improved terrain mesh modelling, looks very smooth and roundedI'm going to go watch the trailer again, lol I can't remember everything else I've seen...

>http://www.scharnhop-hh.de/schiff7.jpg>>http://www.scharnhop-hh.de/schiff8.jpgOh wow, that one reminds me of the fishing boat aka trawler that we filmed an episode of flipper on... "Lost and Found"Might need to download that one and add it to an AI path where we filmed :)...Very nice...Thanks for bringing back some wonderful memories... :) Although I can still smell the rotting fish in the sun :( lol

Got any screenshots to show how your setup looks in sim? Oh heck I might be better saving my pennies for the computer upgrade for FSX...

Have you taken a look through airliners.net and done a search for 737-200 photos there? They have great material available ;)

I'd say that earthdata aviation is the parent company of airphoto... If you look at PC Aviator's site they clearly state that their source is airphoto... It's likely "Eartdata Aviation dba Airphoto"

With FSX just on the horizon and better than 1m per pixel resolution almost certainly being available, you might want to hold off, but then again it might take a while for the PC Aviator guys to catch up with the new high res stuff as it might mean having to start from scratch again...Just something to consider... If I were you I'd ask some questions of the addon developer, to see if you stand to lose money on a double upgrade...

I've never checked, but is the great wall of china in FS? lol something I've never checked out :(

lol not for me, for someone on the inside ;)