Hans J

Hey All, Is the good old faithful FS2004 dead as well ? Is anyone still using it, because it's become so deadly quiet about it in this forum ? I've taken a good look at some of FS2004's newer versions but to just leave behind more than 20 years of downloads, installations and extensive technical improvements, is just too much, especially while still being able to fly high and low all over my now very scenic world. Regards from a "die hard" FS2004'er. Hans

When searching the internet with e.g. "Flightsim.com", there's not much positive to be read about the return of their promised "updated" site anywhere. They also seem to have had already dumped FS2004 before their initial postings on the subject. Great pity for the whole international MS/FS community, so ----- LONG LIVE Avsim and any other remaining FS sites !! Hans

The very least they can do is to post some preliminary news every now and then, about the state of their achievements. Hans

dva51, Very much looking forward to your first (Italian) airport/airfield/scenery upload. At last, a new sign of FS2004 life and especially with scenery aspects. Fondest regards, Hans

O.K. Gavin. I now understand that you cannot find an AI based FS2004 AIG model combination for a very specific modern repaint and yes, you are correct. FS2004 developers, if any still exist, no longer keep up with modern real world developments because most of them have moved on to later versions of FS. Great pity but such is life for us FS2004ers. Hans

Gavin, I don't fully understand your issue because including any new AI aircraft, together with their deviating model(s), related paint(s) etc. in your FS2004's "Aircraft" folder and finally getting them to perform their AI flights, should in my mind not be anything like a real problem. E.g. I have quite a few of the same active AI aircraft types but with different models, paints, etc. and they all perform without problems. This even also applies to a number of my flyable aircraft. Regards and long live FS2004. Hans

Scott, I did a long search for "matthew ministry" myself but although he has evidently been very active with scenery developements in the past, I could not find the tool you are citing either. A posting a few lines further down on this page discusses conversions from later FS textures to BMP ones but these do not specifically concern AI aircraft. Good luck. Hans

Scott, A simple search for "bmp2dxt3.zip" in the AVSIM library produced a downloadable file named "bmp2dxt3_batch_conversion.zip". Is this what you are/were looking for ? Hans

I did a lot of searching myself on the different Sim sites and found many re-paints for this "skinny" looking aircraft but sadly, no models. However, I hope you somehow have success. Regards Hans

Manuel, There is a version of the Portland airport in the Avsim library by Sydney Schwartz and Peter Ham. I know it's not exactly what you are looking for but it is freeware and if you have not tried it yet, then it could be worth your while. Fondest regards and welcome back in the FS2004 community,. Hans, from behind the dykes in the Netherlands. .

Neil, Can you please name one or more of your payware airports of which the scenery objects are blocked for placement in other sceneries within your own FS2004. Thanks in advance. P.S. Out of inquisitiveness I've also downloaded the FS2004 version of the "UK Common Library" and have found that about 50% of the textures therein needed to be mipped and have their compression changed from DXT1 to DXT3 mostly in relation to their existing ALPHA (= black transparency) channels. Hans

Neil, I see no copyright issues when using e.g. payware scenery objects, to enhance your own existing sceneries ----- as long as you do not re-post any of them, either separately or as part of any new sceneries created by yourself. Hans

A "Solomons" paint for a flyable DH-6 Twin Otter has in the meantime been uploaded on the Simviation site. Looks very good. Hans

WOW !! In real life and by the looks of this C-47, it was even an amphibian and not just a "floatplane". I say !! WOW !! again. But I don't think any such FS2004 AI or flyable C-47/DC-3 models/paints exist --- BUT --- you never know what may come up in this thread. Hans

Did such an aircraft ever exist in reality because it would have had to have very large floats ? Possibly very much engine power as well to be able to get off the water, especially if it had any onboard cargo and/or passengers. Hans

RJ, Yes, your link certainly did help. It confirms all my self developed basic ideas on the subject and as far as mipmaps are concerned, there's no point in the system fully rendering AI and scenery textures, which are out of visible sight anyway. Thanks very much. Hans

Hi All, I've understood right from my very FS2004 beginning that scenery object textures should always be mipped because such objects are structurally viewd from different distances. However, what about AI aircraft textures, which I have almost always mipped for the same reason, e.g. when parked at airports/airfields or when they become visible around your flyable aircraft ? Are there any rules on this subject ? Does it make any difference if these textures are DXT1 or DXT3, especially for AI aircraft ? Any comments are welcome. Hans

Michael, Thanks for your help. I was surprised at how simple your XML based solution really was. However, being a perfectionist, I'm now messing around with trying to get your steam plume to "lie down" along the whole catapult rail, instead of the single larger one going straight up, more or less at it's beginning. Oh well, such problems certainly keep me off the streets, as FS9 has done for 20 years or more !! LOL !! Greetings. Hans

O.K. Guys, a Solomon texture doesn't seem to exist for any flyable and in reality locally flown Twin Otters. So, I'll have to make do with a "visitor texture" instead because the Solomon Island archipel is basically a beautiful area to fly "low and slow" in. I'm also very busy with "dressing up" all it's airfields from their original rather sterile looks by adding tropical forests, lodgings, static aircraft, etc. via my EZ-Object placement program, while including AI activities at the same time. Another very well made Island archipel is the Seychelle one, which I have just finished transforming into a series of lush tropical forested islands, with all their airfields expanded with simple visitor attributes and of cause, with flights using flyable Seychelle textured aircraft. I now also have AI Seychelle textured activities between all the islands. Sadly, I cannot post any of these results, mainly because one of the EZ-Object placement program's functions is to scan FS9 for "Scenery Library Objects" and to produce a listing of them from which scenery objects can then be selected for (EZ) placement anywhere in the world. However, these can also include copyrighted, payware and otherwise protected objects. Long Live FS9 !! Hans

Does anyone know where I can find a flyable FS9 Twin-Otter in Solomons paint, for flying around the Solomon Islands ? Only a Solomons paint will do fine as well because I already have a number of different flyable Twin-Otters, any one of which should be able to correctly host such a paint. The nearest ones I can find are either AI or AI re-paints. Thanks in advance. Hans

YBWW does not exist in my default FS9 scenery airports. However, YTWB (Toowoomba) does exist in Australia's Queensland province, also as an addon but this may not be what you are searching for. Hans

Thanks Robin, it's the same now with my tanslations to English. Moreover, if one has years of FS experience, then the accompanying "Read Me's" etc. in (partial) Russian, are no problem. I still believe that the sudden and unexpected loss of translation was somehow caused by an automatic Windows update. Hans

Robin, You seem to never have had problems with the translation into English for the basic Avsimsu site itself but is everything also translated normally when clicking around within the same site ? E.g. forums, etc. ? Hans

Charlie Aron, Thanks for pointing my nose in the right direction. I've now found the procedure for automatically translating anything from the Internet from Russian into English. It turned out to be a standard method within windows, which I had never seen before, maybe introduced via a recent automatic Windows update and without me noticing it. Even my old bookmark pointing to Avsimsu now automatically translates the whole site as soon as it is opened. Thanks again. Hans

Charlie Aron, Can you please supply a link to your "neat little goody" and explain how and where it should be installed Thanks in advance. Hans ++++++++ Robin, Your supplied link does not connect to the Avsimsu English version but only to the Russian one, while the "translate to English" click spot on the site itself remains blocked. Hans