MU-2 progress towards update

[cw7]

TK

The Falco is great, and I too see it as a stepping stone to the new MU. After flying both (admittedly the little cousin for only a day...) I have some thoughts. 1) The artificial horizon is a huge improvement, but the one installed on the Falco seems about 10-15% too small in diameter to be a real focal point under IFR, especially for the MU2. 2) I'm having a bear getting the VOR heads to talk to the Garmin in Falco, but not on the MU. 3) I love the Falco's functional ADF but much prefer the dual needle indicator in the MU. 4)The central needle in the Falco's HSI washes out a little under night cockpit lighting, unlike the MU's (or maybe my eyes are going).

All in all, Falco has only stoked my interest in this looming update. The MU2v2 and the new CRJ are going to transform X-Plane, and Falco will be leading the charge. Biggest thanks for all your hard work.

[max_mts]

Hello! Great model for the great plane.

If I buy the version 1.1.1 today, can i get a free upgrade to version 2.0, when it comes out?

[tkyler]

yes you will get a free update!

[max_mts]

Mu-2 is my favorite plane now. I can't wait until he becomes even better (2.0 update) .

What about somthing news? 

[tkyler]

Sorry for the stupidly late reply.  Well some nasty stuff is done.  By that I mean totally rearranging the Blender file earlier this week to be "modern method" compliant.  I reluctantly trudged through the file for a few hours and got everything cleaned up to a point I can begin "re-animating" and "re-manipulating" everything.  That part can move relatively quick.  The final and more difficult part will be re-writing an entirely new plug-in.  I have the old code of course, but will have to hand pick my way through it to integrate it into the new framework.  I plan to hole up for 3-4 days sometime this summer and just hammer it out.

What you can expect is refinements in the 3D interaction...better cockpit lighting, of course the ADF will be added and some higher resolution textures on the instruments..and I'll be integrating the Garmin 330 from the Falco too.

Fuses and electrical will not make it into this "V1" run I'm afraid...it's just too much work.  A future V2 run is desired...in which a new 3D model is done on many many parts of the aircraft, higher resolution textures, normal maps..and some V10 features also.  This version will go for a more robust electrical system and if done right, should not need much more refinement over time.  That's the desire anyways, as usual, we'll see how it pans out.

[tkyler]

I've found some time to move through the cockpit and change some things over to 3D.  The following image shows the new engine gauges (on right) vs. the old...well at least the torque and temp gauges anyways.  The lighting is a bit better and I'm moving to bigger fonts to make the gauges easier to read.  The JPG compression has degraded this image a bit...it's quite easy to read in sim.  The blender file is setup now so that's it's relatively quick to move through and make changes, these gauges were retextured and animated in about an hour....except that I'm on other obligations 10-12 hours a day it seems and eating or sleeping the rest of the time.  I think perhaps by mid-fall, I'll be able to concentrate on my add-ons nearly full-time once again and hopefully make some good progress.

[tkyler]

I thought I'd do an update and throw up a screenshot of some upcoming changes to the MU-2 for version 1.5, which will be the last version on the 1.0 series. This update will pick up most of the functionality that was left out of the initial release and replace some of the older technology with newer technology. The artwork, except for the panel will remain largely unchanged. Version 2.0 will be a completely new, ground up rebuild whenever it gets completed.

The following screenshots shows some of the new things going in. The screenshot was taken with a FOV of 60 degrees and a resolution of 1280 x 8-something I think.

- 3D instrumentation throughout (as opposed to 2D mapped polygons)

- A new mechanical ADI in place of the "EFIS" based 2D one. This is faithful to most MU-2s

- Higher resolution textures on the intruments.

- Larger numerals on the instruments to make them easier to read and more optimized text. Note the radio frequencies and barometric pressure on the altimeter...much easier to read!

- A full featured Garmin GTX330 transponder lifted from the Falco.

- More robust fuel systems modeling

- 3D manipulators across the board

- MUCH nicer night lighting.

- Working ADF...(check that frequency eh? finally!)

[Jacoba]

Beautiful!

The only thing this critter is missing is a functional Garmin GPS, but we all know thats an X-Plane limit, one I hope Austin et al... correct soon!

[Simmo W]

great update Tom, looks very nice. good to hear the night lightings getting better

[hobofat]

Yes, yes, and more yes!  Looking forward to the full 3d instrumentation.

[MaidenFan]

Wow, can't wait!!!

[Lukasz]

And I thought, that current MU-2 is perfect It's no longer a digital plane, it's a work of art. I'd be better not thinking too much about that 2.0 version, or I'll develop a heavy insomnia

[Axelb9]

I have not bought the MU-2 yet however I intended to do it within days. I am just reading that it does not have a working ADF yet? Is it still possible to track NDBs somehow or there is no way until the update to do NDB approaches. Whata letdown that would be...

Thanks for shedding some light on this,

Alex

[tkyler]

Alex,

The ADF does work; however there is no way to tune to the NDB frequency on the panel.  This was because of limitations in x-plane when the MU-2 was initially created...hence an update :-)!  To work around the problem until the next update comes out, I have created a simple plugin that allow you to turn on ADF1 and 2 and tune it so that you can use the ADF in the MU2.

So the simple answer is yes you can use the ADF but you'll need a simple plugin that creates a pop up window to input the frequencies.  Please read the following post.

http://forums.x-pilot.com/index.php?topic=396.0

[Axelb9]

Alex,

The ADF does work; however there is no way to tune to the NDB frequency on the panel.  This was because of limitations in x-plane when the MU-2 was initially created...hence an update :-)!  To work around the problem until the next update comes out, I have created a simple plugin that allow you to turn on ADF1 and 2 and tune it so that you can use the ADF in the MU2.

So the simple answer is yes you can use the ADF but you'll need a simple plugin that creates a pop up window to input the frequencies.  Please read the following post.

http://forums.x-pilot.com/index.php?topic=396.0

Thank you, your quick reassurance is much appreciated!

[tkyler]

OK, I thought this was kind of cool. The MU2 has 5 fuel tanks with an auto transfer system designed to keep the main center tank full at all times until the outer and tip tanks run dry. When I built the plugin for the MU2 way back when, there were only 3 tanks so I had to "fake" the system. Now if fuel is always put into the MU-2 symmetrically...as it should, then this "faking" looks just like the real thing for the most part. So as I get close to the next update, I've moved from the 3 tanks to 5 as in reality and located all the tanks in their proper location.

Now since there were only 3 tanks before, and these tanks were numbered 0, 1 & 2 , the plugin would use these numbers to simulate the fuel transfer system. With the 2 new tanks, they're numbered 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 going from left to right. So then the plugin as of now will only transfer from tanks 0 and 1 into the center tank (2) until I rewrite the plugin to account for the 2 new tanks. The screenshot below was a test I was doing simply to make sure the fuel gauges read the right levels. It was fun to watch the fuel transfer from the left tanks into the center tank, first from the tip, then from the outer just as in reality....but when I straightened my view, I noticed the plane was leaning heavily to the right since the right tanks were nice and full...and it reminded me that the MU-2 does indeed have a fueling protocol for this exact reason. Many line personnel do not like fueling the MU2 because the tip tanks cannot be any more than 150lbs out of balance. Well the tip tanks hold 600 lbs each, which means the line personnel have to fuel one tip tank to 150lbs...then go to the other side, fuel it up to 300 lbs....BACK to the first side and fuel to 450....BACK to the other side and fuel to 600..then one last time BACK to the other side to top off. If this isn't followed, then the MU2 can have one side dip way down as seen in the screenshot. The new update will finally have the fuel control panel working and you can switch from auto to manual to manage the fuel transfer; however, such manual management on the Marquise isn't really done in reality except in the case of a fuel pump failure.

And regarding "dragging" vs. "clicking" for switches and knobs.  I'm going to have both.  Switching between the methods will be done "in sim" without loading a new aircraft using a 3D type control panel.  I'll simply have multiple sets of manipulator polygons with different commands whereby the control panel will disable/enable different sets.

[riccardo74]

Great update Tom! And when will be avalilable for donwload?

I'm waiting the buil-in ADF.... :-)

[hews500d]

Thanks for the updates.  Definitely looking forward to the newest version!

Darrell

[cw7]

Tom:

The knobs and switches change is just great news. AND with a working ADF?! Nirvana!

THANK YOU!

Cw

[tkyler]

This is just a big image to share cause I like the cockpit so much.  From the previous pic, this has more texture work, additional details added, instrument glass, more complete instruments, and lots of infrastructure for animation and the reworked plugin.  Still left to do is is to rework the quadrant texture and refine  the 3D mesh, still add more animation / manipulation infrastructure, then on to the plugin.  I'll be using the Falco plugin as a starting point so a whole lot of the work is already, but I'll work on getting in the additional features and system simulations put in.

Final steps will be the normal mapping and the lighting / LIT texturing.  I figure the back half of August, early September for the update.  Upcoming Oshkosh and Laminar work take  up most of the week.

[nrhh]

WOW!!! My first thought was that you posted a picture of a REAL Panel! Simply stunning!

[garrettm30]

It is exciting to see the progress being made on this (now) old favorite.

I've been curious what those things that look like annunciators floating above the center of the panel are. I've also been wondering about that list of improvements you are planning to make that you gave us a few posts ago on the 10th. Was that for version 1.5 or 2.0?

[Nik]

Was that for version 1.5 or 2.0?

[tkyler]

I should clarify.  I've been a bit careless referring to "versions".  I originally thought about calling the next update the "2.0" update because it was relatively significant; however, after a bit of thought and discussion with others, I've decided that "1.5" is more appropriate for the next release whereas a "2.0" version implies a significant overhaul.

Version 1.5 is a refinement of the existing series.  Now while ANY improvement can be considered a "refinement"...there comes a point where improving the product as a whole requires an extensive rework.  An extensive rework in this case means scrapping the existing 3D model and redoing it from scratch.  Improvements in a "2.0" version will be a new model, higher resolution textures, normal maps, more 3D detail and animations, more custom sounds, etc.  Version 2.0 will take enough time and effort that I'll charge for the update.  Existing customers would receive a discount and the overall cost might rise to $35.00.  Now for that I would expect to deliver a product with the 3D you see in this cockpit ALL OVER!  And I'd expect to provide even more documentation, more detailed tutorials to cover new systems and new animations and eye candy.

So then this Version 1.5 is to make the MU-2 a more complete functional product from the "flight simulator" perspective.  That is I want it to simulate the operation of the MU-2 in flight first and foremost.  I left a few things out for technical reasons earlier but I feel every customer ought to at least get a relatively complete MU2 simulation...so this 1.5 update will be free for existing customers.

I've been curious what those things that look like annunciators floating above the center of the panel are

Those are the autopilot mode buttons.  The "shroud" that surrounds them has yet to be redone.

[LA]

I have not bought the MU-2 yet however I intended to do it within days. I am just reading that it does not have a working ADF yet? Is it still possible to track NDBs somehow or there is no way until the update to do NDB approaches. Whata letdown that would be...

Thanks for shedding some light on this,

Just wondering why some want the ADF as much as they do. In the US, new aircraft seldom come with ADF's. That's been standard for quite a few years now. The GPS does a much better job of pin pointing an ADF location. Panel mounted ADF's are still priced very high, for what they are. Many NDBs in the US have gone by the way side.

However, in various other countries, NDBs are still in use. So they're still somewhat useful in a simulated aircraft.........I guess.

LA