Ben Russell

No, .stl is the only really useful mesh format it spits out at those price levels. It's been a while since I used it, I haven't tried using it with X-Plane yet. It would be possible with some work, blender will import .STL I don't know if it's worth the effort though. I like Alibre for the accuracy, and more importantly, the constraint and "assembly" tools, where by it is very smart about putting things together, gaps between faces, simulation part motions, and so forth.

Sure, I don't mind which people use. I was a Windows user for many years, swore by them, didn't go near a Mac until OS 10.3 I have a drawing app (Alibre) that only runs on Windows, it works with parrallels, but I'm not paying for that -and- Windows...... I'll just use my windows laptop thanks. It already does the job i want it to.

...I concede that my laptop has Vista on it. It gives you the option to defer reboot but if you're not there, oh well. It's an internal team joke that the Windows Update is coming to get you, so save everything and get ready. Really, it is. As for saving documents, that's not the issue, between Dropbox and version control nothing is ever lost. My systems are laptops, power spikes are moot. For me, the issue is "working context". Rebooting your machine is like clearing off your workbench. If I could "^s to save hibernate state" every 10 minutes..... Ctrl-F2 will get you into the Apple menu. There's a system prefs panel where you can enable full GUI keyboard access. Cmd-` for "alt tab between only this apps windows" Keyboard shortcuts can be sent to apps that have only been focused with the cmd-tab reticle. (cmd-tab three times to "glare at" some other app, cmd-q to quit it, it goes away, you go back to work.) Now this next one, is pure magic. The file system, is smart, really smart. You can rename files and folders and move things around (same-disk context probably gets us) and you don't get .... tripped up, it just works. Sometimes you need to cd . or pwd to figure out where the hell you are, but its mostly great. My biggest dissapointment is that symlinks and Finder Aliases aren't very friendly with each other. ...remap the expose keys. The defaults suck for me. Try this: Enable F-Keys instead of "magic apple keys" by default so you have to use fn-... for volume etc. Map expose: F3: desktop cmd-F3: all app windows fn-F3: ALL windows (apple magic expose key!) I find this a much more useful setup than defaults. Finder is.... yeah, average. But I prefer it over vista's explorer or nautilus. I haven't spent quality time with seven. There's a power version called PathFinder you might like. There's also an pref pane, shareware, cant remember the name, but it gives you _real_ control over sambas share list. Not this poxy users only stuff. .....pretty much all my friends love linux but use Macs, for reasons youve found, they just go, and when you need power, it's there.

I am currently running an Open Beta for our next Real Scenery Downloader application. All feedback would be appreciated. All you have to do is run it and download the free demo tiles, you get a small slice of photo scenery for free. If anything goes wrong with the Downloader, or could be better, report back in the beta thread: http://forums.x-pilot.com/index.php?topic=1069.msg9208#msg9208

New people are always welcome, if I'm short it's because we're all very busy. We have people like Kieran who've come a very long way with their modeling in the last year, it takes time and effort but it can be a lot of fun. Check out some of his work: http://forums.x-pilot.com/index.php?topic=961.msg8126#msg8126 I also have a new release of Gizmo planned soon which will put some fun toys on the table, it makes programming for X-Plane about as painless as it gets. Stick around, ask questions if you get stuck, we have a lot of X-Plane experts here.

So you're offering to be a beta tester? If you want to learn everything there is to learn about something under someone elses guidance that's an apprenticeship, not a partnership.

Each product is worth looking at on its own merits. A badge means nothing. There are still some good products on the Org store. All of Greg Hofers works are outstanding, as are Nils's. Dan's ERJ has potential from the screenshots that I've seen but life has him a bit pinned down at the moment. ..and the recent F-16 kinda came out of nowhere, I have issues with it, but it has potential and broad detail. There's a lot of talent around.

The difference between Mac and Windows comes down to this... Mac: You run a system update, it says it has to reboot, you say it's allowed to reboot, you go make a coffee and come back to Terminal and Safari refusing to quit in-case you lose work. Windows: You go and make a coffee, you come back, Windows update has run and all your work is gone. This is not exaggeration, this is truth. Today's working truth. Why people buy it I will never understand.

15" MBP, stock. Apple has the specs. (Honestly don't really know or care, it's i5, quad core, has a nice GPU and 4 gigs of ram. Done.)

Well, it's definitiley a real GPU. I'm not a Windows person anymore so the others may chime in with other advice. Are you running Vista 64bit? ...bottom line, you should definitely get a better experience out of your machine.

We use and recommend Komodo Edit as a programmers editor. It's free, run's everywhere, and has almost every tool I want. There is currently nothing better available for me, at any price. http://www.activestate.com/komodo-edit/downloads (Komodo IDE is expensive, and they try and use the website so that you end up buying it...) Other tools: Disco - CD burner. Flip4Mac - WMV support SnapzProX - video recording, like FRAPS. TinkerTool - GUI for tweaking hidden OS X settings, like PowerToys for windows, don't really need it under Snow Leopard though, they got it right so far. I have a few others, but that's the core. I just switched to my MBP and I didn't need to install many extras, almost everything I need from a computer comes in the box ready to go. <3 (Except Xcode, which was like a 2gig download! Yuck!)

You need to post more information about your system to receive any real help. At a guess I would say your OpenGL driver is out of date. As a second guess I would say that your machine might have an Intel CrayolaProcessingUnit (sorry, they simply don't count as GPU's). Update your driver, turn down your settings. The biggest killer in X-Plane can be world detail and detail distances. I have a new MacBook Pro with moderate GPU and VRAM and I have a very nice config that gives me 50fps+ everywhere.

What do you feel you have to offer? We're always on the look out for talent.

Thanks for the help everyone! Regarding Mac OS 10.5, this is not a major concern. I can build a copy of the app on my G5 which still runs 10.5. My major concern with this release has been the download-engine and making sure it completes the files in a fast efficient manner. Seems to do that so far, so I'll work on the minor cosmetics left and we should be able to call it final unless someone reports a show stopper.

If anyone is interested in a Half-Baked leaky piece of scripting-plugin shit that does best in class product activation and then gets the hell out of your face, you can download it at several places FREE of charge. It's called Gizmo. I wrote it. I hear egg's good for the complexion. ....on the up side. If anyones interested in a re-baked leak tested scripting plugin that does best in class product activation as well as a world full of other fun things we've all wanted for years, you will be able to download it at several places soon FREE of charge. That will be the extent of my bullshit marketing hype too. Life's more fun with gloves off. Be a gentleman, be respectable, but call things for what they are. The 787 is marketing crap. Nothing more.

If you guys ever wonder why the X-Pilot community is tiny, and will remain so, remember posts like this. If you want to know why the X-Plane community is suffering, and will remain so, remember products like those that Nicolas is pushing as cutting edge, attempting to stand them up against that available for the FS series. It is a joke, and will remain so until people start to rock the boat. I will rock the boat as hard as I can. My work has it's flaws, I acknowledge them fully. I live in a glass house, I choose my stones with care and attention.

X-Joystick got close.... Gizmo is more deserving of the work. (I hope to re-do XJS in Gizmo scripting soon!)

...a fix will be out soon, I'm just trying to get the particle systems to work nicely.

thanks! your help is appreciated.

Captains, Your help in testing our new downloader would be much appreciated. Bear in mind that the exhaust cowlings may still be hot. This is a beta. Please report any bugs here in the thread or in the bug-tracker directly. http://bitbucket.org/xplugins/real-scenery-downloader/issues/new This new downloader has been re-written from the ground up and should be both faster and more reliable. If all goes well we can push forth with Norcal and all those other lovelies. Downloads Real Scenery Downloader 10.8.beta 1 - Mac Real Scenery Downloader 10.8.beta 1 - Win Linux, I'll get you guys some files asap. It's not a scripted packaging process yet.

You're talking to someone who only just escaped the clutches of a G5 man.

...this one goes way beyond just silly wing tip smoke. It's a nicely featured generic particle effects system. All parameters scriptable. The biggest obstacle with most projects is that we need to find a way to give users control over this stuff. This leads to 5 million different types of INI file. Lua was invented to kill INI files. Seriously. Gizmo uses Lua. Soon, soon! I'm thinking about starting a "bleeding edge" thread for brave souls that want to play with daily/weekly builds.

very unlikely that REX was used.

I know nuthingk!

Saitek only make drivers for Windows, I'd rather push keys by hand.