Goran_M

It's getting a little noisy again...

So you're saying the Saab will take 12 years to finish? I'd prefer to be compared to PMDG. They take 4-8 years to finish an add on.

It's not the real Austin Meyer.

Possibly.

Everything is still in pieces. The 3D mesh is being textured and Lukasz has managed to run tests and refine the radial engine management using just key and joystick button assignments. In saying that, no one would be able to make sense of what they are seeing in a video anyway. As soon as I get a fully textured cockpit back from Theo, and after I add some of the animations and custom datarefs I get from Lukasz, then we'll see about posting a video. What I have seen so far looks incredible, as far as code and functionality is concerned. Lukasz is very talented...and a little bit crazy for extreme detail. Fortunately, that's a requirement for working with me.

If your computer doesn't start sometimes, then you might have a serious problem with your OS. You may have to run a "repair" on it, or, as I prefer to do, do a clean format and reinstall of your OS.

It's done when it's done. For now, it's not done.

We're HOPING by Christmas. What you have to understand is that the Saab 340 is a very unique aircraft. Powering it up and turning on the avionics switches (there are 3 separate ones that power individual systems) automatically enables the flight director and arms 2 or 3 autopilot modes which also get annunciated on the EADI. I can't remember what they were because I'm saturated in the DC-3 and it's systems. So that has to be coded, even with the Autopilot OFF. Turning the autopilot ON also turns on the Yaw Dampers. But the Yaw Dampers can stay on with the Autopilot turned off. Activating an autopilot mode doesn't always turn it on. It simply arms it. When it's armed, the EADI annunciator for that mode flashes white for 5 seconds then stops. When it activates, it turns Green. An example of this would be the NAV mode. The NAV mode will arm when the button for it is pressed, but unless you are on an intercept course for the radio beacon, it will stay white and you are still in full control of the aicraft. Once on an intercept course, it then changes to Green and locks on to the radio beacon. This is just a couple of examples of the kind of realism that is getting added. Trust me, there is a LOT more. Never has the term "tip of the iceberg" been more aptly applied. Believe me, we ALL want this one out as quickly as possible, but we want it done right the first time.

Cameron is putting in a lot of coding hours on the Saab. The code has been built up and stripped back a few times making it as efficient and accurate as possible. If you asked me a time frame for when it will be finished, we honestly couldn't tell you. Hopefully, before Christmas.

We're in a very nice, smooth "groove" right now with what we have going. If we have time for another side project, it will most likely be the Beech 1900C and D. F-14 will be too much to tackle taking into account what we are doing now with the Boeings. The F-14 has some crazy complex systems. Judging on what's been happening in the last few weeks with the Boeing series, that Beech will take a while. Along with typing up the DC-3 manual, I'm hitting the Boeings pretty hard now with modelling and preparing to provide Lukasz and Theo with all the documentation for systems and flight model info.

Khamsin and Arno have made a VERY nice B-17 and I think it can stand on it's own merit for quite a while. Depending on the circumstances, I will, mostly, not recreate something someone else has done. The B-17, just by looking at it and seeing peoples reaction to it, has had a lot of work put into it. And also, in most cases, imitation is "pale".

We have a few things planned with regards to versions. The fully detailed version is, shall we say, extremely high polygon. I have been assured that x plane can burn up to 800 000 polygons quite easily. The fully detailed version of the DC-3 is a little above that. The un-optimized mesh had about 1.4 million polygons. I have cut quite a bit off that number. So, in saying that, there will be a high poly model and a low poly model (Where I'll take out the Flight crew rest area, bathroom objects, galley, etc...) I'm still deciding what I'm going to do with the float version. Whether I'll include it in the original package at a slightly higher cost or make it available as a separate "upgrade". There is a bit of extra work that has to be done to the float version. More objects, extra textures, animations and also adjustments to the flight model. These are all still up in the air and will be discussed in the coming weeks among Cameron and myself. There are a couple of differences between the passenger DC-3 and the C-47. Most notably, the tail section. But that shouldn't be too difficult to change. I'll keep the updates coming in the next few weeks.

It's a custom dataref that was coded in Gizmo. The dataref is: LES/DC3/bathroom/hygeine/toilet_paper/unroll

I'll answer that question with a textured screenshot very soon.

Nope. Already been done. This is an early one with some transparent surfaces. Something else.

It's finally off to the "Paint Shop". Theo has started UV mapping and texturing today. I have 1 or 2 more small things to do to the cabin but these are just "visual enhancements" that Theo doesn't need until a little later. I'll be shooting myself in the foot for saying this, but we're hoping (in fact I'm pretty sure) to get it done and out the door by early December. We'll post screenshots of a textured cockpit in the coming days/weeks.

lol. Cameron. Just to add to that, while I've been working on the DC-3, Theo has been programming on the 747. It's slow going, but it's moving along.

First thing on my mind in the morning and last thing on my mind at night is how am I going to model the next object. I don't wake up in the middle of the night yet.

I think you overestimate what people will think about PM-only aircraft with simple panels. In the 2+ years I've been in X Plane, I have seen a lot of dodgy stuff in the org download manager. But hey, it's freeware and these guys give it a good go. My hats off to them. We all have to start somewhere and you can only get better by learning from your mistakes. No one will look down on what you make if you give it a solid effort. On the contrary...you will be applauded. If you really want to make better quality aircraft, then research it. Work your craft. Read. Buy books and videos. Learn Blender, AC3D or whatever program you choose. Ask questions, but don't expect anyone to do it for you. No one was born with a gift for modelling in 3D or texturing in Photoshop. We all started somewhere. Dan Klaue has made a good set of videos for anyone willing to start out with aircraft development. I won't say it's a comprehensive, fully featured set of videos, but it is definitely enough to get you up and running. If you want to start with something of payware quality, start with a single engine GA with a simple panel. Anything bigger and you're setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. DON'T make the mistake of starting with a 747-400 or something of that calibre. It seems that every man and his dog wants to make one of those when they start in aircraft development. That's not being thrown into the deep end...it's being thrown into a damn whirlpool and it amazes me when I see the confidence in someone who says they will make one with all the custom features it involves...without ever opening a 3D program or photoshop or seeing "C++" and thinking it's a typo that has 1 too many +'s. Would you let a person who has never touched an engine fix your car after just reading about it on wikipedia? A GA will enable you to learn a lot (more than you think) about what you are doing and at the same time will give you a feeling of satisfaction that you completed something that didn't really take long. Just look at Carenado. He has about 18 thousand (slight exaggeration) GA's and making a good living out of it. Ok, I'm getting too deep. I need a coffee.

Safe to say X-Pilot is THE new hub for x plane community news. Seeing as Cameron posts news of X-Plane 10, x-plane.org products and X-Aviation products on the front page of X-Pilot...without any kind of payment or bias towards any one developer and an open discussion under each news article with no one saying "buy an ad".

Just got this in my email. Perhaps something for you Corvalis pilots to have a look at. http://www.pcaviator.com.au/store/The-Garmin-G1000-And-Columbia-400-video.html

Lukasz is a programming mad man. he's asked me "Do you want me to code this?" a few times when it came to specific systems and the flight model and he does it.

Make sure you get the video camera out!