Goran_M

1. Depends on what kind of sim training you're looking for. If you hover the mouse over the top edge of the screen, a menu will appear. You can choose your aircraft from here, set display options, display flight data, etc... The default aircraft are very generic so don't expect high quality systems from them. Start off with the Cessna 172. IMO, very good panel layout, excellent VC and more than enough to get you going. 2. When you hover your mouse over the top edge of the screen, find Options and click on Render settings. You will find all your picture quality stuff in there. Set Airport Detail to Max. Alternatively, there are many airports to choose from over at the x-plane.org download manager. 3. Choosing a livery depends on if the author has added them. If he has, you can select the livery in the in sim menu under Aircraft/Choose livery. If you want to make one, you need a paint kit for the aircraft. 4. Freeware - x-plane.org. Thousands of Freeware add on aircraft over there. I haven't been there in a while but if you want a good GA trainer, Morten's Piper Archer is one of the best freeware add ons you can get. Payware - Of course, http://www.x-aviation.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21 is the place to go for add on aircraft. If you want scenery, http://www.x-aviation.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=24 X-Plane.org also has a store with add ons as well. I cannot comment on those as I don't have any of them. Happy simming.

Getting very, very close. I'm actually enjoying flying this aircraft now. Just about all the switches, knobs and buttons are working. A few adjustments are needed. Some knobs turn too quickly so I need to go over those. This is just a couple of renders I made in some time off I decided to give myself.

Hi Andy and welcome to the x plane world. Thank you for the encouraging and positive compliments. Hopefully other FSX users will be as open minded to trying and accepting X Plane as you have been.

That too. But I did have Planemaker open as well.

I had X Plane AND Planemaker open at the same time and most settings maxed. I don't know about Mac's, but on Windows, at least on my windows system, I lose a LOT of performance when I have those 2 programs open at the same time. Even if I have the Sundowner open, I get 19fps. Without Planemaker open, I get, on average, with all settings maxed out (except AA and AF which are set at 2x and 4x respectively) 21-30 fps. lower fps on the ground and higher fps while flying. Pixel shaders really kill the system. When I disable them, I get about 10fps more. My system is a Dual core E6750 (not the fastest processor), 1GB 9800GT graphics card and 4GB RAM.

Rotating Beacon and light bouncing off the rear control surfaces and empennage. And the light smoothly fades in and out. ATM there is a small bug in the rotating beacon on the top of the tail. We're trying to nut that out. Custom Nav lights. (The Green light in the wing in the foreground.) Another Panel Screenshot

[sarcasm]I love writing manipulator code, testing them and then re-writing the ones that don't work properly. Especially for about 250 switches, knobs and dials.[/sarcasm] The time flies when there's techno music bouncing off my ear drums. 183 done in about an hour. 67 to go.

You're on drugs.

There are unconfirmed statements from Air France "sources" that an Air France concorde has not had it's hydraulic fluid drained and a small team of volunteer engineers are maintaining it.

Thanks for the patience, gentlemen. It is definitely appreciated. We are working very hard on this thing and trying to get it out as quickly as possible. I think I've had about enough coffee, eggs and instant noodles as my body can stand. It's just these last little things that need sorting out.

My wife has already started asking for progress reports on the 747's. I already prepared her for that one and she understands what kind of project it is. Re: Theo and the Earthquakes. Theo lives in Christchurch. About a good 10km from the CBD. We got the reports on the earthquake about 5 minutes after the first one happened and I called Theo immediately. His home phone line was out but his mobile was working. He and his family are ok. I'll let him post whatever else he wants to post.

If only Elle was one of the flight attendants, too. I'd fly Virgin every time

lol. I might have to take them with me. Save my life.

LOL. The missus would still like to have me around. 213am and I'm sitting here furiously typing away at this manual. Occasionally I check the forums to see what's new. The manual will be ready soon. Coding is still being done, but only the little bits and pieces that take very little time. Manipulators will get added on the weekend and the aircraft will be up by the 28th. I would love to show screenshots but they would be nothing you haven't already seen and we haven't touched the visuals for a while. Everything that has been done in the recent past has been code, manual and a few minor texture fixes. I would love to put together a video but I just haven't had the time to do so. Not long to go.

I'll be including all specs in the manual.

Something the creator of 2 and a half men said... "I exercise regularly. I eat moderate amounts of healthy food. I make sure to get plenty of rest," the message read. "I see my doctor once a year and my dentist twice a year. I floss every night. I've had chest x-rays, cardio stress tests, EKG's [heart checks] and colonoscopies. "I see a psychologist and have a variety of hobbies to reduce stress. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t do drugs. I don’t have crazy, reckless sex with strangers. "If Charlie Sheen outlives me, I'm gonna be really pissed."

Sorry Peter. Didn't see your post. All I will say is it is possible to model anything in Blender.

The rendering is very basic settings. 2 directional lights (front quarter rear quarter), 20% specular and 80% diffuse material and an ordinary clay render with a bit of shine. The difference is, I have no restrictions on polygons. That model so far has 614 000 quads and it's just the front wheel assembly.

Something to avoid getting x plane burnout. A small side, side project. BMW R1150 GS

Thanks D. Appreciate the comment.

I wish it was that easy. We've got a very full plate for at least the next 2 years with what we have planned (After the 747 series). One of which is that Hawker 4000. Yes, I plan on finishing that. Probably during 747 development. Although it does look as though the DC-3 will be my first side project.

Since I finished the GPU for the Saab, I have started other work. 1 of these is continuing work on the DC-3. I'll be more than happy to post WIP screenshots some time in the next week after I take care of a few things. Looks like a decent site. I'll be checking it out.

I got some free time... ;D

GPU is done. Tire tread has been added and a few more touch ups have been done. Might adjust the tire tread a little. It's very low poly but I added as much detail as I could while taking the low poly count into consideration.

We could release the plane right now without the extra coding and it would fly just fine. But we wanted to add the extra coding for added realism and immersion with a few more realistic systems. All I'm doing is adding a few extra bits and pieces to add a "that's cool" factor. Unless an act of God happens, it WILL be released no later than Feb 28th. If not, my wife will kneecap me and throw me in front of a train before throwing me into an active volcano. What can I say, That's Love!