Goran_M

TBA means "To Be Announced" I have a price in mind for it but we (Cameron and myself) want to see how it is in the simulator and then determine a fair price for everyone. Goran

For those of you running an nvidia graphics card, DO NOT DOWNLOAD THE 196.75 DRIVERS. Nvidia have since removed them from their site, but they were up for a few days. In the majority of cases, these drivers cause the card to severely overheat because of an incorrect registry setting that controls the fan speed. Uninstall these drivers immediately and roll back to the previous version. 196.21. Goran

It's about as optimized as it can get. I did give it the once over before getting it UV mapped. Theo gets very angry if I change something once he's uv mapped it. It means UV mapping that object all over again and he has had to give in and do it a few times.

There's obviously a reason for the secrecy. But all will be explained later. Goran

Thought I might start a new thread instead of continuing it in Javiers forum. Got these new images in my email. Once again, I have to say it is not me making it.

I still have to have it tested by 3 Saab pilots and they each have different systems but we're not at that point yet. I can speak for myself, though. My specs: Windows 7 Intel E6750 Dual Core CPU 4GB RAM Nvidia 9800GT 1GB DDR VRAM All x plane enhancements at max. AA at 4x Anisotropic at 16x And I'm getting around 30fps occasionally dipping to 20-24 around a highly detailed airport like YSSY (freeware version from x-plane.org) running at 1280x1024 resolution.

I'm quite sure people will be happy with what's being done. Hopefully not too long now. Goran

What I have tried to achieve with this project is to bring an aircraft into x plane in a short time with as many features as possible. Yes, there are some features that will not be added to it (custom programming for the displays) but these are simple diagnostics messages that give information to the pilots about the aircraft. There is also a function unique to the Saab called "CTOT". Basically (Very basically) what this does is maintain engine thrust on take off. The pilot advances the throttles to approximately 80% take off power and the CTOT system takes over by adding fuel to the engines and making sure the engines stabilize at the correct take off setting. Kind of like a TOGA function in an airliner. I guess it could be modelled with out of the box datarefs but it would not be as accurate as a custom job. Basically, a large majority of what is available in the real Saab will be available in this one.

LOTS has been happening, lately. I've been trying to use my time efficiently among my current projects to make sure everything will be done. Seems to be working. More mesh optimizing has been done to the 747 with a further 15 000 quads getting deleted and little to no detail being lost. The detail that has been lost will not even be noticeable. ALL gauges will have as much resolution and detail as I can efficiently put into them. What I actually wanted to mention was that the 747 progress has slowed down (not stopped) as I am focused on the Saab. I actually made a render of the 747 recently and haven't really gotten around to showing it. It's coming along nicely, though. The glareshield is a work in progress. Work continues...

The rain effect is very cool. But I noticed something that actually freaked me out. The flickering CRT screen on the FO side. Now THAT'S cool! Nicely done.

SSSHHHHHH!!! Don't tell them that! Their excuse is "we are limited by the constraints of the sim".

The Hawker 800 was Jason's project. He is very keen on finishing it so I will try to convince him to do it. The only other Hawker bizjet I have plans on finishing is the Premier 1/1A. That won't take too long as the flight model is already done (I finished it early last year). As for the other bizjets, we'll see how things pan out. My main priority now is the Saab, Hawker 4000, Bonanza A36 and G36 (yeah, I'm doing them both) and the 747. I'll definitely make my intentions known as the weeks go by. Goran

This project is definitely still alive. The person doing the programming is waiting to start work. However, as with any kind of work, he must be paid. As soon as the Saab is released, the programming on this add on will start. Goran

Ok, here's the situation. About 3 weeks ago, work stopped on the animating as Reuben had a few things to take care of. Now his time is taken up by school and his time dedicated to the Saab is extremely limited. So I had to make a choice and, unfortunately, took him off the project as I always say school is more important than any other activity. Originally, I had Jason in mind to help me animate everything so we can get it done fast without rushing it. However, I asked someone else who could finish it on his own. This person agreed and is a master at animating in AC3D. If the average developer can animate something in 5 minutes in Blender, this guy can do the same animation in 30 seconds in AC3D. I don't really want to say who it is. That's up to him if he wants himself to be known. The only thing is, everything needs to be UV mapped before we export it to AC3D and Theo is making sure it's all done. Because of this setback, we had to push the target back to early March, which includes the manual. It better be done by early March. My birthday is mid March and I want it out before then.

Who's working??? I'm on a sun lounge in the Maldives. Oh wait! Thats some time later this year. Damn. Back to work, I guess.

Yeah Theo. How did you manage that??

This is a list of things that need to be finished. 1) the overhead needs some tweaking...just switches moving the right way, maybe some datarefs changed etc... 2) 1 hr tidying the gear animations up 3) placing and animations of cockpit side panels 4) texturing LCD panel displays correctly 5) Making engine management gauges work right and display accurately 6) rudder pedal animation 7) ext lighting to be finished 8.) landing lights to be added We're looking at about 7-10 days work for this if things go well. I would love to show some screenshots but not just yet. We want to concentrate on getting all these things sorted. Maybe in a few days. Goran

Like Cameron said, we don't tell everyone everything.

I've been told it's default textures.

It's a lovely day, isn't it? More screenshots soon. And before you ask, it's not me that's making it.

I was having a discussion with someone who will remain anonymous, for the moment. And he said this to me: I just had a shower and i washed my right half and i thought to myself man it would be awesome if i could apply a mirror modifier Needless to say, I cracked up laughing!

Wait for Cameron or Eric to jump back on. They're the scenery experts. Goran

Can't see your picture, but some scenery does not convert properly. You need to download "Overlay Editor" and remove any objects that should not be there. Overlay Editor is very easy to use. Goran

No problem. We all want the realism. And speaking for myself, and I'm sure I speak for the others who work at X Aviation, we're all working very hard to bring the most realistic experience for X Plane. I guess we can only get better as time goes on. Cheers Goran

Welcome to the X Plane world. With regard to the FMS. I have no immediate plans to have a custom FMS programmed into the Saab. Yes, most Saab 340B aircraft have an FMS, but I plan to model the other B versions that don't have it. In the future, I may add it as an "upgrade". The 747-200 that I am making does not have an FMS. It will use INS navigation. It will follow waypoints that are programmed into it but the waypoints can only be entered 9 at a time. Goran