Goran_M

We're getting closer and adding more "surprises" to the Saab, lately. I was debating with myself whether I should put these screenshots up (for about a week) and have decided I wanted to show where we are going with this. Propellors will have realistic animation using a technique that X Plane allows. Also, look closely at the engine hub. You will see a work in progress reflection of the fuselage in the prop hub. Also, fyi, the engines have been re-done since this screenshot was taken. Theo asked if I could get rid of the seams running all over them as he can add them as a texture, also, on top of that, it will improve performance and generally look better. It's definitely moving forward and will be ready soon. We're spending a ridiculous amount of hours to get this finished asap. We're looking at some time in the 2nd half of february. (Fingers crossed!)

It was my turn to make gutterall sounds this time. Jason made a couple of renders with some really nice lighting and shadow effects.

Great to see you Mike and thanks heaps for using my forums to introduce yourself! Good to see more MSFS users getting a taste of X Plane and liking what they see. Hopefully more will follow you in the transition and see the benefits of BOTH sims. (Of course with a strong preference towards X Plane!) Cheers Goran

Great to see you have signed up, Terrence. You're more than welcome to share any texturing tips with us, should you have the time. Thanks for showing an interest in X-Plane. (BTW, for those of you that don't know, Terrence is Lead Designer for McPhat Studios) Cheers Goran

Not meaning to sound like I'm bashing PMDG, but 37px/m would look better on an aircraft the size of the Saab (less area to cover) than the MD11. Theo has basically crammed more into a smaller package to make sharper and clearer detail. Goran

Many thanks. I'm looking into that. Like Ola said, it appears to be an x plane issue, but I'll try to get it looking right. Cockpit is being overhauled (textures). Won't take long. Maybe another few days.

Thanks, Chris. Doing my best. I'm hoping I won't disappoint. Cheers Goran

Another one. Don't get too excited. It's not a sim screenshot. But it sure took me by surprise when it popped in my dropbox.

Getting there... The obj props have not been added yet and lights are still to be accurately positioned.

Cabin textures are still too rough to show and Cockpit textures are being worked on. What I CAN show you of the cockpit are these: They are pretty much final with some textures to be added to the armrests and base. They were a little hard to texture properly on the old mesh. So, I completely re-modelled them to have better resolution and a more "cushy" look to the cushions. Hope you like the sheepskin. ;D Goran

Possibly. We'll see what we can come up with. No guarantees. Goran

After much exporting and experimenting, we're down to just half the overhead and a few very tiny niggly pieces on the main panel needing to be animated. I thought I might show you guys a small peek at what Reuben has been doing when he should be working. These just popped into my dropbox a few hours ago. (Love ya Roobz!) These textures are by no means final. They are purely for reference to see the effect of different lighting on a work in progress texturing workflow. The obj fuselage has been coded to add some shine and it is playing havoc with the texture maps resulting in unrealistic colors which Theo is slowly working around to get JUST RIGHT. We're aware of the very few errors in the screenshots, so for the Hawk-Eyed amongst you, no need to tell us what they are. Goran

Just a small heads up. In case people are possibly wondering why there haven't been any more renders of the 747, I haven't worked on it at all in the last few days as I'm getting the Saab manual finished along with getting the last few animations done with Reuben. When it's finally finished, it'll be a massive push to get the other 3 aircraft done. Hawker 4000 programming, Bonanza (FINALLY!) and the 747. Goran

Joining the panels isn't terribly difficult. I used to just eyeball it but as of about 3 months ago, pretty much around the time I started making the Saab, I use the Snap tool quite excessively. It's extremely accurate and fast. The main problem I have is scaling the individual panels to make sure they are the right size in relation to the surrounding panels. But I found a way to do that fairly accurately too. I can certainly understand the intimidation factor of a cockpit with so many knobs, gauges and dials. But that's part of the fun. I assure you, once you get it started and take off, it's all routine. Goran

Thanks Zach. My wife has a different reaction. She keeps saying "You're at that computer more than a teenager!" Re: the inverted triangles. Is this what you're talking about? That took about 2 hours to model correctly. It's a very unusual shape. Goran

I've managed to shave off another 10 000 quads from the cockpit and made very little change to the visual appearance. So in between that and working on the Saab, I managed to make another panel. Took a few days but it wasn't as tedious as the throttle console. I was having a few small issues with the join between the throttle console and main panel so that is still be done. I did do it a few days ago, but didn't like the way it joined. Too many polys so I have to find another way to make it a clean join. Feedback welcome! And for the technically curious, a couple of wireframes...

Reuben is having (too much) fun flying the Saab with about 80% of the animations done. Everything but some of the overhead panel is animated and working perfectly. Textures are being finalized, the last of the systems are being tied into the overhead and are closely matching the actual AOM of the real Saab aircraft and the remaining bugs are being ironed out. Once I get the final version from Reuben, there will be a small beta period while I finish off the manual, then it's going to be made available. Pricing is still TBA. The deadline I gave ourselves was end of January, but to be honest, I'm guessing, realistically, it will be somewhere around mid February. There are many systems we are simulating and it is very tedious work. We are trying desperately to finish it by end of January, but I don't want to commit to that date. What I can tell you for certain is, it is flying, and everything, from what we have seen, is working as it should. Goran

Progress is being made at a decent rate again. The overhead has quite a few systems tied into it and the gauges on the main panel that were giving us problems are now somewhat co operating with us but it's all being done at a nice steady pace. I've never been happy with the seats and Theo has asked if I could do them again as they were a little difficult to texture. So they will be done in the next day or 2 with quite a bit more detail. Reuben has been showing me some progress "alpha" flights in the simulator via skype screen sharing and it looks absolutely brilliant. Animations are all working and the displays and the vast majority of the switches and gauges are working flawlessly. I feel I have to apologize to those that are waiting for this, as I said it would most likely be ready by Christmas and it's now been almost a month overdue. Yes, we could have released it for Christmas if it was rushed, but as I said in another post, we want it to be something that we can be judged on for future products. In saying that, I have set a deadline for us to have it ready and that deadline is fast approaching. The moment it's ready, I will mention it in these forums. Goran

Thanks Maxime. For anything Saab related, please check the Saab forums for updates. Thanks Andy, AFAIK, PC Pilot will be reviewing many new x plane add ons, including X-Aviation products, so I'm hoping my work will be among them in the near future. Ouch! Ouch! and Thank you.

Starting to come together. This was just an experiment to see how it all fits together, any scaling that needed to be done, any missing parts, etc... I won't be positioning the overhead and FE panel yet as they have to be angled and I want them to be UV mapped before I position them. Comments, feedback, opinions are always welcome. Goran

The throttles and throttle console are a very "organic" shape. Lot's of round surfaces. And if it's not modelled right, it can look really messy. I'm definitely happy with how it turned out, but it was a rough road to get there. In any case, it's always nice to read positive comments. So thank you! Goran

Only took 3 days... :-\ Goran

One of my original plans when I started the 747-200 was to continue the series with a -400 somewhere down the line. It's definitely most peoples favorite aircraft, as well as mine. Not to mention the cockpit being easier to make than the -200. The 1 huge problem with it is the programming involved for all the various systems. From what I understand, and I could be wrong, the -400 has approximately 250 "amber warning" messages on the EICAS. That doesn't include Red Warning messages. And all those messages have to be tied into the different custom systems. Not to mention the FMC that has to continuously show updated calculations in real time during flight. I'm only speculating, but I'm guessing programming for such an add on would take between 6 months to a year. I'm not saying I would never do it. What I am saying is I would like to have a committed programmer who is willing to take on the project. I guess we'll wait and see what happens after the -200. Goran

Easily one of the hardest things I've had to model. Believe it or not! Goran

747SP=747 Special Performance http://www.747sp.com/Explained.asp Goran