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chris k

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Posts posted by chris k

  3. PREVIEW - X-Plane 10 Tree Lines and Farms V2

    in Scenery Development

    Posted · Edited by chris k

    I am very glad someone has figured out how to increase the rayleigh scatteing effect

     

    One of my quirks was that, although atmospheric scattering was an option, it was never pronounced enough to be more like "what you see out the window" in real life.

     

    I read in the other thread that Ben is totally opposed to increasing the effect; which is a shame, as I think everyone out there will probabaly use the dataref editor.script/plugin to give this effect.

     

    John - Want to add this natively int SkyMAXX? (just a few datarefs you gotta poke as part of your UI =)..)

     

    - CK.

  9. Tiling Custom *.pol

    in Scenery Development

    Posted · Edited by chris k

    [x] use texture map

    Disable that in WED before you draw the POL.

    Top left of the WED window.

    Nothing to do with the .pol text file. The option to treat the texture as a "use once" texture vs "tile this " texture is handled internally by WED; not by the external .pol file definition.

    Adjust the zoom level of the texture in the .pol by the SCALE parameter. Adjust the texture rotation in WED via holding down SHIFT and rotating the texture while clicking on the middle of the object.

    • Upvote 1

  11. What did you fly today?

    in Screenshots

    Posted · Edited by chris k

    Are you proving just how much it takes to make my pc crawl? :)

     

    Naw. Not yet. That was something I'm hacking together as a test.

     

    Here's where I'm going to kill your FPS:

     

    grinding-away.jpg

     

    Batch Image conversion, Colour Correction and PNG2DDS conversion...... Grind Grind Grind...... (with all 12 cores going flat out)

     

    And the result:

     

    Baron_58_106.jpg

     

    Still much work to be done.

     

    - CK.

    • Upvote 2

  15. Poor Frame Rates and uninstall - requires update urgently

    in SkyMaxx Pro v4

    Posted · Edited by chris k

    The only time I drop below 19 FPS is when I exhaust my VRAM on my video card - Like Cameron, I have a much lesser system than your iMac/GTX780. If you drop to 2FPS you are clearly swapping VRAM. - Is Texture compression on? (You can easily over-fill a 4gb card with 'native' texture resolutions and no compression)

     

     

    Seems harsh I know but I'm sick of developers selling products that don't work as advertised

     

    It does work as advertised for me. The statement is true.

     

     use there hard earned money to fund the beta testing and future development.
     

     

    Rewarding people like John et al for spending their hard-earned time to develop things for the rest of us (who don't have the time to do it) - I don't think anyone in the entire X-Plane community does development as their primary source of income at all.

     

    i.e. the people developing this program is not some "faceless corporation" trying to scam you....they are real people, who are on this very forum, who are very intent on providing an excellent add-on. I don't see *any* level of "sell it and we'll fix it later" attitude going on here - I see quite a professionally packaged product, with the authors who take the time to respond, to enhance, and support their product. I don't think anyone's getting rich here.

     

    BTW the same guys have spent a lot of time in the community developing numerous free add-ons for us over the years - this is one of their first forays into a paid development model. They deserve to be rewarded for taking a good stab at fixing the XP10 cloud system, once and for all... and as mentioned, it does work (and works very well) - but for some reason, not for you.

     

    use there hard earned money

     

    Wait a sec... $40? ​Are you serious? All this over $40? 

     

     

    If this is indeed the case, I don't know how you afforded a 27" 2013 Haswell iMac. Wow... I just re-read your computer. Thats a $3000 system.... *that* is the definition of hard-earned cash - $3000. Not $40. I suppose you also know that the TDP limits in your iMac cooling prevent the i7-4770 in your machine from turbo-ing up for more than a few minutes right? (Meaning, you paid $3000 for a computer that does not operate at the turbo-speeds advertised by apple - By the same logic, I think you should be badmouthing apple on the forums and be demanding a refund from Apple too.... since that was a $3000 mistake, not a $40 one.)

     

    ​Anyways, it appears that it just doesn't work for you.  No need to badmouth - since it obviously does work for many many others.

     
    And - You could always ask for a refund if this is a special circumstance - and you can choose to do it in a classy manner. 
    • Upvote 3

  16. Aerosoft Sky Tools Free X-Plane 10

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by chris k

    Covered in this thread:

     

    http://forums.x-pilot.com/topic/5484-awg-sim-sky-environment-xp-development/?p=67749

     

    < br br br tapatalk br br br/> <br> <br> Tapatalk <br/></br> </br> <p> </br> <br> </eng> <eng> br,/ Tapatalk </br br br br /br br/> <br> <eng br/> <tapa/ br> <br /br> br /br tapa </br> </br> </br> <p> </br> <br> </eng> <eng> br,/ Tapatalk </br br br br /br br/> <br> <eng br/> <tapa/ br> <br /br> br /br tapa </br> br br br/> <br> <br> Tapatalk <br/></br> </br> <p> </br> <br> </eng> <eng> <br> <br> Tapatalk <br/></br> </br> <p> </br> <br> </eng> <eng> br,/ Tapatalk </br br br br /br br/> <br> <eng br/> <tapa/ br> <br /br> br /br tapa </br> </br> </br> <p> </br> <br> </eng> <eng> br,/ Tapatalk </br br br br /br br/> <br> <eng br/> <tapa/ br> <br /br> br /br tapa </br> br br br/> <br>

  17. HOWTO: Using ACFs instead of CSLs for Xsquawkbox

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by chris k

    Alrighty. Looking good on multiple loads - version is indeed "10250" so I know my bounds (Thanks Ben) - I can load multiple ACFs and OBJs now, but just cant get the actual ACF to render in-game. i.e.:

     

    OBJ - Renders fine - this is the B732 ICAO model as an OBJ700 from the xsb_aircraft.txt (Westjet 73x)

     

    737_170.jpeg

     

    ACF - this is the B738 ICAO model as a 1025 ACF from the same xsb_aircraft.txt (Should be an American B738)

     

    737_169.jpeg

     

    If I disable all CSLs, then the "default" that is loaded (as per post #1 in this thread) - this is the exact same above B738 ACF model that wasnt showing (same /path/filemame.acf) - so I know the "ACF" Is actually 'renderable' (if thats a word!) by X-Plane. - i.e. the "American B738" shows up correctly if I don't specify any CSL xsb_aircraft.txt

     

    737_167.jpg

     

    So close, yet so far.... I feel I'm on the tip of having this all working - Might need Wade to "wade in" here on the vatsim forums - perhaps rendering the 'ACF' when you try to 'tell it to render an ACF" is somehow broken in XSB? (and if you don't let it interfere, then it works fine..) =)

     

    - CK.

    • Upvote 3

  18. HOWTO: Using ACFs instead of CSLs for Xsquawkbox

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by chris k

    Alright.... Getting closer - I figure out how to load X-Plane 10.25 ACFs into the config (as well as OBJ700s). I looked up the developer documentation on this, and found the correct directives to use:

    AIRCRAFT <minimum version> <maximum version> <acf file>AIRCRAFT 670 700 __XPFW_PROPS/Turboprops/BE20/Kingair.acf

    so my xsb_aircraft.txt is now:

    EXPORT_NAME __TestCSLAIRCRAFT 0 99999 __TestCSL/B737-800/B738.acfHASGEAR YESICAO B738AIRCRAFT 0 99999 __TestCSL/A320-200Lufthansa/A320.acfHASGEAR YESICAO A320OBJECT __TestCSL/B737-700/B737_WestJet.objHASGEAR YESAIRLINE B737 WJA

    I was using a version of "AIRCRAFT 0 9999 __TestCSL/myaircraft.acf" and it still wasn't loading. I changed the MAX_VERSION to "99999" on the string and it loaded, which leads me to a sneaky suspicion that the internal X-Plane $VERSION is actually "10025" and not "1025" as I originally thought it would be. The last version of X-Plane 9 is apparently "970" for example.  (If someone can figure out how to dump the dataref to see what the actual "version" value that XP10 is using, this is my suspicion if it can be confirmed - i.e. the version-restriction values above need to be >10025)

    Upshot, yes, it loaded the prescribed ACFs and is listed in the ".debug csl" list inside XSB:

    Dumping one cycle map of planes. [1] - B738.acf - XP:XP10:Resources:plugins:XSquawkBox:Resources:CSL:TestCSL:B737-800:B738.acf [2] - A320.acf - XP:XP10:Resources:plugins:XSquawkBox:Resources:CSL:TestCSL:A320-200Lufthansa:A320.acf

    My next snag: The ACFs are not rendering "in-game". (Still tinkering around w/AI setup, number of slots, .debug XXXX commands etc..); but when I disable the aircraft load and instead just let XSB have no aircraft, and instead use the "previously saved" default aircraft, it shows in-game (i.e. when I go back to my previous "dont load anything", bmy ACF indeed works, as this gets saved inside X-Plane's information/settings file upon reload).

     

    Basically, my goal is to do what Toby is wanting above; whereas I have 20 "slots" loaded up with ACFs, and XSB chooses an appropriate ACF model for everything I see out my window. (high-detailed aircraft).

     

    Ben, Dunno if you have any insights here or have delved into XSB before - If not no worries - I'll continue my "plodding along in the dim light" till I make it work. :)

     

    The Result *should* be a list of 20 of Morten's "XPFW-AI" Airplanes loaded into AI Slots 1-19 (which in the XP UI is planes 2-20) which could be a good "canvas" of aircraft for online play. I will also play with "overloading" the list, i.e. 25 planes, and see if there's any type of dynamic switching of ACF slots if a 'higher priority' plane needs to be rendered from one thats currently unused in a slot. (this would be ideal).

     

    Back to tinkering....

     

    - CK

    • Upvote 1

    (Developing for) Linux SUCKS

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    "All I'm asking for is the same treatment as the other two platforms."

     

    A platform is not a human. It has no enshrined bill-of-rights or subject to any type of fair treatment. Human Morality as applied to Operating systems doesn't work here. =(

     

    It it were, I would petition Ben for a BeOS version... and perhaps an AmigaDOS version. I would also take Laminar to court and force them to produce both an Amiga and BeOS version of X-Plane; since they also deserve equal treatment as they're also platforms. (heh, now Im just being silly).

     

    - CK.

    • Upvote 2

    (Developing for) Linux SUCKS

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    One of the tricks of business I was taught as part of my Technical Sales Engineering roles in the past, is that for any technical solution, one generally doesn't say "no" to a customer when they ask for a "one-off" solution (In Telecom we called them 'special assemblies') which you know will take large amounts of time & effort to accomplish.

     

    Instead, you just say, "Sure we can do that, However, the price is going to be $$$$$$$$$$$$ and its going to take XX months to deliver" after doing a quick figure on the development costs, the staffing costs, equipment costs, rough timelines, and a reasonable margin for said product. In effect you let the price make the 'the other guy' say no.... or if he does say "yes" to the price, you indeed have a sizable budget and timeframe to implement said solution.

     

    Hence, for Gizmo - My vote is for Linux development. However, Gizmo for Linux now starts at $32,500 per copy. =)

     

    - CK.

     

    ($30k doesn't even begin to cover a few months of Ben's time - good coders go for minimum $120k/yr around here, so $10k/month is actually market value. He may also elect to bring in others/help on this. I'll also add a $2.5k margin to cover COGS and other items).

     

    P.S. I did something simmilar with a one-off X-Plane airport development proposal that someone approached me with. My initial quote was $10k to begin development. I also needed to hire on-site photographers to gather textures (I even knew someone who did this sort of thing who lived nearby that airport), looked into hiring a plane and GIS company to get some hi-res orthophotos made for the project, added my time and my teams time. I think I was looking around $30k for a final product..... but I would assign all rights to him if they wanted to sell it (i.e. Transferred all intellectual property rights to him)..... However - the guy wanted to only pay us $20.... Hence....

    • Upvote 8

  22. A note of thanks

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    You probably don't hear this enough from satisfied end-users John/Sundog/Ben,

     

    When this product was announced, I was going to buy it anyways just to help support XP-development and give my $0.02c towards you guys whether I ended up using the product or not..... but I must say that I am highly impressed by SkyMAXX. I've had endless fun on VATSIM over Australia for the past 2 days, darting in and out of clouds and being 'gobsmacked' (as they say down here) on numerous occasions when the right combination of cloud, sun, and time of day all conspire to produce a breathtaking and photo-realistic experience.

     

    Thanks for bringing this wonderful add-on to X-Plane 10. & Keep up the good work.

     

    - CK.

    a.k.a. "a satisfied customer, who has no issues installing, running, or operating it."... aka. the 99% =)

     

     

     

     

    • Upvote 5

  23. HOWTO: Using ACFs instead of CSLs for Xsquawkbox

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by chris k

    Here is what I get (picture)

     

    I have not tested against X-Plane 9 or 8

     

    This is XSB-64 under XP10 on my own installation.

     

    Use at your own risk. i.e. I am in no way doing any kind of "technical support" for this. (it's something I did for my own reasons, which I thought i'd mention to the community). If you are getting weird effects, i.e. if it doesn't work out for you, I leave it as an exercise to you to re-install your CSLs.

     

    Why you are getting an upside down aircraft is beyond me... You're on your own from here..!

    • Upvote 2

  24. HOWTO: Using ACFs instead of CSLs for Xsquawkbox

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by chris k

    You're not saying that all the aircraft are going to be the same are you?

     

    Yes, that is precisely what I mean by "The downside is that every other aircraft is always the same"

     

    It does not matter how many Aircraft slots you load up with differing aircraft in slots 3-20, hence the sentence "X-Plane will default to using your 'Aircraft and Situations' aircraft loaded in Slot #2."

     

    Sorry If my original post was unclear. I tried to state things unambiguously as possible.

     

    - CK.

  25. HOWTO: Using ACFs instead of CSLs for Xsquawkbox

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by chris k

    Hi All,

    Ive found a quick-and-dirty way to use a built-in X-Plane ACF instead of the "OBJ 700" CSL

    If you remove everything in the "plugins/Xsquawkbox/CSL" folder, X-Plane will default to using your "Aircraft and Situations" aircraft loaded in Slot #2.

    Basically, I was tired of seeing ye olde "bright-lights and no night textures" Object 700 CSL Items, so I was "tinkering" around with forcing XSB to load OBJ850 or .ACF files instead via the config files. (You know me, always tinkering with the internals of X-Plane =)

     

    Turns out XSB doesn't support loading the newer 850 objects nor the ACF objects at all (or I'm unaware of how to make it do this!) - but in my adventures it had an unintended side-effect of not loading in any CSLs at all. I found to my amazement that when XSB has nothing to load, X-Plane instead renders the first "AI" aircraft in place of any aircraft in the local surroundings when I went online.

    The upshot is that I now have a fully rendered "other aircraft", complete with correct positions of flaps, speedbrakes, landing gear, etc, and uses the modern lighting system (so objects react to HDR and reflect, as well as cast normal lights and strobes). I used the "XPFW" AI-Aircraft library for my "AI" slot #2 - which are optimized aircraft specific for AI or object rendering (you cant fly them, but they are fully detailed on the exterior).

    The downside is that every other aircraft is always the same. However, I find this to be acceptable when flying online. (See pic: The Jetstar A320 next to me is the rendered in-game ACF)

     

    - CK.

     

    post-5973-0-72745400-1388449459_thumb.jp

    • Upvote 3
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