Tomorrow

Hopefully the FSX version of the Bristol Fighter will be uploaded to Avsim tomorrow. Other sites will follow in due course. In the meantime a couple of preview pics.

And another couple of days........

Yep.... still not released :D

I've created another 9 skins for starters, giving me 10 all up for the initial releases. Initial releases? Yep I've created some variations on the visual model so there will be more than one download when it is released.

I've finished all the skins and can see a few bits and peices to fix up and also make some minor changes to virtual cockpit textures. Next up is a new config file and putting all this together.... after that check everything out in sim and then if ok.... release. Whew!!! (After that a break.... various things will flow through to FS9 and CFS3 all in due course.... there's a lot to this aircraft creation business.)

until then

cheers

Rob

FSX Biff update... almost there

What I had initially intended to complete for the FSX Biff is now complete. There was a delay of a couple of days due to code for the fuel selector switch not doing as I wanted. This morning I dropped the approach used by MS for their fuel selectors in FS2004/FSX and coded my own from scratch. It does what I want when I want.

Presently I am doing a few skins and minor visual variations. So hang on it may take a couple of days more :)

cheers

Rob

'Biff' Almost X-ified

The FSX version of the Bristol Fighter is almost complete and should be released sometime this week. I have just a couple of cockpit animations to figure out and we're there. The tedious job of converting all the LOD models is complete. I may create a couple of new skins I have in mind time permitting.

The mdl files are some size. The mesh of the external model for all 3 sims, FS9/CFS3/FSX is almost the same yet the CFS3 m3d weighs in at 3+ MB while the FSX mdl is 14+mb. The fsx vc is 13+ mb. Needless to say the download files will be large. I'll probaly release other variants seperately.

Anyway here are a few more pics. (PS.... check out the bump mapped leather combing..)

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish my blog readers a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous and happy New Year.

Hopefully 2007 will be very productive for me.

2006 has seen me on multiple learning curves ...... completing the Bristol Fighter; doing my own flight modelling and texture art; learning and refining 3D modeling techniques; modeling and animating characters; xml parts animation for FS2004 and now FSX; beta testing FSX and more recently the FSX SDK SP1.

Work on the FSX Bristol Fighter is still ongoing. Despite the SDK there is much to learn in developing for FSX and much trial and error is involved. I spent 4 days last week just tweaking my crew members and getting them to animate to my satisfaction. They shade somewhat differently in sim than they do in 3DS Max and much tweaking and trial and error was required to get them looking right across a variety of lighting conditions. However once things are learned they stay learned and matters should speed up soon.

I had hoped to have the 'Biff' for FSX out by now but alas all this tweaking, Christmas arrangements and job interiews have delayed matters a little. I still have the airfile to adjust once the visual model is complete.

The Sopwith Snipe for FSX/CFS3 is still on the list..... sometime in Q1 2007.

Merry Christmas

Rob

Bristol Fighter FSX Update

Here are a few pics of the FSX version of the Bristol Fighter. The crew are complete. The external model and textures have been updated to FSX standard. I have some further work to do on the specular maps.

I have only used a little bit of bump mapping on this occasion. Actually I'm not exactly impressed with bump mapping as at stands at present in FSX. One has to export the bump map from photoshop using the Nvidia plugin and then further convert using the SDK Imagetool utility. Imagetool introduces pixel artifacts on fine parts of the maps thus it is not suitable for fine detail unless one uses large textures. Bump mapping is to be used sparingly for the time being. The results are somewhat course IMHO. Rivets and panel lines are still best acheived using conventional textures. This opinion may change given time and different methodologies.

I still have the VC to fix up and some xml animations to puzzle out and also tedious work in converting the lods over to FSX standard. Once this is released then on to the FS9 version which will also need lod work and the crew added. I'm still hoping pre Christmas for the X version and we'll have to see for the FS2004 version. The poor Snipe has had little work in the last 2 months save for being used to test the FSX SDK tools.

Anyway here are the pics.......




PS almost forgot.... the crew will be included in a future CFS3 Biff update and also one of them will be in the Sopwith Snipe.

Cheers

Rob

The dudes revisited

My two ww1 aircrew are just about ready to go into my FSX Bristol F2b 'Biff'. (external model ... not VC). They'll also follow in the external models of FS9 F2B version and one will go in the extrenal model of the Snipe - all versions.



Afternoon update - one more pic.... and a slight addition.... those who know my surname will get it. ;)



cheers

Rob

3D Gauge animations in FSX

As I continue to work on FS9 and FSX (Flight Simulator X) versions of the 'Biff' (Bristol F2B) I have been learning how to create new animated parts using xml code. A few days into this learning process the FSX SDK SP1 was released to beta test and straight onto coding XML animation for FS X.

I have been using the Biff to give the FSX SDK a good workout. The external model FSX version of the Biff is straight conversion of the CFS3 version with FSX materials replacing CFS3 materials and additional animated parts such as animated control wires which one cannot do in CFS3. I'll post more on the material side of things of FSX in a future post.

There is a growing trend, these days, as exemplified by products such as the RealAir Spitfire, to use XML animated 3D instruments instead of the more usual XML or C++ 2D gauges. CFS3 was the first to use this methodology. However CFS3 was limited in that one was limited to gauge animations hard coded into the sim. All one could do in CFS3 was create new artwork and keyframe in 3DS Max/gmax. With FS9 came the ability to create one's own XML animated parts by creating and adding the appropriate xml animation code to makemdl.parts.xml, a component of the MakeMDL SDK in FS9 (FS2004). Just about any part for which a variable existed in the sim could be animated if desired.

However FSX has now arrived and with that an all new animation system. The new animation differs in that all animations have to be keyframed in 3DS Max/gmax. There are no hard coded animations in FS X. Animations such as wheels and propellors have to be key frame animated. There are no rotation animations.

Initially I thought the loss of rotation animation codes would be a problem but so far I have found a simple solution for most needle animations and compass animations without resorting to maths and code statements. I have posted some of my findings at the Freeflight Design forums. I had hoped to post here but the Blogspot software messes up my xml tags in a big way.

Airspeed Example used in FS X Bristol F2b
Compass example for a British Mk5 Compass used in Biff - can be used for any similar compass.

The animation creation process will be covered in the SDK when ACES release it. Hopefully that won't be too far away. There are only a handful of beta testers testing this. However we have all been busy.

Biff-X

Very brief update. I am very busy as usual. I have been busy beta testing the FS X SDK beta update these last 10 days or so. I must say I am very pleased. In the field in which I am most interested, aircraft creation, we have much that is new, especially new animation procedures and a new materials system.

There are no hard coded animations and every part that is animated has to be key framed. The plus side of this is that animated parts can have any name. The animations are attached to coded animations, in a modeldef.xml file, via a maxscript animation tool in 3dsMax/gmax. This is very useful for logical ordering of animations. The SDK also contains instructions on how to create and add new animated parts to the modeldef.xml file.

Material properties are now quite complex and require more than a little bit of work to achieve the correct effect. However the results are worth the effort.

To test the SDK I have exported and converted the CFS3 Biff to FS X mdl. The mesh initially exported without any problems. The animations took a few hours to figure out but worked without any problem. I am in the process of creating materials for the Biff. Self shadowing does not require any special modeling techniques that I can see. By using manifold meshes the modeler can improve the quality of shadows however manifold meshes involve large poly counts and would be difficult to achieve in a detailed biplane.

I have also been busy creating xml animated 3D gauges for FS9 and also soon for FSX.

All this has delayed the Sopwith Snipe somewhat, though I have had fun flying the incomplete Snipe in FSX. Don't worry I will resume work on the Snipe as soon as the Biffs are out for FS9/FSX.

Here's a pic of the Biff over Brisbane.

CFS3 Stuff

Still to come for CFS3..... they haven't been forgotten. Don't know when they'll be complete though.

Sopwith Snipe
Sopwith Baby
BV P212.03
Me P1112
Boulton Paul Defiant.

Maybe...... well a big maybe ............... some more Biff stuff too.... we'll see :)

cheers

Rob