add virtual cockpits

[m@x]

how can i add a virtual cockpit to an aircraft?

[Hagar]

Not possible I'm afraid. The DVC is part of the visual model which can't be changed without the original source file & the design application used to create the aircraft. Many 3rd party aircraft don't have this feature. You could always look for an FS2000-style panel with extra view windows. These work well with these designs.

[dave3cu]

Hi max,

Dont know 'how', but the v/c is part of the .mdl file, is created as part of the aircraft visual model, using a modeling tool such as GMAX or FSDS.

A look at the 'Aircraft & 3D Design' forum should put you on the right track.

Dave

[Hagar]

Dave. You're quite correct about the VC being part of the MDL file. Unless you're a competent designer with the original source file it's not possible to add one to an existing aircraft.

[m@x]

thats a pity!!!!  i have added the md-11 (fedex) thats my favorite aircraft but without virtual cockpit i can't fly!!!
the normal cockpits are not realistic

[dave3cu]

Holy Cow.....got one right....

Thanks Hagar,

Never got into aircraft design, not enough patience, I guess. Closest I came was completing the house tut. in GMAX......now if I could just get it to fly........

But give me a .CFG file...it's party time!!!

Cheers,
Dave

[Hagar]

Hi Dave. I fiddle around with most things, design being just one. I know the basics but don't claim to be an expert at anything. "Jack of all trades" & all that. You're probably better at CFG tweaking than me.

m@x. For every person like you who likes the DVC there's probably 10 more who hate the idea. They're difficult to create properly & involve a lot of extra work. Most FS designers don't bother.

[Moach]

i have to disagree on that

i only play from the DVC, and if it were up to me, there'd be no 2D panel whatsoever

i do agree that there should be a way to add them separately, like in CFS 3 (microsoft didn't add that feature to FS9 because they wanted the older planes to be compatible.... i think it was one of the worst ideas they've had so far)

i don't think DVC's are that difficult to create. and even if they are, they're as much a part of the aircraft as any other.
i believe a plane without a DVC is incomplete, and i do not download planes that don't have them.

i am working on a plane myself (my first), and you can bet it's gonna have a DVC.


so, to sum up:

DVC, good

[Travis]

I agree with Moach:  DVCs are not at all hard.  its just understanding what the sim wants from an aircraft model.  All the DVC contains is a texture on the panel that isn't really a texture.  Its just a template for the sim to "draw" a texture that has all the gauges you specify.  These gauges are specified in the panel.cfg, that contains the name of the file to be created by the sim and then the location of the gauges on that file.  The gauges can be mapped on a 2D template using CfgEdit and then transferred into the panel.cfg.  Its was the easiest part of learning aircraft creation.  Probably took me three hours to figure out.

SO any aircraft designer that doesn't even attempt a DVC is just lazy.  They aren't taking the time to find the tutorials and research just a little bit.  That's all it would take.

[Hagar]

Well Ender, I've been messing around with the DVC since long before FS2002 was released, let alone FS2004. I was both privileged & flattered to be asked to test Joe Amodea's original DVC tute for FSDS1 - now posted in the CFS2 section - before it was generally released. This pioneering development was done with the co-operation of some members of the CFS2 development team & also featured on the M$ official site.

The panel with functional gauges is only one part of it. Anyone can reverse the polys on the fuselage to make a basic virtual cockpit. The difficult & time consuming part is all the other fiddly bits & animations. People expect all the bells & whistles these days, even from freeware. Unless you have the skill & knowledge to do that, forget the DVC & use an FS2000-style 2D panel with extra view windows. This is by far the better option. IMHO

[Travis]

I take it from "fiddly bits & animations" you mean things like moving gear levers and mixture, prop and throttle levers, right? Well, that's the easy part.  I got that down before I even thought about a true DVC.  That's just extra animation stuff, and the part names for Gmax are all listed in the MakeMDL SDK.  Basicaly, I just don't understand why no one will put the kind of time and effort in to an airplane to make it what it could be.  For me, a complete aircraft is the best thing there is.  Incomplete ones are okay, but I always run up against the limits of it after awhile.  And if there were an easy way to edit the models, I wouldn't have anything to say about it.  But its the fact that an aircraft can't be edited by anything other than the original author and program that really gets to me.

[Hagar]

I can see it from both sides. It might help to go back in the history of FS. Ever since I became interested in the development side of this hobby my dearest wish was to be able to create my own DVC. It might not be generally realised now but the FS98 & CFS1 default aircraft have a DVC. This feature was dropped with the release of FS2000 with the result that the FS designers were restricted to the 2D panel with extra view windows like the defaults. CFS2 retained the DVC which is where Joe Amodea & a group of dedicated freeware developers came in. They made the big breakthrough with the help of Louis Sinclair (FSDS author) & co-operation of the M$ development team. After Joe's tute was published most 3rd party CFS2 aircraft had a full DVC. Our own Pete was one of the few 3rd party designers to release an aircraft with a full DVC for FS2000 although the graphics engine was not really suitable.

Most FS designers were unaware of these developments & lagged behind the CFS2 guys even after FS2002 was released with its full DVC on some defaults. Others, like the default Lear45 were straight out of FS2000 with the same old 2D panel.

I hope this explains the situation & the reason the DVC is not popular with all FS users or designers. Many dislike the idea as much as you & Moach like it. Ask RollerBall for his opinion.

Meanwhile, I rarely use a panel view at all. I usually hit W & fly in HUD mode (CFS2) known as Clear View or Mini-panel View in FS. I actually find this more realistic.

PS. There is also the complexity of the model to take into account. Models with a full DVC can be very graphics intensive & are usually unsuitable for use as AI traffic. Joe also published a tute on multi-LOD models at around the same time as his DVC tute. This concept is very popular in CFS2 as these models are less graphics intensive & improve frame rates in furball missions with a lot of AI aircraft. I have never seen one multi-LOD 3rd party aircraft released for FS.