fsx cockpit makeover

[kev13479]

Hello all,
well today i was flying my defalt C172 and it just didnt feel right. So i was coming up with ideas. I would like to make it look more like the C172 cockpit i fly in, is there anyway i can makeover the cockpit without having to pay for a bunch of software?

thanks in advance,

Kev13479   :)

[machineman9]

Are you talking about creating an actual real world structure which looks just like the actual cockpit of the aircraft?

[kev13479]

not exactly,
im talking about making a virtual cocpit with the same avionics and instruments, just putting them in diffrent locations and possibly making more clickable buttons for other aircraft?

[pete]

FS Panel Studio.

Enables easy edit of 2d and 3d panels.

& you will know there are great images out there of real panels/cockpits -- airliners.net / C172 Cockpits being a prime example

[Hagar]

FS Panel Studio works fine with 2D panels. Bear in mind that modifying a VC is restricted to replacing existing gauges with different ones. Once you're familiar with the basic principles this can be done by manually editing Panel.cfg in Notepad.

You can download a trial version of FSPS to check it out. Very handy for checking what different gauges will look like on a panel. http://www.fspanelstudio.com/demoversion.htm

[kev13479]

ok thanks you guys, i didnt know that was restricted, but i would only be using them for personal use on my fsx anyway.
and do you know of anyway i can make new textures?

[kev13479]

oh, and my idea was to move a gps into the right side panel which is empty and move the fuel guages onto that side as well... nothing other than that though.

[Hagar]

ok thanks you guys, i didnt know that was restricted, but i would only be using them for personal use on my fsx anyway.

What I meant by restricted is that the VC is defined in the MDL file. It can't be modified without the author's original source file & the software it was created with.

and do you know of anyway i can make new textures?

You can repaint textures if that's what you mean. All you need is a texture converter like DXTBmp (free) & suitable graphics editing software. Check out the Aircraft Repainting forum. http://205.252.250.26/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?board=repnt

[pete]

oh, and my idea was to move a gps into the right side panel which is empty and move the fuel guages onto that side as well... nothing other than that though.

That would be no problem in a 2d panel. Also it is possible in many VC's as the designer has created a blank background and gauges can be replaced - moved and, depending on the model, sometimes placed where there is no gauge. It's trial and error. (& you will need an extremely high boredom threshold to try manual editing! - try it and see)

[Brett_Henderson]

My first, FSX model (c177rg), used one, large polygon "screen", onto which all the gauges were "projected"..

That setup can indeed be modified much like a a 2D panel.. you can put gauges pretty much anywhere you chose, using logical coordinates.

As I learned that the gauges ended up kinda out of focus with that method; I switched to the "cookie-cutter" method, and matched the projected gauge image to its exact internal bitmap background dimensions. I.E.. if a gauge's background image is 200X200, its image on the $bitmap was also 200X200.

Now, it gets tricky because that $bitmap has no logical layout. It's usually a "square" image, with the gauges "projected" onto it for the most efficient use of space... and the $bitmap is then mapped onto individual polygon "screens" for each gauge; where just one gauge is "fitted" to it's appropriate screen.

You cannot edit this coordinate style.. you have to edit the actual VC model, by moving/re-sizing the individual screens.

So.. what you CAN do is replace one gauge for another, but you cannot change its location, or size... and if there's a bad mis-match between the new gauge's background bitmap size, compared to the gauge it's replacing.. you can get into resolution issues too (blurriness).

[Hagar]

oh, and my idea was to move a gps into the right side panel which is empty and move the fuel guages onto that side as well... nothing other than that though.

That would be no problem in a 2d panel. Also it is possible in many VC's as the designer has created a blank background and gauges can be replaced - moved and, depending on the model, sometimes placed where there is no gauge. It's trial and error. (& you will need an extremely high boredom threshold to try manual editing! - try it and see)

kev was asking about modifying the VC of the FSX default C172. As I said earlier, replacing one gauge with another is not difficult in Notepad. This is about all you can expect to do with the VC of one of the FSX default aircraft.

[kev13479]

thanks alot you guys,
sound like alot of work... think ill stick with making textures for now.

[kev13479]

but would you all mind telling me how to replace guages via the notepad?

[drbob777]

ok thanks you guys, i didnt know that was restricted, but i would only be using them for personal use on my fsx anyway.
and do you know of anyway i can make new textures?

Its fairly easy, In fact I made a C172P/N model repaint of a cockpit

http://simviation.com/1/download-file?f ... xtures.zip

If you want you can copy paste it to your aircraft 

[kev13479]

could you mabey share with me how to do this please?
i have the file converter and pixia.