Where to find gauges?

[Gary R.]

Sometimes when modifying certain panels I can't seem to find just the right gauges I need in my FS gauge directories or in any file libraries.  Does anyone know where I can find a source of free gauge files that aren't available in many downloads of file liibraries?  I mean I would like to find things such as bleed air selector dials, apu start switches, fuel and hydraulic switches and the like. Light up buttons as are commonly found on modern airliner overheads.  Anyone point me in the right direction I'd be much obliged. Thanks in advance guys.

[Stratobat]

Try http://www.fsgauges.com/

Regards,
Stratobat

[Gary R.]

Hey there Strat.  Thanks a ton for the link. Even if I don't find exactly what I'm looking for with all those gauge listings I'm sure I'll find some very useful and excellent ones for all my panel bashing projects.  

By the way.  Do you or anyone happen to know any application that makes xml gauges easier to work with?  I mean a free one.  I already have cfgedit and I've found work arounds for its short comings but I find it nice to be able to view gauges before I select them and cfgedit just can't do that with an xml guage.  Thanks.

[Stratobat]

Hey Funky,

Thanks a ton for the link. Even if I don't find exactly what I'm looking for with all those gauge listings I'm sure I'll find some very useful and excellent ones for all my panel bashing projects.

Hehe, your welcome

Do you or anyone happen to know any application that makes xml gauges easier to work with?

I don't know of any, but watch this thread, maybe one of the other guys know something

Regards,
Stratobat

[_526th_Fireman]

Here is a good site. They use to have TONS of gauges listed, but now the selection has been reduced. Still some great gauges.

Also check out the Utilities section. The second download is a FS2004 BGLXML utility that might be useful to you.

Link:  http://www.simugold.fsnet.co.uk/index.html

[Travis]

Wow, fireman!  That's a great site!  The gauges aren't exactly great, but the utilities section is awesome . . .

Thanx much . . .

[_526th_Fireman]

No problem EB. Little obscure site I found quite awhile back when I was making some panels. Should have seen the list of gauges then, would take couple of hrs. just to run through the list.

Enjoy!

[Gary R.]

Indeed fireman, thank you from me also. I seem to be getting more satisfaction since I started modifying.  When I download a/c I always see ways they could have made it closer to the realworld counterparts.  Guess I'm a systems geek, lol.  But, truly I do often find all the info I can on the real world versions of my favorites and I often wonder why original authors don't do that.  Good example: check out premier designs new CRJ 700 package.  They devoted so much time and effort to the TCAS functionality but left out in other areas that probably would have been easier to simulate.  As in the bat. gen. and start switches being located forward of the center console.  All that stuff is on the overhead in a CRJ and all thats up there are the light switches, not even an apu control. Yet they bothered with doing an exellent static bitmap of the overhead in the VC view. Geez, if they put that much effort in the eye candy it wouldn't have been much more to give it a few key functioning guages and thats what I'm setting out to do using screen shots of Wilco's CRJ.

[_526th_Fireman]

There ya go funkycowboy.  ;D  I too still play with my panels. I don't go into the realism aspect of it like you, I just add to panels the things that I want. Play with this and that for fun.

I still use CFGEdit for tweaking my panels. I know it can't read the XML gauges but I find that is really not a problem.

I had made many panels for CFS2 and a Nav. Panel that everyone wanted on the Zone.

The other day I made my Mini Panel I use in FS9 to dispaly when in external spot view. This way I can have a better look at my acft. and still have the necessary gauges at my disposal.

I am just glad we don't have a BOMB to play with. EGADS!!!

[Gary R.]

I also use cfgedit.  I work around the xml shortcomings by substituting any old .gau guage with close proportion and aspect of the xml I want and then I save and go into the a/c's panel.cfg and manually edit in the actual xml gauge titles and then I start the sim and see how it looks and if necessary go back to cfgedit and manipulate the empty outline where the xml gauge is to get the sizing and placement correct.  I haven't figured out how to use that xml decompiler though to view an xml gauge.  That would be real handy to be able to see what they look like if I download them alone and they aren't already installed in another a/c's panel.  

[greekydeke]

If it will be of any help to you, in the "Simple Panel Design" tutorial that's in the panel design tutorial section of this website, Lesson Ten "Understanding XML Gauges" explains XML gauge file basics and XML gauge bitmaps, how to extract XML gauges and their bitmaps from .CAB (cabinet) files for viewing, editing and modifying with Notepad and the Windows Paint accessory.  In the workbook included in the tutorial, Exercise Ten includes Microsoft's DOS utility for making .CAB files, along with a simple batch file to make using the CAB file utility easy.  The workbook takes you through the steps in converting the 747 standby altimeter to a radar altimeter.  If you want an XML gauge, Chuck Dome's GAU2BMP utility (also available on this website) lets you extract gauge bitmaps from DLL gauges (.GAU files). You can use his utility to get bitmaps from a DLL gauge, modify them, then write the XML code (or modify the XML code for a similar gauge), make the gauge's .CAB file, and install it in your panel as an XML gauge.  The basics for doing all this is in the tutorial.

greekydeke.