2 newbie questions

[GA_Pilot]

You're honestly going to tell me it sounded even remotely like he was referring to the trial version?

I guess it is one of those things our fearless leaders are going to have to make a decision on  :o

[Graycat]

Heya Gpktm,

To get rid of that message when you select the Concorde do the following:

Your post doesn't list your PC specs, however, if you're running Windows XP the first thing to do is to open the Windows Explorer.  Next click on the upper toolbar item called Tools --> Folder Options --> View Tab.  Under the header called Files and Folders (down to about the middle of the list) click in the radio circle button which says "Show hidden files and folders."  Click OK.

Again using the Windows Explorer open C:\ --> Documents and Settings --> (~your name folder) --> Application Data --> Microsoft --> FS9

In the FS9 folder locate the file called FS9.cfg.  Right Click and Copy it and then right click anywhere on the screen.  Select Paste.  This will add a new file to the FS 9 folder called "Copy of FS9.cfg".  You can rename this file to FS9 Backup.cfg if you wish.  This provides you with a backup copy of your FS9.cfg file for reference.

Next open the original FS9.cfg using Windows Notepad or any text editor.  Scroll down to the section titled [FrameCallNoWarn] and delete all aircraft titles under this section only.

Copy and Paste the following anywhere within the FS9.cfg (at the bottom is fine):

[OldModules]
fssound.dll=1
gaugesound.dll=1

Now Save the FS9.cfg and Exit the Notepad editor.

The next time that you load the Concorde you won't see that annoying message.

In regards to your question about a Concorde for FS 2004 you may want to check out the following website:

http://www.fsfrance.com/Projets/Mach2/Main_eng.htm

I haven't tried this Concorde out, however, it looks rather good.  It's also freeware and you can download FS 2004 manuals, panels, and many different liveries.  Be sure to scroll down to near the bottom of the webpage to download the latest FS 2004 updated Flight Dynamics.

I have flown the Concorde in previous incarnations of MS Flight Simulator (FS 2000 and FS 2002 Pro).  Although it is a unique flying experience to me it's just a bit too big.

I prefer the outstanding Stratojet Excalibur by Eugene Heyart available here at SimV:

http://www.simviation.com/fs2004jets33.htm

The model is extremely detailed and includes many features.  I even added some extra sonic boom and afterburner effects and made a couple of repaints based on executive jet photos that I found on Airliners.net.

I would definately recommend that you download this aircraft.  It flies like a Learjet on steroids!

[gpktm]

Heya Gpktm,

To get rid of that message when you select the Concorde do the following:

Your post doesn't list your PC specs, however, if you're running Windows XP the first thing to do is to open the Windows Explorer.  Next click on the upper toolbar item called Tools --> Folder Options --> View Tab.  Under the header called Files and Folders (down to about the middle of the list) click in the radio circle button which says "Show hidden files and folders."  Click OK.

Again using the Windows Explorer open C:\ --> Documents and Settings --> (~your name folder) --> Application Data --> Microsoft --> FS9

In the FS9 folder locate the file called FS9.cfg.  Right Click and Copy it and then right click anywhere on the screen.  Select Paste.  This will add a new file to the FS 9 folder called "Copy of FS9.cfg".  You can rename this file to FS9 Backup.cfg if you wish.  This provides you with a backup copy of your FS9.cfg file for reference.

Next open the original FS9.cfg using Windows Notepad or any text editor.  Scroll down to the section titled [FrameCallNoWarn] and delete all aircraft titles under this section only.

Copy and Paste the following anywhere within the FS9.cfg (at the bottom is fine):

[OldModules]
fssound.dll=1
gaugesound.dll=1

Now Save the FS9.cfg and Exit the Notepad editor.

The next time that you load the Concorde you won't see that annoying message.

In regards to your question about a Concorde for FS 2004 you may want to check out the following website:

http://www.fsfrance.com/Projets/Mach2/Main_eng.htm

I haven't tried this Concorde out, however, it looks rather good.  It's also freeware and you can download FS 2004 manuals, panels, and many different liveries.  Be sure to scroll down to near the bottom of the webpage to download the latest FS 2004 updated Flight Dynamics.

I have flown the Concorde in previous incarnations of MS Flight Simulator (FS 2000 and FS 2002 Pro).  Although it is a unique flying experience to me it's just a bit too big.

I prefer the outstanding Stratojet Excalibur by Eugene Heyart available here at SimV:

http://www.simviation.com/fs2004jets33.htm

The model is extremely detailed and includes many features.  I even added some extra sonic boom and afterburner effects and made a couple of repaints based on executive jet photos that I found on Airliners.net.

I would definately recommend that you download this aircraft.  It flies like a Learjet on steroids!

I downloaded the Excalibur and I read, it's really awsome! But there's one problem when I'm click "FLY NOW" it crashes the game do you know what's wrong? I putted the "Excalibur" file into "aircraft" folder and the "gauges" into "gauges".

Graycat do you know why there are some differences in the the textures? I'm preffering on the way the textures are loaded, for example in the Aircraft Selection screen some textures are first blurred then get clear others taking some time to load and others are loaded at once and they're clear also.

To understand what I mean check those three airplanes the first case is every FS9 default planes, for the second case check Lockheed C-5A Galaxy by Mike Stone, and for the third one check British Airways Fly New Club Europe Boeing 757-200 by AI Aardvark.


Also why don't we save the images into JPG format and then those who download the files convert it into BMP. It will reduce the download file size dramatically, trust me!


Why I can't create or modify textures? Do I need any specific software to save the files? Cause I'm using Photoshop but the textures are not shown when I modify and save them (into BMP format offcourse)


PS Can you send me the link for the sonic boom and afterburner effects?

[Hagar]

Also why don't we save the images into JPG format and then those who download the files convert it into BMP. It will reduce the download file size dramatically, trust me!

Even if that were practical, which it isn't, a zipped BMP is generally no bigger than an unzipped JPG. Zipping a JPEG makes little or no difference to the file size as it's already a compressed file.

Why I can't create or modify textures? Do I need any specific software to save the files? Cause I'm using Photoshop but the textures are not shown when I modify and save them (into BMP format offcourse)

Most graphics editors save out in 24-bit colors which FS cannot read. You need DXTBmp to convert the images to a recognisable FS texture format. Check out the Repainting forum.

This might be the cause of your other problem. Some texture formats display better than others depending on the system & video card. Once you have DXTBmp & some idea of what it's all about you could try converting those problem textures to a different fomat. Removing the Mips sometimes helps.

[gpktm]

Even if that were practical, which it isn't, a zipped BMP is generally no bigger than an unzipped JPG. Zipping a JPEG makes little or no difference to the file size as it's already a compressed file.

Most graphics editors save out in 24-bit colors which FS cannot read. You need DXTBmp to convert the images to a recognisable FS texture format. Check out the Repainting forum.

This might be the cause of your other problem. Some texture formats display better than others depending on the system & video card. Once you have DXTBmp & some idea of what it's all about you could try converting those problem textures to a different fomat. Removing the Mips sometimes helps.

Sorry, but I think you're totally wrong in the first part. I took a 4MB file and compressed it into a ZIP file, I had reduction of the file size to 903kb. Then I converted the same file of 4MB into JPG with 100%  quality and I had a file of 297kb. Approximate it's a 600kb difference. The ZIPed of the aircraft file included 11 of 4MB photos which makes it to 9900kb but if they were JPG the total size it would be 3300kb this makes a difference of Appr. 6,5MB and for some one with a 56kbps connection could save about   !!!40min!!!    of waiting.

[Graycat]

Heya gpktm,

when I'm click "FLY NOW" it crashes the game

Generally when this happens it means that there is a gauge on the panel which is either corrupt, missing, or incompatible.  If I recall correctly there was a missing gaugesound.dll file in the original download.  Did you download and install the Excalibur update?  This file is right below the Excalibur download on the same SimV page as the link above.

Or click here:

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/syb.cgi?section=jets&file=StratexU.zip

[gpktm]

Heya gpktm,


This file is right below the Excalibur download on the same SimV page as the link above.

Thanks Gaycat, you saved the day!

PS. Send me the link for afterburner and sonic boom effects if it's not hard for you. (Cause the Concorde has some stupid 3D afterburner)  :P

[Hagar]

[quote]Sorry, but I think you're totally wrong in the first part. I took a 4MB file and compressed it into a ZIP file, I had reduction of the file size to 903kb. Then I converted the same file of 4MB into JPG with 100%

[Graycat]

Heya Gpktm,

I sent you an IM with links to Afterburner and Sonic Boom Effects.

[gpktm]

This would depend on the BMP format & of course the number of textures. Many 3rd party aircraft have a separate texture for each major part. This is the author's preference & sometimes due to lack of experience but many could be arranged more economically, resulting in fewer textures like the default aircraft. Some Extended BMP formats used for FS textures will not compress as much as a standard BMP when zipped up. I agree that the file size of many downloads could be considerably reduced but this could be achieved by removing all the huge images & documents often included which nobody bothers to look at. It's not so much the textures but gauges & sound files that cause most problems as these cannot be compressed much, if at all.

Saving an image in JPEG format reduces the file size by compressing it & sacrificing the quality. The whole idea of high-resolution FS textures is to achieve the best possible quality. This is the reason for the Extended BMP format which is a good compromise, although a standard 8-bit BMP can be better for some purposes & will result in a much smaller file. It takes a certain amount of skill & knowledge to convert a JPEG to a format suitable for FS textures & many users simply couldn't be bothered to do that. Even if they did it would inevitably result in reducing the quality of the textures which defeats the object of high-res textures in the first place. You might as well go back to the small low-res textures used in FS98. The whole idea of these downloads is that they're ready to go straight out of the box, or zipfile in this case.

PS. I'm on dial-up so don't think I don't sympathise. I won't download any files over 10 Mb unless they're very special. You have to face facts & appreciate that the majority of people are on broadband these days.

But from what i checked the quality downloads are most of the time the big files sometimes reaching even 50MBs. So if we could make a rating for the aircrafts or maybe more preview photos it would be more heplful I think.

PS. I'm using a dial-up too. Also the time while staying on-line it's not free, so it's double pain for me. Time and money :-)

[Hagar]

You're preaching to the converted. I've been configuring files for posting for a long time. At Fox Four we always bear the end-user in mind & keep our downloads to the minimum possible size by including only necessary files & carefully formatting textures etc. I can spend literally hours sorting this out but others are not so worried about that sort of thing. They probably have broadband so it's not considered important.

I can remember when the most complex aircraft complete with panel & sound were under 5 Mb. This was for FS98 & things have changed a great deal since then. People are no longer satisfied with basic aircraft with aliased panel & sound. They expect complex visual models with hi-res textures & all the bells & whistles. File sizes have increased by a staggering amount since FS2002 was released. It's not unusual for an aircraft to come out at 30 Mb & sometimes much more. It's a sign of the times I'm afraid but you can still find good quality aircraft at reasonable file sizes if you care to look around & be choosy like me.

PS. Just remember - Biggest is not always best.

[MattNW]

when converting to .jpg you will also loose the alpha channel which is used to give you the shiny look to your textures. What you end up with is a flat texture that doesn't reflect at all.

What you can do however is use a DXT3 texture. It's a little less resolution but you can have an alpha channel. I sometimes convert my textures to DXT3 when I have an airplane that is a resource hog. The textures in the sim aren't as crisp as as extended .bmp textures but not that bad.

[Hagar]

An interesting point Matt & texture formats is a complicated subject to explain to a beginner. I think gpktm is complaining about the size of the average download & what can be done about it. This is a subject I've been interested in for years. I've also shared my knowledge on the best way of configuring downloads with anyone who will listen but neither I nor anyone else can force the people who configure the zipfiles to follow my suggestions.

[gpktm]

One more complain  :) I consider when someone uploads an aircraft he should write if there's a panel included in the package or not. Because those two are the most important parts (aircraft model and panel) in the package IMHO.

I'm saying that cause happened sometimes to download an aircraft and found a panel in it which was not mentioned. And  because I didn't knew  it I downloaded a panel also.

[Hagar]

It's usually possible to tell what's included by reading the file description carefully & also by the file size of the download. Most, but not all, of the later FS9 aircraft will have a DVC & in this case will almost certainly have a 2D panel of some sort.

Please remember that this is freeware & most authors are ordinary people like you & me. They might be brilliant at creating beautiful visual models but not necessarily know anything about panels, textures & suchlike or the best method of configuring their files for download. FS aircraft are very complex now & the best way to satisfy the demand is by working in a group.

I'm very fortunate to have found a group of talented people who are second to none at what they do. We all like & respect each other & each member sticks to what he's best at. After deciding on a project & working on it for several months we can usually accomplish what we set out to do. Others might not be so fortunate or not wish to work this way.

When our project is finished & carefully tested we post it for others to share - completely free of charge. We then wait for the barrage of complaints, usually from people who didn't read the simple instructions.

This goes completetely against all logic but we wouldn't do it if we didn't enjoy it. We often joke that we must all be masochists. Please give a thought to the many talented & generous people out there willing to to share their work before complaining. This hobby wouldn't exist without them.