On Monday 19 December 2005 08:34, Chris Wilkinson wrote:
> fgfs, in my view, has developed into a great framework, with highly
> accurate flight dynamics (for the most part), and a large feature
> set. I am now of the opinion that adding new features and turning
> it into the most accurate flightsim on the planet is not going to
> attract more users unless they can download their fave a/c and fly
> it at a recognisable fave airport with their fave livery.

With regards to the 3d modelling of an airport, anyone with the required 
Blender/AC3D/whatever skills can do that.  No fgfs-specific tools are 
required; you just need to know the real-world long and lat for the model to 
be correctly placed.  Granted, producing correct runway and taxiway patterns 
(if the existing ones are not) currently really requires taxidraw, but this 
is usually quite easy to build from source and has windows binaries available 
AFAIK.

> I have wanted to land an Emirates 777-300ER at NZCH on runway 20
> with the view of the Port Hills to my left, and then on take-off
> turn a sharp left and see Hagley park below and other noted
> landmarks that make my birth city recognisable from above. I've got
> satellite imagery to create that reality but the tools I require
> cannot compile on my SuSE 10 system so I cannot add them to fgfs.

To modify the actual underlying scenery does require special tools and is not 
straightforward at all.  However, again, to model and position buildings etc 
is straightforward and requires no special tools.

> Of course getting a 777-300ER model working would be tricky, even
> taking an existing fs2k2 or 2k4 model would be highly awkward. I
> *can* make a reasonable job of a new livery...

Making a new livery requires no fg-specific tools either, so go ahead :-)

There is even a new --livery option in CVS if not 0.9.9 if my memory serves me 
right.  Not sure any of our aircraft use it yet or not; a "material" 
animation could also probably be used to switch liveries, even at run-time 
(bit like some of the bo105 features).  This requires some delving into the 
XML files but no special tools other than your trusty copy of VIM or whatever 
less-trusty text editor you prefer...

Oh - and forget about PPE - as far as I know it's a dead (or at least 
cryogenically frozen) project.  There are several good cross-platform 3d 
editors available for free or for cheap.  Blender can do anything you are 
ever likely to want once you've run through a tutorial or ten and AC3D is 
very simple to use and cheap although not open-source.

If you have any specific questions regarding modelling, you are almost certain 
to get an answer on the IRC channel if not here.

Cheers,

AJ

_______________________________________________
Flightgear-users mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.flightgear.org/mailman/listinfo/flightgear-users
2f585eeea02e2c79d7b1d8c4963bae2d

Reply via email to