Military AI Works

My first large-scale project should be this. Hornchurch, Biggin Hill and Coltishall will be represented for the British planes whilst some Luftwaffe stations will be done for the German planes. AI will consist of Spitfires, Hurricanes and Hispano Buchons painted up as Messerchmitts.

How will you deal with the default FSX modern day London, especially Canary Wharf and the Millenium Dome (O2 Arena) that are so close to Biggin Hill and Hornchurch?

John

I don't know. More of an issue is that I downloaded the Spitfire paintkit and no textures show on the Spitfire.

So, what exactly have you done with the Spitfire paint kit? Talk me through all the steps you have performed and I'll try and see what the problem might be.

Right so,
1. I downloaded the FSX version
2. Put it into DXTBMP and edited it on MS Paint
3. Put it all in a folder named Texture. BOB1
4. Edited cfg
5. Went to Biggin Hill
6. It is black with the prop in the centre of the a/c

What format did you export the texture in, did it have an alpha channel and did you flip the image and the alpha vertically?

Does the aircraft.cfg texture entry match the texture folder name?

No, it was a BMP, same format as it was downloaded in

Well the first thing is that the paint kit is probably for FS9 which means that you have to flip it for FSX. That will at least solve your prop issue. I know that you said you downloaded the FSX version but that doesn't sound right.
Did you download the FSX version of the model but the paint kit is actually for FS9?

Now to be clear you don't alter the paint kit. You use it as a base to make changes and save the work as a DDS file but the name has to be exactly the same as the texture as expected by the mdl.
So in the case of JY's Spit it would have to be JY_SPIT1a_t.dds, but the texture folder you put it in can be called anything you like. as long as it starts 'texture.'.

However, as I posted on another of your threads why are you adding add-ons to a system that has to be clean before you can upgrade to SP2? You have to get the basics done before you get anywhere in this hobby.

SP2 Works. It was for FSX

Right, so SP2 is fixed. It would have been good if you had told us that. I presume the Spitfire is still black, or have you solved that and not told us that either? I'll assume it's still black and offer some help.

The paint kit serves both FS9 and FSX because the file you are painting is a generic 24 bit RGB image source file. Normally it would be a layered file but I produced the Spitfires about 9 years ago before I got to grips with a layered paint program.

You don't copy the edited 24 bit image straight to a texture folder, it has to be converted to an accepted format that compresses the image to save space and make for faster loading. The readme that comes with DxtBmp has quite a good summary of the formats used in each FS version.

For FSX, once you have edited the 24 bit image, you need to flip it vertically in DxtBmp. My Spitfire has a separate texture for the Perspex transparency which is made using an alpha channel. If that texture was incorporated into the main texture as I do now, that alpha channel would need to be added to the DxtBmp screen and both the image and the alpha flipped.

After the texture (and alpha) is flipped you can then save it to the aircraft's texture folder as a .DDS texture, either Dxt3 or Dxt5, (for FSX) depending on the quality you want. Dxt5 is probably the norm.

When you save the texture it must keep the same name as the one that comes with the model. If you change the texture name, the model won't recognise it. You can change the folder name but it must match the entry in the aircraft.cfg file.

Now, having done all that, come back and tell us if the Spitfire is properly textured.

John

Spitfire is not black anymore, but its the same as it was before

That means you haven't actually changed the texture, which tells me that you haven't yet grasped how to paint successfully. Try what I've just suggested and then post a screen shot of the result or PM me the new texture and I'll check it for you.

John

How do I PM a DDS texture

Zip it up and attach it as a file.

BOAF, I'm confused. In this thread you refer to a Spitfire at Biggin that you are trying to paint.

In the RDAF Baby Blue thread you ask in your question 2 "How do I get custom AI to show using MAIW aircraft?"

Is that Spitfire actually AI, or is it a converted static object? If it's a static object then why in step 4 of your paint process are you editing the aircraft.cfg file?

If it is AI, why are you asking your question 2 in the RDAF thread if you do actually know how to set up a custom AI Spitfire?

Please clarify so we can understand where you are starting from:

1) Is the Spitfire static or AI?

2) Do you actually know how to set up custom AI in FSX on a suitable AFCAD and with a working flight plan?

John

Spitfire is AI and always has been

Yes

So that means you can customise an AFCAD and set up a flight plan in order to get the Spitfire into Biggin Hill? is that right?

If that's the case, why did you post "How do I get custom AI to show using MAIW aircraft" in the RDAF Baby Blue thread if you have done it already?

John

OK. This works but in MSPain it shows a new folder called texture.T2 - Copy even if that file was renamed this

MS Paint

So are you going to answer my question posed at 4:23 this afternoon. I'm just trying to assess what you can do and what you can't do?

The texture looks fine and the name matches the name that the model calls which is not surprising really - it's the texture I painted.

Where is your repaint?

I haven't a clue what this means:

"This works but in MSPain it shows a new folder called texture.T2 - Copy even if that file was renamed this"

Where is the repaint?