MAIW_WSMG F-16's

[Firebird]

I will talk to Kev to see exactly what we have and what we have on the production line. Then we can judge what is the best plan to follow.

It maybe that the model that has the most uses gets done first. it maybe that the blk 15s get done so that people can get Ukrainian markings on them. It maybe that the blk 40 Baraks get done just to complete the IDFAF.

There are a few options.

[Weescotty]

No idea what the Ukranian camo will be yet.

[Firebird]

My guess would be that they won't bother repainting them. They will just put them in service, at least at first.

[TimC340]

They are required to mark them as Ukrainian assets. They're unlikely to do more than that.

[gavinc]

Well now we know that we can achieve it. It is only now down to slogging through the backlog.
This is the time consuming and tedious bit. There is no shortcut here there is now a procedure which involves multiple manipulations and has to be carried out on each mdl.
Converting the created schemes is the easy part as it can be automated.

I think that shortly i will have to liaise with Kev to ensure that nothing gets missed. He is the only one with a handle on the production line.

Now you know how we felt when we started converting FS9 models to FSX & P3D
It does get easier with practice and you develop work flows to make sure nothing gets missed.

Gavin

[Firebird]

Trust me I knew what you guys were doing and how much went into it.
Even though I had your document I didn't know what the hell I was doing. Things re easier when you understand what you are doing. Your work was even longer than mine is, and again it had to be done for each mdl.

[Weescotty]

Now that Steve has a handle on the P3D to FS9 conversion...and it seems to work!
Will crack on with the IDFAF Block 40C's

[f47420]

Sounds good ..

[Firebird]

OK a bit of an update, and it is a positive thing.

Since there has a been two or three updates of MCX since I started converting these I went back and had a look at lightmaps.
Although I got the landing light to connect to the nose door, I wasn't happy with the fact that both the cockpits were dark and the landing/taxy lamps were not lit.

Cut a long story short. I have now been able to use a lightmap created and get the cockpits and landing/taxy lights lit.
The downside is that it needed the mdls recompiling but at least now there is no tailfin being cutoff.

I have loaded all the re-done mdls, and the lightmap that I used, to your folder, Mark.
The archive is called F-16 Block 52 Sufa Update.zip

Let me know if you get any issues.

[f47420]

thanks Steve ..

[Firebird]

Another update.
I am moving on to the early blocks now but try as I might I can't get the textures to work properly, using the same technique.
When I view the aircraft at dusk either I can get no lightmap for the cockpit or with the lightmap parts of the aircraft are transparent until it starts.

Very frustrating. I am wondering if there is something different in the make up of the 10/15s as opposed to the 52s. I might try another model to see if there is a difference.

[Firebird]

OK finally got to the bottom of it.
Firstly, when I checked the updated Bk52s I put up yesterday they all had the same error as the Bk10/15s I was working on.

Eventually, I realised that the difference between yesterday and today was 3 mins.
Although my flightplan times had not changed, nightfall had. This meant that today all the aircraft appeared in a small window where they appeared with transparent sections.

The answer was that I had to apply an extra parm in the compilation. This meant that all of the bk52s had to be re-done again.
So Mark, there is a new zip in your folder, F-16 Block 52 Sufa Update 2.zip, which has the now (hopefully) fully finished bk52 mdls.

Life is a learning curve.

The bk10s are done as are the bk15 ADFs. Bk15 OCUs next.

Mark, how are you with creating/modifying lightmaps?

[Jobza Guddun]

Good effort Steve! It'll all be worth it in the end!

[Firebird]

Well I have learned a bit over the last few days, although not enough to consider myself a learned person in such matters.

I do think that an inherent ability to keep sticking with the trial and error system does help, alongside the snippets of info I get from other people.

[f47420]

Hi Steve things like creating/modifying lightmaps is something that I havn't looked at in a very long .
I can look at these but it would be from a beginner level ..

The main thing I do is repainting the main textures ..
Thwe way in which I repaint a model is normally I don't touch the lightmaps that come with a model ..

Something I will move things like formation light bar to match up with what I've painted in a texture ..
Are you talking about the light patterns reflected on the airctaft fuselage or the effect on the run/taxiways ..

[f47420]

Also is there going to be a Block 40 air frame??

[Firebird]

No I was asking generally. The way the models are compiled at the moment the lightmaps for the F-16s are fine - so far.
I managed to find some for the versions with the lights on the main gear legs and some for the versions with the lights on the nose gear door.

I was just mentally preparing rather than having anything specific in mind.

I believe that Kev said that he was working on the 40s at the moment.

[f47420]

OK Steve .That all sounds fine ..

[Firebird]

OK it occurred to me that I hadn't gone back to check the Baraks to ensure that the lighmaps work.

So I have redone those and tested each model to ensure that they work. I have put F-16 Block 30 Barak Update 2.zip in Mark's folder.
It contains all of the Barak mdls, plus the two lightmaps and separate unit plans.

One thing I did notice is that for FS9 there will need to be a separate folder for the F-16D for MANAT, as it doesn't have the white tail nav lights due to the mod.
I suppose technically you could still have it with the lights. They are not in mid-air but they do look odd there.

[Weescotty]

Okey Dokey -
IN Marks folder - new folder called F-16 IDFAF Block 40D

Inside -
32-bit textures already with alpha channel in the correct orientation. Just need converted to DXT or leave as 32-bit.

Block 40D Barak Models - Will need converting to FS9

Aircraft config I use for P3D (less a few P3D only bits)

Weaps textures (will need converting from 24-bit bmp) - NOTE 41 has a LIVE and TRAIN weaps.
C9 Model must use TRAIN version.
Manat model must also use the TRAIN weaps 41 texture

Paintkit for the upcoming Block 40C models.