Different tail numbers

[wbunnell]

MAIW packages have different aircraft, with different numbers on the tail and body.
When making the aircraft how do they make the numbers different on the each aircraft, tail and body?

[clickclickdoh]

The easiest way to do it is to use a seperate layer in a .psd file so that it's easy to make several very similar paints with only small changes. Each serial gets saved in it's own texture folder and gets it's own entry in the flight plans.

[wbunnell]

The easiest way to do it is to use a seperate layer in a .psd file so that it's easy to make several very similar paints with only small changes. Each serial gets saved in it's own texture folder and gets it's own entry in the flight plans.

Please explain, that something I'm not familiar with.

[clickclickdoh]

In a image editing program like Photoshop or GIMP you can cut an image into various layers that can be worked on independently of each other but when saved together make a complete image.

For example, while working on a repaint, I will usually split the image into a base color layer, a panel line layer, a layer for the registration and various layers for details such as warning markings, squadron markings or any special items like a shark mouth. That way if I want to make a couple of aircraft that are from the same squadron and look the same, except for serial numbers, I only need to change the serial number layer. Then I drop that saved repaint into a unique texture folder for each aircraft. You can also use this technique to quickly make several aircraft unique looking but turning on or off layers containing things like a dirty appearance, exhaust stains, hydraulic leaks, red cross marking for rescue aircraft or nose art. You can in this way use one layered file to represent dozens of different aircraft looks.

So, the finished aircraft folder would look like this:

texture.USAF 26224
texture.USAF 26225
texture.USAF 26226

The only difference in the texture folders is that I've changed the serial number layer on each repaint to contain the correct serial number.

The associated aircraft.cfg file entries will look like this:

[fltsim.176]
title=305th RQS 26224
sim=JFAIBLACKHAWK
model=
texture=USAF 26224
atc_airline=Pedro
atc_parking_types=MIL_COMBAT
atc_parking_codes=305R
ui_manufacturer=JFAI
ui_type=Sikorsky HH-60G Blackhawk
ui_variation=HH-60G
description=

[fltsim.177]
title=305th RQS 26225
sim=JFAIBLACKHAWK
model=
texture=USAF 26225
atc_airline=Pedro
atc_parking_types=MIL_COMBAT
atc_parking_codes=305R
ui_manufacturer=JFAI
ui_type=Sikorsky HH-60G Blackhawk
ui_variation=HH-60G
description=

[fltsim.178]
title=305th RQS 26226
sim=JFAIBLACKHAWK
model=
texture=USAF 26226
atc_airline=Pedro
atc_parking_types=MIL_COMBAT
atc_parking_codes=305R
ui_manufacturer=JFAI
ui_type=Sikorsky HH-60G Blackhawk
ui_variation=HH-60G
description=

See how each serial number has a unique entry in the aircraft.cfg file and points to a unique texture folder.