Mirage 2000 AI project for P3Dv4-5

[hschuit]

This is my 2nd AI model project after the Nimrod. It was not possible to get permission to do a FSX/P3D conversion
with the old FS9 FMAI Mirage 2000 so time for plan B...

[tango234]

You're spoiling us!

[gsnde]

Already superb!

From mobile hence short

[John Young]

Wow, you are faster than I am Henk! Looking lovely and smooth.

I'm not sure if you are going to cut out the air brake wells on the top wings, but here's a tip that you might find useful, or of course, ignore if you have a more favoured method.

Rather than make the brakes first, outline the shape of the wells on the wing tops with polygons. Then clone the wings, select the air brake shapes from the clone and delete all the polygons apart from those. That will give you the brakes.

Now go back to the wings and select the wells. Extrude the well surfaces downwards to a shallow depth. Now you have brakes and wells perfectly in register.

You will need to give the brakes a reverse side, so clone the top side and reverse the normals. Attach the clone to the top sides. You can extrude the bottom sides to give thickness if you want to.

That technique is also useful for gear doors and wells. Just make sure you back up the previous file so you can always go back if you need to.

John

[hschuit]

John, one of my top priorities is to minimize draw calls as much as I can. My airbrakes only need 2 draw calls because I made them in 2 pairs = only 2 animated parts. I did not cut out airbrake wells which saves a lot of triangles. The airbrakes are basically animated 2 sided decals. I tested it and it works perfect. For the gear wells I used the technique you are describing (learned it from a Blender youtube video I found on FSDeveloper).

Henk.

[miljan]

Looks amazing Henk,
unfortunately since i use P3Dv2 I think this model won't show properly.

[shaggy22]

I was just think about doing a proper ai conversion of the FMAI model (for my own use obviously), but now I won't bother

[hschuit]

Looks amazing Henk,
unfortunately since i use P3Dv2 I think this model won't show properly.

Miljan, I focus on P3Dv4 & 5 but the model will also work in older P3D versions and maybe even in FSX.

Henk.

[miljan]

Looks amazing Henk,
unfortunately since i use P3Dv2 I think this model won't show properly.

Miljan, I focus on P3Dv4 & 5 but the model will also work in older P3D versions and maybe even in FSX.

Henk.

In any case I can't wait to see it in sim.

[Firebird]

I would like to ask a question.

IF, and it is a big if, I have understood this correctly then FSX models can be converted to MSFS format/standard and P3D standard ones can't then wouldn't it make sense to have an FSX version, purely for this purpose?

I realise that the MSFS question is not yet a current one but it will be relevant in the future.

[John Young]

I think Henk might need to increase the LODs from 3 to 5-7 for FSX. That's not a bad idea anyway for P3D too, because it would enable greater detail up front (pilots, ejection seats, gear, weapons etc) with a gradual slim down spread over the early LODs. You can push 8-10,000 polygons easily these days, so long as you lose about half that detail in gentle stages by the 4th LOD, with rest over 5-7.

John

[TimC340]

I would like to ask a question.

IF, and it is a big if, I have understood this correctly then FSX models can be converted to MSFS format/standard and P3D standard ones can't then wouldn't it make sense to have an FSX version, purely for this purpose?

I realise that the MSFS question is not yet a current one but it will be relevant in the future.

As I understand it, Steve, FSX models can be fairly easily converted for use in MSFS using processes in the original MSFS SDK. They will, of course, be less complex than MSFS can cope with and, like FS9 models in FSX, they may not satisfy the user, but they may fill a gap (and there are plenty of those!).

I think the biggest change from FSX to later versions of P3D is texture handling and the introduction of PBR textures and dynamic lighting. Both of these are also in MSFS, and MCX can, I believe, handle the conversion from one format to the other, so I'd anticipate that recompiling a P3D model for MSFS will soon be relatively straightforward.

Anyway - loving the Mirage 2000, Henk! It was my mate Ian Black's favourite of all the fighters he flew.

[Firebird]

Thanks for the update/clarifictaion, Tim.

[gsnde]

Arno has prevented the export of animations into the FS2020 world because of a great community concern about possible piracy.

From mobile hence short

[Firebird]

OK if I understand this correctly, it means that if you have a P3D model you can't convert to MSFS using MCX. You have to have the original source and compile it using whichever system you have. Is this right?

[gsnde]

Yes, I believe this is true. Let me find and link to the FSD topic.

From mobile hence short

[Firebird]

Thanks for that. Very important info for modellers to take into account from now on.

[jetpilot1980]

Admittedly the more I learn about MSFS the happier I am I did not decide to buy it once the beta was over... I just hope more of the devs out there become more inclined to convert their stuff to support P3Dv5... A lot of the payware has yet to be converted citing challenges related to dx12, hence the reason a lot of people stay on v4 rather than go anywhere else..

[Firebird]

The one thing that MSFS does have going for it is that for the first time it is a one version constantly updated sim. No more having to upgrade or having to buy the next version in two years time.

It may be that Lockheed Martin will have to match the concept.

[hschuit]

P3Dv5.1 screenshot of the B model:



As I understand it, the slats only come out after takeoff and during in flight high AoA manouvers, they are locked up during approach and landing. Took me a while to figure out how to make them work somewhat realistic within the sim AI flight model constraints.