Military AI Works

That's pretty much it John, start with the MH-60M and adjust the nose config (radar housing) FLIR, antennas. Add the Pavehawk .50Cal guns (the minigun are also used on HH). Key fuselage items include UES exhausts and main rotorblades. I was looking at just adjusting the Pavehawk texture to the M_SOAR model.

Yep, that all sounds doable, thank you both. If I can find a good 3-view of the new Jolly, I might do it from scratch. The previous models are quite old now. If not I'll do some patching as suggested. The Dauphins are nearly ready, so I can move on to them quite quickly.

John

Firebird wrote: 16 Jan 2024, 10:38 .... a pair of Chinese fighters the J-10 and the JF-17 as theses have been exported to Pakistan as well.

Goog choice. Missing some asian birds in virtual skies. Like J-10 (some versions), JF-17, TA-50, J-20 (more than 200 in service) and modern version of Su-27 family (Su-27, Su-27UB, Su-30M, Su-35S, Su-34, J-11, J-15, J-16...)

Regrettably, I have had to cease modelling. I finally upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11, having updated my BIOS and enabled TPM and secure boot. That all went well, but alas, it has wrecked my ability to export a model through the Gmax FSX Game Pack. I can find no way of overcoming that without acquiring a second (off line) PC with Windows 10 on it, purely for Gmax modelling.

So unless Microsoft fix the problem, which seems highly unlikely, I'm out of the game. I could learn Blender but I am not keen to do that. The low number of downloads for FSX and P3D add-ons these days, really doesn't justify the time and effort.

John

Bummer to hear it John although by any chance have you considered the technique I use of:

1. Make and map parts in blender and export to collada.dae format (common format to both blender and MCX)
2. Make paint kit / textures using GIMP
3. Import .dae parts to MCX for assembly, material properties, vis conds and animations
4. Export from MCX to .mdl

Allows for models to be made / modified all using freeware!

Thanks!

Mason

A couple of thoughts, and apologies if they make no sense due to my lack of understanding of the issues, but:

1. Is there anyone else of this forum who uses Gmax with Windows 11? Maybe they don't upload, but is there nevertheless experience that can be shared?

2. What about those clever people over at FSDeveloper? Is Arno still around, he's always been very helpful..

Jon

Well this is a real bummer to read as your contributions to the military world (not exclusively military) has been in one word, Amazing! No matter what platform recently I have been able to still add the latest models after a little conversion magic to FS9. I really hope there is a work around that someone can provide and everyone will be able to enjoy some new stuff. If not, I want to thank you for the tireless hours that you have put into all the work.

I have to assume that an export to a FS9 model is the same problem right? I know you gave up working with the older platforms which is understandable but if there was the ability to export to a FS9 model then there could be some conversion to the newer platforms as has happened in the past. If an export won't work, then none of this even matters then.


Greg

The only advice that I can see posted on FsDeveloper for this problem is to create a separate Windows 10 partition and boot. I'm not clear how to do that and in any case, it will still be unsupported and insecure after October. Strangely, export of an FS9 model through the FS9 Game Pack still works, but it's quite a task to have to use the MCX process to convert to FSX format. That's made worse by the need to compile the model several times during the course of the modelling, particularly in the animation stages.

I have to weigh all this up against the amount of time I was spending on designing. Take the Minot AFB package for example. It's a comprehensive, custom made rendering of Minot, a major USAF base with both AI fixed wing and helicopter traffic in the two packages. Downloads, world-wide, over 5 months are just 309 for FSX and 147 for P3D. They took around 800 hours to produce, with only the usual handful of thanks.

I'm 76 now and modelling at that intensity just makes time fly past to the exclusion of other things that I could be doing. It's very hard to justify that with so little return even if Windows 10 were to be supported after October. With Windows 11 throwing a big spanner in the works, it looks like the end of the road I'm afraid.

John

Hi John,
As one of the 147, I've always appreciated your marvelous work. It was your Victors & Canberras at Marham that gave me the bug for AI traffic & scenery. If you are retiring, then at least you have left a great legacy.

Adding Win10 to a separate disk or partition (if you have space) should not be difficult. Someone smarter than me on here may be able to say how to toggle between the two operating systems at boot up. (Otherwise you'd be opening the bios at startup to switch boot disks manually.)

Security wise, I've only just switched this year from Win7 to Win11 and had no issue over the years. (My broadband provider did include McAffee AV then Norton Security, but others are free.) I only switched as Win7 couldn't cope with updates to Orbx & AIM.

Enjoy whatever you spend your time on!

I am not thinking of retiring from FS work completely. I'll still be around to support my work and help out where I can. I would rather be outdoors in the summer time anyway, rather than be stuck at my PC. Come October, when Microsoft pull the plug on Windows 10, someone may hopefully have found a simple solution to the Gmax export problem that might help me do some modelling again, but probably not on the scale of Minot.

John

John,
Dumb question and I'm sure you have already tried this but...

If you run Gmax as an administrator do you have the same issue?

Thanks for all your offerings over the years btw.

Gavin

Yes, one of the first things I tried, but it makes no difference.

John

Hi, a quick, slightly technical question. Because I'm just getting started with Gmax. For helicopters, I saw on the MAIW forum, but I can't find anywhere anymore, an XML code that allows you to take off a helicopter a few meters to taxi and go to the runway. Does anyone have this code? Thanks.

Not the thread to do this, but if we keep it brief, here's the code:

FS9:

<part>
<name>AI_Hover_Taxi</name>
<animation>
<parameter>
<code>(A:LIGHT BEACON, bool) 100 * </code>
<lag>20</lag>
</parameter>
</animation>
</part>

FSX:

<Animation name="AI_Hover_Taxi" guid="FBBDD93A-FA61-4f45-A5AE-25877FCC0AC6" length="100" type="Sim" typeParam2="AI_Hover_Taxi" typeParam="AutoPlay"/>

<PartInfo>
<Name>AI_Hover_Taxi</Name>
<AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
<Animation>
<Parameter>
<Code>(A:LIGHT BEACON,bool) ! if{ 0 } els{ 100 }</Code>
<Lag>15</Lag>
</Parameter>
</Animation>
</PartInfo>

The part is linked to anim_hover with KF:0-130.

anim_hover is linked to anim_drop_rise with KF:0-100 to position the helicopter in the traffic viewer window after take-off.

John

John I have a list of questions for you

How did you get into designing AI aircraft in the first place

How did you decide what aircraft model to make

How long would it take you to make an aircraft

What was your favorite aircraft model you built

What was your favorite part about designing AI aircraft

Did you ever get tired of doing this designing AI aircraft (sorry I’m asking you again I’m posting it here again so everyone can see your comment)

1. I got fed up with the tedium of designing scenery.
2. We needed some vintage AI aircraft for the ACG Duxford scenery. I was amazed when my Dragon Rapide flew the circuit. I was then hooked on AI.
3. For the model itself, generally about 120 hours. Painting and whatever else is to be included in the package, like scenery and flight plans, plus variations in the models for different sim versions, obviously take longer. The comprehensive Minot package took about 800 hours.
4. F-15E.
5. Animation and first test flight.
6. Yes of course, it happens with all hobbies I guess. It's a large investment of optional time and sometimes difficult to justify.

Hi John,

I just want to say Thank you for your creations and for your appreciated answers to my maybe silly questions.
With your help I' ve started to enjoy more and more my old FSX and I hope you'll always be a refence point for MAIW.

I wish you all the best

Lucame

John sorry I’m asking you this again I’m positing it here again so everyone can see your comment

John I want to thank you for all you did for FS2004 you really helped fill a big gap in my sim

I want to apologize for everything I’ve done in the past

Even thought I’m disappointed there were models I wanted you to make that you didn’t make I’ll always maintain a deep respect for you

Thank you for everything John Young

Sincerely
Captain Andy

Hello John,

I have a quick question about GMAX.
For example, if I draw a group of munitions (bombs, missiles) in a specifically dedicated project, with a texture dedicated to that project, can I reuse some of the weapons from that project in another aircraft without having to adapt the aircraft's texture? And keep the weapons texture?

Second question. You created a Brazilian Embraer with a Saab radar for Brazil.
You also created a Bombardier Global Express aircraft model.
Is it possible and feasible to take the Embraer radar elements and transpose them into the Bombardier Global Express project to create a GlobalEye? Without having to remap the entire aircraft with a new texture? (Just add a few small antennas).

Thanks.

Yes indeed, you can share weapons loads and texture sheets across multiple projects. It has been done quite often by designers here.

The answer to your second question is also yes, but there are 3 problems associated with it:

1. My Bombardier Global Express model is a static object that I built for my Schenectady scenery. It has no animated parts, no crew and no FDE.

2. I wouldn’t choose to make a Global Eye model in the way you suggest, because it is inefficient in draw calls and texture sheets. I would instead revamp my Global express model to incorporate the Global Eye parts on a single texture sheet and a single draw call for the airframe and antennae combined.

3. As I said a few posts up (June 12th), I can no longer model since I upgraded to Windows 11. That has killed the export function in the Gmax FSX Game Pack. I can’t see Microsoft ever fixing that, unless it is by accident. I have found no fix from designers, other than creating a Windows 10/Windows 11 dual boot for my PC. I’m not happy to do that, particularly since it has become fundamentally difficult to justify the time needed to design for FSX and P3D. Downloads have dropped drastically as enthusiasts are now spread across more and more different simulators.

John