SOH A-26 Invader, the story continues ...

[gman5250]

Now that really needed to be done Gordon; thanks for going the extra mile.

Thank you sir.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again.

Aside from the new VC/Panel modeling, this bird is still running on the original coding. Animations, Gauges, effects, UVW mapping, mesh...all have translated into FSX and now P3Dv4 64-bit seamlessly.
I'm really happy that we could revive this model, and subsequently add it back into the archive.

BTW...I just signed the agreement with TFDi Design to implement TrueGlass into my freeware work. I'm sure I'll be adding the rain/glass effects to the K.

 

[Milton Shupe]

Thank you sir.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again.

Aside from the new VC/Panel modeling, this bird is still running on the original coding. Animations, Gauges, effects, UVW mapping, mesh...all have translated into FSX and now P3Dv4 64-bit seamlessly.
I'm really happy that we could revive this model, and subsequently add it back into the archive.

BTW...I just signed the agreement with TFDi Design to implement TrueGlass into my freeware work. I'm sure I'll be adding the rain/glass effects to the K.

I am really pleased that JensOle, DaveQ, and now you have invested the time to bring this to a new level. It will be great to have a newer, more up-to-date version.

Happy to hear about the rain/glass effects. The monsoon seasons in Vietnam were ... really wet, LOL and that should add some realism to the seasonal deluges we had to contend with.

 

[jamminjames]

Very impressive guys. ( mouth watering)......

 

[DaveQ]

I am really pleased that JensOle, DaveQ, and now you have invested the time to bring this to a new level. It will be great to have a newer, more up-to-date version.

QUOTE]

... not forgetting roger-wilco-66 (Mark), our weaponeer!! Thanks Milton, for you help and support; hope we manage to do this great model justice.

DaveQ

PS: Hopefully we'll be able to get the A-26B and C up to a similar standard in due course; we shouldn't forget where this thread started.

 

[Milton Shupe]

I am really pleased that JensOle, DaveQ, and now you have invested the time to bring this to a new level. It will be great to have a newer, more up-to-date version.

QUOTE]

... not forgetting roger-wilco-66 (Mark), our weaponeer!! Thanks Milton, for you help and support; hope we manage to do this great model justice.

DaveQ

PS: Hopefully we'll be able to get the A-26B and C up to a similar standard in due course; we shouldn't forget where this thread started.

Thank you DaveQ; my apologies to Mark with his awesome weapons work I have been admiring. I was on my first cup of coffee in the morning so not fully coherent!

 

[roger-wilco-66]

Thank you DaveQ; my apologies to Mark with his awesome weapons work I have been admiring. I was on my first cup of coffee in the morning so not fully coherent!

LOL, no problem.
Actually, I've been a bit quiet in the past weeks or so. Actually, that was what I was doing on Christmas eve. Designing weapons. No comment on that.
I was trying to worm my way through the texture translations and it's turning out pretty good lately.
Anyway, I'm sure my work on the weapons will be finished tomorrow, hopefully.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[gman5250]

Just to get everyone up to date on the timeline.

Dave Q, Jens Ole and roger-wilco-66 have been in a holding pattern while I revived the physical model. That work took a bit of time due to the limitations of Gmax in Windows 10. That being said, I'm uploading the mods to the team now, and they can resume their work with the re-booted model.

While they are working with their mods, I'll do some continued work on the mesh, animations and enhancements.

 

[Milton Shupe]

LOL, no problem.
Actually, I've been a bit quiet in the past weeks or so. Actually, that was what I was doing on Christmas eve. Designing weapons. No comment on that.
I was trying to worm my way through the texture translations and it's turning out pretty good lately.
Anyway, I'm sure my work on the weapons will be finished tomorrow, hopefully.


Cheers,
Mark

Amazing scenery there Mark, and weapons.

Saw lots of PSP in VN in '67-68

 

[roger-wilco-66]

Amazing scenery there Mark, and weapons.

Saw lots of PSP in VN in '67-68

On the PSP, I'm also at that - again. That is extremely difficult to depict in the sim because of horrible Moiré patterns that pop up resulting from the starkly repetetive patterns. But I think I solved that finally by using bump maps and a dirt layer on top, which interrupt the patterns so much that you have virtually no flickering or Moiré. Way to go, I've been chasing that problem for at least three years!


Cheers,
Mark

 

[IanP]

Mark,

I've just created a PSP (Marston Sheet type) runway for my East Wretham scenery, which I created by modelling the PSP and rendering it, then applying that texture to a ground poly. It works. Not perfect, but it works. Because it's now a texture, not a model per se, I've been able to minimise the moire effect. When it was a MDL, the moire was horrendous!

If you want any of my files, I can get them to you within a few minutes.

Cheers,

ian P.

 

[roger-wilco-66]

Mark,

I've just created a PSP (Marston Sheet type) runway for my East Wretham scenery, which I created by modelling the PSP and rendering it, then applying that texture to a ground poly. It works. Not perfect, but it works. Because it's now a texture, not a model per se, I've been able to minimise the moire effect. When it was a MDL, the moire was horrendous!

If you want any of my files, I can get them to you within a few minutes.

Cheers,

ian P.

Thanks for the offer, Ian. I think I'm pretty far with the project - here's the last rendition:

 

[IanP]

Looking good, Mark!

Cheers,

Ian P.

 

[bob407]

Just want to say thank you to all involved here. Really appreciate your awesome work. Please take your time and enjoy what you do. Things always seem to work out better that way in the end.

 

[gman5250]

Jens-Ole sent me his hand painted art for the fire panel today. I built the part and added it to the VC. The weapons strip will also be integrated. I'm refining the LM gauge lighting for brightness and color. The night shot here is using my custom VC lighting effect from the Tigercat.

Each addition develops the personality of this plane. That fire panel really brings that forward view to life.

 

[strykerpsg]

Very nice indeed Gman. Superb artwork each shot delivered.

 

[DennyA]

Quick question... While I await the awesome K, I've been flying the existing version in P3D V4. Works and looks great, except the mirror reflective wheels.

So I have a couple of total newbie questions on converting the textures:
1) Should convert them all, or just the gear?
2) Assuming I should convert them to DDS 32-bit?
3) Is DXTBmp or Photoshop (I have CC) the way to go, or is there a batch program if I should convert them all?
4) If there's a newbie's guide to doing this that I've missed somewhere, can someone point me to it? ;-)

Thanks for answering my "didn't everyone figure this stuff out in 2006?" questions. ;-)

 

[JensOle]

My advice would be to wait a few weeks and you will have a much more refined and complete replication of the b-26k. The old K has no K vc, but the generic original invader cockpit and it has the issue with very low resolution on the gauges. Pluss we are putting a lot of effort into other parts of the model to make it as close to the K model as we can manage. This includes all new HD textures and weapon loadout.

 

[DaveQ]

Quick question... While I await the awesome K, I've been flying the existing version in P3D V4. Works and looks great, except the mirror reflective wheels.

So I have a couple of total newbie questions on converting the textures:
1) Should convert them all, or just the gear?
2) Assuming I should convert them to DDS 32-bit?
3) Is DXTBmp or Photoshop (I have CC) the way to go, or is there a batch program if I should convert them all?
4) If there's a newbie's guide to doing this that I've missed somewhere, can someone point me to it? ;-)

Thanks for answering my "didn't everyone figure this stuff out in 2006?" questions. ;-)

You can get an Nvidia plug-in for Photoshop that saves files as .dds. Alternatively you could try saving as .dds with no alpha with DXTbmp. There is also a little routine I could send you to batch convert if you want - very useful for portovers. However, I have a faint memory of the tyre problem being related to the use of the FS9 model in FSX so it may not work. As JensOle said, we are working on a complete rebuild with tyre treads even bump mapped...!

DaveQ

 

[DennyA]

Thanks, guys! I appreciate the responses.

If we're weeks away from the B-26K, I can just patiently wait and fly more boring planes in the meantime. (Or just not switch to external views until I've retracted the goofy tired. Or pretend I'm in that episode of Amazing Stories.

The work you're doing on the update is stunning!

 

[gribouil]

Jens-Ole sent me his hand painted art for the fire panel today. I built the part and added it to the VC. The weapons strip will also be integrated. I'm refining the LM gauge lighting for brightness and color. The night shot here is using my custom VC lighting effect from the Tigercat.

Each addition develops the personality of this plane. That fire panel really brings that forward view to life.

Wonderful job Gman5250!!!
Cheers,

Stéph.