We need some gauges

peperez

peperez

Charter Member
There's a lot of gauges that we need in CFS2. WW2 radios and autopilots and jet gauges for American, British and German planes are amongst them.

Cheers

Pepe
 
I agree, but how do we make them. Last I heard you had to use C++. Sorry But I only learned Colbol and RPGII. Oh and BASIC. Those are out of date by nearly 30 years or more. Though the principles still apply.

Anyone know where to begin?
 
Different gauges......

....take a look through this library http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/fslib.php?searchid=28976415 Over there they have a large compilation of old gauges. HGHB used to make a lot of them. In addition, if some guys have some of the old planes files away they may have gauge folders in them that could be utilized. Remember in the era of these flight theaters there really wasn't alot.
 
Fibber said:
....take a look through this library http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/fslib.php?searchid=28976415 Over there they have a large compilation of old gauges. HGHB used to make a lot of them. In addition, if some guys have some of the old planes files away they may have gauge folders in them that could be utilized. Remember in the era of these flight theaters there really wasn't alot.
Click to expand...

I got a 404 error with this link. Could it be that it's too old?

Cheers!
KH :ernaehrung004:
 
The link works for me Kelti, although there is nothing on the page. That is, it's the Flightsim file search page but it shows "No Search Results", "No files matched your search criteria"
 
There are a lot of good historical gauges, including radios, in FS2004, but they're in cabinet file format. Would it be easier to modify them rather than make new ones?
 
It worked for me. I have it if anyone wants it.

not sure if we can use the info in a cab file. I'm sure some of it would be useful. It has to be added with C++ then compiled. you could use the BMPs.
 
My linked site.......

...hey guys, I just went and checked. The link will work but I overlooked that it is a site that requires a sign-in. Probably for the same reason as all the other site now do. To stop the anal-ejectors that have ruined alot of the old sites. Get a sign in and then look at the site. There are a lot of old pre/during WW2 era gauges there.

As I also stated, anyone who has some of the old planes from FDG, ie; KI-45, and Alpha may find gauges with-in the folders. Also the old commemorative BoB planes had some gauges that are still called for in some planes I have in the game.

To open CAB files I have found this site that gives instructions on how to do it.
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/open-cab-file-54278.html
 
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The cab files are useless unless you know how to convert the incompatible XML code to C++ format. The cab files contain both the XML operators and their bmps. Extract an XML file from a cab and open it with notepad. You'll see the code which operates the gauge. The operators "move" the dynamic parts of the gauges. These dynamic parts are drawn in the bmps. In C++, the *.gau file serves as both operator and bmp container.

If you master the gauge editing tricks of FS Panel Studio, you will be able to take bmp 'parts' from an FS cab file and literally swap them with bmps in CFS2/FS2000 gau files. But its the line coding that determines HOW the gauges ultimately perform, i.e. how far and at what rate a needle moves from left to right or vice versa. Your best bet is to only swap XML cab bmps that have a close similarity and layout to the original gau bmp so you don't have to rewrite any coding to make the modified gauge work properly. A good example would be swapping the face of a CFS2 airspeed gauge without changing the needle or modify the operating code.
 
The GAU to BMP utility is quite basic but works fine. From using it the only odd things are that BMPs have to be the same size as they are replacing and use the same color pallete.
 
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