Changing/editing VC cockpit light effects in FS9

[Sbob]

So, this is mainly about fixing the night time VC lights in the Virtavia/Alphasim C-17A Globemaster III but I figured that I may as well keep it generic enough so you can use the info for any FS9 aircraft.

The initial problem only showed up in the VC view at night. While the co-pilot's area and the over-head of the cockpit was well-lit, the part that mattered the most- the pilot's view- was dark. I'm pretty sure that Alpha/Virtavia designed its later "classic" aircraft for FSX first then made some small changes for the FS9 version. In this case, there are TOO MANY VC lights in the C-17 for FS9 to handle. There are some other aircraft that also suffer the same problem. The W-O-P B-36 comes to mind.

Anyway, let's fix the C-17 first then I'll tackle VC lighting in general. I've included the turquois/teal VC lighting effect below if you'd like to try it but this fix will work with any VC lighting effects.
The key, I've found, with VC lights is to keep them subtle. Imagine driving down a country road while your buddy shines a bright light in your face.
You can see the really close-up stuff with no problem at all, its just those turns in the road that get tricky. Subtle is IMPORTANT. I wanted to post some screen shots in this thread but if you look at the screen shot I posted in the Screen Shots thread, it is VERY tough to do.

Anyway, again, let's fix that VC view for the C-17. You'll only need to make the following edit to the [LIGHTS] section of the aircraft.cfg file:

[lights]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing
light.0 = 3, -84.50, 0.0, 13.14, fx_navwhih ; Nav tail
light.1 = 3, -18.85, -84.50, 3.07, fx_navredh ; Nav red
light.2 = 3, -18.85, 84.50, 3.07, fx_navgreh ; Nav grn
light.3 = 1, -85.85, 0.0, 46.00, fx_beaconh ; Beacon top
light.4 = 1, 27.41, 0.0, -10.50, fx_beaconh ; Beacon lower
light.5 = 4, 60.00, -4.00, 2.00, fx_dsb_vclight_tq ; Cockpit panel left
light.6 = 4, 60.00, -4.00, 3.00, fx_dsb_vclight_tq ; Cockpit HUD left
light.7 = 4, 60.00, 4.00, 2.00, fx_dsb_vclight_tq ; Cockpit panel right
light.8 = 4, 59.00, -1.00, 4.00, fx_dsb_vclight_tq ; Cockpit for FS9 VC O'head
light.9 = 4, 60.00, 0.00, 2.00, fx_dsb_vclight_tq ; Cockpit for FS9 VC centre
light.10 = 4, 60.00, 0.00, 1.00, fx_dsb_vclight_tq ; Cockpit for FS9 VC centre
light.11 = 2, -18.52, -84.36, 3.09, fx_strobeh ; left wing fwd strobe
light.12 = 2, -29.58, -84.23, 3.01, fx_strobeh ; left wing aft strobe
light.13 = 2, -18.52, 84.36, 3.09, fx_strobeh ; right wing fwd strobe
light.14 = 2, -29.58, 84.23, 3.01, fx_strobeh ; right wing aft strobe

Just copy, paste, then save using NOTEPAD. What I did was remove two of the over-head VC lights, test it out, then add one light back for the pilot's HUD.
Six VC lights and a total of 15 lights seems to be the top limit for FS9. I've included the teal VC light effect BUT you could use ANY VC lights and this will still work.
My best results to keep the HUD readable but not too bright is to use the teal lights and set the HUD to maximum brightness. If I find something better I'll post it in this thread.

In the next post I'll dive a little deeper into VC lights and how they work. I'll also show you how to cheat and add a night vision effect if the canopy glass uses an internal texture with an alpha layer.

 

[Shessi]

Many thanks S.

Like you say, it's useful in a generic way, look forward to picking through it. And have to agree, subtle cockpit/instrument is definitely the way to go!

Cheers

Shessi

 

[Sbob]

Yep. Especially with HUDs, it isn't tough to over-cook the VC lighting.
An overly bright HUD will make it tough to see what's beyond it.
You can "tune" this by moving the placement of your VC lights.
Generally, lower (or offset to left or right) makes it darker. Go too high and you'll wind up with a nasty "flare" effect next to the canopy glass.

So, on a 2D panel, background color is controlled in the panel.cfg file.
For the VC, the lighting is controlled by the VC light placement in the [lights] section.

Let's take a look at the HUD lighting from the first post:

light.6 = 4, 60.00, -4.00, 3.00, fx_dsb_vclight_tq ; Cockpit HUD left

The 4 identifies the effect as a VC/Cockpit light. This basically controls which switch on the panel turns the light off and on.
You could change this number to, for example, a 3 and the VC light would turn on along with the NAV lights.

The 60.00 is the fore/aft light placement relative to the MDL's center of gravity. A positive number indicates forward of the CG. A negative number would be aft of the CG. In this case, the light source is 60 feet in front of the CG.

The -4.00 is the left/right placement of the light source relative to the CG measured in feet. The minus sign refers to being to the left of the CG. A positive number means the source is located to the right of the CG.

The 3.00 is the height of the light source relative to the CG. A negative number would mean the light is below the CG.

One quick point about those X, Y, and Z co-ords in feet. One tenth of a foot is basically one and one quarter inches. If you do want to vary your lighting strength, work in changes of .3 to .5. Less than that makes it hard to see any change.

One other thing to make your life easier. The VC lighting is linked to where you sit. You can get a good ballpark idea of where to add a light by noting the eyepoint/views found in the aircraft.cfg file (usually near the bottom of the list).

[Views]
eyepoint= 57.00, -4.18, 4.38

Notice how these numbers correspond to the VC light placement. The VC light is placed in front of and slightly below the eyepoint.

One last point, I used the term CG a lot but it isn't that important. Just think of it as a base-line. Most of your work will be figuring out the offsets.

 

[Shessi]

Ha yes, 'chasing' just the right viewpoint can be a pain, just like contact points, you have to think inversely.

Thanks for laying it out for all to take in (very useful)...and just maybe...they may have a go!!

Cheers

Shessi

 

[Sbob]

"They"?

I write these posts so I can come back in two years and figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Actually, I used to post "how to" stuff on FS.com back in the day.
Imagine looking for info on how to fix a problem and getting directed to one of your old posts.

BTW, questions are welcome. I still want to cover how to change the VC light color plus doing some effects like a red cockpit light for the pilot and a green cockpit light for the Radar operator in the back.