Just Flight's Wildcat

imn2sims said:
Gave it a go but must be doin' something wrong as I see no diifference after modifying the MDL file. Does it matter what is chosen in the "property to display" and "Texture assignment" drop down boxes?

Thanks
Steve
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Steve, mine are set to Specularity and Diffuse. I have never touched them. Here is a quickly made pic with instructions. Hope it helps and makes sense.

MODELDESHINE.jpg
 
expat said:
I am not quite satisfied with the prop blur on this (and some of my other WWII Warbirds). Have been experimenting using some other more faint textures, e.g. the SOH Tigercat most recent version is very subtle. However, despite adding this to the main texture or repaint folder of the Wildcat, there doesn't seem to be any change from the default, even when it is disabled, which is odd.
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Expat, did you change both the prop textures? There are two in the main texture folder. Don't know if the model uses them both, or even why there are two in there. One is named AH_propblur_t.bmp and AH_Wildcat_Prop.dds.
 
There are two in the main texture folder.
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DOH!!! Completely missed those. Thanks Rob. I was fooling around the the "AH_Propblur_bmp" texture at the top of the folder think "this must be it" which made absolutely no difference. Will fiddle some more and post any noticeable changes/improvements.
 
expat said:
DOH!!! Completely missed those. Thanks Rob. I was fooling around the the "AH_Propblur_bmp" texture at the top of the folder think "this must be it" which made absolutely no difference. Will fiddle some more and post any noticeable changes/improvements.
Click to expand...

Your welcome! Looking forward to your improvements!
 
That did the trick to change the prop blur. It's the "AH_Wildcat_Prop.bmp". Here is one of several alternatives I am in the middle of trying. I like very light blurs, too many come with very "hard" disks or too visible ones in my opinion. On this plane and also on some of the other warbirds I still see a too distinct moving blade "pattern" which is by itself OK and realistic BUT for some reason it "rock" or cycles back and forth too rapidly. A pattern that moves slowly or more fluidly - like the pattern the human eye sees in the wagon wheels in a Western movie -are more realistic looking. On some planes changing the pitch directly affects this. I wonder if there are any changes to prop entries in the air.cfg that would make a visible change without upsetting the flight characteristics.
 
At the risk of being pushy, and that's certainly not my intent here, I may not have been clear in my first post. When I said that the prop spinning anywhere from 1,000 RPM's to 5,000 RPM's (and even higher if it is possible), is a smoothly blended faint blur, what I was trying to convey in words is that you cannot parse out separate blades, even as smoothly blended "pie wedges."

Unfortunately, all most folks have seen with these classic warbirds is video camera images -- motion pictures. And unfortunately all those quaint examples of props seeming to rotate backwards, or strobe, or anything other than a smoothly blended, faintly visible disc, is an optical illusion resulting from the inconsistencies of motion picture film speed versus the fast rotational velocity of the prop. In fact, high speed film is even worse, being so fast in its development time that it can actually be seen to slow the blades down so that you can actually see them appear to spin at ridiculously slow RPM's. The human eye simply cannot do what the film is doing. So, this accounts for the stark differences.

As stupid as such a statement I'm about to make can make me appear, if you had to err on the side of getting close, you'd be closer to the reality of it (as the naked human eyes sees it) to actually have no prop spin animation at all! Now, of course, customers would go nuts over that, so I'm certainly not offering that as a recommendation -- more as another effort to explain the reality of it.

Anyway, let me repeat that this Wildcat looks beautiful and so in no way am I trying to push a point of view contrary to what the design team wishes to achieve. I just wanted to try to clarify my earlier remarks in case I was not clear.

Cheers,

Ken
 
Totally with you Ken on your assessment. As this is really pretend flying this is something where everyone should "season to taste" for whatever works best for them and find most pleasing.
 
Skyhawk_310R

"In fact, high speed film is even worse, being so fast in its development time that it can actually be seen to slow the blades down so that you can actually see them appear to spin at ridiculously slow RPM's. The human eye simply cannot do what the film is doing. So, this accounts for the stark differences."

Here is a great example of a "floating" Hind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5POy9iKtPA&feature=related

 
Blurprops have been a problem since day one with FS. The keyframed animation of a blurprop cannot replicate the visual appearance of a propeller rotating at variable speeds because in FS models it is a fixed rotation speed set by the number of keyframes over a set timeframe. The sim only sort of replicates prop movement at different throttle and pitch settings, it can't set up any kind of visual "trickery".

With the Wildcat, we tried everything from wedge shaped profiles, triangular segments to double discs etc. The results were always similar. We even tried an an. imation routine to "thicken" the blur when at coarse pitch. This actually worked but only from certain angles as the sim engine can't cope with rendering 3D alpha channels on the move.

In the end it comes down to doing what you like best.

BTW don't forget that there is now a weathered cockpit set for this release for those who prefer the war weary look, available at the JF site.
 
Agree with Bazzar, realism doesn't necessarily translate to a realistic model. The model is a "suggestion" of the prop rather than a realistic depiction. Nothing wrong with that.


Also agree with Skyhawk.....you do not see distinctive prop blur....physically impossible.
 
Barry,

I am thrilled to see you folks are the ones working on this Wildcat. Great to see, and long time since we've communicated to each other -- too long in fact!

Cheers,

Ken
 
Well Hello Ken!:wavey:

Sorry mate I hadn't recognised your forum name. How the Dickens are you?
 
Really nice skins. Makes the Wildcat look like a real wardog. In fact I managed to get the Wildcat on sale just for these new skins. Great job. Are they ready and where can I get 'em?

Thanks

Sam
 
Rob, thanks very much for the picture tutorial. I see what I was doing wrong. I was trying to choose in the bottom left window instead of the top like you said. Must learn to read more closely:redf:. I will try again tomorrow. Thanks again for your time and effort.

Steve
 
imn2sims said:
Rob, thanks very much for the picture tutorial. I see what I was doing wrong. I was trying to choose in the bottom left window instead of the top like you said. Must learn to read more closely:redf:. I will try again tomorrow. Thanks again for your time and effort.

Steve
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Your welcome Steve, good luck!! Keep us posted, and let me know if you have any more questions:salute:
 
What ships are you guys using for takeoffs and landings for this WW2 aircraft? Looks funny using a modern ship for traps.
 
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