Well, I created my first AI flight plan today. Nothing major, just a 9:00 AM flight of 3 Lake Renegade 250s from Concrete Municipal to KBFI (the Boeing Field in Seattle) as a group flight, then had the three fly off to different airports around Noon, then had the three fly back to Concrete Municipal from their unique second destinations back to Concrete Municipal in the early evening hours.
The flight plan worked...sort of :isadizzy: There is a reason why AI flight plans should avoid mountains. One the flight out of Concrete Municipal, the Renegades don't climb to their assigned altitudes fast enough to avoid the mountains. After flying THROUGH the mountains for a few minutes, the planes simply disappear. They reappear to make their landings at KBFI just fine though.
Anyhow...
I am using John Woodward's AI Lake Renegade. It comes with one paint job. So in order to have a variety of paint schemes for my AI Renegades, I have created a paint kit (I thought I had retired from that for a while), have 3 new paints done (though I had retired from that as well), and a fourth started. These four paints use the same basic pattern, just different colors. And I have modified the AI Renegade's MDL file, giving it more realistic glass and a nice specular shine and will give it reflective texturing as well (another thing I had thought I had retired from).
As it turns out, the Lake Renegade is one of my favorite amphibious planes. And John Woodward is the maker of the flyable version I use. And as it turns out, the texture mapping for the user version and the AI version are 100% identical (well, in terms of external stuff). So, the new paints I am doing for AI use can be used on the flyable version too...just need to address the interior bits.
And the flyable Renegade's MDL file will have all of the same tweaks done to it that the AI MDL file will have...more realistic glass, specular shine and reflective texturing (I actually think both MDL files have reflective texturing already, just need to darken the alpha channels to see if the shine is just dulled due to the light colors I have used on the paints thus far).
And....you know how the pilot is linked to the lights and when you turn the lights on the pilot shows up and some times you wish you could have the pilot but not the lights? I figured out something on that too. The pilot is linked to the NAV lights. So, what I will do is use the TAXI light setting for the actual NAV lights and that way you can flip the NAV light switch on a pop up window to activate the pilot, but use the "NAV" light switch on the 2D and VC Panels to turn on the Navigation lights. The "Nav" light switch on the panels will actually be a Taxi light switch, but labeled as the Nav switch.
Any how, here are a few screenshots of the flyable Lake Renegade 250 wearing the first of the skins I did for the AI Renegade 250. Still need to toss a reg number on the tail.
View attachment 56732View attachment 56733View attachment 56734View attachment 56735
Well, off to enjoy my "retirement" from painting, tweaking, modding and updating.
OBIO
Nope...not reflectivity. So will add that to both models.
The flight plan worked...sort of :isadizzy: There is a reason why AI flight plans should avoid mountains. One the flight out of Concrete Municipal, the Renegades don't climb to their assigned altitudes fast enough to avoid the mountains. After flying THROUGH the mountains for a few minutes, the planes simply disappear. They reappear to make their landings at KBFI just fine though.
Anyhow...
I am using John Woodward's AI Lake Renegade. It comes with one paint job. So in order to have a variety of paint schemes for my AI Renegades, I have created a paint kit (I thought I had retired from that for a while), have 3 new paints done (though I had retired from that as well), and a fourth started. These four paints use the same basic pattern, just different colors. And I have modified the AI Renegade's MDL file, giving it more realistic glass and a nice specular shine and will give it reflective texturing as well (another thing I had thought I had retired from).
As it turns out, the Lake Renegade is one of my favorite amphibious planes. And John Woodward is the maker of the flyable version I use. And as it turns out, the texture mapping for the user version and the AI version are 100% identical (well, in terms of external stuff). So, the new paints I am doing for AI use can be used on the flyable version too...just need to address the interior bits.
And the flyable Renegade's MDL file will have all of the same tweaks done to it that the AI MDL file will have...more realistic glass, specular shine and reflective texturing (I actually think both MDL files have reflective texturing already, just need to darken the alpha channels to see if the shine is just dulled due to the light colors I have used on the paints thus far).
And....you know how the pilot is linked to the lights and when you turn the lights on the pilot shows up and some times you wish you could have the pilot but not the lights? I figured out something on that too. The pilot is linked to the NAV lights. So, what I will do is use the TAXI light setting for the actual NAV lights and that way you can flip the NAV light switch on a pop up window to activate the pilot, but use the "NAV" light switch on the 2D and VC Panels to turn on the Navigation lights. The "Nav" light switch on the panels will actually be a Taxi light switch, but labeled as the Nav switch.
Any how, here are a few screenshots of the flyable Lake Renegade 250 wearing the first of the skins I did for the AI Renegade 250. Still need to toss a reg number on the tail.
View attachment 56732View attachment 56733View attachment 56734View attachment 56735
Well, off to enjoy my "retirement" from painting, tweaking, modding and updating.
OBIO
Nope...not reflectivity. So will add that to both models.
