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Lockheed S-3 Viking - The Sequel Thread

Great news Dino, I like your incremental approach. As one who doesn't (and likely won't ever) have TAC PAC, it's nice to be not have to wait until some esoteric piece of coding is resolved that won't affect the use is regular sim flying.

As an interesting aside, noting from the last two (NASA and CONA) paint, Mr. Diaz has finally transitioned to FSX. All his work to date has focused on FS9 models (his AS Vigilante paints are superb!) - but the prospect of seeing him tackle some of the native FSX models is a very exciting development.

Here's to some great Hoovering times ahead ...

dl
 
Please be aware that there are some minor changes to the texture layout in the final model.
Namely, the inner surfaces of the flaps are now separete textures (to allow ModeX number placements) and the fuel tanks have now specular mapping.

I will release the model before the end of the month.
 
Almost there with the S-3 Viking - there are still some bugs I have been unable to squash as of today (biggest one being detachment of the launch bar from catapult shuttle when you apply power), but my vacations are approaching - so basically I'll release what I have on my computer at the end of this week. There may still some bugs, and probably there will not be much documentation, but still it seems a decent Viking rendition right now...

10459081_864010370279092_2087640988481270382_o.jpg10497146_871154752897987_7459262999324898931_o.jpg10505016_872413139438815_7616227861836821420_o.jpg
 
All,

I have fixed some of the small issues that emerged after the 0.99 release - and given that I will not have much time in the next few weeks, I have decided to release version 1.00 "as it is" tonight. It is not significantly better than 0.99, but considering that no major bugs were detected I think it should be OK for most users.

CHANGE LOG
*************
Version 1.00
September 15th 2014

- Improved glass reflection
- Fixed aicraft.cfg entry os that NASA livery was not listed
- Fixed aicraft.cfg manufacturer entry
- Fixed texture on copilot seat (did not match placard)
- Fixed strobe, navigation and formation light switches not working in VC
- Improved flight model, should provide more accurate speeds
- Replaced ASI/Mach and altimeter models with more accurate ones
- Fixed elevator and trim indicators not working
- Fixed landing gear doors reflections
- Fixed APU door is now animated (open and closes with APU switch)
- Files are now signed for Tacpack Multiplayer

KNOWN ISSUES IN THIS RELEASE
****************************
- Landing light does not illuminate the ground (compiling the light in the mdl does not work for some reason I do not understand...so the light effect is in the aicraft.cfg - this is why it does not illuminate the ground)
- Authrottle not working as intended (root cause not identified)
- Some users reported issues with the launch bar, but could not be replicated (launch bar does not have issues on my system and seems to work fine - if you have "bumping" issues you may consider not to apply full throttle before launching)



Updated version can be downloaded from my blog:


http://indiafoxtecho.blogspot.co.uk/
 
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This keeps getting better and better, thanks for a well done addon :encouragement::adoration:

I do have one small comment to make. With regards to the canopy, I removed the file scratch_reflection.dds and that gave me a scratch free canopy.
I wish there weren't as many scratches on it. The v.9 did not have this scratch_reflections.dds in the textures and was addition to the V1.0.
I circled the scratches that I noticed. When you open the scratch_reflection.dds file with dxtbmp, there are bunches of scratches.
Other then remove that file to get a "Clear" canopy view, I would like to view thru inside the canopy with a tad reflection to give the effect that there is glass there.
When I removed that scratch file, the scratches are gone but it looks like the glass is too. Just my 2C worth.

2u4236a.jpg
 
Thanks for the appreciation - I knew the new glass would have been somewhat controversial... the attempt is to try to render the small scratches / wrinkles that affect such kind of parts (btw the best rendition for such effect is in Microsoft Flight - yes, the infamous one).

As you guessed the "scratch" (I do not remember the file name by heart) governs that effect. It is better to replace it with a 64x64 black bitmap rather than removing it. Scracth was completely absent from 0.9.
I like the rendering (especially in P3Dv2) and I am considering to make it a standard (it is already implemented in the 326 and in the T45).
However it is not the "main" reflection (the reflection is governed by another file) - which is extemely faint (and hard coded in the model) because several users said the initial version (which was aleady quite transparent) was too "solid". Hence I have reduced it. I also got rid of the environment mapping for the same reason (very vocal users...).
Getting rid of the scratch should not do anthing to the main reflection - it is a different file on a different material on a different surfaces (there are two "glasses" - one with the reflection and one with the scracthes).

Regards

Dino
 
A related anecdote:

Part of my job in the Navy (as an AME) was removing scratches from canopies and windshields. It was a tedious task. Done with various grades of emory cloth, as I recall. Too much pressure while sanding, and you made the problem worse. Too much time sanding, and the light reflection through the canopy would be altered. There was a calculation they used that determined if a canopy replacement was necessary if a certain percentage of the canopy was scratched, and/or the depth of the scratch or scratches were too deep.

NC
 
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