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Shining Older Aircraft

O

OBIO

Retired SOH Admin
I have heard from a very reliable source that there is a way to shine older aircraft via a HEX editor. He said that at some point, someone did a tute on how to do it...he is looking through his files to see if he can find it...but in case he is not able to do so, does anyone here know how to use a Hex editor to shine older aircraft? Does anyone here know where I can find a decent free hex editor?

OBIO

In case this person is remembering incorrectly, I have left his identity a secret so as not to make him look like a dunce or anything. Would not want to inadvertantly bring public shame to a fella who has done amazing amounts of work for the simming community.

I have a Hex Editor...keep forgetting about Hfred. Took a look at an MDL file, and all it looked like to me was the opening screens from the Matrix movies....makes SCASM code look easy by comparison.
 
Please Obio, I just spent an hour trying to explain why I dont think it can be done only to lose all my typing cause I keep getting logged off. Its just a whole lot easier to type the following instructions......... LEARN GMAX , it is easier to extraperlate those old models into Gmax and then rebuild them, than it is to edit a little endian hex dump.
 
Simonu,
What specular numbers are you using in the Gmax material editor for the shine in CFS2? Perhaps a picture would help.
Cheers Thicko
 
Simple stuff, If it was built with Gmax or FSDS2, it can be shined, if it was built with FSDS1 or AF99, then no it cannot be shined.

Load the model into Martin Wrights Mdlmat, if it can be shined, It'l show you materials, and let you shine them.

There are exceptions, but they come from the pioneering days, as far as Mr rebuffat says, his spits were FSDS1 style like his Bf109's. His spits can be shined, his 109's can't. The difference? They were manually rebuilt using scasm, Mr Corrado la Posta did the Scasm work, the same chap who did the original shine tutorial.

the moral, yes it can be done, but it involves rebuilding the model manually with scasm, it was done, but in the days where we had no tools to do it for us. It would be much simpler to build it from scratch these days. We now have the tools to do so, I am in awe of those that did it without those tools.

Jamie
 
I use Martin's MDLmaterial to shine/deshine planes...no longer use MDLC for that purpose. So, shining older models is possible, but not worth the effort involved as the effort to shine them is more than the effort involved in making a new version of the same plane. Roger Dodger! Will put down the Hex Editor and pick up the Gmax!

OBIO
 
thicko said:
Simonu,
What specular numbers are you using in the Gmax material editor for the shine in CFS2? Perhaps a picture would help.
Cheers Thicko
Click to expand...

I confess I Cant really help you there thicko, as I am a Gmax beginer also, at the moment I am applying shine to models after export from Gmax, I have now come to realise that a library of materials can be built up for reuse so mastering the material editor will be my undertaking for this season.
 
Cowboy,

I agree with you mostly....while some planes look good with a nice shine (such as bare metal birds) others look best with just a low level gloss. Unfortunately, the older planes don't even have that...they are as dull as a garden hoe that has been used to chop through a 20 acre rock garden.

A bit of gloss/shine really helps give the planes a more realistic 3D appearance.

OBIO
 
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