[Project] G42-200 StarLiner

[Richy]

Phew! Amazing piece of work you've already.

I think to make a full startup-to-shutdown checklist of all the (later) implemented systems, takes a looooong time.

[Moach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richy

 Phew! Amazing piece of work you've already.

I think to make a full startup-to-shutdown checklist of all the (later) implemented systems, takes a looooong time.

not THAT long... unless you're picking 'er up cold on the ramp... it's not like its turn the ignition and lets roll... takes some setting up to get it started

[jangofett287]

Perhaps you could hide a button somewhere that says: "Press for Auto-Startup" so the people who inevitably don't read the manual can at least get off the runway, but then again, laughing at their failed attempts to start the engines could be even funnier...

[Richy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moach

 not THAT long... unless you're picking 'er up cold on the ramp...

That's what I'm talking about, what else?

[deltawing777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moach

 actually, some of the switches are already rigged and actually do stuff, we have landing gears, visor, canards, afterburner toggle, ramcaster doors, you know...


but others just go "flick" for the hell of it right now

---------- Post added 04-27-11 at 05:11 PM ---------- Previous post was 04-26-11 at 05:24 PM ----------

{image}

as you can see, i've got a few new things working for us

most obviously, you can now switch to the flight engineer seat by hitting the TAB key... also, that position is now equipped with 2 MFD's, giving us a total of 6


the ramcaster engine is working - you can even see it's throttle lever move when you throttle it up (it's tied to the "hover" engines)

i've also added a new redraw-texture, which covers the 6 EICAS screens with some extra space for additional displays too (i've already started those by displaying the main fuel reserves above the RCS knob)


i'll keep ya posted when i have more stuff to show

---------- Post added at 05:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:11 PM ----------

just thought i'd show another feature...

this is from the engineer side leaning for a better view of the overhead panel

{image}

the pilot side also has it's own mirrored set of "leaning positions", so you can actually see the overhead panel from any perspective, and read the labels on the many switches...

there are also positions set to get a better view out the windows, and for a closer look at the HUD (for pilot) and at the knee-panel switches (for engineer)

Damm that looks sweet! nice work! can't wait

[Eli13]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manichean

 You need to mentally insert some smilies into my post.

Maybe you should add them yourself btw its hard to tell emotion over text with certain sentences (well most of them )

[boby_nadeau]

Fantastic ! Can't Wait ! But will it slow the framerate ?

[Moach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boby_nadeau

 Fantastic ! Can't Wait ! But will it slow the framerate ?

not having any trouble with FPS so far... i've tested it out on my work pc (which is NOT fitted with a GFX580, like my home rig) and it runs just fine

maybe that's because of the way i modelled it, making sure no unecessary polygons were used (i'm kinda paranoid about that, i think)... anyways, no FPS hit at all so far...




BTW - i'm having trouble containing my satisfaction right now, because -- ladies 'n gentlemen... WE'RE IN SPACE

that's right - i've figured out most of the settings and have successfully rigged ALL stages of the ascent, including the waverider-wing simulation (you get a "hypersonic bonus" on lift with the wings bent down)

she reached LEO (ISS alt) with an expected amount of 20% left on the main tanks - this is a good thing, considering i had no cargo mass and didn't fly a plane-intercept leg... there's still some tuning to get around, but we're close enough for today


now i have yet to port out the RCS code from the '100, tweak the hell out of it, wire it up so that orientation-swivel knob can do it's job.... then i think we're on to systems, but before that - there's gonna be a first WIP release

i expect within the next week or so i may upload the first flyable version - then i'll need some beta-test candidates (which i guess won't take much convincing from me, will it?) so we can properly figure out the best way to fly this thing, ascent/reentry procedures, V-speeds, cockpit layout, you name it....



later, folks!

[jangofett287]

CAN. NOT. WAIT.

[Hlynkacg]

Looking forward to it Moach.

[Eli13]

Agreed. I'll be testin that bird out. To the limit!

[halcyon]

I'll definitely be testing the reentry profile.
We'll see how AeroBrakeMFD and GlideslopeMFD perform.

[Eli13]

Oh, I forgot I have some serious time on FSX plus like 20 minutes on a real aircraft too

[Grover]

Yo dawg, ill do you some testing, ive done beta testing before with the italian guys, should be good

But in the WIP, make sure to say which systems are still unfinished, so we know what not to feedback on

[Moach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grover

 Yo dawg, ill do you some testing, ive done beta testing before with the italian guys, should be good

But in the WIP, make sure to say which systems are still unfinished, so we know what not to feedback on

i surely will do that!

for now, most systems are inoperant, except the engines (which are rather basic needs, i guess), but even those are running a bit more "shallow" than i intend to keep them... good enough to get by for now, tho


other things like canards, gears and visor are animated, tho not actually simulated (they move, but they could be either way and not affect anything)
i'll see if i can get something of more meaning to them, if not, then that'll be for WIP-2


my still pending must-finish requirements for WIP-1 are, roughly:
- save/load state to scenario file
- RCS / OMS thrusters (RCS is mostly set, OMS is not at all ATM)
- some basic form of engine condition displays... cant fly blind
- more fuel gauges (only main fuel is shown so far)


other things i'll TRY to get done before then, but will not guarantee:
- animated ACS and VC flight controls
- visible RCS thrusters and exhausts
- whatever else comes to mind that can be done quickly



now, quick note about the save/load thing...

there's WAY too much information to write for each instance of the G42 (more than 50 flickable switches by now, plus a bunch of other crap... )
this is bound to make a mess of the .scn file, which i believe should be mostly human-readable...

but saving all that info into it would cause it to bload hundreds of lines per ship - or, if i save in binary form, which is easier to code, we'll be left with a ton of gibberish-looking characters polluting a portion of the file... not ideal...

my idea to solve this is this - i write most of the petty-detail stuff into a separate savestate file in the G42's config folder (which contains a sub-folder for those), i then link to it from the scenario file using a single entry

"larger" stuff, like fuel contents, orbital state and whatnot can go in the .scn file as usual, but i think this way of handling more intricate stuff allows some much-appreciated head room and a ton of .scn lines...


the PMDG 747 for FS2004 used a similar approach... they did have almost ALL the switches on the Boeing working (it was quite awe-inspiring) - so the state of the plane's more advanced systems was saved separately



any thoughts? - would anyone prefer i leave everything in the .scn file instead? (for whatever mad reason)



cheers!