FSX/FSX-SE Aircraft and Panel Design Forum - How To

Hi,I've created an INS gauge that can read and load FSX flightplans. Up until now I retrieved these flightplans by checking the "Flight Simulator X files" folder in the "My documents" folder. I retrieve the path to the localized "my documents" folder through a standard API call.I was not aware however that the "Flight Simulator X files" folder name in itself is also localized in different language editions of FSX ! Now I was wondering if there is any way to find this path ?I checked the registry and it isn't there, FSUIPC also seems to be unable to get the correct path, so is there any other way ?Thx for helping,Bj

I moved a background bmp from one plane to another and it shows up scrunched down in the Y axis. I tried resizing and playing withe the params in the config file file but nothing works. It shows up ok in FSPS and my paint program.. This leads me to believe the problem might be with the cfg file psrams. I am open to suggestions. Paul

Hi all, I am having a bit of a problem I was hoping to get some help with. I am trying to export from 3ds Max 8 on Windows XP and whenever I do, all of the Aces Tools say they're not supported yet. The kicker is that I have Max setup in exactly the same way on my Laptop which is Vista and have no problem with it. In both, I took the Max 7 folder from the SDK, placed it in the Max folder, and directed a path to it, but no joy with the XP. Does anyone know why this would not work?Attached are screenies of the paths for the plugin folder and startup folders and a screenie of the project...Daycab

Hi,I can't make the following Hydraulic Switch able to pressurize the Hydraulic Brake Pressure indicator and if there's somebody so kind, to give me a hand to solve this problem I'll finish to bang my head in the wall.Hydraulic Brake Pressure:<Gauge Name="Hyd_Brake_Press" Version="1.0"> <Image Name="Hyd_Press_Back.bmp" Bright="Yes" ImageSizes="256,256,0,0" /> - <Element> <Position X="128" Y="128" /> - <Image Name="Hyd_Press_ND.bmp" PointsTo="East" Bright="Yes" ImageSizes="80,143,0,0"> <Axis X="40" Y="40" /> </Image>- <Rotate> <Value Minimum="0" Maximum="300">(A:Circuit general panel on,bool) if{ (A:Hydraulic4 pre…

I have a rather interesting problem, the solution to which has thus far escaped my grasp...For a gear driven prop with 1:1.67 gear reduction ratio...Depending on the power setting the propeller pitch is adjusted such that the required RPM will be obtained as shown in the following diagram (which I've changed to a table for the forum). Imagine an inverted bell curve with the lowest point centered at 1750 rpm. BTW, the following only applies while the a/c is airborne. On ground, normal prop rpm is in effect.Because it is direct drive, while flying even at flight idle (0% Load), the prop is effectively "spinning the engine", hence the odd curve. At around 25% Load, the engin…

I don't expect a 'complete' answer to this as I suspect that the fix varies from developer to developer and system to system. The last two builds of my current project have resulted in the dreaded 'Flight Simulator was unable to load some aircraft or software. You can...' etc. Rolling back to the previous three known working archives still gives the same error message - so I know that whatever is causing the message to be thrown cannot be my code. Not unless you want to tell me that three archives plus my current code are all corrupted.. :( The gauge size is well inside the size limit I inadvertantly discovered some months ago and FS9 is a bog-standard install with update…

As you've probably guessed; I'm having lots of fun with the FS9/FSX GPS system. Most of it I think I've gotten to make sensible return values now but for some reason returning the waypoint ID is still eluding me. Getting it from gps_info.h is no problem but as WarpD kindly pointed out, the struct initialisation is unreliable. I know I'm doing something stupid here because the compiler is complaining violently about &wpt_name but after two hours of trying, I can't see the wood for the trees anymore. char* GPSWptName(char data[]){ char wpt_name[6]; execute_calculator_code("(A:GPS WP STRING,Pointer)",NULL,NULL,&wpt_name); strncpy(data,wpt_name,sizeof(wpt_name)); wp…

I have SP1 and when gauges are produced with the SP2 ACE tool, with tooltips, the gauges do not show up on the panel. When the tooltips are removed they will show up on SP1. Is there any way to add non-standard tooltips on SP2 ACE produced gauges so they will be shown, along with the non-standard tooltip, on SP1? Thanks, regards, Bob.

Hi Everyone,Is there anyway of changing the XML .bmp image transparent colour so that flight sim can see it's a transparent colour, or is just coded to be black?As i'm having difficulty getting rid of the black jaggies around my Yoke, that only appears in the sim, but isn't like that on .psd file.Regards,Richard.

Hey guysFirstly, I would like to sound out a word of thanks to everyone here who has been helping me with my issues on XML. I have successfully created a simple XML gauge which gives the following information:Total Fuel QuantityInst ConsumptionTime to Empty Distance to EmptyFrom the above information, I am interested to link it with the onboard GPS in FS2004. I am sure you realize that we can use the GPS within FS9 to plot routes. What I am interested to do is to feed these information from the GPS to my fuel computer where I will be able to simply display relevant information if the pilot has enough fuel to make it to its next waypoint and its final destination.

Can anybody let me know or help me convert the Ifly 747 to different engine models than just the GE version? Specifically, I want to use the POSKY repaints and models, and since they come with excellent flight models, for all different versions of the 747, it would be nice to fly them all with the Ifly avionics.1. Can I use the POSKY .air files? Are there specific things in the Ifly .air file that are tied to the avionics or FMC, and if there are, how would I go about adapting the POSKY air file to fit the Ifly avionics?2. How would I change the Ifly FMC to recognize different the fuel flow rates and thrust values? To me, this seems to be the hardest part.any help would b…

Hi,Please can someone tell me if the following code will open the three panels with IDs 1, 2 and 3 (or close them, if any of them are already open)? I am trying to make multi-layered panels with clickspots so that I can have some custom lighting effects (all in one layer is being problematic with some gauges)<Click> 1 (>K:PANEL_ID_TOGGLE) 2 (>K:PANEL_ID_TOGGLE) 3 (>K:PANEL_ID_TOGGLE) </Click>Thanks in advance,Geoff

A multi-gauge of mine works flawlessly in FSX, but the exact same gauge will crash FS9 as soon as the gauge is loaded.The problem may be GDI related. I'm using XP and Win 7.Any ideas on where to look first, and why a gauge that works fine in FSX would crash FS9?Cheers,

I accidently set fsx to block a gauge file but I want to use the file, how do I unblock it?

I've never claimed to be good with the maths and I think I've proved it again <sigh>... I've been trying to use the __inline functions from the SDK.FlightMap.cpp to return my current lat, lon and alt. However, a print to string command returns just the 'f', showing that the data is incorrect.if (gpsinfo && gpsinfo->dwSize >= sizeof (GPS_INFO))wsprintf(pelement->string, "%10.0f", SIF48_TO_FLOAT64(gpsinfo->vPosition.lat));if (gpsinfo && gpsinfo->dwSize >= sizeof (GPS_INFO))wsprintf(pelement->string, "%10.0f", ANGL48_TO_FLOAT64(gpsinfo->vPosition.lon));Would someone please be kind enough to put me out of my misery and tell me wha…

I've discovered a strange link here...When I turn on the exterior lights to a particular plane--the props (the disc created by the spinning props) suddenly become opaque. I can see through them if I turn the lights out again. This only seems to happen during dusk or night hours...any idea how to correct this?

I've got a plane in FSX that only has a 2D cockpit (no VC) and it's almost impossible to see the runway on takeoff. :( Is there a way I can change something to lower the view over the dash board?In FS9, all you had to do was hit SHIFT + ENTER and that would switch the perspective lower. But when I try that in FSX, it just "pushes" the runway away below me but it doesn't afford a better view of what's in front of the plane.

I hope the final answer to this is not going to be too embarrassing...In Slew mode, Lat/Lon is showing as N47 25 91 / W122 18 48If I use PLANE_LATITUDE and PLANE_LONGITUDE and run them through the conversions in fsgauges_sp2.h I get N 47 43 17 / W-122 30 79.The conversions in my modified gauges.h file are #define FS_LATITUDE_DEG(val) ((val)/FS_LAT_FACTOR) //where FS_LAT_FACTOR = 111130.555557#define FS_LONGITUDE_DEG(val) ((val)>140737488355332)?(val)/FS_LON_FACTOR-360.0:(val)/FS_LON_FACTOR //where FS_LON_FACTOR = 781874935307.40 My display code for two strings is: lookup_var(&currlat);sprintf(pelement->string, "%12s%4.6f"," Latitude = ",FS_LATITUDE_DEG(currl…

Hi thereI was looking through FS2004 SDK and i was wondering if there is any other fuel parameters for XML not included within the list ? Cheers FUEL TANK CENTER LEVEL FUEL TANK CENTER2 LEVEL FUEL TANK CENTER3 LEVEL FUEL TANK LEFT MAIN LEVEL FUEL TANK LEFT AUX LEVEL FUEL TANK LEFT TIP LEVEL FUEL TANK RIGHT MAIN LEVEL FUEL TANK RIGHT AUX LEVEL FUEL TANK RIGHT TIP LEVEL FUEL TANK EXTERNAL1 LEVEL FUEL TANK EXTERNAL2 LEVEL FUEL TANK CENTER CAPACITY FUEL TANK CENTER2 CAPACITY FUEL TANK CENTER3 CAPACITY FUEL TANK LEFT MAIN CAPACITY FUEL TANK LEFT AUX CAPACITY FUEL TANK LEFT TIP CAPACITY FUEL …

I fly the CRJ 700, and I am having a few problems with certain keyboard bindings. I am using an old keyboard as an overhead panel and it all works like a charm except for the hydraulic switches. The default CRJ 700 has three hydraulic switches: Engine 1 Hydraulic (on/off), Engine 2 Hydraulic (on/off) and APU Hydraulic (on/off), and there are no key codes to bind these to in my Standard.xml file. So my question is; is it possible at all to bind the hydraulic switches in the overhead panel of the default CRJ 700 to specific keys on the keyboard I use as my overhead panel?----------------------I also have another question. The APU starter has two key codes:1. KEY_APU_STARTE…

Hi guysWhen I am trying to work out a simple HUD, I've realized that when i am creating a slanted line, the pixels becomes very prominent. Is it possible for me to draw out a picture with a higher resolution and then resize it to fit say my HUD?Cheers

Hi all,I'm an avid fan of the PMDG 737 and was watching some videos on youtube when I ran into this on: Now, that is obviously not the original panel BMP's that came with the PMDG. My question is: Does anyone have ANY idea where I can find these replacement textures?? I have looked JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE with no joy! :( Also, can anyone recommend a good software, payware or freeware, to edit these bitmaps with more realistic textures?I appreciate any help!PANDA

I downloaded some free planes that were for fs2000. I have fsx and I get an error mesage saying: "Cannot display visual model" so I was wondering if it is possible to tweak the model file to make it work for fsx?

I have a problem to pose to those of you that design aircraft:I have quite a few AI prop planes where the spinning prop textures appear as though they are part of the ground or sky, as any object, be it house, tree, cloud, or another aircraft, are displayed on top of the prop texture.Is there a way to tell FS to make those objects appear behind the prop instead?

hi!Could anybody help me with Pmdg 737 VC night lightning...?The question is: there'r few periods when the lightning in VC changes. for exapmle after 20.15 gmt it becomes bright and pretty nice) however during a day, there are no lightning at all. Is there some gauges or .cfg responsible for this changes. I want to make night lightning VC during all day period long. Is it possible? i think yes.thank you for answers!