cfs modding

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Just to encourage you to look at CFS3 - these are from the soon-to-be-released Med Air War freeware add-on. The aircraft is from our MAW/Battle of France collection, my skins. All aircraft are pilotable and available as AIs.
 

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Wow, beautiful work on a nice plane.
I got a copy of Gmax now, as well as the MS SDK, so I have the tools, and have already been playing around with Gmax a while ago and found a familiar environment as I know 3dsmax; now I need CFS3 at the best price...and time. I'm pretty busy with my kit sales and building my site, as well as car sim development...and my CFS1 squad.
 
And I'd forgotten, in the SDK there's a couple of aircraft to fiddle about with, to see what's what.

If I can get hold of Viso - our modeller - there are a few basic mods to existing aircraft that need doing, that would give you an easy start...in theory!

And if you think my skins are good, you want to see the ones GerfautRFA, another mate, has done...
 
I played around a bit with Gmax; installed my usual Max keybord shortcuts, which work...and checked a few things (materials, texture application, part animation) I could easily figure out as I'm used to working from Max for sim game engines. It's even easier cos you just use Max keyframes for animation and the usual material editor.
Although Gmax includes only basic Max features in most aspects, it has just the right tools for usual video game requirements. Modelling with Max is one of my favorite jobs and you find yourself working with something very close.
Think I'm even going to try install the CFS3 SDK into Max7; Probably a bit of search path editing and it might work. Guess the game's developers have been working with Max. So modelling aircraft in those conditions is just the way I'd do it. Now time is missing; modelling is something rather 'universal' to start with; applying particular properties always requires more time cos you need to first understand how things work in the game and the settings of various parameters. Also, the modifier stack has been collapsed in samples, which doesn't allow checking how textures have been applied. But it looks like a nice way to build models for a game.
 
Yes, but with the CFS3 export plugin, you can make FLYING teapots! LOL

More seriously, I figured out how to edit texture mapping, it's definitely very close from using Max; only thing, it's a bit like going back to Max4 or 5 but no problem. Thinking it over about using the SDK with Max, should it work, source-files would then be in .max format, and any Gmax user couldn't open them then... not a good idea in the end, unless everybody in a given dev' team works with Max.
So I could probably easily modify parts or add new ones, in terms of modelling and texture mapping, on existing models; also make the modelling and texturing jobs on a scratch model, if anybody else can then take care of specifying properties like animation, scratch points and things like that, at least for a while. Cos I would gladly learn all that, but as I said, I'm short of available time, when I can already make modelling and texturing with Gmax.
 
Well, like I said, as Craig is not wanting to finish his work at the moment - I don't blame him, he tried to do FAR too much - then I need to try to get the source files off him... Could be interesting!

BTW, somewhere I had a screenie of a flight of flying teapots!
 
What kind of aircraft is it?
One more thing: textures appear properly in Max and its material editor, but in PSP, they look weird, kind of negative image; what do they have as properties?
 
Well, the D.520 you saw, and then, a Br693 and a Po631, just to begin with - all French, donc c'est pour la Patrie! All need the finishing touches here and there.
 
Hey! exciting! don't like too much the Br 693; but the D520 and P 631, I do !
Eager to get the source-files and see what I could do. Et vive la France!
Cà me rappelle que j'ai un MS406 à faire au 1/72°, et j'ai un super kit de détaillage métal-résine...
 
Oui, et je suis au milieu du MS406 au 48eme de chez Hobbycraft - pas terrible, mais c4est ce que j'ai pu me trouver!
 
J'attends justement une réponse de la part de Craig, le developer, qui de plus vient de refaire surface.
 
OK; les matériaux ne comportent jamais de bump texture ou reflection map?
çà m'a surpris en vérifiant. Les bumps (pour les détails de surface en creux ou reliefs) sont faciles à simuler en trompe l'oeil sur les textures diffuses, mais comment est gérée la brillance des vitres?
 
OK; doesn't matter anyway, combat flight sim materials don't have to simulate shininess like in car games; makes things easier at least on that point. On the other hand, there are more animated parts on a game aircraft model than on car models...
 
Actually, the aircraft have a texture map (_t.dds), a specular map (_s.dds) and some have a reflective map (_r.dds); if you check out the source file for the P-47 that came with the SDK, you'll see what I mean. They'll figure in the materials editor as bmp files, but the filenames are converted to .dds on exporting.
 
Ok; but no bumps then? too bad it's really what makes structure lines 'alive' but it's rather easy to fake on diffuse textures (as we're used to do with previous flight sims). Ok the conversion to dds is made on export. Yes I was surprised that textures were .tga; pretty heavy for use in a game. Although it is sometimes, for alpha-channel storing. Is there a way to use color-key or alpha-channel with the CFS3 SDK? in other terms, to define 'holes' or grids by using a particular color?
 
You can use pure black or pure green to define an alpha, and even hand edit it in photoshop, for example. Don't use the photoshop plug-in - go here: MW Graphics The tool is called DXT-BMP, and is very good. You'll need to pick up the separate dll package as well. Check it out!
 
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