The best looking Boeing Stearman with a catch......

[Flame-Prop]

http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?227445-Stearman-released-%29&

Above me is the link the best model of the Boeing Stearman but it's for FS 2004. I tested the plane with FSX and the only problems I have are about 6 squares that have been cut out of the VC. Now my VC looks like it's been in the hands of an impatient little kid with a craft knife. Is anyone able to patch up the holes?

Gabe

[fleurdelys]

Bonjour Gabe,

What type of holes are you talking about ?

Do you mean that it is missing gauges?

I took a pic of the VC and the only thing that I can find are 3 squares of a lighter shade which could be due to the usual port over problems to FSX, I'm guessing...

Fleurdelys

[falcon409]

I had forgotten about this airplane and I'm not sure why now that I've reinstalled it, lol. . . .anyway, here are a couple of pics showing the offending "squares". The windshield may be one that can be corrected by darkening the alpha (I haven't looked at the textures yet so I don't know that for certain). The other areas are very minor and don't bother me at all given the extent of the detail overall. In most cases I wouldn't even see those in normal flight. All of them (on the console) may simply be areas where the alpha channel is the problem. Fixing them. . . .not sure. . .again, I haven't looked at any of the textures. I have a similar problem with the early FSX version of the P-51D from A2A. there are about 2 dozen screws that have an alpha problem and I have little squares around each screw that show the exterior when flying, lol. . .no biggee!!

[falcon409]

Ok, I've gotta get going here, got a granddaughter to take to school, but I did a quick darkening of the windshield (there are three textures) and succeeded in lightening the glass, but the squares are a different animal. Closer inspection shows that not only are they in the windshield but they also knock out areas of the airframe as well. I see no reason for the squares to be there really, but there they'll stay as far as I'm concerned. They don't bother me at all and the others are minor so for now. . . .Thanks for bringing the aircraft to light again, lol.:salute:

[OleBoy]

For comparison shots, look through this thread that was posted in the FS9 Forum http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?50432-Douglas-Kallen-s-Stearman

No idea what is going on. I installed the Bull Stearman into FSX and took it for a flight. Great aircraft, but soon into the flight my monitor flickered a couple times. Then shortly after that the engine sounds started looping. FSX froze solid to the point I had to do a hard reboot. I'm not complaining. More like mentioning symptoms. It was made for FS9. Not FSX.

[EMatheson]

Some suggestions: make sure the textures are 32 bit uncompressed. I got exactly the same results you described when I converted the texture to dxt3 format.
Second, comment out the sound gauge in the panel.cfg to restore system stability. Sometimes cockpit sounds are not a problem, sometimes they are. For me, I had to remove the sounds because they cost me 10 fps and an occasional ctd....
And I'm having these results and issues in FS9, so I would not be surprised if they also might be caused by similar things in FSX...

[italoc]

For comparison shots, look through this thread that was posted in the FS9 Forum http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?50432-Douglas-Kallen-s-Stearman

No idea what is going on. I installed the Bull Stearman into FSX and took it for a flight. Great aircraft, but soon into the flight my monitor flickered a couple times. Then shortly after that the engine sounds started looping. FSX froze solid to the point I had to do a hard reboot. I'm not complaining. More like mentioning symptoms. It was made for FS9. Not FSX.

Let be clear: mine is not a complain too ... but just to understand how things work (or do not):

1) in FSX - DX10 it shows grey textures on the presentation screen then FSX shut down
2) in FSX - DX9 it shows textures correctly on the presentation screen then FSX shut down

I've never had such an occurrence with non-FSX aircrafts: the A/C usually sits on the runway, ready to fly even if the textures are not showing ....

My FSX runs on Windows7-64k
Anyone has an explanation ???
Italo

[OleBoy]

I do not run DX10 so I can not give you an answer. DX9 in FSX, I have no troubles. I did convert the texture files (all but glass)(thanks for the tip EMatheson) to 32bit .DDS and it appeared to do the trick of not locking up the screen. Although more testing is needed to be sure. I also removed some sound files that created a sound similar to a boat going over a lot of waves in the water.

I'm curious, has anyone fixed the prop blur so it does not disappear into the clouds? That's one issue I would like to have resolved if anyone can help.

[falcon409]

. . . . .

1) in FSX - DX10 it shows grey textures on the presentation screen then FSX shut down
2) in FSX - DX9 it shows textures correctly on the presentation screen then FSX shut down
Italo
As to #1. . . .that's not unusual as this is an FS9 aircraft and showing white/gray is common for some airplanes when using DX10 Preview in FSX. Nothing you can do about that.
As for the locking up (FSX Shutting down) try reading the posts above yours, there are some suggestions there that might put you on the right track to fixing that.:salute:

[falcon409]

Interestingly, these posts show how different every setup can be. I downloaded, installed and flew the Stearman early this morning in order to get the screens I posted above about the original thread question. I flew for about 20 minutes and never experienced any sound conflicts, locked screens, low fps or anything else and I have a very basic dual core, 3.0ghz, 4gig mem system with an NVidia 9600GT/512 graphics card. As with most things that cause problems throughout the sim world, it seems to be a crapshoot as to who has them and who doesn't, lol.

[OleBoy]

I would like just two tweaks for this if it's possible.

1] prop fix
2] if the windshield can't be fixed to remove the voids in the glass, can the appearance of glass being there be removed all together? I really don't have any knowledge of what can be done with glass, aside from changing the tint. And considering there are several glass files residing in the texture folder, I'm already lost.

[falcon409]

Ok, this doesn't help in figuring out how to fix the squares, but now I know what they are. . . .Hot Spots. . . .the lower left is to Reset the Elevator Trim to Zero, the right is to turn the windshield reflections on/off and the top center is to zoom the compass. I gave all three glass textures a solid black alpha with very little effect (now I know why), the window reflection is on unless changed with the hot spot. Even with the reflections turned off though the squares remain. Maybe this will give someone a window into how the hot spots can be eliminated (not the hot spots exactly, just the squares).:salute:

[Marvin Carter]

Ed sounds like a floating gauge polly??? Maybe!!!

[EMatheson]

I dunno just what it is, but the floating irregularities on the windshield clickspots. Converting the glass texture to 32 bit is what removed the floating glass-anomolies on my system. No idea why the model seems to insist on 32 bit but that is the only way I know of to address the problem of gauge issues with this plane. It's a rum business.- i've never seen another model behave similarly.

[falcon409]

What I find odd is that folks are talking about converting to 32bit to correct some issues. . . . .my installation was 32bit from the start. I didn't convert anything, the glass issues remain and they are "fixed" to specific areas on the glass. They are a bit of a distraction, but not so much that I'll waste any more time looking for a fix. If one surfaces great, if not, life goes on.:salute:

[Roger]

It's a mdl issue. If you look through the squares the bracing wires have gone, a bit like certain prop textures where everthing but the base textures remain.

[OleBoy]

Ed, I converted my textures from 32bit/BMP, to 32bit/DDS. That's what I was meaning when I said I changed them. It really made little difference.

Roger, what you mention makes sense. I had the idea of going in the gauge/cab file to find a solution. I gave that thought up as soon as I looked inside!


Overall, removing the reflection from the glass did help to lighten things up.

[Flame-Prop]

Ah yes, yes, yes and more yes. Those screenshots are correct the square do apear to fully confirm PLUS the sound does start to loop after awhile BUT the good news FSX has not crashed. The creator of the model seems quite distant from the creation and has giving strong words and powerful words to whom may have problems. But since this is a good model, It's worth a shot here since most things that had FS2004 comparability did work nicely in FSX. Plus the Boeing Stearman is quite an iconic machine, this model overruns Golden Age Simulators my miles. But would of been good if this model did not have the overhead cover. If anyone can pitch in and start to identify the bits and pieces and how to fix them, would be great because we could have a really good Boeing Steersman here

Gabe

[falcon409]

. . . . .If anyone can pitch in and start to identify the bits and pieces and how to fix them, would be great because we could have a really good Boeing Steersman here
Gabe
If you go back and read all the previous posts, you'll find that some problems are not fixable because of the complexity of the model. As a matter of fact, most are not fixable. The model is what it is, an FS9 aircraft built solely to see how far this author could push the limits of the modeling constraints of FS9. It wasn't meant to be used in FSX and as you pointed out, the author is not willing to offer any support and rightly so. He stated his desires in the readme and won't go beyond that.

Even with the few minor problems, we have a really excellent model here. . . .a Boeing Stearman. Far more detailed than anything currently available for FSX and it was FREE.:salute: