malibu43
October 16th, 2015, 09:37
(Disclaimer: I know very little about FSX gages)
A while back, I pieced together a stand-in HUD for the Stargate Studios AH-1W, that shipped with a horrendous HUD. All I did was take an updated HUD for the Acceleration Hornet and (with permission of course) tweak it and repackage it for the AH-1W. The HUD is similar to the stock Acceleration HUD, except that is is conformal to the outside world, as long as you don't move the eye position at all. It's not like the HUD's in Dino's aircraft that stay conformal to the outside world as you move your head around the cockpit. This thread has more background on it: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?84219-AH-1W-Super-Cobra-released-StarGate&p=866655&viewfull=1#post866655
The one thing that I still don't like about the HUD is that it does not illuminate like a real HUD would (sorry that's a horrible description but it's the best I can think of right now). If the sun is behind the cockpit, the HUD appears a bright green like you would expect. However, if the HUD is back lit, it appears a very dull dark green and is hard to read. If it's night, you can't see the HUD at all unless you turn on the cockpit lights.
I'd really like to have it appear brighter at both day and night, and be less dependent on the natural (or cockpit) lighting conditions. Essentially, I'm trying to find a way to make it "glow", or at least stay at a consistent brightness level. I have no idea how to do this, or what possible techniques or approaches I could explore. I don't know if this is something that can be done through the panel.cfg file, the .xml file for the gage, the properties of .bmps that make up the HUD elemetnts, or if it's something that has to be done from the modeling and coding of the cockpit and can't be altered through my gage/panel.
Attached is the entire package I put together, as well as the. I would appreciate any input or suggestions from more experienced panel/gage builders about what sort of techniques or tricks I might be able to use to give the HUD more realistic lighting properties.
Thanks.
302613026230263
A while back, I pieced together a stand-in HUD for the Stargate Studios AH-1W, that shipped with a horrendous HUD. All I did was take an updated HUD for the Acceleration Hornet and (with permission of course) tweak it and repackage it for the AH-1W. The HUD is similar to the stock Acceleration HUD, except that is is conformal to the outside world, as long as you don't move the eye position at all. It's not like the HUD's in Dino's aircraft that stay conformal to the outside world as you move your head around the cockpit. This thread has more background on it: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?84219-AH-1W-Super-Cobra-released-StarGate&p=866655&viewfull=1#post866655
The one thing that I still don't like about the HUD is that it does not illuminate like a real HUD would (sorry that's a horrible description but it's the best I can think of right now). If the sun is behind the cockpit, the HUD appears a bright green like you would expect. However, if the HUD is back lit, it appears a very dull dark green and is hard to read. If it's night, you can't see the HUD at all unless you turn on the cockpit lights.
I'd really like to have it appear brighter at both day and night, and be less dependent on the natural (or cockpit) lighting conditions. Essentially, I'm trying to find a way to make it "glow", or at least stay at a consistent brightness level. I have no idea how to do this, or what possible techniques or approaches I could explore. I don't know if this is something that can be done through the panel.cfg file, the .xml file for the gage, the properties of .bmps that make up the HUD elemetnts, or if it's something that has to be done from the modeling and coding of the cockpit and can't be altered through my gage/panel.
Attached is the entire package I put together, as well as the. I would appreciate any input or suggestions from more experienced panel/gage builders about what sort of techniques or tricks I might be able to use to give the HUD more realistic lighting properties.
Thanks.
302613026230263