An opinion on 'kitbashing' as I will call it.

[Bushi]

So, over the years I have both purchased, and downloaded a plethora of payware and freeware aircraft from many VERY talented designers.

I can't leave well enough alone, so I change what I download / purchase by mostly doing repaints. I do not have a program that allows me to produce an airplane 'model', and rely on the talents of others to provide THAT important bit.. and OMG.. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all the guys who do this.


I also like to tweak instrument panels, interiors etc. and I DID have Panelmaker at one time.. but it's gone. ( the great laptop crash of.. oh I can't remember when now)

Anyway, apart from redoing the bitmaps for specific gauges to change them, I also 'mix and match' gauges from airplane to airplane to achieve a result I desire. Now, all of this is for my own use... and the only time I have EVER included a change I've made to someone else's work is after getting their permission to do so (as in my custom "Sikorsky AV-57 directional gyro I included in my upload of the airplane in PEA livery)

Nav / GPS switches little things like that added to panels to make life easier... and if it's a default FS9 gauge, I don't see any reason NOT to share in another airplane uploaded for free.. as well EVERYONE would HAVE the gauge!

But for my 'own' use, I've added gauges from payware aircraft to others in my hangar. Some with redone bitmaps to match surroundings,.. and a few other minor edits to their appearance.

One I have found useful in my WW2 US warbirds, is the VERY nice autopilot from the Wings of Power B-17. Since this is THIER work.. and they SELL it, I would never ever think of including it in any free upload..

Not only is it probably a violation of copyright law.. it's also unethical! so.. yeah...


But here is a question that popped up the other night in a discussion group conversation.

Would it be both legal, and ethical, to post a panel cfg. file that included a line referencing the payware gauge NOT THE GAUGE ITSELF... so that anyone that had purchased the airplane from the original developer, and therefore ALREADY HAD THE GAUGE, could use it in the aforementioned 'different' aircraft.

Seeing as ANYONE who already owned the gauge could do this.. all posting the new panel cfg. is doing is eliminating the sometimes tedious work of positioning, sizing etc.

So... thoughts? Would providing JUST the edited panel cfg. be considered appropriate, or not?


I have included a screenshot of said autopilot (and I've modified it to fit in the space available on the panel) from the WoP payware package.. that I received for Christmas YEARS ago..as it is installed in the 'hole' on Miltons 'Escort 47J and XP-72.. (which in my sim are referred to as P-47Q and P-72D respectively)




Cheers,
Dave

[Bjoern]

Yes, of course. Post away.

[Ivan]

Hello Bashi, I mean Bushi,

I personally see no issue with doing what you are describing.
I don't happen to fly FS2002 or FS2004, but don't see any difference between this and writing a mission that calls for a payware aeroplane. If it is there, it gets used. If not, then..... in the case of gauges, nothing shows up.

I am actually programming gauges for FS2000 (really for CFS but the SDK is FS2000) and probably would do an autopilot except that I can't figure out why even the SDK samples do not recognize the mouse. Kind of hard to program autopilot if you can't get buttons to work.

Just my opinion....

- Ivan.

[Dangerousdave26]

There is no legal issue with posting the configs you have created or modified.

[Mick]

I'm quite sure there's no legal issue involved, since you're not giving away anything except your edited cfg file.

[Bushi]

Thanks for the response so far, and I'm wondering how many of you HAVE the WoP aircraft with the gauge?

Anyway, after some thought , I did some work on the airplanes panel this morning. In the image I posted, the Honeywell C-1 autopilot I installed in Miltons P-47 had a modified bitmap, to round off the upper edge, as I had installed the gauge on the panel without the centering lights and controls across the top. The gauge was not modified, but do to it's location on the VC, THAT portion was above the top edge of the VC and therefore rendered invisible in the sim, and the controls were no longer accessible.

Since I had modified the bitmap, I felt this encroached on the original designers work... so.. didn't think that was appropriate!

So, I worked on the panel a bit, and have now decided to use the ENTIRE C-1 autopilot, as provided by WoP. Funny thing is.. after googling the C-1 to make sure I wasn't all that far off size wise in relation to the rest of the instruments on the panel, well.. it turns out that with the whole thing installed where it is in this image.. it's pretty darn close!!
(I measured it's width and compared it to a known instrument diameter.. and well.. did the math! LOL)


So, yes.. NOT entirely something you would find a 'fighter'... but since these aircraft done by Milton are in themselves fictional, as in.. never saw active service.. well.. it's totally plausible that in time, said C-1 autopilots could very well have found their way into fighter-bombers, for those long missions... and besides.. it fills the panel space in a very 'useful' fashion

-------------------------------------------------------------

So, if you have the associated WoP payware aircraft, (specifically a pack that had the B-17, B-24, or B-29 in it, you should have the gauge. (as an aside, for all I know, there is a freeware version of this gauge out there that could be modified to slip into this space... )

Mine is in a CAB file named <ww2usa> in the main gauges folder, so the information in the added line should get the sim looking there. and all should work just fine.

IF IT DOES NOT... an alternative is to extract all the relevant files from the CAB file and add them to the xp72 or xp47j folders in the panel folder of the respective airplanes, and rename the ww2usa! portion of the gauge line to point to the respective folders.

To clean up the area around the autopilot, you will need my new VC01 bitmap for the panel.


I couldn't attachit to this post, so, is there anyone here that would like me to upload the VC bitmap to the site as a downloadable file?

oh.. since my 2d panel is just..well.. nothing but "open sky".. I never fly using the 2d panel... I've only done this addition for the VC...


So, here is the new line to add to the bottom of the [Vcockpit01] section in the panel cfg. file. The gauge is number 30 in my airplane, but if it's NOT the next consecutive number in your list, ... change it!

-------------------------------------------------------

gauge30=ww2usa!Autopilot, 408,27,230,240

---------------------------------------------------------

cheers,
Dave

[jinx]

Bushi,

I have the WOP bombers--pm me if you need any gauges.

What program do you use to add/ delete/ move gauges to the panels?

Nick

[Bushi]

Bushi,

I have the WOP bombers--pm me if you need any gauges.

What program do you use to add/ delete/ move gauges to the panels?

Nick

Hi Nick... sorry.. we were on vacation and just got back, and I didn't go online.. :-) I have the WoP bombers so don't need the gauges.

I actually don't use any programs to add / delete / move gauges to panels. All I do is edit the panel cfg. to add what gauges I need, and in the gauge line, it points to where the cfg. needs to look to find it. and I size and position it painstakingly ..... using the numerical values at the end of the line to move it to where I want it on the panel, and size it.

I did use "Panelmaker" once, but lost it in a PC crash.. It was freeware back then. It worked okay, but I've become quite good at doing it the "HARD" way!

The nice thing is... once you get the airplane loaded up... you can look at the panel.. decide what you want to add / move... edit the airplanes panel cfg., save it, then go back into the airplane menu in the sim, choose the SAME airplane, and when it reloads.. you have the 'new' panel with your changes.

Here is a sample of how I edit.. this is a partial section from my A-26K

[Vcockpit01]
file=vc01.bmp
Background_color=0,0,0
size_mm=1024,1024
visible=0
pixel_size=2048,2048 //1024,1024
texture=$vc01
　
gauge00=ROSA26!A26_Mag_Switch2,54,218,73,73
gauge01=ROSA26!A26 LCP,26,300,120,22 -----------------notice that I've changed the width of the 'gauge' to 120 from 110 (in bold to highlight)
//gauge01=ROSA26!A26 LCP,26,300,110,22 -- this is the original gauge... fs won't read it because of the // at the beginning of the line. this lets me edit and still have a reference
gauge02=ROSA26!A26 GFI,382,395,70,70
gauge03=ROSA26!A26 TC,165,235,70,70
//gauge04=ROSA26!A26 VSI,310,235,73,73
gauge04=a26!A26 VSI,310,235,73,73
gauge05=ROSA26!A26 ASI,165,155,73,73
gauge06=ROSA26!A26 Alt,310,155,73,73
gauge07=ROSB26K!DG, 237,235,73,73
gauge08=ROSA26!A26 MP, 382,77,73,73
gauge09=ROSB26K!AI,237,155,73,73

The ROSA26! section tells FS where to look for the gauge.. in this case, a CAB file in the airplanes panel folder. others may be in the main gauge folder.



If you know this already, my apologies!

If you've never done it, make a backup of an aircrafts panel cfg. and then go in and play around with the gauges. I've been doing this since FS98 came out!

As for editing the gauge and panel bitmaps, I use photoshop. Some gauges let you edit the bitmaps.. some.. do not.... Depends on the developer.

And as I've stated before... I NEVER upload any modified work for public 'consumption' without first getting the go ahead from the original designer / artist.

cheers,
Dave