Nav lights for SM79's

[hurricane3]

Just redownloaded Manuele Villa's updated SM79's(with the landing light fixed), and noticed that there aren't any nav lights.I checked the config and found lines for the nav lights under the lights section.Any thoughts?

[Tom Clayton]

It sounds to me like the cfg is calling for light effects that you don't have. The Sim simply does nothing when this happens. Double-check your effects folder for the files listed in the cfg, or substitute stock nav light effects just to make sure the electrical section is coded right.

[hurricane3]

I checked the effects and there arent any lights with that same name as in the cfg.The nav lights in the cfg. all have "sm" at the end so I tried taking out that but still no lights.The landing and cockpit lights work ok. Not sure how to substitute stock nav lights.

[Tom Clayton]

This is the lights section from the stock C182:

[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit
light.0 = 3, -3.03, -18.11, 3.58, fx_navred
light.1 = 3, -3.03, 18.11, 3.58, fx_navgre
light.2 = 3, -21.45, 0.00, 1.95, fx_navwhi
light.3 = 2, -3.33, -18.31, 3.58, fx_strobe
light.4 = 2, -3.33, 18.31, 3.58, fx_strobe
light.5 = 1, -21.52, 0.00, 7.40, fx_beacon
light.6 = 4, -2.24, 0.00, 2.20, fx_vclight

The parts of each line highlighted in red are the effect files called by each line, for instance, the effect fx_navred.fx. The first three lines are the nav light effects. Try subbing them into your config - if everything else is right, you should have working nav lights.

Oh, and make sure that the parts highlighted in blue are 3's to tell the sim which switch they should work with.

[lemonadedrinker]

Hi,

His other Trimotor aircraft have lights and it seems unlikely that he would have forgotten them on the SM79; being Warbirds, could it be that it never had lights in reality?
I also have the LAGO sim version which does have lights, but that is the pre-War Crossings version.

Andy

see next post; a bit more sensible.

[lemonadedrinker]

Hi,

Looking in the Effects folder in FS9 and found there are no navlights with sm on them, so getting rid of that bit in the SM79 cfg brought the lights back, although still no panel lights.

andy.

These changes to the cfg bring up the panel lights and give nav lights

[lights]

//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing

light.0 = 3, -0.52, 34.38, 1.13, fx_navred //sml
light.1 = 3, -0.55, -34.38, 1.13, fx_navgre //sml
light.2 = 3, -37.43, 0, 2.08, fx_navwhi //sml
light.3 = 4, 1.15, 0, 4.94, fx_vclight //_offwhi
light.4 = 5, 5.23, 0.02, -1.73,fx_navwhi
light.5 = 5, 14.13, 0, -5.03,fx_vclight //fx_sm79_landing_2

Andy.

[hurricane3]

I tried putting in the highlighted sections and still no nav lights.I tried putting in the whole line and had nav lights but of course since they were for the C172 they showed up as floating above the wings and at about the middle instead of the tips.
I know the plane is supposed to have nav lights because of the lines under the lights section.
I also tried just taking out the sm part of the lines ,still no lights.I would think anyone who has this plane would have they same problem but like me, never noticed.If I get a chance I'am going to look at his first version ( the one with the rearward faceing landing light) and see what that cfg says.
Thanks guys.

[zmike]

Hi 'hurricane3',

Manuele is busy with real life and working on the Alcione. Back in 2007 I was the flight dynamics author for the original Sparviero upload and so I will try to clarify why the problem arises and two ways to solve it, without introducing further errors.

When the update was created some time after the original release, it was created from a 'personl use' aircraft.cfg, not from the original 'for distribution' aircraft.cfg. That process introduced some 'personal use' code and re-introduced some redundant code that was eliminated earlier from the 'for distribution' aircraft.cfg. You are therefore correct that the relevant aircraft.cfg aliases non standard 'personal use' effects (fx) that Manuele did not supply within the 'for distribution' update.

[lights]

//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing

light.0 = 3, -0.54, 34.6, 1.14, fx_navredsml
light.1 = 3, -0.54, -34.60, 1.14, fx_navgresml
light.2 = 3, -37.43, 0, 2.08, fx_navwhisml

etcetera

As others have already explained the wider solution is to alias default navigation lights, or any other navigation light effects (fx), that you have in your FS9 effects folder, and that you think are an appropriate 'size' or appropriate 'brightness'.
However you can instead just delete the three characters sml from the end of *only* the three lines of code above.

Vintage era combat aircraft always have navigation lights. Whether, where and when they should be on or off is a complex topic which we decided not to address in the provided documentation. By default the NAV lights should be ON before the aircraft begins to move. You simply choose whether you think the NAV lights should instead be OFF, based on your understanding of 'combat zone blackout retrictions' and whether they increase your risk of hostile interception based on simulated date, time of day, and location.

>>>>

Hi 'lemonade_drinker',

You said;

<<Looking in the Effects folder in FS9 and found there are no navlights with sm on them, so getting rid of that bit in the SM79 cfg brought the lights back, although still no panel lights.>>

As hurricane 3 explained in his original post only the NAV lights are absent after the update is installed .... because only those three lines of code alias absent 'personal use fx'. The other fx aliases are not 'broken' and must not be altered.

I hope that explains and solves all of the reported problems arising from the Sparviero update.

FSAviator

[hurricane3]

Thankyou zmike, when I deleted the sm from the three nav light lines in the config ,I should also have deleted the 1(sm1) not just the sm.After reading your reply I deleted the sm1 and now have nav lights. Thankyou so much, hope this helps any others who have this minor problem.