Using MS stock DC-3 as AI aircraft?

[Wild Bill Kelso]

Dear folks,

as written here:
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?t=26432 ,
I'm trying to crowd the Yellowknife ramps and airspace with some local heroes.

I took a look at the Calclassic's AI DC-3, but repainting them (basing on FS2000 models with fuselage textures cut in three files) in Buffalo colours will lead to a result to be looked at from very far...

So what about the default DC-3?
There have been done two Buffalo repaints on it already by Mike Wilson, but I'd like to rebuild them from scratch to include it into the upcoming package and to depict some more variations as well.

How will they 'behave' as AI aircraft?
I know they had to be assigned to a specific AI airfile (which I'd allow to borrow from the Calclassic's AI release), but will three or four of them sitting on the ramp lead to a frame impact, as they are no dedicated 'low poly' versions and come with a VC model?

Will anyone be able to remove the VC from the stock model file?

Any help will be appreciated!

Cheers,
Markus.

[Brian_Gladden]

They fly just fine as AI. And with the stock air file too. They are actually included in the "Stock" AI that comes with FS 9. They are multi LOD models so they have less impact than some models out there too.


Brian

[Tom Clayton]

I'm pretty certain all the models are used in the stock AI. The stock Tri-Motor can usually be found sitting at KGCN. I think I've caught the Comet sitting somewhere, but I don't remember...

[Wild Bill Kelso]

That's even better!
Thanks, Brian and Tom! :ernae:

Mark Beaumont provided a bare metal kit on the default DC-3, so smashing up some Buffalo paint won't be a big thing to do.
But maybe I should contact Mike Wilson and ask if he will allow to re-pack his fine Buffalo repaints, so I can concentrate on a variation not depicted yet...

Cheers,
Markus.

[Mick]

Like all the stock planes, the DC-3 is used for AI by the stock FS9 installation. It needs no modifications to work as AI. In fact, the stock planes are the only planes that MS says are sure to work as AI.

I have one issue with it on my system, involving its multi-LOD characteristics. I find that the lower resolutions display much too close to the viewpoint, with the result that the textures disappear and the plane becomes an all-black shape at distances where the textures should still be visible. For example, sometimes I can be looking from the ramp and see the DC-3 taxi out and turn all black before it even reaches the runway. Maybe this has more to do with the specific paints I'm using rather than the model itself...???

You can remove the VC from any plane that has one with a hex editor. From instructions I got here some time ago:

"Open the mdl file you want to edit with a hex editor and search for the following hex value: 0022003900 by going to Edit\Find type in the 00 22 00 39 00 value then click OK. When the first occurrence comes up, just hit the F3 key on your keyboard and it will take you to the second occurrence...that is the one that you edit. DO NOT EDIT THE FIRST OCCURRENCE of the string or you will find part of your aircraft missing. Now, in the second occurrences of that string, simply change the 39 in 00 22 00 39 00 to 00. It should now look like this: 00 22 00 00 00. Save the changes, and bingo! No VC."

However, there is a convincing argument to the effect that there's nothing to be gained by removing the VC from an AI plane, because the VC view is never called up, and therefore the VC has no impact on frame rates.

I only remove the VC from flyable planes that have such a poor VC that it makes me want to delete it.

[paul day]

I know nothing about repainting aircraft but at http://rayparker-repaints.jimdo.com/ (http://rayparker-repaints.jimdo.com/) in the download section the is a very reasonable DC3 with paintkit by Jake Burrus if it helps.

Regards Paul Day.

[Wild Bill Kelso]

Thanks for the HU, Paul!
I'll take a look...

@ Mick:
Thank you too!
I've known this trick before, in fact it's the only model tweaking I'm able to...
Tom stated that this will only remove the visibility of the VC, but as I learned now, the VC of AI aircraft doesn't matter anyway.