Twin Otter Question

[binarkansas]

As always I'm trying to make the best use of freeware. Have recently been "playing" with Eric Dantes' Twin Otter. Thanks to info gleaned from this forum I've been able to use the following two files: tpu_civil_defence_dhc6_256931.zip and all_dhc-6.zip , to arrive at a nice model with a much sharper vc. Long nose textures work well with these two files, but I have not been able to make a short nose texture work. I fly mostly from the vc, so a nice clear vc is important to me and I would like to have a short nose twotter in my hangar.

Am I missing something here? Is it possible to find the files necessary to have a Dantes short nosentwotter with a sharp vc??? If not, I'll stop looking, if so, please help.

Thanks

[pfflyers]

Here's a shortnose texture I found on AVSIM for you to try:

dhc6_caf13807_2.zip

By our own Markus Hellwig (aka Wild Bill Kelso)

edit: after re-reading your post I'm not sure what your difficulty is.

Won't the panel and airfiles from the longnose models work for the shortnose versions?

[binarkansas]

Here's a shortnose texture I found on AVSIM for you to try:

dhc6_caf13807_2.zip

By our own Markus Hellwig (aka Wild Bill Kelso)

edit: after re-reading your post I'm not sure what your difficulty is.

Won't the panel and airfiles from the longnose models work for the shortnose versions?

Thanks for the reply. Short answer is yes the shortnose versions will work with the newer panel and airfiles from tpu_civil_defence_dhc6_256931.zip but the model is converted to the long nose variant. It must be the tpu model does not include the shortnose. Having a flyable version of the short nose is not the problem. Having a flying short nose with a clear vc is the problem. The only version of dantes twotter I've found is tpu_civil_defence_dhc6_256931.zip It is really nice. The attached images illustrate the differences in the clarity of the vc's. The tpu might be the old payware version for all I know, but it is available now on avsim. If you have a way of coming up with a short nose version with the clear vc, I'd be interested in learning how.

Thanks again

[binarkansas]

to clarify the last post the tpu_civil_defence_dhc6_256931.zip , file is, obviously not the only working twotter by dantes i've found. What I meant to say is it is the only model with the clear vc I've found..............other textures can be applied to it, but they end up all being the long nose version.

Hope this is clearer now.

[Sunny9850]

By the look of the files in the archive and consulting the readme it seems that in order to get the better clarity of the panel gauges the mdl file was modified for the long nose wheel and long nose float version of the Dante DHC-6.
So those would be the only two versions where you would get the clearer VC gauges.

IF you have a similarly modified mdl file for the short nose variants then the rest, as in installing additional textures should not be a big hurdle.
That is as long as these textures were made for the Dante DHC-6 and during the modification of the mdl file all texture mapping remained the same.

You were not quite clear what exactly you do have at this point and what exactly is not working. At least I am not clear on it :wiggle:

1. Do you have a short nose DHC-6 with clear VC gauges ??
2. Is the problem that when trying to add new textures to this SN DHC-6 something doesn't work ??
3. If yes on 2. then what exactly is not working.

3.a The fuselage shows up all grey in the preview window ?
3.b The fuselage does show up in the preview in the correct texture but doesn't rotate and the sim stops when loading this variation ?
3.c The variation with the new texture does not even show up in the selection window ??

Cheers
Stefan

p.s. Have you tried the PAD series of DHC-6 airplanes....they are pretty good right out of the box. For my personal use I combined the FDE from the Dante aircraft with the PAD family of DHC-6s and then tweaked the whole thing a little bit more to fit the specs I have for the Twotter.

[pfflyers]

The instuctions for using the updated models in the "all_dhc-6.zip" are very unclear. You need to do some copy/pasting and some file editing. Are you up for it?

This is for the wheel model.

You need to make a copy of your existing model file, rename it "model.nez court" (nose short). Open the the nez court folder in the all_dhc-6 folder and copy the enclosed model file to your new 'model.nez court' folder. Now rename the model file you just put in your new folder to the same as the file that was already there (rename the original to something else).

If you've followed me so far you now have a working short nose model with updated vc.

Here is the config I used:

[fltsim.?]
title=DHC-6, Twin Otter, CC-13807
sim=DHC-6
model=nez court
panel=
sound=
texture=caf13807
kb_checklists=DHC6_CHECK
kb_reference=DHC6_REF
atc_id=_
atc_flight_number=804
atc_airline=AIR FORCE
atc_id_color=
atc_type=DEHAVILLAND
ui_manufacturer=De Havilland
ui_type=DHC-6 Twin Otter (wheel)
ui_variation=Canadian Air Force 13807 white rescue scheme
description=Canadian Armed Forces CC-138 S/N 13807 was taken on strength 17 September 1971 with No. 440 Squadron at CFB Namao, Alberta. Used by crew from reserve unit No. 418 Squadron at time of crash on 14 June 1986. Was searching for another SAR aircraft (civilian) that had gone down looking for an overdue light plane. The aircraft flew into the side of a mountain, killing all on board. Repaint by Markus Hellwig, Berlin.

For the Amphib model:

You need to make a copy of your existing model file, rename it "model.amphibie" (it's a short nose). Open the the 'amphibie' folder in the all_dhc-6 folder and copy the enclosed model file to your new 'model.amphibie' folder. Now rename the model file you just put in your new folder to the same as the file that was already there (rename the original to something else).

For the Amphib model there is an extra step, you need to use the panel folder from the all_dhc-6 folder with that model. The longnose model include in the tpu_civil_defence_dhc6_256931.zip has a different vc setup that's not compatible with the shortnose model. So I named it "panel.amphibie".

Her's the config I used:

[fltsim.?]
title=DHC-6 , Twin Otter , CC-13807 (amphib)
sim=DHC-6 amph
model=amphibie
panel=amphibie
sound=
texture=caf13807
kb_checklists=DHC6_CHECK
kb_reference=DHC6_REF
atc_id=_
atc_flight_number=804
atc_airline=AIR FORCE
atc_id_color=
atc_type=DEHAVILLAND
ui_manufacturer=De Havilland
ui_type=DHC-6 Twin Otter (amphib)
ui_variation=Canadian Air Force 13807 white rescue scheme
description=Canadian Armed Forces CC-138 S/N 13807, repaint by Markus Hellwig, Berlin\nThe magnificient “DHC-6 Twin Otter Repaint Kit” by Thierry PUJOL was used to do this!

Clear as mud, right?

This worked for me, now I've got short nose models with sharp vc gauges.

[pfflyers]

A couple screenshots for inspiration:575765757757575

[OBIO]

binarkansas

Take a look at the VC sections in the panel config. There is a line, that if adjusted, can sharpen the gauges on the VC panel. Take a lookie at the following example:

[VCockpit01]
size_mm=1024,1024
pixel_size=256,256 <===Change those to 512,512 or 1024,1024 and your VC gauges will be sharper and crisper...I go with 1024,1024
texture=$vpanel
background_color=0,0,0
visable=0

This doesn't always give you the results you may want...but it always makes a noticable improvement.

OBIO

[binarkansas]

Sunny9850:

Thanks for the reply, In your post you state "By the look of the files in the archive and consulting the readme it seems that in order to get the better clarity of the panel gauges the mdl file was modified for the long nose wheel and long nose float version of the Dante DHC-6.
So those would be the only two versions where you would get the clearer VC gauges."

That is what I've been discovering. Is there a way to modify a mdl file???

OBIO:

Thanks for the reply and suggestion. As always your help is appreciated and well thought out. However in this instance, once the file : all_dh-6.zip , is used to update the 2002 nez court (short nose) to 2004 (using both the new mdl file AND the new panel file from the all_dhc file, , the size of the vc is already 1024, 1024.)

Do you have any other ideas?

Everyone:

In order to further clear up what I'm asking............please, everyone who is trying to help me, if you have not loaded the stand alone, latest model of the twin otter: tpu_civil_defence_dhc6_256931.zip , you might not know how great and clear the vc actually is in that version (it was uploaded to avsim in '09, which means it is not very new, but a lot newer than the other versions. It is a very real update. Older textures work fine with it, including short nose ones, but show up in the sim as a long nose. If you have not downloaded tpu_civil_defence_dhc6_256931.zip, and want a dantes twotter with a super nice vc, then you should try it. If you have or are currently flying tpu_civil_defence_dhc6_256931.zip , and if you can find a way to come up with a Dantes Short nose Twotter with a vc panel as good as the one in the tpu model then please tell me how. So far, no suggestions have worked.

I appreciate all replies and am just about ready to call it quits and give up on having a clear vc in the short nose dantes twotter. I know the PAD aircraft are fine, I just prefer the dantes version.

If anyone has any additional advice, I will be appreciative. It there is a way to modify the mdl file in the tpu_civil_defence_dhc6_256931.zip, model, I think that would solve the problem, other than that I don't have a clue. Again thanks for all the replies.

[pfflyers]

Did you try any of the models from the "all_dhc-6" zip file? They were updated for FS9 by Eric Dantes.

They do not have as high a vc resolution as the models in the "tpu_civil_defence_dhc6_256931" zip, but better than the original FS2k2 versions.

To answer your other question, no you cannot modify your longnose model into a shortnose without the source code and the original author's permission.

I have'nt been able to find any short nose updates for the Eric Dantes models that match these long nose versions, pity cuz I'd like to have them as well.

[binarkansas]

Did you try any of the models from the "all_dhc-6" zip file? They were updated for FS9 by Eric Dantes.

They do not have as high a vc resolution as the models in the "tpu_civil_defence_dhc6_256931" zip, but better than the original FS2k2 versions.

To answer your other question, no you cannot modify your longnose model into a shortnose without the source code and the original author's permission.

I have'nt been able to find any short nose updates for the Eric Dantes models that match these long nose versions, pity cuz I'd like to have them as well.


Yes, I have a short nose version in the hangar now using the dhc-6 files.......... but I do appreciate the nicer vc in the newest update, I'm sorry also that we seem to be at a dead end.

[pfflyers]

Me too.

You can see by the fact that the "newer" (long nose) models use a two window vc while the short nose models use a one window vc that some extra updating was done to the long nosers. I wish that upgrade could be applied to the shorties.

I wonder who did that latest mod, and when. I don't know anything about the subject, but I think you have to modify the model to do that.

[Sunny9850]

Ok by the sounds of it there is no easy fix for the situation then. The changes to improve the LN were indeed made in the model file.
This can only be done if you have access to the original files as far as I know, and then of course you should also have permission from the original author to release the update.

I think there is a way somehow to avoid step one, with some sort of de-compiling software. But that is iffy in many ways and certainly would not be acceptable in my opinion.

Cheers
Stefan

[pfflyers]

Of course in all this discussion of short nose Otters we should not forget the fine models from PAD, as Stephan has already reminded us.

I have them installed also with some nice skins by Marcus Hellwig.

IMHO I tend to prefer the Dantes model because to me it has a slightly more "lived in" look and I like the way the vc panel is shaded, gives a little more 3D look to me.