FS9 question

[this4dave2]

My curiosity finally got the best of me.

Can someone please tell me how the stock aircraft in FS9 has the ability to display the atc_id in the aircraft.cfg or the ATC name in the select aircraft screen on the aircraft?

thank you

[huub vink]

This is defined in the aircraft.cfg file. As I'm not behind my sim computer I can't tell you which line it exactly is.

Cheers,
Huub

[Tako_Kichi]

It has been a long time since I last ran FS9 but it still resides on one of my HDs so I just took a look at some files for you. The answer you seek lies in the individual aircraft configuration files (aka 'aircraft.cfg'). These files can be opened, edited and saved using the stock Windows 'Notepad' application.

I just opened the file for the stock C172 and found the following lines which refer to your original questions:

atc_id=N176CM

This is the aircraft ID reference used by the sim to display information on the aircraft selection screen and the reference used by the sim for ATC interaction either via audio or via text on the ATC text window. Anything that is entered after the '=' sign will be used by the sim. It will also be used to display the ID on the small label on the panel and/or VC if the model is equipped to show it.

ui_type="C172SP Skyhawk"

This is the aircraft type section line and the sim will display any information contained within the quotation marks ("info here") that follow the '=' sign on the aircraft selection screen.

The same applies to the 'ui_manufacturer=' and 'ui_variation=' lines too.

If you make any changes to the text file you MUST save it before the changes will take effect (the text file can remain open but it must be saved). If the sim is running when you make the changes then you will have to reload the aircraft (either by using the 'reload aircraft' key combination (if assigned) or by selecting another aircraft and then the original again) before the changes will be seen in the sim.

Hope that helps.

[this4dave2]

Thanks for the answers. I may have not asked the question correctly.

But what I am looking for is how does the atc_id= XXXX show up on the aircraft fuselage of the FS9 stock aircraft?

I know it is from the aircraft.cfg or the select aircraft screen where the number can be changed.

However the atc_id does not show upon the fuselage or anywhere else on the aircraft if you use a FS9 stock aircraft as an AI aircraft

Thank you
David

[Motormouse]

Thanks for the answers. I may have not asked the question correctly.

But what I am looking for is how does the atc_id= XXXX show up on the aircraft fuselage of the FS9 stock aircraft?

I know it is from the aircraft.cfg or the select aircraft screen where the number can be changed.

However the atc_id does not show upon the fuselage or anywhere else on the aircraft if you use a FS9 stock aircraft as an AI aircraft

Thank you
David

I think it's a gauge, Bill Lyons implemented it in his custom classics line

Ttfn

Pete

[huub vink]

David, your question was clear and the answer by Taco_Kichi correct.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/pre...ectedfrom=MSDN

The above link will give you an explanation about the aircraft configuration file.

As you can see the line atc_id defines which number is displayed and the line atc_id_color defines in which colour it is displayed.

Cheers,
Huub

[this4dave2]

Motormouse

Thank you for all the response to my question.

what i was looking for was answered by Motormouse it is controlled by a gauge that puts the ATC or tail number on the tail or the wing using a VC section of the panel folder. But how i don't know but it gives me a start to try and figure it out but i believe it is a part in the model.

Thank you all

David

[Tako_Kichi]

I have only created models for FSX not FS9 but I do know that in order to get the N number in the .cfg file to automatically appear in the VC in FSX you need a specially tagged polygon with a 2D gauge planar attached to it in order for the N number to appear. I don't think the auto tail number on the tail stayed in FSX as I never used it or saw it applied elsewhere.

I can only assume the same methodology applied to FS9 models including on the tail.

The bottom line is that if the model designer didn't include the required polys and planars in the model itself they cannot be easily added afterwards (it would require some lengthy manipulation in a programme like Model Converter X).

[afscrub]

Thanks for the answers. I may have not asked the question correctly.

But what I am looking for is how does the atc_id= XXXX show up on the aircraft fuselage of the FS9 stock aircraft?

I know it is from the aircraft.cfg or the select aircraft screen where the number can be changed.

However the atc_id does not show upon the fuselage or anywhere else on the aircraft if you use a FS9 stock aircraft as an AI aircraft

Thank you
David

The gauge; gaugexx=n_number_plaque!n_number_plaque, (210,387,65,19 depends on the panelmap) must be put in [window00] , [window04] , [Vcockpit01] . It is in the default/FSX gauges folder.
A.F.

[Milton Shupe]

I know, old post.

Dave, back in the day we did an A26 with nose art capabilities.

The FS2004 SDK Makemdl.doc, bottom of pages, describes teh use of teh DECAL material.

The way it is used for art is to simply add a poly over the nose art area andmap it to a material/texture whose name sarts with DECAL.
Similarly, for the ATC-Id, a poly mapped to DECAL_NNumber as described below.
When that is used, the actual text is taken from the aircraft.cfg as noted above atc_id= XXXX , and displayed inside the DECAL map.

So, you would add a poly(s) to the aircraft where you want the atc-id displayed, map it and assign teh DECAL_NNumber texture/material,
Ensure you have atc-id in the aircraft.cfg, and you should be good to go.

If that gauge solution works for you, even better.

Texture Names

MakeMDL makes the following assumptions about texture names:

• No matter what the texture extension is in the .x file, the output file references a texture with a .bmp extension. If you model with .tga files, the output file references a .bmp file.
• If the texture name starts with “DECAL_” a z-bias is added automatically to all polygons drawn with this texture.
• If the texture name is “DECAL_NNUMBER” then the texture is used for the NNumber of the aircraft.
• If the texture name ends with “_T” then the texture is the undamaged version of the texture (the damaged version ends with “_D”).
• If the texture name starts with “$” or “_panel_” then the texture is assumed to be a virtual cockpit (VC) gauge texture.