DreamFleet 2000 Releases First Panel
Cessna 182 Panel Released, 172 Panel Is In
The Shop!
DreamFleet 2000 has released its much anticipated Cessna 182S panel. "Now I need a vacation!" comments DreamFleet co-founder, Lou Betti. He adds, "It's only version 1.0, and we plan to upgrade it once we have the SDK, but I think everyone will be quite pleased with what we have done with the good ol' 182. I would dare say that no MSFS panel has ever looked this realistic. We've basically pushed to the limit with what can be done with photo-realism within the FS2000 environment. We have the real fabric, we have dirt on the floor, and we have the scratch that was on the parking brake handle, plus much, much more. Perhaps the best part is that you are actually sitting in the pilot's seat with this panel, not between the seats, or in the back seat. My goal was to set a new standard for panel art within MSFS, and I think we have accomplished that with this panel."
"There's also a small problem too, as on a minority of systems, the panel will appear stretched out of shape, and we are most certain this is due to the fact that the user has the default Cessna 182 panel set as their default flight, and FS2000 is attempting to make our panel, the same size as theirs! Screen shots I have seen from those suffering this problem seem to prove that, and these users also had the default 182 set as their default flight, or had last flown with the default 182."
"I would consider it mandatory that before you install our panel that you make sure that your default flight contains an aircraft and panel other than the default Cessna 182; the 737, the Lear, anything but a 182. Save that new flight as your default flight, then install our 182 panel. Once installed, select our 182 from the list, and then you can save it as your default once more."
"I installed the panel on all three of my machines, without problem. On all three of those machines, the default start-up flight was not using the 182. StephenWhite, one of our members, suffered the same problem. He un-installed the panel, changed his default flight to another aircraft / panel, re-installed the panel, and all was well!"
"Right now, we need the SDK, plus more research into panel night lighting, although I think everyone will be pleased with how well the panel is lit up at night, thanks to Chuck Dome's panel-saving "Make Pink" utility. I still want to address the master switch, and add some gyro sounds when it is switched on, and I also have some other novel ideas, which will add to the realism."
The panel is also perhaps the largest file size ever for a single panel, tipping the scales at around 10 megabytes!
"Considering that we did not include a scan of the operating handbook, or an aircraft, or even sounds, that's a lot of bytes to download." Comments Lou. "I strongly suggest the use of a download manager, so that you can pause / resume download, or recover from a dropped ISP connection. As the complexity of flight simulation increases, files of this type will only grow in size, not get smaller. The 16-bit bitmaps for FS2000 are 2.25 megabytes in size, and we have many of that size, and some that are much smaller. There's a total of 14 bitmaps for this panel, and uncompressed, the bitmaps and gauges are over 29 megabytes!"
"About 1.8 meg. of it is our "DreamFleet Manager / Installer", an incredible program written by Stephen White, but this installer will serve future DreamFleet panels also, and once you use it, you'll never go back to a manual install again. It will automatically back up files that we are replacing, such as the .air, panel.cfg, and checklist files, and it will install everything neatly in place in about 20 seconds. If you decide to uninstall the panel, it's just a couple of clicks, and everything is back the way it was. After the install, those who wish to, can access the files, and move them to separate folder, if they wish to alias the panel to several aircraft. However, I felt this installer was essential, as we have many newcomers to FS2000, who are not very familiar with the sim's file structure, etc. I wanted to make the install easy for them."
The Manager is a one-time download / install, and is being included with the 182 panel in order to be sure that everyone gets it, as the panel cannot be installed without it. In the future, it will not be included with panels, but will be available as a separate download from the DreamFleet 2000 web site, and other popular web sites.
DreamFleet's 182 panel will not be alone on the ramp for long. "I've just started work on a 172 panel." Comments group member Charles (Chuck) Grimes. "It's a 1985 model, and just the opposite of what this 182 is. It has the plastic panel overlay, and that tacky, fake wood grain that used to be so popular. Right now, our biggest decision is whether to put an auto pilot in it, as the one we are simulating does not have one. I suspect that in the end, we'll spend the money, and send it off to our virtual avionics shop, for installation of one!"
Chuck also happens to be the pilot of N9521F, the real Cessna 182S that was the subject of the group's panel.
"I'm tutoring Chuck in using PhotoShop," adds Lou. "Chuck's a fast learner, and this time around he'll be doing both the main and lower pedestal panels, and I'll do the cabin view bitmaps, as I must devote more graphics time to bitmaps for the 737 project. Once Chuck is comfortable with doing this level of graphics work on his own, the bulk of the general aviation panels will be his to do, and I'll go back to working on DreamFleet's airliner panels."
DreamFleet would like to let all potential users of the Cessna 182 panel know that once they have downloaded the panel, to simply unzip the file into a temporary folder, then read the installation instructions, which will advise how to install the DreamFleet 2000 Manager, and then how to use the Manager to install the panel. It's quick, and it's easy, just be sure that your default start-up flight does not contain the default Cessna 182 before installing the panel.
