Building Virtual Cockpits

[bigglesbolton]

Hi. I am not really a newcomer, but just want to be sure I get directed to the right forum. I enjoy rebuilding Panels, but have only achieved that with 2D models. Can anyone help me in getting hold of software and books on how to build 3D pannels for a Virtual Cockpit. Also, i would like to learn how associate ketboard strokes with one click screen icons.

[fxsttcb]

The Virtual Cockpit is a 3D model, so, you are at the mercy of the author. You can't change the model, but, the texture(Texture Folders) and maybe gauges can be changed. Some are laid out similar to a 2D panel and can be easily modified. Some are fully modeled and are difficult, at best, to change anything. Others are a combination of those.

There are default keystrokes for the Windows. In the panel.cfg they are numbered from zero, but the key combination starts at one.
To use the default key combo "Shift+?" add "1" to the title#.
You only have 9 keysets available(Shift+1 thru Shift+9).

Regardless of View mode they will display on command...Don

[Window Titles]
Window00=Main Panel "Shift+1"
Window01=RADIO_STACK_PANEL "Shift+2"
Window02=GPS "Shift+3"
and so on...

[tvieno]

The Virtual Cockpit is a 3D model, so, you are at the mercy of the author. You can't change the model, but, the texture(Texture Folders) and maybe gauges can be changed. Some are laid out similar to a 2D panel and can be easily modified. Some are fully modeled and are difficult, at best, to change anything. Others are a combination of those.

I believe on some planes the VC is modeled separately of the plane. I am not on my computer with FSX, but if I recall, the default A321 has the VC separate and when you open the model.cfg in the Model folder, it is referenced in a separate line. Now could you add your own VC and would it supersede the one made by the author? I guess that is a matter of merging a merge-able cockpit and taking a look. What software would you use? That is out of my league. I bet if you went to the forums at fsdeveloper.com, you might find your answer. Good luck!

[fxsttcb]

I believe on some planes the VC is modeled separately of the plane. I am not on my computer with FSX, but if I recall, the default A321 has the VC separate and when you open the model.cfg in the Model folder, it is referenced in a separate line. Now could you add your own VC and would it supersede the one made by the author? I guess that is a matter of merging a merge-able cock and taking a look. What software would you use? That is out of my league. I bet if you went to the forums at fsdeveloper.com, you might find your answer. Good luck!

Many planes offered for FSX are FS9 portovers and those can't be modded.
The VC is a seperate model only on FSX native planes.
You can add/replace them only to an aircraft with an FSX native airframe model.
To add/replace it just put the new interior model in the Model folder and point the model.cfg to it.
From a SkySpirit 767 merge:
[models]
normal=OSX763ERV5_PW4000--BL.mdl
interior=B737_800_interior

Merging is a matter of adding the donor's interior model, importing or aliasing the donor's panel, and adding the donor's VC related textures.

I usually make a copy of the donor's VC textures and place them in "texture.VC" folder, then add a fallback line in a texture.cfg for all of the planes liveries:
[fltsim]
fallback.1=..\texture
fallback.2=..\texture.VC
fallback.3=..\..\..\..\Scenery\Global\texture
fallback.4=..\..\..\..\..\..\Scenery\Global\texture

It isn't hard, just requires an understanding of the folder structure and *.cfgs ...Don