Vistaliner 727 cockpit view problem

[wlwjr66]

Hello,
Recently my Vistaliner 727 cockpit outside view shows up totally black along with the cockpit panel not becoming illuminated; however, the panel lights work.

Also, viewing the overhead panel, the text for each switch is pixelated into blurry block lettering and not sharp while the switches and indicator lights are not sharp either. Everything else of the main panel is crystal sharp except for the text near the Capt/FO auto-throttle selection.

I've removed and reinstalled the package several times. I believe I have gotten all of the files, but maybe I have missed a few buried in FS2004 somewhere.

Any suggestions on how to fix this new and reacurring problem for this great download would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Walter

[wlwjr66]

To clean up my MSFS2004 I decided to remove everything and reinstall. In the meantime, I've redownloaded and attempted to install the Vistaliner package wsp727lv via FS Addon Manager, Addit Pro and as per directions on the PDF page by extracting the ZIP folder directly into the FS2004.
By either of these three methods, the aircraft is not there.

Any help to get the aircraft there, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Walter

[Jim Robinson]

I certainly can't imagine how a 215MB package containing a staggering 79(!) variations could possibly cause problems :) . The potential for naming conflicts must be about 1000 on a scale of 1 to 10.

May I suggest something a little simpler like the original vistaliner packages released by the designer himself:

b7272avl.zip
b7272fvl.zip
b72720vl.zip

Jim

[wlwjr66]

But, but, but....It went so well the first time I installed it on my old harddrive a couple years ago...:). It wasn't even an .exe extraction file, and I was flying the nostalgic liveries with the proper panel minutes later after the first attempt. I was shocked that it was with no installation heartaches. I guess I cannot be lucky every time...:).

However, I did just that as you suggest above last night after posting my question starting with the -Adv model. I will continue downloading and installing one at a time with the other products as you further suggested.

Jim, thanks a bunch!

Walter

[Jim Robinson]

That 727-200adv in the Eastern livery has always been one of my favorite FS aircraft, although it still needs a panel or else you won't have any indication of what's going on with the 3rd engine. I used an FS2002 panel by Lonny Payne (LP727V20.ZIP) but modified (read: hacked) it heavily. The Lonny Payne download also came with a Kevin Trinkle and Garry Carlson model of the 727 in old and new TWA liveries for FS2002. If you use this panel in FS2004 you'll at least have to copy the GPS section from the default 737 panel.cfg and replace this panel's GPS section to get the GPS to work. Richard Probst also made a good 727 panel which I believe was the basis for the Tinmouse panel, "b727pan4.zip".

For sounds, I used a soundset that was included with an old FS2002 American Airlines Boeing 727-200 by Charles Fox. The soundset itself was by Aerolíneas Argentinas and had a really neat raspy JT8 roar that was almost deafening at times :) . Probably not highly realistic since from the cockpit of the real thing the pilots likely barely heard the engines at all, but I liked it and have used it on a multitude of JT8 powered aircraft. The file was "cf722aa.zip", you'll have to extract the sounds only (you may try the panel too).

For your wsp727lv.zip issue, I'd have to say if it worked once it should work again. After installation are you seeing a new "Boeing 727-200" folder inside the "Flight Simulator 9\Aircraft" folder? Make sure the folder's there and not somewhere else like "Flight Simulator 9\Aircraft\Aircraft\Boeing 727-200". Also, did you have "use folder names" checked when you extracted it? If not, it would have dumped the entire archive as loose files straight into the main Flight Simulator 9 folder, so check that too.

When I install something like this I usually extract the archive to some empty temporary folder first rather than straight into the sim. That way if the folder structure in the .zip file happens to be messed up, or if I screw something up myself in the extraction process the mess stays isolated from the rest of the sim. I can simply delete everything in the temp folder and have another go at extraction that way. Much easier than sorting through thousands of files trying to figure out which ones should and shouldn't be there. If everything looks good after extracting then I'll either re-extract the archive straight into the sim or copy the folders over manually.

good luck,
Jim