Virtual cockpits

[joejam2]

does anyone know how to make virtual cockpits. i made my model in gmax now i want to have a virtual cockpit cant i just make it where im siting in the middle of my model and i can see it around me.

[MikeH]

If you have not already done so, read gmaxAircraftCreation.doc in the gMax FS2004 gamepack first. The section on Interior Model is what you need to build a VC.

I believe there already are discussions on the fine points, so go ahead and search the forum.

To get rid of the see-through aircraft, you'll need to build the aircraft interior with surfaces facing inside. One way to do this is to clone the fuselage, extrude inwards, then flip the surfaces. Of course, you can also build an interior from scratch.

[EngEd]

Hello, Joe,
I recognize there's more than one way to make a VC. I've never tried the linking and dummy object approach (the one cited above, I believe). But I have had no problems with the technique I'll describe here. By the way, it does not use any added software, Middleman, etc.
By the way, there's something we've come to call the dreaded OBED Scale Error. My experience has been that GMax Ungrouping (not Grouping) is the culprit in this. I believe it has to do with Ungrouping doing some numerical rounding that gets misinterpreted as scaling. In any case, and touching wood for luck, the following technique has given me almost a dozen GMax models with VCs with no hassles whatsoever. Don't be put off by the lengthiness. It's step-by-step.

1. Have the plane essentially completed, inside and out. (This, because any further revision requires complete runthrough of these steps.) As noted above, you must fabricate inner surfaces, walls, seats, etc. Perhaps name it Final or something that'll remind you of its status.
2. Select everything to be visible in Spot Plane View. (I just select everything.)
3. Click on Group.
4. Name this Exterior.
5. Click on Hierarchy/Affect Pivot Only.
6. Place this Pivot Point at the plane's desired on-screen center. I use the X-Y-Z coordinate entries at the screen bottom to do this, typically (0,0,0) if I have the plane lined up appropriately in GMax.
7. Click again on Hierarchy/Affect Pivot Only to deselect this feature.
8. Save as Exterior.

Now, to the VC portion:
9. Reopen Final.
10. Select everything visible in VC View. (Often in my old crates, this is everything again. On modern planes, it'll be rather less.)
11. Redo Steps 3-7, naming it Interior and using the same (x,y,z) values. (Note: I used to set pilot view here, but learned it screws up VC landing lights. Now I set pilot view in FS aircraft.cfg.)
12. Save as Interior.

Now, to prepare the Export
13. Open Exterior.
14. Merge Interior. (Use textures from either, as they are the same.)
15. Save as Both.

Last, export and set up in FS.
16. Export Both using the .BGL option.
17. This gives access to options: lights, reflections, etc. Also, of course, click on Aircraft, not Scenery. In LOD, you'll see the two versions, Exterior and Interior, represented.
18. In FS, the plane may be high, lower or worse. Set Contact Points appropriately in its aircraft.cfg file (accessible with Notepad).
19. The VC pilot's view may be bizarre. Set it in aircraft.cfg as well.

And that's it. Any revisions take you back to Step 1 and a new "Final."
I hope this is helpful.
Dennis S

[joejam2]

thanx it worked and it was easy to do.