In my previous article we learned how to add the default FS2000 GPS window to our older-style panels (i.e., non-default FS2000 aircraft). In my example the GPS window accidentally covered up the toggle we used for opening and closing the GPS window. My quick fix in that article was to move the toggle from one side of the panel to the other. That's not the only way to accomplish our task.

Here is an excerpt from the panel.cfg file for the Beech King Air 350. By default, this "window" will not be visible (you have to open and close it - with the toggle). This is accomplished by the statement: visible=0. If the window is to be visible by default, it would read: visible=1.

[Window02]
Background_color=16,16,16 
size_mm=150,250
position=8
visible=0
ident=GPS_PANEL

gauge00=gps!gps,  0,0,150,250

The GPS window for the King Air will appear in the lower right-hand corner. That's because of the statement: position=8. There are actually nine (9) total positions available, as follows:

0 = upper-left corner
1 = upper-middle side
2 = upper-right corner
3 = middle-left side
4 = middle
5 = middle-right side
6 = lower-left corner
7 = lower-middle side
8 = lower-right corner

These positions are in reference to the panel only, not the windscreen.

Therefore, if you wanted the GPS window to appear in the lower-left corner instead of the lower-right corner, you could open the panel.cfg file (Notepad or Wordpad work fine - if you use a word processor make certain you know how to save the result as a simple ASCII text file!) and modify the position statement to: position=6. When you left-click on the toggle for the GPS, it will then open on the lower-left hand side.

Note: any gauge or window can be altered simply by editing the panel.cfg file. The numbers look daunting at first, but once you understand what those numbers mean, your ability to manipulate and modify (even create) your own panels will be enhanced significantly.

For those willing to "take the plunge" download the Microsoft SDK for panels (Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 Software Development Kit - Building Panels and Gauges). Even if you don't plan to build/design panels and/or gauges, there's a lot of very worthwhile information available in this document.

Following my previous GPS article, I received e-mail from many, including some designers/creators. Here are two excellent suggestions I received:

You may also add (easily) older (FS98 style) GPS instruments/gauges to your FS2000 aircraft. Some examples are Navstar99, GPS98, ACS-GPS and Proflight<. Here's an example for including GPS98 in a plane you're using in FS2000.

Windowxx=GPS98...where xx will be the next available number for a window

The window itself will look like this:

[Window07]
file=...\GPSDATA\GPS.BMP
size_mm=150
window_size_ratio=1.0
position=8		...remember, you can change this position, if necessary
visible=1		...this window will automatically be visible
ident=125

gauge00=GPS98, 0 0 , 150	...or use another GPS in place of GPS98

Or to be more tricky - say for the Proflight FMS or Navstar FMS you can use positioning in two ways. Notice there's no BMP file for FS2000 parameters.

[Windowxx]
size_mm=370,500
position=8
visible=0
ident=GPS_PANEL

gauge00=FMS, 0, 0, 370, 500

And last, for placing with an FMS or with the FS2000 GPS for the exact position and size.

[Windowxx]
size_mm=290, 500
window_pos=0.402, 0.460
pixel_size=0,0
visible=0
ident=45

gauge00=gps!gps, 0, 0, 290, 500
,gauge00=FMS, 0, 0, 290, 500

The comma before the gauge statement will cause the gauge to not load. This is a good method for toggling back and forth without going back and forth editing everything.

These examples above are courtesy of John Schumacher. You may have already seen some of John's work. He's quite thorough in his documentation. If you download any of his planes/panels, he's good at providing what you need to know for proper installation/usage.

Last, but certainly not least, came an excellent tip from Lou Betti. Lou has "graduated" from the gauge tweaking days and currently uses custom bitmapping for the heralded DreamFleet work. For those of us still editing and tweaking, Lou offers the following advice.

1. Run FS2000 in Windows mode, with the panel you want to adjust loaded.
2. Open up the panel.cfg file for the panel you have loaded (you should now have the panel.cfg file and FS2000 open simultaneously)
3. Make your adjustment to the gauge's parameters (x, y, size - even add another gauge!)
4. Save the panel.cfg and just resize the panel slightly, by dragging it in left or right, or up or down from one edge and voila! Your change takes effect!

As always, prior to making ANY changes to a panel.cfg file, make a backup copy! You can trash the resultant copy to hell and back. When you have it so fouled up you can't even begin to figure out what to do next, trash it, restore your original copy and have at it again! And again!

Happy simming and happy panel tweaking!

Art Burke
Aburkenc@aol.com

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