More Problems

Hi,

The boeing737ng.zip 2D Widescreen Panel has a problem at night, The Main Panel does not go into Night Mode while all the others do. The Instructions say in will automatically go into Night Mode when it is Dark and there is no switch needed. What have I done wrong again. The default Panel does work correctly at night.

I am starting to wonder why I came back to Flight Simulation again as I am finding things so difficult.

Thanks and kind regards James.

Installed that panel into my POSKY 737. Here is a shot at dusk sitting on the runway cold and dark. What else, besides the standby steam gauges, are you looking to see back-lighted?

The Panel colour is bright as it is at Day and not like yours.

Kind regards James.

The Panel colour is bright as it is at Day and not like yours.

Kind regards James.

Sorry, My Bad! I flipped on the battery switch and made sure it was night and not just dusk.

So the Panel should look like the above Screenshot at Dark.

One other point is When in Full Screen Mode I press alt to get the top menu but I can't make it vanish again.

Kind regards James.

So the Panel should look like the above Screenshot at Dark.

One other point is When in Full Screen Mode I press alt to get the top menu but I can't make it vanish again.

Kind regards James.

Can you right-click on your screen to bring up the drop-down menu to close the menu bar?

Do you have HideMenuFullscreen=1 under [Main] in your FSX.cfg?

Just a short note, if I may.

There is an entry in the Panel.cfg file, that can be used to adjust the colors and brightness of the panel. Look down at the bottom, usually, of the panel.cfg file for an entry that looks like this:

Day=255,255,255

Night=20,0,0

Luminous=157,140,124

To change the overall brightness and colors of the panel at night, as if from a set of overhead lights, or small lights just under the glare shield, change the numbers following the Night= entry. The numbers are in RGB (Red-Green-Blue) order, and the brightness is controlled by the amplitude of the numbers. In the examples shown, the panel overall has a red color, but very dim. The color numbers can be mixed to make just about any color you want. For example, you could make the light white, and about 1/2 max brightness, by making the numbers 100,100,100. I personally prefer a greenish tint to things, so I would make it 90,120,90.

To change the background illumination of internally lighted, or back-lit gauges, change the numbers in the Luminous= line. They follow the same "rules" as for the Night= line.

Just wanted to throw that little bit out there, in case it may be of help to the OP.

Pat☺

Thanks I still don't get it. I have re-installed the Panel and overwritten the original Panel Config file with the new one that came with the panel and the panel is bright Blue at night and no difference from the daytime version.

@mr Zippy did you have to alter the numbers at the bottom of the Panel Config File ?

The Aircraft Config just has panel yet the instructions go on about panelxx and altering something there.. I must be to thick to do this. I must admit I have no idea what I am doing and the instructions assume you have some knowledge. I am considering giving up on FSX.

Kind regards James.

Thanks I still don't get it. I have re-installed the Panel and overwritten the original Panel Config file with the new one that came with the panel and the panel is bright Blue at night and no difference from the daytime version.

@mr Zippy did you have to alter the numbers at the bottom of the Panel Config File ?

The Aircraft Config just has panel yet the instructions go on about panelxx and altering something there.. I must be to thick to do this. I must admit I have no idea what I am doing and the instructions assume you have some knowledge. I am considering giving up on FSX.

Kind regards James.

Other than copy the original panel for my POSKY 737 and paste it to the desktop. I then added the 737-800 .cab file from the download. Remember that the original .cab is not overwritten and is in the panel folder also. I then pasted the new panel.cfg into the folder, and renamed the new folder as panel.test. I put the panel.test into the POSKY 737 folder and changed the panel= to panel=test in the aircraft.cfg. I made no other changes. Show a screenshot of your panel.

Hi,

I have no hosting service for photographs so below is a link to download the picture

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z6a2tc1qeypilqd/Panel%20737.jpg?dl=0

Kind regards James.

Hi,

I have no hosting service for photographs so below is a link to download the picture

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z6a2tc1qeypilqd/Panel%20737.jpg?dl=0

Kind regards James.

No hosting site is needed to post screenshot on the forums here. Check out how to do it in the Screenshot Forum. Read the "stickies" at the top.

That shot is interesting. It does look as though it's daytime even with the darkness outside. Do any other panels do this other than this download? Does an outside shot of the aircraft at night look OK? You don't have any panel lights on, just the battery switch? It looks like a lack of night textures.

https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?235703-New-Screenshot-Tutorial

The outside shots look ok and are in darkness. The flight opens with the virtual cockpit. On pressing Key A this takes me to the 2D Panel via the original default panels shots which are working. When it gets to the new 2D panel non of its views are showing Night Panels. I have installed it as you suggested. I am using FSX Steam version and the latest version of Windows 10.

Thanks and kind regards James.

The outside shots look ok and are in darkness. The flight opens with the virtual cockpit. On pressing Key A this takes me to the 2D Panel via the original default panels shots which are working. When it gets to the new 2D panel non of its views are showing Night Panels. I have installed it as you suggested. I am using FSX Steam version and the latest version of Windows 10.

Thanks and kind regards James.

OK, I just tried it with my default 737-800 and it looks normal for me. You didn't make any of the changes suggested by PhantomTweak in regards to the night color?

Day=255,255,255

Night=20,0,0

Luminous=157,140,124

I'm at a loss as to why your night textures don't show on this 2D panel.

Remember, that was just an example.

If you need more detailed instruction, just let us know. Be happy to try to get ya going...

Pat☺

I need detailed instructions please. Could it be the Steam Edition that is causing problems ?

Kind regards James.

I need detailed instructions please. Could it be the Steam Edition that is causing problems ?

Kind regards James.

Not if all of you other aircraft have 2D and VC panels that look correct at night. I can't see it being a Steam problem. No DX10 Preview checked in your settings?

Can't be precise here,not at pc now.

A [WindowXX] section for a main panel usually starts with 2 lines:

File_1024=panel_background.bmp

File_night_1024=panel_background_night.bmp

And in the panel folder are those two files.

panel_background.bmp

and

panel_background_night.bmp

Make sure both lines are there like they are supposed to. (don't copy mine, mine are just examples).

Also, make sure both image files are in the panel folder.

You can make panels appear with key combinations.

Shift+1 is usually main panel

shift+2 is usually radio.

Shift+3 is gps,

etc.

WHen checking those two files in the panel folder:

panel_background.bmp

and

panel_background_night.bmp

Check if they look different.

From the descriptions you and mrzippy gave, one would look darkish, and the other blue.

(Btw, not all planes have this system of two separate files, but many do. So, check please, and report back.)

OK...

I see one problem right off the bat. In the 737ng panel you linked, James (may I call you James? Mr. Something is fine if you prefer...), the [Colors] section is missing the line Luminous=125,163,101.

Detailed instructions:

First and foremost, and this may have been mentioned but I don't see it, did you put the 737ng panel in it's own folder? This can be done by going to your plane's folder, and rightclicking (rclicking) in an empty area of the folder. You will now get a menu pop up. Select NEW from it, and then FOLDER from the menu that appears. Name it Panel.new. When it first appears the name it has will be NEWFOLDER, highlighted in blue. Just type in Panel.new, and that will replace the original name.

Unzip the .zip file into this now folder. ALL of it. Every single file.

Open the Panel.new folder by double clicking on it. In it, open the file Panel.cfg by rclicking on it, then selecting OPEN WITH from the menu that appears. A new menu will appear, listing the possible available programs you can use to open the file. Choose NOTEPAD from the available programs. Never ANYthing else. ONLY NotePad.

Once you have the Panel.cfg open, scroll down to the bottom. There you should see a heading [colorS] with 2 lines beneath it. Day= and Night=, with a series of 3 numbers after the = sign, each separated by a comma ( , ). Like after Day= you will see 255, 255, 255.

In the bottom, below the line Night=, type in Luminous= followed by 3 numbers. I would use something like 150,150,150 as a starting point.

Go back up to the top of the file, and in the left corner will be the word FILE. Left Click (lclick) on it, and select SAVE from the menu that appears. Close the file by lclicking on the red square with an X in it in the upper right corner.

Now, go back into the airplane's main folder. Find the file Aircraft.cfg, and again open it with NotePad ONLY. Never any other program.

At the top of the file, you will several sections labeled [fltsim.0], [fltsim.1], and so on. On the last one, just for a test, look down through the section until you find the line panel= .

Just type new after the equals ( = ). Again save the file like before, and exit.

Start the sim and load up the 737 labeled "WHITE". Let us know how it looks :D The panel, not the outside. and test it at night, not during the day :)

Hope this helps a little. I know it may be over detailed, but I'd rather give too much info than too little.

Pat☺

Hi Pat,;):D

Good to see you! Namasté. May the sun shine down warmly on you and light your path.

Thanks for jumping in and actually taking the time to download this. I've just been shooting my answers from the hip in this one.

I think I seemed a bit cold in my posts lately, but I've just been very busy (still am). Kept answers short, and chitchat to a minimum. Pc has not been on much either.

And no all nighters. I switched to decaf.:( I used to drink a mean black brew, decaf reminds me of it in the mornings, but in the evening it just conjures up memories of strawberry lemonade!!:( ;)

Was good to see you (and many others too!!) put my brief posts into something a bit more comprehensible.

Being short and not written by a native speaker of English my messages were a bit cryptic at times to say the least!:D:D

Thanks guys, whish you all a very nice and HippyHappy day,;)

il.:cool:

PhantomTweak Hi,

James is fine. I have tried your suggestions and it worked:). Thanks

I am using

Day=155,155,155,

Night=233,166,134

Luminous=15,150,150

What do these numbers actually do. If I want the Night Panel a little more on the brown or goldy side what would I alter? and what does the Luminous do ?

Thanks again all of you for your time and help in this matter. I really do appreciate it.

Kind regards James.

Ok, glad we got you going, James :)

What the numbers mean: following the = sign, they mean the intensity of the Red, Green, Blue colors. I have a lousy color sense. You're looking at a guy that's been wearing jeans and a t-shirt since I was 10. I wear whatever shirt I find clean :D

Basiically, Wen I set a panel, I make the middle color, the Green number, higher than the other two. Like for me, I would make it Night=130, 170, 130 .That would make the panel overall, at night, somewhat green-ish, but not totally green.

So, to make it say, more gold, you will need whatever color combination will make gold. I would have to play with the numbers to get exact combinations right. Like maybe they would be Night=160, 145, 130. Would that make gold? No clue. I'd have to try different combinations to see.

To do this, open the Panel.cfg, in NotePad, naturally, and change the numbers they way you want. Save the file, and reload the plane. You can do this with the menu selection at the top of the screen. The SELECT AIRCRAFT menu choice. Select the same aircraft again, and it will reload the plane.

A hint: when reload a plane repeatedly, you need to make sure all the AI settings are zeroed out. IE: The Commercial Aircraft, General Aviation Aircraft, Ground Vehicles, etc. ALL of those must be zero, or when you reload your plane, some information may not be reloaded.

The Luminous= entry controls the internally lit gauge backlighting colors. Like, most panels use red-ish light to internally light their gauges. So it would look something like Luminous=150, 120, 120 Just for example. Again, I prefer somewhat greenish, so mine would look more like Luminous=120, 150, 120. Remember, this is ONLY for the light inside a gauge. Like an analog airspeed indicator, used for backup to the PFD, or whatever. The overall PANEL lighting is the Night= entry.

Hope this helps a bit :D

IL: Hey, great to hear from you. I understand completely. Real World, where-ever that place is, is always first :D It's summer! Get out, enjoy yourself. It's better than parking in front of a box all the time :D

Have fun all!

Pat☺