hairyspin

Hmmm! You'll need to get the model into Gmax, the only exporter to OFF/CFS3 works with that. The only route I know of for that is to export a .3ds file which Gmax can import directly. Limitations are the old 8.3 file names for texture files and I don't know if animations are preserved. If you had access to 3ds Max you could export to .fbx to get the model into Max, then the BFF script will export the model to Gmax. After that the CFS3 sdk is needed to set the imported model up for OFF. I'm told you'll find Gmax quite different to Blender, but I've never used Blender and don't know myself. Good luck!

Tidy model! I especially like the undercurved wings. One thing about the prop - the retaining disk was recessed into the prop boss and had 8 bolts and nuts holding the prop on. See this from Vintage Aviator for the mounting, and this of a BE2c showing the disk in place - the same mount was apparently used up to the BE2f. Do you intend getting the model into the sim, or is it for other purposes?

There's at least one plugin for Gimp that supports .dds files DDS plugin for Gimp

It does now - there's been an update from nVidia. I have Photoshop CS2 running happily on Win7 64-bit with the plugin and there's a 64-bit version also available.

Agreed. If I use someone else's work as a starting point, or borrow from someone's work to make mine, due credit must be given. It's only right - and it's good manners. When I finish my current project, the credits are liable to be very lengthy!

I'm wondering why Pick is on in each of your screenshots. Pick is used to select a material already in use directly from the model. To apply a material to an object in gmax, get the material set up in the Material Editor and with the correct object already selected, click Apply. Then you can get the mapping sorted out. I also think you're being a little unfair to gmax. Modelling in one package, exporting to another and exporting from that to gmax? I'd be happy to get usable mesh from such a process. You should try getting a textured, animated gmax model into anything else - including its big brother 3ds Max! Also, whether we like it or not, gmax is the only remaining route for exporting models to CFS3/OFF, unless you know where to buy 3ds Max 4.2. However, you're getting there! For an intro to UVW mapping in gmax, try Uncle Milton's C162 tutorial - you want the last part (part 22)

Odd. Right-click on the Viewport label and select Configure and the Rendering tab. Make sure the 'Disable Textures' option is not ticked?

This is something we all have to learn at some point, it's the Dreaded Blue & White Checkered Button Problem (cue shuddering bass chords on Hammond organ):- By default this is turned off in gmax, so each new material needs the button turned on... Hope this helps!

If you're going to use Bobo's BFF script, make sure you use the right one, which is 0.4.3. Version 0.4.2 is bugged. Helpfully, both versions say 0.4.2 on the title bar when you use them... Earlier versions don't work with Max 9 and later.

Oh yes, I've had that ! Probably the contact points in aircraft.cfg are a bit off. Can you post them or PM them to me and I'll have a looksee?

Perspective is a view I don't use much because close-up detail disappears - like in CFS3/OFF. The orthogonal User view - hit U - is lots more useful. How much interior detail you build is again your decision, but extensive detail is kept for the VC (virtual cockpit) since it just won't be seen in-game unless you're killing time waiting for the Circus to shoot you down. Also in the VC, you needn't build the darkest recesses in detail, unless you are again killing time (with your head between knees looking at the tail's interior - or just kissing your own tail goodbye!). The immediate cockpit interior is more important - flight controls, instruments and the other cockpit well furniture. And yes, we all have to grapple with booleans eventually. BH and Conrad did this last winter, you could start with their posts in this forum for tips.

Glad you're making progress, Lewie. Re the holes, what you model and what you just have painted in at skinning stage is very much your decision: me, I like modelled details! One tip: you can maximise the viewport you're working in by hitting W and the same key will bring the other viewports back when you need them.

Sorry to hear that BH, just make sure you've got your work written to a CD so you can get it again whenever. Cheers, Tom

Well, there are a couple of things to check there. First, right-click in the viewport and click on Unhide All - you never know... Then select an object in the model, right-click in the viewport and click on Unhide All (Poly). Again, you never know... Then select an object, see if it's Editable Mesh as shown in the Command Panel on the right - Modify section - and if so go to Polygon sub-object, Edit/Select All and try Normals:Flip in the Surface Properties section. If the normals are reversed then this will make a bunch of polies suddenly appear and the ones you could originally see will disappear. HTH Oh yes, .dxf doesn't preserve mappings afaik

Send me the model Lewie (gmax format) and I'll give it a once-over to see if it is in fact mapped. You have PM. As far as importing to gmax goes, it really isn't designed to do that - deliberately so - and apart from .3ds and .dxf we're stuck. Same goes for exporting and if you want to build for CFS3 / OFF you'll need the CFS3 Aircraft and Vehicle SDK from the CFS3 official site. http://www.microsoft.com/games/combatfs3/downloads.aspx There are other forums with a bit more info about gmax - SOH and FSDeveloper are the ones I keep an eye on.

It might not be quite that simple, depending what you want to do. If you want to install MAW, then you'll need a 'vanilla' copy of CFS3, patched to 3.1a and the excellent MAW installer does all the rest. Same goes for ETO, PTO and Korean Skies afaik. If you want more than one copy of dear old CFS3, you'll need Martin Wright's MultiCFS3. Without it, all your CFS3 installations share the same config folders and files and adjusting settings in one install affects the rest too. Someone's bound to ask, so you might want to do that to keep development models etc away from your main copy. I certainly don't want any wonky model I build to screw a pilot's campaign until I'm sure it's safe to be released.....

You'll need to register with TurboSquid to get an unlock code before you can use the program. If they are tardy in replying - it happens sometimes - there is a Registration Workaround available from FSAlpha. http://www.fsalpha.com/gmax_tips/ Comparable to climbing Everest without oxygen? People die trying that and I've never heard it said about gmax - but I've heard just about everything else! Worth persisting with all the same, imo.

That would be cooler than Greenland, but unless there have been some stunning developments in the Max/Maya world, no. And I'm fairly sure even the latest CS doesn't support the .M3D model format in CFS3/OFF: it certainly doesn't support the current 3dsMax file format that I can see. But if you have the chance (and means) to buy CS heavily discounted, by all means go ahead!

All true, alas!

Yes it's freely available, thanks to the good folk at AussieX who host the files nowadays. Just don't try uploading any theatre combinations you may concoct - the copyright holders insist on their rights to the original work. Can't say I blame them. As far as "uniting" MAW with other theatres goes, the MAW theatre is already as big as the CFS3 engine allows, so a continuous theatre from Flanders to Egypt is not possible. It's a game limitation, sorry.

Modeller's burnout. They spent something like three years on MAW and many had had enough by the time it was released. The limitations of CFS3 also contributed and a number of modellers moved on to other sims. Also some had major health problems to deal with and a few have since died. It's quite a tribute to the OFF team that they got P1 and P2 out as freeware.

Spare a thought for the guys who built MAW - these were some of the very best CFS3 modders and that masterpiece you've dropped your aircraft into was released to the public for free. Good shots, btw. Welcome back!

A sound and sensible notion! Regarding .air and .cfg files, there's a degree of overlap between the two, but which file takes priority in the flight model varies from sim to sim. FSX (sorry!) takes most of its data from the .cfg, early versions of FS and CFS give priority to the .air file. I'm no expert, just an interested meddler who's been reading what he can find on the topic for a few years, so I expect the dive speed is controlled by a number of variables, possibly quite a lot of 'em! I think I said this was almost another hobby in itself ....

Don't mean to interrupt you in mid-flow, but AirEdit only deals with the .air file. Only use it if you know what you're doing. No, I don't! Also AirWrench has certain limitations in 'free', evaluation mode: to quote from mudpond.org:- In demonstration mode, AirWrench will open and analyze the flight dynamics files for any aircraft, and for limited aircraft types, it will even save updated flight dynamics files. Demonstration mode restrictions are as follows: Piston engine type only. Max Rated HP less than 230 HP. Normally aspirated. Gravity Carburetor only. Fixed Pitch Propeller only. Maximum speed at sea-level less than 130 mph. Basic Weight less than 2500 lbs. which may help explain the .cfg and .air files getting 'out of step'. I haven't looked, but it also expects these files to be in the same directory and leaves backup copies of each in the same directory, which might also explain unhappiness with OFF P3. If you want full function from AirWrench, it will cost you $20. I think it's worth it...

Very interesting thread! A few thoughts, since FMs are something anyone rash enough to build a model will have to tackle one way or another. You'll need to ask Pol et al if they still use the MS flight model, since we all know P3 has modified its CFS3 parent almost beyond recognition. If they don't, AirWrench or any of the other FM tools are useless without an OFF SDK. Cut 'n' pasting one FM over another might yield horrible results - especially if a model has a different reference datum to the source of the FM. Don't go there..... If the CFS3 flight model is still used (q.v.) then the .cfg file is only part of the story. Notepad or any other text editor is enough to edit aircraft.cfg, but you'll need an air file editor for the .air file: there are several including AirEdit (the freeware standard) and AirWrench. The beauty of AirWrench is that it deals with both files simultaneously - you can also pull a FM to pieces without changing anything until the Edit mode is selected. Flight modelling is almost another hobby itself and the workarounds needed to give a really good FM in CFS3 are not obvious - plus those who know tend to keep their cards well hidden. Good luck! BH - buy a copy of CFS2, they're really cheap nowadays!