FSDSxTweak v2.21 patch (fixes bloom disable bug)

ANOTHER EDIT!!: A new version of the Suite, v2.3 has all these fixes incorporated (and a few others too) – you can download that instead from AVSIM

EDIT: If you are still having problems, try using this version

A patch to bring version 2.2 up to 2.21 is up at AVSIM. Here’s the readme:

FsdsxTweak v2.21 patch for version 2.2
Dave Nunez (dave.nunez.za@gmail.com or https://davenunez.wordpress.com)

This is a patch to be applied ONLY over version 2.2 of the FSDSxTweak suite. It fixes a bug associated with bloom parameters. In v2.2, turning bloom to ‘off’ did not actually inhibit the bloom. Please note that after applying this bug, you need to check all your materials created with v2.2 to ensure that they have the bloom parameter you want (use FSDSxTweak_Edit and ensure that the correct setting appears in the bloom parameters part of the materials tab).

Installation: Locate the files fsdsxtweak_edit.exe and fsdsxtweak.exe on your system, and overwrite them with these newer ones. Double click each to ensure you now have version 2.21 installed. By default, these two files are installed into your FSDS folder.

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FSDSxTweak Suite v2.2 is released!

Finally! This version has Modeldef_Edit included, and a tons of fixes and new features, including integration with DrawCallMonitor v1.1. You can download it from the AVSIM file library. The old v2.1 Hit 714 downloads, let’s see how this one does.

EDIT:I forgot to add the Modeldef_Edit SDK keyword list files to the installer! Sorry! I have put the files on the AVSIM library for download.To install, simply put all the files in that archive into the same folder where Modeldef_Edit in installed.

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FSDSxTweak work progresses

V2.2 is coming together. Here is a screeny of _edit 2.2:

(click for full size)

New stuff is the diffuse and specular color selectors, the bloom parameters and the misc params (n-number and double sided). Modeldef_Edit is also progressing nicely, and the docs for all these are 60% done.

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FSDSxTweak_Plugin and Modeldef_Edit features update

Been a slow couple of days, but some progress exists. I have been listening to Utah Phillips‘ “We Have Fed You All A Thousand Years“, which has kept my keyboard clacking up. Here is what is new:

FSDSxTweak_Plugin

The interface is very decluttered – all the global options (FSDS path, text editor to use, etc) have been moved to a separate window. The new features of FSDSxTweak_Edit (extract parts and materials from the .x file) are now there too. The biggest new things are the Advanced button, which allow you to declare three batch files of your own to execute during the build process: One before the tweaks are applied, one between the tweaking and XtoMdl, and the other after the build process is complete. This allows you to insert other tools into the pipeline as you need. The big feature is the DrawCallMonitor button, which will (as soon as Arno implements a command line arg to DrawCallMonitor, which he tells me he is working on), you will be able to query that tool to tell you how many DrawCalls your model will make.

Modeldef_Edit

Much testing and debugging has been happening. Notice the up and down arrow buttons – those allow you to move the Name and Length parameter between the ‘top’ (Animation block) and the ‘bottom’ (PartInfo block). This is important because these two parameters must be the same in these two blocks, and you don’t want to be typing them in twice or messing with cut and paste. So if you have typed the correct name in the PartInfo block, click the up arrow, and the name will be copied to the Anim block. Another new feature is the ability extract a single part to a text editor – this allows you to get a dump of the XML of your part to post on forums, send by email etc.

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Modeldef_Edit is in Alpha!

Yes! Today I injected the first new animation using modeldef_edit. I found Robert Bruce’s 3D compass XML code on the FreeFlight design forums, cut the XML code, clicked about 5 settings, saved the XML file, and compiled a 3D compass with FSDS – easy as that (and yes, if you are using FSDS, it does automatically update the partdefsdata.txt file).

(click for full sized image)

This should make it easy for those new to the XML part dictionaries to add new custom parts to their models. Still a lot of testing to come and the manual to write, but the release date approaches! Hoping no more than two/three weeks to go.

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Back in Cape Town

It was not a great trip back. For the Seattle-Amsterdam hop, I had a Russian family with five little kids sitting right behind me. They tag-teamed on the screaming, so that there was absolutely no silence during the entire 10 hours. At some point over Greenland, I swear the pilot turned off the engines and the plane was propelled by the sound of their howling alone.

Still getting over the jet lag, but I managed some coding today. I added a couple features to modeldef_edit, and fixed some bugs in fsdsxtweak_edit and fsdsxtweak_plugin. I also added a tutorial on bump mapping to the forum. Also been getting into Sherlock Holmes – The Awakened, which is basically Sherlock Holmes vs. Great Cthulhu – veerry nice game.

Tonight, it’s off to see Wall-E again, this time with Bryan, Rudy and Ilda. Hope the jet lag doesn’t put me to sleep in the middle of it!

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Too busy being lazy, but managed some coding

It has been a slow week. Last Friday was Independence Day, and fortunately, there was no attack by aliens, and only a minor one by Will Smith. The fearsome attack we did experience was by the demon Cholesterolus, as we had very, very large grill/braai with some of the locals. After all the eating, we were too food-coma struck to go to Bellevue for the fireworks. We managed to bring ourselves out of our stupor by playing some co-op Serious Sam, which is a game that can really wake you up, if only by the sheer noise it generates. Some time during the early morning we did finally see a few fireworks popping up over Education Hill.

I have managed to do some more work on Modeldef_Edit. The point of this tool is to edit the modeldef.xml file which defines all the animated (and visibility toggled) parts in an FSX model. People have been editing this file by hand (it is XML after all), but because the file has hundreds of elements it can be a pain. So hopefully this will be a nice tool to have if you are an advanced modeller. It currently looks like this (still very rough, but working):

Chances are that the trip back to Cape Town (next week) will delay things a bit on the project; but most of the difficult parts are done.

More exciting FSX news: Marc-Henri Guitteny has released a really great freeware scenery of Saint Pierre et Miquelon, which is the tiny archipelago off Nova Scotia where I was born.

If you enjoy turboprop airliner flights, this is definitely a scenery to download – more details at flightsim.com.

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Code Monkey likes you

I have been watching a lot of Code Monkeys. Have you not seen it? Why not? At the very least, download the theme tune (it is legal too!). The song is by Jonathan Coulton, who is famous among all true geeks for having written the ending tune to Portal, “Still Alive“.

Been a slow couple of days. On Saturday we went to Home Depot to get Weber. A nice guy called Wendell (who used to be a competitive grill cook) gave us some nice hints – like soaking chunks of Hickory logs in water for 30 minutes, and then adding them to the coal to give the food a smokey taste – mmmm good. It was a success, although we did end up eating at like 9:30 pm.

I decided to start a new code project – a visual editor for the modeldef.xml file which defines the animation dictionary used by XtoMdl. Not surprisingly, I am calling it modeldef_edit (I save my creativity for the code, not the titles). Unlike FSDSxTweak, this tool will be useful to both FSDS and GMax users. Faybs showed me the ropes of the XML processing classes in .NET 3.5, and it has sped things up a a lot – it is a very nice set of classes indeed. More progress on that later.

It has also been a busy bunny week – Ilda took them in to the vet to have Scottie’s eye looked at – turns out he has a little conjunctivitis, but no big deal – he got a shot of antibiotics, and Koko was checked out too. She also asked the vet about the big move for the bunnies, and looks like we will be having no problems. Excellent! This morning, their Redmond enclosure also arrived, so things are getting set for them. I still need to get a sheet of plywood to put under the enclosure, in case canvas material doesn’t quite prevent spills from getting to the wooden floor underneath.

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