A little FYI; I just learned that I can't just open the Texture file in Photoshop, (CS5 Extended in my case), and edit it.

So I downloaded GIMP's DDS converter/Editor and then tomorrow I'll try a few changes to the vc_glass texture as well as the "glass_t", "greenwindow_T", and "visor_T" files for starters.

The A10 appears to have been built entirely differently. That may be becasue the A10 is Iris's Platinum line and the F14 is their Pro line. This thing with the NVIS has gotten personal for me!

Oh, I see! well that's that then. Thanks for sticking with me on this because I know I pushed a little too far out of the topic/subject and company. Consider the matter closed.

If you look in the original panel.cfg (the FSX\SimObjects\Airplanes\*Harrier*\panel), you will see that CS Weapon has modified it.

The "Loader" usually adds the Weapon Control Panal at Window01, the HUD at Window02 and the HUD Glass at Window03 (SHIFT+1, SHIFT+2 and SHIFT+3). This sometimes messes up the aircraft panel (especially if the panel is aliased to another aircraft, as is the case in IRIS Simulations aircraft).

Making changes requires matching changes in the [Window Titles] and the [WindowXX]:

If I change it from this:

[Window Titles]
Window00=Control Panel
Window01=Weapon Control Panel
Window02=HUD
Window03=HUD Glass

to this:

[Window Titles]
Window00=Weapon Control Panel
Window01=HUD
Window02=HUD Glass
Window03=Control Panel

then I have to rename the windows matching the item.

Using the example above (IRIS F-14B Tomcat Clean\panel.csweapon) - [Window00] will need to be renamed [Window03], [Window01] will need to be renamed [Window00], [Window02] will need to be renamed [Window01] and [Window03] will need to be renamed [Window02] so that the Window Titles match.

In the IRIS F-14 it is relatively easy because there is only one 2D panel, Window00 (Control Panel), the rest of the panels are for the VC (VCockpit01 and VCockpit02), so weapon doesn't change it, other than to add itself. BUT. If there are more 2D panels, the Loader adds itself as I stated above (Windows 01 through 03). This means that the original Window01, Window02 & Window03 have been moved (most likely) to the bottom of the list. I usually modify the panel.cfg in the panel.csweapon folder, which means reworking the panel to suit both the aircraft and myself. Knowing and understanding the panel.cfg makes this a whole lot easier than it sounds.

Hope I'm not confusing you too much with all that. I know it sounds hard, but once you are familiar with the workings of the panel.cfg, it's quite easy.

Mark

OH OK, I must have had a little mix up as far as that F22 NVIS. I restrarted the computer and now I get the NVIS but I can't shut the HUD off visor's NVIS effect off. It seems other folks have the same problem... (not to mention that Parking brake)

I've seen a few people trying to get the VC HUD to work in the another company F-16 and some also claim to have it actually working, but I haven't seen a working configuration file.

If anybody is willing to share his configuration files to have a VC HUD in the AS F-16, I'd love to hear!

this doesn't work

USE WITH THIRD-PARTY AIRCRAFT - THE ONLY THREAD
Feb 09th, 2011, 3:14pm Quote
The Weapon is a simple one click installation for default aircraft (listed in the Manual). But installation to a random third-party aircraft obviously requires some extra efforts from a user.

We've provided very flexible Weapon system and the easiest way to make a mod: one xml file configuration. But the mod-person must have advanced knowledge of basic FSX SDK, outstanding attentiveness and patience. It's not for everyone.

Unfortunately we are unable to support any modifications of the Weapon including its installation to third-party aircraft VC because:
- There are hundreds of the third-party aircraft.
- User doing the mod can make any mistake in thousands of different places in various config files.

But we are willing to help and will answer the most typical questions as far as possible.

We see there are a lot of similar questions/issues with installation of the Weapon the various third-party aircraft. Please post all to this topic, that will help others to avoid same mistakes.

Tips on how to avoid popular mistakes: (It updates often so please re-read)


0. 99% of issues are from not following SDK. PLEASE read it BEFORE asking.

1. Do NOT try to install 2D HUD to VC. There's a special VC HUD for VC.

2. For how to install VC HUD please follow VC HUD INSTALLATION section of the SDK.

3. VC HUD gau should be installed on the aircraft's HUD. Of course there's got to be a physical 3D HUD glass with $ poly in the model. Contact the model's developer if you unsure.

4. FSX and Weapon loader must be OFF while you make any changes in the CSWeapon.xml.

With all due respect we will not answer same questions anymore.

If you ask something please:
a. Indicate what HUD you are talking about, 2D or VC.
b. Attach a screenshot of the issue you are reffering to.
c. Describe the issue. Be specific.

@trvdmeulen - The information provided by Lost in Isaan (see the quote below) is spot on. It works perfectly for me. If it isn't working for you, then maybe you did something wrong, like I did, I changed the csweapon.xml without any problems, then I changed the panel.cfg, but it didn't work. Or so I thought. I had modified the wrong panel.cfg, the one in the panel folder and not the panel.cfg in the panel.csweapon folder. You might have done the same.



@ivo - You need to follow the instructions in the quote below to have the Weapon for FSX 3D HUD in the VC. It is that simple.

Lost in Isaan wrote on Oct 2^nd, 2011 at 11:57pm:


Here is what mine look like:

FSX\SimObjects\Airplanes\another company F-16A 9\csweapon.xml:
   <GaugeInfo>
       <!-- gau section -->
       <AntiAlias2d>1</AntiAlias2d>
       <!-- 2D HUD anti-aliasing. 1-yes, 0-no (1).  0 increases performance.  -->
       <AntiAlias3d>1</AntiAlias3d>
       <!-- VC HUD anti-aliasing. 1-yes, 0-no (1).  0 increases performance.  -->
       <HudFov2d>20.34</HudFov2d>
       <!-- 2d HUD field of view. Degrees -->
       <HudFov3d>17.00</HudFov3d>
       <!-- vc HUD field of view. Degrees -->
       <CollimationData>0.0,31.5,-4.5,6.0</CollimationData>
       <!-- see SDK -->
       <EyePtDeltaRatio>0.8</EyePtDeltaRatio>
       <!-- hud acceleration sensetivity factor -->
       <Collimate>1</Collimate>
       <!-- VC HUD collimation. 1-yes, 0-no (1). -->
       <TestFrame>0</TestFrame>
       <!-- HUD test pattern. 1-yes, 0-no (0). -->
   </GaugeInfo>

FSX\SimObjects\Airplanes\another company F-16A 9\panel.csweapon\panel.cfg:
[Vcockpit01]
//file=F-16_1.bmp
Background_color=0,0,0
size_mm=512,512
visible=1
pixel_size=1024,1024
texture=$F-16_1

\\gauge00=..\panel\HUD!HUD,            0,46,254,264
gauge00=CSWeapon!hud3d,                 2,-20,254,400
gauge01=..\panel\VIPER!DED,            258,1,159,63
gauge02=..\panel\VIPER!RADIO,          0,0,1,1
gauge03=..\panel\VIPER!flaps_control,    0,0,1,1
gauge04=..\panel\SCControl!CTRL,          0,0,1,1
gauge05=..\panel\VIPER!AS_SB,            0,0,1,1
gauge06=..\panel\MFD!LMFD,            6,310,165,170
gauge07=..\panel\MFD!RMFD,            182,310,165,170
gauge08=..\panel\VIPER!ex_light_control,      0,0,1,1
gauge09=..\panel\VIPER!AS_Mastercaution,      0,0,1,1
gauge10=..\panel\VIPER!Eng_smoke,      0,0,1,1

@Lost in Isaan - Thanks. It works perfectly and saved me a lot ot time!

Mark