[Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

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Eugene Williams
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[Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by Eugene Williams » Tue Jan 21, 2020 2:02 am

Is it possible to modify the instrument panels? For example can we modify a normal gray panel to a wooden panel?
Last edited by Eugene Williams on Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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wickid
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Re: [Question] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by wickid » Tue Jan 21, 2020 7:23 am

It depends on the plane. In the plane folder there is a texture called "cockpit.dds". Depending on the glider the panel may be mapped somewhere on this texture. But the size and position may vary. Also some planes do not have their panel mapped at all. So it is difficult to say if it is possible.

If you change something on a plane make sure you back up your work when you update. Patches and hangar updates may overwrite these files.

Which plane are you thinking of modifying?
PH-1504, KOE

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Bre901
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Re: [Question] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by Bre901 » Tue Jan 21, 2020 8:02 am

IIRC there are some instrument panel goodies on Condor Club (never looked in detail actually because I really don't care about customisation)
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Eugene Williams
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Re: [Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by Eugene Williams » Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:24 am

Thanks for the help! I had the LS-4a in mind.
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congo
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Re: [Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by congo » Fri Jan 24, 2020 10:58 am

This is my LS4 with simulated carbon interior and a panel mod.
I made this to match my fictional Carbon LS4 repaint.
Shot43.jpg
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tiberius
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Re: [Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by tiberius » Fri Jan 24, 2020 1:45 pm

Hi Congo, that looks awesome!

Can you share?

Cheers
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MrHerisson
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Re: [Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by MrHerisson » Fri Jan 24, 2020 2:12 pm

congo wrote:
Fri Jan 24, 2020 10:58 am
This is my LS4 with simulated carbon interior and a panel mod.
I made this to match my fictional Carbon LS4 repaint.
I like these big readable instruments...artificial horizon on every plane is also a plus
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wickid
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Re: [Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by wickid » Fri Jan 24, 2020 2:15 pm

MrHerisson wrote:
Fri Jan 24, 2020 2:12 pm
congo wrote:
Fri Jan 24, 2020 10:58 am
This is my LS4 with simulated carbon interior and a panel mod.
I made this to match my fictional Carbon LS4 repaint.
I like these big readable instruments...artificial horizon on every plane is also a plus
You can modify the GAU file. It is a simple text document which you can open in every text editor. Takes some trial and error though to move and scale the instruments. Remember to backup all your files when you install a patch or Hangar update because they will get overwritten.
PH-1504, KOE

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congo
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Re: [Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by congo » Fri Jan 24, 2020 7:04 pm

If you just want the LS4 gauge file, feel free to grab the attached file
for personal use only.
LS4a.zip
Like wickid said, you can do it, with enough patience, and lots of time.

I did write a small tutorial in another thread.

I just finished my full imperial Condor2 mod, (400mb), but never
planned on releasing it into the public domain. I would consult
the Condor Team before doing that, as the mod is based on their
product.

My mod makes no claim to realism, it is a visual mod to enhance a
simulation. The Condor2 team did a fine job with realism, I had no
wish to repeat or compete with their fine work. Consider my mod
just a fun thing, lots of colour and hopefully some clarity.

I have no immediate plans for a metric mod, I'm going to have some
time off, but if someone wants to do one, I will share my files,
that should save you months of work, if not years.
Seriously, this is a big undertaking. I have been working on this since
the day I bought Condor 2.

As for sharing, well, I will give you the gauge file for the LS4, but my mod
is only developed for Imperial settings, no guarantee that it works for
a metric panel, but try it and see.

All the gauge artwork and cockpit artwork is custom as well.
Also, some gauge art resides in the common "Gauges" folder of Condor2,
so they become global, and some artwork resides in each plane's
"gauges" folder. Cockpit artwork may reside in one or more files in the
individual glider's root directory, and also /Planes/textures etc.

It won't help much to analyse the .gau files, unless you are used to working
on 3D scripting..... it is truly painstaking trial and error to set coordinates in
three or four dimensions including tilt.

However, I have developed a short readme that describes what each
axis does, and that they seem, roughly at least, to correspond to
metric real life measurements, where one unit equals one meter.

So, if you want to move a gauge 3mm to the right, change the value
as follows:

PosY=-0.077 to PosY=-0.074

.... because the value is negative, the center of the gauge resides to the
left of the datum (0.0).
To move a gauge to the right of 0 datum, use a positive value.
To mirror gauge positions left and right of the panel
(useful for a rough-out of the panel) position a gauge, then simply
invert PosY axis's polarity, making the mirrored gauge position
appear on opposite side of the panel, which can save time but it
invariably needs to be fine tuned.
The easiest way is to use the default gauge positional information
and edit from there.

Another time saver can be swapping gauge coordinates to swap
gauge positions, but there are perils, as not all panels are vertically
straight, some are tilted, some canted in section, it gets a tad complex :lol:
Usually, this is fine for horizontal placements, but when you edit in the
vertical Z axis, things can get tricky, as X axis (fore-aft) may need to be
adjusted due to panel tilt or cant, and also tilt may need adjusting using
the YAxisRotation parameter.

X axis ( and possibly YAxisRotation ) should be adjusted so that the gauge
barely protrudes from the panel casting a slight shadow (in the right light!)
onto the panel from the mounting screws and bezel edge.

Please note that in the LS4 panel screenshot above, that the bezels and
screws are casting shadows that are a bit too long, hence I need to make
an adjustment, and that will be fixed in my next version if I continue to
develop this mod. This is an arbitrary consideration, up to the modder,
who perceives the length of the visor overhang and sun angle to the panel!

Much of a panel modder's time will be spent in-game, observing and
adjusting the results with a window open of the plane's .gau file overlaying
the Condor2 screen.

Another discovery was that when I darkened the gauge's artwork more
towards black, the glass reflections disappeared, and the gauge looks
as if it has no glass, so you need to be careful with tones and brightness
in your custom gauge artwork in any is made.

I use paint.net, MS notepad, MS photo viewer and Condor2 to make my mods.
Occasionally, I may need photoshop or MS paint, but not very often.
I use Nero Wave Editor and Audacity to modify sound files.
BA in these forums, Alexander Burkhardt shared his great sound recordings,
then he gave me permission to include them in my mod, for which I am very
grateful, despite butchering some of them with my crude methods -
I am no sound engineer - however, the beta testers seem to love the sound
so far, so, we'll see.

It is entirely possible to do this at home kids, but there is a price
in blood it seems.

Also, all your hard work will be overwritten when you apply an official
update, so be warned again and back up your work.

Methodology is important.
I typically use three folders when working.

1. an active copy of Condor2 to which I apply the mods.

2. an empty Condor2 folder where I back up all my work as it's being
produced, and in there I place everything in it's proper path, reproducing
the full file structure but only adding my custom work, the rest is hollow.
It is imperative to copy any edited files to this backup AS YOU WORK !

3. a copy of a pure stock and current Condor2, to which I do nothing but
use as a reference to original files and a source of modding material, but
I am careful to change nothing in this original copy, but mistakes happen,
so use a copy!

As a precaution, due to the scope of this mod, the whole project was
backed up daily on a separate hard drive as work progressed, and now it
resides in at least two cloud locations and my friend's PC's

:)
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wickid
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Re: [Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by wickid » Fri Jan 24, 2020 9:21 pm

congo wrote:
Fri Jan 24, 2020 7:04 pm
All the gauge artwork and cockpit artwork is custom as well.
Also, some gauge art resides in the common "Gauges" folder of Condor2,
so they become global, and some artwork resides in each plane's
"gauges" folder. Cockpit artwork may reside in one or more files in the
individual glider's root directory, and also /Planes/textures etc.
You can put custom gauges in the specific planes Gauges folder. Condor will first use the textures in that folder. If they are not there it will use the default ones in the Condor/Gauges folder. If you want for instance the LS4 to have all Ivory gauges, just place the textures for them in the planes/LS4a/Gauges folder. Works with pretty much all gauge textures that are found in the Condor/Gauges folder. You just need to name them exactly like they are in that folder.

Here is an example with the altimeter, just a quick and dirty mod by putting modified Height-face.bmp Height-needle.bmp and height-pressure.bmp in the Condor2/Planes/LS4/Gauge folder. All other planes are not affected:

Image
However, I have developed a short readme that describes what each
axis does, and that they seem, roughly at least, to correspond to
metric real life measurements, where one unit equals one meter.
It is not roughly, it is exactly 1 meter :D . The planes are all made exactly 1:1 scale.
PH-1504, KOE

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congo
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Re: [Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by congo » Sat Jan 25, 2020 2:23 am

Thanks for adding that wickid.

Just like adding gauges to the plane's gauges folder, custom sound
for a particular plane can be added to the plane's sound folder.
If the sound folder does not exist, you can create one.

Addons and modifications done to the aircraft's folders are effective
on that aircraft only. Modifications to Condor2's sound and gauges
folders are global across all aircraft, as are modifications to the
Planes/textures folder.

Oh, and wickid, that gauge of your's looks great!
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Re: [Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by wickid » Sat Jan 25, 2020 9:07 am

congo wrote:
Sat Jan 25, 2020 2:23 am
Oh, and wickid, that gauge of your's looks great!
Photoshopped that in about 5 minutes to demonstrate my point. I'll PM you the file if you like it.
PH-1504, KOE

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Re: [Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by OXO » Sat Jan 25, 2020 9:16 am

wickid wrote:
Sat Jan 25, 2020 9:07 am
congo wrote:
Sat Jan 25, 2020 2:23 am
Oh, and wickid, that gauge of your's looks great!
Photoshopped that in about 5 minutes to demonstrate my point. I'll PM you the file if you like it.

Actually, It's horrible. :x
Chris Wedgwood,
Condor Team

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congo
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Re: [Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by congo » Sun Jan 26, 2020 1:11 pm

OXO wrote:
Sat Jan 25, 2020 9:16 am

Actually, It's horrible. :x
Hahaha!

I like peanut butter milkshakes too OXO :)

Sure, wicked, I'd like to see your work, send it if you get time, thanks.
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jvizzini
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Re: [Question Solved] Modifying Instrument Panels

Post by jvizzini » Sun Jun 07, 2020 9:37 pm

congo wrote:
Fri Jan 24, 2020 10:58 am
This is my LS4 with simulated carbon interior and a panel mod.
I made this to match my fictional Carbon LS4 repaint.
Shot43.jpg
Dudeeee that carbon in the cockpit!! :D could I use these files in my cockpit?

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