Guidelines

Everything related to developing the new gliders for Condor...

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GR

Guidelines

Post by GR » Sun Apr 03, 2005 10:24 am

Plane Development Guidelines

Condor: The Competition Soaring Simulator, enables enthusiasts to include their gliders into the sim. The process is however somewhat different from the other flight simulations which also enable user created planes.
The goal of Condor: The Competition Soaring Simulator is to have high quality 3d glider objects as well as high quality flight models. What is more, since the Condor is all about competition flying there must be a transparent supervision. This means that the only way to achieve the said criteria is with the moderated approach.
  • How does this moderated approach work?
  • User creates 3d glider.
  • User can also gather flight model data (not required, however desired).
  • User then sends his work to the Condor Team for a review.
  • If Condor Team finds out that the given project has its merits, it will be put on the queue for an official Condor Plane Pack release which is periodically released to the registered users.
Tools which can help you (we use them) with the development are as follows: For Condor glider 3d modeling the following guidelines must be followed:
  • Model must have 3 LODs (Level of Detail):

    LOD0 max triangular faces 40000, the most detailed; the completed model can be used for cockpit view as well as in external view.

    LOD1 max triangular faces 10000, less detailed than LOD0; you basically remove any handles, sticks, buttons, etc. from cockpit and simplify very rounded parts. The fuselage, wings, etc. can be also simplified.. you can easily remove any rod's housings, etc. And simplify the rounded parts if possible.

    LOD2 max triangular faces <1000. the least detailed; while LOD1 could be created from modifying LOD0, LOD2 requires creating it from scratch. There is no cockpit here. There's simple fuselage (6 to 8 edged profile) and wings and tail (3 to 4 edged profile). This one also has no movable controls.

    Reasonable deviation from these limits is acceptable. (this guideline is possible to change over time)
  • Both, Exterior and Cockpit must have moving surfaces (ailerons, flaps, elevator, rudder, gear doors & gear; inside cockpit controls) modeled.
  • The Exterior has only one texture.
  • The Cockpit has 2 textures. One for the cockpit parts, and one for the panel when viewed from exterior.
  • The texture size is 2048x2048 max.
The wheel is modelled in the extended position (it will be manipulated by our animation parameters), while doors need to be modelled in the closed position as default (LOD3 does not have wheel doors).

The fuselage and fin must be in one piece.

The best way to operate is to first make LOD0, fully complete with everything included. Then make a copy of it, loop cut the cockpit, then delete all the parts not required.

Next make another copy of the original LOD0 and modify it to get to LOD1 polys.

Same rules must be followed for non-glider planes which can be used for other purposes like: Towing planes, Scenery planes, etc.

How can you help with flight model development?
Condor Team will accept any data user might feel it would be useful for the development, like: airfoil data, speed polars, written experience in glider in various regimes of flight, videos, etc. Condor Team accepts everything, however it does not guarantee that any of the given data will be used in the final flight model development phase.

How do you submit your gliders?
You can send preview of your work to planedev@condorsoaring.com.
The preview must have included pictures of your model from various angles in rendered state and from the 3d modeler application where faces are clearly seen. Also, please, take your time and describe your work. After receiving the email, Condor Team will then contact you for any further details on cooperation.

How do you submit data regarding flight models?
You can send it to planedev@condorsoaring.com. If you want to send files which are above 10mb, please first contact Condor Team so that arrangement can be set.

Last but not least, this forum is dedicated to discussion on anything related to the planes development for Condor: The Competition Soaring Simulator.

Updated by OXO 14.11.2017

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