Experiences with FS2004 aircraft import/export

[arno]

I was discussing some issues and experiences with importing and exporting FS2004 aircraft with @gsnde and since this might contain useful information for others I will share the findings in this thread.

 

[arno]

First issues encountered was an error from MakeMDL when exporting as FS2004 aircraft MDL.

It turned out this error was caused by exporting to a MDL that has a space in the filename. I am not sure yet if this is a bug in MCX or a limitation in MakeMDL, that is something I will check.

 

[arno]

Second issue encountered was that the FS2004 object when loaded back into MCX shows transparent:

It turns out that the FSX model uses a diffuse texture that has a black alpha channel and does not have a alpha test function set. But on export it is still used for transparency and not for reflection. This should be a bug in MCX and I will check that.

 

[arno]

I had a look at the transparency. The fusage has a source blend of one, which would mean that the alpha channel is not used for transparency. FS2004 does not have such an option, but I tried to specify that the alpha channel should be used for reflection in that case so that it does not become transparent. However the fully black color in the alpha channel gives weird results in that case as well.

I think there might be no automatic way to convert this material. Probably the texture needs to be modified before it can be used in FS2004. Or am I missing some other approach here?

 

[tgibson]

AFAIK, in FS9 the alpha channel will be used for transparency or reflection, there is no OFF setting. Thus all opaque textures must have a white (or no) alpha channel.

When compiling FS9 aircraft from GMAX you cannot have a space in the file name, nor can the file name begin with a number. Most punctuation are also not allowed, except the underline and the dash. Ditto for characters used in languages other than English.

 

[arno]

Hi Tom,

AFAIK, in FS9 the alpha channel will be used for transparency or reflection, there is no OFF setting. Thus all opaque textures must have a white (or no) alpha channel.

Thanks, that's what I thought as well. The initial issue Martin reported was because MCX did not use the source blend attribute correctly. I think when the FSX MDL specifies the alpha channel is not used for transparency, it would be best to have a reflection map in the FS2004 model. That is closest to how it looks in FSX then. But like you say if the alpha channel is not white (for this aircraft it was black), it would still give a weird looking model.

When compiling FS9 aircraft from GMAX you cannot have a space in the file name, nor can the file name begin with a number. Most punctuation are also not allowed, except the underline and the dash. Ditto for characters used in languages other than English.

Good to know what from GMax there is the same limitation, then I think it is a MakeMDL limitation. I can make sure that MCX gives a clear error/warning message in that case. Or I could simply replace the space by an underscore (for the FSX exporter I do the same with a brackets and & characters as XtoMDL does not like these.

 

[gsnde]

AFAIK, in FS9 the alpha channel will be used for transparency or reflection, there is no OFF setting. Thus all opaque textures must have a white (or no) alpha channel.
...

If there is a clear rule when this would need to happen - could that conversion to a white alpha channel be automated by MCX?

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[arno]

Hi Martin,

If there is a clear rule when this would need to happen - could that conversion to a white alpha channel be automated by MCX?

MCX does have a material converter function as well, that can for example translate a P3D PBR map to a MSFS PBR map. This material converter can manipulate textures. But the normal object exporters do not use these material converters, that is something that the user has to do from the material editor manually. Maybe it would help to add a FSX to FS2004 option in the material converter as well.

 

[tgibson]

Martin,

Arno is already using several tests whether the material should be transparent or reflective. One test for reflections is the presence of an FSX environment alpha channel set (using the diffuse or specular alpha), for example. I’m not sure he can test for all situations though, like this one. I’m not even sure what the black alpha channel is doing there?

I think this may end up like some night lighting situations,- the textures will need to be edited or reworked for use in FS9.

 

[arno]

I have modified MCX now so that when you export to a FS2004 MDL file with a space (or a bracket or &) in the name, MakeMDL no longer gives an error. I make sure that the X filename does not contain these characters (just like I do for the FSX MDL) and then you are able to export those filenames. Will be in the next development release.

 

[arno]

Martin,

Arno is already using several tests whether the material should be transparent or reflective. One test for reflections is the presence of an FSX environment alpha channel set (using the diffuse or specular alpha), for example. I’m not sure he can test for all situations though, like this one. I’m not even sure what the black alpha channel is doing there?

I think this may end up like some night lighting situations,- the textures will need to be edited or reworked for use in FS9.

This seems to be quick a special plane setup. You have the fusagelage drawn normally for the entire plane and then for the windows there is an extra polygon (red one below) that is drawn on top. This one uses the alpha channel where the fusuage part is fully transparent and the windows are semi transparent. Not sure what you see through the windows in that case, since there is the other polygon below.

Like I said before, I have made a change to the material attributes mapping to FS2004 now to ensure that the plane does not become fully transparent, because that is not what you want. But that is all that can be done automatically I think. The rest will have to be manual editing.

 

[gsnde]

Very good solution, Arno. Seeing something where you can work upon beats seeing nothing by miles.


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[arno]

Hi Martin,

I have started to look at the other issues you reported as well. Many of the planes have missing wheels. It turns out that when reading the FS2004 model they get a c_tire_blurred_key visibility condition, but there are no parts with a c_tire_still_key. I need to check why these MDL files read like that.

 

[arno]

A new build is online now, it fixes the fully transparant planes. Other issues I'm still working on.

 

[gsnde]

Many thanks, Arno, let me test and report back.


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[gsnde]

I have tested the whole set of conversions with version 04.01.2024, Arno.

non-AI Heinkel He 177 Greif (CLPAI)

• For me the issue with the fully invisible aircraft has not been fixed. It still shows invisible after conversion to FSX both in MCX and in sim.

non-AI Avro Anson (DGAI)

• positive reference aircraft - still working fully ok after conversion.

non-AI Dornier Do 17 (RMLAI)

• while waiting for flightplan looking ok
• when starting to taxi after pushback wheels go missing
• when starting to taxi after pushback props go missing
• when starting to taxi after pushback fuselage parts go missing

FSX model before flight plan kicks in

FSX model after pushback

non-AI Yakovlev Yak-38 Forger (KIAI)

• missing wheels and running gear / wheels appear on high rotation
• missing pilot
• some parts missing / see through
• missing weapons below wing
• wings not folded

FS9 model in MCX

converted model in sim

converted model high wheel rotation

non-AI Heinkel He 112B (ASAI)

• wheels misplaced standing, taxiing and flying
• cockpit glas invisible

FSX model

FSX model taxi

FSX model fly

non-AI Heinkel He 177 Greif (KIAI)

• wheels are missing
• props not animated
• props look like turning while standing still

FSX model on taxi

non-AI Heinkel He 219 (KIAI)

• wheels are missing
• props not animated
• props look like turning while standing still

FSX model

 

[gsnde]

non-AI Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (GRAI)

• no gear and wheels

FSX model

non-AI Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 Fresco (KIAI)

• gear and wheels missing
• parts of fuselage missing
• parts of cockpit missing
• pilot missing

FS9 model

FSX model

non-AI Northrop P-61 Black Widow (KIAI)

• wheels are missing
• props not animated

 

[arno]

Hi Martin,

I have just fixed a number of issues with visibility conditions. I think that will fix many of the issues you are seeing. I will push a new development release very soon with that fix.

 

[arno]

Hi Martin,

The new build is online now.

 

[gsnde]

Hi Arno.

That has indeed fixed several things

non-AI Avro Anson (DGAI)

• Still most okay, but I missed some errors originally
• Not ok (originally missed)
• Flaps not animated during start

non-AI Dornier Do 17 (RMLAI)

• Working now
• no disappearing parts after pushback
• Not ok
• cockpit glass invisible
• Flaps not animated during start
• Pilots textures not right - light and dark is reversed

non-AI Heinkel He 112B (ASAI)

• Not ok
• Gear and wheels still misplaced
• Flaps not animated during start

non-AI Heinkel He 177 Greif (CLPAI)

• Still not visible

non-AI Heinkel He 177 Greif (KIAI)

• Working now
• Wheels and gear are there
• Not ok
• Wheels no longer look like wheels - wrongly mapped?
• Props not animated
• Flaps not animated during start
• Pilots textures not right - light and dark is reversed

non-AI Heinkel He 219 (KIAI)

• Working now
• Wheels and gear are there
• Not ok
• Wheels no longer look like wheels - wrongly mapped?
• Props not animated
• Flaps not animated during start

non-AI Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (GRAI)

• Not ok
• Gear and Wheels still missing
• Flaps not animated during start

non-AI Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 Fresco (KIAI)

• Not ok
• Wheels and gear still missing - one misplaced (front?) wheel appears on high rotation
• Pilot still missing
• Parts of fuselage still missing
• Flaps not animated during start

non-AI Northrop P-61 Black Widow (KIAI)

• Working now
• Wheels and gear are there
• Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start

non-AI Yakovlev Yak-38 Forger (KIAI)

• Now working
• Pilot appears
• Gear and wheels appear
• missing parts appear
• Not ok
• wings not folded
• Flaps not animated during start
• Wheels no longer look like wheels - wrongly mapped?

To illustrate the changed wheels for the He 177 and He 219:

I also noticed another error at the Avro Anson

Here the changed pilots from the Do-17

FS9 model

FSX model