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FSDS Boolean question

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I want to apologize up front if this has been asked and answered already. If it has, I can't seem to find it.

I'm learning to use FSDS because I cannot seem to get the plugins for Max nor the Gmax FSX gamepack to work on my computer. I've been trying for some time, but they just won't work. Gmax seems to work sporadically, but I can't count on it. I don't like Gmax much anyway.

Now, I read in the FSDS help files that the boolean operations can be used for most of the same functions as they are in Max (cut, union, etc.), but instructions are given only for the cut operation. It says the order in which the part and tool are selected makes a difference in how the op is done, but in my experimentation, it doesn't seem to have any effect on the product. It always seems to perform a cut operation. How does one perform the other boolean operations?

What I'm doing right now is working on a vehicle model, a motorhome to be exact. This is my first real try at modeling for FS, as in the past I've pretty much stuck to repainting. This will probably be relegated to a scenery object, but I plan on trying to make it a full drivable model. The model is going fairly well, but I'm at a point where I need to attach the front bumper to the rest of the body. The bumper will overlap the body some, and what I'd like to do is perform a union operation to join these parts together, but I don't know how.

Would a boolean op end up getting me in more trouble here than simply trying to match the two parts separately (making the bumper a separate part, then deleting the polys/triangles that intersect it, then lining both parts up as close as possible)?

I hope this makes some sense.

Thanks in advance.
 
Unless you need an absolutely perfect match between bumper and body, model them separately.

The FSDS boolean is one of those things that's useful, but we still try to avoid it as much as possible.

The one good thing about the FSDS boolean is that in one stroke, it gives you several of the results, and all are available- and it still leaves you with the undamaged original part and "tool".

If you're looking for a "join" operation, you have the resulting two parts already (with a lot of extra vertices to clean up). Look at the results of your FSDS boolean, and you'll find what you need (and don't need).
 
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