Thursday, December 31, 2015

T-45C Goshawk Version 2.80 - and a note on rolling ships in P3Dv3.1


Here is an unplanned update to the Goshawk - as the Goshawk has always been my test vehicle for experiments, I had a number of small improvements that I never released... and I decided to polish them a little and release a new version (although the project is officially "closed")... so here we go with version 2.80...

Also, a quick note on P3Dv3.1:
One cool feature of P3Dv3.1 is that, if water is set on ULTRA settings, boats and ship will pitch and roll according to the waves (which in turn are influenced by the wind). Needless to say, it makes carrier (or helicopter) operations much more challenging. However, unfortunately some visual effects (notably night lighting and fresnel lights) do not follow the boat properly so this LM has DISABLED for standard carriers by default, as it was very confusing at night. You can enable or disable this effect on a per-vehicle basis by using a new parater in the contact points section (if 1 the boat will not roll, otherwise it will):
[contact_points]
always_use_avg_surface=1 //always use the average surface elevation
Anyway, back to the T-45C, here are the release notes. Download from Google Drive from the side bar, as usual.

VERSION 2.80
- New NACES seat 3D model courtesy of Vertical Reality Simulations (same as their Superbug)
- New Control stick model for Virtual Cockpit
- Minor improvements to Virtual Cockpit details
- Added “Remove Before Flight” ribbons (will show/hide with SHIFT+E then 3 control)
- Added HUD, engine intakes and exhaust covers (will show/hide with SHIFT+E then 4)
- Standardized pilot figures to have the same look as the Military Avatars Package
- Added skinned meshes animations to pilot figures (head movement, throttle, stick left/right,
pedals left/right)
- Fixed bug that caused HUD to flicker in P3Dv2 and v3
- Added clickable areas to external model for P3Dv3 (to use in external views or Avatar mode)*:
– canopy opening lever
– crew access steps
– engine/HUD covers (click nearby the engine intake)
– remove before flight ribbons (click on certain parts of the landing gear and tailhook)
- Fixed miscellaneous incompatibility issues and typos in configuration files
- Rationalization of files and duplicates for “WORKING MIRROR” feature...now all the models
are in the main MODEL folder, while you need to install the relevant aicraft.cfg and model.cfg
to activate or deactivate the feature
- Fixed minor animation bugs
- Pilot figures now have automatic or user controllable visibility conditions**
- Improved configurator, now has also crew figure control buttons, as well as ribbons and covers
visibility control and refuel options**

NOTES:

* covers and ribbons are not “individually” controllable... clicking on a cover or a ribbon
will remove all of them. This was basically a test to check how practical it was to have a
virtual walkaround

** By default pilot visibility is set in AUTO mode. In this mode pilot will always show unless:
– The relevant weight station il loaded with 89 pounds or less
– The RPMs are below 5% and the speed of the aicraft is below 5 kts and the aicraft is on the ground and the parking brake is set.
The configurator allows the user to MANUALLY select to HIDE the crew, or show both the student
and the instructor or only the student. MANUAL selection will always force the selected
condition unless CREW AUTO button is pressed (and automatic visibility is restored)

10 comments:

sjhenion said...

Hello
I have all of your aircraft including the new payware F35 and your work is amazing. I just loaded the new T-45, which I love, but I quit using in the past because of one nagging issue that I just couldn't live with. Since day one in all P3D versions including the new 3.1 is that upon landing/touchdown the nose-wheel sinks deep into the runway and then snaps quickly back to the runway surface. I have made many attempts at adjusting contact points in the past, but that has never worked. Do you know why this happens and is there a solution? When watching replays it really detracts from the experience to see the nose-wheel disappear into the runway.
Thank You for your work!

ScimmiaSpaziale said...

Good day Steve, and thanks for your feedback - that needs to be addressed at both contact point and animation level... while I do understand this might be really annoying, the defect (on my computer at least) is not that big - and in general I prefer not to touch the gear dynamics if they work (especially for naval aircrafts).
I will look into this if I will have time in future and I am sorry if such a small defect results in users quitting the plane (but this can be seen as a good sign... if people notice small defects, it means that there are no big ones).

Happy new year
Dino

Greg said...

Hello!
Your T-45 is the most realistic carrier born aircraft in FSX, so thank you for that! I have a problem though: when I attach the plane to the cat, and I throttle up, the launch bar just releases the plane automatically. This only happens in cockpit view. When in external view I can throttle up, and hit launch no problem. Any ideas how to fix this? Thanks!
Greg

ScimmiaSpaziale said...

Hi Greg,

actually this should not happen... well, at least it does not happen on my machine.
In most cases this is due to the frame rate - the sim may have difficulties in matching the aircraft and boat positions, resulting in a detachment from the shuttle.
However you can safely launch the T-45C without advancing throttles to the max.
Aside, FYI Tacpack has an optional feature that forces the launch bar to stick to the nacelle, preventing detachment.

Regards

Dino

Anonymous said...

Great developers! Thank you very much

HStreet said...

Dino,

Any chance we can get the T-45C fuel usage/flow to match the real world aircraft? Fuel management is a significant component of US Navy Tailhook curriculum and right now the model uses less than 1/2 the fuel used by the real world aircraft.

Thanks for your consideration

Anonymous said...

I had a T45 radio control model which I greatly enjoyed flying and seeing Dino's T45 for FSX, and the reports of how brilliant it is I just had to download it and give it a go. Superb in every way. The brilliant detail and flight characteristics, even just handling on the runway, and the instruments and switches in the cockpit are great. Well done Dino and many thanks for your undoubted many dedicated hours and skill in producing this fine aircraft. Thankyou. I will most likely now download some of your other work.

Anonymous said...

Hello!

Dino, A intersting project would be Breguet Atlantique II!

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