posted 01-09- 10:22 PM               

Say I want to make a plane have 6 wing guns when it only has four, or add outboard flaps to the inboard flaps with a different axis?

As far as I can tell, OPS will only let me REPLACE a .lod with one from someplace else. If I want to ADD a .lod to be a "child" part of a wing, can I do that in OPS, or am I stuck with trying to manually edit the .asc portion of the .sm file?

This is kinda keeping me from doing some neat stuff, but I know I've seen planes that appear to have "new" parts added like extra guns, canopy parts, etc. I can build em OK, but how do I get em in there?

posted 01-10- 03:08 AM               

TS

posted 01-10- 06:17 AM               

Select a LOD that is closest to the LOD you want (either from the same sm file, or another plane from another SM file opened in another OPS window). Now go to the menu and choose "copy". Now select the future parent object LOD for the new LOD you want. Now go to the menu and click "paste." This will put the new LOD under the correct parent object. Now be sure to edit the properties for this new object in case it is different.

Now rename the new LOD. It will be called oldlod1 right now. First re-load the SM file. Now go to the name tab, find the name of the new LOD there and change it to the new name you want. Now re-load again. Done! Also if you change the name of key elements such as wings, guns etc. you will need update the references to this object. For example - you add a new wing called "RightOuterWing." Click on the main object for your plane. Go to porperties and you will see a list of all right wing objects. Edit this property to add your wing.

Another way:

You can also copy a part that has no LODS and click "add LOD" on the right window that shows the LOD list. Now when you use Hippies extractor this new LOD will be created. It will be blank, so just add your new LOD there and rebuild the SM file...

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-Sv =FC=

WWI in SDOE!

posted 01-10- 08:20 AM               

Took me a month to figure out you could move the parts around in OPS...

posted 01-10- 10:51 PM               

I've got all the flaps on the wing. BUT...is there a way to make multiple flaps function using the flap commands? There doesn't appear to be any properties for the flap DOF. I assume this is something internal like the wheels rolling or similar. The only objects that appear to be controllable by the flap command (f and shift-f) are the objects "flapLeft" and "flapRight," but not my extra flapLeft1 and flapRight1.

I have them working off of the landing gear command at the moment, and they move OK, but that's kind of a work-around. I'd really like to get all four (six when I get it working) flaps moving off the same game command, rather than linking them to the landing gear.

Is it possible for me to just create a command like "AuxFlapsUp" and "AuxFlapsDown" and use the SAME keys that "FlapsUpDigital" and "FlapsDownDigital" use?

posted 01-11- 06:29 AM               

There are possible two ways to do this ) Ihavn't tried any of these but in theory...)

1. Airfoil objects can have a airObject property that tells SDOE what models to animate as trailing edge control devices e.g. flaps ailerons etc. You can try either something like

airObject 'leftFlap 'leftFlap2

or

airObject 'leftFlap airObject 'leftFlap2

2. You can create an imaginary wing that has a flap, and then place the flap anywhere you want. The imaginary wing would have to be added to the aircLeftWing or aircRightWing list of the ultimate parent object for it to work, and they would have to be airfoils. The best way maybe is to copy and past the existing wings, and remove the LODs from the model so they don't show up.

As I said I havn't tried any of these but I'm sure they won't blow your computer up if you try them.

posted 01-12- 09:20 AM               

Airfoil
AirPT
airFlap
airObject 'leftFlap

I tried inserting another "airFlap" or another airObject, but that just switched the flap from the old flap to the new one. Adding two flaps on the airObject line disabled that flap entirely.

Maybe a whole new "airfoil" with the whole list of things after it on the wing would work?

Hehe that "imaginary wing" idea is a bit over my head at the moment

posted 01-12- 10:54 AM               

1. Copy the existing wing and paste it under the parent object just as it is now - now you have a new wingname1 object.

2. delete all children objects of the new wing exept the flap

3. Where you view the LODS in the window to the right, delete all the LODS for that wing.

4. delete all properties for the wing except the ones needed for the flap (airControl) If this causes problems instead you can give the wing a very small area. Edit the irObject to point to the new flap name - probably 'OldFlapName1

5. move the flap into position and update the DOF. I would guess that this flap will be remodeled to fit in its new home.

6. Go to the main plane object and look for the RightWing or LeftWing list and add this new 'WingName1 to it.

That should do it. I'm not sure how this will work FM wise. My guess is that it will be ineffective due to the lack of wing area for the new flap's wing. The best idea would be to model each flap on it's own "real" wing object - just breaking the wings into parts like most planes.

------------------
-Sv =FC=

WWI in SDOE!

posted 01-13- 10:51 AM               

Apparently the "wing" can have as many flaps as you want, but they're actually "child airfoils," i.e. you create an obAirfoil, give it an airPT, airChord, airObject 'oldflapnameX and an airRuntime. All the "airFlaps" will be controlled by the flap command. So it works now

Conversely, the "wingtip" can't have any flaps. The Corsair has main flaps on the bent part of the wing, secondary flaps out by the ailerons, and little flaps in between, 6 total. When I put the obAirfoil out on the wingtip, it wouldn't work. I think the wingtip will only allow ailerons to be attached to it. OTOH, when I put the properties for ALL the flaps on the main "wing" they worked fine, even though they're physically not all on the main wing, and the .LODs aren't even all "children" of the main wing. Go figure, but it works.

Now, the EFFECT of having 6 flaps instead of 2 was...interesting The Hog with full flaps will fly about 65 mph, which was neat, but if you dropped flaps at high speed, it would immediately nose over basically uncontrollably. "Fixed" that by making the chord of the extra flaps much smaller (chord appears to be the only parameter other than the airPT you can change). Have to tweak it some more for the proper "feel." At the moment, it will definitely "Ensign Eliminate" you if you cob the power to it at low speed with full flaps.

LOOKS cool tho