WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

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CrownCityMisfit
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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by CrownCityMisfit »

bladerunner900 wrote:About the N number. You don't have to change it in the texture at all. Instead, all you got to do is change the atc_id code in the config file. Here's an example of what I have done in the past.
That was very helpful. Worked like a charm. Thank you. BUT...

On the original A2A panel texture, there is an area that looks like this:

Image

Why is this included in the texture if the n-number is defined by the cfg? Can the cfg be bypassed to make use of the texture? I want it to look like this:

Image
speedy70 wrote:1) complete aircraft with black panel
2)complete aircraft with beige panel
3)red cockpit with black panel for any aircraft
4)red cockpit with beige panel for any aircraft
1) Yes
2) Yes
3) No, because you can use the cockpit included with the complete aircraft in any A2A 172
4) Well, now I'm considering it.

Furthermore, I will release all of my layered PSD files together as a vc paintkit. I will continue to update this kit as I add make new textures, woodgrains, upholstry, etc. for other complete vintage repaint projects. I see no reason to horde the files if some of you desire a blue, green, or white version before I can get to it. Make it zebra striped, I don't care. :P
n454mw wrote:That is a fantastic paint, I'm really looking forward to this one.
Thanks much. Hope you enjoy it when it's released.
JoeS475 wrote:PM me if you want a nit-picky beta tester... 8)
I just may take you up on that. I always appreciate another set of eyes on my work. The nit-pickier, the better.
JoeS475 wrote: No matter what download options BladderBoy provides, you can always mix and match your panels and interiors by copy/pasting the c172_c*.dds files from folder to folder. Almost all of my Cessna's have a unique interior due to this.
Indeed. I will include clear instructions for this in the readme, so it shouldn't be a problem for anyone. It's exactly as simple as Joe describes it above. :wink:
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bladerunner900
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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by bladerunner900 »

BladderBoy wrote:... Can the cfg be bypassed to make use of the texture?
I know that leaving the itc_id blank gives you a blank plate in the cockpit, which suggests that it may be a gauge for the virtual cockpit, probably linked to a parameter that is passed to it by an xml file. But I'm just guessing, I've never gone down that path. Sorry. :(

Edit:
On further investigation, it looks like it is a gauge and that you would probably have to remove it. But if you did that, it would leave a hole in the dashboard where the gauge used to be and therefore, the number in the texture would be useless as it would have nothing to map on to.

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CrownCityMisfit
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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by CrownCityMisfit »

bladerunner900 wrote: On further investigation, it looks like it is a gauge and that you would probably have to remove it. But if you did that, it would leave a hole in the dashboard where the gauge used to be and therefore, the number in the texture would be useless as it would have nothing to map on to.
You rock. Thanks so much for digging around to figure that out. I will look in to it a bit further. It still may be worth removing the gauge to see if the panel texture is revealed beneath it. I've never messed with gauges, so this is uncharted territory for me.
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c300c
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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by c300c »

Great attention to details there. Definitely on my list. Cheers!

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bladerunner900
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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by bladerunner900 »

I did a bit more digging and found the following. In the number.xml file, there is a line for the font like so...

<FontFace>verdana</FontFace>

Changing it to...

<FontFace>times new roman</FontFace>

gave me this...

Image

There is a line above it that controls the colour, but your going to have to experiment with that. Unless you can persuade whoever designed the panel to tell you the correct codes. Base colours seem to work, red for example changes it to... red.
Last edited by bladerunner900 on 28 Feb 2014, 14:10, edited 1 time in total.

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CrownCityMisfit
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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by CrownCityMisfit »

bladerunner900 wrote:I did a bit more digging and found the following. In the number.xml file, there is a line for the font like so...
Holy crap, thank you! I hope the font Courier Bold will work. I believe it is a standard font. I assume the colors are controlled with a hex value? I will check it out tonight. Your help is invaluable.
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bladerunner900
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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by bladerunner900 »

Strangely, I don't have courier on my computer. I do have one called courier new, so I tried courier new bold and that worked. Using a font I don't have seems to default to verdana, I think.

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FAC257
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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by FAC257 »

I don't know if I have ever looked forward to a general aviation aircraft repaint, as much as this one.

The exterior color scheme just stands out as very unique and fun to look at, while the work being done to the upholstery detail and cockpit color scheme on the interior is just dazzling.

Excellent work! :)
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CrownCityMisfit
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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by CrownCityMisfit »

bladerunner900 wrote:I did a bit more digging and found the following. In the number.xml file, there is a line for the font like so...

<FontFace>verdana</FontFace>

Changing it to...

<FontFace>times new roman</FontFace>

There is a line above it that controls the colour, but your going to have to experiment with that. Unless you can persuade whoever designed the panel to tell you the correct codes. Base colours seem to work, red for example changes it to... red.
I took bladerunner's findings and ran with it for a couple of hours. I was determined to get the n-number properly displayed in the vc, as I created it in my panel texture:

Image

In A2A_C172/panel/number.xml, I changed this:
<FontFace>verdana</FontFace>
to this:
FontFace>courier new bold</FontFace>

At least the font is getting close:

Image

Like bladerunner said, changing the color of the font requires editing the line:

<FontColor>lightsteelblue</FontColor>

After searching through all of the XML files in the panel folder, I found the following colors being used:

lightsteelblue
gray
darkgray
white
midnightblue
lightgoldenrodyellow
dimgray
yellow
red
darkolivegreen
darkred
gold
black
darksalmon
goldenrod
orangered
limegreen
green

Goldenrod was closest to the color I want, but not a good match:

Image

When poking around engine_details.xml, I found this line:

<FontColor>0x4b4b4b</FontColor>

Ahah! That looks familiar! 4b4b4b represents a hexadecimal color code. So all I need to do is sample the color I want in Photoshop, and note the color code, right? Well the hex code that displays a beige color in Photoshop, gives me this in the 172:

Image

Blue?

So I played around with different hex codes and eventually found one that works. But then I noticed this line in number.xml:

<Element id="background">
<FloatPosition>0.000,0.000</FloatPosition>
<Image id="number_bg.bmp" Name="number_bg.bmp">

What happens if I just replace the gauge background image (number_bg.bmp) with my custom n-number, and set the font color to "transparent?"

Image

That's more like it. Problem is, the n-number will look like this for all of my A2A 172's. Fortunately it's easy to change.

I will certainly include this as an optional element, assuming it doesn't create any simconnect issues.

Thanks again to bladerunner for leading me down this path.

Moving on...
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bladerunner900
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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by bladerunner900 »

To make it unique to your livery, a quick solution would be to copy the panel folder and rename it to panel.N5635K, do all your edits to the number.xml file in that folder, then change the panel variable for your livery in the aircraft.cfg file to panel=N5635K.

You may have to get permission to re-pack all the files from the panel folder before you upload your package, but you could certainly include instructions on how to do it for those who already have the C172.

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CrownCityMisfit
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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by CrownCityMisfit »

bladerunner900 wrote:To make it unique to your livery, a quick solution would be to copy the panel folder and rename it to panel.N5635K, do all your edits to the number.xml file in that folder, then change the panel variable for your livery in the aircraft.cfg file to panel=N5635K.

You may have to get permission to re-pack all the files from the panel folder before you upload your package, but you could certainly include instructions on how to do it for those who already have the C172.
Ah yes, good idea. What permissions are you referring to? Does editing the gauges violate the TOS or EULA with A2A?
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bladerunner900
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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by bladerunner900 »

It may, or may not. I'm no legal expert. That's why I always think it can't hurt to check when distributing a load of files. You could just include your altered xml file, along with instructions on what to do with the others. That way your package would be smaller. Since anyone wanting to do the change should already have them anyway.

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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by jkyser001 »

Can't wait to fly this bird! It really looks great! Amazing details, I really don't know how you guys do it! :D

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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by mer8771 »

Just asking. Did you ask A2A if you can change that file? I don't thank they would have a problem with it cus your not making $ off of it. BTW how close are you now? I have never wanted a repaint so bad in my 12+ years for flight sims. I want this repaint more than the the plane it self. I am waiting to buy the plane until you make this repaint available. It looks a lot like my dad's did we had when I was growing up.
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Re: WIP - C172 N4635K Repaint - Exterior & VC

Post by Henning »

This repaint is so great,i realy hope the download link coming op very soon i hope the red cockpit wil be among,Black is Nice and beige is cool,but red is very Nice to
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Accu-Sim aircraft in my hangar: C172, C182, P51 Civ, P51 Mil, B17, Spitfire, P47, B377 COTS, J3 Cub, T6, P40, Connie, ?

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