Hi all,
So I did a a lot of research on the creation of PAPI's and I found something interesting...to me at least.
Of all the reading I've done, I keep seeing people asking how to rotate a PAPI object and have the lights work as intended. The answer has always been some variation of "you can't", and a reference to separation plane creation is usually cited.
Well, after scratching my head as to why my PAPI's were displaying incorrectly in FSX:A I discovered something interesting. My separation plane headings were "off" by the exact amount that I had rotated my 3ds Max model when using MakeMDL to place the object.
So for sh*ts and giggles, I set the runway heading to "0" in the excel calculator, entered the numbers it derived in my .asm file, and compiled with BGLC_9.
Lo and behold, the things were lined up perfectly on a runway with a heading of 235 true (241 magnetic).
I thought, "Naw! They said it couldn't be that easy!" So I ran MakeMDL again, and set the position and heading for the PAPI's on the reciprocal end. I copy and pasted the very same separation plane numbers into the _0.asm, and when I checked it out in the sim...IT WORKED!
Has this tidbit been published anywhere?
I'd hate to get all worked up if this is old news, but in all my searching, I never saw this fact noted anywhere.
Thoughts?
Nick
So I did a a lot of research on the creation of PAPI's and I found something interesting...to me at least.
Of all the reading I've done, I keep seeing people asking how to rotate a PAPI object and have the lights work as intended. The answer has always been some variation of "you can't", and a reference to separation plane creation is usually cited.
Well, after scratching my head as to why my PAPI's were displaying incorrectly in FSX:A I discovered something interesting. My separation plane headings were "off" by the exact amount that I had rotated my 3ds Max model when using MakeMDL to place the object.
So for sh*ts and giggles, I set the runway heading to "0" in the excel calculator, entered the numbers it derived in my .asm file, and compiled with BGLC_9.
Lo and behold, the things were lined up perfectly on a runway with a heading of 235 true (241 magnetic).
I thought, "Naw! They said it couldn't be that easy!" So I ran MakeMDL again, and set the position and heading for the PAPI's on the reciprocal end. I copy and pasted the very same separation plane numbers into the _0.asm, and when I checked it out in the sim...IT WORKED!
Has this tidbit been published anywhere?
I'd hate to get all worked up if this is old news, but in all my searching, I never saw this fact noted anywhere.
Thoughts?
Nick