• Which the release of FS2020 we see an explosition of activity on the forun and of course we are very happy to see this. But having all questions about FS2020 in one forum becomes a bit messy. So therefore we would like to ask you all to use the following guidelines when posting your questions:

    • Tag FS2020 specific questions with the MSFS2020 tag.
    • Questions about making 3D assets can be posted in the 3D asset design forum. Either post them in the subforum of the modelling tool you use or in the general forum if they are general.
    • Questions about aircraft design can be posted in the Aircraft design forum
    • Questions about airport design can be posted in the FS2020 airport design forum. Once airport development tools have been updated for FS2020 you can post tool speciifc questions in the subforums of those tools as well of course.
    • Questions about terrain design can be posted in the FS2020 terrain design forum.
    • Questions about SimConnect can be posted in the SimConnect forum.

    Any other question that is not specific to an aspect of development or tool can be posted in the General chat forum.

    By following these guidelines we make sure that the forums remain easy to read for everybody and also that the right people can find your post to answer it.

FSX Change MDL

E

eric_marciano

Messages
531
Country
france
Hello Experts,

I know it is may look like a crazy idea, but I would like to change the way a 3D cockpit works by changing the MDL. Some of you may say this is forbidden for intellectual property reasons, and they are right. But in that case, I would like to modify an aircraft I developed with the FeelThere team and it is for personal use only. I am still in contact with the FeelThere team who developed the 3D model, but they will never want to modify and regenerate a 3D model that is 13 years old :)

What I want to do is change the behavior of the light switches on the overhead. Let's take the TAXI light switch as an example. I looked into the mdl of the interior model with a binary editor and saw the LIGHT TAXI variable is used to animate the switch. I would like to use an XML L: variable instead, is this possible? Do you think there is a way of modifying the mdl file to do this?
Or can I "decompile" the MDL to modify it and re-generate it? (I don't think this is possible but I may be wrong here...)

Thanks for any help,
Eric
 
Thanks, it looks like it is the right solution. I am totally new to this area so it is a little difficult for me...
I downloaded the version of ModelConverterX on their site, it is 1.3, and I had not much luck... Fortunately I had version 1.4.0 on my PC and I could find the taxi light switch I want to change, as shown on the screenshot below. I am almost there, I would like to change it to a custom variable but I don't know how to add one. The list of available variables are the ones already defined for this model, but I need another one to replace LIGHT_TAXI used for the taxi light switch.
Do you know how to do this?

Thanks,
Eric

1588968331060.png


Sorry, I am a beginner, a little help would be greatly welcome
 
Last edited:
I finally found the way, I just had to change the modeldef.xml, it now works fine.
This tool is not always easy to understand, but it works :)
 
Also make sure you're only using the development versions. Release 1.3 is so far behind in terms of features that it should not even be offered for download anymore.
 
Yes, it was a trap. I Googled to find the software, found a site at scenery.org that was saying it was the latest version but it was 1.3. Fortunately I found version 1.4 which is much better and I could everything I needed to.
 
What you point here is the web site I found, but there is a "trap": if you go on the ModelCOnverterX page (https://www.scenerydesign.org/modelconverterx/) and go to the "latest version" section, you can read: this: "The latest stable release of ModelConverterX is version 1.3. Click here to download this version. " But it is not.
If you use your link (https://www.scenerydesign.org/development-releases/) and click the disk icon, you get a link to the latest version, which is really the latest in that case, and it is version 1.4.0.0, as hsown in the help window:

1589132508125.png
 
As far as I've experienced, you're one of a handful of users who refer to the dev version by number. Colloquially, it's known as "dev release".
 
Hi Eric,

Just as an addition, replying to your original post (and apart from using MCX):
Yes, it's possible to "hack" a . mdl file with a HEX edittor (I'm using a freeware program named HexEditMX).

Technically, and apart from the legality of doing that of course.
Which is a grey "legal" area, even if it's for personal use.
Not trying to open a can of worms, but I don't see any difference in:
- Editting existing XML code, like in a gauge or model. Which is very easy, because it is plain text.
- "Hacking" into compiled code with a Hex edittor, like in an .mdl file.
- Converting a .mdl, with MCX, to another .mdl

That aside, a trick:
If you view a .mdl file with a Hex edittor and search for a readable string "(A:LIGHT TAXI,bool)" you could easily edit that by replacing the ascii string with eg. "(L:MyVar,bool) ".
Provided the new ASCII string has the same length as what you are replacing.

In fact, I've used this trick many times in working with other designers where:
- Me, knowing XML coding, but having no experiance with making compiled .mdl's, I want to test the effect of XML code in the visual model.
- The visual .mdl designer, that doesn't understand XML code, to make a custom animation.
So I just ask him to compile a .mdl with a custom animation (Like a simple Lvar, or visibility condition) with a lot of redundant space characters; so I can replace that code string with my own XML code to test it.
Never fails, working this way between people with different expertise ...LoL

Rob
 
Hi Rob,

First, let me answer to you about the legal aspect. Not only the changes I want to do are for a personal use only, but the owner of the copyright is aware of what I am doing and even interested in the results I get.
The aircraft I am trying to improve is the A318 from the Wilco Airbus Volume 1 series. Except myself, who is interested in improving this old aircraft?
It was developed by FeelThere and I was part of the development team as a software developer. Today, I am still in contact with the FeelThere manager because he is a good friend of mine and because I asked him some advice regarding the changes I am trying to do. So I am absolutely sure there is no problem here.

From a technical point of view, everything I wanted to do can be done with ModelConverterX, which is a very good and useful tool. I will never thank Arno enough for his great work. So no need of hex edition, with ModelConverterX I could extract the modeldef.xml, modify it and re-generate the model.

Thank you,
Eric
 
eric_marciano said:
What you point here is the web site I found, but there is a "trap": if you go on the ModelCOnverterX page (https://www.scenerydesign.org/modelconverterx/) and go to the "latest version" section, you can read: this: "The latest stable release of ModelConverterX is version 1.3. Click here to download this version. " But it is not.
If you use your link (https://www.scenerydesign.org/development-releases/) and click the disk icon, you get a link to the latest version, which is really the latest in that case, and it is version 1.4.0.0, as hsown in the help window:

View attachment 57720
Click to expand...

1.4 is the development release. On the product page it says 1.3 is the latest stable release. But the next sentence points you to the development release as well for the newest features.
 
Hi Eric,

Given your extensive explanation on why you want to revive this aircraft: maybe you read my post in a way I didn't intend (as to Copyright)
If so, sorry.
No way I was implying something with this, just a general remark.

Best regards, Rob
 
arno said:
1.4 is the development release. On the product page it says 1.3 is the latest stable release. But the next sentence points you to the development release as well for the newest features.
Click to expand...
Yes, Arno, that's what I missed, sorry...
BTW, I can also say there are constantly new versions, the software keeps evolving and improving.
Thank you Arno for your great work :)
 
Hi Eric, not about this subject but emails. Can you try emailing me again please. I got your last but when I tried to reply, I got a rejection. Maybe use another return address or lower your security settings? Thanks, Baz. (AH)
 
Bazzar said:
Hi Eric, not about this subject but emails. Can you try emailing me again please. I got your last but when I tried to reply, I got a rejection. Maybe use another return address or lower your security settings? Thanks, Baz. (AH)
Click to expand...
Hi Baz,
Vic also told me about this. I have just sent you a reply with my alternate email address at Gmail.
For the other readers, I apologize for this private discussion due to email issues :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top