FSX/Gmax AttachPoint Tool Problem

[Odysseus]

Hi, sorry if the question was asked before but I searched the forum and didn't find anything.

I'm new to modeling FSX aircrafts using Gmax and I'm trying to do what appears to be a very simple thing (according to the SDK). I want to include various lights directly in the model.

So I read the "New Aircraft Procedures" document and did exactly what was written:
1- I created a one sided single poly (a NGon in Gmax)
2- Placed it near a light mesh
3- Linked the poly to the model
4- Openned up the AttachPoint Tool
5- Checked "Effect" and "Visibility"
6- Selected "general_light" and "fx_navgre" for the effect.

Then I clicked on "Attach to existing geometry" which gave me "fx_navgre_4" in the Attach name and it renamed my poly to "attachpt_fx_navgre_3". I then exported the model to .mdl (without any error), closed FS-X, reloaded everything and... No light anywhere near the model.

What am I doing wrong? I tried with several effects (landing, nav, beacon), I even created a new model (a simple box) and attached a light to it to make sure there wasn't something wrong with my model. Nothing works! I am going bald here.

Any body can give me a hand please. Thanks...

Michel

 

[Odysseus]

Well... Never mind. I found the solution.

What I didn't get was that you have to convert the simple poly into an editable mesh. Otherwise, if you keep it as a simple spline poly, it just doesn't work. Reading back the SDK document, I saw that it clearly says "Create a small one sided single poly mesh". Silly me...

Michel

 

[n4gix]

BTW, using the suggested "general_light" will tie ALL the lights to the LANDING lights switch, which is not really a "Good Idea" I think...

Why on earth ACES didn't write the simple XML code to enable all the various light types available is a genuine mystery...

...as you can plainly see, it ain't exactally "rocket science!"

    <Animation name="beacon_light" guid="54447384-cff6-479c-a654-9b9cd33e4f09" length="100" type="Sim" typeParam2="beacon_light" typeParam="AutoPlay" />
    <Animation name="logo_light" guid="54547384-cff6-479c-a654-9b9cd33e4f0a" length="100" type="Sim" typeParam2="logo_light" typeParam="AutoPlay" />
    <Animation name="nav_light" guid="54647384-cff6-479c-a654-9b9cd33e4f0b" length="100" type="Sim" typeParam2="nav_light" typeParam="AutoPlay" />
    <Animation name="taxi_light" guid="43347384-cff6-479c-a654-9b9cd33e4f09" length="100" type="Sim" typeParam2="taxi_light" typeParam="AutoPlay" />
    <Animation name="recog_lights" guid="43347385-cff7-679c-a655-9b9cd33e4f09" length="100" type="Sim" typeParam2="recog_lights" typeParam="AutoPlay" />


    <PartInfo>
        <Name>beacon_light</Name>
        <AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
        <Visibility>
            <Parameter>
                <Sim>
                    <Variable>LIGHT BEACON</Variable>
                    <Units>bool</Units>
                </Sim>
            </Parameter>
        </Visibility>
    </PartInfo>
    <PartInfo>
        <Name>taxi_light</Name>
        <AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
        <Visibility>
            <Parameter>
                <Sim>
                    <Variable>LIGHT TAXI</Variable>
                    <Units>bool</Units>
                </Sim>
            </Parameter>
        </Visibility>
    </PartInfo>
    <PartInfo>
        <Name>logo_light</Name>
        <AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
        <Visibility>
            <Parameter>
                <Sim>
                    <Variable>LIGHT LOGO</Variable>
                    <Units>bool</Units>
                </Sim>
            </Parameter>
        </Visibility>
    </PartInfo>
    <PartInfo>
        <Name>nav_light</Name>
        <AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
        <Visibility>
            <Parameter>
                <Sim>
                    <Variable>LIGHT NAV</Variable>
                    <Units>bool</Units>
                </Sim>
            </Parameter>
        </Visibility>
    </PartInfo>
    <PartInfo>
        <Name>recog_lights</Name>
        <AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
        <Visibility>
            <Parameter>
                <Sim>
                    <Variable>LIGHT RECOGNITION</Variable>
                    <Units>bool</Units>
                </Sim>
            </Parameter>
        </Visibility>
    </PartInfo>

 

[Odysseus]

Hey! I didn't know all the lights were tied to the landing lights. I guess I would have find out the hard way when adding more lights to my project. You saved me from another crisis. Thanks a lot for the code Bill.

Michel

 

[n4gix]

Hey! I didn't know all the lights were tied to the landing lights. I guess I would have find out the hard way when adding more lights to my project. You saved me from another crisis. Thanks a lot for the code Bill.

Michel

No problem. I had previously posted the same code at http://freeflightdesign.com in the "Working XML Code" forum, where there's a growing collection of, well, working xml code!

Yes, that "shortcoming" is one reason why some of the default models either have incomplete lighting, or incorrectly working lighting!