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FS2004 GMax animation

gsnde

gsnde

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3,371
Country
germany
Hi,

I have installed GMax with the FSX-A and the FS2004 gamepacks. Both load and operate well on first sight (meaning I can export aircraft that appear in the sim).

Then I noticed that an animation was missing with FS2004. I tried to open the FSTools / Animation Manager which failed with the error message: "-- type error: call needs function or class, got undefined". In the script window you see the function name StartFSXAnimationEditor. I guess that in a FS2004 gamepack session you shoul not see FSX, right?

I de-installed/reinstalled the FS2004 gamepack, but end up exactly at the same point. Any idea what I am doing wrong?

Thanks a lot!
 
You are starting gmax with the "FSX Gamepack" icon.

Review your gamepack installation - there should be an icon within the FS2004 gamepack folder. Send that to the desktop and use THAt (FS2004) icon to start gmax.


Basically, each startup icon provided "sets up" gmax for the particular SDK version.
 
No I don't :)

When I start GMax with the FSX GMax icon, the animation dialog comes up fine. The error message I get when I start via the FS2004 config.

As I said, I can compile FS9 aircraft that show up fine in the sim which I doubt would be possible with the FSX gamepack.

By the way (I just checked) - if I start GMAX exe directly and go to the Animation Manager, I get the same error message like described above.
 
Er, FS2004 doesn't use the Animation Manager (or any of the FSX Tools for that matter!).

FS9's animations are partname based...

...i.e., l_aileron, r_wheel, rudder, et cetera.
 
I see, Bill. So the whole 'FS Tools' menu is meant for FSX, right? I installed GMax and the 2004 Gamepack on another computer to test this and the menu is not visible there.
 
gsnde said:
I see. So the whole 'FS Tools' menu is meant for FSX, right? I installed GMax and the 2004 Gamepack on another computer to test this and the menu is not visible there.
Click to expand...

That is correct. The proper way to set up GMax for multiple gamepack use is to have each "version" in its own sub-folder. Notice that each "version" has its own gmax.ini, plugin.ini, and xxx.lnk (Desktop Shortcut) file:

Code: 
Directory of C:\gmax\gamepacks

01/12/2009  03:52 PM    <DIR>          .
01/12/2009  03:52 PM    <DIR>          ..
11/16/2008  01:29 AM    <DIR>          fs2002
05/15/2008  11:25 AM    <DIR>          fs2004
02/10/2008  04:20 PM    <DIR>          FSX_GmaxGamePack
               2 File(s)         79,288 bytes

Directory of C:\gmax\gamepacks\fs2002

11/16/2008  01:29 AM    <DIR>          .
11/16/2008  01:29 AM    <DIR>          ..
09/15/2002  06:22 PM                16 APPLYVC.CFG
11/16/2008  01:29 AM               713 filelist.txt
02/21/2004  06:40 PM             1,158 fs2002.lnk.lnk
03/25/2008  09:50 PM             3,444 gmax.ini
09/13/2001  02:45 PM           188,416 imagetool.exe
01/09/2004  10:41 AM               126 plugin.ini
12/05/2004  09:40 AM    <DIR>          plugins
               7 File(s)        194,319 bytes


 Directory of C:\gmax\gamepacks\fs2004

05/15/2008  11:25 AM    <DIR>          .
05/15/2008  11:25 AM    <DIR>          ..
12/26/2008  07:49 PM               384 abrowser.cfg
09/24/2005  04:16 PM                16 APPLYVC.CFG
10/16/2008  05:52 PM    <DIR>          docs
11/10/2003  03:08 PM            17,227 EULA.rtf
04/06/2005  04:19 PM    <DIR>          extras
06/30/2008  11:50 AM             1,090 filelist.txt
11/24/2003  08:29 AM             1,332 FS2004.lnk
01/03/2009  11:47 AM             6,382 gmax.ini
04/24/2005  03:23 PM                25 msmooth.ini
11/17/2003  09:26 AM               126 plugin.ini
10/27/2008  10:23 AM    <DIR>          plugins
07/06/2006  09:32 AM    <DIR>          scenes
05/15/2008  11:14 AM    <DIR>          scripts
10/18/2005  10:25 PM    <DIR>          texture
04/06/2005  04:19 PM    <DIR>          tools
05/15/2008  11:25 AM                46 visualms.ini
               9 File(s)         26,628 bytes

 Directory of C:\gmax\gamepacks\FSX_GmaxGamePack

02/10/2008  04:20 PM    <DIR>          .
02/10/2008  04:20 PM    <DIR>          ..
01/11/2009  05:16 PM               326 abrowser.cfg
02/23/2007  05:12 AM             1,418 FSX_GMax.lnk
01/11/2009  05:16 PM             8,222 gmax.ini
02/10/2008  04:21 PM               259 plugin.ini
03/25/2008  10:06 PM    <DIR>          Plugins
12/27/2007  06:12 PM    <DIR>          scenes
07/31/2008  08:05 PM    <DIR>          scripts
11/30/2007  01:16 PM    <DIR>          textures
               4 File(s)         10,225 bytes
 
Yes, that is pretty much my setup (except from the base folder I pretty much accepted all installer defaults).

D:\FS-Tools\GMax\gamepacks>dir
Datenträger in Laufwerk D: ist FlightSim-OS
Volumeseriennummer: A42A-D3CB

Verzeichnis von D:\FS-Tools\GMax\gamepacks

19.12.2009 23:33 <DIR> .
19.12.2009 23:33 <DIR> ..
01.02.2010 17:39 <DIR> fs2004
01.02.2010 11:17 <DIR> FSX_GmaxGamePack

Verzeichnis von D:\FS-Tools\GMax\gamepacks\fs2004

01.02.2010 17:39 <DIR> .
01.02.2010 17:39 <DIR> ..
01.02.2010 17:39 <DIR> docs
10.11.2003 15:08 17,227 EULA.rtf
01.02.2010 17:39 <DIR> extras
01.02.2010 17:39 1,513 FS2004.lnk
01.02.2010 11:17 1,330 GMax Projects - Verknüpfung.lnk
01.02.2010 20:43 2,580 gmax.ini
09.01.2004 12:22 21,997 Installing the FS2004 GMax SDK over the FS2002 GMax SDK.rtf
17.11.2003 09:26 126 plugin.ini
01.02.2010 17:39 <DIR> plugins
01.02.2010 17:39 <DIR> scenes
01.02.2010 17:39 <DIR> scripts
01.02.2010 17:39 <DIR> texture
01.02.2010 17:39 <DIR> tools
6 Datei(en), 44,773 Bytes

Verzeichnis von D:\FS-Tools\GMax\gamepacks\FSX_GmaxGamePack

01.02.2010 11:17 <DIR> .
01.02.2010 11:17 <DIR> ..
22.08.2007 17:45 1,418 FSX_GMax.lnk
01.02.2010 11:17 1,330 GMax Projects - Verknüpfung.lnk
01.02.2010 19:18 2,612 gmax.ini
22.08.2007 17:45 133 plugin.ini
19.12.2009 23:33 <DIR> Plugins
19.12.2009 23:33 <DIR> scenes
19.12.2009 23:33 <DIR> scripts
19.12.2009 23:33 <DIR> textures
4 Datei(en), 5,493 Bytes
6 Verzeichnis(se), 61,982,609,408 Bytes frei
Click to expand...

So you don't have the 'FS Tools' menu when you start the FS2004 gamepack, Bill?
 
Another question for my understanding:

that I can see an animation when moving the animation bar on bottom of the GMax screen to the right - this does not necessarily mean that I will see it in the sim if I miss to do whatever magic is needed, right?
 
To answer your first question, no I do not see the FS Tools in the menu bar after starting FS2004 GMax.

Those files only exist in the ..\FSX_GmaxGamePack\Scripts folder, so there's no way for them to get loaded when starting GMax FS2004!

Look in your ..\fs2004\Scripts folder and make certain that you didn't accidentally copy the FS Tools scripts in there by mistake...


EDIT: I just noticed that you have "GMax Projects - Verknüpfung.lnk" in both FS2004 and FSX gamepack folders. If you are using this and they are identical configurations to "launch GMax," that could well be your problem... You should Send To the Desktop the FS2004.lnk and the FSX_GMax.lnk shortcut files...


The second question is a bit more difficult to answer, because most default animations in FS2004 are not key-frame animated. They only use the pivot point and the "movement" in the sim is auto-generated.

There are a few stock animations that do require key-frame animation, and those are listed in the FS2004 Modeling SDK, which you should really study closely, but any "partname" that is defined in the MakeMDL.parts.xml file must be key-frame animated.
 
Last edited:
Bill,

The "GMax Projects - Verknüpfung.lnk" is a link to my data folder on another drive where I keep my source files. Because GMax defaults to it's own folder structure for both file open and save operations this is usefull for my configuration.

After a short investigation of the GMax setup I now know where the 'FS Tools' menu is coming from. In the gmax.ini file in the FS2004 gamepack folder is an entry that reads:

[CustomMenus]
FileName=D:\FS-Tools\GMax\UI\MaxMenus.mnu

When I check this file I see the 'FS-Tools' menu listed:

[Menu_142]
MenuName="FS Tools"
ItemCount=4
Item_0_Mode=2
Item0_Action=647394|AttachPointTool`Tools
Item_1_Mode=2
Item1_Action=647394|LODNameTool`Tools
Item_2_Mode=2
Item2_Action=647394|AnimationManager`Tools
Item_3_Mode=2
Item3_Action=647394|FSCloudTool`Tools
Click to expand...

This might come from the fact that I installed GMax, then the FSX Gamepack and after that the FS2004 gamepack. If your installation was done more chronologically this could explain the issue.

About your answer to question two I have to meditate some time to grab the full content :o

The gear is animated and this will be extracted for landing and after start. The animation that don't work is the cockpit that should be open during pre-flight. This shows nicely in Gmax, but not in "FS9 reality" ;)
 
On my computer, for some odd reason, I cannot link to my FS2004 'nor' my Gmax installations. I have to navigate to my folders directly and click on the actual icons themselves or my Gmax will not start for either.

But, on my laptop, with same installations, its fine and I have desktop links to both FSX and FS2004 versions of Gmax, with Gmax starting fine each time..



Odd..




Bill
 
I guess my experience is very limited in this case :)

For all who have started to read this post because of the technical issue: the cause of my issue were the missing definitions in the "makemdl.parts.xml".
 
Last edited:
Never thought of that, but you are so right :D Has some Bavarian sound to it. When I first registered and had no idea that I would last a bit longer in the scene I took my then current account name so that I did not had to memorize another one. Then it was to late.

I try to compensate with the nice Owl :)
 
you only dare to say that because you know that I am only equipped with cameras :)

03_0003_p.jpg

05_0001_p.jpg

05_0006_p.jpg

05_0014_p.jpg

05_0012_p.jpg

05_0004_p.jpg
 
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