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MFD Display illuminaton at night / P3Dv5.4

E

eddm1

Messages
77
Hello,
I have searched this forum but haven't found anything specific for this issue. I have a converted VC panel with MFD screens, the gauges are in xml format and they work fine during daytime, however they are dark at night! I have tried different things, but I failed to make them appear bright at night (and dusk).

So my question is, what must I modify to make the MFD Displays illuminated constantly, independent from the panel lighting?

Do I have to change the dynamic VC texture's emissive textures, on which the gauge is placed on, or do I have to adjust the gauge xml parameters or the gauge texture themselves to make them bright?

Thanks for your help
 
I don’t know how VC lighting works in P3D, but for earlier Sims the only way I got night lighting to work for 2D gauges was using a night texture for the VC gauge texture. But this technique relies on the panel light switch, something you want to avoid.
 
Does the MFD have a specific _n.dds file e.g. the instrument panel in my B-314 has an instr_n.dds file for the VC nightime lighting. When the lights are turned on, the n.dds file is overlaid on top of the _a.dds (albedo) file. If it doesn't, you may be out of luck because lighting (and the required files) is usually baked into the VC mdl.

Tom: if you're still doing 2D work (I am), then a look at the current version of sd2gau (sd2gau40) may help with lighting. Basically, you don't need the panel lighting key event. Any old home-brewed variable will do because all you need to do is to use it to swap in and swap out the IMAGE_USE_BRIGHT and IMAGE_USE_LUMINOUS flags on the required part of the gauge. No additional night textures. I added some macros too in the gauge_extensions.h file so you can swap in and swap out multiple flags for multiple macros in one go.
 
I just had to deal with this recently - you should use your $material in the emissive texture slot - the same as the diffuse. No _L just the same one.

DA40CGDFQ_2025.01.07_15h7m5s.png
 
Hello,
I have tried to modify the dynamic VC texture by using MCX. I have now used the values of another panel, where the MFD lighting works. And now it's working! It seems to have something to do with the color values...
 
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