• 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.
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    • 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.

old version

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Hello
I would like to download this old version for fs9/fsX of this overview:
youtub
Can you give me the link to download please.
best regard
 

Pyscen

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What's wrong with the current version? It should work with FS9/ FSX.
 

arno

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Hi,

The old version is not available anymore, but the current version should be almost the same as the one you see in the video.
 
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france
Hello
Too bad because i wanted to test it on my computer which is not powerful.
I use fs9 (FS2004) on windows7.
the current version does not show the effects I load.
I had the same problem with modelconveterx (MCX130 AND MCX140) when I loaded the objects,
but fortunately, i found by chance on this forum MCX120 (attached to a post) which works fine on my laptop.
best regard
 

arno

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Hi,

The new versions do still support FS2004 as well, so not sure why it does not work on your machine. Do you get any errors? It might be your graphics card is older and does not support the opengl version used.
 
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france
Hello
Yes, my graphics card is older .
Sorry I don't have any: my laptop is an EMachine E510 (intel celeron M550).
Best regard
 

arno

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It seems the graphics card in that laptop only supports opengl until version 1.5. In the recent builds I have gone to version 3.3.

One thing I could try is to downgrade the simple shader I have, so that it still works on older machines. That one doesn't use advanced features.
 
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Yes that would be good and I wish you success.
Could the old version have worked on my laptop (opengl v1.5 compatibility) ?
 

arno

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Does MCX 1.4 work on your laptop? That one still used an older OpenGL version.
 

arno

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Humm, version 1.2 is around 10 years old. I guess that one might be using an even older OpenGL version.
 
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Hello:

Here is my archive of Arno's development releases from 30-10-2011, which has a functioning MCX v1.3 and FXEditor; a ZIP is attached below. :pushpin:

Just un-ZIP and double-click on FxEditor.exe. ;)


NOTE: Although the Intel GMA X3100 graphics chipset was initially rated to OpenGL version 1.5, later versions were rated to OpenGL 2.0

Intel has no download of graphics drivers for the GMA X3100 chip-set series compatible with Windows 7 (32-Bit) used on the ACER Emachines E510.

I was unable to find any drivers for that ACER Emachines E510 on the ACER support website.

Perhaps Windows update may offer a newer driver beyond Windows 7 (32-Bit) SP1 ? :scratchch

GaryGB
 

Attachments

  • Arno_10-30-2011_Dev_Releases.zip
    3.9 MB · Views: 117
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france
Hello
Thank you GaryGB for the file that I tested but it does not work.
I have an excetion error and a big red cross on the dislplay screen.
Thank you all
Best regard
 
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Hi again:

I may have mistakenly attached the 64-Bit version of MCX since I have a multi-core CPU.

If I have an older FXEditor version which is not dependent on a 64-Bit DLL from Arno's MCX code base, I shall attach it here as soon as I find it.

GaryGB
 

arno

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Red cross in the preview indicates a problem with OpenGL, typically not a 32/64 bit issue. And there is no 64 bit only version of MCX, all versions work on any cpu.
 
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Hi again:

Attached below is the August 11, 2011 build of FXEditor.

If this does not work for you, perhaps Arno will tell us if it requires an OpenGL version greater than 1.5.

If that August 11, 2011 build of FXEditor is indeed intended to work with OpenGL version 1.5, you may have a graphics driver issue.


In that case, you may need to either update or re-install Windows 7 (32-Bit) SP1 graphics drivers for your Intel GMA X3100 chipset.

You must have your Windows install / recovery DVD, or have an intact recovery partition on your hard drive which Windows can access.


WARNING: This type of procedure could put your existing installation of Windows at risk for a disk-wipe, data loss, and reinstall from a blank disk state.

If you are not experienced with a 'forced' graphics driver update procedure, you should not attempt this on your own.


I believe the best solution for you to consider is using a more powerful mobile or desktop type of computer for MS Flight Simulator activities.

If you have a desktop computer, you may be able to update the graphics card and/or driver to enable use of more sophisticated FS utilities. :idea:


Otherwise, if you tell us more about what you are trying to do with FXEditor, we may be able to show you how to edit Fx files with Windows NotePad. ;)


GaryGB
 

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  • FXEditor_11-08-2011.zip
    4.2 KB · Views: 136
Last edited:
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france
Hello
Thank yous GaryGB but sorry that does not work.
I wanted to enlarge and make these 2 effects more red : fx_beaconb and fx_beaconh,
because sometimes during the day they are invisible on my plane depending on the point of view. If this is possible can you tell me the parameters to modify to see what it gives in the simulator ? I can edit these files myself with the notepad.
I believe the best solution for you to consider is using a more powerful mobile or desktop type of computer for MS Flight Simulator activities.
I think so too

Best regard
 

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  • fx_beacon.zip
    1.3 KB · Views: 119
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Hi again:

Please tell us if your FS version for use of these Fx files is only FS9 or FSX (there are minor version differences in some- but not all- Fx file coding).


BTW: Are you able to run FSX on your current laptop computer ? :scratchch

[EDITED]

Documentation for Fx files is here: (IIRC, Fx code for 'Beacon' attributes is essentially identical for FS 2002 through the present Prepar3D version 5)



Effect 'Color' attributes are discussed here:

https://www.prepar3d.com/SDKv5/sdk/...cial_effects_overview.html#ParticleAttributes


Be aware that one must also check how the Beacon lights look at a distance in Multi-player mode or Tower view as Fx lights may "bloom".

One must edit "Scalar" values in FS Cfg files to reduce this excessively large / bright light effect for user aircraft and airport lights etc.



You may otherwise wish to use FSX and utilize the live, in-sim preview via FSX' VisualFx.DLL (Special Effects Tool) from the SDK by enabling it in DLL.XML.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?>

<SimBase.Document Type="Launch" version="1,0">
<Descr>Launch</Descr>
<Filename>dll.xml</Filename>
<Disabled>False</Disabled>
<Launch.ManualLoad>False</Launch.ManualLoad>
<Launch.Addon>
<Name>Object Placement Tool</Name>
<Disabled>True</Disabled>
<ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>
<Path>..\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Mission Creation Kit\object_placement.dll</Path>
</Launch.Addon>
<Launch.Addon>
<Name>Traffic Toolbox</Name>
<Disabled>True</Disabled>
<ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad>
<Path>..\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\Traffic Toolbox SDK\traffictoolbox.dll</Path>
</Launch.Addon>
<Launch.Addon>
<Name>Visual Effects Tool</Name>
<Disabled>False</Disabled>
<ManualLoad>True</ManualLoad>
<Path>..\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\Special Effects SDK\visualfxtool.dll</Path>
</Launch.Addon>
</SimBase.Document>

[END_EDIT]

GaryGB
 
Last edited:
Messages
12
Country
france
Hello
Thank you for this information which I will read and test.
Please tell us if your FS version for use of these Fx files is only FS9 or FSX (there are minor version differences in some- but not all- Fx file coding).


BTW: Are you able to run FSX on your current laptop computer ?
My Fs version is fs9. FSX is able to run on my laptop but I gave up.
I read the forum "special effects general" which also gave me some indication
and I will ask my next questions there if I have any.
Best regard
 
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