FS2004 Prop Assignments Upon Import

[tgibson]

Hi Arno,

I noticed in a recent update the props are no longer assigned the engine0/1/2/3 animations upon Import of an FS2004 MDL, but are assigned prop0/1/2/3_blurred - that's great, now they won't be inadvertently lost. One question. Since you know to what value the prop0/1/2/3_blurred parts are set to in the Set Conditions box, would it be possible to set them to the correct still/slow/blurred animation upon Import? I could test and find out the exact values for each state, if you like. They could be described as a generic prop0/1/2/3 in the Set Conditions box if that would reduce confusion.

If that's not feasible, if you are going to list them as a still/slow/blurred in the Set Conditions box and the default value for them is 0 (which produces still props), might I suggest that they should be prop0/1/2/3_still by default, rather than blurred?

Thanks a lot,

 

[arno]

Hi Tom,

I saw that the animation is the same for the still, slow and blurred definitions. The difference is the visibility condition. So that's why I thought it doesn't matter which animation type I assigned. Or did I miss something?

 

[tgibson]

You’re right it doesn’t really matter, except for the ability to pick them in the Hierarchy Editor by name. People who are new to this don’t really understand that though. Just trying to keep things as clear as possible. Thanks anyway.

 

[tgibson]

Upon reflection, could you change them to still? That way when someone imports a plane and makes no changes to the Set Conditions box the props are correctly assigned. It will be confusing if they see still props in the aircraft display but they are assigned to prop_blurred in the Animation Manager. Thanks!

When working with prop aircraft it's a good idea to give the prop parts their proper animation tag because then they are much easier to find in the Animation Manager (before you assign visibility conditions).

The other reason I'd like to have the default choice still props (as they now are, since 0 is the default value) is that it they are typically the "smallest" of the three still/slow/blurred prop parts, and thus it's easiest to see when you add the isolated slow and then blurred prop parts later.

Thanks,

 

[arno]

OK, I'll change the mapping to use the still variant in a next release.

 

[tgibson]

Thanks. That will at least make it easier for this old brain.

 

[tgibson]

Hi Arno,

Just a gentle reminder if you could make this change in one of the upcoming development releases - thanks!

 

[arno]

I've just coded it this afternoon, so it will be in the next development release.

 

[tgibson]

Thanks.