G2 plane Editing?
12-31-2002, 01:58 PM
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G2 plane Editing?
You can do that in G2 itself (not in G2 Lite though, I think).
To design an airplane in G2, you first select an existing airplane that resembles the one you want to design, to use as a basis for your own design. For instance, if you want to design a trainer start with the PT40, if you want to do a DH Tiger Moth start with one of the existing biplanes and so on. Unfortunately you cannot change what the airplane looks like, except for the paintwork and the size that is.
If you look in the "Aircraft selection" menu you have got a heading that says "Customize aircraft" and some buttons below the list of existing aircraft. Press "Make a Copy" to save a copy of an existing aircraft. G2 will ask you what you want to call your airplane. Then select your airplane in the list and press the "Edit" button. A new menu with a number of tabs for various features of the airplane then opens. I usually take measurements from drawings or an actual model and then input all of them into G2. That can take awhile, especially the first couple of times.
I have made maybe half a dozen new airplanes by now and also like to customize the existing ones to try out other engines, propellers, etc. It is a lot of fun!
I haven't tried editing airfields yet, but I think it works about the same way as the aircraft.
Happy New Year from Sweden!
Krister
To design an airplane in G2, you first select an existing airplane that resembles the one you want to design, to use as a basis for your own design. For instance, if you want to design a trainer start with the PT40, if you want to do a DH Tiger Moth start with one of the existing biplanes and so on. Unfortunately you cannot change what the airplane looks like, except for the paintwork and the size that is.
If you look in the "Aircraft selection" menu you have got a heading that says "Customize aircraft" and some buttons below the list of existing aircraft. Press "Make a Copy" to save a copy of an existing aircraft. G2 will ask you what you want to call your airplane. Then select your airplane in the list and press the "Edit" button. A new menu with a number of tabs for various features of the airplane then opens. I usually take measurements from drawings or an actual model and then input all of them into G2. That can take awhile, especially the first couple of times.
I have made maybe half a dozen new airplanes by now and also like to customize the existing ones to try out other engines, propellers, etc. It is a lot of fun!
I haven't tried editing airfields yet, but I think it works about the same way as the aircraft.
Happy New Year from Sweden!
Krister
12-31-2002, 02:51 PM
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G2 plane Editing?
The basic geometry of the plane is fixed. You have to find an add-on that has the geometry of the plane you want. As far as color scheme and dimensions, you can change those. I have a program on my website (links section) that will allow you to edit PLN files!
12-31-2002, 03:25 PM
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G2 plane Editing?
Good question!
Most likely you could always make it fly like a Zagi 400X. The flight characteristics are based on the various data you enter in the "Edit" screens. I have found G2 to be very good at simulating flight characteristics accurately.
As a sidenote, I "built" a Sig Kavalier in G2 a few months ago. I have been flying a real Kavalier since the early 80's, and the simulated one in G2 was so close to the real thing it was almost scary. And the only credit I can take for that is for entering the data... it is G2 that does all the magic using what you input.
The problem would be what the model would look like in G2, as you cannot change the shape of the existing aircraft and you cannot add new shapes. This means, you can probably make your design fly like a Zagi, but it would have the shape of a PT40, AT-6, Skybolt, or whatever you would have based it on in G2.
This is pretty much the only detail which I don't like about G2. I would like to see at least some basic shape editing function, but I have absolutely no idea if that is coming in some future version or not. For many designs you can find an existing airplane that is close enough for looks, but for a Zagi 400X (a flying wing, isn't it or am I mixing it up with someother model?) is see your problem.
Krister
Most likely you could always make it fly like a Zagi 400X. The flight characteristics are based on the various data you enter in the "Edit" screens. I have found G2 to be very good at simulating flight characteristics accurately.
As a sidenote, I "built" a Sig Kavalier in G2 a few months ago. I have been flying a real Kavalier since the early 80's, and the simulated one in G2 was so close to the real thing it was almost scary. And the only credit I can take for that is for entering the data... it is G2 that does all the magic using what you input.
The problem would be what the model would look like in G2, as you cannot change the shape of the existing aircraft and you cannot add new shapes. This means, you can probably make your design fly like a Zagi, but it would have the shape of a PT40, AT-6, Skybolt, or whatever you would have based it on in G2.
This is pretty much the only detail which I don't like about G2. I would like to see at least some basic shape editing function, but I have absolutely no idea if that is coming in some future version or not. For many designs you can find an existing airplane that is close enough for looks, but for a Zagi 400X (a flying wing, isn't it or am I mixing it up with someother model?) is see your problem.
Krister
12-31-2002, 10:56 PM
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G2 plane Editing?
Your sure I couldn't design an aircraft using a program like autocad and use a file converter to make it the right file extension? btw, what is an aircrafts file extension?
12-31-2002, 11:17 PM
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G2 plane Editing?
Sorry, I have never heard of any such converter. I am sure a lot of people would love to have something like that if it was available. The guys who make G2 obviously must have some sort of tool for doing new aircraft shapes, but I have no idea how they do it.
The aircraft are in a subdirectory called "RealFlight\Planes". They have the extension .PLN. Then there are .ENG files too. Those are engines that can be used by different planes. These files are just text files that seem to be storing the data you enter in the edit screens for the aircraft inside G2.
I am not quite sure where the aircraft shapes as such are stored. I will have a look around to see if I can find them.
...and it just turned 2003 overhere as I was typing.
Krister
The aircraft are in a subdirectory called "RealFlight\Planes". They have the extension .PLN. Then there are .ENG files too. Those are engines that can be used by different planes. These files are just text files that seem to be storing the data you enter in the edit screens for the aircraft inside G2.
I am not quite sure where the aircraft shapes as such are stored. I will have a look around to see if I can find them.
...and it just turned 2003 overhere as I was typing.
Krister
12-31-2002, 11:38 PM
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G2 plane Editing?
I looked for aircraft shapes without much success. The .PLN files have a reference to the aircraft they are based on. An example:
BasedOn=o:\rfv2\image\planes\Ultimate Biplane.bse
My computer does not have an O: drive and I cannot find any .BSE files either, so I am beginning to think this is something G2 handles internally at runtime.
I also noticed the .PLN files are only created for aircraft you make yourself. I cannot find any .PLN files for the original aircraft from G2 or the Add-on volumes. They must be stored elsewhere in another format.
There is a subdirectory called "Data" which holds a number of .ADJ and .DCK files. I do not know what they are, but I guess it might be where G2 is keeping its' stuff.
Krister
BasedOn=o:\rfv2\image\planes\Ultimate Biplane.bse
My computer does not have an O: drive and I cannot find any .BSE files either, so I am beginning to think this is something G2 handles internally at runtime.
I also noticed the .PLN files are only created for aircraft you make yourself. I cannot find any .PLN files for the original aircraft from G2 or the Add-on volumes. They must be stored elsewhere in another format.
There is a subdirectory called "Data" which holds a number of .ADJ and .DCK files. I do not know what they are, but I guess it might be where G2 is keeping its' stuff.
Krister
