P-47 Thunderbolt cockpit modding references and discussion

I have been trying to reorder the D10 pit, moving, replacing or adding parts where needed. These shots won't be too spectacular as many parts still have the old textures and have not received Taurus' special treatment yet. I'm open to any comment on the accuracy of my changes.

Stock D10 Pit Right



Reworked D10 Pit Right

with radio switchbox added, O2 regulator replaced and recognition switchbox moved



Stock D10 Left



Reworked D10 Left with Main switchbox, and fuel valve switches moved, some of new Taurus textures are applied here (can you find them? :lol: ).



Stock D10 Hand hold?



Handhold now removed



Current state of pit rework:





Things to do:
-add some plumbing to O2 regulator
-Maybe replace the throttle handle unless the stock handle is more correct for the D10.
-a couple of 'long shot' items that I will mention if I find out they are possible.
-Get my files organized and onto Taurus' computer for texturing ASAP.



Poncho
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Looks absolutley great- much more thought out and closer to the actaul item now. I too wondered about the throttle handle- seemed abit more longish as I recall, but perhaps it changed one or more times with succesive versions?
I do hope that one of you is able to retexture that dreadful map case! Confusedhock:
Seriously Poncho, A+ stuff!
Keep up the noble work!
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Just a question about the last picture of the front panel of the cockpit.

The join between the panel and the black-background and new gunsight is very 'harsh' it goes from detailed grey panel with bevel edge to pitch black flat background. It looks sort of 'stuck on' or slotted in.

Is it possible to blend that control panel better than having it look like a 2D stuck on plate. I'm thinking that the black could be changed to the dark grey of the panel? Also maybe add a few chips just to lessen the effect of how obvious the join is?

Similar effect on the very edge of the panel too! Is it possible to darken the green area at the join to make it look a little more like a join with shadow, rather than as before just 'stuck on'?

I really am loving the work that is being done, please don't look at this as criticism, it's just once this is done, as a Jug pilot, I'd love to get the immersion that so many other pilots get with their favourite ride.

Thanks again, SM
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You have been busy Poncho!

Many thanks for getting rid of those damned "Hand holds"!!!! They ranked right up there with the original fubar'd gunsight. (I still don't know what they are supposed to be?)

Very nice work getting the recognition lights panel moved to the right location.

The ball handle throttle is for the B's. Later versions had various long handle types with switches. The layout of the the throttle quadrant is pretty correct except the handles don't line up with the textured slots. I think it's going to be easier to readjust the texture to realign the slots at the expense of authenticity.

Great to see the SCR-S22 radio set added. Smile

Excellent work as usual!
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Spidermonkey Wrote:Just a question about the last picture of the front panel of the cockpit.

The join between the panel and the black-background and new gunsight is very 'harsh' it goes from detailed grey panel with bevel edge to pitch black flat background. It looks sort of 'stuck on' or slotted in.

Is it possible to blend that control panel better than having it look like a 2D stuck on plate. I'm thinking that the black could be changed to the dark grey of the panel? Also maybe add a few chips just to lessen the effect of how obvious the join is?

Similar effect on the very edge of the panel too! Is it possible to darken the green area at the join to make it look a little more like a join with shadow, rather than as before just 'stuck on'?

I really am loving the work that is being done, please don't look at this as criticism, it's just once this is done, as a Jug pilot, I'd love to get the immersion that so many other pilots get with their favourite ride.

Thanks again, SM

A fresh set of eyes will always pick up stuff that the artist wil miss, simply by working too closely and getting accustomed to the work seeing it over and over again. Fair criticism will make the work better by picking up stuff that is missed so by all means let us know like you have.

I totally agree that it looks stuck on. The black behind the panel is a problem for me as I would really like to be able to texture it, but I cant find it at the moment. And you will see most of the new textures have a white halo around them. The textures are pretty raw as far as transparencies and shadows are concerned. The pit is a "factory fresh" version and I hope much better artists than me will do it justice. Poncho is doing some brilliant work adding content. When the main content is in postition, then the "blending in" can be done to merge all the parts together with their respective shadows and lighting.

It may be a while but I've got some large wings of B-17's to escort once this is all done :wink:

[edited for typo]
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taurus Wrote:And you will see most of the new textures have a white halo around them. The textures are pretty raw as far as transparencies and shadows are concerned.

Adjusting AlphaTestVal in the mat file should lose the halo.Also a layer from the alpha mask coloured dark grey (or anything but white) should help blend the transparency edges.

MCycle skin was tricky with all the spokes, but this worked -
Quote:[ClassInfo]
ClassName TMaterial
BasedOn base.mat
[Layer0]
TextureName BSAskinhi0.tga
TfTestA 1
AlphaTestVal 0.5 // of [0.1, 0.5, 0.9]
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I noticed none of the Jug-team have posted in this thread, so just in case you didn't see this little beauty:

(The link is inoperative)

No more splashscreen extraction of tga's! An interesting revelation from this was the discovery that many cockpit textures are rectuangular, and not all square as was formerly supposed.
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Thanks Bee for the heads up! Fortunately I am very familiar with Dr.Jones' superb work and am so glad that he is on board here at AAA as well.

Thanks for the tips Fisneaky. I will use use them to finish off the textures once they are ready. The fringing seems to be a major issue with tga tranparencies in any game from what I have googled.

cheers,
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The dark zone behind the panel is one of the things that I wanted to see corrected from the beginning. But there were other more pressing problems with the pit. Retexturing the dark area has been suggested. I can look at the Body.msh file in greater detail for clues as to where this texture is located.

In combination with this retexturing I have thought about transplanting the behind panel cowling from the Hellcat (or was it the Corsair?) and stretching it to fit behind the P47 panel. I have seen this design in P47 models in other sims. I think that would make everything appear much more seamless. As it is now with the dark zone it gives the appearance of a too small cockpit tub sliding around in a too large hole.

Also if the long handled throttle lever is better for the P47C, D. I think we should use it. There are several that we could use. And as transplants go this would be an easy one. The alignment of the lever in the slot could maybe even be improved with a little tweaking.

PS: Taurus I have a version of Misk1.tga that you sent me that is missing a toggle switch, that is why I used the stock version for some of the screens. Not a problem for my work, just letting you know in case you hadn't caught it yet.

Poncho
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it's looking fantastic! 8) great job!
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I will need to send you my current directory Poncho so you can see what I am working with. I have been using alpha channels in the tga's to knock graphics out so mine will show through from the base texture. Hence the switch missing.

The rudder pedals needs to be revisited badly. It is getting closer to get the parts we have together and see how it all interacts for final texture renders.



(I lost a texture and it reverted to black so some parts rendered are fubar'd :roll: )

cheers.
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Confusedhock:

dribble...dribble..dribble...dribble Wink

OMG!

Cheers, SM
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This is insane................................ Confusedhock:
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Looking Good Taurus Smile Check you PMs.

I just noticed that there is an updated filelist in the mod tools section. That means I could get the throttle handle from the Tempest which I think would work nicely in the P47. Smile
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chris455 Wrote:This is insane................................ Confusedhock:

OMG...I go away for a couple days and look what happens to my beloved Jug...she is turning into an awsome beauty of a lady. You guys are just fabulous. I do agree the throttle handle should be longer in the D models. There is a training film on the jug somewhere. I can't find my link to it now. It gives a good view inside the cockpit of a D and should give good reference. If I can find teh link I'll post it. Maybe at Zenos?
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