Board index FlightGear Development Aircraft Cockpit development

Concorde cockpit redesign

Discussion about creating 2d and 3d cockpits.

Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby Thorsten » Mon Feb 01, 2010 11:01 am

After a few flights in the Tu-154b model, I was somewhat disappointing to get back into the Concorde (which, modelling left aside, is the plane I like better), since there is a vast difference in cockpit texture quality. Here's the standard Concorde cockpit as it comes out of the box:

Image

Image

Looks a bit flat and not very realistic, especially when you look out and see Custom France Scenery or something like that. So I decided I wanted to see something nicer when flying Concorde and looked around how the cockpit actually looks

Here's the real thing

Image

Based on this and a few other pictures, I modified the cockpit by changing the color-scheme and placing more detailed, metal-like textures on some of the panels. All buttons got a 3-d effect, and the gauges got a background socket to agree better with the look of the real cockpit. Also, I gently changed some positioning details of gauges.

Here's the result as it is now:

Image

Image

Image

There are still a few odds and ends, and I haven't tested all functionality yet (for example, when changing the size and internal shift of gauges, they may not work correctly afterwards) and the night lighting looks a bit unusual (I don't know if there is an easy fix though). And of course I am of a mind to add more texture details to the inner hull - so this rather is work in progress.

Since it's not my model, I have no clue if and how this cockpit design could eventually be distributed. For the time being, if you are interested in testing it, please drop me a PN and I'll make it available, provided I get a bug reports and further comments.

(Edit: I have since made the package available here - explanations an instructions further down).
Last edited by Thorsten on Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thorsten
 
Posts: 12490
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 9:33 am

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby Avionyx » Mon Feb 01, 2010 12:24 pm

Looks like a really nice improvement, would love to have a go if you find a way to distribute it.

Alex
Avionyx
 
Posts: 531
Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2010 4:07 pm
Location: EGMD
Callsign: G-AVYX
Version: 2020.4
OS: Manjaro

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby redneck » Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:15 pm

Very very nice, Thorsten. I always felt that the Concorde's cockpit was missing something, but I couldn't quite figure out what it was. It looks more organized with those gauge sockets, and the seats and yoke look much better as well. Better than flying on a patio chair with a yoke I can barely distinguish from the panel :)
Call Signs: redneck, ATCredn (unspecified freq atc)
FGFSCopilot
FGFSCopilotATCEdition
System Specs
Model: Alienware M15x, OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, RAM: 3 GB, CPU: Intel i3 quad core at 2.4 GHz, GPU: Nvidea GeForce GTX 460M 1.5 GB GDDR5
redneck
 
Posts: 3617
Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:17 am
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
Version: 240

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby Gijs » Mon Feb 01, 2010 5:32 pm

The biggest improvement to me seems that it finally got rid of that ugly blue color :x
Very nice work Thorsten, defenitely gets my vote to be added to CVS! A plane with such an impressive FDM/systems deserves a nice cockpit.
Airports: EHAM, EHLE, KSFO
Aircraft: 747-400
User avatar
Gijs
Moderator
 
Posts: 9544
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:55 pm
Location: Delft, the Netherlands
Callsign: PH-GYS
Version: Git
OS: Windows 10

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby isix » Mon Feb 01, 2010 5:53 pm

Gijs wrote:The biggest improvement to me seems that it finally got rid of that ugly blue color :x
Very nice work Thorsten, defenitely gets my vote to be added to CVS! A plane with such an impressive FDM/systems deserves a nice cockpit.


Blue in cockpit is very ugly!! Great work, Thorsten!!!
===========================================================================
PRESTES Hangar - http://presteshangar.wikidot.com - http://presteshangar.blogspot.com
PORTO ALEGRE - BRAZIL
MP Callsign: PR-PRE - "In Thrust We Trust...."
User avatar
isix
 
Posts: 447
Joined: Sun Sep 20, 2009 6:49 am
Location: Porto Alegre

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby MyName » Mon Feb 01, 2010 10:25 pm

Wow, nice work.
I think it resembles a FS2004/X-Plane cockpit for some reason... whatever.
MyName
 
Posts: 660
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 4:57 am

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby nerd1925 » Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:11 am

Hey Thorston,
May I ask why do you have lots of 3d buildings in your pictures most of my scenery is flat and only a couple 3d buildings are around unless I'm in Paris.
How could I get that?
Favorite Airport(s) : FADT,KLAX,KSFO,KJFK,TNCM,VHXX,VHHH,TNCC,SBVT,KDFW
Favorite Aircraft(s) : 767-300ER, A330-200, 777-200ER, 757-200, 747-400, A380, CRJ-200LR,787-800,A340-600,737-900
CEO and Founder of Delta Virtual Airlines
Pilot for Star Alliance
nerd1925
 
Posts: 293
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2009 5:36 am
Location: Palmerston North, New Zealand

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby redneck » Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:39 am

I'm going to guess there's still a new scenery project for the San Fransisco area going on.
Call Signs: redneck, ATCredn (unspecified freq atc)
FGFSCopilot
FGFSCopilotATCEdition
System Specs
Model: Alienware M15x, OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, RAM: 3 GB, CPU: Intel i3 quad core at 2.4 GHz, GPU: Nvidea GeForce GTX 460M 1.5 GB GDDR5
redneck
 
Posts: 3617
Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:17 am
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
Version: 240

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby Thorsten » Tue Feb 02, 2010 9:41 am

Thanks for the encouragement! As I said, there are a few odds and ends (warning lights which do not look proper yet, duplicate gauges which look now nice on the main panel but not in engineering...) I want to fix, and then I'll make the package here available for testing it.

I think it resembles a FS2004/X-Plane cockpit for some reason... whatever.


I wouldn't know - I am a Linux person, never have seen FS2004, never will. But I guess any two designs based on the original Concorde cockpit are bound to show some similarities in the end.

May I ask why do you have lots of 3d buildings in your pictures most of my scenery is flat and only a couple 3d buildings are around unless I'm in Paris.
How could I get that?


If your graphics chip supports it, it's dead easily done by tinkering with the random object placement in materials.xml (Flightgear is rather amazing in what you can adjust...). Basically, I increased the number of random objects placed in city areas by a factor 50-100 (dependent on building type) and picked some nice buildings from the database to place - and suddenly framerate goes down, but every city looks a bit like Paris. From usual airliner altitude, you can't really spot the difference between random buildings and a static placement like in Paris anyway 8) - from up close, Paris is of course better. One has to be a bit careful not to overdo it - some airports have urban areas close to the runway, and when placing building clusters randomly, I have seen buildings being placed on the runway. But all in all, I am rather happy.

The background textures for city are also alternative textures (both don't fit very well with San Francisco though - my choice of random buildings and background textures is more European-style where I usually fly).

I was thinking about writing a short article on tuning scenery by changing random placement and background textures (which is much more easy than, say, placement of static buildings, changing terrain elevation or terrain type) for the Wiki if there is some interest.
Thorsten
 
Posts: 12490
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 9:33 am

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby MyName » Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:07 am

Thorsten wrote:Thanks for the encouragement! As I said, there are a few odds and ends (warning lights which do not look proper yet, duplicate gauges which look now nice on the main panel but not in engineering...) I want to fix, and then I'll make the package here available for testing it.

I think it resembles a FS2004/X-Plane cockpit for some reason... whatever.


I wouldn't know - I am a Linux person, never have seen FS2004, never will. But I guess any two designs based on the original Concorde cockpit are bound to show some similarities in the end.

Yeah, I know that because of screenshots, but these were 2D panels. It looks nice anyway :)
MyName
 
Posts: 660
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 4:57 am

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby Thorsten » Thu Feb 04, 2010 8:43 am

A test version of the cockpit is now available here. The archive should go into the /Aircraft/Concorde/ folder and when extracted there creates files in the Models/ and the Panels/ subfolders.

Please make a copy of the previous Concorde model before extracting - the new cockpit will overwrite several model, texture and instrument definition files. I did two test flights an I think all gauges, clickspots and lights work properly, but I haven't checked all exotic conditions and eventualities, so please have a look and let me know is something needs to be fixed.

Have fun with the non-blue cockpit 8)

@Gijs:
Very nice work Thorsten, defenitely gets my vote to be added to CVS!


No idea how CVS additions are be handled - someone would have to explain that to me if it comes to the point...

I will probably continue to tinker with the texturing and try to get perhaps higher resolution background textures onto the main panel and some details onto the visor and inner hull (i.e. the spots which one sees all the time...) - but that may take a while, for now I enjoy flying the plane :D
Thorsten
 
Posts: 12490
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 9:33 am

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby durk » Fri Feb 05, 2010 7:34 am

Thorsten wrote:@Gijs:
Very nice work Thorsten, defenitely gets my vote to be added to CVS!



The normal procedure is that you request a FlightGear team member with CVS write access to commit your changes to CVS, and make an archive containing your changes available for download somewhere. Also, although it is technically permissible for anyone to modify an aircraft in CVS (because it's released under the GPL licence) we do honour the authorship of an aircraft model, and therefore double check with the original author whether he agrees with the changes. In case of the concorde, as far as I know, the author prefers to remain anonymous, however, Curt should have his contact information. If you wish, I could commit these changes to CVS and try to get in touch with the original author.

Cheers,
Durk
durk
 
Posts: 354
Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2008 2:01 pm
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Callsign: PH-DRK
Version: git
OS: linux

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby Thorsten » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:09 am

I would appreciate if you could try to get in touch with the author of the model or get him/her to contact me (whatever works)about permission, comments and whatever else before anything else is done. I clearly recognize that my work is a relatively minor addition to a much larger project, and if the original author is uncomfortable with that addition, I have no wish to see it used in the official release.
Thorsten
 
Posts: 12490
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 9:33 am

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby Barambu2sa » Sat Feb 06, 2010 6:35 pm

Very nice.
Thanks
Barambu2sa
 
Posts: 288
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:49 pm

Re: Concorde cockpit redesign

Postby durk » Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:52 pm

Thorsten wrote:I would appreciate if you could try to get in touch with the author of the model or get him/her to contact me (whatever works)about permission, comments and whatever else before anything else is done. I clearly recognize that my work is a relatively minor addition to a much larger project, and if the original author is uncomfortable with that addition, I have no wish to see it used in the official release.


Hi Thorsten,

I've gotten permission from the original author to commit your changes. I will try to do so this weekend.

Cheers,
Durk
durk
 
Posts: 354
Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2008 2:01 pm
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Callsign: PH-DRK
Version: git
OS: linux

Next

Return to Cockpit development

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests