Where am I? Instrumentation.

TSD Update

Added a number of navigation glyphs to the TSD, going to need a bigger test map.

Trying this new FSAA full screen anti-alias shader. Trees look a little posterised, edges look a little softer. Still in two minds about it. Performance seems the same.

Expanded the navigation systems a little. Present Position (PP) toggles your location given in Decimal Degrees using WGS84 ellipsoidal calculation. The map tile provides origin position in lat/lon. I highly recommend this Microsoft white paper if you're interested in mapping data.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc749633(v=sql.100).aspx

Basic conversion is (using doubles for precision):

// METERS_PER_NM = 1852.0;
// METERS_PER_DEGREE = 60 * METERS_PER_NM;
// Map Tile origin in lat/lon degrees in
//    Tile.MapLongitude and Tile.MapLatitude
//
// Input: TVec3: pos; entity object position we want in lat/lon
// Output: TVec3:LatLon; in decimal degrees

Tile.MapConvergence = cos(Tile.MapLatitude * DEGREES_TO_RADIANS);

LatLon.x = Tile.MapLongitude + pos.x / METERS_PER_DEGREE / Tile.MapConvergence;
LatLon.y = Tile.MapLatitude + pos.z / METERS_PER_DEGREE;

Seems to work well enough on this scale without having to resort to complex calculations.

More cockpit switches have been given functions, nav lights and stobes. The aircraft spotlight was given it's own 3D mesh finally, so it will pop-out on demand, will make it steerable too. The switch to deploy the spotlight (it's a 4-way hat, extend, retract, left, right) is located mid collective and we don't have the cockpit et-up to allow mouse clicks on these controls. There's no other cockpit switch provided so for now it will be hot-keys/joystick input command only (although /skey spotlight 1 in the console  works too).

Standby instrumentation now working: alt and airspeed needles now indicating (little calibration needed). Texture mapping the artificial horizon ball (attitude indicator) has been driving Dave crazy to get the degree markings all lined up but he got there with only mild insanity, muttering things about 3D Max and inability to do flexible sphere mapping without crashing. Finished the standby magnetic wet compass (wet as it contains fluid, not much different from the ancient Chinese compasses consisting of a needle floating on water). That completes the analog instruments in this helicopter.

The Horizon Ball was one of those silly problems that sucked up more time than it should have. Pitch applied then a local roll. Problems with the objects XFORM (3D MAX modifier) caused some issues until AD got it licked on the second try this morning.

Additional FARP furniture is in progress: 70mm Hydra rocket pallets (pictured below), flags, 30mm ammo boxes and spent shell casings for fall out the bottom of the cannon.

*edit*

Update to Apron lights (and ground based static navigation lighting, such as tower hazard lights). Now we're looking more like a science-fiction film.

Next step

Finishing mapping and route navigation today and tomorrow. Then it's back to the firing range to complete the exploding fx tests.