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Reading Topic #260
Hi friends !I´ve heard, that I can use an Area() directive in the .cvf file to use better than 640 x 480 display resolution for the Levers. How ´ll this directive used, what kind of values, spellings, etc...best regards,Markus
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LAST EDITED ON Oct-02-02 AT 10:38 PM (EDT)
Hi Markus,I got your e-mail but I figured I would respond here to share it with everyone.You can use the Area() keyword in the definition of a cab display (I haven't tried controls, but it's probably the same). The catch is that I don't think this can be done with the MSTS cab editor.It's actually a good idea to forget the cab editor entirely and hack your own .cvf file directly, as long as you maintain the discipline of testing after every change you make.Credit goes to Joe Realmuto for showing me this idea and how it works.So, here is an example of the use of Area()
Gauge (
Type ( SPEEDOMETER GAUGE )
Position ( 250 315 120 20 )
Area ( 0 0 120 20 )
Graphic ( speedo.ace )
Style ( POINTER )
ScaleRange ( 0 96 )
ZeroPos ( 0 )
PositiveColour ( 1
ControlColour ( 0 0 0 )
)
NegativeColour ( 0 )
Orientation ( 0 )
DirIncrease ( 1 )
Units ( KM_PER_HOUR )
)
The Position() and Area() dimensions are both referred to the 640 x 480 screen size. The trick is that the graphic file speedo.ace is actually larger than 120 x 20, in this case 1.6 times larger at 192 x 32, rendered for a screen size 1.6 times larger, in other words 1024 x 768.To get good results in different MSTS user resolutions, you have to use this round ratio to avoid horrible aliasing when the graphic is reduced under certain settings. The graphic above looks perfect in MSTS at 1024 x 768 (the native resolution in which it was rendered) but looks rather crappy in 800 x 600 due to aliasing. It also looks good at 1280 x 960.My advice is to render at 1024 x 768 and choose a graphic size that is divisible by 1.6It puts a few more constraints on the already complicated art of creating a decent cab from scratch, but the results are worth it because sometimes it's really hard to make a legible display when all you have to work with is 640 x 480 resolution!cheers
--
Clem
http://www.tillier.net/speedworks/index.html
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