MS Flight Simulator - T.C.'s Chopper & Robin's Nest

[J.J. Walters]

Fellow Magnum fan Vanity recently informed me that MS Flight Simulator 2004 has a free Hawaiian scenery add-in (fan created), which also contains T.C's chopper (and T.C.!) & Robin's Nest! How cool is that! And he sent me these sweet screenshots:

T.C. & His Chopper



Robin's Nest #1



Robin's Nest #2



The chopper is very well done. I'd love to take that for a spin around Honolulu! Robin's Nest is ..... well ..... all wrong, but I appreciate the effort someone took to do it! And those dogs look like rottweilers.

Anyway, much thanks to Vanity for sending these! Now I just need to get Flight Simulator! I remember playing it years ago, probably early 90s. It sure looks a heck of a lot better now than it did then!

[Waltstasz]

That's pretty cool.

Zeus and Apollo look like Dachshunds instead of Dobermans to me, though.

[Danno]

That's very cool!
Is that TC in the chopper?

[Koolau Kine]

Cool!

Nice pictures.

[golfmobile]

I fly that all the time!! I have MSFS 2004 (FS9) and FSX. The chopper was made for FS9 so I had doubts it would transfer to FSX but it did -- but the gauges in the cockpit are "dead" in FSX.

I posted a video on youtube of me "flying" it around Kauai:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16BtJG6ZWEs

It's not a very good video -- it was when I was just learning to fly and just learning to take videos of my FS flying.

I'd love to get the Robin's Nest scenery for it. Can you have Vanity post where those of us who have MSFS can download it?

James, if you're going to get MSFS for the helicopter, best to get the FS9 (Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight) because that's the program the heli works best in. And be prepared to spend the next year of your life dedicated to learning to fly helicopters in MSFS, plus brace yourself for the outlay of money for an upgraded computer to handle all the graphics, plus all the equipment of a double-stick joystick, for example, the Saitek X52 (so you can "operate" the cyclic and collective separately), and then pedals for your feet.

I fell in love with flight simming ONLY because I wanted to go to Hawaii and "fly a helicopter" like T.C. Before we went, my spouse suggested I get MSFS so I could learn at least a little of what I was going to be doing if I were in a helicopter. And just last month I DID fly a Robinson 22 in Hawaii! I couldn't hover at all, but I did fly it (with an instructor pilot in the cockpit with me) for about a half an hour -- about 25 miles down the coast and back. It was the COOLEST thing I've ever done in my life.

Video of my attempting to hover (failed miserably but I didn't crash the heli) on Webshots at:

http://rides.webshots.com/album/558837604mWBDhn

golf

P.S. I found the download. You have to "join" the site, but it's free to join. If anyone else wants it, it's here (go to nearly the bottom of the page):

http://www.surclaro.com/downloads_c29_390_titleA.html

P.P.S. Well, I downloaded it and installed it. I just can't figure out how to use it! Maybe Vanity can help me with this. Usually with add-on scenery for FS9, there are README files or some kind of instructions. I didn't find them with this download. I really want to "find" Robin's Nest, but I have not been able to do so. Please ask Vanity to send me some kind of message so we can email directly with each other so I can figure this out.

I did do a "fly-by" -- but I didn't find Robin's Nest. I just flew T.C.'s heli:

http://rides.webshots.com/video/3048788 ... 1870pqQhUv

golf

[J.J. Walters]

Hey golfmobile, cool videos! Looks like you can fly T.C.'s bird pretty well! Love those barrel rolls!

I did do a "fly-by" -- but I didn't find Robin's Nest.

North Shore, Kalakaua Road (or Avenue, or Street depending on which episode you are viewing) - Italian Ice, Double Jeopardy and Unfinished Business. Heh sorry, couldn't resist!

Do you think my PIII/512 MB, 16MB integrated video card will play FSX? Just kidding, I need to get a new computer, big time!

Thanks again for sharing those videos! Really, really cool! Let us know when you find Robin's Nest.

[golfmobile]

Well, I fear I have to give up on flying over it and landing there until Vanity sends me more specific instructions on how to install it correctly. I've PM'ed him but not heard anything yet. I thought it was installed, but when I flew over where it should be, I can see the estate in "flat" Google Earth format, but no 3D buildings for added scenery such as was shown in the screenshots. Here's how it looks in FS via Google Earth (coordinated with FS via FS Earth, so it's a combination of Google's satellite shots and FS-generated scenery):

. . . . well, I've posted pictures two places on the internet, dropshots and Webshots, and I can't get them to show up here as anything but thumbnails, which are virtually useless. But if you want to block and copy these paths into the address bar, you can view the pictures:

http://image57.webshots.com/557/7/96/79 ... s/FullSize

http://image57.webshots.com/657/4/30/35 ... s/FullSize

http://image50.webshots.com/550/4/94/74 ... s/FullSize

(I tried putting the [img] tags around those paths, but the preview just showed them all written out that way, not the pictures showing. Don't know what I'm doing wrong, but you can get to the pictures via block and copy, or they may work as links.)

Anyway, if I hear from Vanity, and I hope he can help me so I can get the add-on scenery properly installed, I'll post more pictures, if anyone is interested.
golf

[golfmobile]

One final note on this subject:

I was finally able to get it all installed, but I didn't have all the scenery objects that the creator of the scenery had, so my buildings were 10 feet in the air, no palm trees, and it wasn't even on the coast. So unless one has the same set-up as the creator of the scenery, it probably isn't going to work very well.

And from what I could see, it didn't look ANYTHING like the estate, as James first pointed out. But you must realize that one is limited in scenery creation in MSFS to the scenery objects available for "placing" somewhere and I doubt there are many buildings that really look like the buildings on the estate. I may try to do it for myself (I have EZ Scenery) but it will be purely for my own use, and unless someone has the exact same setup I have, anything one tries to use that I have created -- won't work for the end-user, probably.

It's a good idea though -- but only if one wants to do it for oneself -- not to use someone else's creation, if that makes any sense.

I took a video of what I could see and it's uploading to the internet now (takes a while). If anyone is interested, I'll post a link to what I was able to see and "film."

golf

[J.J. Walters]

Uh, bummer. I'm surprised they don't have an "import objects" feature, or something, that automatically brings in all the objects needed.

But, yeah, post the video. I'd love to see it.

I found another REALLY GOOD Flight Simulator, Hawaii-themed, clip. No MPI, but it does feature a Hughes 500D (and lots of other airplanes), lots of Hawaiian locations, and the Hawaii Five-O theme song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7TRBuXxRAo



Awesome stuff!

[Vanity]

Awsome trailor for this Hawaii FS. If the rest is as good as the promo trailer, it sure is worth getting it for a virtual ascape to paradise.

[golfmobile]

I wish I had the time to develop such wonderful film editing skills! That's the difference of what you see when a professional makes the film!

Here is where my little film is -- no music, no fancy credits -- but this was all I could see with the setup I have on my computer (and in my setup, the estate isn't even on the coast!). I have most of the Hawaii scenery addons, just not Lago (I don't even know what that is).

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/30 ... 0377omEaHC

So after seeing this, you can see why I don't need to pursue this much more in terms of "flying there" -- unless there are instructions with the installations that DOES add all the scenery extras that are obviously missing in this film (maybe certain files to be added to different folders) and corrections to placement so it's not so far inland. After I flew over "the estate," I went back to the North Shore airport (Kaneheo?) and landed.

Compare the screenshots of first one to the one below, that a Hovercontrol member worked up quite quickly just for fun when I posted a question there about how to get the first one installed (this one has the better driveway, I think, though it probably needs a lot more vegetation):



golf

[J.J. Walters]

Golf, I noticed at the Surclaro site that there is an estate "fix" zip file. Did you install this already?

http://www.surclaro.com/downloads_c29_390_titleA.html

How about a quick video of the chopper crashing into the tidal pool?

[golfmobile]

Hi, James,

Yes, I got the fix too, but after more investigation (and I finally found the installation instructions), I found out that the scenery just won't show up with all the bells and whistles unless I have the payware Lago FS (scenery) Enhancer program.

So I spent about an hour last night "building" my own scenery. I don't have the right buildings for appearance purposes, but it's good practice for scenery creation to play with this. When I get it finished, I'll upload some screenshots. Right now I just need to find an "objects library" that is compatible with EZ Scenery that contains a tennis court and a Ferrari (I have a red car, which I can use, so don't anybody pick on me for not having a Ferrari, much less the right model!).

The tedious part is adding all the trees only two or three at a time. There are a LOT of trees on that property!

I'll be happy to provide a video of crashing into the tidal pool! No problem there!!! Stay tuned.

golf

[J.J. Walters]

I found out that the scenery just won't show up with all the bells and whistles unless I have the payware Lago FS (scenery) Enhancer program.

Ugh, that blows.

That's cool that you are getting into custom 3D "object creation" and graphics design with the game. It's a great learning (and skills sharpening) experience. I did a little bit of it with "Rollercoaster Tycoon 2", which uses isometric viewpoints and .dat files. I wasn't very good at it, but it was much fun and I learned a thing or two!

I'll be happy to provide a video of crashing into the tidal pool! No problem there!!! Stay tuned.

Hey, see if you can whip up a quick animation sequence of Magnum running down the beach. Ala Two Birds of a Feather, you can swoop in behind Magnum and nose dive right into the tidal pool rocks!

[golfmobile]

I played around a little more tonight, adding more vegetation, etc. Here are some pictures. But I can't add the driveway because MSFS has an elevation where the driveway is, and I can't add the driveway on a slant and I can't add the main highway or the entrance gate. So this is all I can do for now.







I did a video of TC trying to land on the beach, but youtube hasn't processed it yet, so I tried Webshots. At the least, this should be a link:

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/30 ... 0377dIkeCh

Hope these photos and the video work. I seem not to have been able to figure out how to post a picture that shows up in the post. (James, please tell me why my images from dropshots, webshots, or even photobucket don't show up except as a "block-and-copy" option!)

golf