Question Turning off the Engine Block in glass cockpit view

[skyeboy]

I'm aware of the ctrl-h shortcut to turn off the MFDS and most of the rest of the HUD in the glass cockpit view; but I can't get rid of the MFD power buttons nor (more importantly) the engine block display.

I've been hoping to use the tracking feature of the orbflyby camera, which only works from a cockpit view.

I know I could screen record in 4K and just crop out everything I don't want for a final video in 1080, but I'd rather not have to bother with that if I don't have to.

Thanks.

PS. I know someone else had asked this question a few years ago; but the only response I saw was something about changing the HUD texture to something blank--but I don't know how to do that either.

 

[Marijn]

I think it can be done by erasing the unwanted elements from the HUD texture. I'll have a look.

---------- Post added at 08:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:11 PM ----------

The file you want to modify is \Textures\Cockpit\Glasspit.dds. You can do so with most image manipulation programs like Photoshop or Gimp.

I am using Gimp 2.10.8 to open and edit .dds files. I don't remember if you need to install a plugin for dds for this version of Gimp. I think it can handle dds files out of the box now, but I am not sure.

In your case, replacing the Glasspit.dds with an empty dds file might be just what you need.

---------- Post added at 10:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:22 PM ----------

I saved an empty dds. You can give it a try: [̶u̶r̶l̶]̶h̶t̶t̶p̶s̶:̶/̶/̶d̶r̶i̶v̶e̶.̶g̶o̶o̶g̶l̶e̶.̶c̶o̶m̶/̶o̶p̶e̶n̶?̶i̶d̶=̶1̶I̶d̶T̶S̶l̶v̶2̶Y̶2̶i̶c̶m̶v̶Y̶u̶x̶y̶4̶x̶N̶j̶p̶W̶E̶f̶q̶a̶L̶s̶l̶Q̶I̶[̶/̶u̶r̶l̶]̶

 

[skyeboy]

The file you want to modify is \Textures\Cockpit\Glasspit.dds. You can do so with most image manipulation programs like Photoshop or Gimp.

I am using Gimp 2.10.8 to open and edit .dds files. I don't remember if you need to install a plugin for dds for this version of Gimp. I think it can handle dds files out of the box now, but I am not sure.

In your case, replacing the Glasspit.dds with an empty dds file might be just what you need.

AWESOME! Thank you! I actually decided to over-write the "Glasspit_yellow.dds" with an alpha only blank texture... as that's a color I don't care for. I just realized I can simply switch to that "null" texture in-game by simply using ALT-H to change colors.

Thanks again Marijn! BTW, you don't happen to fly the Condor sim by any chance? (just commenting on your sailplane avatar).

 

[Marijn]

BTW, you don't happen to fly the Condor sim by any chance?

No, I don't think my laptop is up to it. Folks at my flying club are building a simulator based on Condor, with a real fuselage of a Twin-Astir and real controls. I might like it.

---------- Post added at 10:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:11 PM ----------

I just realized I can simply switch to that "null" texture in-game by simply using ALT-H to change colors.

That's a nice solution indeed.

You can also get rid of the labels 'replay' and 'recording' in the lower part of the screen when replaying or recording if they bother you or your screen captures.

---------- Post added at 10:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 PM ----------

Thing is, although invisible, the buttons keep on working. It would be nice to hack them out alltogether.

 

[skyeboy]

No, I don't think my laptop is up to it. Folks at my flying club are building a simulator based on Condor, with a real fuselage of a Twin-Astir and real controls. I might like it.

That's great your flying club is doing that. Would be fun to fly it in a physical cockpit like that. I made scenery for just the island of Oahu for Condor 1 using aerial photographs with a 1 foot per pixel resolution--which was much higher than the DX7 textures could handle; so I had to reduce the resolution a lot for the game. Now that Condor 2 is out which supports very high resolution graphics and terrain, I doubt I'll ever take the time to remake the scenery.

That's a nice solution indeed.

You can also get rid of the labels 'replay' and 'recording' in the lower part of the screen when replaying or recording if they bother you or your screen captures.

Yeah, earlier today I discovered that all can be changed by right clicking the menu at the top--as I was looking for ways to get rid of the general info text at the top corners of the screen.

 

[Marijn]

Yeah, earlier today I discovered that all can be changed by right clicking the menu at the top--as I was looking for ways to get rid of the general info text at the top corners of the screen.

Actually, the labels I mentioned cannot be hidden from inside Orbiter. You need a hex editor to erase them from the D3D9Client.dll file. That's why I mentioned them. If you are hiding elements, I guess you will run into this rather soon as well.

 

[skyeboy]

Actually, the labels I mentioned cannot be hidden from inside Orbiter. You need a hex editor to erase them from the D3D9Client.dll file. That's why I mentioned them. If you are hiding elements, I guess you will run into this rather soon as well.

Hmmm... well, here's a screen shot taken during a "stock" replay of Atlantis undocking from the ISS, taken from the ISS' "glass cockpit". Perhaps the current version of D3D9Client I'm using has addressed this issue? Or am I missing something?

 

[Marijn]

Or am I missing something?

If you start recording, a label appears at the bottom of the screen. Not sure about the glass cockpit, but it does in the 2D cockpit. There is also an extra label being displayed when replaying an Orbiter flight. These are doublures, because Orbiter is already showing icons for this at the top right of the screen. You only run into this when recording or replaying. But it's good to know that some user interface elements are added by the 3D39 client and that they can be edited using a hex editor directly modifying the dll file.

 

[kuddel]

@Martijn: I would not recommend using a hex-editor on D3D9Client.dll
Using a hex-editor is usually the last resort in case no one has access to the source-code or a feature-request is not likely to be accepted.

Here however, neither the first nor the second case is true

If skyeboy is willing to wait a bit I am sure that an option will be added to D3D9Client.cfg which allows to disable the Record/Replay labels.

 

[Marijn]

Yes, perhaps it's better not to promote these kind of modifications to prevend inexperienced users going down a slippery path. I found this tip myself on this forum somewhere in an old post. I never bothered to issue this as a feature request because I learned soon after that some animations like the movement of control surfaces are not animated in the replay-mode. So I have to screen capture my flight live anyways for the best results.

 

[skyeboy]

@Martijn: I would not recommend using a hex-editor on D3D9Client.dll
Using a hex-editor is usually the last resort in case no one has access to the source-code or a feature-request is not likely to be accepted.

Here however, neither the first nor the second case is true

If skyeboy is willing to wait a bit I am sure that an option will be added to D3D9Client.cfg which allows to disable the Record/Replay labels.

I just did some recordings and playbacks last night, and I really don't have any "record/replay" text or symbols on my screen at all; so it's not an issue for me; but thanks for the warning of hex editing.

Now if I could find a way to keep the orbiter fly-by camera target tracking auto-pan from jerking when the ship is approaching. It pans smoothly as the XR5 is passing nearly perpendicular to the camera and past it (looking at the target from the rear); but not when it's approaching the camera. (same issue on two different computers and I presume in part because it was designed for Orbiter 2006); but now I'm getting into a different topic.