MD-80 Flight Deck FS2002 Revision of Paul Goldings FS2000 Original
Please read this entire file as it covers some specific installation instructions, a couple of necessary troubleshooting tips concerning the installation of a few third-party gauges, and some operational tips and references.
INTRODUCTION
With Paul Goldings consent and encouragement I have updated and somewhat revised his award winning FS2000 MD-80 flight deck (the blue one). This rework brings full functionality, along with a few additions, to the FS2002 platform. Pauls current development activities preclude his revising this panel, so with his permission Ive made an attempt to do so. Please note that adding compatible gauges necessitated some bitmap revisions, but I attempted, through the subtlety of these changes, to maintain Pauls intended effect.
In an effort to maintain the integrity of the original release, Ive used the original gauges where possible and replaced the ones where necessary for compatibility. The replacement gauges include some default as well as third-party custom gauges, for which recognition is given below. I would also like to point out that I am not an accomplished custom gauge developer. I have only modified the panel bitmaps and assembled existing gauges. However, I did customize the bitmaps and operation of a few switch sets specifically for this panel.
PANEL REVISIONS
The following revisions were made in an effort to achieve maximum compatibility and integration with FS2002, as well as incorporate a few add-ons that arrived subsequent to Pauls initial release.
Revised icon panel to include the standard FS2002 toggles along with an ATC toggle, a TCAS/radar toggle, an overhead panel toggle, and a HUD toggle
Added Bill Morads ATC panel for keyboard-free ATC responses
Repackaged the default GPS in the native panel frame motif
Added and repackaged Eric Marcianos TCAS/radar gauge in the native panel frame motif (see the enclosed radar_doc file for information on using the radar gauge)
Added Concorde (FS2000) autopilot gauges You must have this gauge present in your gauges folder it is not included
Added Jorge Salas switches for all lighting, autopilot, and other switching functions
Revised HUD frame and display, and incorporated Tom Woods F16 HUD gauge
Moved windshield frames over slightly to accommodate HUD placement
Reshaped, rearranged, and recolored overhead panel
INSTALLATION
Unzip the gsmd80 archive to a temporary folder.
The folder structure should look as follows:
gsmd80 (Readme file and instructional screenshots)
|
gsmd80 (contains the aircraft panel folders)
| |
| Gauges (all gauges plus the cab files/folders)
| |
| Modules (FSsound.dll)
| |
| Original_Docs (original Paul Golding panel documentation)
| |
| Panel (all panel bitmaps and panel.cfg)
| |
| Sound (sound file to alias the panel to the 737-400 sounds)
|
Sound (all .wav files for gauges)
1.) Copy the contents of the Gauges folder to the FS2002/Gauges folder. Very Important Note: copy the cab folders into your gauge folder just as you do the .gau files, do not unzip these folders (ex. cpt.icons is one).
2.) Copy the FSSound.dll to the FS2002/Modules folder (not the gsmd80/Sound folder).
3.) Copy the contents of the panel folder to your chosen FS2002/Aircraft panel folder. Be sure, however, that youve removed the existing contents of the selected aircraft panel folder, or have renamed/backed-up the folder (ex. panel_orig.cfg).
4.) Copy the contents of the gsmd80/gsmd80/Sound folder to your chosen FS2002/Aircraft sound folder (again, be sure, however, that youve removed the existing contents of the selected aircraft sound folder, or have renamed/backed-up the folder (ex. sound_orig.cfg).
4.) Copy the contents of the gsmd80/Sound folder to the FS2002/Sound folder.
If you already have any of the above files present there is no need to overwrite the existing files.
COMMON PROBLEMS
Some of you will experience a third-party gauge error on start-up. This is generally resolved by the inclusion of the following in the FS2002.cfg file located in the main FS2002 folder:
[OLDMODULES]
FSSound.dll=1
If the [OLDMODULES] section heading is present, then add the FSSound.dll=1 beneath it. If neither is present then add the above text at the end of any section (each new section begins with bracketed text as indicated above). Any text editor (such as WordPad) may be used to accomplish this. Be sure to save a back-up of the original file.
Occasionally someone will experience an inability to set any radio frequencies. This is generally a problem with the radio initialization settings in the selected aircraft.cfg file, located in the main aircraft folder. Open the file with a text editor (again WordPad works well for this) and look for the following section heading (this is an example of the FFX/SGA DC-9-51 file):
The initialization strings should appear as follows:
[Radios]
// Radio Type=availiable, standby frequency, has glide slope
Audio.1=1
Com.1=1, 1
Com.2=1, 1
Nav.1=1, 1, 1
Nav.2=1, 1, 0
Adf.1=1
Transponder.1=1
Marker.1=1
If they do not then change them as shown above (again save a back-up of the original file first).
Very Important Note:
If you have loaded the FSSound.dll module, and this causes a system crash (I experienced this on one system during testing), simply remove the FSSound.dll from your Modules folder, and use the panel_no_clicks.cfg. Rename the existing panel.cfg to something else, and rename the included panel_no_clicks.cfg to panel.cfg. This will remove the gauges that reference the FSSound module. Removed will be the click sounds heard when moving the light and overhead switches, and it will remove Bill Morads ATC panel (the default ATC icon will be added back to the panel for ATC access). Panel functionality will not be affected. This corrected the problem noted above at least in my case.
OPERATION
I have included Pauls original documentation in this package (just click on any of the HTML files in the Original_Docs folder to view the complete documentation).
This explains the flight deck fundamentals and operational protocol. As previously mentioned, though, some changes and additions were made in the update (refer back to the PANEL REVISIONS section. Additionally, screenshots are included identifying the added/revised features. Please review these.
Note: With respect to Pauls original documentation, the installation procedures are different for the update (Ive opted for a manual installation as noted above), references to FS2000 do not apply, some of the gauges/effects are not included (such as the working windshield wiper), and the panel lighting is limited to one overhead switch. Most of the warnings and other functions listed in the docs still apply, however.
Note also that the GPS and HSI are not integrated, thus you cannot use the GPS to drive the autopilot (that Ive found anyway).
CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to Eric Marciano for his remarkable radar/TCAS gauge.
Thanks to Jorge Salas for the switch and toggles files (Jorge has a wide array of switches for just about any application).
Thanks to the entire FPDA group for all the panel and wind sound gauges and wav files, as well as the pushback gauge.
Thanks to Bill Morad for eliminating the need to search for ATC responses on the keyboard (especially in the dark) with his terrific ATC gauge.
Thanks to Tom Woods for the use of his very impressive F16 HUD gauge.
Thanks to Ed Struzynski for FS Panel Studio, which was used to assemble this panel?
And a special thanks to Paul Golding for allowing me the opportunity to try my hand at updating his award winning panel. My goal was to make this panel FS2002 compatible without destroying the ambiance Paul has achieved with this flight deck. I dont know if that was accomplished, but I certainly hope you enjoy the result.
If I've missed anyone please consider yourself included.
Note: Further credit and copyright information is supplied in Pauls included documentation.
COPYRIGHT & DISTRIBUTION
The software contained in this archive is supplied as "freeware", and as such no fee or charge may be made for its use.
The author grants permission for the free distribution of this panel in its PRESENT FORM ONLY, however the aforementioned archive and its contents, as well as all other freeware files included in this package remain the exclusive copyright of their respective authors, and again, no charge may be for any part of this archive.
DISCLAIMER
There is no warranty or guarantee of any kind, expressed or implied, for any problems whatsoever resulting from the use of this software (though its very unlikely). The user assumes all risk related to the use of these files.
PANEL ISSUES
I will certainly assist (to the best of my ability at least) with any problems or questions you may have. While Paul is the original author of this panel (and my guess is that he would be as helpful as possible), he is currently engaged with more pressing duties, and to seek his support for a second-party revision of a past freeware release would be at best unfair. As this package contains some older gauges (although the ones remaining with the update work very well on my system) there may be an occasional un-resolvable problem but I will do the best I can to help with any issues that may arise.
Thanks again for your interest,
Leon Seale
lcseale53@msn.com
08/01/2003
