How to re-paint my Zenith Zodiac HD for FS2002 or FS2004 (FS9)
It's not hard, once you get the hang of it, so if it seems confusing at first,
just keep with it - and you'll get it.
The paint files are all in the "texture" subfolders for each aircraft (located in FS2002's
"Aircraft" folder), and are all standard Windows .bmp files. Any paint program will open
them and can edit them. I recommend making a backup folder (say "textures_old") to keep
copies of the originial .bmps.
There are a few rules involved, and here they are:
1) FS2002/4 wants to see a 256-color file. IT WILL NOT READ 16-million RGB .bmp files!
However, you're not stuck with the 256 colors of any of my files. All you have to do
is convert my .bmps to RGB format, do all the manipulation you want, and then re-convert
them to 256-colors when you are finished.
2) FS2002/4 wants only square pixel files, either 128x128, 256x256, 512x512 or 1024x1024
Mine are all 256x256, except for the pilot's face, which is 128x128 (note, you may expand
my files to 512x512 or larger formats)
4) You must keep my exact file names or FS2002/4 will not recognize your new files
5) The x,y parameters are already set for the aircraft and are listed below for each part.
All you have to do is open a file and re-paint. For example, if you want to put your face on
on the pilot, just look down the list below to find "Pilot head (front)" to see that the .bmp
file is called "Pilot_2.bmp". Open this file with your paint program, convert it to RGB
format, and then use the x,y coordinates listed below for "Pilot head (front)" to locate
on the .bmp file the exact rectangle that I used for the pilot's face. Paste your image into
the RGB file, realizing that only that part of the image that lies within the rectangle will
be used by FS2002/4. Once you are done, re-convert the image to a 256-color format - and voila -
you're finished! FS2002/4 will now read your image instead of mine, and you will now be PIC!
(BTW, if you have FS2002/4 running, you will need to shut it down and restart before it will read
your new texture file - unfortunately!)
Have fun, and, if you are new to this, realize it will take some time before you become
proficient....but, as in most things, practice makes perfect! Good luck!
Part name .bmp name upper left pixel lower right pixel
