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DynKit FAQ
| Contents |
| General questions |
Q: I would like to design a dynamic scenery featuring airliners in my favorite liveries. How can I do it with DynKit?
A: DynKit alone is not sufficient for this. DynKit cannot create dynamic sceneries, it can only create dynamic libraries - collections of aircrafts and other objects you can use in dynamic sceneries. There are several tools that allow creating dynamic sceneries, some of them are listed here.
Q: The frame rates are too low when using new dynamic objects. How can I improve them?
A: Most FSFS aircraft are very detailed. They consist of a large number (sometimes over 100) polygons. Each polygon takes some time to draw, therefore a large number of them has a significant impact on the frame rate, even if they appear very small on the screen. You should try to find less detailed aircraft. If you are an aircraft designer yourself, try simplifying your aircraft by reducing the total number of polygons. This procedure should be familiar to many people who struggled to fit FSFS aircraft into the 16K limit for static object in the days of FS5.1.
Q: Can I improve the frame rate by using non-textured aircraft?
A: The effect will be noticeable only without 3D acceleration. With many 3D cards, drawing textured polygons is almost as fast as drawing non-textured ones. What really matters, is the total number of polygons.
Q: How should I name textures?
A: It is important to give textures names that would correspond to the name of the dynamic library. This way, it would be easy for users to identify these textures in the main TEXTURE directory. For example, if your dynamic library is called BA_JETS.BGL, the texture names for individual objects could be BA_JETSA.?AF, BA_JETSB.?AF... Procedures for renaming textures are described in the DynKit Hangar manual.
Q: What should I do with .DKI/.DK$ files?
A: These files are not used by FS98, but only by scenery design programs. For example, you can import a .DKI file into FS Action! Scenery and choose aircraft from a list of names. Otherwise, you would have to choose by long ID strings.
If you allow others use a dynamic library you created, you should distribute it's .DKI file together with the dynamic library BGL file. This will allow other people to easily include your objects in their dynamic sceneries.
| Getting started |
Q: I watched the video and read the manual but still don't understand how to use DynKit. Are there any tutorials?
Q: I did everything as shown in the video, but no dynamic objects show up.
A: Most likely, you forgot to save your dynamic library, or saved it into a wrong place. The dynamic library BGL file, which you created in Hangar, contains information about the visual appearance of objects. The dynamic scenery BGL file, which you patched in DynPatch, contains information about their movement. Both BGL files must be installed into FS98, either in a local scenery layer, or the main scenery directory (not recommended).
Q: Converted FSFS aircraft appear without textures.
A: The accompanying textures must be copied into the main texture directory of FS98. Normally, textures used for FSFS aircraft reside in aircraft directories. These are not accessible for dynamic object shapes.
Q: After I patched my dynamic scenery with DynPatch, FS98 locks up.
A: There is a bug in DynKit Hangar v2.0 that causes FS98 to lock up if you select "Var" options when importing FSFS aircraft. Download DynKit v2.03 to correct the problem.
Q: After I patched my dynamic scenery with DynPatch, FS98 causes an exception in dynamic.dll or the dynamic scenery performs strange.
A: This is caused by a bug in DynPatch that sometimes incorrectly processed Awaken instructions. Download DynKit v2.03 to correct the problem.
Q: I can't find "Dynamic scenery with default objects.BGL" in my SCENERY folder.
A: This filename was used just as an illustration. You should create your own dynamic scenery with default objects, for example using programs like FS Action! or DOD and use that file instead. [This question was really asked - kk]
A: DynMaker is the predecessor of FS Action! Scenery. You can download it from the FS Genesis website.
| Using DynPatch |
Q: Why do I get the "Missing trailing 0" error message?
A: This message means there is more than one dynamic area in the BGL file. DynPatch v2.0 could only process BGL files consisting of only one area. Download DynKit v2.03 to correct the problem.
Q: How can I patch dynamic scenery files that came with Europe 1?
A: Make sure you have DynKit v2.03 or later. Follow these steps:
| Using FS Action and DOD with DynKit |
Q: What does F$ Action have that DOD doesn't?
A: The ability to display the underlying scenery and to preview the dynamic scenery in motion.
Q: DynKit is "fully compatible" with FS Action and DOD v2.0. But it is said to be compatible with any program...
A: By "fully compatible" I mean there is no need to use DynPatch, because the dynamic scenery generator knows about dynamic libraries and can use them directly. The disadvantage of having to use DynPatch is that you have to use it each time you generate the dynamic scenery, for example after modifications of the flight path.
Q: What about DOD v1.0?
A: You can use it too, but you will have to use DynPatch.
Q: I imported the .DKI file into FS Action and tried to use the new objects, but nothing shows up.
A: Make sure you have installed the dynamic library BGL file you made with DynKit Hangar into FS98. The .DKI file contains only references to the shapes in the dynamic library, not the shapes themselves. Therefore, you still need the dynamic library BGL file after having imported the .DKI file into FS Action.
Q: Some time ago I imported a .DKI file into FS Action and it worked, but now I can't get it to work!
A: Make sure the dynamic library is still installed into FS98. Also, make sure you have imported the latest accompanying .DKI file into FS Action. Consider this scenario:
| Legal questions |
Q: We would like to put DynKit on a commercial CD-ROM.
A: No problem. Just make sure you comply with the redistribution terms.
Q: Is there a special arrangement with SCASM/FSASM authors for using the compilers with commercial version of DynKit?
A: No. If you need to write low-level code for a commercial project, you can use the version of SCASM included in ASD.
Q: Do I have to pay the registration fee if I make shareware scenery?
A: Yes.
Q: Will my commercial registration number work for future versions of DynKit?
A: It will work for bugfixes and minor updates.
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