MadDog 2006 or 08...

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MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby TheDude71 » 28 Jan 2010 16:32

Anyone else have this aircraft?? Ive had the 2006 for some time and have always had problems with it, until I ran across a fellow pilot on VATSIM that was so kind to email me his startup procedure. Man did that help. This is a great addon to have for those who enjoy the MD80 series. Not sure about the 2008 version, Im still at the "outdated"06 version. From reading forums, the 08 has been buggy.

If anyone would like a copy of this VERY good startup procedure, I will be more that happy to email it to you!!
Clickable imiages...

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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby TheDude71 » 29 Jan 2010 18:05

Broke down and bought the upgrade maddog 2008 V3.0 last night. Install went very smooth. No wait on a key like there was when I bought the 06 version. Had to wait a week to get the activation key. This time it was instant.

Well fly her tomorrow and post some pics. Upgrade was 29 US dollars by the way.
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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby rabhaw » 16 Feb 2010 14:03

I had the 2006 for a year before I got the start up right.
Only thing I find is the brakes are really weak.
But you're right once I got the engines going it is a really good add on.

Is 2008 just for FSX?
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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby sonjamichelle » 16 Feb 2010 22:31

rabhaw wrote:Only thing I find is the brakes are really weak.


Give this thread a read: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/s ... iar-brakes

Might help with the weak breaks. Or at least point you in the right direction.

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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby TheDude71 » 17 Feb 2010 07:38

rabhaw wrote:I had the 2006 for a year before I got the start up right.
Only thing I find is the brakes are really weak.
But you're right once I got the engines going it is a really good add on.

Is 2008 just for FSX?


No, 2008 is for both. the 08 is actually an FS9 plugin for FSX. I never had any problems with the brakes being weak. I can get her stop pretty quick. I also run FSPax and actually had a brake failure on landing . Dif brakes kicked on. Cost me over a Million dollars to fix, whole hydrolic system needed to be replaced.

I got a really good start guide if you like I can email it to you. It was a huge help !!
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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby vic365 » 19 Feb 2010 15:23

I'm very interested in your thoughts on the Maddog, Brett. I have been contemplating this addon for a long time.

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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby rabhaw » 19 Feb 2010 17:06

sonjamichelle wrote:
rabhaw wrote:Only thing I find is the brakes are really weak.


I get a bad link message

FYI
I have the brakes repeat in FS9 control assignments set to 50%, for the PMDG 747, so all my fleet are 50% effective in braking Not an issue with the fleet except the MD.
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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby sonjamichelle » 19 Feb 2010 19:03

rabhaw wrote:I get a bad link message


Hrmm, the site is down for me too. Anyhow in the Aircraft.cfg file there is a section labeled Brakes

Code: Select all
[brakes]
parking_brake = 1       //Parking brake available
toe_brakes_scale = 1.0  //Brake scalar


Changing the Brake scalar will increase/decrease the effectiveness of the brakes.

The above segment is from the default FS9 Baron 58.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9\Aircraft\beech_baron_58" is where mine resides.

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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby TheDude71 » 20 Feb 2010 23:09

vic365 wrote:I'm very interested in your thoughts on the Maddog, Brett. I have been contemplating this addon for a long time.


I love it. It is a very involved aircraft. Much more than any of the PMDG series. I have had it for sometime now, but always had issues with a hot start. I ran across a nice guy on VATSIM who was so kind to share his check list with me and that forced me to dig even deeper into the manuals. Now I can't put her down. Except right now, Im in the PMDG 747.... :mrgreen: Flight model is great. VC is about a 7 out of 10. It comes with a Load manager and allows you to set up some performance issues with graphics and what not to help with the framerate hit. And it will hit your framerates hard. Much harder than any or the PMDG series. FMC is great, more attention needs to be placed here than PMDG, meaning you need your ZFW, (not just hit the L3 and it loads for you, you need to do it) V speeds you need to add. My point, the MadDog will have you thinking. I have watch approaches and landings of MD-80's on youtube, and compaired them to mine, and they are identical. And what I mean, is you really need to fly her in. Is it worth the money. Yes it is. If I had it to do again, I would go with the standard instead of the Pro. Differences are you get an analog panel and that is really about it.

I just got FS2Crew for it and played with it this morning, and man, that a complicated program to learn, still reading on that.

The ONLY issue I have is in 2D cockpit, when I look out either window, I get a studder for about 5-7 sec then smooth. That seems to be a bug of some kind. Many people have complained about it. Im sure it is fixable if you get into the panel cfg, but other than that, very smooth!! Sounds?? AWESOME!! Compatiable with WIN7 and FSPax.

On the flip side, tech support is about a 3 out of 5. Good forums, but slow tech support responce. When I first got the 06 version, I had to wait about a week and many emails to get my activation key. With the 08 upgrade, it was instant. I do not know if that was because of the upgrade, or they improved their activation method. But I cant knock them too hard, their forum had tons of help and lots of info on it.

Shes worth the $$ I would not steer you wong Vic!! :wink: :wink:
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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby TheDude71 » 21 Feb 2010 03:19

And you can connect with a friend via it's control panel and fly as pilot/copilot. Forgot about that.
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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby vic365 » 21 Feb 2010 03:27

My only concern then is the stutter in 2D. I almost never fly VC so I'll have to keep an eye out at the forums there. As far as the frame rate hit, I take it you're seeing this in VC? Or does the 2D suffer the same? Does the addon offer the ability to turn off the VC in some type of configuration utility? And, one more...if you look in your maddog's "Panel" folder do you have various view BMP's (Forward-Right, Left-Rear, etc.)?

Thanks for any answers Brett!

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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby sonjamichelle » 21 Feb 2010 06:50

A virtual cockpit is part of the 3d model. A model has to be compiled with or without the VC. One can't be removed or added after the fact without the 3D source files and compiling tools. There's no way to really turn it off. You can hide the VC in the 2D views and have the 2D use your bmp views. Exactly how escapes me at the moment, been too long, all I can remember is something about see self or hide self in a cfg file somewhere.

But, once you go into VC, it's back.

Did find this. Wouldn't really recommend it though.

Yes, you can! As far as removing the VC from the A/C model is concerned, it is perfectly possible and actually quite simple to do, involving only a hex editor and two changes to the aircraft.mdl file.

A good hex editor can be found here (Hex Workshop 4.1 - shareware but fully functional for long enough to get the job done and then some):

http://www.bpsoft.com/downloads/

Open the mdl file you want to edit and search for the following hex value: 0022003900

In the first two occurrences of that string, simply change the 39 in 0022003900 to 00. It should now look like this: 0022000000. Save the changes, OK the creation of the backup file then exit Hex Workshop to test it out in MSFS.

I have found that this works on mdl files created in GMAX, FSDS, and FSDS2. It works on the default FS9 A/C, including the new vintage models. It takes two minutes at the most to complete, and if a computer moron like me can do it, then anyone can, including chimpanzees.

If you decide to go this route, be sure you use your new mdl file powers for good, not evil.


Now this holds true for FS9. Apparently there is a change in FSX that separates the interior model as a separate .mdl (comes from an Eaglesoft Developer)

With FSX there's no need to 'hex edit' anything, since the VC is simply the seperate xxx_interior.mdl...

...simply edit the model.cfg file and comment out the interior entry to get rid of it entirely!

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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby vic365 » 21 Feb 2010 14:55

Sonja, I use a hex editor all the time to remove an aircraft's VC. The person you quoted is incorrect in one regard...you should change the second instance of 0022003900 to 0022003800, not "00", or you will lose aircraft shadows, among other things. I do this regularly without any problems. If the aircraft's interior views (Forward_Left, Right_Rear, etc.) are based on the now removed VC, I find 2D replacement BMP's, from a freeware panel, and do some easy creative editing of the Panel.cfg to install them. Voila! no more resource stealing VC (which I never use anyway). Interestingly, on my 2 recent systems, VC's don't seem to hit my framerate's so much as increase texture loading times...a pet peeve of mine.

Almost all my payware aircraft (LevelD, CS, PMDG, Dreamfleet) have a configuration tool that will allow you to turn off the VC and use seperate 2D views, before starting a flight. Without being at home to verify, I suspect most of those aircraft have seperate models and a set of 7 interior view BMP's somewhere. The one's that don't (PSS, Wilco, IK DC9) get the above treatment.

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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby TheDude71 » 21 Feb 2010 21:17

Vic,

There is an option in the load manager that disables the VC. As far as frame rate hits go, there is a performance tool with slidders to adjust the settings for your system. Instead of telling you all of this, I will post some screen shots so you can see what I am talking about. On the studdering issue, I have none except looking left or right and then they are gone. No studders anywhere else. The VC is very smooth for me, but like you, I don't fly in VC mode. So reading the threads, I wonder if my left and right views in 2d are 3d bmp's??? Idk?? That stuff is above my knowledge base. So with that said, let me load the MD with out the VC checked and see if that resolves my issue. Would you like a screen shot of the panel folder or cfg file?? Anything like that, that can help you?? Just let me know.
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Re: MadDog 2006 or 08...

Postby TheDude71 » 21 Feb 2010 22:04

Vic,
Check your PM...I sent you one.

8)
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