Encrypted Panels/Gauges

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   Ed, I almost hesitate to bring this up, and I don't do so with animosity, but....
I saw a reference you made to "encrypted" panels/gauges. I bought the FSD Porter planes recently and then also recently (yesterday) purchased the Garmin 530 XP. I've gotten dangerous enough over the last five or six years (and diligently read the SDKs when Microsoft gets around to putting them out!) with panels and a little bit with gauges.
Is there some logic I'm missing with FSD's approach to their panels/gauges? I kind of resent being forced to run installs and .exe for auto-installs to use add-on planes. On the plus side, the FSD Porters are a dream and I'm sure there are many other wonderful add-on planes (similar to mine) out there as well. But again, is there some sort of method to their madness, or is it strictly an attempt to reduce piracy?
Art

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artburke Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: January-23-2004 Location: United States Points: 36	Post Options Post Reply Quote artburke Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Encrypted Panels/Gauges Posted: January-25-2004 at 4:19pm
	Ed, I almost hesitate to bring this up, and I don't do so with animosity, but.... I saw a reference you made to "encrypted" panels/gauges. I bought the FSD Porter planes recently and then also recently (yesterday) purchased the Garmin 530 XP. I've gotten dangerous enough over the last five or six years (and diligently read the SDKs when Microsoft gets around to putting them out!) with panels and a little bit with gauges. Is there some logic I'm missing with FSD's approach to their panels/gauges? I kind of resent being forced to run installs and .exe for auto-installs to use add-on planes. On the plus side, the FSD Porters are a dream and I'm sure there are many other wonderful add-on planes (similar to mine) out there as well. But again, is there some sort of method to their madness, or is it strictly an attempt to reduce piracy? Art

Ed Struzynski Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: December-26-2002 Points: 370	Post Options Post Reply Quote Ed Struzynski Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: January-25-2004 at 8:46pm
	Well, I can't speak for FSD, but from what I can see from their postings there are two issues: 1 - Piracy. They don't want anyone to be able to extract their bitmaps (even if you buy them!) and modify them. On the one hand, you pay for these gauges, and have "fair rights" use of them. On the other hand, without copy protection pirates can extract the bitmaps and use them in their own products. 2 - Support. They don't want their customers to modify panels, which can potentially cause problems on complex panels where gauges have dependencies on other gauges. So it's the consumers choice. If you buy an FSD panel, In my opinion it is what it is, and don't expect to be able to customize it in any way. I believe FSD should make this more clear to customers.

artburke Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: January-23-2004 Location: United States Points: 36	Post Options Post Reply Quote artburke Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: January-26-2004 at 7:12am
	Good answers. Both make sense. I agree, if they had made me more aware of that up front, I guess I would have understood more quickly. I was able to make my panel mod regardless, but once I changed textures, or added the 530 XP gauge, my mod disappeared. Uwe R. recommended making modifications via the loadout.cfg file FSD keeps elsewhere. The panel mod was a nice exercise. Up till now, the bulk of the mods I've done were either with cfgedit or FSPanelStudio. The"problems" with my FSD planes sent me on an investigatory mission, including the FS2002 Panel/Gauge SDK (where I unfortunately didn't learn much I didn't already know!). The problem the second time around was that I had already created the bitmap! The first time, I put the gauges where I wanted them and drew the bitmap around them. The second time generated some more problems cuz the bitmap was already there and I didn't want to start over! At any rate (and I digress), I find your program outstanding for all my other functions, incredibly easy to use and commend you for both your efforts and your support. Art