Hacking X-Plane

First the easy stuff: Changing the keys on the keyboard that you press to do stuff in the sim:

Open the following file: resources/keys/x-plane.txt
This file has all the keys for X-Plane.
You can simply type in whatever key you want for each function right in that file to change the keys to suit your preference!
X-Plane scans that file for key commands each time it loads!

:::Customize Your Textures For Any Airplane:::

To make your own textures for ANY airplane, simply go into Plane-Maker, open the airplane you want to make textures for, and select "OUTPUT TEXTURE STARTING POINTS' from the "SPECIAL" menu. This will create a bitmap that you can then open with any graphics program, such as Photoshop or PaintShop Pro. The bitmap is an outline of the parts of the airplane! Now you can edit that image with a graphics program to make the textures (or "paint schemes") for your airplane! Make sure to save your handywork with the right filenames, as described below!

See the C-119 in the Vintage folder for an example, and the "paint reference.bmp" in the Instructions folder for a map of the paint bitmap.

If the aircraft name is "aaa", then the custom paint schemes are:

aaa_paint.bmp <-paint scheme
aaa_paint_LIT.bmp <-paint scheme at night

:::Customize Your Instrument Panel For Any Airplane:::

=>To make your own instrument panel, simply edit the panel til your heart's content in PLANE-MAKER, setting the instruments where you like, etc.
=>Then go into X-Plane with the airplane that you want to customize, and take a screenshot (use a graphics program, or hit shift-Apple-3 on a Mac).
=>Then open up the screenshot with a graphics program and CROP it down to 1024x750 pixels (cutting out the menu bar), and edit the bitmap (removing the needles and stuff) until it is like you want it... save it in 24 or 32 bit color.
=>Now save it as follows:

aaa_panel.bmp <-custom panel, 1024 x 750
aaa_panel_LIT.bmp <-custom panel, lit up for night use , 1024 x 750
aaa_panel_RF.bmp <-custom panel, looking to right front, 1024 x 750
aaa_panel_R.bmp <-custom panel, looking to right , 1024 x 750
aaa_panel_RB.bmp <-custom panel, looking to right back , 1024 x 750
aaa_panel_B.bmp <-custom panel, looking to back , 1024 x 750
aaa_panel_LF.bmp <-custom panel, looking to left front , 1024 x 750
aaa_panel_L.bmp <-custom panel, looking to left , 1024 x 750
aaa_panel_LB.bm <-custom panel, looking to left back , 1024 x 750
aaa_test_nearest <-needles and gages, copy from the panel_test_nearest in the resources/bitmaps folder
aaa_test_nearest_LIT<-needles and gages, copy from the panel_test_nearest_LIT in the resources/bitmaps folder
aaa_test_linear <-needles and gages, copy from the panel_test_linear in the resources/bitmaps folder
aaa_test_linear_LIT <-needles and gages, copy from the panel_test_linear_LIT in the resources/bitmaps folder
aaa_blend_linear <-needles and gages, copy from the panel_blend_linear in the resources/bitmaps folder

:::Customize Your Sounds For Any Airplane:::

Notice that there is a "sounds" folder in the X-System folder.
The sounds are simply wave files, and are the sounds used by X-Plane. Modify them in any way you like, or create new ones, and save them with a filename that is simply the airplane name followed by a word that indicates what the sound is to be used for... Be sure to save them in the sounds folder inside the airplane folder. For example:

sounds folder/aaa engn1.wav (the engine sound)
sounds folder/aaa engn2.wav (the engine sound)
sounds folder/aaa wind.wav (the wind-noise sound)
sounds folder/aaa gear.wav (the landing gear activation sound)
sounds folder/aaa land.wav (the soft touch-down sound)
sounds folder/aaaboom.wav (the hard touch-down sound)
anny other sound listed in the SOUNDS folder (you can do this with any other sound in the SOUNDS folder that comes with X-Plane)

See the C-119 for an example.

:::Customize Your Scenery Textures:::

To put your custom scenery textures in place, simply create your ideal textures in a graphics program such as Photoshop or PaintShop. Save the textures as BITMAPS. Then simply drop your textures into the following folder:

EARTH NAV DATA:CUSTOM TERRAIN TEXTURES

Now go into World-Maker and get into Terrain editing mode in the Edit menu... select the "Apply texture below" button and load the textures into World-Maker by clicking on the texture-name boxes. Now just click on the terrain polygons to put your custom textures in place. Easy!

:::Populate The X-Plane World with Objects:::

To make your own objects for the X-Plane world (such as the Sears Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, or your house) go into the following folder:

ADDITIONAL NAV DATA:CUSTOM OBJECTS
building1.OBJ (an example building located just South of San Bernardino field)
CUSTOM OBJECT TEXTURES
build1.BMP (a texture used in this building)
concrete1.BMP (a texture used in this building)
roof1.BMP (a texture used in this building)

You will see a sample building and some sample textures for that building... you can create your own objects and textures, too. Follow those examples (using the file "World-Maker Instructions.txt" in your X-System folder) to create your own objects... you can easily create as many objects as you like, using as many textures as you like.. there is virtually no limit on the World-Building you can do.

:::Share Your Work!:::

Share your work with others!
Upload your custom airplane textures, instrument panel bitmaps, airplane wave sounds, or scenery textures to ftp.X-Plane.com!
Or put them on your own web page, or your friend's web page, or send them to us for inclusion in later versions of X-Plane if you think they are better than ours!

Special For Cockpit Designers and HardCore Hackers:

New power in the data output screen allows UDP data to go OUT... but now X-Plane can also receive data IN so you can let your cockpits or controller or whatever you want drive X-Plane! See the UDP Daat I/O section of the instructions for more info.

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