I usually keep a list of bugs and features that I want to work on first for ModelConverterX. This is sort of my roadmap to the next stable release. But as it goes with a hobby project like this, sometimes the fun things push you away from the planned roadmap. Let me give you an example.

Last week I made a video tutorial about placing effects using ModelConverterX. In some of the discussion that evolved after this a user, I won’t say it was you Bill, mentioned that it would be cool to have the actual effect also displayed in ModelConverterX. This was a nice idea of course and I think it was already somewhere on my todo list. So let’s just check that it is and go back to the higher priority items on the roadmap, right?

Well not really, this idea kept spinning around in my brain. I started reading the special effects part of the SDK again and searching with Google how to make a particle system. At this moment I even think that it shouldn’t be too hard to implement the display of the actual effect. So I’ll be heading back to my paper and pencils after I finish writing this blog post to work out the design a bit more.

And do I find this annoying? Well, not really. This is what makes it fun to make tools for FS. By such comments you get new ideas and all the time explore new parts of FS. I think I have a much better understand how effect file work now already. And once I have finished this feature I think I should understand them even more. So don’t feel guilty to mention such ideas in discussions. Just don’t hold your breath for the stable release, while I jump around to implement some of those cool ideas…… (did I hear somebody say X-Plane support there in the distance as well) ……..