My startup checklist

[Bucic]

Hmm hydraulics fire maybe hydraulics bay fire, that says manual :D

A manual should leave no doubts, not to mention a check list. The worst thing is the inconsistencies make our project take 4 times longer to finish than it could have been done without those obstacles.

 

Heh it can be forgiven as BS was their first product, but if in A-10C checklist is messed I wouldn't forgive :)

There's nothing to forgive. Just a polite request to have this corrected as BS is supposed to be maintained as long as DCS series will be.

 

 

 

_______

* I'm not sure if I should pursue my checklist vs tool tips consistency. It may turn into a laborious task.

* I'll get rid off all of the Russian naming in the checklist

* I got buttons locations ready for the check lists from the first one to PRE-FLIGHT CHECKS (excluding) ready with some notes. I'll try to put a mockup or two soon for the first circa 10 steps so I could determine the final page format and line weights. I plan to ..... Well, see the first two mockups below

 

 

 

They are for the very beginning of the procedure - electrical power and intercom. The second one shows possible benefits of rearranging some items where it's permitted. And thinned lines which look more clear when viewed as graphics but may not be that good for printing.

 

The basic idea is to use one small general cockpit figure to serve as a gener cue as to where to look at. The smaller figure purpose is obvious.

 

The sizes may appear different on different PC display resolutions but on my 1280x1024 19" display it looks like the sizes of the figures on the second mockup could be our final sizes. Check list text have to be bigger obviously. It also appears that at these sizes I will be able to compact it enough (with bigger text fonts) to fit it on a A4 portrait sheets. The figure may get less clear when put in perspective however... We'll see. I can't do any more perspective operations yet due to some problems with Inkscape... Also it would be better to pick some messy and more space taking procedure for the arrangement assessment.

Edited October 18, 2010 by Bucic

[Bucic]

Edit:

I'm thinking about not going with the link lines over the cockpit panel figure. A link would not even touch the figure boundary. An extreme case would be to give no links at all and only highlight switches of interest. I think I'll go for the shorter link lines...

 

 

And this is, more or less, how I would see the whole check list of mine (A4)

 

 

Zoom in to get roughly the size of A4 sheet. IMO both figures could be made smaller. And probably I'll have to make them smaller. Other parts of check lists involve multiple panels and sub-panels...

 

Note that the figures appearance can be much improved by differentiating the lines widths but this can be done only after the final print format selection. Or maybe not... Final figure scale would be enough... I'll look into it when I get back from work.

Edited October 18, 2010 by Bucic

[Frederf]

Buic, not the point of your thread but I love those diagram style cockpit layouts. Definitely save a "clean" copy of them somewhere for other uses. Something the ED-supplied manual should have had.

[Bucic]

Buic, not the point of your thread but I love those diagram style cockpit layouts. Definitely save a "clean" copy of them somewhere for other uses. Something the ED-supplied manual should have had.

Of course. The first time I tried to make the figures they were not intended for use in a check list but rather as cues for my manual notes. And even reading manual itself because every time I was starting reading about some new panel or system I had to go back to the first pages of the cockpit chapter to see where the hell I was looking at.

 

However I'm kind of itching to spend some (a lot) more time with the check lists and at least consider preparing a printed version (1 for the wall and 1 spiral bound, smaller format) for sale. There's obviously a lot more to do with the messy docs that can make them more and more usable.

Edited October 18, 2010 by Bucic

[zdXu]

15:37 minutes for a full start-up-go-through.

Edited October 18, 2010 by zdXu

[Bucic]

15:37 minutes for a full start-up-go-through.

Thanks. I've seen that one but due to the poor quality I forgot about it. Now I may find it handy. I think it's JimMack's voice BTW...

 

Edit:

WTH?! He started the first engine without startin APU!

Edited October 18, 2010 by Bucic

[zdXu]

Thanks. I've seen that one but due to the poor quality I forgot about it. Now I may find it handy. I think it's JimMack's voice BTW...

 

Edit:

WTH?! He started the first engine without startin APU!

 

THis start-up refers to an early pre-release DCS-BS. You will notice that things are different now and things have changed.

[Bucic]

THis start-up refers to an early pre-release DCS-BS. You will notice that things are different now and things have changed.

Ooooh, I'll treat it as a trivia then. I have enough of a headache with the final release inconsistencies. I will also have to look into that old topic about crossfeed valve bug.

[zdXu]

... and at least consider preparing a printed version (1 for the wall and 1 spiral bound, smaller format) for sale.

 

Dont forget to tell your publisher that this will be a short-run book printing... (;

[Bucic]

Dont forget to tell your publisher that this will be a short-run book printing... (;

Short-run? You mean "small numbers"? And why would I need a pimp anyway? ;)