WANTED : increasing instrument lights for "steam gauge" GA planes

[daScooty]

Hi all!

First of all, i´d like to tell you, i am getting older. Well, that´s not too “special” i think…

My problem is, my eyes aren´t getting better either over the years. I am having more and more problems, reading the instrumens well. Depending on the current time and light situation, where and when i fly through the world, it may be hard or even harder to read them for me.

Instrument lights make it a bit better for me, no question, but not enought. I very much love the mod for the Cessna 152, one of it´s developers helped me with a tiny thing i can edit in one of it´s config files, to make instrument lights MUCH brighter. In an “a bit extreme” example, it can be as bright as this, just to get an idea how it looks:

PLEASE don´t say anybody, this looks too bright or unrealsitic or anything… i know that.
It is a gread help for me to better read my instruments, it can be reduced or even turned brighter, as i like or need it.

It´s no “default setting” at all, i just need to enter a line into a text file manually after a update to make “the magic” happen. Perfect for me, thanks a lot to the dev who helped me solve this issue for this plane.

I am looking for help, input, instructions, … how to edit the brightness for other GA “steam gauge” planes like this, too!

This here could maybe become a collection of instructions for several planes, if things go well. Maybe - as a first step - we could talk about default MS/Asobo planes.

But input for 3rd party addons, be it freeware or payware, should also be welcome here.

The more info we can get in here, the better.

There are a couple of other threads, as others also complain about ingame light simulation or cockpit brightness/darkness… so this “workaround thread” can become a great help for many people, i think.

Please help to find solutions and keep it constructive in here. It´s a topic for some people, having specific problems, no question. Just let´s try to find solutions for this.
Thanks guys!

[Assassin11B2P]

Russ Barlow on YouTube has a great setup where he uses two touchscreen monitors for his panels. I am not saying you have to go that route, but having a screen in front of you with the instruments you want could go a long way.

[daScooty]

Thanks a lot for the suggestion, but i really would prefer to edit several planes in a similar way as it is possible for the Cessna 152 mod.

[EdamllamaB]

The head torch is not bright enough ?

[Assassin11B2P]

I hear you on that. I’ve gone through two retinal detachments and after having them repaired, developed cataracts in both eyes. LASIK several years before this happened didn’t help. I had a whale of a time getting my first-class medical renewed and had to get a SODA to do so.

I would assume that each aircraft would have a config file somewhere similar to the one you mentioned in your post. Have you found this not to be the case?

[daScooty]

Nope. Also it needs the head to turn all over the place to shine here and there… a brighter lighting - as in the screenshot above - also offers a much better overall overview over all your instruments at once.

[daScooty]

Unfortunately, there seems to be no “standard”, how things are coded in a plane. At least i found no “red line” so far, maybe also as i totally lack of coding skills and most of the things, written in there, sound like “klingon” od “elbish” to me…

For the actually mentioned mod, the WBSim / JPLogistics Cenns 152 mod:
Official download link via discord: WBSim/JPLogistics 152

The mod got a file named cessna152_interior.xml

Search for Knob_Light_Panel and add the following line as marked up in the screenshot, with a maximum value like 1000

Default value would be 100, you can also enter any other value, like 500 or 600, if 1000 seems too much to you.

That´s all it needs for this mod, to get the instrument lights as bright as mentioned in the screenshot above.

The Default/Asobe Cessna 152 also has this cessna152_interior.xml file, but looks very different, i can´t find any place where i think i could increase the lights as in the mod.

Other planes don´t even have such a “interior.xml” file at all, makeing it even worse for me to think of, where the needed editing would be needed.

Maybe it is a trivial task for someone, who is into modding planes or being a plane developer. So i was creating this thread, hoping to maybe catch the attention of such wizards, who know, how to solve this miracle…

[daScooty]

For a maybe even better illustration, to see the differences:
instrument lights OFF, standard instrument lights ON, increased instument lights ON

See how much better the instruments become readable, even the small fuel and oil gauges at the bottom can be read.

So this is exactly my reason, why i am trying to find help in increasing the instrument lights also for other planes. It helps my old eyes a lot to read the dials, even without having to zoom in closely.

Just as a reminder: the brightness can be finetuned via a potentiometer, making lights a bit less bright, as desired. This here is an example for what i am actually heading for and to better see the difference and improvement.

[Assassin11B2P]

That is a massive difference/improvement, for sure. How far are you from the screen? I ask because, if you cannot find the magic elixer you are looking for, maybe the solution I mentioned earlier would suffice.

[daScooty]

I am about 50 centimeters / 20 inches away from my screen.

I also think, having just one screen in front of my pretty face is a bit better for immersion, feeling like in a “real” cockpit. Also it´s a matter of available free space on the desk and so on… Lots of things to take into consideration.
Not so easy… i know…