The second version of fin tool, loaded with all the cool crap that wing tools ought to have.

Full feature list:

• Fin plane is determined by the first face you click, so you can really use any prop you want.
• Updatable, removable, etc.
• Smartsnap will still work with finn'd props.
• Three types of lift to choose from: Classic (no lift), Lift by plane normal, and Bernoulli lift which pulls the fin to one side or the other depending on its orientation.
• Option to calculate wind effects (will work perfectly fine for triangle sails, etc.)
• Option to calculate thermal cline. This will put a bit of lift on the fin if it's over concrete or a body of water.

New in 2.1:

• everything reacts properly to efficiency.
• classic fin simulation is togglable.
• wind direction changes are more realistic.

New in 2.2:

nothin. Just fixed a dumb bug.

New in 2.3:
Tad2020 rocks massively.

From his changelog:
[added] duplication support
[added] clean up
[added] MP limit
[added] right click copy fin settings


This is madness! this... is... WIND SIMULATION!

View YouTUBE video http://youtube.com/watch?v=AZj0GvYKSGI

Download 2.3


Download 2.2:


Download 2.1:


Download:

YES!

Thank you! Your "perfect" fin tool didn't do shit for me it just made my copter spaz

Now to try it again

Could you explain with words or media how this works? :).

Awesome! I was using the fin tool properly for the first time today so this is just great.

Shouldn't really need to, as it's about the same as the perfect fin tool, except without the inherent suck. A video is precessing on youtube right now that shows off the new simulations though.

That is really cool. I loved the first fin Stool, and the SENTS were even more awesome.

Video is up!

I've never heard of the fin tool, that's why I asked...

Edit:

Nice!

Awesome.


Simple awesome.

[spoiler]And awesome[/spoiler]

you are my god

Ooh, nice job!

By the way, I was the guy who had the idea and posted it in the requests forum. Never thought somebody would actually listen

Well I thought it was an awesome idea i was sure sombody was going to do it.

I remember you. That was a really damn good idea.

I just improved it a bit

B-B-B-B-BOATS!
:excited:

and B-B-B-B-BIG FRIGGIN LAND YACHTS


:excited:

What we need is a wind powered Gcombat fight. Avast!

Is thermal cline the same thing as ground effects? I'd love to build a Caspian Sea Monster.

Thermal cline is the updraft that you get over surfaces that store a lot of heat from sunlight, like concrete, metal, etc.

I just found a small bug that may stop the wind direction from shifting. It's not a huge deal, but it would be cooler if it were working.

Edit:

Fix'd, update'd.

Awesome! Now if only I could get GMod to actually work like it gave a rat's ass, I'd be set.

Yay!

Wait I am really annoyed right now I just finished an engine powered plane with fin 1 and now you release fin 2? Damn I was having serious issues with the propeller not producing enough power

oh well I guess I can make it again :excited:

Thanks again Q I hope this will be as awesome as it sounds.

Edit:

Also by wind calculation do you mean it changes a global variable that all the Sents that have wind activated will 'abide' to? If so awesome! Sail mod here we come.

Fin tool for the win

HOLY SHIT BALLS

You just made me cream myself about 8 times. I MUST INFORM THE EDBERG.

I'm not exactly sure what all these effects are. But I'll post what I think they are. So correct me.

No Lift - Lifts the object depending on its angle

Lift By Plane Normal - Lifts the object no matter what angle it is

Bernoulli effect - I don't get this at all. Is it supposed to shift the rotation of the object and get it as stable as possible? It's not working for me if it's supposed to do that.


Use Wind - Uses.. wind?

Thermal Cline - Makes props lift from hot surfaces. Could you make it lift from props that are ignited as well?

Edit:

I know that I got something wrong, so please explain.

Here is the lift one:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...GB236%26sa%3DN

Yarr! We must sail the seven seas!

hmm Q the fin seems to stop doing anything at high revs if it is a propeller I parented the fins to the axel for stability but I don't see why that would stop it working unless the code is now trying to use the prop its parented to, to get all the numbers from.

Or am I getting something wrong? What setting do you recommend for a propeller?

The moment I get my steam fixed I'm downloading this.

Can someone make a basic tutorial on how to make a propeller? Can't quite get how to make one with this tool...

If ever there was a addon that needed a readme, and an example adv. dupe file, this is it.
"Lift by plane normal, and Bernoulli lift which pulls the fin to one side or the other depending on its orientation." Yes but HOW does it's orientation and the selected face affect the lift?
Do you select the leading edge, or the side you want to be the top?
Does it default to pulling to the left or the right?

A nice step-by step guide to build your buggy, and a few explanations along the way of WHY you select certain sides of a prop would make all the difference. I'd love to make a little remote control airplane or a glider for those all-water maps.

I'm not flaming or being unfriendly, I'm pleading for better documentation for addons.

:edit: I've made a little windsock, so I know it's working, now if only I knew how to work IT.

FULLY agreed. PLEASE make at least a 5-10 step tutorial explaining WHY you select a certain fin type, please...

Edit:

Still, a great tool, I made a working propeller after hours of testing, but, after I got it working, AWESOME.

Yeah, it works very well as far as I've played with it when my GMod decides to work, but I'd like to know the deep, dark secrets of this tool and what it's different features do, how to work them best?

This is very relevant to my interests.

Though I'll need some help to use this amazing thing to its full potential.

Answers are as follows:

No Lift - Makes it act like the original fin, and does the aerodynamics as if it were a perfectly flat object.

Lift By Plane Normal - Acts like an airplane wing, and provides lift off the axis you shot when it moves perpendicular to that axis, or on the fin plane.

Bernoulli effect - Acts like lift by plane normal, but it lifts toward the face that is angled toward the direction it's going. Confused? play with it a bit.


Use Wind - Uses wind calculations. Turn the lift to "no lift" and the efficiency to 0 to get a really good sail.

Thermal Cline - Updrafts over concrete and metal parts of the level. I'll look into making it lift off fires. that sounds like a good idea.

This tool is complex enough that you really couldn't explain the whole thing in one tutorial. it's similar to the advanced ballsocket in that you kind of have to play with it a bit, but it's very rewarding to get it all figured out. It's not actually as difficult to figure out how to use as you're making it out to be. 10 minutes in SP should be all you need.

Absolutely Fantastic!

I've always love your Fins instead of the Wing (Wing was awkward at best...)

Awesome! Keep up the great work!

Can you add duplicator support?

This can become perfect for making medieval sail boats, I wonder if I can use this on multiple props together to make a sail for the boats with this.

Cheers for clearing that up Q42 :D Much appreciated.
0 efficiency sail sounds interesting, wonder how that works. Must play with it more in SP. Had a great time messing about making wooden wind buggys and weathervanes.
I'm almost desperate to make a ship with real working sails, even though I have no idea how to tack. It'd just be so relaxing to go drifting around.

:edit:
Ohgod, solar sails! *sticks them to his space craft*

Cool.

The sails really don't work for me even if they are huge! I know how to sail done it a couple of times so unless your calculations are different making the way you sail with these different I can't get it to work.

The strength of the sail is more based on it's weight than it's size. The heavier it is, the less trouble it has moving a wind buggy. Heavier sails also make you roll over more easily though.

It's not that it's not working, you just need to make a windsock to tell you the wind direction. Me and edberg were getting as high as 50 mph with the sails.

WE NEED DUPLICATOR SUPPORT!
That way we can share our new contraptions easier :)

My sails weighted about 600.

This tool is fucking incredible. I can make planes, AND scud missiles that work! Unfortunately for my friends during LAN sessions...

Ah it's the weight! I had a windsock as well.

:D awesome idea! How about a wired auto sailer? got the winds direction and placed the sails accordingly.

Another thing does this only work when the wind is behind or 90 degrees to the sail? Because normal sails can go into the wind using the lift effect - forgets name.

Just a comment/suggestion: Could you make the wind direction controllable? I made a very accurate sailing vessel that I could sail around but the wind changes direction so often that it makes things rather difficult. An admin panel with a simple slider of angle and magnitude would be wonderful.

Oh my gosh. Guess what I just learned to do.


Nevermind. But good idea.

Yeah, it is hard to use wind because it changes so often. You should put a bar in seconds up two about 2 mins on how often the wind should change for that fin your spawning.

Edit:

I just got an idea on how to make a bit of a wired autosailer: make a windsock on the vehicle by nocolliding the fin and pole then roping them together, then put a gyroscope on it.Prob wouldn't work as im no whizz at wire

The fins are doing the pushing, but parents cannot recieve forces from their children.

So your fins aren't actually imparting any force into the prop.

Tutorial on making planes with the Fin Tool 2 please.

I' am very impressed, downloading.

I'm working on making the wind changes more realistic. I've flipped over one too many times by now.

Wind changes are usually a 'struggle' they change a bit then go back then change a bit more then go back. A bit like 2 steps forward one step back.

I can't seem to make a real working propellor.

Any advice?

Put them at snap angles opposite of eachother, just like a real proppeler:



Just put them like that exept at opposite angles to eachother.

Well, i know that :)

But i can't seem to generate ANY thrust.. i have tried all the settings that i can think of!

Efficiency 100.

Lift by plane normal.

Is there a way to get a plane stable? That's the only problem. It either always goes left, right, up, or down.

If there wasn't a way to keep a plane stable, then what the fuck are the airline companies up to

Well, not building in GMod is a pretty good bet.

What I mean is, how can I stop it from always going up or down or lef or right? I've seen tons of people make planes that fly well.

The trick is to balance the center of gravity relative to the center of lift. On flying iron for instance, I added the canard wings as an afterthought when it was doing mad nose dives.

So, basically, I have to balance the wings out?

Since the wings are the really important flying bit, I would have to say that any instabilities in flight would normally be caused by poorly thought out wings and lift surfaces.

Yes.

In terms of stability, the most important bit is the tail. Usually, it's best to put a set of fins near the back of the plane, one on each side and one vertically on top, no lift. That way, they work to stabilize the plane in much the same way as an arrow. From there, you should only need to play with the lift and efficiency of the wings to keep it from pitching up or down. If you still have problems, try attaching the wings and tail farther apart from each other.

Excellent Smithers..

When I made a propeller I couldn't get enough torque to spin it. the moment it moved it would spin on its own.

Yeah this is very hard.

If I want to make it lift, I increase the efficiency. But if I increase the efficiency it'd become harder to spin. No lift here

I want it to spin faster, so I increase the weight of the wheel. But now it doesn't lift because it's too heavy and the prop is attatched to is light, so it becomes wobbly. I could increase the weight of that prop, but then it'd all be too heavy. So no lift here either.

Too much efficiency, and it'd work like a parachute.

I have EXACTLY that problem too..


I can't get enough speed.. i can't even make my plane move :(

Ok I did get it fly eventually, but the weight is all fucked up. And it works like a parachute.. And I used the parenting stool. If I didn't parent the propeller wings it'd go all weird and not produce lift at all.

ARGH WING TOOL SUCKS BECAUSE I CAN'T BUILD

Conclusion: Parenting is more stable than welding!

I make excellent propellers.. Just fudge with stacker for 10 minutes and raise the weight of all the blades to 100 throw on no grav apply 50% efficiency with NO LIFT and pray to jesus for a head wind.. and use a 10000 torque wheel.. I prefer wire wheels because you can adjust the torque used dynamically with there speedmod input.

Oh and don't forget the Fin works marvelously under water.. Here is a submarine I made that weights.. 5000 x 40 being propelled by 4x 100% FINv1 blades on a wire wheel with 25000 torque. IE be impressed that it even moves.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3578256726606807972

WOW! can the sub go up/down also?and using fin stool?

Never go that far.. I was trying to stabilize it from rolling left and right with wire thrusters and a gyroscope.. However the immense weight forced the thrusters up to 500,000 thrust and it kept freaking out.. But I guarantee if you get the buoyancy right a fin could force it up and down.

Maybe I will try with a more manageable sized sub.

The new fin tool is nice.
Do you think we could get advanced duplicator support?

Nice sub "F12Bwth".

No. I like it. But I don't know how to make a valid propeller.

...shiver me timbers.
This looks excellent.
And useful - thanks Q.

Does that answer your question?

That is not true. I've parented my helicopter fins to my wheel, and it works. The source engine doesn't allow the props to go over a certain ammonunt of speed, but I think the rotation speed of a prop doesn't have a limit. (like players) So you can parent sents and they'd still work. I've managed to make a working helicopter. It wasn't that hard, it's just that I need to adjust a lot of thing such as weight.

So if you parent things to a prop, the prop can rotate and bypass the parented prop's speed limit.

The problem for me now is, the efficiency curve.



It think it's like the curve on the left. But if it was the curve on the right, it would be more realistic.

I want more effiency when the fin is getting more velocity. I can set the effiency to 100, and it'd fly. But when I stop the engine, it works like a parachute. And that's what I mean about it being slow.

Hmm, making my heli fly with this is very difficult. The lift acts in either direction, right? I put thrusters on the blades and started them spinning, but they didn't really lift the helicopter very much. And i agree with capsadmin. It acts more like a piece of paper when still.

Did you angle the blades at least a little bit? Kind of like the prop on a boat. Haven't tried this myself yet, but in theory it should work.

2.1 released. Lots better. Get it while it's hot.