P3D launcher?

[TheGrunt 44]

I have also bit problems with my launcher and P3D. If I edit the flight I can't get to aircraft selection tab, tab just doesn't work. However, if I choose new, I can select aircraft like I should. Also in Time of Day selection all but Dawn and Night selections don't "stick", that is selection cursor jumps from Day to night after selection. This doesn't affect anything else but preview as Local Time and UTC stay where they should. I have also experienced few freezes, but nothing major. Also for some reason, launcher stopped launching my P3D.

 

I'm pretty sure that my first launcher (1.7 or 1.8?) worked normally and I got these bugs after last couple of updates, but I'm not completely sure. I test earlier versions again during this weekend. Still, big thanks as this utility really helps with P3D!

[mawibo 33]

Version 2.2 is out which is supposed to solve this occasional freeze.

You didn't actually have to close it down btw, just a click on another application would have unfreezed SimLauncher, but that is now hopefully a thing of the past.

 

When you edit a flight, you can indeed not change the aircraft. That is intentional. if you were able to change the aircraft in an existing flight, strange and unpredictable things can happen: e.g. if you change a jet at Mach 1 for a Cessna, or an acrobatic aircraft making loops for a 747 etc. I will see if I can add a tooltip or a message that reminds you of this fact.

 

I'm looking into the time of day issue, it's somehow broken now.

 

thanks,

 

Maarten

[TheGrunt 44]

Version 2.2 is out which is supposed to solve this occasional freeze.

You didn't actually have to close it down btw, just a click on another application would have unfreezed SimLauncher, but that is now hopefully a thing of the past.

 

When you edit a flight, you can indeed not change the aircraft. That is intentional. if you were able to change the aircraft in an existing flight, strange and unpredictable things can happen: e.g. if you change a jet at Mach 1 for a Cessna, or an acrobatic aircraft making loops for a 747 etc. I will see if I can add a tooltip or a message that reminds you of this fact.

 

I'm looking into the time of day issue, it's somehow broken now.

 

thanks,

 

Maarten

Oh yes, but of course, stupid me! I have just used launcher few days and always loaded a flight on parking and this didn't come in to my mind at all.

 

For the day time selection, I'm pretty sure it worked a couple of versions ago, but I'm not completely sure. Magnificent little app you have made and it really improves things with P3D as I said. Cheers!

[mawibo 33]

Talking about stupid me: version 2.3 is out and fixes the time of day issue (I broke that one while fixing something else); also added a tooltip to the Aircraft tab that indicates that changing the aircraft in an existing flight is not possible.

 

thanks,

 

Maarten

[volmmer 0]

Absolutely essential piece of software.

Good job Maarten

 

 

BR

Bob

[speedbird591 0]

Maarten. I've just tried out v2.3 and I'm really happy with it. While there may still be a few minor bugs to sort out, I haven't found any yet.

 

So I just want to thank you for creating this tool which so many of us have wanted in order to make Prepar3d more useable and convenient. It now means that I can create a new flight in a few seconds rather than the long tedious minutes that it took previously.

 

I am very impressed with your dedication. Every time you released a new version somebody would find a new bug and a normal person would have become disillusioned and given up! But you've stuck with it and solved each problem as it has arisen. Anything else you do to it will be icing on the cake.

 

So I just want to say thank you and let you know that I'll be making a donation on your behalf to your chosen wildlife charity, just as soon as they finish the maintenance on their website!

 

All the best

 

Ian

[pmb 5,138]

Maarten,

 

I have to thank you, too. While I was concerned about that virus issue in the beginning, I found this a very helpful tool, indeed, after excluding the directory from Kaspersky search, now,. Given my Prepar3D takes around 8 min to boot (will get an SSD one time for sure), I am very happy to start where I want, now.

 

While I am still a bit uneasy about that excepted directory (this is a system where I have to do some production work), I decided to step forward and would like to thank you again.

 

Kind regards, Michael

[Dumpcore 1]

Well,

 

First of all, I want to thank you for providing the simmers community with this excellent tool.

 

I have tried different versions since its initial release, and always has been imposible fo me to launch Prepar3D without a crash. I have this problem with the current 2.3 version. I always configure the same flight (plane, location, time, etc), and always get a crash when loading the scenery.

 

P3D works perfectly in my system if I enter the same settings using the normal menus.

 

Please, tell me what information you need to solve this problem. I always uninstall the previous version before installing the new one. I haven't made a second makerunways pass since the firts version I tried (1.2).

 

Thanks in advance.

[TheGrunt 44]

I've also been using 2.3 version this evening and for me, everything seems to work perfectly. Once again, you made this seemingly small app that is still one of the best utilities available for P3D: it simply makes using P3D a nice experience. Thank you so much!

[mawibo 33]

Hi all,

 

Version 2.4 is out:

• improved detection of sim running; if the simulator is in dialog mode, the status is set to 'not running', so do not lauch! Only launch a flight when the simulator is not started yet, or when the 'green light' is on.
  
• added option in preferences for startup programs that do not accept command line parameters (like FPS Limiter): the sim is launched first and when detected running (with a timeout of 3 minutes) the flight is sent across
  
• add ' /min' (excluding the quotes, including the leading space and not case sensitive) to the name of the startup program to minimize the startup program after launch
  
• changed reload after changing preferences: reload is now only performed if 'FSX Installed' or 'P3D Installed' has changed
  
• improved handling of 'always on top'
  
• newly created flights now start in virtual cockpit view
  
• even more verbose (startup) logging
  

@Ian: thanks for donating! I hope that more of you will follow in Ian's footsteps.

@Michael: I wish I could do something about this virus warning, but as long as I download things (weather, update etc.) Kasperky (and possibly others, but not many) will see this as suspicious behavior

@Dumpcore: try saving a flight in SimLaucher and then load it from the flight menu in Prepar3D itself and tell me what happens

@all: thanks for your compliments!

 

Maarten

[Dumpcore 1]

Think I have found the problem.

 

If I generate a flight without changing the weather theme, I get the following:

 

----

Title=SimLauncher

Description=temporary flight to startup P3D

AppVersion=10.0.60711

FlightVersion=1

[Fuel.0]

Center=100

LeftMain=100

RightMain=100

LeftAux=100

RightAux=100

LeftTip=100

RightTip=100

Center 2=100

Center 3=100

External 1=100

External 2=100

[DateTimeSeason]

Year=2012

Day=176

Hours=21

Minutes=41

Seconds=45

[sim.0]

sim=L-39 Breit 2010

[simVars.0]

Latitude=N36° 40' 20.34"

Longitude=W4° 29' 23.42"

Heading=133.2

PVelBodyAxis=0

BVelBodyAxis=0

HVelBodyAxis=0

XVelBodyAxis=0

YVelBodyAxis=0

ZVelBodyAxis=0

SimOnGround=1

OnPlatformHeight=-9999999999

[Weather]

WeatherType=0

ThemeName=weather\themes\b

[Options]

Pause=true

-----

 

The line in bold is causing the crash, because isn't pointing to a valid weather theme. Removing or changing correctly such line eliminates the problem. Of course, if I select a specific weather theme from the dialog, the line is generated correctly.

 

Could it be a bug? It's very strange I am only the one who has this problem :blink:

[Shane_Strong 6]

what a great program many thanks love it is there away to start the flights with engines running seems like cold and dark is the default

[mawibo 33]

Hi,

 

Version 2.5 is out:

• prevents writing faulty 'ThemeName' to .flt file of new flights that might cause a crash
  
• changed sim running indication:
  blank = sim not running
  green = sim running and ready to accept flight
  red = sim running but busy or in dialog mode: not ready to accept flight
  
• yet even more logging
  

@DumpCore: I could not reproduce the error you mentioned, but made sure it cannot happen again

@Shane_Strong: when creating a new flight, I would have to make choices for things like throttle, propeller, mixture and engine RPM settings; the optimum for these settings depends on the type of aircraft, air pressure, humidity, temperature etc etc.. The safest thing to do is to just turn everything off.

[Dumpcore 1]

Thanks very much for your effort. Now it works perfectly.

 

In relation to the parameters included in the flight, it could be interesting to get a template from the user, and then change only some parameters (position, aircraft, time, date, weather, etc.). So, each user could personalize their own template (p.e. the default flight), with the specific parameters they want (engines running or not, battery, alternator, lights, etc.).

 

It is only a suggestion.

 

Again, thanks very much.

[mawibo 33]

Hi all,

 

Version 3.0 is out:

• added: fuel/payload settings
  
• added: settings for simulator configuration file and folder: remote operation should now be possible
  
• added: logging of runtime errors
  
• added: display of flight file name
  
• fixed: create a new flight and make it the default now works
  
• fixed: always on top was correctly read from .ini file , but not shown correctly in preferences
  
• fixed: default flight cannot be changed anymore while simulator is running
  

thanks, Maarten