iFly's new 747

[CoolP 283]

Good point on the price. Lets see what variants come with the package and what it'll cost. Interesting tech details there from Jordi. I don't connect the name iFly with any VAS or fps concerns so far, hoping I can keep it that way.

 

 

 

Yes, me.

Fingers crossed.

[Slayer 190]

I wonder if the P3D version will be really compiled for P3D or just a copy over from FSX. Airplanes made for FS9 or whatever don't work that great for me on P3D...they seem to hit FPS way more

[z06z33 763]

This is only my opinion, and I rarely get a chance to be debbie downer so here goes...

 

Looking at the screenshots of the VC, in both FS9 and FSX, one thing I can't help but notice is the resolution is identical...Seems good right? Not quite, the only way I can imagine they achieved this is by using a maximum texture resolution of 1024x1024; the highest supported in FS9. To achieve the resolution I'm seeing in those screenshots they would need A LOT of 1024 textures (talking 40+). This in turn means lots of materials/drawcalls to render, which alone could potential bring the sim to its knees. I am also seeing some insanely detailed modelling (check the COMMS panel on the center console; the 'notches' to the volume knobs are modelled). It looks fantastic, however that many vertices in such potentially small screen-spaces could mean the model will be highly transform-bound (another large performance hit).

 

Hopefully I can be proven wrong, but I remember the 737NG from iFly had a VC with half a million vertices (most virtual cockpit models do not exceed 200,000). They will also no doubt be drawing the gauges in GDI+ rather than better performing, but FSX-only alternatives such as D2D.

 

TL;DR: A visibly high vertex count, up to 16x the normal amount of textures, and not so ideal gauge-drawing for FSX = I'm extremely doubtful the performance will be acceptable. However I would be EXTREMELY happy to be proven wrong when this bird releases!!

The textures may look the same but I doubt the FSX version is just a simple port. They also said they found a way around several FS9 restrictions so maybe the texture size is one of them.

[Jordi Blumberg 34]

Developers have been trying to overcome the 1024 restrictions in FS9 for many years, I'd be very surprised if iFly are the first to do it. And even if they did change the textures for FSX, it would require the smaller 1024 textures be atlased into larger sheets- this process of remapping would likely have to be done in a way that'd destroy the animations, so the entire cockpit would have to be re-animated (a VERY time-consuming job). I'm basing this off what I can see on their screenshots, and what they've done in the past with the NG.

 

Someone take my tinfoil hat already...  :ph34r:

[ohsirus 241]

Ahhh the suspense and speculation.

[David Vega 348]

Ahhh the suspense and speculation.

Don't worry, at least it's all done by pundits.  

[Boeing or not going 578]

There is a youtube video showing off some animations in the virtual cockpit. I cannot wait for this!

 

http://ifly.flight1.net/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=12434&title=while-you-are-waiting-ifly-b747400-v2

[Domini99 0]

I'll be waiting, I really hope it will also be just as (or more) realistic than the PMDG 747 i have right now, because realism > graphics.

[ohsirus 241]

I'm optimistic, this is their second 747 and they really pushed their first payware offering from ver1 to ver3 with what appeared to have been thousands of changes/additions over the years. This should be a continuation of all those lesson learned from their 737. More pics:

http://www.flight1.com/view.asp?page=ifly747

[Domini99 0]

I'm optimistic, this is their second 747 and they really pushed their first payware offering from ver1 to ver3 with what appeared to have been thousands of changes/additions over the years. This should be a continuation of all those lesson learned from their 737. More pics:

http://www.flight1.com/view.asp?page=ifly747

Looks good!

I'll be keeping my eye out :smile:

[CoolP 283]

Seeing that the screenshot already features the weather radar on the one side and the terrain display on the other one, this 747 already exceeds my currently used one. Looking forward to more system details and the plans on pricing and included 747 variants. :smile:

[krazyk 157]

If they model and simulate a decent 747-8 flight deck, I'd be getting this without thinking twice!

[hmsdreadnought 12]

Anyone looking for a proper 747-8 by the way? :smile:

 

Well, that plane is going to be rarer than the MD 11 in real life...no one is buying the passenger version...

[CoolP 283]

Hey, me is still flying Concorde in the sim, how many of those got sold? I would also welcome a 767-400, there you have it!

[Boeing or not going 578]

Well, that plane is going to be rarer than the MD 11 in real life...no one is buying the passenger version...

 

Lots of freighters out there. Cathay, Nippon Cargo, Cargolux