AiTracker X 1.05 - Shared Cockpit/Shared Aircraft

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

Hello @ll,

(!Work in progess!)

AiTrackerX 1.05 is in beta currently, but it is progressing nicely. A release shouldn't be too far off, end of this month at the latest.

The shared cockpit allows every pilot to take the primary flight controls exclusively at any time. All other settings are distributed equally, every participant can operate any system at any time. So beyond the obvious application, you could have more than one other pilot sharing your flight deck, for example in a virtual flight school, or fly with a couple of passengers sharing your aircraft. Or simply stream other views of your aircraft on the other computers without compromising your local VAS or FPS. In my tests depicted below, all simulators operated at very high levels all the time (using default scenery mostly) : 50 to well over 100 FPS - even my lowly 2,7 GHz reference system running FSX:SE.

Shared systems include: payload&fuel, COM and NAV radios, Trim, Gear, Flaps, Spoilers, Lights, Engine controls (prop, mixture, magento, cowl flaps), Electrical systems, ice protection and Autopilot commands (and a few minor ones). These are bound to the built-in simulator events, so the shared cockpit can not work properly with complex addon aircraft (the flight controls probably will, but not the systems).

The first set shows a shared cockpit scenario with shared AI traffic in the default Robinson helicopter using FSX:SE and P3D V3 on two different computers.

 

And here are a few shots from a test scenario where AiTracker X 1.05 was running on three different computers (FSX:SE, P3D V3.4, P3D V2.5), sharing the default / JustFlight Constellation between them.
Actually, in this special case I wasn't flying myself, but I dispatched an AI Constellation with AiTracker X to fly with a flighplan, and then directed AiTracker X to follow that aircraft with my own in "Pilot View" mode, which in turn was shared with the two other computers...

 

Best regards

 

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

Bump...

[spearmint_flyer 578]

Looks nice. I dont use shared cockpit but I can see how this is useful. 

[anden145 2,273]

Nice idea. Haven't tried shared cockpit though (yet)... 

[glider1 90]

This is fantastic because it might mean we can teach a family member to fly in virtual reality together in the same aircraft.

Problem is, it should be spun off as a separate app I don't see how shared cockpit functionality fits in with what is supposed to be an AI control and recording program.

I do appreciate you giving us all this extra functionality all for the price of one app but I still think it is a maintenance nightmare.

How about a new app called FlyTogetherX?

Maybe there is something I'm not understanding about your design concept.

 

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

Hi,

implementing this in AiTracker X was a logical choice when looking at the development effort. AITX already had most of the pieces in place, as it always had a multiplayer feature with a "Pilot View" mode, including tracking and sharing AI traffic. Expanding this to a shared cockpit meant that I only had to concentrate on the control inputs and systems synchronization, which made it possible to write the necessary code in less than a week.

Once it is tested and proven, I will spin off a separate app too at a reduced price, for those who don't want or need the full AITX functionality. Both apps will be compatible WRT the network protocol, so users can connect with each other, having one or the other application. For shared AI traffic, one of them will have to be an AITX instance though.

Best regards