TrueGlass from TFDi - Finally a decent rain-on-windshield effect in P3D

[Ekim 30]

Impresive! What a year we are experiencing..

[YukonPete 585]

 TFDI is turning into one of the leaders that's for sure. A+ customer service and a fabulous 717 that continues to get even more fabulous.

[spearmint_flyer 579]

I'm glad I stayed along for the ride since the beginning. 

[GameSyns 30]

We should have clarified in the announcement, this is a custom technology that is not in using the rain effects that are in P3D. When I referenced in the announcement that the changes to prepar3D v4 allowed us to do this, I meant other changes, not the rain effects they added.

[HughesMDflyer4 470]

To add to what Josh said, we've developed this technology from scratch, actually back in early 2016. We tested and developed it in FSX, however it couldn't handle it efficiently. Newer technologies in P3D v4 allow us to do it very efficiently, with minimal to no performance impact. It's entirely separate from the v4 native rain effects.

LM did indeed add their own effects in v4.0, but we found them to be a bit lacking. 4.1 is only adding that effect to more default aircraft (a common misconception that has been floating around in community discussions). TrueGlass is more than just rain - it includes icing and fog effects as well, and windshield wipers have a purpose now. TrueGlass is also version independent, in that you can use it in 4.0 and up.

[kevinfirth 1,392]

11 minutes ago, HughesMDflyer4 said:

To add to what Josh said, we've developed this technology from scratch, actually back in early 2016. We tested and developed it in FSX, however it couldn't handle it efficiently. Newer technologies in P3D v4 allow us to do it very efficiently, with minimal to no performance impact. It's entirely separate from the v4 native rain effects.

LM did indeed add their own effects in v4.0, but we found them to be a bit lacking. 4.1 is only adding that effect to more default aircraft (a common misconception that has been floating around in community discussions). TrueGlass is more than just rain - it includes icing and fog effects as well, and windshield wipers have a purpose now. TrueGlass is also version independent, in that you can use it in 4.0 and up.

This will sell extremely well Im sure, if you can get it in other a/c as well? What can you tell us please about discussions with any other devs about incorporating this into theit products?? kx

[Lashrathius 49]

1 hour ago, kevinfirth said:

What can you tell us please about discussions with any other devs about incorporating this into theit products??

We will have more info about this soon. Stay tuned! 

[Guest]

I must admit, I'm surprised these effects were so high in so many's priority list.  But I'm very glad to see the TFDi team bring this development forward and leverage P3D V4.x.  The windshield rain effects LM will provide are not anywhere near as good as these by TFDi -- which is fine, LM have always been about providing 3rd party opportunities to enhance the platform.

Big thank you to TFDi.

Cheers, Rob.

[sultanofswing 57]

Now if developers could figure out how to make the wingflex animations more realistic that would be great.

[Steve Dra 7,579]

29 minutes ago, Rob Ainscough said:

I must admit, I'm surprised these effects were so high in so many's priority list.  But I'm very glad to see the TFDi team bring this development forward and leverage P3D V4.x.  The windshield rain effects LM will provide are not anywhere near as good as these by TFDi -- which is fine, LM have always been about providing 3rd party opportunities to enhance the platform.

Big thank you to TFDi.

Cheers, Rob.

This is the very essence of a 3rd party development community enhancing and sustaining the the base platform vendor.  They identified a feature that had potential earning value they could capitalize on.  I highly suspect, if marketed and priced correctly, will absolutely launch them into the niche market already captured by FSFX and a few others. 

Sure, we all know the big 3 in after-market is aircraft, scenery and weather....but there are so many other little things that can add to the immersion factor of flight in front of a computer screen (or VR headset...another market that will explode in the near future when we see 4k resolution introduced)

"Immersion" is name of the game, and in this case....flying in weather was never as immersive as we knew it could be because of the one element not being simulated that was literally right in front of our faces...the cockpit windows!  We had the sound, the light-show (lightning), the elements that were the weather outside the cockpit....but not the basic feature we take for grated in the real world, effects on the windshield.

Rob, I think this feature is so high on everyone's list because it's that last piece of immersion that will complete the sensation of flying in weather.  The best decision LM ever did was the port to 64bit as we're all aware, now that we see just what can be accomplished by our 3rd part dev community.
The fact LM continues to refine and improve the product is simply awesome!

[spearmint_flyer 579]

3 hours ago, HughesMDflyer4 said:

To add to what Josh said, we've developed this technology from scratch, actually back in early 2016. We tested and developed it in FSX, however it couldn't handle it efficiently. Newer technologies in P3D v4 allow us to do it very efficiently, with minimal to no performance impact. It's entirely separate from the v4 native rain effects.

LM did indeed add their own effects in v4.0, but we found them to be a bit lacking. 4.1 is only adding that effect to more default aircraft (a common misconception that has been floating around in community discussions). TrueGlass is more than just rain - it includes icing and fog effects as well, and windshield wipers have a purpose now. TrueGlass is also version independent, in that you can use it in 4.0 and up.

Take my money now!!!!

[fakeflyer737 991]

So can we use TrueGlass in say the NGX or is it just with the 717?

[kevinfirth 1,392]

6 hours ago, Rob Ainscough said:

I'm surprised these effects were so high in so many's priority list. 

Flying in rainy conditions and not having this is a massive immersion killer Rob.

like taking off without needing to start an engine :p

[anden145 2,284]

4 hours ago, fakeflyer737 said:

So can we use TrueGlass in say the NGX or is it just with the 717?

Try and read a couple of posts above yours. 
See here

[crosswind 825]

This is an awesome stride raising the bar once more, especially if TDFi is able to make it applicable to other add-ons.  Looking forward to seeing this in full effect.

Thanks for your new outlook on enhanced simulation immersion.

Cheers