An opportunity for any add-on developer to be first

[WebMaximus]

Exactly what could/would be needed to be done to accomplish this I don't know, but since Orbx managed to come up with a local solution as part of their FTX Norway product clearly it's doable.

Thanks for the tip about Time Zone Fixer! Never heard of that one before but will check it out. Used FS Real Time long time ago.

[WebMaximus]

A follow-up question on Time Zone Fixer.

On the product page it mentions it will work well with FS Real Time but what I didn't fully understand is if FS Real Time is required?

Or will it work just as good with the 'Keep FS clock synced' feature in FSUIPC I'm currently using to make sure the time stays correct throughout a flight?

[Bob Scott]

4 hours ago, tooting said:

their biggest customer is the miltary,  who dont care about time zones, they just want a product with VR to train cadets the basics of effects on controls and ground school etc etc and if you can sell a ton of licenses to uncle Sam then you're laughing all the way to the bank.   Simple as that.  Don't be under any other illusion

The military doesn't care about time zones?  Where'd ya get that one?  You think military units live in their own world without interacting with local civilian populations and organizations that operate on local time?  ding ding...wrong guess, minus five.

P3D is far more useful than just as a rudimentary basic flight training tool for "cadets".  For example, the platform is useful for non-flying procedural simulation of complex aircraft and aircraft systems, so that a crewmember undergoing qualification training in an aircraft can practice basic procedures...for example preflight system tests, starting checklists, basic malfunctions, FMS programming/use etc.  The platform is also useful for part task mission training, for example practicing close air support coordination procedures with ground controllers and joint partners without tying up a multimillion dollar full simulator.

Your concept of the utility and the usage of microsimulation products like P3D is really incomplete..."Uncle Sam" and the other militaries and government users around the world see microsimulations like P3D as a very cost-effective way to do a wide variety of training events that are either cost-prohibitive due to the high costs of flying hours and/or time in high-fidelity full systems simulators, or simply not possible due to limited availability of the same.  In the 1980s, when we learned cockpit layout and basic procedures in a T-38, or a C-141, we sat in front of inanimate cardboard mock-ups...today's trainees have tools like P3D to add a whole new interactive dimension to the process.

I ran a branch of the USAF staff in the Pentagon that did the programming for employment of next-generation transformational training tools like this.  There are all sorts of fascinating ways these sorts of simulations can be (and are) used that go far beyond the limited concept of cadets learning "pull back on the stick and the houses get smaller."

Regards

 

[netshadoe]

4 minutes ago, WebMaximus said:

A follow-up question on Time Zone Fixer.

On the product page it mentions it will work well with FS Real Time but what I didn't fully understand is if FS Real Time is required?

Or will it work just as good with the 'Keep FS clock synced' feature in FSUIPC I'm currently using to make sure the time stays correct throughout a flight?

FSRealTime isn't required.  It's the BGLs in TimeZone Fixer that controls the time.  It fixes the time zones, and updates the STD/DST changes globally (like here in North America where the DST change is in November/March today, unlike in 2006 when FSX came out and it was in October/April.

You can still use the FSUIPC sync option with no problems.

[WebMaximus]

@w6kd Thanks for sharing this interesting info how P3D is actually used in "the real world".

@netshadoe Sounds great! Will get it right away considering the low cost to have this issue finally gone.

[YukonPete]

Does not bother me the slightest bit. I don't usually fly in real world time. I like to look on flightaware and recreate a flight using a real world route.  I live in the Yukon Canada so we have snow on the ground a good month before southern Canada in the fall. So naturally its not going to match Orbx seasons perfectly but I really don't care either.

[pracines]

Maybe the seasons could be fixed by SimElite - excellent customer service.  I will check with Vahid

[WebMaximus]

1 minute ago, pracines said:

Time zones are fixed; its updated regularly, inexpensive, and very easy to install: 

https://simelite.com/index.php

Maybe the seasons could be fixed by SimElite - excellent customer service.   

Already bought it but thanks anyway. 

[NickJZX]

Funny enough as far as seasons go, 2 days ago it was snowing here in Edmonton IRL. The sim represented that well, including the fact the ground wasn’t covered. Yesterday it blanketed the city and once again the sim represented that well with the textures. I think that’s a coincidence 

[GSalden]

32 minutes ago, WebMaximus said:

Already bought it but thanks anyway. 

Richard , let us know how well it works.

regards, Gerard

[Gridley]

I spent an inordinately long time trying to make this idea work but was never successful.  

The key would be generating a seasons bgl that has no hard winter (no snow cover).  Then, using free global (or higher-resolution regional) snow and ice cover data (for example: https://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/view.php?datasetId=MOD10C1_M_SNOW) create a "snow overlay" seasons bgl that just contained the actual real time snow data.  This would essentially set hard winter where there is actually snow regardless of the date or season set in the sim. The snow overlay would need to be recreated on a regular (daily or monthly depending on data source) basis, so either an application that fetches the data and compiles the bgl or a hosted service to download the bgl would work fine.   That snow overlay can be overlaid on top of the other seasons in theory.  I just could never get it to show up in the sim...this was back in the FS9/FSX days, so might be worth revisiting if someone want to help me work on it...

The idea could also be applied to peak fall foliage colors, though accurate data for that is only available in North America as far as I know.

[Matthew James de Bohun]

Yep nothing worse than seeing snow on the ground when the weather is anything but wintry! Shouldn't really be having to mess around altering dates as a work around.

The other thing that really bugs me is the ugly cut off between snow and no snow. One field is white the very next green or brown. They really need to totally rework this.

[WebMaximus]

2 hours ago, GSalden said:

Richard , let us know how well it works.

regards, Gerard

Will do if I remember but this time of year I usually turn the clock back since I prefer daylight flying so may take a while but maybe I'll do some testing just for this purpose. 

[WebMaximus]

13 hours ago, GSalden said:

Richard , let us know how well it works.

regards, Gerard

Did some quick testing of Time Zone Fixer this morning and from what I can see it seems to work fine.

Interesting how it adds an entry into your scenery library but that is obviously how it does its magic.

[mdata]

15 hours ago, Gridley said:

so might be worth revisiting if someone want to help me work on it...

The idea could also be applied to peak fall foliage colors, though accurate data for that is only available in North America as far as I know.

This would be an app I would happily pay for, since it would bring the same degree of immersion weather apps currently do. Similar to Richard I do not really get used to the look of P3D around this time of year. Here in southern Germany leaves are still yellow and even partially green, when P3D/Orbx show me deserted trees and brownish grey soil since a months time.