Right now all the mission content will use default FSX aircraft. Will the mission system work with third party aircraft? If there are specific keystrokes for controlling aircraft systems then I assume it'll work just fine provided the individual running the mission has the third party content installed. Is this correct?DougDell XPS Gen3 (3.6GHz/800FSB) | 2GB DDR SDRAM | 74GB SATA, 10k RPM (C: ) | 120GB SATA (D: ) | 256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT (Catalyst 6.5) | Audigy 2 ZS Sound | MS Force Feedback 2 | WindowsXP Pro (SP2) | DirectX 9.0c

>Right now all the mission content will use default FSX>aircraft. Will the mission system work with third party>aircraft? If there are specific keystrokes for controlling>aircraft systems then I assume it'll work just fine provided>the individual running the mission has the third party content>installed. >>Is this correct?>>Doug>>Dell XPS Gen3 (3.6GHz/800FSB) | 2GB DDR SDRAM | 74GB SATA, 10k>RPM (C: ) | 120GB SATA (D: ) | 256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT>(Catalyst 6.5) | Audigy 2 ZS Sound | MS Force Feedback 2 |>WindowsXP Pro (SP2) | DirectX 9.0cI've been thinking a lot about this, based on the suggestions of doing "tutorial" missions for add-on aircraft. If my assumptions are correct, then the missions will be able to affect the registers the same way that third party add-ons do using FSPUIC, only internally.I'm not sure it sends keystrokes as much as it does just change the state of things, such as gear up or whatever. Perhaps it is possible to trigger a keystroke, but it would seem sort of backwards, as many functions of the core simulator are configurable (assigning controls to whatever keystroke you want).I'd really like to see an answer to this as well.

I would think it would as I think all 3rd party aircraft have the same footprint as default aircraft. FS knows the aircraft location, speed and other variables irregardless of what type of aircraft it is which leads me to believe the mission language, being similar to ABL, allows a user to pull all sorts of data from FS in realtime.The question will be how the interface looks for the mission editor and what variables will be readily available through this interface. I'm not an expert on the subject but I would assume most of the aircraft statistics will be defined in the SDK and utilizing C++ a programmer could extract any variable defined therein and display it in any desired format if not available in the mission editor.Ian.

>I would think it would as I think all 3rd party aircraft have>the same footprint as default aircraft. FS knows the aircraft>location, speed and other variables irregardless of what type>of aircraft it is which leads me to believe the mission>language, being similar to ABL, allows a user to pull all>sorts of data from FS in realtime.>>The question will be how the interface looks for the mission>editor and what variables will be readily available through>this interface. I'm not an expert on the subject but I would>assume most of the aircraft statistics will be defined in the>SDK and utilizing C++ a programmer could extract any variable>defined therein and display it in any desired format if not>available in the mission editor.>>Ian.I'm not sure it's an issue of getting the information from the plane like location, etc., as much as it is an issue of doing the things that the third-party aircraft have themselves. For instance, say you are writing a mission that has a simulated co-pilot on a long-haul and at one point during a checklist, you want the FO to set cabin pressurization or turn on the no-smoking sign or something that isn't a "standard" FS control. That's what I think we are curious about. Can we simulate the activation of a control that isn't a built-in FS control, but instead is run through a third party gauge or DLL.

Precisely! That'what I meant to convey. Thanks for rewording to make the question clearer.DougDell XPS Gen3 (3.6GHz/800FSB) | 2GB DDR SDRAM | 74GB SATA, 10k RPM (C: ) | 120GB SATA (D: ) | 256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT (Catalyst 6.5) | Audigy 2 ZS Sound | MS Force Feedback 2 | WindowsXP Pro (SP2) | DirectX 9.0c

>Precisely! That'what I meant to convey. Thanks for>rewording to make the question clearer.>>Doug>>Dell XPS Gen3 (3.6GHz/800FSB) | 2GB DDR SDRAM | 74GB SATA, 10k>RPM (C: ) | 120GB SATA (D: ) | 256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT>(Catalyst 6.5) | Audigy 2 ZS Sound | MS Force Feedback 2 |>WindowsXP Pro (SP2) | DirectX 9.0cThanks, now all I need is an answer. :-p

FYI, no-smoking signs and seatbelt signs are actually configurable controls in FSX. Here's how mine are configured, as they appear in the XML file: CTRL+SHIFT+1CABIN_NO_SMOKING_ALERT_SWITCH_TOGGLECTRL+SHIFT+2CABIN_SEATBELTS_ALERT_SWITCH_TOGGLEThere are also a lot of other key configurable controls, including multiple ones dealing with cabin pressure and entries for anti-skid Brakes, Ballast Valve, extend or retract floats, GPWS toggle, a whole catagory for G1000/GPS stuff, and even "War Emergency Power." And, icing on the cake, if you want to you can redefine the standard window popup commands. (AKA the Shift+1 through Shift+9.)As for how FSX missions will interact all that stuff, looking at that bit of XML code above, as an educated guess I imagine the missions (and gauges?) will access things using the identifiers rather then the actual keys. So you might use CABIN_NO_SMOKING_ALERT_SWITCH_TOGGLE, which is a bit long, but that's what the clipboard's for. :)"Let me help you out. You're cleared to taxi any way you can to any runway you see."

Microsoft has invested a lot of their publicity and pre-release money and marketing efforts in Missions.I doubt it will be completely simple - but once addon aircraft have been modified / updated for FSX - I'd bet a tall cold beverage of your choice that you can script any function the aircraft can perform within FS.If the aircraft requires or uses it's own DLL's to send information to the manufacturer's programs and then feed the information back into FS - as do some of the very complex payware - then that might not be scriptable - because it occurs outside FS.

>Thanks, now all I need is an answer. :-pThe mission system does have access to some of the variables related to aircraft systems and performance data (enought to build all of the missions we are including and then some), however the real power will be when third parties tap into our new API SimConnect and access a much greater number of variables (such as individual switches on the panel). There are very few limits when using SimConnect in conjunction with the mission system.There are third parties starting to do this now and I can't wait to see what they come up with.

>>>Thanks, now all I need is an answer. :-p>>The mission system does have access to some of the variables>related to aircraft systems and performance data (enought to>build all of the missions we are including and then some),>however the real power will be when third parties tap into our>new API SimConnect and access a much greater number of>variables (such as individual switches on the panel). There>are very few limits when using SimConnect in conjunction with>the mission system.>>There are third parties starting to do this now and I can't>wait to see what they come up with.There is not a limit to how cool this is to me.Unlimited cool. That should be the tagline on this version of FS.The next question is, when can I get my hands on this mission editor?

I don't know how this SimConnect work but will 3rd party programmers be able to publish values/states to SimConnect so it become available for the mission script?Say I create a gauge that show a new value not available in FS. Can I make that value available to the script?

>I don't know how this SimConnect work but will 3rd party>programmers be able to publish values/states to SimConnect so>it become available for the mission script?>>Say I create a gauge that show a new value not available in>FS. Can I make that value available to the script?>I'm pretty sure that is what he is saying, but we'll have to wait to find out.

Thanks a lot for the information Paul! The mission system is indeed an exciting feature that will no doubt open the door to many creative folks down the road. Many thanks to you and the ACES team for adding this content to FSX!DougDell XPS Gen3 (3.6GHz/800FSB) | 2GB DDR SDRAM | 74GB SATA, 10k RPM (C: ) | 120GB SATA (D: ) | 256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT (Catalyst 6.5) | Audigy 2 ZS Sound | MS Force Feedback 2 | WindowsXP Pro (SP2) | DirectX 9.0c