After viewing the "Shared Skies" trailer released by ACES this past week, it's become apparent that the multiplayer feature has a great potential to become a useful and effective tool for both community involvement (i.e. Avsim fly-in at London) and learning (Virtual pilot flight schools). But what they've revealed with the new features has left us with a lot of questions still to be answered before we know the true scope of what this new feature will bring us.We've seen that the multiplayer mode will feature the use of VOIP (voice over internet protocols), allowing anyone with a headset and microphone to communicate with other pilots in the multiplayer mode. But past experience with VOIP in other online games leads me to ask a few questions about this. What sort of limits are there on the number of people in a single channel or server? Will there be any sorts of controls to prevent abusive users from causing problems? Who will host the multiplayer servers, and where? And what sort of latency can we expect...especially when we attempt to bring the international community closer together.Also, the Tower Controller mode is an intriguing prospect, but this too begs a few clarifications to it. With a limited number of controller "slots", how is a Tower controller chosen? Are players in multiplayer able to switch from Tower to Tower (such as a departure and arrival tower)? Will there be procedures in place that tower controllers will need to follow, and will they be documented?I understand that a lot of these questions will simply have to wait until more information becomes public, but in the event that someone is able to address these issues, it would be appreciated. The multiplayer issue is a thorny one to address...it can be a wonderful tool with the right group of people, but all too often one bad apple does indeed spoil the experience. With the community that has grown around Flight Simulator, it's much less of an issue than it is with other multiplayer titles, but players must still have the tools to ensure that their online experience is pleasant, comfortable, and friendly. I look forward to the addition of a new forum here at AVSIM...Flight Instructor classifieds ;)-Ivan

I don't have any answers to your part. Instead I have a couple of questions myself.1: Will it be possible to be a "ghost" in the cockpit in shared skies? What I mean is, if it would be possible to overhear a conversation betweeen the captain and 1st. officer? I shouldn't be possible to disturb them or talk, but just listen in on the action.And could that also be a possiblity in the tower? Just to listen in and maybe learn a thing or two.2: Another long-term aspect could being a passenger aboard. Just to hang around and talk to fellow sim-passengers. It could be a unik way to experience flying through thunderstorms, hurricans, heavy snow and so on. It could also be an airplane full of parachuters where you get the chance to free fall in a sim. You then decide if you want to open the chute or not ;)Just ideas - maybe they are for FSXI or later on. The simulation still has a lot of ground to cover.

I dont know the answers to all of the questions, but I do know that the multiplayer mode will allow max of 16 clients.Watch the airside tv video presentation (link here on AVSIM front page) with ACES Manager Shawn Farminger (sp?). He talks a lot about shared skies and shows the 'tower' mode in action with a shot of the Radar screen for the tower controller. Looks cool.....Glenn

Another question to tack on to the list:Will the soon (hopefully) to be released demo include some multiplayer content?Thanks!

I was kind of hoping that 16 clients was a joke. That's just not enough imo. There is actually something to be learned from MMORG. But would it then be possible to make that number higher by using VATSIM? (don't know anything about vatsim, so enlighten my :) )

Christian, If YOU can find 16 people to go online with at one time at an area LET ME KNOW! It's hard enough finding 1 or 2 others when you're ready.Carmine http://forums.avsim.net/images/wave.gifhttp://img155.imageshack.us/img155/7118/phoenixtp8mg.jpg

>I don't have any answers to your part. Instead I have a>couple of questions myself.>>1: Will it be possible to be a "ghost" in the cockpit in>shared skies? What I mean is, if it would be possible to>overhear a conversation betweeen the captain and 1st. officer?>I shouldn't be possible to disturb them or talk, but just>listen in on the action.Well, although I don't have any solid information on that, I can speculate that it would depend on what type of setup the VOIP will follow. If the VOIP is a simple "push-to-talk" that broadcasts to all, then everyone in the server with a headset will be able to hear the conversation between the two pilots...with the downside that everyone will hear all the converstions going on. If the VOIP is done that way, the VOIP will be treated as the Tower Frequency, and the same rules will apply as in the real world...i.e., report what you need to and then get off the channel. Cockpit communicating would have to be done via an external program, like Teamspeak or Ventrilo, which would allow several players to "ghost" in the cockpit.The other possibility is that the VOIP is set up as a multi-channel system, where one key is a push-to-talk for the tower frequency, and another is a push-to-talk for pilot/co-pilot comms. If the VOIP is done this way, then there probably won't be a possibility to ghost in the cockpit, since you aren't actively connected to the PF and PNF. But again, if you set up a Teamspeak or Ventrilo server external to Flight Simulator, you should be able to listen in without any difficulty.>And could that also be a possiblity in the tower? Just to>listen in and maybe learn a thing or two.Since the Tower Frequency will almost definitely be a broadcast to all on the server, as long as you're in the server you'll hear all the Tower controller's instructions. Depending on the server, I'm sure that at least a few servers will have no problem with you idling to get the hang of controller commands. Other servers of course will be set up for other purposes, and will have more strict limits on players idling.As to a "FS Flight School", I'm going to guess that the first ones to really formalize anything will be the Virtual Airlines, since type-rating will obviously be pretty important to them, and recruiting through a public flight school would probably be attractive as well. Most Virtual Airlines will already have the infrastructure and the dedicated sim pilots in place to get it started up, as well. A good Virtual Flight School will set up a curriculum, have an available Teamspeak/Ventrilo server, and some personable, knowledgeable sim pilots that have a wide range of experience in different FS aircraft. After that, it's just a question of advertising to find people interested in learning. What are the benefits? A Flight School would attract newer pilots to the hobby, draw them in deeper, and possibly get them started in a VA. For the students, it's the chance to expand their abilities and get involved in more complex systems or simply something they haven't tried before.What I would REALLY like to see in the end is corporations getting involved in both server hosting and flight training. If the multiplayer mode really takes off on launch (pun intended), real-world Flight Schools may see an advantage in drawing in new students through Flight Simulator. An Embry-Riddle or King Schools sponsored server staffed with skilled virtual CFIs might even generate revenue for the business as new flight sim players get interested enough in flight to take the next step towards their PPL. A Jeppeson or Garmin sponsored server might just build market share through the Flight Sim community, especially if their server is well managed and popular. If we get to that point in the community, having a great online experience is much more assured, since businesses have a vested interest in making sure that the customer's experience is a pleasant one. It would bring the sim community that much closer together, and would expand Flight Simulation for years to come.

Lets say there is only one server for the whole world. It could only manage 16 people. Now my guess would be, that it would be full most of the time. If that number could be 32 or 64 it still would be full - but more action.If you now make regional server, let's say an european, north american ect. server they would still be full all the time and you would have friends to play with! :DYou could keep making more and more detailed servers from EU->U.K->England->London. all acording to where you live. If not enough players on your national/regional server, then connect to that part of the world you belong and you'll have action. I can't see how it ain't possible to fly with fellow simmers. Now the thing is - how do you find 15 others player, when you can fly all over the world? Couldn't you make regional servers? So it's only possible to fly in one country or one region?----------My idea would be to make one server for the whole world so everyone would fly in the same virtual world. Then you wouldn't need AI aircraft because the skies would be full of... well us. I know it's a dream scenario because no one would set up such a server and fsx ain't made for more than 16(!) people.I don't know if this is nonsense and makes no sense.

>What I would REALLY like to see in the end is corporations>getting involved in both server hosting and flight training. >If the multiplayer mode really takes off on launch (pun>intended), real-world Flight Schools may see an advantage in>drawing in new students through Flight Simulator. An>Embry-Riddle or King Schools sponsored server staffed with>skilled virtual CFIs might even generate revenue for the>business as new flight sim players get interested enough in>flight to take the next step towards their PPL. A Jeppeson or>Garmin sponsored server might just build market share through>the Flight Sim community, especially if their server is well>managed and popular. If we get to that point in the>community, having a great online experience is much more>assured, since businesses have a vested interest in making>sure that the customer's experience is a pleasant one. It>would bring the sim community that much closer together, and>would expand Flight Simulation for years to come.Great idea - it's the same kind of ideas i am playing with...

AHA, wasn't thinking along those terms but that sounds good to me. Yeah 16 people is DEFINITELY not enough for the world. But I think at this stage they didn't get that far. It would be nice to log into a CENTRAL SERVER then people can fill slots around the world that are available for towers and you get a position at any airport you wish.Carmine http://forums.avsim.net/images/wave.gifhttp://img155.imageshack.us/img155/7118/phoenixtp8mg.jpg

Unfortunately, no. That's something you will need to purchase the product to experience.

Hi... is it possible to get the current SDK documentation with the demo? Im really dying to see whats available to programmers via the API (ie direct access to FSX without FSUIPC).I think it was said that the SDK will be freely downloaded upon release, but can we get some doco beforehand? I guess the demo will have missons and those mission scripts will not be encrypted. Will you release docs for the misson language with the demo?:-beerchug

Hi,Just purchase the Deluxe version and you will get the SDKs and a bit more!Hope this helps,Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/Active Sky V6 Development Team Active Sky V6 Proud SupporterHiFi Beta TeamRadar Contact Supporter: http://www.jdtllc.com/AirSource Member: http://www.air-source.us/FSEconomy Member:http://dot.kelder.net:8080/fseconomy/

Here's what I'm *guessing* from the info that I've been able to piece together from the Internet. One option of the multiplayer function will allow you to gather 15 of your closest simpilot friends and go fly somewhere together. Any of you 16 can be a tower controller at any towered airport. (But with only 15 planes in the world at most, how much will there be for the controller to do?)Another option would be for you to join a public multiplayer session where you can fly with 15 other total strangers. Any of them can be a controller, perhaps this will be someone practicing before signing up at VATSIM. Then again, that controller might not know a thing about controlling. So you'll get scenarios like the "Shared skies" video where someone asks permission to do an airshow and the controller says "go ahead" while an airliner is making an emergency approach. Then you'll also have to deal with the nutty pilot who only wants to crash into another plane.Frankly, if you want realism you'll still be better off sticking with VATSIM. Fortunately, VATSIM will still work much like it does today, and VATSIM will probably be able to use some things from the new multiplayer engine to improve their system.

Since the SDK is to be released on the DVD, that means it will be completed a few weeks before release. In the video from the Spain presentation they said the SDK will be available online as well. I see no reason why they couldn't release the SDK as soon as they start burning DVD's. That would be great, then we can start studying and really see what the new features are.