Hi Guys,I just thought of creating this thread as a means for me to say some FSX requests to the FSX team, as well as to say some ramblings that I have about FSX and how current MSFS users are thinking about it and speculating about it.First of all, the FSX requests. I know that not all (and possibly none) of these requests will be accepted, which I don't have a problem with, knowing that the FSX team already have quite a handful on their hands with regards to beta-testing FSX and polishing it up before it goes Gold, but I would be very happy if at least some of these requests will be accepted, and I'm sure that some of these requests will be quite interesting to both the FSX team as well as the forum users who are reading this thread. Well, here we go:1- Some more detail with regards to gauges and systems in the airliner panels. This includes all of the airliners that will make it into FSX, including the 737-800 and A321 which I've simply **heard** will be included in FSX. I'm not necessarily requesting something with the same level of detail and complexity as the PMDG panels or Level-D Sim panels, but something which has functionality which is between the PMDG and Level-D Sim panels on one hand, and the default FS9 airliner panels on the other hand. It would be a quantam leap for FS to see, for the very first time, FMCs in the airliner panels of FS, which handle the very same default PLN format FS flightplans, but could edit and handle the FS flightplans in a very similar manner to real FMCs, such as waypoint changes, altitude management, LNAV/VNAV functionality, V-speed calculation (this would be a lovely feature), etc. The airliners' ND screens (Navigation Display screens) would also display the FMC loaded flightplan without having to open up the default GPS, complete with white and magenta lines for the flightplan depending on the aircraft model, plus waypoint, navaid and airport display in the ND. Also, it would be **REALLY** great to finally do away with the old "NAV-GPS" switch and replace it with an actual LNAV button in the autopilot MCP, as I find the "NAV-GPS" button to be something rather unrealistic for me which really takes away from the realism in the default FS9 airliner panels. Of course, some VNAV functionality and a VNAV button in the autopilot MCP would also be nice. Of course, the ability to add altitude restrictions (altitude settings) to waypoints in the default flightplanner and then have those altitude restrictions come up in the FMC when loading the flightplan in the FMC would be very nice. My scenario for an FMC in the default airliner panels of FSX would be something along the lines of this: a- Create and then save a flightplan in the default flightplanner. b- Load the flightplan in the FMC, then after setting up everything nicely in the FMC, press EXEC (execute) to activate the flightplan in the FMC and make it visible in the ND. In addition to everything I just said, some other systems like APU, hydraulics, etc. would be nice to see as well. Seatbelt and No-Smoking signs switches, complete with the "DING" sounds would be a nice touch as well. All that I've requested for the airliner panels would be excellent to see in the Learjet panel as well. :-hah2- Some actual transparency in the water, at least to a certain user-defined field of view, would be excellent, as it would make seeing water animals as well ships, water craft and sea planes a lot more realistic. For instance, a killer whale would surface in the water, its back and dorsal fin above the water, but depending on the time of day and angle of the sun, you would be able to see a lot of its body under the surface of the water by looking at the killer whale from above the water. The same thing would apply to pieces of coral reef, such as the coral reefs that you would find in the Red Sea, for example. In addition, the ability to actually view boats and sea planes from under the surface of the water, just like in Micro Flight, would be very cool, as that would also allow us to view under water objects such as coral reefs as well. Modelling coral reefs with fishes and sharks swimming around them would be very cool, knowing that the small fishes for example would only pop into view smoothly when looking up-close at the coral reef. I know that this talk about coral reefs is kinda strange to you guys, but it honestly has a lot do with the fact that I'm an active scuba diver in the Red Sea area.3- It would be really nice to see a lot of killer whales in the Seattle region, as well is in several other parts of North America's Pacific Northwest, such as Puget Sound, Vancouver in Canada, Johnstone Strait in Canada, etc. And I know this sounds crazy, but it would be very cool to see the killer whales pluck seals of the beach in Argentina in special times of the year, if the animations for those is posibble, plus killer whales hunting seals in the Artic as well as Antarctica by flipping them off the ice floes would look cool. Plus, of course, some bottlenose dolphins in several parts of the Red Sea such as Jeddah and Sharm El Sheikh would be great. Grey whales migrating past California in the winter and then spending their time in Baja California during the winter breeding months would look cool, as well as seeing humpback whales in Hawaii during the winter breeding months. Yes, as you can tell by now, I'm a very serious whales and dolphins (ceteaceans) enthusiast, and quite honestly, I could actually help Microsoft be making them model the whales and dolphins' shapes and behaviour patterns very realistically. Just picture watching a pod of killer whales swimming, spouting, breaching and frolicking in Puget Sound off Seattle after taking off for a VFR flight from Seatac Int'l Airport, Microsoft's current default airport for the MSFS series. ;)4- It would be great to see Microsoft pay special attention to some of the major international airports in the Middle East for a change, and give them a major face-lift. Such airports include, but are not limited too: Jeddah's King Abdulaziz Int'l Airport (OEJN), Riyadh's King Khaled Int'l Airport (OERK), Dammam's King Fahd Int'l Airport, Dubai Int'l Airport (OMDB), Bahrain Int'l Airport (OBBI), Doha Int'l Airport (OTBD), Kuwait Int'l Airport (OKBK), Beirut Int'l Airport (OLBA), Cairo Int'l Airport (HECA), Sharm El Sheikh Int'l Airport (HESH), Hurghada Int'l Airport (HEGN), Luxor Int'l Airport (HELX), etc. All the airports that I mentioned also deserve a major face-lift with regards to the custom objects and detailed landclass in their cities' sceneries. In addition, it would be really great to see Microsoft include a lot of Arabian Peninsula specific animals in the Arabian Peninsula region, such as oryx, camels, desert kites, desert foxes, etc. Also, it would be great to see Microsoft pay more attention to special religious holy sites around the world, such as the Vatican in Vatican City, Makkah's Holy Mosque and Makkah City, Madinah's Holy Mosque and Madinah City (with attention to detail in Madinah Airport, ICAO code OEMA), the holy sites in Jeruselam, St. Catherine's Monastery near Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt including a detailed rendition of Mount Moses in the local terrain data, etc.That's enough requests for now, I may post some more requests later.... Now for my ramblings: I really think that there's quite a handful of users in this forum who are just jumping to conclusions about FSX, simply because they only knew so far about the game-style missions in the sim, plus the FSX team still didn't announce their complete updates and enhancements to current FS9 features, such as the default ATC and AI traffic. Guys, do we really have to go through this speculation and paranoia before each MSFS release, simply because we still didn't get all the details about a new version of MSFS? With all due respect, to all the speculators who keep jumping to conclusions that FSX will simply be a mission-enhanced eye-candy sim: stop jumping to conclusions. We still didn't get all the nitty gritty details about every feature and part of FSX, so just keep cool for now and let the FSX team announce all the features and parts of FSX to us at their own pace. We already enjoy the very nice priviledge of having members of the FSX team post and discuss in this forum of ours, so please don't offend them and drive them away with any "not good enough, Microsoft"-style messages. Let's express gratitude towards tdragger, pixel-poke and any other FSX team member who posts in this forum for their contributions to us with regards to information and answers about FSX.Oh, and about the game-style missions: I simply can't understand what the nay-sayers who hate the addition of these missions to FSX are worked-up about. The FSX team never said that the addition of these missions to FSX will mean that they'll dumb down the FSX flight dynamics and panels to an arcade-style level, nor did the FSX team ever say that they won't concentrate on making the sim more realistic. As members of the FSX team has stated more than once, the missions are simply a means of breathing new life into the sim by adding challenges to the user, as well as making the sim more attractive and accessible to more people, which will attract a larger audience to the sim, which will in turn mean that the MSFS will stay around for a long time. The longevity of the MSFS series is a very important thing for us. :) Plus, who would hate some elements of fun in the sim, which the missions will introduce to the sim?Also, whoever said that the addition of animals to the sim is needless is, with all due respect, totally wrong. Why? Simple: when I travel from my home city's airport, Jeddah's King Abdulaziz Int'l Airport (OEJN), while waiting in the terminal for my flight to start boarding, I wait at the terminal's large windows and watch the busy scene on the ground at OEJN, which includes a lot of airliners, ground marshals, airport ground support vehicles, and lots of **PIGEONS**. Yes, pigeons. Hundreds of them. Not only are they very abundandt around this airport as well as in several other major international airports around the world, they also pose a threat to safety for aircraft that are arriving and departing from the airport. Let's say I sit at the window seat of my flight's jet.... During the initial climb-out after takeoff, I sometimes sea a few dolphins in the Red Sea frolicking and swimming at the surface. Keep in mind that these are all animals that I see on a typical airliner flight....Imagine what kinds of animals a bush pilot would see from inside his Beaver aircraft while flying around the British Columbia area in Canada in the real world? As you can see, animals are a very important and welcome addition to the sim that will definitely add a level of immersion to the sim that we've never had or seen before.Regards,

Nice (long) post.About point 1: The default aircraft have to be playable for the starting user. Making an FMC would be a great addition, but they have to use sid/star nav data. I think that the default planes in FS have to be KISS (Keep it Simple Stuff) Just plan your route, hit the nav/gps switch and off you go. we also don't know what the SDK will bring us, so maybe in the future we could see FMC's in freeware planes.About point 2: Perhaps this will / is a DX 10 feature? who knows.But when implementing now, it must be scalable, so low end users could disable this.About point 3: i don't think this is easy to do. I think the animals and bird's are some sort of AI traffic, wich, hopfully can be ajusted with some programs.About point 4: There will alway's be airports / geografic scenery that aren't like there real world counterpart's. I wish the same for my airport, EHRD, to be like the actual one, and i would like to see the Euromast (a 185 Meter high tower)ingame, but that's not realistic. It would take ages to make and a handfull of DVD's. We depent on user / developer (like FlyTampa e.g.) to make more realistic airports.About the rant: Your right about that!

For transparent water to work the surface below the water line would also have to be modelled, and for us fans of realism that means getting real elevation data. Then of course the resulting mesh has to be textured and lit. The scale of such a project would be enormous, as we know there is more water on this planet than land. Also how deep should the land still be visible? Does this change with weather/time of day/lighting? If there are animals in the water they will need to be 'aware' of the geography so as not to swim 'through' it.There are many more things to consider I'm sure. All of which open up a seperate can of worms. :(

LOL :)He is a scuba diver... no wonder he wants that. Manny

Thanks for your replies, guys!!@Dennis: Yes, I know that Microsoft simply couldn't pay special attention and give high detail to every airport and city in the world, but I'm just hoping that they would pay a little more attention to the Middle East region this time with regards to major int'l airports and cities. Imagine having a detailed rendition of Dubai Int'l Airport (OMDB), plus a detailed version of Dubai city by default in FSX? ;)@viz: Yeah man, I was thinking the same.... For one thing, the FSX team could either only model the underwater terrain around the coasts of the land areas of FSX, or they could actually model the underwater terrain in FSX, it's up to them. Imagine the possibility of simulating submarines as a result of the water depth simulation, as well as the ability to simulate scuba divers and detailed renditions of coral reefs, LOL!! :-lol For the most part, I really would love to have this water transparency feature as something that would boost realism when looking at sea creatures or coral reefs from above the water. Wave and swell simulation depending on winds and currents would also be awesome, but it's all up to the FSX team.@Manny: Indeed, that's why I want it!! :-hah Just FYI, I've done a lot of scuba diving so far in both Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.Regards,

"@Manny: Indeed, that's why I want it!! Just FYI, I've done a lot of scuba diving so far in both Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt."Two months ago I was in Bonair, Neatherland Antillies..Did some 18 or so dives... I went 100feet in one dive. Loved it. I also noticed MS Paul Allen's yacht and his chopper there at Bonair. BTW... his yaucht (Tatoosh) looks very similar to the one you see on the new FSX screen shots. He has another slightly bigger one called "Octopus"Don't mean to go off topic.. but how is the dive there (ME)? I didn't realize that ME is a diving area.. I need to check it out.Manny

Man, one day maybe hardware and software can let us go dive the depths of the ocean as well... I still envision FS becoming more of a world simulator *dream dream*...Actually as for viewing stuff below the surface of the water, take a careful look at the screenshots for FSX... You can see whales and dolphins below the surface in some shots, with the rest of their bodies above water... ;)I'm a certified diver (PADI/SSI) as well... One day I'm sure we'll have something like this, for now, I'm just happy with dolphins and whales... Something I've been planning on creating and animating in FS since FS98... I used to work at a resort where a pod of wild dolphins came in to feed every night... www.tangalooma.com (which btw is where they filmed the first scooby do movie), and I was originally planning on creating dynamic scenery based dolphins but then FS2000 came out and then FS2002 and then FS2004 and never got around to it... :( lolOn a side note, what is possible today is to get flight data from aviation companies such as piper/boeing/airbus etc etc etc and model that into FS... Also what is entirely possible is getting 3D CAD drawings from aircraft companies and converting them for direct use in Flight Sim where things can be accurate 100%(ish)... Of course poly counts would need to be reduced etc and stuff remodelled to make the planes frame rate friendly, but it's possible...What's also possible is to work with 3D Film FX companies and import their meshes into FS as well, of course all of the above would require business negotiations, contracts, licensing etc etc etc blah blah blah...Anyway what were we talking about???Oh yeah a lot of the other requests appear to already be in FSX as has been disclosed publically before... The pigeons, well if they haven't been modelled yet, a 3rd party dev I'm sure will make em...

Just a quick link to a pick of a review someone posted here at avsim that shows the whales... ;) Second picture down...http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho..._id=7303&page=2Notic in particular that the tail fluke for the right hand whale is clearly underwater, but still visible...Oh hey cool, now we can model animated dolphins next to our boats, riding the bow waves :D

>Man, one day maybe hardware and software can let us go dive>the depths of the ocean as well... I still envision FS>becoming more of a world simulator *dream dream*... As with many things like this I think it's primarily the software i.e. the time it takes to implement and debug any new feature. I'm sure hardware isn't a problem. The game Far Cry can model the terrain below the water with as much detail as above water. There are very realistic fish and sharks which actually implement a sophisticated flocking algorithm. The effect is quite amazing and very realistic (the same applies to the birds). You can easily swim through the water and watch the seabed scenery (rocks, vegetation etc) and the fish going about their business. The equivalent in FSX may not be quite so sophisticated (but who knows?) but the addition of animated humans, animals and fish / dolphins is very welcome. And as for a 'world simulator' - I'm with you on that one! For many years I dreamed of the possibilities. It seemed logical that games would develop in this direction but I assumed it was years or decades in the future. But in fact they already exist: they're called 'game engines'! I'm only familiar with the CryEngine which powers Far Cry. It is quite extraordinary and is a big step towards a true world simulator. For example, although officially a first-person shooter, you can make very good racing games, as the modelling of drivable vehicles is very good indeed. CryEngine 2 (Crysis) will be out at about the same time as FSX. Among other things, it could be the basis of a very nice do-it-yourself flight simulator. It has flyable aircraft and true volumetric clouds which look truly spectacular in the videos. It can also load new scenery as you progress, so very large maps should be possible. I think a true world simulator will emerge in the not-too-distant future. But it may not come from Microsoft. Instead it will probably be a development (or even merger) of the various existing game engines. Best regards, Chris

Hmmm, world sim open source? eek...Well with the new physics hardware real time render cards, one day one company may make a virtual earth that is open source, Google sure seems headed that way...I mean water is a constant right? Have that coded in hardware and each game doesn't have to re-invent the wheel each time they need water...I would say that even in FS11, it could be possible to create an underwater world with the physx card... Use the physx water, and have underwater topography modelled for stuff below the surface, suddenly a whole new world of possibilities opens up...Hmm, an open source globe sim though seems like something that could be cool... Would love to see it come from MSFT tho...

I would say that even in FS11, it could be possible to create an underwater world with the physx card... Use the physx water, and have underwater topography modelled for stuff below the surface, suddenly a whole new world of possibilities opens up...This is a very important and exciting point. For example, all those bush pilot lovers - going to those remote lakes as an example - you could actually land on lakes that have life, fish particulary and fish the lakes. This gives the program life-like purpose and also would almost make my fishing programs redundant (such as In-Fisherman),lol!

wow you guys are creative!! Pretty soon you'll demand to be able to watch mile high club rituals in FS!!!

no demands, just ideas and concepts ;)

>wow you guys are creative!! Pretty soon you'll demand to be>able to watch mile high club rituals in FS!!!Hmmm I wonder what our wives or girlfriends would think of that, I think we'd all be grounded :(

we'll have to watch, I mean fly, the sim on a laptop in a bathroom!!