Weather radar. That is a good one !!!

I think that this thread could be stick/pinned as someone has mentioned earlier? 

@Chuck_Jodry-VJPL who is moderating this forum? Thanks 

 

 

Edited October 30, 20196 yr by fs1

On ‎10‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 11:58 AM, Michael Cependa said:

Thanks for the tip Bill.  I never could find anything about this at fsdeveloper.  I did ask about it and was given a couple of suggestions (other than the one you just mentioned) that seemed a little complex for the dozens of drums I would have to recode. 

This is from the Milviz B737-200 Combi's APU Hobbs meter, the 1/10th digit:

<Parameter>
	   <Code>(L:B737_APU_Hobbs,enum) s2 l2 int - 100 *</Code>
	</Parameter>
	

Note that simply the omission of "flr" allows it to increment frame-by-frame rather than snapping to the next whole digit.

On ‎10‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 6:42 PM, fs1 said:

I think that this thread could be stick/pinned as someone has mentioned earlier? 

@Chuck_Jodry-VJPL who is moderating this forum? Thanks 

Done Federico!

On 11/2/2019 at 12:55 PM, n4gix said:

Done Federico!

Thanks Bill!

A very interesting feature for the release would be a legacy P3D SDK compatiblity mode. That is, a way to tell MSFS to appears as legacy P3D to all the existing software and hardware currently using P3D. This fake layer could then auto-magically send the corrected informations to the new MSFS SDK.

Think about the headaches it would solve for updating thousand of software and hardware.

Also, a legacy FSUIPC support of course.

That would only be for transition purpose, so we have time (years !) to upgrade everything to the new standard, and especially I think a tool like FSUIPC should not exists anymore.

Sorry if this was mentioned in the previous posts.

For freeware scenery design, hopefully we will see:

• User friendly tools to edit and improve the basic terrain elements.
  • Being able to refine the elevations around an airport that is located on a mezzanine or slope or one part on a water platform and another on high land is hopefully possible. 
  • A user friendly tool to generate procedural areas on a global or granular level
• Having access to the AI footprints and other procedural data:
  • a couple of years ago, MS generated and released footprints for US and Canada using their AI, so I presume the same process was done to create the procedural world of MSFS
    • Hopefully we will be able to have the data to adjust the infrastructure characteristics (type, height etc)
• I do not know how the new engine works in terms of texture mapping but I hope unlike FSX/ESP we will have only 1 material per object! 
  • In this case hopefully we can convert FSX scenery BGLs to the new format while being able to merge all textures in 1 sheet.

Edited November 19, 20196 yr by Claviateur

Going back to the lag issue for 360 + animations, on re-reading Bill's replies it seems we were not understanding each other.  I know about using decimal values for rotating drums so they move smoothly.  But my aircraft had some special cases in which I wanted to only display integers but still have visible motion when the drums rotated.  Also, for radio direction needles, if you don't want them snapping into position when a station is turned, lag would be a lot easier than having to use elaborate coding to slow down the needle movement. 

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but if so I will add my voice in support of the following features:

•  an easy way to save and load local variables with saved flights;
• an easy way to play sounds linked to local variables with xml coding, assuming the xml system continues;
• floodlights that can be varied in intensity with xml; and
• geometry cast shadows when blocking light from floodlights (in the VC at night for example).  This would also help stop landing lights from illuminating the VC, etc. 

A friendly WYSIWYG panel design tool for freeware panel designers.

Freeware developer.

6 hours ago, Michael Cependa said:

Going back to the lag issue for 360 + animations, on re-reading Bill's replies it seems we were not understanding each other.  I know about using decimal values for rotating drums so they move smoothly.  But my aircraft had some special cases in which I wanted to only display integers but still have visible motion when the drums rotated. 

I think we're actually talking about the same thing. Have you any memory of "old-fashioned" odometers where mechanical drums were used?

The tenths digit will turn slowly and smoothly, but all the other digits would only "turn" between 9 and 0, and even then turn smoothly for the final 1/10th mile. In 3d modeling I've used nothing more than simple XML scripting to accomplish the task.

The typical use of course has been "Hobbs" meters and mechanical DME displays. Note how the 1's digit is about to roll over between 9 and 0 as the 1/10ths is nearing 0 again.

This tiny bit of script accomplishes the task using the 'abs' (absolute) and  'flr' (floor) parameters.

<Code>(A:KOHLSMAN SETTING HG, inHg) abs 99 min 0 max 10 % 1 / flr</Code>

Bill, I have all my drums set up like that -- I saw how to do it from your posts on FS Developers a long time ago.  But, without getting into a lot of detail as to why, I had a lot of gauges on a fuel panel where I wanted the last digit to only show whole numbers but not have them snap instantly when the next value is reached.  So it's a different case.  

16 hours ago, Michael Cependa said:

I wanted the last digit to only show whole numbers but not have them snap instantly when the next value is reached.  So it's a different case.  

What you describe can be done...

My wishlist:

1) Exporters for multiple 3D software packages. I have a 3DS Max license because it pays for itself in this industry, but I would unsubscribe in an instant if there was an exporter available for literally *any* other 3D package.

2) Render glass cockpit displays through CEF; HTML/CSS is by far the most mature ecosystem for 2D rendering, despite all of its quirks.

3) No LUA. It's the worlds worst programming language by a mile. C# would be a good option. Others have claimed C# is "slow", although this hardly requires a response, I feel the need to respond to it anyway; these people are clearly not software engineers. It is fast if you write good code. Unlike LUA, that isn't difficult as you actually know what is allocated on stack and what is on heap.

4) Support for modern workflows and tools! e.g. Should be easy to use Substance Painter for textures/materials. FMOD or similar for sound design. Hot reloading for code.

5) Server side modding; maybe this one is wishful thinking a bit too much. e.g. Run the cloud scenery data through your own Azure functions!

Edited November 20, 20196 yr by Ikaro

2 hours ago, Ikaro said:

My wishlist:

1) Exporters for multiple 3D software packages. I have a 3DS Max license because it pays for itself in this industry, but I would unsubscribe in an instant if there was an exporter available for literally *any* other 3D package.

Yes - in particular one for Blender that should come first.

2) Render glass cockpit displays through CEF; HTML/CSS is by far the most mature ecosystem for 2D rendering, despite all of its quirks.

Yes.

3) No LUA. It's the worlds worst programming language by a mile. C# would be a good option. Others have claimed C# is "slow", although this hardly requires a response, I feel the need to respond to it anyway; these people are clearly not software engineers. It is fast if you write good code. Unlike LUA, that isn't difficult as you actually know what is allocated on stack and what is on heap.

Yes LUA. Very popular because they are scripts i.e. users can easily modify them with opening an IDE and setting up workspace, compiling, exporting etc etc. So convenient!   Crucial !

4) Support for modern workflows and tools! e.g. Should be easy to use Substance Painter for textures/materials. FMOD or similar for sound design. Hot reloading for code.

Yes for serious development.

5) Server side modding; maybe this one is wishful thinking a bit too much. e.g. Run the cloud scenery data through your own Azure functions!

Definitely Not. But maybe a server side Web service API.

 

Freeware developers are going to need a means of exporting models from Blender (or another free modeling program). The price of 3D modeling programs prohibits their use for the hobbyist or small commercial content creators.