I hope it will not take a PC that does not exist to make it work

VR!

As a developer, I would like MS to provide the same camera view render to texture with pre and post processing that P3D provides, for IR, CCD, and Radar imagery.

What I want is this.

What I'm doing now.

Each and every Aeroplane I own I am designing/ planning/ and flying it home. Because in a few months time I will have no further use for them.

I have great expectations for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2019 and I have the distinct feeling that it's going to make every airframe in my (extensive) hangar redundant.

I am ready to embrace the new...are you?

 

Already, I'm flying the veritable Captain Sim 737-200 back to "Mama" in Seattle.

I'm from the UK (You know - the guys who have just won the Cricket World Cup) so that's quite a long journey over the top - Iceland - Greenland (Bluie West One) - Goose-Bay- and then on...

After that - I'll tearfully take care of my PMDG Birds - 777, 737. and return them to just down the road from the 737 assembly at Paines.

It feels like an opportunity to create a denouement - a kind of termination of "the old".

I have zero problem with the fact that FSX/ P3D/ XP  has been rubbish - because of the old code for so many years. I've had a great time flying them - all three. And here's the point - we've had a great time doing this. What wonders have we witnessed from Devs, (FSLabs/ PMDG/ A2A) devoted individuals. Amazing!

How many times have you Googled - "*Chosen Airfield* FSX Scenery" and got a perfect result. If you didn't did it not inspire you to visit FSDeveloper.com and learn the ropes and get your head around how to make stuff in FSX/ P3D?

For myself - I tried searching for the local airfield where I took my first real world flight - and it was horribly represented in FSX - so, I set about making it representational to it's true to life layout - A Dev was born at that point.

If we take a step back from the recent announcements and hype and take a look in the mirror at ourselves - can we do that ? - what do we see? - a depressed bunch of people who've been using the same old code for year after year - with concomitant frustrations as CPU's have moved on and ESP has trailed behind, etc.

I love the fact that MS has got back in the game. I 've been fantasising about it for ten years. Its about time. Bring it on.

Let's keep our eyes open and our hands on the yoke. (or side-stick)

I am Ganter - and I'm not great at expressing stuff but I love you all and I really believe we're going to be freaked out by this.

Peace.

And Blue Skies...(with volumetric clouds here and there)

x

 

Edited July 15, 20196 yr by Guest

Joystick Settings...

Given the different types of joysticks and aircraft for the sim platforms, I hope that MSFS implements joystick settings (sensitivity etc) that we can assign by aircraft.

In X-plane, you can edit the “response curves” for each aircraft (managed profiles) given that some planes / helis are more sensitive to a given level of input than others.

I can customize each plane to my liking (and save the setting), without having to switch joystick settings every time I load a different aircraft.

Edited July 17, 20196 yr by FlyBaby

- please include cold and dark starts! Like FSW did if possible:

-simple mod, by highlighting the switches

- or realistic mod, with just the checklist

Edited July 20, 20196 yr by Noooch

Something I'd really like to see, but it would have to be part of the sim's original design, is the ability to add 3D objects to the cockpit.  These would be implemented as "gauge" objects no matter what they actually did.  They'd not only be the objects, but the code to implement them if necessary.

One thing this would do is totally separate the gauges from the interior model file.  A developer or modder could add new gauges (for example a low fuel warning light or outside air temperature gauge) to an aircraft that didn't have them, or the devs could do a total replacement of the gauges from analog to glass cockpit with a single setting in a config file and the necessary gauges.  I could finally create a gauge to cause ice to appear on external aircraft parts without having to have access to the model file.  Custom processing could be added to a gauge to create more systems depth.  If a developer releases an aircraft with an improperly functioning gauge we can fix it without resorting to hex editing a model file.

Simmers who wanted them could add people to the cockpit.  Even animated if they had the necessary processing.  The same model file could be used for passengers or cargo.  Lots of flexibility there.

The processing wouldn't have to be significantly more complex as the full aircraft model could be built during the loading of the aircraft or even modified on the fly.

This is already being done in Vehicle Simulator although the implementation could be improved.  I added binnacles to a variety of sailing ships that didn't have them, for example.

Hook

 

47 minutes ago, LHookins said:

Something I'd really like to see, but it would have to be part of the sim's original design, is the ability to add 3D objects to the cockpit.  These would be implemented as "gauge" objects no matter what they actually did.  They'd not only be the objects, but the code to implement them if necessary.

One thing this would do is totally separate the gauges from the interior model file.  A developer or modder could add new gauges (for example a low fuel warning light or outside air temperature gauge) to an aircraft that didn't have them, or the devs could do a total replacement of the gauges from analog to glass cockpit with a single setting in a config file and the necessary gauges.

I like the idea in theory, because for one thing it would solve the annoyance of liking a payware model but wishing it had steam gauges instead of a glass cockpit, or vice-versa. I run into that a lot with plane models I buy, or avoid buying because it's not the version I want.

It might be a nightmare for payware developers though, because with payware you expect tech support. Users could screw up the model by messing too much with the cockpit.

Gauges are also intimately connected with the flight and systems modeling. Your engine gauges on a turboprop need to "know" if they're hooked up to a PT-6, a Garret, or something else, and respond accordingly. Often these elements are tweaked with plugins unique to that aircraft, and supplied by the developer. A generic gauge supplied by the sim wouldn't "know" what the developer's plugin is doing.

Seems complicated. I think the main issue, for payware anyway, is that the first question a developer would have to ask when doing tech support is "Have you changed anything in the cockpit?"

Drag-n-drop your own cockpit design and everything else for that matter might be fun.

If a particular payware aircraft needs a specific gauge, the developer will create it.  It would be the same way the "panel" XML gauges currently work.  It wouldn't be just generic gauges, any more than it is currently.

Users can change any number of things in the current system.  This won't be any different.  Swapping between steam gauges and glass cockpits will be handled by a dialog created by the developer, same as many things are done now.  

Currently you can buy replacement GPS systems.  For these to work in the 3D cockpit the model file has to accommodate them.  This would eliminate that requirement.  

Do you prefer your steam gauges to be period or modern?  This way you could have both.

Hook

4 minutes ago, SteveW said:

Drag-n-drop your own cockpit design and everything else for that matter might be fun.

It's the "everything else" that's really exciting.  It would be complicated but you could conceivably replace any part of the aircraft.  Tundra tires, skis, floats... different wings... external cargo pods, wingtip fuel tanks, you name it.

Hook

3 minutes ago, LHookins said:

It's the "everything else" that's really exciting.  It would be complicated but you could conceivably replace any part of the aircraft.  Tundra tires, skis, floats... different wings... external cargo pods, wingtip fuel tanks, you name it.

Hook

Yep. I would probably create a floatplane that sinks first time out. Could be interesting and a lot of laughs.

I'm going to guess that the floats "gauge" would contain all the necessary processing to allow the plane to float on water.  The tundra tires would contain the necessary processing to do "water skiing" and possibly go flat, plus whatever was needed to increase friction on pavement on landing and be slightly wobbly during taxi, all encapsulated in the tundra tire object.

I haven't thought about it all that much, but it's an exciting concept.  We can only wish.

Hook

5 hours ago, Paraffin said:

Users could screw up the model by messing too much with the cockpit. Seems complicated. I think the main issue, for payware anyway, is that the first question a developer would have to ask when doing tech support is "Have you changed anything in the cockpit?"

You forget we were doing this for years using FS Panel Studio (or even panel.cfg edits) to 2D panels, and we are still are for pop-up gauges like weather radar and GPS. All the suggestion does it makes it easy to drop them as 3D objects in to the virtual cockpit without having to wait for the model author to make a modified 3D model (if they do so at all).

46 minutes ago, LHookins said:

I'm going to guess that the floats "gauge" would contain all the necessary processing to allow the plane to float on water.  The tundra tires would contain the necessary processing to do "water skiing" and possibly go flat, plus whatever was needed to increase friction on pavement on landing and be slightly wobbly during taxi, all encapsulated in the tundra tire object.

I haven't thought about it all that much, but it's an exciting concept.  We can only wish.

It's a cool idea, but I just can't imagine being able to add floats or tundra tires to a model that wasn't designed for it originally. Too many factors to consider.

For tundra tires you have a higher C.G. that will affect ground handling, and additional aerodynamic drag once you're in the air. Different float size and mounting location will affect the way a plane sits in the water, which then determines the angle of attack on the wing during takeoff. It's all interrelated, like engine gauges for specific engine models (including developer plugins).

A developer can provide those variations and test how it works, over and over until it's right. If you don't see those options more often from developers, it's because it's a lengthy, iterative process to get it where the plane "flies by the numbers" and acts like the real thing (or as close as we can get in a sim). 

If the sim allows generic plug-in options, then how many payware aircraft developers are going to be enthusiastic about having a feature that allows users to mess with their carefully designed planes that way? 

The way to "fool around" as an amateur plane designer is with something like the PlaneMaker utility included in X-Plane. Design from scratch, in an iterative process where you can test-fly whatever you want, plug in any default gauges you want, add floats, whatever. See what works and what doesn't. Maybe the new MFS will have something like that, which would certainly satisfy what they've said about "supporting community content."