RXP, I really love your taxi ribbon and parking border mod! Looks very elegant and unobtrusive! Does your mod replace any core files though? And were you able to figure out the alpha thing? I would love to be able to customize the parking border and taxi ribbons such as the image, transparency, color, elevation, etc.

@captain420

thank you for your kind words!

Yes it replaces a core file because there is no way around that I know of, otherwise I would have preferred making a community mod.

As for customization, yes I've figured a way to use transparency (as shown with the white/none variant) which is "blending" the white onto the ground. In order to do this though, I needed to completely rewrite the materials while keeping the same byte size (I didn't want to also adjust the BGL file chunks). In doing this though, I've made sure to let enough room for editing and tweaking the values further 🙂

I've a variant in mind, blue/none (with a less luminous blue) but I'm waiting for more feedback so that if I make other variants, I'd go in batch. (don't read I'm taking any custom request though, I'll take the pulse of what is most demanded to decide what to add)

NB: it is not a decal though, but the illusion is working quite good nonetheless.

Edited August 17, 20214 yr by RXP

That's a bummer then. I really hope Asobo will implement and improve on this to make it similars to yours. So that we wouldn't have to mess with the core files. But your solution is very elegant and makes it much more pleasing to the eyes that I don't mind leaving it on all the time.

16 hours ago, cappy42 said:

I don't think anyone mentioned this yet, but since SU5 the taxi ribbon can now be accessed from the AI Pilot dropdown menu in game.

 

16 hours ago, RXP said:

Which really raises the question even more: why since Aug. 2020 there is no "toggle" event for this...

Taxi Navigation Ribbon - Toggle - Self-Service / Wishlist - Microsoft Flight Simulator Forums

Having said this, with the small arrows and now the white/none parking variant, I'm really fine leaving this on always.

The taxi ribbon entry in the "Flight Assistant" menu (in game) is a toggle. It toggles both the taxi ribbon and the landing guide. However, it appears to be only togglable if both an origination and destination airport have been selected in the World Map prior to the flight. If only an origination airport is selected in the World Map (which is what I do to then import a SimBrief flight plan into the A32NX), then the taxi ribbon follows what has been set in Options, Assistance, and can't be toggled in the "Flight Assistance" menu.

...jim

PS @RXP I also am using your taxi ribbon mod. Very nice and just subtle enough.

@JimBrown

Thank you for both of your feedback! Don't hesitate to make suggestions, if they are not too involving nor impossible to do, I'll definitely consider it!

As for the "toggle" I believe I didn't express myself correctly. What I mean is a "toggle event", not a "toggle feature". The later is already there 3 layers deep in the menus, and thank @cappy42 to bring the AI Pilot new feature to our attention. However what is also needed is an "event", that is something you can bind to a hardware button, a gauge, a keyboard shortcut, so that you can activate to peek and so that you don't have to interrupt your routine in doing so by using a menu/popup panel/etc...

Having said this, with the unobtrusive mod, I honestly don't feel any need to toggle it anymore either: I just keep it on and this just do the strict minimum needed 🙂

 

 

Edited August 18, 20214 yr by RXP

12 minutes ago, RXP said:

@JimBrown

Thank you for both of your feedback! Don't hesitate to make suggestions, if they are not too involving nor impossible to do, I'll definitely consider it!

As for the "toggle" I believe I didn't express myself correctly. What I mean is a "toggle event", not a "toggle feature". The later is already there 3 layers deep in the menus, and thank @cappy42 to bring the AI Pilot new feature to our attention. However what is also needed is an "event", that is something you can bind to a hardware button, a gauge, a keyboard shortcut, so that you can activate to peek and so that you don't have to interrupt your routine in doing so by using a menu/popup panel/etc...

Having said this, with the unobtrusive mod, I honestly don't feel any need to toggle it anymore either: I just keep it on and this just do the strict minimum needed 🙂

 

 

Ah, roger that. Yes, an event would be nice.

Although, as you say, your mod is unobtrusive enough that I just leave it on. 😉

...jim

 

It seems there may now be a way to toggle the Taxi Ribbons, at least using simvars (though I haven't tried mapping it to anything with SPAD yet to verify), so that you can bind it to a key or controller.

At https://docs.flightsimulator.com/html/Programming_Tools/SimVars/Aircraft_SimVars/Aircraft_AutopilotAssistant_Variables.htm there's a simvar that's labeled and stated the following:

FLY ASSISTANT RIBBONS ACTIVE

----    Returns true when both ribbon assistances are active (taxi and landing), and can also be used to set them.

Bool

 

5 hours ago, Phantoms said:

It seems there may now be a way to toggle the Taxi Ribbons

I use Taxi Ribbons Toggle Works perfectly.

46 minutes ago, 109Sqn said:

I use Taxi Ribbons Toggle Works perfectly.

I had not seen that before you mentioned it. How well does it work?

Looking through the comments, it look like he did exactly that, assigning a key to a simvar.

Quote

By accident I found this in the simconnect manual, and I heard a lot of things about toggle Taxi Ribbons, so I thought why not make the application.

Wich things you want to toggle, so I can search for it.

 

Edited April 15, 20224 yr by Phantoms

1 hour ago, Phantoms said:

How well does it work?

Like I said:

1 hour ago, Phantoms said:

Works perfectly.

😉

I just assigned it to the Ctrl key as it allows. You can set how long you hold the key for before it reacts. I have it set to 1 second. that prevents accidental activation.

15 minutes ago, 109Sqn said:

Like I said:

😉

I just assigned it to the Ctrl key as it allows. You can set how long you hold the key for before it reacts. I have it set to 1 second. that prevents accidental activation.

Just finished a long flight. Off to get it and install it now. One question though, do I only run this once and then it works with MSFS from then on, or is it something you have to launch everytime you do MSFS?

Edited April 15, 20224 yr by Phantoms

You launch it once the sim is running, but you can leave it running in the background for as long as that session lasts (i.e. until you close the sim). I just have the shortcut on my taskbar and start it once I reach the MSFS home screen.

22 minutes ago, 109Sqn said:

You launch it once the sim is running, but you can leave it running in the background for as long as that session lasts (i.e. until you close the sim). I just have the shortcut on my taskbar and start it once I reach the MSFS home screen.

Hmm, instead of having yet another program that I have to launch with the sim, I might just see if I can bind a controller button for that simvar with Spad which I already launch with the sim.

I wish someone would make a functioning follow me car. You're at an unfamiliar airport, you call up follow me assistance.

On 4/15/2022 at 8:18 PM, Phantoms said:

Hmm, instead of having yet another program that I have to launch with the sim, I might just see if I can bind a controller button for that simvar with Spad which I already launch with the sim.

That worked. Bound a button on my controller to FLY ASSISTANT RIBBONS ACTIVE as ToggleBit and it works great. Press button and it toggles on. Press again and it toggles off. Assigned both short press and long press this way.

Edited April 17, 20224 yr by Phantoms