Do we know if taxiways are ever going to be real-worldified?

[eslader 1,783]

It's a word now. 😉

It can be rather confusing to have taxiways named differently in the sim than on the charts. Especially since the taxiway signs are... Spotty at best. Any hope this is ever going to be corrected?

 

 

[Steve Dra 7,588]

5 minutes ago, eslader said:

It's a word now. 😉

It can be rather confusing to have taxiways named differently in the sim than on the charts. Especially since the taxiway signs are... Spotty at best. Any hope this is ever going to be corrected?

 

 

That's a tough ask I've decided because of everything involved in creating taxiway signs.   An updated satellite image of the ground markings would be a logical choice to merge in the scenery for those items...that is problematic as well.

This is one of the most compelling topics where 3rd party devs could come to the rescue IMO.  Hope other's chime in with suggestions...but from MS/AS themselves....this is one I'd leave to 3rd party to police and maintain.  To update all 30K+ airport signs and accurate markings (and keep them updated) would be outside of any $60 entertainment title as far as my expectations go.

Let's give the 3rd parties time to take this up and run with it (Of course those who've already created airports have already started the effort...but in total I'd be surprised if even 100 total have been addressed so far...just a few more to go) 🙂

 

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

It's actually quite easy to fix the taxiway signs and designations, but it's too tedious to do for the average MSFS user, for more than just a few airports. The process should become smoother once Airport Design Editor (ADE) for MSFS is released. 

[RobJC 2,069]

Speaking of taxiways...at KDEN i like to go cold and dark at a gate and then taxi out. When I get instructions that say BS K WCI blah blah blah I have a hard time trying to figure out what direction I go to get to the first taxiway. Any help is appreciated! 

[eslader 1,783]

How did FSX/P3d do it? If I remember, most of the taxiway signs were correct - at least in airports that didn't have messed up taxiways in general.

 

As a consolation prize I'd at least like to see them re-implement that dashed line taxi guide they had in the old one. If I can't use a chart, I might as well have a virtual follow-me car. 😉

 

 

[sd_flyer 6,042]

1 hour ago, RobJC said:

Speaking of taxiways...at KDEN i like to go cold and dark at a gate and then taxi out. When I get instructions that say BS K WCI blah blah blah I have a hard time trying to figure out what direction I go to get to the first taxiway. Any help is appreciated! 

I don't know about MSFS, but I believe FB KDEN got them right

https://aeronav.faa.gov/d-tpp/2010/09077AD.PDF

[eslader 1,783]

Already bought it. 😄  I had all their stuff in p3d. And will again in MSFS. They're awesome. Yeah, they got it right.

 

[RobJC 2,069]

32 minutes ago, sd_flyer said:

I don't know about MSFS, but I believe FB KDEN got them right

https://aeronav.faa.gov/d-tpp/2010/09077AD.PDF

Thank you! 

[Ilari Kousa 116]

44 minutes ago, eslader said:

How did FSX/P3d do it? If I remember, most of the taxiway signs were correct - at least in airports that didn't have messed up taxiways in general.

 

As a consolation prize I'd at least like to see them re-implement that dashed line taxi guide they had in the old one. If I can't use a chart, I might as well have a virtual follow-me car. 😉

 

 

They used a digital Jeppesen database. The technique used by Asobo affords them extended coverage and better layouts, but no twy data.

[haskell 298]

3 hours ago, jabloomf1230 said:

It's actually quite easy to fix the taxiway signs and designations, but it's too tedious to do for the average MSFS user, for more than just a few airports. The process should become smoother once Airport Design Editor (ADE) for MSFS is released. 

I can't wait. I actually made that a project in X-Plane. Before each flight I would check the departure and arrival airports and correct any wrong taxiways before the flight. I have done 104 complete airport rebuilds. Would be happy to contribute to MSFS if only they would make the tools available. 

[conundrum 49]

6 hours ago, jabloomf1230 said:

It's actually quite easy to fix the taxiway signs and designations, but it's too tedious to do for the average MSFS user, for more than just a few airports. The process should become smoother once Airport Design Editor (ADE) for MSFS is released. 

If you could use default airports as a start, it wouldn't be a big deal even with the SDK.

[ckyliu 1,749]

7 hours ago, Steve Dra said:

That's a tough ask I've decided because of everything involved in creating taxiway signs.  

This is one of the most compelling topics where 3rd party devs could come to the rescue IMO.  Hope other's chime in with suggestions...but from MS/AS themselves....this is one I'd leave to 3rd party to police and maintain.  To update all 30K+ airport signs and accurate markings (and keep them updated) would be outside of any $60 entertainment title as far as my expectations go.

It's really not tough, FS9 and FSX managed it fine. All Asobo need to do is use an aero nav data provider so they know the taxiway identifiers, they can keep the signs and markings where they are from the photogrammery and just update what's written on them. I definitely don't want third party devs on this, it's something Asobo should fix as the current situation is a step back from what we had.

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

34 minutes ago, conundrum said:

If you could use default airports as a start, it wouldn't be a big deal even with the SDK.

Yeah, the option to Import APX is disabled in the SDK, as you know.

With ADE for MSFS, first you open the FSX version of the airport. The P3d5 version will work also, but it might have some P3d5-specific approaches that need to be deleted. You then download a background photo and place it in ADE to make sure that the taxiways are lined up correctly since the stock FSX airports are very old. Then you download the terminal chart from Flightaware and place that in ADE (or any government source that has the taxiway map included) and correct any mislabeled taxiways. Finally, you export the MSFS project and compile it. It shouldn't be too much longer before ADE for MSFS is available as a public beta, as it it being tested internally ATM. Some features can't be made to work in the MSFS ADE version, but those can be cleaned up/added using the SDK itself. 

[mikeklimek 151]

Yeah, this totally kills the immersion.  FSX was my first flight sim and one of the simple joys was successfully navigating the taxiways with a real life chart in hand.

Edited September 28, 2020 by mikeklimek

[Steve Dra 7,588]

36 minutes ago, ckyliu said:

It's really not tough, FS9 and FSX managed it fine

Didn't know enough about scenery/airport design to say either way....so I always defer to you guys on this one. 🙂   

Back in the old FSX/P3D days (lol), I stayed in my sandbox and if it didn't fly and didn't need paint...I didn't mess with it.  Now if you want to talk about PBR...the inactive blue channel in the older sims that is active in MSFS for us painters to play with....then I can make as many sand castles as the next guy in this sandbox! 🤣