Started 30 minutes ago

https://www.twitch.tv/msfsofficial

Edited February 9, 20224 yr by Tuskin38

Thanks!

 

Edited February 9, 20224 yr by teletom

any interesting facts after ?

 

 

Where is @ChaoticBeauty with the sweet summary?

The most important question for me,

Need for better API support to interface all types of airplane LVars and Events,

 

was touch a little, they have had tons of meetings, said it is hard to do, no plans, just talks.

 

This will be long down the road, maybe never.

I think Jorg realized today that more manpower needs to be allocated for SDK development.

Also, Alyzee could have been a super model or an actress but she's dedicating her time and talents to us having a feature rich sim and I appreciate that 😂

5 hours ago, Krakin said:

Where is @ChaoticBeauty with the sweet summary?

Quote

Quick Summary

Today's Q&A, which has no specific topic, begins with Alyzée's presentation. The SDK team achieved a lot of things in 2021, including:

• Visual Effects Editor: no longer in beta, already capable of creating complex effects 
• WASM: lower iteration times and improved debugging information (more improvements on the way)
• Scenery Editor: huge improvements have been made (it's no longer the team's focus, but smaller features and bug fixes are still coming)
• DevSupport: the platform is live with 642 active users already, but Asobo team members have limited time to digest feedback and answer questions (they encourage users to help each other)

In 2022, the SDK team will focus a lot more on aircraft:

• An aircraft tutorial is being prepared, and the first part will be made available along with Sim Update 8 (it will be expanded with future Sim Updates). It will have information on how to start creating an aircraft from scratch, modelling, instrument implementation, Marketplace integration and more.
• The Aircraft Editor is being revamped to be more reliable and accurate, no longer modify CFG files, and it will be enhanced with debug charts.
• A Blender Exporter is in the polishing phase, following community requests, and it will come with a sample (like with 3DSMax).
• Constant improvements are being made to the SDK interface, preset layouts will be added to each editor.
• There will be a strong focus on WASM (improvements to debugging and iteration times are coming) and APIs (for terrain, weather and networking).

Q&A Section

Q: Considering the questionable current state of live weather, will you ever seriously consider opening up the weather system to third parties?
A: We think the way users describe the weather system is a bit harsh. We have no plans to open it up to third parties, but we are working to make it better and to make weather data available to aircraft instruments via the new API.

Q: When will there be an API for the SimConnect protocol to access B events (allowing hardware developers to bind switches to aircraft controls)?
A: We've done tons of meetings about that, we are trying to find solutions, but since the B events are customised for each aircraft, it's a bit tricky and we can't give an estimate yet.

Q: When are we getting a tool to make fences easily?
A: It's coming, a developer is working on it and it's probably coming with Sim Update 9.

Q: Could you implement a crash log?
A: Our goal is to make the developer mode not crash, but this is more of a general issue.

Q: Can we expect the team to continue to expand the capabilities of the SDK and allow for add-ons like the Hot Start Challenger 650 in X-Plane?
A: We don't see the capabilities of this add-on being possible in MSFS for the foreseeable future, but it doesn't mean they will never be implemented.

Q: Will you open up the ability to modify AI traffic behaviours on a wider scale?
A: We agree that it would be a great thing to have but it's not a priority at the moment.

Q: Can we expect to get more control of mount strategies of the simulator's parts and mods? Right now it loads everything from the official and community directories and it is very time-consuming.
A: We definitely want to do something about it but there is no ETA yet, hopefully later this year. It is not completely SDK-related, but more about the simulator's file system.

Q: Has there been any progress with the Blender toolkit?
A: It is nearly ready and will be exposed with Sim Update 9, we will share the GitHub as well.

Q: Can mission Type and Subtype be defined like it was possible with FSX?
A: We are working on something new about the mission design in general but it's too early to talk about it. Improvements can be expected this year.

Q: Will we be able to make custom jetways in Blender too?
A: We're not sure if it's directly related to Blender, we'll have to check on it.

Q: Will the WASM changes allow for more complex planes in general on PC and Xbox as well?
A: (Regarding WASM on Xbox) The issue is being worked on and we're looking at solutions with the platform team. Tests are being done at the moment.

Q: Can we expect more tutorials in general (like Blender)?
A: We will try to provide the same amount of documentation for Blender as we have done for 3DSMax. We wish to create more tutorials, and if you have any ideas please post them on DevSupport (the tech writer is watching the channel as well). More video tutorials are on their way too.

Q: Will there be any provisions for higher resolution ground textures or decals (for markings, painted lines, manhole covers etc.)?
A: High-resolution textures is a constant struggle on how to make them fit in memory without performance issues. We are constantly trying to push the limits on this. Maybe the answer will be different in 6 months from now.

Q: Will you be providing a string tool to place object strings (a number of standard object files placed repeatedly along a line)?
A: The answer is yes, it's related to the fence creation tool, and coming in Sim Update 9.

Q: Can you provide updates on what fixes are planned to prevent crashes in the Aircraft Editor? Can you also provide more debug tools, such as for the the fuel system?
A: We are trying to redefine the Aircraft Editor so that it doesn't make unexpected changes to the CFG files anymore, after that the editor parameters will match those in the simulator. Crashes and bugs found along the way will be fixed. There aren't many crashes related to the Aircraft Editor left at the moment.

Q: Would it be possible to turn off the subpixel effect that's applied to glass cockpit displays? Some displays in real life do not use pixels so it'd be nice (perhaps via panel.cfg).
A: We discussed this last week, our tech artist said it would be easy to eliminate it but since some people may like it, it needs to become a parameter. It is possible but not scheduled yet, it will be put in the backlog because it's not a priority.

Q: In the Scenery Editor, can we get an option to apply a custom texture to painted lines? 
A: It's in our backlog but not a priority at the moment.

Q: And can we edit things like communications frequencies and ATC parking codes in the Airport Editor without having to go into XML?
A: We've seen discussions going on internally about it but we have to check again for the outcome. Please make sure it's asked on DevSupport. Some part of it has probably been done already.

Q: NavLog formatting is currently very limited, just a few HTML tags are recognised in the LOC file. We would prefer the source of the NavLog to be an HTML file like it was in FSX.
A: We did not completely understand the question because LOC files are localisation files. Please elaborate further on DevSupport.

Q: When are the new LOD vertex limits coming and how will this effect the external viewing of other player-controlled aircraft nearby?
A: It's not coming in the near future, we'll try to avoid the mess of last time so you will be informed quite in advance before the change. The person responsible for this has said that it shouldn't select a lower LOD than what we have today. If you have enough, correctly-made LODs, it should be better.

Q: Is it possible to add an opportunity to create a flatten layer for custom-created ground polygons to avoid flickering of flat polygons over ground mesh?
A: Again we don't understand this question because we already have a function to flatten stuff, please post over at DevSupport and we'll try to help.

Q: Is it possible to add short-range planar reflections? There are cases where screen-space and cubemap reflections are not sufficient, particularly gauge glass reflections.
A: There is no ETA but we are working on this, we need to make sure the technique will not have a significant performance impact.

Q: Can we have an option to edit the car traffic?
A: That's not in our plans now, maybe next year or the year after.

Q: When running the editor in fullscreen you can click through the panels and accidentally select items in the main window, if you run in windowed mode this doesn’t happen. I’m assuming this isn’t the intended functionality?
A: No, it sounds like a bug. Please report it on DevSupport and we will look at it.

Q: For scenery people making an airport, concerning the 3D model part, what is more important, the number of triangles or texture calls? And what is the max number of triangles/polygons we should limit too?
A: We have provided guidelines regarding good LOD practices. It is very tricky to provide guidelines regarding the maximum polygon count because the size of the airport relates a lot to that. We will see what we can do. (Jörg intervenes to say that the location of the airport matters, especially when it's next to a photogrammetry city)

Q: Can developers expect to get external camera views into the internal e-cam page? For example, in the A380 there are multiple cameras that are on the exterior of the aircraft and display a signal into the cockpit.
A: It's a no for now because of memory and performance concerns. Part of the Sim Update 5 optimisations was unloading the objects not in view, and this would require keeping everything constantly rendered. It is not comparable to racing games because that is a schematic view of what you're supposed to see, instead of actual rendering. We might change our minds in the future.

Q: When you create a polygon and select water it looks like it disables all the other settings. Is this by design or a bug?
A: Maybe we don't understand the request very well, but the designer said it's on purpose.

Q: Can we have the camera view system opened up so developers can create custom camera views and programmes similar to EZdok or ChasePlane in FSX, and to allow for the creation of fly-by and spectator views to lock onto other aircraft in multiplayer or singleplayer replay?
A: We have received a lot of requests on this, some things in SimConnect need to be fixed, and since the camera system is revamped and completely different to FSX, we think an API might be the best solution. We need to be careful about performance though, especially if camera views are changed too often.

Q: Do you have plans to allow us to use curve modelling/texturing on aprons? I want the pattern to follow my apron even when it curves around a taxiway.
A: Not now at least, but this is more of a question for the engine team.

Q: When we will get an in-depth rundown of the AI CFG? Like how would we adjust rotate speed, approach speed, climb and descent rates, VTOL etc.
A: We plan to go through the CFG and provide more information and documentation, but we don't have an ETA yet.

Q: When will you add more documentation for mission creation? Specifically an explanation of FlowStates and FlowEvents, which are new in MSFS.
A: Same answer as before, since we plan to change the way missions are created, we do not want to add more to the documentation right now. We will have more to share in the coming months.

Q: Are you aware of the new camera in drone mode that spawns in the middle of the airport?
A: No, but now we are. We'll have to check on it.

Q: Are you going to expose more SimConnect and SDK variables as mentioned at launch, which were present in FSX?
A: We need to know what specific variables are requested.

Q: Can we expect a fix for third-party POIs to show in third-party missions? Currently they do not show using the mission system, only in default missions or Free Flight.
A: I think we have a ticket for that, we'll see what we can do with the existing system, but it might have to wait for the new mission system. We know who to ask about it.

Q: Is it possible to bring developer mode to Xbox?
A: That's not planned, it would be difficult to use it on Xbox and it doesn't make sense because the assets would have to be created on PC. (Jörg says that security is a concern too)

Q: Will there be native support for multi-monitor/multi-projector setups?
A: We're working on that and people are running tests, it should come sometime in 2022.

Q: When will we get read and write access to B-Vars?
A: As we said in a previous session, there are so many variables and some are only accessibled from JavaScript, XML, WASM etc. We are trying to unify them but we can't promise when that will happen, maybe in 2022.

The community can check on follow-up answers at DevSupport. Alyzée and Eric kindly ask providing as much detail and instructions as possible when reporting bugs through the platform, and checking on the documentation first before asking a question. Eventually DevSupport will become a database for all potential issues.

Jörg is very impressed with the amount of community scenery and has downloaded hundreds of add-ons throughout the holidays. He understand that more support for aircraft creation is required, and he would like Jayne to inquire on the forums regarding whether the format of these Q&A sessions is accommodating developers' needs.

I was so tired that I completely forgot this was happening today, but then I don't think I could have made this in one go because of all the technical terms I do not know about. Hopefully it is thorough enough!

Q: Can we expect the team to continue to expand the capabilities of the SDK and allow for add-ons like the Hot Start Challenger 650 in X-Plane?
A: We don't see the capabilities of this add-on being possible in MSFS for the foreseeable future, but it doesn't mean they will never be implemented.

 

This reply really bothers me if it means what I think it means. They've said over and over they're making a Simulator for Simmers. 

3 minutes ago, fakeflyer737 said:

Q: Can we expect the team to continue to expand the capabilities of the SDK and allow for add-ons like the Hot Start Challenger 650 in X-Plane?
A: We don't see the capabilities of this add-on being possible in MSFS for the foreseeable future, but it doesn't mean they will never be implemented.

 

This reply really bothers me if it means what I think it means. They've said over and over they're making a Simulator for Simmers. 

And we don't know what could be the blocker. Driving the deicing vehicle or bird strike that is breaking the cockpit windows or the full telemetry

1 minute ago, bendead said:

And we don't know what could be the blocker. Driving the deicing vehicle or bird strike that is breaking the cockpit windows or the full telemetry

Thats what I mean it needs to be explained more 

A bit depressing this Q&A, no ETA for most things

33 minutes ago, ChaoticBeauty said:

Quick Summary

Today's Q&A, which has.....................................

Your synopsis is outstanding. I just watched the whole thing and learned more from this than I did the presentation - much easier to understand, thanks.

21 minutes ago, fakeflyer737 said:

A: We don't see the capabilities of this add-on being possible in MSFS for the foreseeable future, but it doesn't mean they will never be implemented.

 

This reply really bothers me if it means what I think it means.

I think Jorg belched into his mouth a little after hearing this answer regarding a competitor sim's capabilities.

It means that until and unless Microsoft decides to split the code base between PC and Xbox, this "sim" will never reach it's full potential - ever.  

 

18 minutes ago, bendead said:

A bit depressing this Q&A, no ETA for most things

Yes, quite a few "not enough bandwidth" and "not a priority" statements.  Imagine being a developer and waiting for some semblance of a timeline from Asobo from which you could at least base your direction and decisions.   

 

1 hour ago, ChaoticBeauty said:

: We think the way users describe the weather system is a bit harsh

It is a bit harsh. There's lots of work to be done on the weather and the clouds. I wish the old clouds would come back. But, the default weather in this sim blows away any other. 

Edited February 10, 20224 yr by Bdub22

1 hour ago, irocx said:

It means that until and unless Microsoft decides to split the code base between PC and Xbox, this "sim" will never reach it's full potential - ever.  

Xbox isn’t holding the sim back except where security is concerned.

Edited February 10, 20224 yr by Tuskin38