We Love VFR suggestion (Pilot-Controlled Lighting)

[PuffinFlight 302]

Was that suggestion for me? You overestimate my capabilities 🙂 It's very cool idea but far from easy to implement. If possible at all. Problem is, the lights in MSFS are... useless. Yes, lights that available while creating scenery models don't give that "light orb" effect like you can see at wind turbines or in fact at airports. You can get those "orbs" by "light row" object type that is available only at airports but I don't think there is access to it by world scripts or simvars. I don't have much experience with world scripts and their documentation is almost non-existent. @mamu82 knows a lot more about those than me. Another thing is that you'd need to remove default lights first, so every airport you want these PCLs would need to be edited. 

[mamu82 278]

5 hours ago, chansen said:

It is possible for scenery developers to make this. It requires that all the light are defined as simobjects with a specific visibility condition like a Frq selected or similar. 
 

Would be great If MS just added this as a option when we configure the runways

No, it is not possible

Simbojects has accces to environment variables or local variables only (afaik)

The frequencies are not among them, so that way is not a viable one

A really enthusiast simmer can modify his plane and add some L: variable to some switches, so the Simboject visibility can be triggered. 

But, anyway, we don't have access to the default runway lights (with orbs light effect) as Simbojects, so a workaround is needed for the lights to be visible from a long distance (the same as standard runway lights)

The workaround is a multiple Lod object with a colored sphere with its size changing with distance, the more distant, the bigger the sphere. 

That's a  ton of work for PCL..

So yeah, Asobo is the answer, is up to them adding the functionality 

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

Pilot controlled lighting would go at least some of the way towards reducing the "Disney Fairy Land look of night flights.

MSFS exists in an alternate world were every tree is a Californian Redwood and every goat track, even in the middle of the Gobi Desert, is festooned with street lamps as far as the eye can see,

 

 

[bofhlusr 453]

10 hours ago, vbazillio said:

There’s a vote on the official Microsoft forum : https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/pilot-controlled-lighting-pcl/258923

Folks remembering that legacy flight sims (Fly!, Flight Unlimited 2, MSFS 5.1, etc.) have this feature should vote for Asobo to work on PCL using the link above.

[bofhlusr 453]

8 hours ago, mamu82 said:

No, it is not possible

Simbojects has accces to environment variables or local variables only (afaik)

The frequencies are not among them, so that way is not a viable one

A really enthusiast simmer can modify his plane and add some L: variable to some switches, so the Simboject visibility can be triggered. 

But, anyway, we don't have access to the default runway lights (with orbs light effect) as Simbojects, so a workaround is needed for the lights to be visible from a long distance (the same as standard runway lights)

The workaround is a multiple Lod object with a colored sphere with its size changing with distance, the more distant, the bigger the sphere. 

That's a  ton of work for PCL..

So yeah, Asobo is the answer, is up to them adding the functionality 

But @flyerkg mentioned this? http://stuff4fs.com/newpage.asp?Folder=AFLT 

[mamu82 278]

14 hours ago, bofhlusr said:

But @flyerkg mentioned this? http://stuff4fs.com/newpage.asp?Folder=AFLT 

Yep, but that doesn't work in msfs2020 

[NATORDEN 2]

On 4/11/2023 at 1:47 AM, flyerkg said:

Airfield Lights Toolbox supports up to P3Dv5  

Do you perhaps have a link or source to AFLT? I cant seem to find a download for it, considiering the website seems to not be active anymore

Nvm, i found the latest download on FSDeveloper
https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/resources/airfield-lights-toolbox.277/

Edited July 23, 2023 by NATORDEN

[ryanbatc 12,857]

On 4/11/2023 at 12:26 AM, ianb2469 said:

I disagree with the papi lights. They’re not visible enough during the day. Should be visible (yes on final) much further out than they are in msfs, unless I’m missing a setting somewhere!! 

Eh it depends.  There are different intensities of lighting especially at towered airports.  Sometimes hard to see until about 5 out in the day at least.

[ianb2469 55]

Yes, I know, but my experience of flying in the real world, UK and Europe, is that PAPI or VASI lights are far more visible than they are in MSFS, whatever the airfield.