17 minutes ago, Reset XPDR said:

Looked very smooth to me. I see you landed rwy 14, which is the same one I took off from around the same time. I didn't see you, perhaps because I was on the SE Asia server.

Weird coincidence! It was a bit windy - which is always fun! I'm always VPN-connected to a Canadian server. 

Never flown there in the sim before, I have to say it looks spectacular! And the Orbx rendition of the airport is very nice. 

I went there a few times during my PPL training in Coffs Harbour. 

I'm working on the revised readme for 0.4.2 and have decided to put in a FAQ for new users. As I don't have the best of social skills being a coder and all 😄, can anyone tell me if I am being too condescending or wordy with the following;

I am a noob, or I don't care for all this technical jargon. What is the simplest way to use this app to make my MSFS experience better?

• (v0.4.2) Simply start the app, preferably before you load your flight, leave Use Expert Settings unchecked, pick what type of flight you are doing via the radio buttons ie. either VFR (GA aircraft) or IFR (airliners), enter a realistic target FPS (or click on auto target FPS for the app to pick it for you), click back on MSFS and wait until any FPS settle timer has finished (20 seconds max), then go fly!

23 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Never flown there in the sim before, I have to say it looks spectacular! And the Orbx rendition of the airport is very nice.

yep  just flown into  there   just  now orbx done a good  job at ybmk/ybsu as well off topic 🙂 

2 hours ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Oh dear, that sounds just as complicated as when I was trying to figure out how to implement DLSS ultra quality, which was quite an ordeal!

Hahaha! Yes, it was, but your How To guide was invaluable to the rest of us!

 

1 hour ago, Reset XPDR said:

 

I've found no other new bugs in the last 14 hours, nor have any been reported here, so things are looking good for 0.4.2 formal release. I'll give it a day or so to make absolutely sure though.

 

I gave the build from earlier today a test this morning (the one after a bug or two were discovered by you) in my usual test environment - KJFK and NYC airspace full of planes and low level flying. The app performed flawlessly and as I tested different options, it changed its functioning as expected. I ended up tweaking my sensitivity between the max of 20 and minimum of 1. Clearly it affects the step size in the TLOD changes, but I'm not sure about the relative differences. I settled between 3 and 4, leaving it at 4.

I now have no more tweaking to do, and will enjoy flying all the more thanks to this app!

7 minutes ago, Reset XPDR said:

I'm working on the revised readme for 0.4.2 and have decided to put in a FAQ for new users. As I don't have the best of social skills being a coder and all 😄, can anyone tell me if I am being too condescending or wordy with the following;

I am a noob, or I don't care for all this technical jargon. What is the simplest way to use this app to make my MSFS experience better?

• (v0.4.2) Simply start the app, preferably before you load your flight, leave Use Expert Settings unchecked, pick what type of flight you are doing via the radio buttons ie. either VFR (GA aircraft) or IFR (airliners), enter a realistic target FPS (or click on auto target FPS for the app to pick it for you), click back on MSFS and wait until any FPS settle timer has finished (20 seconds max), then go fly!

Looks good to me.

Just now, mmcmah said:

Looks good to me.

I'll probably dot point each of the steps, to make it more readable.

13 hours ago, FalconAF said:

That won't work for a few reasons.  Mainly:

1.  This is a worldwide user forum and the app will be used by numerous people of different linguistic backgrounds.  Short and snappy words don't mean the same thing to people from different backgrounds and cultures.  On the other hand, for a pilot from just about anywhere in the world, they will ALL understand the difference between what VFR and IFR means. So...

2.  Because there is very limited space on the app's GUI to begin with, there isn't enough room to "actually describe" what each button will do.  They both change multiple ways the app will work in a given VFR or IFR environment.  So what is really needed is just a good Instruction Manual that lists all the buttons on the GUI with the EXACT name of the button (in this case either VFR or IFR) and an associated section of the Instruction Manual (indexed, hopefully) that WILL have room to go into a more in-depth description of what the 2 choices are designed to do. @Reset has already done an in-depth explanation of the 2 buttons several posts ago.  That just needs to be what is included in the Instruction Manual (or a variation of it if/as things change again).

Note: The above in another "teaching principle" learned from having Air Force classrooms with over 100+ students in them at the same time from all over different parts of the U.S.  Heck, explaining something to someone from New York may not work the same way to someone from California.  Start teaching people from multiple COUNTRIES at the same time (like a Red Flag Fighter Pilot training session at Nellis AFB) and you may have to explain the same concept in several different ways to make sure everyone in the class understands it (which is a really good idea before they all start buzzing around the training area at Mach speeds with loaded weapons).  The same principle applies to "teaching" users from all over the world who will be using MSFS and associated apps with it. 

Respectfully I couldn't disagree more.

'TLOD Min on Ground', in my opinion, describes infinitely more clearly what the app will do when that box is ticked than 'IFR'. 

As a lawyer who spends most of the day interpreting the meaning of words, I find things are much more successful when they 'do what they say on the tin'. TLOD Min on Ground tells one that on the ground the app will use the set TLOD Min, whereas 'IFR' has absolutely nothing to do with TLOD in the slightest.

It goes without saying, of course, that I respect, as the developer of the app, Reset's prerogative to use whichever nomenclature he so desires.

24 minutes ago, mmcmah said:

now have no more tweaking to do, and will enjoy flying all the more thanks to this app!

I've done so much tweaking and testing lately that my flying skills have started to deteriorate... just TOGA-blasted out from Coffs Harbour, almost empty aircraft, and I couldn't figure out why the bird wouldn't climb when I went AP on. Well, it was because I forgot to set an altitude in the FCU during preflight... When I finally figured out my mistake, I was flying some 320kts at 1000AGL, lol!

One more (on-topic) thing: I highly recommend aiming for as high TLOD as possible. The difference at higher altitudes is huge.

17000ft above Gold Coast and I can see the ground textures very clearly below the aircraft: 

Edited March 15, 20242 yr by Cpt_Piett

9 minutes ago, abennett said:

Respectfully I couldn't disagree more.

'TLOD Min on Ground', in my opinion, describes infinitely more clearly what the app will do when that box is ticked than 'IFR'. 

As a lawyer who spends most of the day interpreting the meaning of words, I find things are much more successful when they 'do what they say on the tin'. TLOD Min on Ground tells one that on the ground the app will use the set TLOD Min, whereas 'IFR' has absolutely nothing to do with TLOD in the slightest.

It goes without saying, of course, that I respect, as the developer of the app, Reset's prerogative to use whichever nomenclature he so desires.

IFR does relate to TLOD in that most users have expressed to me that when they are flying IFR they want a fix TLOD on landing/ground.

In any case, if any user wants more info on what the app means by IFR or VFR, there are tooltips for these items giving just that.

2 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

I've done so much tweaking and testing lately that my flying skills have started to deteriorate... just TOGA-blasted out from Coffs Harbour, almost empty aircraft, and I couldn't figure out why the bird wouldn't climb when I went AP on. Well, it was because I forgot to set an altitude in the FCU during preflight... When I finally figured out my mistake, I was flying some 320kts at 1000AGL, lol!

We've all been there, done that!  Only some of us admit it.  😇

14 minutes ago, Reset XPDR said:

IFR does relate to TLOD in that most users have expressed to me that when they are flying IFR they want a fix TLOD on landing/ground.

IFR are a set of regulations governing aircraft operations used when meteorological conditions mean that flying by visual references would be unsafe, it has nothing to do with a setting in a computer simulator that controls the distance at which detailed terrain is rendered. TLOD does.

But anyway, it doesn’t matter, as I said, do you what you think best. You have done amazing things with this application, and we all are incredibly grateful, so you can name the various settings and options whatever you desire. As long as there is a clear definition, somehwere easily accessible, (maybe a pdf bundled with the installer?) of what each setting does, all will be well. 

As I previously mentioned, I work with documents and thus have an eye for detail, so I would be more than willing to have a look through any such user guide/manual, and make sure it all checks out, should that be helpful.

 

 

46 minutes ago, Reset XPDR said:

I'll probably dot point each of the steps, to make it more readable.

Fully agree on the dot points.  One suggestion…don’t give a “noob” a choice.  Just say to start the app before loading a flight (leave out the “preferably”).

Garry

2 hours ago, SN737 said:

Thank you so much Reset, this app is a game changer IMHO, you should be proud, I'll be trying it out this weekend for sure.

Ditto from me (again). I'm happy to let others way more savvy than me do the techie contributions, but I'm hugely appreciate all the same.

1 hour ago, Reset XPDR said:

(v0.4.2) Simply start the app, preferably before you load your flight, leave Use Expert Settings unchecked, pick what type of flight you are doing via the radio buttons ie. either VFR (GA aircraft) or IFR (airliners), enter a realistic target FPS (or click on auto target FPS for the app to pick it for you), click back on MSFS and wait until any FPS settle timer has finished (20 seconds max), then go fly!

This looks fine to me Reset. Nice and simple and all a new user really needs to know to get started. Inquisitive people will surely ask questions here on Avsim, or read the entire readme 🙂 I'd like to hear @FalconAF's opinion though, as he's got a lot of experience with communication (yes, I've read all your posts 🙂 )

1 hour ago, Reset XPDR said:

I'll probably dot point each of the steps, to make it more readable.

Great idea! 

• I'm an avid dot-list-believer!
• I even do it a lot in my own notes
• Can't live without dots!

Edited March 15, 20242 yr by Cpt_Piett

18 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

This looks fine to me Reset. Nice and simple and all a new user really needs to know to get started. Inquisitive people will surely ask questions here on Avsim, or read the entire readme 🙂 I'd like to hear @FalconAF's opinion though, as he's got a lot of experience with communication (yes, I've read all your posts 🙂 )

Great idea! 

• I'm an avid dot-list-believer!
• I even do it a lot in my own notes
• Can't live without dots!

You silly fella 😄

Here's what it currently looks like:

I am new to this app/MSFS, or I don't care for all this technical jargon. What is the simplest way to use this app to make my MSFS experience better?

• Start the app before you load your flight,
• Leave Use Expert Settings unchecked,
• Pick what type of flight you are doing via the radio buttons ie. either VFR (GA aircraft) or IFR (airliners),
• Enter a realistic target FPS (or click on auto target FPS for the app to pick it for you),
• Click back on MSFS and wait until any FPS settle timer has finished (20 seconds max), then
• Go fly!

Edited March 15, 20242 yr by Reset XPDR