FSX flight planners - a run in 2008?

[rich135 0]

Thanks Jonas.I agree with your assessment.Rich

[Guest cliffie1931]

Good for you Rich! We'll all be waiting with bated breath.Your efforts so far look professional, clear and tempting. If the final program is of the same standard I suggest that you'll be able to charge us and we'll be pleased to buy it.May I ask whether you are planning to make the Flight Plans exportable into the new PMDG aircraft?Cliff

[MatthewS 761]

>Good for you Rich! We'll all be waiting with bated breath.>>Your efforts so far look professional, clear and tempting. If>the final program is of the same standard I suggest that>you'll be able to charge us and we'll be pleased to buy it.>>May I ask whether you are planning to make the Flight Plans>exportable into the new PMDG aircraft?>>CliffI second that. Also how about a LevelD 767 export?It would be nice if it could print a professional looking navlog like with FSBuild.

[Guest kolaf]

I fully support the notion of a flightplanner on a second computer, which relies on simconnect instead of fsuipc and that wide-thingy. I prefer to let FSX have all the resources it can grab, and instead pretend that my second pc is an extra instrument I bring with me on the flight :)

[rich135 0]

Nothing is on or off the table. Some of the requested features will require some help from the community. Therefore, I am going to work towards a basic free planner and moving map for now, using this as an entry point. There are several big picture items that require some feedback prior to implementing extensive features. These include:1. Initial user experience and feedback.2. Level of interest.3. Issues with WPF/.NET framework (mainly setup)?4. Issues with Simconnect (mainly setup)?5. Issues with scanning, obtaining and maintaining nav data?6. Issues with FSX/SP1/SP2?7. Variety of file formats (plans, sid, star, approaches)?8. Integration with 3rd party software and formats.9. Why are big names leaving the space?10. Why are big names entering the space and what will they bring?11. Can this remain fun at the same time? ;-)I also think we are a long way from payware. Maybe some day if the quality is there and level of effort requires.Regards,Rich

[maxter 0]

Which I guess makes it pretty much out of the question for those of us who are pushing the brown stuff uphill just owning and running one PC...CheersChris Porter:-outtaPerthWestern Australia

[rich135 0]

Not entirely. Only the in-process map is in question.With one machine you could:1. Plan a flight and even load it via Simconnect.2. Run the moving map in a separate process (window). For this I would recommend a quad core CPU with one core set aside for add-ons. On my dual core system, FSX/SP2 is using both cores at 99%. So this would be my general advice to anyone running add-ons on the FSX machine.That said, I understand the desire/need to run in FSX full screen mode and would hope that is achievable at some point.

[n4gix 4,947]

One of the discussions I had with Helge before he dropped off the radar entirely was the question of whether it is even possible to run any app such as FS Nav in the FS "process space." His conclusion was that it is not - or, at least he had been unable to find a way up to that point...

[Guest Vince333]

Just my 2 cents worth..First of all thanks to all who are attempting to creat a much needed add on...MUST BE INTEGRATED INTO fS JUST AS FSNAV WAS...MUST BE INTEGRATED INTO fS JUST AS FSNAV WAS...MUST BE INTEGRATED INTO fS JUST AS FSNAV WAS...MUST BE INTEGRATED INTO fS JUST AS FSNAV WAS...MUST BE INTEGRATED INTO fS JUST AS FSNAV WAS...:)Vince

[rich135 0]

Thanks for that data Bill.

[maxter 0]

Thanks for that. Not being a "MMD" kind of person, I would be only too happy to be able to use a decent graphical interface to design and print my flight as well as a seamless upload to FSX without having to run a realtime FPS costly moving map. FSEconomy has a great FSX client that uploads data to the sim seamlessly and is worth checking out, better it's free :-)Cheers and thanks again,Chris Porter:-outtaPerthWestern Australia

[Orlaam 306]

Rich, let me first say that your project looks amazing! I'm extremely pleased with the clarity and detail in your screen shots, as well as the layout and design. This is something I honestly feel the other FS planners have fallen short on. You've done a lot to make your work look impressive.Now, let me also say that at the present time I have no plans to migrate to FSX. I might in the future, but that's unlikely at this moment. I am wondering if you'd be willing to offer FS9 support, however, for me, even if I was looking for an FSX planner, this request would apply as well. What I'm wondering is if you'd offer the ability to run outside of MSFS, and therefore removing any "requirement" of a Simconnect or FSUIPC app, so one could use the planner to plan without even loading FSX/FS9. If yes, then I'd most likely be willing to pay, provided certain features were included. My desires are pretty basic really. I prefer to use real world routes from FlightAware, but on occassion I do use a chart to plan my own flights. Now, I already bought all the charts for U.S. and spent a fortune, but I'd still enjoy having a planner that would allow me to create in the computer. For now, I use the FS9 planner to drag my plan to all the waypoints so the flight has it's PLN for ATC and Active Sky. If your planner would allow this ability and provide other necessary things a map planner provides, it would be payware quality. To be honest, your screens are payware quality already. I like to fly the way you would in the real world, and moving maps aren't realistic, except for a few newer GAs. The terrain in a planner is wonderful, but it helps to know the obstruction clearance altitudes, so in a lot of planners it will generate a path to clear mountains you can see from a profile. Another great feature most seem to pass on is the ability to display all intersections, VORTACs, and other navaids. This helps visualize the plan as you might want to customize it. If you can't click and drag like the default planner, then perhaps allow for direct entry to each waypoint. It looks like you're doing those things now. Airport diagrams are wonderful, but it's even better to have heading info for each runway and frequencies for ILS, VORs, NDBs, and ATIS.I'm curious to know more about these things personally, but overall it is something you could get money for. VFR planners are nice, but if it doesn't support J-airways and other IFR info, then it won't do as much for me. You can get nice VFR planner for free now that serve as real world planners, but MSFS is patchetic as VFR simulation, and frankly I don't know how you could even really do VFR flight in it.

[nateanderson 1]

Not being able to run FSNav outside of FS was probably its most glaring weakness. There was a toggle, however, to turn the moving map into a static map. I often did that to give more realism to my navigation (figuring out where I was on my own).I often wondered how Helge programmed FSNav such that it had a negligible effect on the performance of FS. It must have been some very tight and low-level programming.Ben

[rich135 0]

Thanks for the feedback and encouragement Chris.<>Yes. There is no requirement to connect to a SIM to generate flight plans. A connection is made only if you switch to GPS mode.<<>>Dragging the route line to add waypoints, as in FS9 and FSX, is the primary way to add waypoints in this software.<<>>Yes, both input methods will be available. Auto routing might not be there in the first round, but you will be able to see the airways on the map.FS9 flight planning will be supported. In the early releases, you may have have to use a third party BGL decompiler to import data from FS9. FSX data import will be available in the first round. Moving map for FS9 would come later, as I would backtrack and support FSUIPC.<<>>Me too. I am a private pilot/instrument rated, but have been grounded due to the skyrocketing fuel prices. To stay in the game, I am slowly creating an RJ cockpit in my spare time. The underlying technology in the planner had to perform well enough to be a panel in the overall RJ flight deck software I am building (see link below). Eventually it has to have all the features of an FMS; not necessarily in the same application.RJ personal project: http://picasaweb.google.com/rich.lucas.maps/RJCockpit

[Dirk98 354]

>Just my 2 cents worth..>>First of all thanks to all who are attempting to creat a much>needed add on...Rich, I fully support your intention to put the planner and the map on the 2nd PC. This is exactly what was missing for me in FSNAV. With years I've found even more inconveniences in having the map/planner running under/alongside of MSFS. Like, for example, recent video drivers distort FSNAV's scaling of the map in full screen mode and some other minor things. And FS (loaded with add-on sceneries and aircrafts) will always stay extremely resource-hungry. So I'd always offload ANY available gameplay element to an older (also free/cheaper) PC.Thanks for working on it.Dirk.