P-12C

For the Reno course, the pylons are there in freeflight because in real-life the pylons are there all the time, so we have them there all the time. But you can't fly a timed race around them in freeflight because the mission system is used to time your laps and check for rule infractions.The Red Bull courses are setup temporarily in real-life, so they are also temporary in FSX Acceleration. I'm sure many are happy about that... They only exist in the missions.Only some of the race courses were used in the single player mission list, which are the two Reno tutorial/practice races and the three Red Bull 2006 courses. In Real-life Red Bull Air Racing doesn't race with multiple aircraft on the course, so none of the multi-player courses are included in the single player mission list. That is one reason anyway, and the other reason is that we didn't record any AI racers to fly against.You can however fly any of the multi-player courses as a solo participant by simply hosting a multi-player "LAN" session and fly the courses. It doesn't matter if you are hooked up to a real LAN (local area network) or not to fly by yourself. This is a good way to practice for an on-line session or just see what these courses are like. This is how you get to all 9 of the Red Bull style courses, the sailplane course, the F-18 canyon course, The Greek Cross-country race, and the Secret Island and Hawaiian hoop courses.The multi-player courses are all very cool, so if you are interested at all in racing, you should check them out. If you really want to see what the racing system will do, check out the Hawaiian course. I included it to show what a truly "gamey" race would be like... It's also very easy to change aircraft in a multi-player race (whether you are flying solo or not).As others have said, the tailcam is intended to emulate a camera attached to the tail (or nearly so).

I promise I will only bump this thread once. :)I am still collecting feedback so if you want the opportunity to provide feedback on your favorite missions and what kinds of mission experiences you would like to see in the next incarnation of the product, now is the time to provide it.Thanks!

I have a post on my blog asking for feedback regarding what your favorite missions are and what types of missions you would like to see in the future.Let us know what you think by leaving your feedback in the comments.http://paul-flightsimguy.spaces.live.com/b...565FB!639.entry

To catch-up for the start, cut the corners severely. That's what they do in real life when necessary.Generally speaking you will generate more power on the course if you stay low. It's also easier to see the pylons that way. If you fly a little higher, the engine won't produce quite as much power and you could run full throttle with ADI and not damage the engine. I don't think that will help you win the race though. When flying higher you tend to fly a wider line to make sure you don't cut a pylon. A wider line means a slower average speed on the course.As for the hard to see pylons, they are that way in real-life as well. I talked to a lot of race pilots and most of them admitted getting lost on the course because they couldn't see a pylon. When they first start out the advice commonly given is to follow the veteran pilots and stay out of the way. Once you learn the course, then go for it.I would love to give the Griffin powered Spitfire a run on the course. :)

I'm the one that built the mission and flew the AI aircraft. I guarantee you that the AI are flying well below full speed and I flew them (and the AI in the Reno Practice mission) at high realism.It sounds like you aren't using the mission pointer and the race map. Turn those on with the U key. Did you accept the new key mapping when you installed Acceleration? It sounds like you aren't engaging the ADI (Anti-detonation injection) which allows you to run up to about 148 inches of manifold pressure until you run out of fluid.You can map a key to the ADI in the controls menu, or you can flip the switch on the panel.Lastly, you have to fly a tight smooth line or you won't be able to compete in the practice mission.Good luck!

No problem Rob O., you're obviously doing very well and as indicated by the author of this thread it isn't easy. I'm sure it's much more difficult in real-life when it's 130 degrees F in the cockpit and the thermals are bouncing you around like a pinball, not to mention the 30 knot cross-wind so common at Stead in the afternoon!For the ultimate challenge run the race following real-world race rules where you have to pass on the outside so you can see the aircraft you are passing at all times. That get's really difficult (but is possible against the "AI").I'm very glad to hear you are enjoying it and are helping out other people too.I wish we hadn't bundled SP2 with Acceleration as I'm sure more people would be trying it out and enjoying what we created. Live and learn I guess...

There is some great advice presented in this thread. I got pretty good flying course as much as I did during development, and I don't think I've ever had a 470 lap. That is pretty amazing!When the real racers takeoff for the race, the last one to takeoff doesn't waste any time cutting the corner to catch up with the pack. They will lead way ahead of the pace plane while climbing out and you need to do the same to catch up.Remember that the lap speeds are an average speed around the course, the wider you fly, the lower your average speed will be because you are flying farther to get around.If you allow your engine to be damaged more than 1 or 2% at any time, you will have to back off to regain health and will not complete the race as quickly as you could.We had hoped to support damage from running at such high RPM's but that never made it into the product, so even though the instructor mentions watching your RPMs, you don't have to worry about that. Just run at max RPM.Remember that you are running at over 5000 ft MSL...Lastly, if you are interested in a new challenge and are willing to race on-line (or by yourself on-line) try running more than 10 lap races. There are trucks on the ramp where you can refuel and fill up on ADI. New strategies come into play when you have to make a pitstop.Good luck!

I love the Dr.I, I think they did a great job. As for the lack of trim, I'm sure that is accurate.If anyone is interested in what a real rotary engine sounds like or how a Fokker D-VIII flies, I have some videos on my blog.http://paul-flightsimguy.spaces.live.com/default.aspx

If you're interested in reading blogs, I thought you might want to know I've started a new blog.http://paul-flightsimguy.spaces.live.com/default.aspx

The engine modeling on the Racing P-51 in Acceleration is pretty good but differs significantly from a stock Mustang and how we modeled engines before Acceleration.The Racer has a single stage "dash 9" supercharger which can put out more boost than the stock two stage supercharger in a stock Mustang, but at altitude, we still only have one stage, so it will fall off on power as the altitude increases.The reason the Racing Mustang can produce so much power is also because the aircraft are modified to have much higher RPM's so winding it up to 3450 or 3500 RPM produces a lot more boost as the supercharger is spinning that much faster. If the prop is pulled back to stock limits, it won't be producing nearly as much boost as when racing.Lastly we tuned the aircraft's speed envelope to match real-world best-performance race speeds. In talking with the owners of Cloud Dancer and Miss America, we did good with the top speeds on the Reno course, but don't have enough speed at cruise and don't accelerate fast enough on the takeoff run. Unfortunately we received this information too late in the development cycle to tweak it.I am a fan of the ** flight models so I don't doubt their's is accurate throughout the normal flight envelope. I have talked to Mustang pilots that said a warbird Mustang will have zero chance of hitting book speeds in level flight and would have to be in a dive to hit those speeds, so that should be a consideration as well.

>This mission is very un-eventful I followed the DC-3 for what>seemed like an eternity with the expectation that he would>evetually land some where. Well it never happend. Finally out>of the blue, the Success Message appeared with the note that>following the plane undectected was the mission goal. At one>point the DC-3 approaches an airfield and you get the>impression that he is going to land but it never happens. Just>more following for another extended period and then finally>the mission ends as I stated above. I never flew it following>the light twin but I suspect it will end the same way. >>BlackieThere is one scenario with the DC-3 where F-18's intercept and takeover your job. Maybe that is what happened to you. There are other random scenarios that could happen both for the DC-3 and the Baron.

>>If the location changes as someone else said, this may not>help you.>>GunnerThere are six different crash sites randomly chosen...

Amazing that you can place the loads with such precision Cal!

Another nice video Ron! I find it inspirational...

Awesome video Ron!Night ops are kind of freaky. Even though I have heard a lot of stories, I can't image how scary it must be in real life.

It would be very cool to see a video of this in action!

Good feedback Mitey.We intend to further develop our helicopter model and time will tell where we get with it.As for the views, we decided not to do 2D panels, and the gauges sit where they sit and are that size in the real aircraft. Most users are finding success using multiple views and maybe in the future we can make better use of multiple views without the perf impact...I am very glad to hear you are having fun with it even with it's faults.

>P12-C is the helo guy, he really should reply here.Funny Phil :)It is true that I am a champion for better helicopters in FS and moving the platform forward for higher realism overall, I am not a simulations developer...The recommendation from a person on our team that does know, is to adjust one of the realism sliders down (I think it was only the torque slider). I haven't heard anyone in the studio embrace or diminish any of the other techniques listed in this thread.Bottom line, if it works for you then go with it. Hopefully we can further develop and tune the governor so that it doesn't hunt like this in future versions of FS.

We have opened a position for a developer to help us make the best aircraft we can for the next version of Flight Simulator. There are several people in the community that can build great flight models, and if any of them can code and expand our platform as well, we would really like to hear from them.Here is a link to the job followed by the job description.http://members.microsoft.com/careers/searc...BA-10A053E97B55SOFTWARE DESIGN ENGINEER:Description:The Flight Simulator team is seeking an experienced software engineer to work on the next version of one of the most successful franchises in the history of entertainment software. We are looking for a candidate with strong engineering, math, and physics skills who can enhance and add to existing simulation code. The successful candidate will be able to specify, design, and implement the code for simulation models including aircraft and helicopters as well as other systems. Additional areas of responsibility may include: implementation of audio, effect triggers, and low-level AI controllers for the vehicles. Required experience:Experience in physical modeling, C/C++ programming, and the ability to work in a highly motivated team environment are required.Educational experience: BS (or equivalent) degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or Aeronautical Engineering. Desirable Experience:Previous game industry development experience working on physics engine is preferred. Background in aeronautical engineering, real world aviation and feedback control systems would be desirable as well as being trained as a pilot and being familiar with the Flight Simulator SDK.

>I loaded Acceleration today, and it looks great. But I ran>into a few problems with old missions, and the SDK.>>In the mission I just finished, all Mobile Scenery Objects>that are not active are visable. I also checked the Amazon>Trek mission, it also has several mobile scenery objects. I>found the same thing.>>The Tools are also gone from the menu bar. I know>Acceleration included a FSX SP. Does anyone know if there>will be a SP for the SDK?>>GunnerThe mobile scenery objects now support attaching effects (which is a good thing!).You still create a mobile scenery object the same way as before, but you use a library object as an object reference and then the effects can be attached to that library object. The UFO(s) in the intercept mission use this new system.

That's a pretty cool video. Why were you so far behind at the beginning of the race... ;)

>I just viewed the FSX Acceleration Trailer. Very nice,>smooth...FAST...and so STUTTER FREE.>>Ok, that being so...it would have been a really good move to>have the FPS bar in the top left fully legible throughout the>action to let EVERYONE know exactly what kind of FPS need be>generated to produce the movement and fluidity in the action.>>I notice that sorely unavailable.>>Also, it would have been helpful and most informative to have>released with the trailer, exactly what system configuration>PRODUCED the visuals.>>I think that Acceleration will be another fiasco, simply>because people will become excited by the competitive nature>of the race scenes between the pylon course, and will NOT see>that near-MOVIE fluidity of action when in fact they install>it upon their own system.>>Another bait and tease, perhaps.>>We'll see if I'm wrong. I hope that I am ABSOLUTELY wrong. >But in hindsight of other trailers, and media>hyperbole...probably not. :(>>It would be SO pleasant to be proved wrong.....>>I now invite ACES to supply that information, the mean-average>FPS of the trailer, and what system with noted sub-systems>produced the video action. Their response, or lack thereof to>this simple request of information will be a strong>affirmation of this product, or a warning-to-the-wise to>potential early-adopters. My personal opinion.>>MitchFirst of all I personally don't like the technique you have used to assume we are hiding something if we don't respond to your post.Do you really think we spend all day reading forums waiting to answer questions? There are times when I am too busy to look at any forum much less this one for several days and miss multiple threads in the process. Phil is better at tracking the forums than most here.I was one of the pilots in that trailer and we had frame rates varying from 12-18 in the Tempelhoff race. I don't remember what the machine specs were but they were on the high end but not by any means the highest available. We filmed the material before most (if not all) of the main perf work for Acceleration was ready to be used.And yes it was difficult to fly the course in close proximity to each other at frame rates of 15 or less. Of course an end user can choose to turn down scenery settings, but we couldn't do that for the trailer.

>I am really curious about your feedback (Paul Lange, what do>you think?)>>Regards,>HeikoI think you want to take my job... ;) Seriously, I can't really comment yet.

>Thanks for your input P-12C. Sorry for this, but I am not sure>if I understand your last two sentences correctly. Do you>refer to the real thing when writing "you can manually set the>flaps to half or full modes as well" or the Acceleration pack>Hornet? Thanks for your clarification.Sorry, I am talking about Acceleration.

>This would of course only allow lowering the wheels into the>runway if it works in the usual manner.>>WOZYou can adjust multiple parameters in the CFG to change the compression, damping, and contact points.