2020 LTS Keflavik news post draft: Difference between revisions

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2020 LTS Keflavik news post draft (view source)

Revision as of 14:45, 28 October 2020

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The points are the most important things, someone can go through and reword the language later. Just click edit and type using plain text. Wikimarkup knowledge isn't needed :).
The points are the most important things, someone can go through and reword the language later. Just click edit and type using plain text. Wikimarkup knowledge isn't needed :).
'''Update 1''': [http://wiki.flightgear.org/2020_LTS_airport_announcement_and_Iceland_intro_draft The part focusing on the LTS, default airport, and Iceland improvements has been split off into a tour post here].


==A preview of new features in the 2020.3 LTS "Keflavik"==
==A preview of new features in the 2020.3 LTS "Keflavik"==
Line 9: Line 11:
[http://www.science-and-fiction.org/FG/pics/iceland04.jpg This screenshot by Thorsten is probably a good headline image]  
[http://www.science-and-fiction.org/FG/pics/iceland04.jpg This screenshot by Thorsten is probably a good headline image]  


Intro?
===Current release philosophy===
 
As of 2018.3 LTS, Flightgear has transitioned two release types:
# Long Term Stable (LTS) releases suitable for most users with a new featured airport
# Development preview releases


[Add intro mentioning:
There will be ''point releases'' containing bugfixes and minor updates for both release types. For example, 2018.3.6 is the 6th bugfix point release for the 2018.3 LTS - it was released on 10/08/2020.
- lots updates over the last 2 years?
maybe add project info:
- the new release format?
- mention the person who normally does the updates got busy and a lot of progress missed receiving updates?
- project status with areas of ongoing core work?]


[This turned into a intro for announcing LTS/Keflavik/Iceland, and also a piece on settings to enjoy Iceland which is also something that should be written. It's possible to focus just on these two things, and leave the features for a followup article after release.]
LTS releases will have bugfixes ported and the build maintained for longer. Development preview builds will be less stable, receive less testing, and are more of a construction site where large structural changes are made. Some aircraft may not work on development releases. Power users can run multiple installs of Flightgear [http://wiki.flightgear.org/$FG_HOME#Power_Users in parallel].


===Welcome to Keflavik and Iceland===
There are minor improvements planned to the launcher UI in 2020.3 point releases. Development preview releases after 2020.3 LTS may be less stable, as there are a lot of big changes planned and already underway after 2020.3 LTS.


FG's 2020 LTS will move to the world's newest country, geologically speaking, Iceland. Keflavík International Airport (BIKF)
is the featured airport, serving as the international gateway to Iceland and it's 3 km runway is a Shuttle emergency landing site.


[Screenshot of shuttle landing here, preferably with current keep]
Intro?


Keflavik Airport is modeled in detail, including the art installations at the airport [names?]. For Iceland, there are also buildings, roads, and objects like pylons for the whole country generated by the OSM2City project available as a [http://wiki.flightgear.org/Areas_populated_with_osm2city_scenery separate download] [which will be added to TerraSync a later date?]. OSM2City buildings compatible with 2020 LTS have improved visuals and render faster.
Possible things to mention:
</br>
* mention lots updates over the last 2 years?
* <s>the new release format?</s> Done
* mention the person who normally does the updates got busy and a lot of progress missed receiving updates?
* <s>project status with areas of ongoing core work?</s> Maybe more appropriate in another post later


[Kelfavik art screenshot, Iceland OSM2City pictures]
[This turned into a intro for announcing LTS/Keflavik/Iceland, and also a piece on settings to enjoy Iceland which is also something that should be written. It's possible to focus just on these two things, and leave the features for a followup article after release.]


A land of fire, as well as ice, parts of Iceland are still being formed under the dancing Northern lights (remember to turn Auroras on and watch!). An example is the Island of Surtsey formed in 1963 - and Surtsey's volcanic vents are now modeled in the LTS.
===Welcome to Keflavik and Iceland===


[Screenshot of Surtsey, screenshot of Aurora in Iceland]
FG's 2020 LTS will move to the world's newest country, geologically speaking, Iceland. Keflavík International Airport (BIKF) is the featured airport for the LTS. Buildings, roads, and objects such as pylons are available as a [http://wiki.flightgear.org/Areas_populated_with_osm2city_scenery separate download] [and will/may be added to Terrasync later?].


Flightgear models several Icelandic volcanoes at multiple activity levels, Eyjafjallajökull, Surtsey, and Katla. Eyjafjallajökull caused severe disruption to aviation in 2010, and Katla is a far bigger volcano located nearby. Past eruptions at Katla have ranged from a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 4 like Eyjafjallajökull, to a VEI of 6 like Mount Pinturbo or Krakatoa. Scarily Katla is somewhat overdue for a eruption. Screenshots don't do the boiling turblence of a volcanic plume like Katla, so I won't spoil it and leave you to discover appreciate the scale of the forces involved [unless someone has a particularly nice screenshot?]. FG's Advanced Weather engine now models the increased turbulence in wind-fields associated with volcanic activity, so beware!.
A land of fire, smoke, and ice Flightgear models several volcanoes with multiple levels of activity: Eyjafjallajökull which disrupted aviation in 2010, Surtsey, and the brooding, powerful, Katla. There are new regional definitions for Iceland - try turning overlays on to see very high resolution ground detail.  


Iceland has rugged volcanic terrain with glaciers, fjords, and a cool wet climate. There is plenty to discover. The island has only been colonised recently by both nature and people. There are almost no trees, the young forests having been cleared by early colonists. To re-create the stark subpolar setting, remember to turn on overlays which add high resolution 3d detail, and set transparency Anti-Aliasing to MSAA in the GPU control panel (or supersampling on powerful cards). People with older GPUs may find they have spare performance for overlays in Iceland as there are fewer trees.  
There is a lot to discover. You can try the C172p, J3Cub (with G1000), or Twin Otter which include float variants to explore the fjords of the north west, ski variants to land on one of the many ice caps in the south west, or bush tire variants in your adventures.


Possible screenshots (also needed for the article focusing on LTS, default airport announcement, Iceland improvements):
</br>
[Screenshot of shuttle landing here, preferably with current keep]
</br>
[Kelfavik art installation screenshot, Iceland OSM2City pictures]
</br>
[Screenshot of Surtsey, screenshot of Aurora in Iceland]
</br>
[Screenshot of a volcano with no eruption?]
</br>
[Screenshots: [http://www.science-and-fiction.org/FG/pics/iceland03.jpg this] one of Iceland terrain, maybe screenshot of overlays with transparency AA turned up high like [http://wiki.flightgear.org/File:Bell_412_in_Iceland_(Flightgear_2019.x).jpg this] ]
[Screenshots: [http://www.science-and-fiction.org/FG/pics/iceland03.jpg this] one of Iceland terrain, maybe screenshot of overlays with transparency AA turned up high like [http://wiki.flightgear.org/File:Bell_412_in_Iceland_(Flightgear_2019.x).jpg this] ]
</br>
[Screenshots of varying environment sliders in Iceland]
</br>
[at least one screenshot of weather in Iceland: red ice crystal halo at sunset like
</br>
[http://wiki.flightgear.org/File:Aurora_Borealis_and_Sun_halo_in_Northern_Norway_in_Autumn_(Flightgear_2019.x).jpg this]]


A place needs 4 dimensions to describe it, 3 in space and 1 in time. Any default setting can only be moment in time, and in FG the ever changing scenery is simulated from the Environment > Environment Settings menu. In FG's environment sliders, Iceland is often suited being towards the autumn season with wet ground and moss. Look under Enviroment > > Detailed Weather > Advanced Weather settings to simulate ground haze and structure. The temperature offset can be lowered to adjust the weather scenarios used in FG's terrain-driven, evolving, AW simulation - lower temperatures can mean stunning halos and scattering by ice crystals in clouds.
----


[Screenshots of varying sliders]
To do:


----
- Mention a few major improvements and the space shuttle from [http://wiki.flightgear.org/Changelog_2020.3 the changelog] (backed by high settings screenshots).


Add more things here..maybe
- Mention at the end that a more detailed article about features mentioned in the changelog is planned?
- mention a few major improvements and the space shuttle (backed by high settings screenshots), or leave it for later?
- Add a mention that a more detailed article about features mentioned in the changelog is underway
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