| This changelog is a draft.
It should not (yet) be seen as an official document.. |
FlightGear 2.6.0 ChangeLog
The FlightGear development team is happy to announce the release of FlightGear 2.6.0. This new version contains many exciting new features, enhancements, bugfixes, and other improvements.
Add a synopsis here
Some of the major changes include:
Aircraft operations:
- At selected airports, it is now possible to let FlightGear decide at which parking it should start. You don't need to worry about the details of whether the parking is of the right type, whether it is large enough etc.
AI system
- MP and AI aircraft models are loaded in a background thread - which improves performance, especially if you have a multi-core CPU. Compared to older version you should see less (or no) stutters due to aircraft models loading.
- Only those parts of the model are loaded, which are really rendered. Aircraft developers can add a range limitation for parts of a model, in order to reduce loading times.
AI Traffic
- Lots of new or updated AI aircraft and liveries. Over 80 airlines populate the virtual skies.
- Configurable AI aircraft range limit. Aircraft outside the specified range won't be displayed.
- AI controlled pilots have received extensive training with regard to their landing skills. In older versions AI aircraft had a tendency to approach too high, drop dead onto the runway, and taxi all the way to the opposite end of the runway before vacating it. Pilots now make a much more realistic approach, and vacate the runway when able.
Flight dynamics
Environment
- Local weather improvements: Local Weather moved to a new rendering technique, allowing for more detailed clouds drawn much faster, rendering artefacts of high-altitude clouds are a thing of the past, clouds always move with the wind without performance drain
Interface
- New replay system. Video-player like controls, including slow motion and fast forward. Pilots can now take over the aircraft at any time during a replay. Great for training particular flight phases such as approach over and over again.
- Aircraft status ratings are displayed in the FlightGear launcher for a selected number of aircraft. These ratings tell you more about the completeness of an aircraft.
- Multiplayer settings can be accessed in-sim. This allows pilots to change their callsign, (dis)connect or change to a different server without restarting the sim.
Highlighted new and improved aircraft
Navigation
Project infrastructure
Scenery improvements
Visual effects
- Improved appearance of the sea by adding foam and aligning the waves with the surface wind. Wave speed is dependant on windspeed.
- Transition effect.
- Wet tarmac during rain showers.
- Combined aircraft shader: a combination of the bumpmap-, specular-, reflection and lightmap shader. Reflections now rotate counter to the aircraft movement, the shader supports 4 lightmaps per objects.
- Improved skydome-shader.
- Via a new dialog, all shaders can be individually dis-/enabled and some shaders even support various quality settings. Adjusting the sliders is an easy way to improve framerates to flyable levels, while still mainting the graphics that you consider most important.
Other
- Two additional input devices that are supported out-of-the-box:
- Logitech WingMan Interceptor
- Saitek Pro Combat Rudder Pedals.
Bug fixes
- Many, many more. See our bugtracker for an extensive list