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FlightGear Newsletter December 2009 (view source)

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{{newsletter}}
{{newsletter}}


This is the draft of the next edition of the [[FlightGear]] Newsletter. Please feel free to edit and add your contribution.
Welcome to the December edition of the [[FlightGear]] Newsletter. The big news this month is that preparations are under way for the next FlightGear release, tentatively named v1.9.10. Hopefully this will be available shortly after you read this. Compared with the massive change from PLIB to OSG in v1.9.0, the changes this release are more minor. However, there are plenty of exciting new features to play with, and the number of aircraft in the CVS hangar has increased from 219 to 286.
 
More controversially, there has also been some discussion about Flight Pro Sim, a "new" commercial simulator that appears to simply be a re-named version of FlightGear. There have always been a number of people distributing FlightGear CDs on ebay and elsewhere, providing a service to those without a fast internet connection, and the GPL specifically allows distribution for a fee. However, this has been far more heavily marketed and caused significant confusion in the general flight simulator community. There will shortly be a statement on the main FlightGear website to clear up the confusion.


==What's new in CVS==
==What's new in CVS==
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[[Image:Texel_v0_vs_cs.png|thumb|270px|The island of Texel, with vmap0 data (left) and custom scenery data.]]
[[Image:Texel_v0_vs_cs.png|thumb|270px|The island of Texel, with vmap0 data (left) and custom scenery data.]]
[[Image:Ameland_v0_vs_cs.png|thumb|270px|Ameland, with vmap0 (left) and custom scenery.]]
[[Image:Ameland_v0_vs_cs.png|thumb|270px|Ameland, with vmap0 (left) and custom scenery.]]
A small group of people is improving the FlightGear [[scenery]], by creating detaild shapefiles. These shapefiles are used to generate the terrain for our scenery. The (current) terrain is largely generated from inaccurate (vmap0) data, which results in wrong coastlines, missing forests, missing lakes etc.  
A small group of people is improving the FlightGear [[scenery]] by creating detailed shapefiles. These shapefiles are used to generate the terrain for our scenery. The (current) terrain is largely generated from inaccurate (vmap0) data, which results in wrong coastlines, missing forests, missing lakes etc.  


As you can see on the pictures, the difference is huge. Correct terrain enhances especially the VFR (Visual Flight Rules) flying experience a lot, as you are able to follow the terrain more closely. With [http://www.openstreetmap.org OSM] line date (roads, railroad and rivers) this will be even further enhanced, but we are still awaitening a license switch, in order to release the scenery under [[GNU GPL]].
As you can see on the pictures, the difference is huge. Correct terrain enhances especially the VFR (Visual Flight Rules) flying experience a lot, as you are able to follow the terrain more closely. With [http://www.openstreetmap.org OSM] line date (roads, railroad and rivers) this will be even further enhanced, but we are still awaitening a license switch, in order to release the scenery under [[GNU GPL]].
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=== YASim FDM Visualization ===
=== YASim FDM Visualization ===
[[File:Yasim_visualisation_dc6.png|thumb|dc6 fdm in Blender]]
[[File:Yasim_visualisation_dc6.png|thumb|dc6 fdm in Blender]]
A very nice and helpfull Christmas gift arrived from Austria, a script for [[Blender]] to visualize [[YASim]] fdms. This way it is possible to load both, the fdm and 3d model, into Blender and compare them to each other. Different types of objects/surfaces of the fdm, such as fuselage, wings, stabilizers and control surfaces, are displayed in different colours. Propellers, jet engines and rotors are each shown in a meaningfull manner and objects without size, like the landing gear's contact points, are present as well.<BR>
A very nice and helpful Christmas gift arrived from Austria: a script for [[Blender]] to visualize [[YASim]] fdms. This way it is possible to load both, the fdm and 3d model, into Blender and compare them to each other visually. Different types of objects/surfaces of the fdm, such as fuselage, wings, stabilizers and control surfaces, are displayed in different colours. Propellers, jet engines and rotors are each shown in a meaningfull manner and objects without size, like the landing gear's contact points, are present as well.<BR>
The script is available in FlightGear's source tree ([http://cvs.flightgear.org/viewvc/source/utils/Modeller/yasim_import.py?view=markup source/utils/Modeller/yasim_import.py]). A list with all features, how to install it into Blender, load fdm and align it with the 3d model (if necessary) and how to handle it in general is written as a comment on the top inside the file.
The script is available in FlightGear's source tree ([http://cvs.flightgear.org/viewvc/source/utils/Modeller/yasim_import.py?view=markup source/utils/Modeller/yasim_import.py]). A list with all features, how to install it into Blender, load fdm and align it with the 3d model (if necessary) and how to handle it in general is written as a comment on the top inside the file.


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* '''January:''' Microsoft reportes that the ACES Game Studio, the design team responsible for the MSFS series, will be shut down.
* '''January:''' Microsoft reportes that the ACES Game Studio, the design team responsible for the MSFS series, will be shut down.
* '''January:''' A bugfix release for FlightGear 1.9.0 is released, version 1.9.1.
* '''January:''' A bugfix release for FlightGear 1.9.0 is released, version 1.9.1.
* '''


Happy New Year everyone!
Happy New Year everyone!


[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2009 12]]
[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2009 12]]
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