FlightGear Newsletter December 2015
| This newsletter is a draft.
Please feel free to add content you think will be of interest to the FlightGear community. You can read the latest newsletter at FlightGear Newsletter November 2015. |
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Development news |
Scenery Corner |
Contributing |
Development news
Update on HLA development
As of December 29th, Stuart has split out the AI Manager so that it is a separate federate. This enables AI scenarios to be run outside of FlightGear itself, but viewed within FlightGear. His next step will be to flesh out the data model to provide equivalent functionality to an external AI Manager running as a separate federate.
From Stuart Buchanan (Dec 29th, 2015). [Flightgear-devel] HLA Update.
Learn more at High-Level Architecture …
Scenemodels and TerraSync host moved
Recently, the scenery models (scenemodels) database and the TerraSync repository were moved to a new, temporary host. Some things may not work, or have issues, but work is underway to get it working properly. When a more permanent host is found, the scenemodels database and TerraSync repositories will probably be moved again.
From Torsten Dreyer (Dec 21st, 2015). Re: [Flightgear-devel] Scenemodels and TerraScenery maintenance and degraded service.
Animated Jetways revamped
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I don't know if anyone remembers the Nasal-based animated jetway code I wrote a few years ago, but I'd like to rewrite it as a clean-sheet C++ subsystem. I want to eliminate the truly atrocious Nasal hacks I used in the initial implementation and make the whole thing faster and more reliable. My objectives as of now are, 1) Implement a new FGJetwayManager subsystem to replace the existing code in jetways.nas. (I have not yet decided what to do with jetways_edit.nas - it might be fixed up instead of outright replaced.) 2) Streamline the jetway model files in fgdata. I want to do away with the generic.airline.<XYZ>.xml files because they're unnecessary clutter. The C++ code can deal with these cases. 3) As for the jetway definition files themselves (<airport>.jetways.xml), the only change I'd like to make is deprecating the "elevation-m" property for each jetway, which is currently relative to the surrounding scenery, including buildings and AI craft (due to the Nasal API). Instead, I propose fixing all jetways to the ground. Rationale: The current method is unreliable (see sunken jetways at KSFO) and I can't imagine a situation when you would need a floating jetway. 4) Performance optimiations - much of this would come from plain superior code, but I also plan to introduce a user preference for "jetway density." That is, you can choose to spawn between 0 to 100% of all jetways defined for an airport. This allows the user to reduce the overhead from rendering and animating all those jetway objects (which is probably the biggest bottleneck besides the current Nasal implementation). This is what FSX does. 5) Potential idea - integration with AI traffic. So that when AI airliners park at their gates, jetways will extend to meet them. The current Nasal code makes an attempt at this, but it's very hacky and unreliable. While I think this is a cool idea, I don't want to interfere with anyone's work on the AI subsystem. I would greatly appreciate any ideas and comments on my proposal, as well as some pointers and tips on getting started with core development. :-) — Ryan A Young (Dec 29th, 2015). [Flightgear-devel] Animated jet bridges redux.
(powered by Instant-Cquotes) |
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In the hangar
EchoAir Aircraft
3 new fictional EchoAir aircraft in D-ECHO's hangar:
Drivable vehicle
Ausdkunst (Kerdigargae) has released GTA V Declasse Voodoo for flightgear:
- http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=28394
- https://github.com/ausdkunst/FG-GTA-V-Declasse-Voodoo
DHC-6 Twin Otter development
The DHC-6 Twin Otter recieved some updates during the past few months, which are now available in FGAddon:
- Components to secure the aircraft like wheel chocks, tiedowns, etc. have been added
- Some work on the cockpit, now including among others a radar altimeter, a turn coordinator and an ELT
- Added support for environmental sounds (thunder, rain)
- A custom 2D panel
- Walker support
- Fuel truck
- and many more...
Scenery corner
Project Venezuela
Legoboyvdlp has been working with WED to create several new airports for Project Venezuela. D-ECHO has kindly generated these airports.
Maiquetia now features animated jetways for most gates.
SVCS now has shared models. They are also in TerraSync.
Sierra de la Libertad - Chagual SPGL
In Peru high up in the Sierra de la Libertad there are some airfields to found. One of the most popular is Chagual Airport. But there are some more beautiful places in the middle of the Andes. Not far from Chagual Airport there is Gochapita Airfield at an altitude of about 12.000 feet. For most of the year clouds covering the airfield in dense mist. Another difficult airport is Pias Airport. The final approach is a little complicated and risky because of the high mountainous terrain of the Coordillera and a descend rate of approx 2.000 feet per minute.
This Scenery is now available for Download with airport data and layouts, airport buildings, villages and more. See Chagual Airport#Scenery for details on how to obtain this Scenery.
We wish you happy flying!
Festival Development
- Chitose (RJCC + RJCJ) - https://github.com/legoboyvdlp/RJCC.RJCJ-fg-CustomScenery
- Kansai (RJBB) - https://github.com/mherweg/RJBB-fg-CustomScenery
- Narita (RJAA) - Work In Progress!
- Fukuoka (RJFF) - https://github.com/legoboyvdlp/RJFF-fg-CustomScenery
- Chubu Centrair (RJGG) - https://github.com/FGMEMBERS-SCENERY/RJGG-fg-CustomScenery
A team is working rapidly on Japanese scenery!
New regional textures
More development has been made to the New Regional Textures project. Among the new additions we have:
- New textures and material definitions for California
- New textures and material definitions for Mexico
- New material definitions for Central America
- New textures and material definitions for Southern Europe (Mediterranean region: Portugal, Spain, south of Italy, Greece, coast of Balkans)
- New airport grass texture (global)
- New airport grass texture for Latin America
- New American town texture (global)
- Small improvement to grass blade textures (to better fit the airport grass texture)
- Available at: Github
- Forum thread
Dubai (OMDB) Custom scenery
Community news
Contributing
Translators required
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The FlightGear Wiki still needs help for translating it into various languages. If you are interested in making the FlightGear Wiki multilingual, start at Help:Translate. |
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Le wiki de FlightGear a toujours besoin d'aide pour être traduit en différentes langues. Si vous êtes intéressé par le rendre multilingue, commencez par lire Help:Traduire. |
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Das FlightGear Wiki benötigt immer noch Hilfe bei der Übersetzung in verschiedene Sprachen. Wenn Du Interesse daran hast, das FlightGear Wiki Mehrsprachig zu machen, dann fang doch mit Help:Übersetzen an. |
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De FlightGear Wiki kan nog steed hulp gebruiken bij het vertalen van artikelen. Als je interesse hebt om de wiki meertalig te maken, raden we je aan om een kijkje te nemen bij Help:Vertalen. |
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La wiki de FlightGear todavía necesita ayuda para traducirla a varios lenguajes. Si estás interesado en hacer la FlightGear wiki multilingüe, entonces comienza en Help:Traducir. |
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La wiki de FlightGear encara necessita ajuda per traduir-la a diverses llengües. Si esteu interessat en fer la wiki de FlightGear multilingüe, llavors comenceu a Help:Traduir. |
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A wiki de FlightGear ainda necessita de ajuda para traduzi-la em vários idiomas. Se estás interessado em tornar a wiki de FlightGear multi-lingual, por favor começa em Help: Traduzir. |
FlightGear logos
If you want some graphic elements for your FlightGear-related site (such as a hangar or YouTube channel), please feel free to visit FlightGear logos for a repository of logos. And if you have some art skills, please don't hesitate to contribute with your own design creations.
Screenshots
The FlightGear project always needs screenshots, which show features that were added since the last release. These should be of good quality, especially in content and technical image properties. It is therefore recommended to use the best viable filter settings (anti-aliasing, texture sharpening, etc.). More info at Howto:Make nice screenshots.
Screenshot of the Month
FlightGears best Screenshot of December 2015 is Showing the climbing abilities of the Twin Otter by Jonathan S. (DG-505)
