FlightGear Newsletter January 2016: Difference between revisions

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{{draft|newsletter|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 December 2015]].}}
{{Newsletter-header|January 2016}}
{{Newsletter-header|January 2016}}
<div style="border-bottom:3px double #BBB;">
<div style="border-bottom:3px double #BBB;">
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  | valign="top" width="33%" |
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{{Newsletter-cover-header|Development news}}<br>
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Development news}}<br>
[[#Reset & Re-init Improvements|Reset & Re-init Improvements]]<br>
[[#New ATC-pie release|New ATC-pie release]]<br>
[[#Route Manager GUI|Route Manager GUI]]<br>
[[#New version scheme and release preparations|New version scheme and release preparations]]<br>
[[#Python and FlightGear|Python and FlightGear]]<br>
[[#Python and FlightGear|Python and FlightGear]]<br>
[[#Experimental directional moonlight patches|Experimental directional moonlight patches]]<br>
| valign="top" width="33%" |
{{Newsletter-cover-header|In the hangar}}<br>
{{Newsletter-cover-header|In the hangar}}<br>
[[#Space Shuttle|Space Shuttle]]<br>
[[#GTA V Airtug & Vapid Speedo|GTA V Airtug & Vapid Speedo]]<br>
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Scenery Corner}}<br>
[[#Kansai (RJBB) sneak peak|Kansai (RJBB) sneak peak]]<br>
[[#Gatwick redevelopment efforts|Gatwick redevelopment efforts]]<br>
[[#New SVMI layout|New SVMI layout]]<br>
[[#Møre og Romsdal custom scenery|Møre og Romsdal custom scenery]]<br>
  | valign="top" width="33%" |
  | valign="top" width="33%" |
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Scenery Corner}}<br>
[[#Kansai (RJBB) Sneak Peak|Kansai (RJBB) Sneak Peak]]<br>
[[#More og Romsdal|More og Romsdal]]<br>
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Community News}}<br>
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Community News}}<br>
| valign="top" width="33%" |
[[#Happy birthday ATC-pie!|Happy birthday ATC-pie!]]<br>
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Contributing}}<br>
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Contributing}}<br>
[[#Translators required|Translators required]]<br>
[[#Translators required|Translators required]]<br>
Line 24: Line 28:


== Development news ==
== Development news ==
=== New ATC-pie release ===
[[File:ATC-pie-logo.png|90px|left|ATC-pie logo]]


=== New Versioning Scheme ===
[[ATC-pie]] has been incremented to r8, a new release featuring an '''en-route control mode'''. It allows to play without a base airport, and to centre the radar anywhere on Earth, i.e., to detach it from any available airport position. The good news is that it supports solo games as well, which brings a new type of fun into the program. In solo CTR mode, aircraft transit your airspace following assigned routes. Your job is to reassign levels, routing points, etc. to have aircraft fly across safely until handover to the neighbouring CTR.
{{FGCquote
|1= Hi all to prepare for our next releases, I have just set the version number for - fgdata - simgear - flightgear - fgrun to 2016.1.0 This marks the beginning of the new version number scheme as discussed before and hopefully the beginning of fully automated releases in a few weeks. Now that our scenery infrastructure is in a working condition again, I will focus on preparing the scripts for Jenkins. Usual disclaimer: In the unlikely event of receiving a version number mismatch error message for fgdata, please tripple check that you have compiled simgear AND flightgear AND have the latest fgdata. Regards, Torsten
|2= {{cite web
  | url    = http://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/mailman/message/34741767/
  | title  = <nowiki>[Flightgear-devel] Release preparations</nowiki>
  | author = <nowiki>Torsten Dreyer</nowiki>
  | date  = Jan 5th, 2016
  | added  = Jan 5th, 2016
  | script_version = 0.23
  }}
}}


=== Release changes ===
=== New version scheme and release preparations ===
{{FGCquote
Early in January, in preparation for fully automated releases, the version numbers of FGData, SimGear, FlightGear source, and FGRun were set to 2016.1.0. This marks the beginning of the new version scheme, of which you can find out more [[Release plan#2016.1 and after|here]].
|1= Hi all to prepare for our next releases, I have just set the version number for - fgdata - simgear - flightgear - fgrun to 2016.1.0 This marks the beginning of the new version number scheme as discussed before and hopefully the beginning of fully automated releases in a few weeks. Now that our scenery infrastructure is in a working condition again, I will focus on preparing the scripts for Jenkins. Usual disclaimer: In the unlikely event of receiving a version number mismatch error message for fgdata, please tripple check that you have compiled simgear AND flightgear AND have the latest fgdata.
|2= {{cite web
  | url    = http://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/mailman/message/34741767/
  | title  = <nowiki>[Flightgear-devel] Release preparations</nowiki>
  | author = <nowiki>Torsten Dreyer</nowiki>
  | date  = Jan 5th, 2016
  | added  = Jan 5th, 2016
  | script_version = 0.23
  }}
}}


=== Reset & Re-init Improvements ===
''From {{cite web
{{WIP}}
|url = http://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/mailman/message/34741767/
* Pull Ephemeris out of FGGlobals {{flightgear commit|ba56c4}}
|title = <nowiki>[Flightgear-devel] Release preparations</nowiki>
* Make PerformanceDB a real subsystem{{flightgear commit|83ea6d}}
|author = Torsten Dreyer
* Stop OSG threading earlier on shutdown. Avoid intermittent race conditions on shutdown when the OSG pager/Db thread is running. Ensure the OSG threads are stopped before we start tearing down any scene graph nodes. {{flightgear commit|b7c88e}}
|date = Jan 5th, 2016
* AI subsystem now does an orderly shutdown - remove special case logic which is no longer required {{flightgear commit|c69e6f}}
}}''
* Pull Sound-manager out of FGGlobals{{flightgear commit|52fd69}}
* Remove FontCache from globals. - access via a singleton instead. {{flightgear commit|fc9c43}}
* Chatter-queue moved out of globals - now lives as part of the sound-manager, {{flightgear commit|c40040}}


=== Route Manager GUI ===
=== Python and FlightGear ===
waypointlist commits
Recently, some users have been experimenting with integrating Python with FlightGear. Curt has created a property tree implementation in Python,<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?p=271196#p271196
|title = <nowiki>Re: FGPython an propose for Python as an nasal alternative</nowiki>
|author = curt
|date = Jan 2nd, 2016
}}</ref> while users {{usr|bugman}} and {{usr|www2}} have been working on the [[FGPythonSys]] subsystem.


=== Python and FlightGear ===
''Find out more on the [http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=28378 forum topic] and at [[Python in FlightGear]].''
{{FGCquote
 
|1= I wrote a really quick/simple property tree implementation in python ... it doesn't do any of the fancy stuff the FlightGear property system does (like listeners, read/write tracing, etc.)  But it does implement a basic shared property tree and allows (in python) direct referencing of property tree elements. https://github.com/AuraUAS/aura-core/blob/python/src/python/props.py
<references/>
|2= {{cite web
  | url    = http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?p=271196#p271196
  | title  = <nowiki>Re: FGPython an propose for </nowiki>
  | author = <nowiki>curt</nowiki>
  | date  = Jan 2nd, 2016
  | added  = Jan 2nd, 2016
  | script_version = 0.23
  }}
}}


=== Experimental directional moonlight patches ===
=== Experimental directional moonlight patches ===
{{FGCquote
User {{usr|bugman}} has been working on directional moonlight in FlightGear. The current system for moonlight is quite limited, so he plans to totally upgrade it and make it more realistic. As of January 7, he has reached his first milestone, the results of which can be seen [http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=28201&start=75#p271916 here].
|1= The changes here are for an initial milestone - exposing the position of the moon in the local aircraft frame and setting the amount of night-time illumination based on the phase of the moon. I have implemented some core infrastructure in Durk's ancient 1997-1998 ephemeris code (simgear), and in the flightgear time manager, ephemeris and solar system body (sun)solver code. I'll delve into full details below but, quickly, the changes are in the branches: https://sourceforge.net/u/edauvergne/flightgear/ci/directional_moonlight_v1/tree/ https://sourceforge.net/u/edauvergne/simgear/ci/directional_moonlight_v1/tree/ https://sourceforge.net/u/edauvergne/fgdata/ci/directional_moonlight_v1/tree/ More details can be found in the corresponding forum thread [1]. Initial results of the current code - specifically the automatic lighting of the ALS scene at night based on the moon's phase - are given in that thread [2], as well as below. Cheers, Edward [1] http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=28201 (permanent archive: https://web.archive.org/web/http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=28201 ). [2] http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=28201&start=75#p271916 (permanent archive: https://web.archive.org/web/http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=28201&start=75#p271916 ).
 
|2= {{cite web
''From {{cite web
  | url   = http://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/mailman/message/34750775/
|url = http://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/mailman/message/34750775/
  | title = <nowiki>[Flightgear-devel] Implementing directional moonlight (local
|title = <nowiki>[Flightgear-devel] Implementing directional moonlight (local position, phase-based full scene lighting, reflections, and optical effects).</nowiki>
position, phase-based full scene lighting, reflections,
|author = <nowiki>Edward d'Auvergne</nowiki>
and optical effects).</nowiki>
|date = Jan 8th, 2016
  | author = <nowiki>Edward d'Auvergne</nowiki>
}}; find out more on the [http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=28201 forum topic].''
  | date   = Jan 8th, 2016
  | added  = Jan 8th, 2016
  | script_version = 0.23
  }}
}}


== In the hangar ==
== In the hangar ==
=== Space Shuttle ===
The '''[[Space Shuttle]]''' development team is proud to announce that Milestone 5 of the Space Shuttle has arrived in the repository. Breaking new grounds in FG glass cockpits, we have the ability to drive as many as nine distinct Multifunction Display Units (MDUs) on the forward panel, each capable of showing a different part of the Shuttle's Guidance and Navigation or Systems Management avionics package.<p>
Two keyboards are used to communicate with the flight computer, and many functions (payload bay door, automatic pointing and tracking in orbit, propellant dump, DAP configuration, etc.) can be called via the control software.
[[File:Shuttle cockpit panorama01.jpg|800px|thumb|none|Status of the Shuttle 3d cockpit in Jan 2016]]
For the night half of the orbit, the cockpit panels are backlit to allow reading the labels, and the rest of the surfaces are illuminated by the residual ambience.
[[File:Shuttle cockpit panorama02.jpg|800px|thumb|none|Status of the Shuttle 3d cockpit in Jan 2016]]
With additional work going into Aurora Borealis rendering, there's now also something to see in space during the night!
=== GTA V Airtug & Vapid Speedo ===
[[File:GTA V Vapid Speedo.png|thumb|GTA V Vapid Speedo]]
Two new GTA V vehicles have been released by Ausdkunst. The '''Airtug''' and '''Vapid Speedo''' can be downloaded from their development repositories ([https://github.com/ausdkunst/gtav-airtug] and [https://github.com/ausdkunst/gtav-vapid-speedo] respectively). You can also find out about his other projects at http://ausdkunst.wix.com/kerdigarage.
{{-}}


== Scenery corner ==
== Scenery corner ==
=== Kansai (RJBB) Sneak Peak ===
=== Kansai (RJBB) sneak peak ===
Work continues on Kansai Intl Airport by a team headed by Israel Hernandez (IH-COL). A custom 850 dat layout has been made, with all the appropriate markings. The main terminal has been built, including an animated 'sky-train'. Work continues on Terminal 2, the FEDEX building, and the cargo ramp. Most recently, [[User:Legoboyvdlp|J. Redpath]] has been adding lamps to the remote stands and cargo ramp, as seen in this screenshot:
Work continues on Kansai International Airport by a team headed by Israel Hernandez (IH-COL). A custom 850 DAT layout has been made with all the appropriate markings. The main terminal has been built, including an animated skytrain. Work continues on Terminal 2, the FEDEX building, and the cargo ramp. Most recently, {{usr|Legoboyvdlp}} has been adding lamps to the remote stands and cargo ramp, as can be seen in this screenshot:
[[File:Kansai-night.png|Kansai (RJBB) at night. Terminal 1 in the background.]]
[[File:Kansai-night.png|800px|thumb|none|Kansai (RJBB) at night. Terminal 1 is in the background.]]
=== More og Romsdal ===
 
More og Romsdal is a province in Norway. For a part of it, there is now a custom scenery available featuring new airport layouts and (partly) z-fighting/flooding fix:<br>
=== Gatwick redevelopment efforts ===
[[File:MoR.jpg|1000px|An overview over the Province More og Romsdal.]]<br>
[[File:Gatwick2.0WED.jpg|thumb|EGKK redevelopment: preview in [[WorldEditor]]]]
Airport buildings for ENAL, EMNL and ENKB are now available via terrasync.
{{usr|Legoboyvdlp}} has been redeveloping [[London Gatwick Airport]] (EGKK) with an all-new 850 layout, which includes apron markings, proper taxiways, and more.
For more information, visit [[More og Romsdal]]
{{-}}
 
=== New SVMI layout ===
[[File:SVMI-WED.JPG|thumb|SVMI redevelopment: preview in WorldEditor]]
{{usr|Legoboyvdlp}} has also redone the layout of the Simón Bolívar International Airport with another all-new 850 layout, which includes proper taxiways, markings, and apron markings.
This is already uploaded, and may be downloaded [http://www.github.com/legoboyvdlp/SVMI-fg-CustomScenery here]. Simply add the path ''SVMI-fg-CustomScenery/SVMI/Scenery'' to [[$FG_SCENERY]] and enjoy!
{{-}}
 
=== Møre og Romsdal custom scenery ===
Custom scenery has been made for Møre og Romsdal (a province of Norway). It features new airport layouts and some z-fighting and flooding fixes.
 
In addition, airport buildings for ENAL, EMNL and ENKB are now available via terrasync.
 
''Find out more at [[More og Romsdal]].''
 
[[File:MoR.jpg|800px|thumb|none|An overview of Møre og Romsdal.]]


== Community news ==
== Community news ==
=== Happy birthday ATC-pie! ===
[[File:ATC-pie-logo-candle.png|90px|left|ATC-pie candle logo]]
'''ATC-pie is one year old!''' On January 15 last year, the initial beta version was released and put to real game testing. On February 1, the first version (r1) was out, initiating the string of improvements that took place until today. This is certainly a time for the developer to thank all users who have tried or adopted it and those who have helped to improve it. Perhaps also an occasion for happy players to wrap up a nice present for it in the form of a kind review?


== Contributing ==
== Contributing ==
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|-
|-
| [[File:pt.gif]]
| [[File:pt.gif]]
| 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 [[:pt/Help: Traduzir|Help: Traduzir]].
| 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 [[:pt:Help: Traduzir|Help: Traduzir]].
|}
|}


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==== Screenshot of the Month ====
==== Screenshot of the Month ====
Entries for this month's best screenshot can be submitted to [http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=28453 this] forum topic. Be sure to see the [http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=28453#p271662 first post] for participation rules. For purposes of convenience and organization, after all the entries have been submitted, a new forum topic will be started containing all shots in an easy-to-view layout. The voting will then take place there. Once the voting has finished, the best screenshot will be presented on this page.
FlightGear's Screenshot of the Month January 2016 is ''Cleared to land at JFK'' by {{usr|Dg-505}}.
[[File:Cleared to land at JFK.jpg|900px|center|link=|Cleared to land at JFK by DG-505]]
 
[[de:FlightGear Newsletter Januar 2016]]


[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2016 01]]
[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2016 01]]
[[Category:Changes after 3.6]]
[[Category:Changes after 3.6]]

Latest revision as of 17:22, 6 March 2016

Magagazine.png
Enjoy reading the latest edition!
Please help us write the coming edition!
January 2016

Development news
New ATC-pie release
New version scheme and release preparations
Python and FlightGear
Experimental directional moonlight patches

In the hangar
Space Shuttle
GTA V Airtug & Vapid Speedo
Scenery Corner
Kansai (RJBB) sneak peak
Gatwick redevelopment efforts
New SVMI layout
Møre og Romsdal custom scenery

Community News
Happy birthday ATC-pie!
Contributing
Translators required
FlightGear logos
Screenshots
Screenshot of the Month

Development news

New ATC-pie release

ATC-pie logo

ATC-pie has been incremented to r8, a new release featuring an en-route control mode. It allows to play without a base airport, and to centre the radar anywhere on Earth, i.e., to detach it from any available airport position. The good news is that it supports solo games as well, which brings a new type of fun into the program. In solo CTR mode, aircraft transit your airspace following assigned routes. Your job is to reassign levels, routing points, etc. to have aircraft fly across safely until handover to the neighbouring CTR.

New version scheme and release preparations

Early in January, in preparation for fully automated releases, the version numbers of FGData, SimGear, FlightGear source, and FGRun were set to 2016.1.0. This marks the beginning of the new version scheme, of which you can find out more here.

From Torsten Dreyer (Jan 5th, 2016). [Flightgear-devel] Release preparations.

Python and FlightGear

Recently, some users have been experimenting with integrating Python with FlightGear. Curt has created a property tree implementation in Python,[1] while users bugman and www2 have been working on the FGPythonSys subsystem.

Find out more on the forum topic and at Python in FlightGear.

Experimental directional moonlight patches

User bugman has been working on directional moonlight in FlightGear. The current system for moonlight is quite limited, so he plans to totally upgrade it and make it more realistic. As of January 7, he has reached his first milestone, the results of which can be seen here.

From Edward d'Auvergne (Jan 8th, 2016). [Flightgear-devel] Implementing directional moonlight (local position, phase-based full scene lighting, reflections, and optical effects)..; find out more on the forum topic.

In the hangar

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle development team is proud to announce that Milestone 5 of the Space Shuttle has arrived in the repository. Breaking new grounds in FG glass cockpits, we have the ability to drive as many as nine distinct Multifunction Display Units (MDUs) on the forward panel, each capable of showing a different part of the Shuttle's Guidance and Navigation or Systems Management avionics package.

Two keyboards are used to communicate with the flight computer, and many functions (payload bay door, automatic pointing and tracking in orbit, propellant dump, DAP configuration, etc.) can be called via the control software.

Status of the Shuttle 3d cockpit in Jan 2016

For the night half of the orbit, the cockpit panels are backlit to allow reading the labels, and the rest of the surfaces are illuminated by the residual ambience.

Status of the Shuttle 3d cockpit in Jan 2016

With additional work going into Aurora Borealis rendering, there's now also something to see in space during the night!

GTA V Airtug & Vapid Speedo

GTA V Vapid Speedo

Two new GTA V vehicles have been released by Ausdkunst. The Airtug and Vapid Speedo can be downloaded from their development repositories ([1] and [2] respectively). You can also find out about his other projects at http://ausdkunst.wix.com/kerdigarage.

Scenery corner

Kansai (RJBB) sneak peak

Work continues on Kansai International Airport by a team headed by Israel Hernandez (IH-COL). A custom 850 DAT layout has been made with all the appropriate markings. The main terminal has been built, including an animated skytrain. Work continues on Terminal 2, the FEDEX building, and the cargo ramp. Most recently, Legoboyvdlp has been adding lamps to the remote stands and cargo ramp, as can be seen in this screenshot:

Kansai (RJBB) at night. Terminal 1 is in the background.

Gatwick redevelopment efforts

EGKK redevelopment: preview in WorldEditor

Legoboyvdlp has been redeveloping London Gatwick Airport (EGKK) with an all-new 850 layout, which includes apron markings, proper taxiways, and more.

New SVMI layout

SVMI redevelopment: preview in WorldEditor

Legoboyvdlp has also redone the layout of the Simón Bolívar International Airport with another all-new 850 layout, which includes proper taxiways, markings, and apron markings. This is already uploaded, and may be downloaded here. Simply add the path SVMI-fg-CustomScenery/SVMI/Scenery to $FG_SCENERY and enjoy!

Møre og Romsdal custom scenery

Custom scenery has been made for Møre og Romsdal (a province of Norway). It features new airport layouts and some z-fighting and flooding fixes.

In addition, airport buildings for ENAL, EMNL and ENKB are now available via terrasync.

Find out more at More og Romsdal.

An overview of Møre og Romsdal.

Community news

Happy birthday ATC-pie!

ATC-pie candle logo

ATC-pie is one year old! On January 15 last year, the initial beta version was released and put to real game testing. On February 1, the first version (r1) was out, initiating the string of improvements that took place until today. This is certainly a time for the developer to thank all users who have tried or adopted it and those who have helped to improve it. Perhaps also an occasion for happy players to wrap up a nice present for it in the form of a kind review?

Contributing

Translators required

En.gif 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.
Fr.gif 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.
De.gif 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.
Nl.gif 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.
Es.gif 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.
Cat.gif 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.
Pt.gif 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

FlightGear's Screenshot of the Month January 2016 is Cleared to land at JFK by Dg-505.

Cleared to land at JFK by DG-505