FlightGear Newsletter May 2015: Difference between revisions
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[[#Sound position fixes|Sound position fixes]]<br/> | [[#Sound position fixes|Sound position fixes]]<br/> | ||
[[#Nasal/Canvas: A simple tiled map|Nasal/Canvas: A simple tiled map]]<br/> | [[#Nasal/Canvas: A simple tiled map|Nasal/Canvas: A simple tiled map]]<br/> | ||
[[#New | [[#New ATC-pie release|New ATC-pie release]]<br/> | ||
[[#Cross | [[#Cross-compiling FlightGear|Cross-compiling FlightGear]] | ||
| valign="top" width="33%" | | | valign="top" width="33%" | | ||
{{Newsletter-cover-header|In the hanger}}<br/> | {{Newsletter-cover-header|In the hanger}}<br/> | ||
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{{Newsletter-cover-header|Scenery Corner}}<br/> | {{Newsletter-cover-header|Scenery Corner}}<br/> | ||
[[#Scenery Project Elba|Scenery Project Elba]]<br/> | [[#Scenery Project Elba|Scenery Project Elba]]<br/> | ||
[[#SVMI Release 1.0|SVMI Release 1.0]]<br/> | |||
[[# | |||
| valign="top" width="33%" | | | valign="top" width="33%" | | ||
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Contributing}}<br/> | {{Newsletter-cover-header|Contributing}}<br/> | ||
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=== Submodel enhancements === | === Submodel enhancements === | ||
Thanks to some brilliant work on the [[Submodels|submodel]] system by Onox, it is now possible to adjust various offsets, including heading and pitch, during runtime. Furthermore, the x, y, and z offsets are also now defined in metric units. Finally, the randomness of the azimuth (heading), elevation (pitch), Cd (Coefficient of drag), and life can be defined. | Thanks to some brilliant work on the [[Submodels|submodel]] system by Onox, it is now possible to adjust various offsets, including heading and pitch, during runtime. Furthermore, the x, y, and z offsets are also now defined in metric units. Finally, the randomness of the azimuth (heading), elevation (pitch), Cd (Coefficient of drag), and life can be defined. You can find out more at [[Howto:Add submodels]]. | ||
[[File:Submodel-offset.png|800px|A Phalanx CIWS shooting at an extraterrestrial weather balloon. The orange tracer bullets are submodels. The red line is a scaled model representing the aiming orientation of the Phalanx.]] | [[File:Submodel-offset.png|800px|A Phalanx CIWS shooting at an extraterrestrial weather balloon. The orange tracer bullets are submodels. The red line is a scaled model representing the aiming orientation of the Phalanx.]] | ||
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The main features are: | The main features are: | ||
* Free combination choice of APP, TWR and DEP control positions for custom training | * Free combination choice of APP, TWR and DEP control positions for custom training | ||
* Handovers to | * Handovers to and from virtual ATCs | ||
* Instruction interface and pilot read back | * Instruction interface and pilot read back | ||
* Adjustable difficulty (traffic density) | * Adjustable difficulty (traffic density) | ||
* | * Departure/arrival and [[ILS]]/visual balance options | ||
* Configurable runways in use, entry and exit points | * Configurable runways in use, entry and exit points | ||
=== Cross | === Cross-compiling FlightGear === | ||
{{FGCquote | {{FGCquote | ||
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[[File:Elba.jpg|800px|center]] | [[File:Elba.jpg|800px|center]] | ||
=== | === SVMI Release 1.0 === | ||
[[Aeropuerto Internacional Simon Bolivar]] (SVMI) has been undergoing development since January by legoboyvdlp, and now | [[Aeropuerto Internacional Simon Bolivar]] (SVMI) has been undergoing development since January by {{usr|legoboyvdlp}}, and now release 1.0 has arrived. This release features: | ||
* | * New apt.dat 850 layout | ||
* | * Corrected terrain (the hill north of 10/28 is now correct) | ||
*Static | * Static planes | ||
* | * Working [[Jetway|jetways]] (by viveFG) | ||
*Beautiful models (viveFG) | * Beautiful models (by viveFG) | ||
This project is released under the GNU GPL, and | This project is released under the [[GNU GPL]], and will hopefully be included in World Scenery 2.0 via TerraSync! This airport may be downloaded from [https://www.github.com/legoboyvdlp/ProjectFlightGearScenery GitHub] along with [[TNCM]] which has been fixed by legoboyvdlp with a quick-n-dirty hack to stop flooding. | ||
This airport may be downloaded from [https://www.github.com/legoboyvdlp/ProjectFlightGearScenery GitHub] along with [[TNCM]] which has been fixed by legoboyvdlp with a | |||
== Contributing == | == Contributing == |
Revision as of 09:12, 2 June 2015
Development news |
In the hanger |
Contributing |
Development News
Exhaust flames
The latest addition to the Atmospheric Light Scattering framework is a procedural shader effect to render thruster and afterburner exhaust flames. This effect integrates over a 3d-distribution of glowing emitters in a bounding box, which means that it doesn't generate sharp edges in the visuals.
Flame color, density, distribution of shock diamonds and widening in thin atmosphere are all runtime configurable, allowing to account realistically for changes in thrust or ambient pressure.
In the example application for the Space Shuttle main engine below, note how the exhaust plume is narrow and shows pronounced shock diamonds early on, while it widens in the thin upper atmosphere.
Find out more at ALS technical notes#The exhaust flame effect…
Automated checklist execution
As part of the development of the Lockheed 1049h Constellation, I created a comprehensive set of checklists based on the crew operating manual with other items added sufficient to take the aircraft through all stages of flight. Rather than hand-code an autostart script I wrote a more generic script to run checklist bindings in sequence. This script is now available in FGDATA and can be used on other aircraft:
|
Submodel enhancements
Thanks to some brilliant work on the submodel system by Onox, it is now possible to adjust various offsets, including heading and pitch, during runtime. Furthermore, the x, y, and z offsets are also now defined in metric units. Finally, the randomness of the azimuth (heading), elevation (pitch), Cd (Coefficient of drag), and life can be defined. You can find out more at Howto:Add submodels.
Sound position fixes
The sound subsystem has been given some fixes so that the distance between the position of the current view and the sound's position is now computed more correctly.
Nasal/Canvas: A simple tiled map
Using the Canvas GUI and the Nasal HTTP module, you can make a simple tiled map (shown below) using images downloaded on the fly. You can find out more at Canvas Snippets#A simple tile map.
New ATC-pie release
ATC-pie now provides a solo training mode for ATCs. Using the same interface as the multiplayer game mode and an additional instruction pane, you can choose to play offline and control virtual aircraft as Tower, Approach, Departure, or any combination of those positions. As MP traffic still can be scarce in many occasions on our network, this new game mode can be a solution for you not to give up on a planned session and give yourself some challenge. Also, you may learn from it enough to make your own MP sessions more popular over the network!
The main features are:
- Free combination choice of APP, TWR and DEP control positions for custom training
- Handovers to and from virtual ATCs
- Instruction interface and pilot read back
- Adjustable difficulty (traffic density)
- Departure/arrival and ILS/visual balance options
- Configurable runways in use, entry and exit points
Cross-compiling FlightGear
During the last two weeks, hamzaalloush and saiarcot895 have been making lots of progress using mxe/mingw to build Windows binaries on Linux. The mid-term goal here is to provide FG/osgEarth binaries for Windows end-users via cross-compiling on Linux, so that end-users no longer need to be able to patch & build FG from source, but can just download pre-compiled binaries for 3.4 (and probably 3.6 in a few months time).
We're looking for people with access to Linux/Windows to help with testing/developing cross-compiled binaries for Windows on Linux using the mxe toolchain. If anybody wants to get involved, please leave your system specs (OS, distro) here - so that we can grow a list of people familiar with both, Linux and Windows (alternatively, emulation/virtualization via VirtualBox/Qemu etc) - for now, we are primarily looking for people familiar with building FG from source, and ideally also familiar with using git. Note that most testing/development is currently taking place on Ubuntu 14.04 - so people on a different distro should be prepared to do some integration/porting work (e.g. matching packages etc). Currently, we're able to cross-compile OpenSceneGraph and osgEarth on Linux for Windows and run most OSG/OsgEarth examples: The next steps ahead are getting osgEarth.mk to compile/link via mxe, and creating corresponding simgear.mk/flightgear.mk for mxe, at which point we will investigate porting poweroftwo's autobuilder to use mxe for building a patched version of sg/fg including osgEarth support. People familiar with cmake/autotools or gcc internals are obviously also invited to get involved :D For details and updates, please refer to: Building_FlightGear_-_Cross_Compiling — Hooray (Sun May 31). Dual Linux/Windows users:Cross-compiling FG/osgEarth for Win.
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In the Hangar
Amphibious variant of the C172p
The development of the c172-detailed continues; a new variant has been added with pontoons (optionally with wheels) so that it can land on water. This stunning aircraft will replace the old C172p in the upcoming FlightGear 3.6. You can follow the c172-detailed's progress on the forum development thread
Scenery Corner
Scenery Project Elba
The Scenery Project Elba has been started, aiming at improving the scenery of Elba, an island west of Italy. You can find out more on the wiki page and the forum development thread. Contributions are welcome!
SVMI Release 1.0
Aeropuerto Internacional Simon Bolivar (SVMI) has been undergoing development since January by legoboyvdlp, and now release 1.0 has arrived. This release features:
- New apt.dat 850 layout
- Corrected terrain (the hill north of 10/28 is now correct)
- Static planes
- Working jetways (by viveFG)
- Beautiful models (by viveFG)
This project is released under the GNU GPL, and will hopefully be included in World Scenery 2.0 via TerraSync! This airport may be downloaded from GitHub along with TNCM which has been fixed by legoboyvdlp with a quick-n-dirty hack to stop flooding.
Contributing
Translators required
The FlightGear Wiki still needs help for translating it into various languages. If you are interested in making the FlightGear Wiki multi-language then start at Help:Translate. | |
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. | |
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. | |
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. | |
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. |
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.