FlightGear Newsletter April 2021: Difference between revisions

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FlightGear Newsletter April 2021 (view source)

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Added WS3 update, 2021.x development preview release plans, cleanup
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All this is 'next' only. <ref>https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/mailman/message/37263034/</ref>
All this is 'next' only. <ref>https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/mailman/message/37263034/</ref>
==== World Scenery 3.0 update & FG 2021.x preview release plans ====
[[World Scenery 3.0 roadmap|World Scenery 3.0]] (WS3) is FlightGear's next generation scenery - see the [[FlightGear Newsletter January 2021#The road ahead|January newsletter]] for more information. WS3 combines the benefits of different scenery approaches like WS2 and (raster) photoscenery without drawbacks, a bit like how the Compositor added shadows for certain cases and environmental lights that Rembrandt had without the performance drawbacks.
StuartB and ScottG have been making great progress.
* On the scenery generation technology side, the various different aspects are ready for a first iteration build that is at least as complete as WS2 - with landclass data, elevation data, roads coastlines/ beaches, water in fjords, rivers, inland waterbodies, being completed. StuartB's latest update improves coastlines, lochs and lakes and he has released a prototype scenery for Scotland with landclass data compiled by Scott: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/18CfT_sVrfv6gkwp4QU7w0fHSiDabvUJk/view?usp=sharing prototype download].
* On the rendering side there are a lot of projects that take advantage of the new scenery technology - there is a lot of ways for people to contribute to rendering through C++ or GPU (shader) programming. The rendering will build brick by brick - porting existing ALS features one by one, and then taking advantage of tech from WS3, new Compositor, and higher OpenGL to add new features one by one like transitions.
* On the scenery generation side there is an opportunity for people to help a world build - by cleaning and processing data - people who build sceneries currently should get in/keep contact on the mailinglist - see [https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/mailman/message/37259618/ this post] by Scott. People who have been creating landclass data by combining various sources should look to get their data into the WS3 world-build.
===== 2021.x development preview release plans =====
The current thinking (early May) is to do a [[Release plan#General release concept|development preview]] release of FlightGear in the last half of 2021 with [[World Scenery 3.0 roadmap|World Scenery 3.0]] for at least part of the world - this release should fully switch to the [[Compositor]]. As always plans can change, and there are no fixed deadlines as progress depends on the availability of volunteers.
WS3 needs OSG 3.6 or 3.7. Windows nightly builds don't support OSG 3.6 or higher due to the [[OSGText Issues|OSG text issue]], so WS3 is disabled for these as of April - but this may change in the near future. Currently people need to compile FlightGear with a higher version of OSG.
To contribute to any aspect of World Scenery 3.0 including testing, get in touch via the  "[[Mailing lists|fg-devel]]" mailing list.


=== New rendering pipeline for Compositor ===
=== New rendering pipeline for Compositor ===
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== In the hangar ==
== In the hangar ==
<!-- News about new and upgraded aircraft and related stuff.  The official forum and other ones usually are a good source for this. -->
<!-- News about new and upgraded aircraft and related stuff.  The official forum and other ones usually are a good source for this. -->
=== Space Shuttle Milestone 13 released ===
Copy & Paste from this post by Thorsten: https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/mailman/message/37266972/ :
''We're happy to announce the arrival of the [[Space Shuttle|Shuttle]] milestone 13 while at
the same time welcoming GinGin as new collaborator in the team (who has
done most of the work for this milestone). Given the state of the spacecraft before, you might reasonably ask - is there anything substantial that can still be added? You'll be the judge of that, but I think there is.''
* ''thanks to new aero data, we now have a better description of the hypersonic flight phase from Mach 27 down to about Mach 5''
* ''GinGin has been patiently digging into NASA documents and replaced my home-written guidance for the launch and entry trajectories by something that is much more shaped like the real thing, for instance the launch trajectory is now somewhat flatter and reaches a later arctop''
* ''also, thanks to GinGin's patient work, we now have pretty much all the  display pages very close to the original appearance (they've been moved to the original font, items blink where they should, and the limit  sensing overlay which indicates when a value is off-nominal has been added)''
* ''a lot of time has gone into testing and fixing issues with launch aborts. They're generally a wide field in that they probe a huge kinematical region in terms of what can happen, but are interesting because they actually showcase what the Shuttle can do with a rocket engine and as a hypersonic vehicle, and they provide a high-workload and challening environment for the crew. We now have voice callouts for the abort boundaries (what maneuver should be flown when), as well as literally dozens of different cases tested and the guidance parameters adjusted to resolve small issues''
*  ''also, I've added the helium system (providing a purge for the engines during launch) including full failure and leakage capability, which was one of the last remaining systems that were not simulated in gory detail''
* ''to make use of all that failure modeling, a new failure training mode throws a random scenario at selectable difficulty level at the user as a challenge - so you don't know up-front what will happen''
* ''a new view to simulate the RMS arm camera simplifies grabbing objects in space''
* ''a virtual notepad to record voice calls from mission control or display payload attachment points''
''All in all, with three people flying tests for more than a month, this is probably the best-tested milestone we ever had, and it's been verified to run all the way back to 2018.3. I'm currently in the last stages of updating the manual, which will be available within a few days.''
''Enjoy!''
[[File:Shuttle cockpit before launch.jpg|alt=FlightGear Space Shuttle cockpit with internal lighting|none|thumb|700x700px|[[Space Shuttle]] cockpit before launch with internal lighting]]
<!-- === New aircraft === -->


=== New aircraft ===
=== New aircraft ===
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==== Cessna 182S / 182T ====
==== Cessna 182S / 182T ====
The [[Cessna 182S]] ([https://github.com/HHS81/c182s git version]) got some really exiting enhancements over the last half year, and is now also available on [[FGAddon|FGAddon]]:
The [[Cessna 182S]] ([https://github.com/HHS81/c182s git version]) got some really exiting enhancements over the last half year, and is now also available on [[FGAddon]]:
[[File:Cessna182S compositor.jpg|thumb|Cessna 182S all lights on, Compositor]][[File:C182Scrashed.jpg|thumb|Cessna 182S on the rwy crashed]][[File:GXLTGAltenrhein.jpg|thumb|Cessna 182S new livery G-XLTG on the apron of the Airport St. Gallen Altenrhein/ Schweiz]]
[[File:Cessna182S compositor.jpg|thumb|Cessna 182S all lights on, Compositor]][[File:C182Scrashed.jpg|thumb|Cessna 182S on the rwy crashed]][[File:GXLTGAltenrhein.jpg|thumb|Cessna 182S new livery G-XLTG on the apron of the Airport St. Gallen Altenrhein/ Schweiz]]
* The EGT Indicator knob got a long due label now and features the original scale as well as a properly yellow colored needle.
* The EGT Indicator knob got a long due label now and features the original scale as well as a properly yellow colored needle.
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<!-- === Liveries === -->
<!-- === Liveries === -->


=== Space Shuttle Milestone 13 released ===
Copy & Paste from this post by Thorsten: https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/mailman/message/37266972/ :
''We're happy to announce the arrival of the [[Space Shuttle|Shuttle]] milestone 13 while at the same time welcoming GinGin as new collaborator in the team (who has
done most of the work for this milestone). Given the state of the spacecraft before, you might reasonably ask - is there anything substantial that can still be added? You'll be the judge of that, but I think there is.''
* ''thanks to new aero data, we now have a better description of the hypersonic flight phase from Mach 27 down to about Mach 5''
* ''GinGin has been patiently digging into NASA documents and replaced my home-written guidance for the launch and entry trajectories by something that is much more shaped like the real thing, for instance the launch trajectory is now somewhat flatter and reaches a later arctop''
* ''also, thanks to GinGin's patient work, we now have pretty much all the  display pages very close to the original appearance (they've been moved to the original font, items blink where they should, and the limit  sensing overlay which indicates when a value is off-nominal has been added)''
* ''a lot of time has gone into testing and fixing issues with launch aborts. They're generally a wide field in that they probe a huge kinematical region in terms of what can happen, but are interesting because they actually showcase what the Shuttle can do with a rocket engine and as a hypersonic vehicle, and they provide a high-workload and challenging environment for the crew. We now have voice callouts for the abort boundaries (what maneuver should be flown when), as well as literally dozens of different cases tested and the guidance parameters adjusted to resolve small issues''
*  ''also, I've added the helium system (providing a purge for the engines during launch) including full failure and leakage capability, which was one of the last remaining systems that were not simulated in gory detail''
* ''to make use of all that failure modeling, a new failure training mode throws a random scenario at selectable difficulty level at the user as a challenge - so you don't know up-front what will happen''
* ''a new view to simulate the RMS arm camera simplifies grabbing objects in space''
* ''a virtual notepad to record voice calls from mission control or display payload attachment points''
''All in all, with three people flying tests for more than a month, this is probably the best-tested milestone we ever had, and it's been verified to run all the way back to 2018.3. I'm currently in the last stages of updating the manual, which will be available within a few days'' [updated now]''.''
''Enjoy!''
[[File:Shuttle cockpit before launch.jpg|alt=FlightGear Space Shuttle cockpit with internal lighting|none|thumb|700x700px|[[Space Shuttle]] cockpit before launch with internal lighting]]
<!-- === New aircraft === -->
=== Instruments ===
=== Instruments ===
* A fully simulated [[Davtron_M803]] digital clock is now available, featuring all the timers and alarm modes. The source is currently in the c182s project. Forum thread: {{forum link|t=38955|title=Davtron M803}}
* A fully simulated [[Davtron_M803]] digital clock is now available, featuring all the timers and alarm modes. The source is currently in the c182s project. Forum thread: {{forum link|t=38955|title=Davtron M803}}
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