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FlightGear Newsletter July 2021: Difference between revisions
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== Development news == | == Development news == | ||
<!-- News about FlightGear itself. The FlightGear mailing list and/or core developers are a good source. --> | <!-- News about FlightGear itself. The FlightGear mailing list and/or core developers are a good source. --> | ||
=== 2020.3.9 LTS released === | |||
FlightGear 2020.3.'''9''' LTS has been [https://www.flightgear.org/download/ released] and includes a web-installer for Windows that can update old 2020.3.x versions faster by downloading only changed files. | |||
See 2020.3.9 LTS [[Changelog 2020.3#2020.3.9|change log]] - included are improved regional definitions for Mediterranean Africa, improvements to shallow ocean water and inland water in certain areas, improvements to ATC dialog etc. | |||
====Web installer for Windows with 2020.3.9==== | |||
This Windows web-installer ([https://sourceforge.net/projects/flightgear/files/release-2020.3/ Sourceforge download]) can update any old 2020.3.x install by downloading a small ~200 MB package containing all content files changed since the first release. If you are on Windows you should use the web-installer for faster download and install - be sure to back up any changes due to tinkering you may have done to the /data folder. | |||
*The Windows web-installer is called <code>FlightGear-2020.3.x-web.exe</code>. It contains the contents of the /bin folder - like executable (.exe) files and library files (.dll). FlightGear-2020.3.9-web.exe is 59 MB. | |||
*If an old 2020.3.x install is present according to the Windows registry, and the folders have not been deleted or renamed, the web-installer will download <code>FlightGear-2020.3.x-update-data.txz</code>.from the Sourceforge [https://sourceforge.net/projects/flightgear/files/release-2020.3/ 2020.3 release] folder. This contains files in the [[FGData|/data]] folder that have changed since the first 2020.3 release. It's around ~200 MB compressed. The current compressed file format is TXZ - {{Wikipedia|XZ_Utils|XZ}} compression after combining all files into an uncompressed tar archive. TXZ archives can be opened with a tool like 7zip. | |||
*If no 2020.3 install is present according to the registry, or the folders have been deleted, the web installer will download <code>FlightGear-2020.3.x-data.txz</code> - which contains the full contents of the /data folder and is 1.7 GB currently. | |||
Slawek and JamesT have been working on a new FlightGear Windows installer that will download most of the content from the web in compressed form - e.g. from Sourceforge servers. This installer has the ability to download more than 2GB of compressed content, and avoids the 2GB limit of the current innosetup installer configuration. | |||
The plan is to also eventually allow in-place updating without needing to download a new installer when a new point release is published of the LTS - the idea is to download only the changed files (incremental updates). Downloading only changed files is faster, and ''hugely'' reduces bandwidth demands placed on Sourceforge. Recent installers (e.g. 2020.3.8 LTS) will also look for updates and notify users. This means that a lot of people will get bug fixes very quickly, and in-future, it should be convenient to have frequent releases with one or a few fixes as they become available. With the auto update feature there's not much reason to panic if a bug or issue has been found in your work - the fix can be distributed very quickly to the large majority of users (with the regular point release format it was pretty quick compared to previous times anyway). | |||
Web installers for release candidate are automatically generated from 2020.3.9 onwards, and will be available from [http://download.flightgear.org/builds/ download.flightgear.org] along with the normal installer. | |||
===The road ahead=== | |||
''See [[FlightGear Newsletter February 2021#Help%20Wanted|'''Help Wanted''']].'' | |||
There are a lot of big projects that are currently under way - see the [[FlightGear Newsletter January 2021#The%20road%20ahead|January newsletter]] for details for some of these projects. A lot of work (but not all) is already on the next branch (i.e. nightly builds). See the [[FlightGear Newsletter April 2021|April newsletter]] for info on an experimental rendering pipeline that is not yet on the next branch. There is a lot to check out if you are curious - power users can run [[$FG HOME#Parallel%20installs%20of%20FlightGear|multiple installs]] of FlightGear in parallel. To contribute to any aspect of these projects, get in touch via the "[[Mailing lists|fg-devel]]" mailing list. | |||
Nightly builds with some of the big changes are available at [http://download.flightgear.org/builds/nightly/ download.flightgear.org] as usual. | |||
Nightly builds and the "next" branch are building towards a "development preview" release currently planned for sometime in the 2nd half of 2021 - see the [[FlightGear Newsletter April 2021#World Scenery 3.0 update .26 FG 2021.x preview release plans|April newsletter]]. As usual, plans can change and progress depends on the availability of contributors (including testing). | |||
Please report bugs and issues via the sourceforge [https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/codetickets/ tickets] system if you come across any on the next branch, or LTS. | |||
=== Virtual reality (VR) support project === | === Virtual reality (VR) support project === | ||
James Hogan, a new contributor, has been working on a very experimental/WiP project adding support for {{Wikipedia|Virtual reality headset|Virtual Reality ('''VR''') headsets}} to FlightGear. The project needs the Compositor and next branch of FlightGear (nightly builds), The work is still very experimental and has not been merged into | James Hogan, a brand new contributor (not to be confused with James Turner or James Hester), has been working on a ''very'' experimental/WiP project adding support for {{Wikipedia|Virtual reality headset|Virtual Reality ('''VR''') headsets}} to FlightGear. The project needs the [[Compositor]] and next branch of FlightGear (nightly builds), It will not work on 2020.3.x LTS. The work is still very experimental and has not been merged into the FlightGear next branch as of late July. | ||
The reason that Virtual Reality support has not been worked on by core developers interested in relevant areas to date is that they do not have access to a VR headset - various developers have indicated in the past they are willing to provide support to people interested in adding VR support, or even willing to assist implementation if VR headset companies, companies of required supporting products like high-end GPUs, or others were willing to sponsor/donate VR hardware - e.g. see an old forum [https://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=34434#p358088 thread] on the topic. This general lack of VR hardware among interested core developers (including the Compositor developer), means it's important for interested contributors who use VR to get involved with development, and for people with VR to contribute with bug reports and testing. This includes testing on various VR headsets - James Hogan is developing on a HTC Vive which is 1 among a {{Wikipedia|Comparison of virtual reality headsets|number of VR headsets}}. | |||
James Hogan is using {{Wikipedia|OpenXR|OpenXR API}} (https://www.khronos.org/openxr/) that supports multiple headsets and manufacturers. An API is a standard way for applications to 'talk' to the headsets via their drivers - similar to the way OpenGL allows applications to talk to the drivers of different GPU hardware. JamesH is working on a library called [https://github.com/amalon/osgXR osgXR] to add support directly to [[Open Scene Graph]] (OSG) with the intention of adding VR support for FlightGear, after feedback from the OSG mailing list. This approach will mean the OSG project will help support and maintain osgXR in future, and other projects using OSG with VR will help extend and maintain osgXR in future - in addition to help from Khronos and non-OSG projects helping maintain the OpenXR standard across new devices in future. This is an example of the strength of the Open Source approach. If you are involved in projects that use OSG that might be interested in OSG VR support for their applications, you can give them a heads up regarding osgXR. | |||
For people compiling from source, the experimental VR branch is available here : '''https://github.com/amalon/flightgear''' | |||
As always with volunteer projects, progress depends on the availability of volunteers including testing, and plans can change in various ways - so there is no timeline. | |||
FlightGear development is coordinated via the "[https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/codetickets/ fg-devel]" mailing-list and people who want to get involved with any aspect of the VR project should get in touch via the mailing lists. | |||
See the [https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/mailman/flightgear-devel/thread/From_killaccount%40cox.net_Sun_Jul_18_19%3A02%3A54_2021/#msg37322055 '''archived thread'''] on the sourceforge mailing-list archive for more information. | |||
== Related Software tools and projects == | == Related Software tools and projects == | ||