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Post by Travis on Mar 1, 2021 23:31:30 GMT -5
Captains, It's been around a month since my last report on progress with MSFS, so I thought that I owed everyone an update. Not a lot of great progress has been made, but strong planning ideas have coalesced, and an important short-cut may have been found! ----- The first few weeks of February had me idle with a back-ache which kept me out of my desk / cockpit chair. Boring.Then after that, two bugs which were reported became my main focus. One bug was quickly fixed, but another still needs work.... ----- In looking at the output from MakeRunways made against MSFS, I see that I will need to update SceneryScanner to account for some items that don't seem to be present in the normal MakeRunways output which we consume. This should be a short flurry of work to perform, because we can visualize MSFS output from non-MSFS output. But on the good side of things, I've found a way to obtain some necessary mysterious MSFS data that had previously been difficult to find!! Another good thing is that while the default MSFS airport sceneries don't seem to contain Airline Parking Codes, our "Preferred Parking" configuration files introduced with FSCaptain 1.8.2 will allow your Dispatch to guide you to your airline's correct parking spots.... Even if random AI Aircraft might park beside you.... Right now I feel that MSFS will require a separate build set... aside the FS9, SC32, and SC64 (P3D) builds we have. I anticipate the earliest build which would be "mostly compatible" with MSFS would occur in our 1.8.3 Alpha 2 or Alpha 3 build. My guess for that would be mid-late April 2021, or soon thereafter. We would likely want Captains who have FSX or P3D installed along with MSFS to be our initial MSFS Alpha Testers. We'll ask for volunteers when it's time.... Best regards,
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mike
Novice
Posts: 8
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Post by mike on Mar 2, 2021 12:15:12 GMT -5
Thanks for the update Travis
Really looking forward to getting Fscaptain in MSFS.
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Post by noel on Jun 25, 2021 7:45:20 GMT -5
Any updates on a first version of FSC for MSFS? How close are you to having access to enough LVARs to get there?
I know Umberto of FSDreamTeam says he's making good progress for Ground Services X but has a ways to go yet, and you have very nice integration with that. Perhaps after GSX for MSFS arrives you may be able to do it?
Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by Travis on Jun 25, 2021 17:34:12 GMT -5
Hi Noel,
There's been no progress whatsoever on LVARs. But they're not the only stumbling block. Did you know that the MSFS default airports all appear to lack "Country" names? That puts a need to do something to have "Customs" workable. (I have a cunning plan though....) Then too, scanning for flyable aircraft is another headache itself. Also, having individual ATC_ID values for different liveries of an aircraft model appears to have a problem in MSFS. (That makes having separate Override and separate Load Maps difficult to manage.) And don't even think of an FCDU gauge... it's EXE only as far as I know. I can't do much of anything on those issues until I can finish 1.8.3. I'd like to have 1.8.3 finished by August so I can clear my desk and hit these MSFS issues in my early Autumn. ----- Thanks for your notes on our GSX integration. If you've noticed the Beta 1 release notes, we now work well with the GSX refueler trucks. Just start your sim, start your FCDU, call for GSX refueling, and then click our "NORMAL LOAD>" and the GSX truck will load the amount of fuel that you would need loaded. I haven't checked if it works for "deloading fuel" so that's for another day. ----- Both the Alpha 1 and Beta 1 release notes ask any Captain who has P3D4 or P3D5 installed on the same PC as with MSFS to email us for instructions on how to test the FCDU.EXE with MSFS. That's been out there for over two months already, and there are a handful of Captains who are using FSCaptain with MSFS today. In the email you send us, tell us what drive you have MSFS installed on. Best,
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Post by noel on Jun 28, 2021 8:16:25 GMT -5
Thanks for the update Travis it does sound like serious headaches requiring ingenious workarounds! I will send an email and and get caught up with where you are at to date with this troublesome challenge!
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Post by Travis on Jun 29, 2021 0:09:00 GMT -5
Most of it will simply be a lot of work. Some cleverness will be called for... but it will mostly be hard slogging. I expect that the LVAR bits will remain as the last challenge.
That's why I chose to focus on getting a lot of "cleanup" items taken care of in 1.8.3.
Best,
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Post by tadow777 on Aug 19, 2021 11:11:36 GMT -5
Good Day,
Any update with FSCAPTAIN for MSFS2020?
Gene
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Post by peter on Aug 20, 2021 3:33:04 GMT -5
Hello Gene, the status is fairly similar to when Travis wrote the following announcement: fscaptain.proboards.com/thread/4251/fscaptain-beta-test-release-availableIn short, FSCaptain can be used with MSFS, but with many limitations. If you want to try it out let us know, and we can make you part of the beta team. Generally, progress is slow because the limitations can only be lifted once Asobo will update the SDK for MSFS. FSCaptain is in the same boat there as many other 3rd party programs. Cheers, Peter
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Post by Travis on Aug 20, 2021 23:41:02 GMT -5
Gene,
There's been no MSFS progress since I've last noted.
FSCaptain 1.8.3 is being built to be as solid as it can be. (As bug free as we can make it.)
After 1.8.3 finally releases to the public, we will begin work to better integrate with MSFS(2020).
All details will be posted in the forum here.
Best regards,
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Post by tadow777 on Aug 27, 2021 8:10:39 GMT -5
Good Day Peter/Travis,
Thank you for the update. I appreciate the response. I would be happy to test it with MSFS2020, with the limitations.
Gene
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Post by Travis on Aug 28, 2021 13:10:20 GMT -5
Good Day Gene!
Email me with your most recent ADMIN log from P3D4 or P3D5, and I will respond fairly soon. (It's another mini-heat wave here... this time with smoky skies.)
Best,
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Post by Travis on Aug 29, 2021 13:20:06 GMT -5
Gene,
I've got your log and I will respond late in my day with a checklist / cheatsheet on what you'll need to do.
Best,
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Post by lochlanna83 on Sept 12, 2021 11:45:57 GMT -5
Hello All,
If possible, I would like to try out the MSFS2020 with the current FSCaptain in conjunction with my P3Dv4.5. One, I am curious about what functions work with MSFS. Two, I would be glad to contribute any assistance to testing if the devs would consider it.
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Post by Travis on Sept 18, 2021 22:35:10 GMT -5
Heavens to Murgatroyd, I've missed this post from scanning the past few days. My apologies! Email me your most recent ADMIN log and I'll respond with a cheatsheet to allow you to test FSCaptain in MSFS. ----------
Here's the current list of drawbacks and caveats.... - SceneryScanner does not work with MSFS for now, so you will have to make do with your existing P3D4/5 airport database. That's one reason we insist you have a working P3D4/5 on your machine. After FSCaptain 1.8.3 goes gold, this will be my first job to make right.
- Make Runways does work with us and MSFS, so you will have accurate runway and parking positions now.
- The Administrator currently cannot scan and find all aircraft, so I've disabled it to prevent it from being able to Dispatch flights. Currently all flights must start in the FCDU.
- The FCDU gauges cannot work in MSFS, so the FCDU Installer is not needed... and should not be called. The FCDU Installer button is currently disabled in the Administrator.
- Therefore, you can only use the FCDU.EXE with MSFS. It will force audio to be played through it and not through MSFS.
- There's been no attempt at trying the FCDU.EXE in a networked configuration.
- The FCDU can be used to only generate Type Configuration files for aircraft that aren't using Digital Rights Management (DRM).
- Auto Loading (payload) and Auto Fuel Loading does not appear to work all of the time. Some commercial aircraft will not accept some Payloads or Fuel Loads, and we don't know why.
- FSCaptain deicing trucks and effects will not appear until we've done more work with MSFS. Our invisible trucks will work perfectly, as they've always done.
- None of the FSCAI objects and effects will appear - again, until we've done more work with MSFS.
- ACME Pushback is not able to initiate an actual pushback... even though the call sequences (FO and Ground) will play. We have disabled ACME Pushback until we determine how to get it to work as it does with other simulators.
I hope this list doesn't dissuade you or anyone else from testing. We need Captains to test different aircraft and to list which systems don't work, which aircraft have Load problems, etc.
Best regards,
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Post by noel on Sept 20, 2021 8:48:41 GMT -5
I hope this list doesn't dissuade you or anyone else from testing. We need Captains to test different aircraft and to list which systems don't work, which aircraft have Load problems, etc.
Best regards, Hi Travis thanks for the update! I read PMDG is not far off from releasing their 737NG so I would be interested, when it appears, to test this aircraft in MSFS. It must be frustrating to be stuck where you are in MSFS and I guess with no assurance if n when things will improve. Noel
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