Post by Dutch Owen on Oct 3, 2013 19:08:59 GMT -5
Captains,
I've decided to go ahead and make the 1.4.6 Beta version available for everyone who's interested to try. I still want to make some additions and corrections to the weather processing, especially to better support FSrealWX and Opus, plus hte User Guide is not yet updated. But as this contains the new external FCDU and a revamped sound system, it's probably best to let a wide range of people bang on it a bit before it goes official.
Here's the link, just a normal Fixpack to upgrade you to 1.4.6: fscaptain.net/downloads/FSCaptain_Fixpack_146B2.zip
Pay close attention to the warning in the README to prevent surprises!
Here's quoting from the README.txt:
README for the Fixpack for FSCaptain version 01.04.06 10/03/2013
WARNING: This is BETA software. There is a small potential for it to damage your existing configuration and records, so be sure to BACK UP your FSCaptain folder and its contents before installing and running this Fixpack.
This is a cumulative Fixpack that will upgrade any previous release version of FSCaptain to the latest version.
To install simply execute the inclosed FSCaptain_Fixpack_10406.exe. It will locate your FSX folder for you but you may browse to another folder if you wish. This also works for the FS9 version of FSCaptain as well -- simply browse to your FS9 root folder before installing.
VERY IMPORTANT !!! When you install FSCaptain by selecting a target folder manually or by browsing to it, you MUST select the root folder of your FS installation. For example if you have FSX installed in the folder D:\FSX then put that path in the target folder for the installer. DO NOT try to install into D:\FSX\FSCaptain or any other place. If you do this FSCaptain will not function properly. The installer will automatically create an FSCaptain folder and the entire data structure for you in the FS root folder.
WARNING. Configuration Replacement.
This release contains a changed sound.cfg file because the sound options have changed. It will replace the sound.cfg file in the FSCaptain\Config folder. If you have changed your sound.cfg to add any of your own MP3 music files, you may want to back up your sound.cfg, copy the section that lists your modified playlists, and paste it into the new sound config replacing the existing playlist. The format of the playlist is compatible with previous releases. This release also contains aircraft configurations and load maps for popular aircraft that have been added to the standard FSCaptain collection since release. If you have your own individual copy of any of these configurations or load maps another with the same name in this distribution could overwrite your custom one. To be safe, make a copy of your FSCaptain folder before installing this release.
WARNING. To insure that flights have the correct information to start and be monitored successfully, in this and all subsequence FSCaptain releases the FCDU/FCOM will only acknowledge flights booked in an Administrator at the same revision level. This means if you have any opened, booked flights on your log before you install this new revision, you should fly them with the previous revision, or erase and re-book them once you have installed this one.
These enhancements are included with version 1.04.06:
- External FCDU as a Windows application. The FSCaptain\bin folder now contains a new program, FCDU.exe, which you can place a shortcut on your desktop or start menu by using standard Windows procedures (navigate to the FCDU.exe program, right click on it, and select "Pin to Start Menu"). Executing this program will give you an FCDU that runs on your desktop outside of FSX. It operates eactly the same, and has exactly the same capabilities and limitations, as the guage one. It is not necessary to install anything, or make any modifications at all in an aircraft's panel.cfg or any other configuration file to use this FCDU with the airplane. It is truly "out of the box". This external FCDU can also be run on another windows based PC by configuring SimConnect on the other PC to connect to the FSX machine.
- The sound system of FSCaptain has been substantially revamped. The visible result is a new dialog in the Administrator that will allow you to configure your sound (voices and music). To access this, go to the Options for All Airlines tab and click on the "Sound Config" button in the ACARS configuration section on the lower right quandrant of the page. A new option, "Monitor PA" will allow you to decide if you want to listen to your Flight Attendants making public announcements to the passengers or not. It is checked by default to preserve the functionality of previous versions, where this wasn't an option. If you check this you will still hear all FA communications with the cockpit over the intercom, but not the PA announcements (except, possibly, faintly through the door.)
- The interfaces for the Majestic Q-400 and the MilViz 737-200 are now incorporated into the standard product and an internal interface is no longer required for these add-ons. We recommend you remove any external interface xml code you've installed into the panel.cfg for these airplanes.
These problems are fixed in 1.04.06:
ID#0222: Scheduled arrival time calculation is incorrect for certain flights
ID#0230: Absurd numbers for cargo weight in flight scheduled in the FCDU using Select Destination.
ID#0231: Changing the airline maintenance option clears some other options buttons.
ID#0232: STAT key cannot be used on a ferry flight to get basic numbers at the cleared for departure page.
ID#0233: Switching flight types on Select Destination page does not result in PAX flight.
ID#0234: Use of the 'Get Assignment' feature could result in an overloaded flight generated.
I've decided to go ahead and make the 1.4.6 Beta version available for everyone who's interested to try. I still want to make some additions and corrections to the weather processing, especially to better support FSrealWX and Opus, plus hte User Guide is not yet updated. But as this contains the new external FCDU and a revamped sound system, it's probably best to let a wide range of people bang on it a bit before it goes official.
Here's the link, just a normal Fixpack to upgrade you to 1.4.6: fscaptain.net/downloads/FSCaptain_Fixpack_146B2.zip
Pay close attention to the warning in the README to prevent surprises!
Here's quoting from the README.txt:
README for the Fixpack for FSCaptain version 01.04.06 10/03/2013
WARNING: This is BETA software. There is a small potential for it to damage your existing configuration and records, so be sure to BACK UP your FSCaptain folder and its contents before installing and running this Fixpack.
This is a cumulative Fixpack that will upgrade any previous release version of FSCaptain to the latest version.
To install simply execute the inclosed FSCaptain_Fixpack_10406.exe. It will locate your FSX folder for you but you may browse to another folder if you wish. This also works for the FS9 version of FSCaptain as well -- simply browse to your FS9 root folder before installing.
VERY IMPORTANT !!! When you install FSCaptain by selecting a target folder manually or by browsing to it, you MUST select the root folder of your FS installation. For example if you have FSX installed in the folder D:\FSX then put that path in the target folder for the installer. DO NOT try to install into D:\FSX\FSCaptain or any other place. If you do this FSCaptain will not function properly. The installer will automatically create an FSCaptain folder and the entire data structure for you in the FS root folder.
WARNING. Configuration Replacement.
This release contains a changed sound.cfg file because the sound options have changed. It will replace the sound.cfg file in the FSCaptain\Config folder. If you have changed your sound.cfg to add any of your own MP3 music files, you may want to back up your sound.cfg, copy the section that lists your modified playlists, and paste it into the new sound config replacing the existing playlist. The format of the playlist is compatible with previous releases. This release also contains aircraft configurations and load maps for popular aircraft that have been added to the standard FSCaptain collection since release. If you have your own individual copy of any of these configurations or load maps another with the same name in this distribution could overwrite your custom one. To be safe, make a copy of your FSCaptain folder before installing this release.
WARNING. To insure that flights have the correct information to start and be monitored successfully, in this and all subsequence FSCaptain releases the FCDU/FCOM will only acknowledge flights booked in an Administrator at the same revision level. This means if you have any opened, booked flights on your log before you install this new revision, you should fly them with the previous revision, or erase and re-book them once you have installed this one.
These enhancements are included with version 1.04.06:
- External FCDU as a Windows application. The FSCaptain\bin folder now contains a new program, FCDU.exe, which you can place a shortcut on your desktop or start menu by using standard Windows procedures (navigate to the FCDU.exe program, right click on it, and select "Pin to Start Menu"). Executing this program will give you an FCDU that runs on your desktop outside of FSX. It operates eactly the same, and has exactly the same capabilities and limitations, as the guage one. It is not necessary to install anything, or make any modifications at all in an aircraft's panel.cfg or any other configuration file to use this FCDU with the airplane. It is truly "out of the box". This external FCDU can also be run on another windows based PC by configuring SimConnect on the other PC to connect to the FSX machine.
- The sound system of FSCaptain has been substantially revamped. The visible result is a new dialog in the Administrator that will allow you to configure your sound (voices and music). To access this, go to the Options for All Airlines tab and click on the "Sound Config" button in the ACARS configuration section on the lower right quandrant of the page. A new option, "Monitor PA" will allow you to decide if you want to listen to your Flight Attendants making public announcements to the passengers or not. It is checked by default to preserve the functionality of previous versions, where this wasn't an option. If you check this you will still hear all FA communications with the cockpit over the intercom, but not the PA announcements (except, possibly, faintly through the door.)
- The interfaces for the Majestic Q-400 and the MilViz 737-200 are now incorporated into the standard product and an internal interface is no longer required for these add-ons. We recommend you remove any external interface xml code you've installed into the panel.cfg for these airplanes.
These problems are fixed in 1.04.06:
ID#0222: Scheduled arrival time calculation is incorrect for certain flights
ID#0230: Absurd numbers for cargo weight in flight scheduled in the FCDU using Select Destination.
ID#0231: Changing the airline maintenance option clears some other options buttons.
ID#0232: STAT key cannot be used on a ferry flight to get basic numbers at the cleared for departure page.
ID#0233: Switching flight types on Select Destination page does not result in PAX flight.
ID#0234: Use of the 'Get Assignment' feature could result in an overloaded flight generated.