FSCaptain 1.5.0 RC is available (updated Dec 17)

[Travis]

Captains,

FSCaptain 1.5.0 Release Candidate is available for public download!

This update adds support for more weather engines and fixes many bugs. Unless something unusual pops up this will be the official release of 1.5.0.

If you already have FSCaptain installed you can download the upgrade Fixpack at the following URL:

fscaptain.net/downloads/FSCaptain_Fixpack_150RC.zip

If you are a new user, or intend to install the beta in another simulator (such as prepar3d v2) here is a link to the full install:

fscaptain.net/downloads/FSCaptain_150RC.zip

Here are the usual cautions, instructions, and reasons to consider upgrading.

WARNING: This is NON-RELEASE 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. Using Windows Explorer, right click your \FSCaptain folder and select "Send to" and "Compressed (zipped) folder". Then store that zip file somewhere you'll remember.

This is a cumulative Fixpack that will upgrade any previous release version of FSCaptain to the latest version.

To install simply execute the enclosed FSCaptain_Fixpack_10500.exe. It will locate your FSX folder for you but you may browse to another folder to install 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 subsequent 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.

NOTAM to FCOM users: The enhanced structural icing simulation in this release will be ignored in aircraft equiped with the FCOM even if the option is checked in the Weather Options page. It will only function in the FCDU. In the future, it will be unlikely that new features than require major user interface changes will be implemented in the older FCOM. We urge airlines using the ACME Dispatch System to upgrade to the newer equipment as soon as practical.


These enhancements are included with version 1.05.00:
-----------------------------------------------------


- 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 exactly 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 to, 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.

- A major addition to the Hazard Package is a complete, detailed, realistic simulation of aircraft structural icing both on the ground and in the air. Turn on this option (it is off by default) on the Weather Options dialog of the Options for All Airlines where the other hazard options are located. Be sure to read the manual carefully because now, as never before, icing can be extremely nasty and ruin your day very quickly if you ignore it. It is a deadly enemy; just like in real life in wintertime! The applies to ALL aircraft on an FSCaptain flight, not only jets.

- FSCaptain is compatible with Prepar3d version 2. Simply point your installation folder to the root folder of Prepar3d. Earlier versions of Prepar3d will work also, but it may be necessary to install FSCaptain into the dll.xml file manually. We recommend version 2.

- FSCaptain is now compatible with FS Global Real Weather and REX Essential Plus as external weather sources. Compatibility with Opus and FSrealWX has been enhanced.

- If you are using an external weather source as your primary source, when you request weather information (either online or offline) and none is found for the airport you are looking for, a search of surrounding airports is made and if one is found you are given that Metar and TAF but with the addendum (sample) [FROM KGVL 22NM NE]. You can limit the range of this feature with the WEATHERRANGE=XX option in Options.cfg, the default is 40 miles.

- A new item on the airline definition, in the middle left, is "Load Factor". Leaving this zero (the default) does not change the random way FSCaptain computes loads for your flights. But if you put a factor in here, from 1 to 100, your flight loads (PAX and/or cargo) will be near this percentage, give or take a random factor per flight. If you place a -1 in this field, your flight loads will be computed based on your reputation, a number from zero to +99, computed by the way you fly as defined by the events in your logbook. See the User's Guide for a precise definition of how each event influences your reputation. Also considered in this load factor computation is a base percent, obtained from the Nodes.cfg file (if there is one for your airline) plus an analysis of the route with flights to or from larger markets tending to make for larger load factors. When you view your available flights and have not left this zero for the default you'll be shown your average load factor for the flights listed.

- To aid in pilots understanding why a particular aircraft they have is not listed as selectable in the Dispatch list, you can click on <Unlisted Type> and then on List Flights and a list of all rejected types and the reason they were rejected will appear in a dialog box.

- Selection of charter flight destinations can now be limited to the airline's node list (if there is one) with the entry in Options.cfg of the line "PERCENTNODE=nn" where nn is the percentage of time when the selection will be limited, valid values are 1 to 100. The default is 70 percent, if nodes are present.

- When assigned parking spaces are found to be occupied by an AI aircraft on landing, there is now an option to delete the offending AI aircraft rather than re-assign the gate. The option to trigger this is an entry in Options.cfg of PERCENTZAP=nn where nn is the percentage of time when the AI will be removed rather than the gate re-assigned, valid values are 1 to 100. Default is 70 which means most of the time the AI will be cleared for you, only 30 percent of the time will you be assigned another gate. This feature will only be effective if you have the FSUIPC utility installed.

- 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 quadrant 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.)

- A new WARNINGS option appears on the weather selection page. If you see this it means there are significant weather hazards along your projected flight path. Click on RLSK1 to read the warning(s) and pay attention -- nothing is listed here that can be ignored!

- A new option in Options.cfg is FLIGHTGAP. Giving a number here will make sure the next assigned charter flight will be that number up from the last one, instead of the current random 1 through 20 assignment. FLIGHTGAP=1 means your charter numbers will increase by exactly 1 each time.

- A new option in Options.cfg is SHOWENVIRONMENT. If this is set to 1, then certain environment variables that in the real world would be seen or felt will be monitored and if abnormal a message will be shown on the FCDU under the header. This message will not be present if all are within normal range. The environment variables that are monitored are ice weight, cabin temperature, and cabin rate of climb and pressure altitude. The color of the message indicates severity: Cyan = abnormal but not dangerous; Yellow = Caution, potential danger; Red = immediate danger. Ice is shown in weight, temperature in degrees C, and rate/altitude in FPM and feet, respectively.

- Logs are now stored in the folder FSCaptain\Data\Logs and are not erased, each new log has a date and timestamp as part of the file name. If you wish you can delete the files from this folder anytime that you aren't running the Admin or the FCOM/FCDU, but please DO NOT delete the Logs folder itself.

- The interfaces for the Majestic Q-400, MilViz 737-200, Carenado C208B, and Carenado King Air B200 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 1.05.00:
------------------------------------

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.
ID#0235: Sounds/voice/music cannot be heard on some systems.
ID#0236: Maximum PAX in generated flights never is maximum.
ID#0237: External 2 fuel tank priority is always zero. Load Maps.
ID#0238: Specified flight number is ignored for a ferry flight in Admin. Not FCDU.
ID#0239: The DISABLEPROTECT=0 option does not turn off the ground protect system.
ID#0240: FSrealWx METAR format file does not parse correctly.
ID#0243: Remote FCDU has "divide by zero" exceptions.
ID#0245: Weather Source Name limited to 7 characters.
ID#0248: Load Maps - when Right Aux fuel is set to a priority other than 1, it reverts to 1 on the save.
ID#0249: Appeals are not being taken into consideration in "Areas of Concern" comments.
ID#0250: No Online Weather data in Admin.
ID#0253: Page displays for the Checkride (ID 50) are misformatted.
ID#0256: If you erase a flight from the log immediately after changing airlines the updated log will write to the OLD airline.
ID#0259: Tiny aircraft (less than 500LB fuel capacity) do not compute accurate fuel estimates.
ID#0261: When using Internet weather source Admin does redundant downloads.
ID#0263: The 'display fault code' feature doesn't work in the FCDU.
ID#0264: The recorded fuel burn numbers are incorrect for Ferry flights.
ID#0265: Weather advisory from dispatch sometimes too large to fit on one line in message page.
ID#0266: External FCDU closes without an "Are you sure?" message under certain conditions.
ID#0267: FO warning about gear up when landing on a fixed-gear airplane.
ID#0270: In Admin if you specify details after cancelling a previous flight list, the details are ignored.
ID#0271: In Admin the Specify Details and Get Assignment buttons are not disabled after selecting a flight.

[Travis]

Captains,

I'd like to emphasize that this version contains much more in terms of "new things to do," and as such, logging of events has increased as well.

If you run into a problem - and there are things which have been added that at times don't work as we expect - zip up your log files from the flight(s) and post them to Dutch and me.

Happy (and safe!) flying everyone....

[Travis]

Captains,

I normally don't hesitate to recommend that users upgrade by installing any given Fixpack to a dummy folder and then copy the relevant files to \Gauges and \FSCaptain folders.   However with the amount of changes that has gone into this version - as opposed to the lamented 1.4.6 Beta - I strongly suggest that you backup your current \FSCaptain folder and install this Fixpack to your MSFS root folder.  There are a lot of new files in this build and just missing a few of them would make quite a difference in how the application works.

And if you'd like to see more about what you'll be getting into, I've uploaded the User Guide to the File Sharing area if you would rather read it before installing.

[teetwo]

Awsome!


Time to find some icing conditions

[Travis]

A wanted (by me) feature for a future version of the Administrator would be the ability to find flights for "certain weather conditions." I haven't fleshed out how that would work, so nothing's even been discussed at this time....

[teetwo]

I would like to see the ability to define what ramp spot/spots are used at each individual airport for de-icing. I’m thinking with that I could then edit the airport AFCAD and locate such spot/spots over the actual de-icing station locations.

Maybe with the new system of being able to remove aircraft from individual parking spots that could be used to keep the de-icing spots cleared as well.

[Travis]

Currently ACME de-icing and anti-icing procedures are available at any parking spot - and that's only if your airline requires you to unload at a parking spot. In theory if your airline doesn't require that, you could request to be de-iced on the runway. That's... interesting and something I'd prefer to prevent actually.

We wanted to keep things loose to start with. I hope that future versions would allow the definition of specific de-icing areas and more goodies.  We are not finished with adding more and more realistic procedures to our sims... but first things first.

[peter]

Some scenery developers, such as Simaddons, offer working de-icing facilities and even a com frequency to contact them. It would be great if the FSCaptain procedures would be flexible enough to be compatible with this. For instance, one could let the user define de-icing areas.

Cheers,
Peter

[Travis]

Peter,

We want to!

But allowing users to define an area for de-icing... well that's the easy part!  There are many more things that must come together... and I can't say what they are in public

Do know that this has been in the design books for over two years, and has been a major push on our part to have happen. I can tell you that I have been my usual annoying self in exchanges with Aerosoft and FSDT and with Ralph at Simaddons. (Among others - for years!)  Reaction from them has been disappointing, and has been one factor in our having not gone ahead with this until now.

So user reaction to this will drive where we go with it and the speed on which we will go.  If it's a great big flop, progress will come slowly and would cap off soon.  But if it draws considerable interest, well to be frank, the sky's the limit.  In more ways than one.

And I am very glad to see initial signs of user acceptance.   Dutch had to reign in some of my design scope, but in doing so he was able to push this into areas where I hadn't considered going. (The entire "manual process" was his idea, and I have been kicking myself ever since for not having considered it myself.)