Project A

[olderndirt]

8 hours ago, John Venema said:

 

The 40% discount is only available if you purchase LOWI or KCGX from OrbxDirect. Steam will not recognise your previous purchases.

Fine with me John.  I assume that AEROFLY FS2 will be listed as an install location in FTXCentral?

[John Venema]

FTX Central V3 manages all Aerofly FS2 addons from Orbx. If you have the Aerofly sim installed it will prompt you to select it from the list of simulators when you run FTXC.

 

The same goes for patches and updates - all handled by FTX Central for you.

[BaronKen]

I don't know John, when I run FTXC I'm not prompted which sim I own, nor do I see a drop down list of sims. I have version 3.2.0.3.

[wolfko]

BaronKen, if you have only one sim installed, you of course won't be asked to select a sim.

[BaronKen]

1 hour ago, wolfko said:

BaronKen, if you have only one sim installed, you of course won't be asked to select a sim.

 

I only have FSX, not P3D, but do have AFS2. I take it then that at this point FTXC3 is not yet set up for AFS2, but will be by the 15th?

[HiFlyer]

8 hours ago, John Venema said:

FTX Central V3 manages all Aerofly FS2 addons from Orbx. If you have the Aerofly sim installed it will prompt you to select it from the list of simulators when you run FTXC.

 

The same goes for patches and updates - all handled by FTX Central for you.

 

Though Meigs and Innsbruck promise to be middling size downloads, eventually the "Full fat" (what a name) sceneries will arrive and some users will groan under the weight of the download sizes.......

 

An advantage of Steam is that if corruption occurs, you can check the integrity of the download automatically and have your install repaired rather than having to re-download 30gb or more which is a half-hour for me, but possibly days for many others.

 

Will FTX central have have an ability to do a file integrity checks on such large downloads as well? Otherwise, this cedes a pretty big advantage to Steam purchasers.

[HiFlyer]

Posted by Drhotwing1 https://www.ipacs.de/forum/showthread.php/8264-Updates-Coming-Your-Way

 

Hello All, 

I wanted to give everyone some reason to be excited about some upcoming updates to Aerofly FS 2 (more than the pure excitement of flying in general). So, most of you already know about the upcoming ORBX releases of LOWI and KCGX, and the mention that ORBX is planning on releasing more larger regions to follow.

 

We want you to know that there is a lot going on that is indeed very exciting for the future of FS2. Current work is being done to complete the new GeoConvert tool that will allow for you to easily make your own photo-real scenery to fly over. As you already know, there is an SDK available that allows for you to make your own airports to go along with this new upcoming tool, this is an important step in the future growth and user interaction of FS2. The SDK will improve further over time as well.

There is already a tool to make custom aircraft liveries, and the list of custom liveries to choose from keeps growing.

Also being finalized is the Q400. This bird is the Bombardier Dash 8 (Q-Series) which will be the first turbo-prop aircraft released for Aerofly FS 2, and it's a beauty. There are just some more tweaks here and there and it will be released. This aircraft will be worth the wait. 

Further updates to the autopilot system and FMS will also be released after a little bit more work; and a couple more surprises thereafter following improved autopilot functionality.

And of course ATC; this system is extremely complex and will still take some time to complete but it's going to take FS 2 to the next level. There will be further information on ATC in the future. 

As most of you know, programming takes time, but what you can clearly see here is that Aerofly FS 2 is certainly on the right path, and there is a certain pride and passion that comes out of each update which clearly shows that IPACS doesn't just rush to throw an update at you, they are well thought out and planned quality updates. 

There is much more coming your way than what i just mentioned to you here. Just remember, all amazing structures start with a solid foundation, and IPACS is well under way building that solid foundation. It will only get better from here.

[wolfko]

7 hours ago, HiFlyer said:

Also being finalized is the Q400. This bird is the Bombardier Dash 8 (Q-Series) which will be the first turbo-prop aircraft released for Aerofly FS 2, and it's a beauty. There are just some more tweaks here and there and it will be released. This aircraft will be worth the wait. 

 

 

Thank you very much for the updates, HiFlyer! I very much look forward to these, in particular to the Q400. Just a minor correction, there is already a turboprop featured in Aerofly FS2 namely the Beech King Air 90.

 

[olderndirt]

Now that Orbx has captured all of our attention with Innsbruck and Meigs, can we expect similar releases of other airports.  Sedona, AZ and Palm Springs, CA come immediately to mind. 

[NoLonger]

7 hours ago, olderndirt said:

Now that Orbx has captured all of our attention with Innsbruck and Meigs, can we expect similar releases of other airports.  Sedona, AZ and Palm Springs, CA come immediately to mind. 

 

Yes, we can. But don't expect them real soon. John posted elsewhere that Orbx is planning on creating regions (photoreal, so no ports of landclass regions) and that the most logical region would be PNW because Orbx has a ton of airports for that region: once the region is done, they can rather quickly port those airports to AFS2. However, he also said that regions for AFS2 probably won't be here before the end of this year or even later. We will have to wait patiently. But no matter what, good things are coming our way!

[pmb]

It would be interesting to get some sales evaluation on the AeroflyFS2 start by ORBX after a while. As usual, we will not get exact figures, However, something like (i) below expectations, we think about dropping support sometime, (ii) roughly as expected, or (iii) above expectations, we intend to extend that range, would be welcome.

 

While I don't expect sales to equal the FSX/Prepar3d figures, I can imagine the percentage of AeroflyFS2 buyers to owners (Steamspy) to be much higher than for other sims as there are less competing offers.

 

Kind regards, Michael

 

 

[NoLonger]

43 minutes ago, pmb said:

It would be interesting to get some sales evaluation on the AeroflyFS2 start by ORBX after a while. As usual, we will not get exact figures, However, something like (i) below expectations, we think about dropping support sometime, (ii) roughly as expected, or (iii) above expectations, we intend to extend that range, would be welcome.

 

While I don't expect sales to equal the FSX/Prepar3d figures, I can imagine the percentage of AeroflyFS2 buyers to owners (Steamspy) to be much higher than for other sims as there are less competing offers.

 

That would be interesting indeed. I am specially interested in how many Steam users bought the DLC: I suppose that is an interesting (big!) market for Orbx but I already noticed the more casual flyers and specially gamers out there are a bit put off by the pricing of the addons. These are regular prices for us simmers but for non-simmers something like 15 bucks is already on the edge... 

[olderndirt]

My thought with Sedona and Palm Springs - both are within FS2's southwestern US scenery and can probably be adapted quickly to fit plus the area between and around both would already be tailor-made scenery. 

[Boss1]

Also really hoping for Sedona and Palm Springs plus the rest of California!  Would also like to see Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon Airport being as they are close to Sedona.

[HiFlyer]

1 hour ago, Boss1 said:

Also really hoping for Sedona and Palm Springs plus the rest of California!  Would also like to see Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon Airport being as they are close to Sedona.

 

Well, if you mean the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, then it is already included. Palm springs airport is there as well! 

 

I would suggest taking the time to download the free hi-resolution ortho scenery for California, as well as switching on Steam to the Aerofly FS2 beta channel where all the patches and other additions since release are available.

 

Also take a look at this:

 

 

[HiFlyer]

Hi folks! just passing on some hopefully interesting info.

 

From Drhotwing1 (Ipacs)

Greetings Aerofly FS2 Community,

We wanted to provide you with a status update regarding the much anticipated Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 Aircraft. As you are all aware, the Q400 aircraft will have most of the complex systems installed and operational as described by Jan in the previous posting: Q400 status update - More screenshots!

These new systems will not only be isolated to the Q400 aircraft. The updated autopilot system that will be a part of this release will affect all of the FS2 aircraft that have an autopilot system. Due to this, careful testing will be taking place prior to the official release of the Q400.

At this time, i'm pleased to inform you that the Q400 has moved into this closed internal testing. This testing will take as long as it needs to confirm the quality that all of you should expect from IPACS prior to release. Please be patient just a bit longer while we get the Q400 and the new autopilot ready for takeoff.

As always, we wish to thank you for your continued support while development of Aerofly FS2 continues. 

 

.........................................................................................................................

 

From Jet-pack (jan) Ipacs

https://www.aerofly.com/community/forum/index.php?thread/8351-q400-status-update-more-screenshots/&postID=41227#post41227

Dear Aerofly fans, 

In October I released a couple of screenshots of our upcoming Bombardier Dash8 Q400 (short just "Q400"), here is the link to the old thread: Bombardier Dash 8Q-400.

Back then it looked like the release was just around the corner but the work was interrupted in order to get the software development kit (SDK) out. Sorry for getting your hopes up high and then don't release soon. But that is the risk I took when I uploaded the screenshots, I just wanted to share the process on the Q400 and didn't know it would be pushed back that much. As I mentioned back then the turboprop engine was pretty much the only thing missing. In the last months we picked up the Q400 right where we left off and implemented a new turboprop engine specifically for the Q400. It features a simulated two stage compressor together with core turbines plus the power turbine that drives the large propeller. The basic physics for that are working pretty great at the moment, We have some fine tuning left todo (e.g. improve the FADEC) but that is all manageable, apart from that we're pretty much done with that aircraft.

The shut down engine on the screenshot below is the current state of my development version. We have not yet decided weather the initial release of the Q400 will feature engine start as well but we all agree that that would be pretty awesome. In the engine physics we would need to adjust a few things so that we can actually start the engine from zero rotation speed. We need to hook up a starter to the core turbine's shaft and then program the FADEC (engine conroller) just right to that it doesn't flood the engine. It's a bit more work for us, so maybe you can comment below if you would like to see such a feature from day one and if you would want wait just a little bit longer for that?  Personally I'd love to implement the engine start procedure first

The Q400 has quite a bit of system depth, here is an excerpt of its features 

(this list is far from complete, just the things that just now popped back into my head)

• engine derates (MTOP, NTOP, MCL, MCR) using condition levers and engine control push buttons
• reduced propeller rotation speed for landing (REDUCED NP LANDING)
• fully feathering propeller, reverse thrust
• all system pages and display swaps
• navigation source selection and HSI select (+DUAL FD on ILS approach) to make the autopilot follow the FMS, ILS or VOR inputs from either pilot or copilot primary flight display
• HSI on the navigation display to pre-tune the ILS approach (see screenshots below)
• ARCDU (audio radio control display unit) with multiple pages (including the expanded pages), option to disable the automatic FMS tuning with the knob (ON/BOTH/FMS)
• set v-speeds
• DH/MDA selection
• caution and warning annunciations for several warnings and cautions (will be expanded over time)
• gear warning, beta range warning horn (when levers are below flight idle in flight), takeoff warning (+test), elevator trim warning, altitude alert, stick shaker,...
• ice protection panel with automatic or manual selection of the airframe parts to deice
• annunciator and advisory light test (screenshots below)
• a lot of push buttons are moving when clicked (the other aircraft have that as well in my developer version - will be updated soon)
• pretty much every button in the flight deck is implemented in my developer version, the ones that aren't functioning yet will likely be disabled in the release but that isn't certain yet. Maybe you'll get to click everything, too
• stick pusher for stall protection
• sound is actually pretty nice and has quite a bit of features. Also a lot of audible warnings 
• handling is very nice as well, it's a lot of fun to fly, has noticeable prop-wash effects as well, straight takeoffs and climb outs actually require a bit of rudder and aileron trim
• autopilot is simulated accuratly and features almost all modes (e.g. VOR OS, VOR capture annunciation is missing but VOR mode itself works, so nothing is really missing except maybe MLS but that is rarely used irl and we'd need to implement procedures and receivers for that first)

The FMS will be implemented later, once we tackle it for all aircraft. So no changing of the flight plan from within the cockpit just yet.

Electric and hydraulics systems are not implemented yet but probably will be in the future.

Disclaimer

The screenshots below are taken from my developer version that doesn't have all required features for the scenery, my trees are missing for example. These are work in progress (WIP) development screenshots that may contain certain mistakes or bugs, the final product may differ. Not all of the features shown below might make it to the public version on first release.

Engine data is not fine-tuned yet, might be off a bit on the screenshots but we are not done there yet.

 

Shut down engines:

 

Annunciator and advisory light test in action:

 

Taxiing out to the runway (this is OrbX Innsbruck but in my developer version I don't have all the new scenery features yet)

 

Ready for takeoff:

 

Lift off, pushed the "NAV" button on the autopilot to follow the route (FMS as nav-source required)

 

DUAL FD - CAT 2 ILS approach (this thing can't do CAT3 with autopilot or do a fully automatic landing sadly - it has only one autopilot, two would be required)

 

Initiating a go-around by pressing the GA-button (assignable in control settings)

 

ARCDU, expanded page for the ATC/TCAS: line select the squawk and push "EXP" to get there...

 

HSI is displayed on the navigation display so that you could continue to follow the FMS but can also already monitor the NAV receiver, nice handy feature!

 

All in all there is a lot to play with in the Q400. So much that we will need a thorough tutorial for it perhaps.

 

Regards,
Jan

[Benny]

Simple question, did you sell enough of LOWI and Meg's to continue with AF2?

If yes, what kind of stuff can we expect to see?

 

Many thanks

Ben

[NoLonger]

On 3-8-2017 at 2:51 PM, Benny said:

Simple question, did you sell enough of LOWI and Meg's to continue with AF2?

If yes, what kind of stuff can we expect to see?

 

Many thanks

Ben

 

I don't need to hear anything about sales, I am just interested in what is next for Aerofly FS 2. After the release of Innsbruck and Meigs it has been awfully quite as far as AFS2 is concerned...

[Scott Harmes]

I had an incredible experience last night with Innsbruck in Aerofly FS2 with the Oclus Rift.  Just amazing.

 

I have also been flying around California a bit in VR, which I am just getting back in to after a break, and I was thinking Palm Springs would really fit in well to the California scenery.

 

Hopefully it's coming 

 

Cheers,

[Benny]

4 hours ago, scottharmes6 said:

Palm Springs

 

+1

[HiFlyer]

6 hours ago, scottharmes6 said:

I had an incredible experience last night with Innsbruck in Aerofly FS2 with the Oclus Rift.  Just amazing.

 

I have also been flying around California a bit in VR, which I am just getting back in to after a break, and I was thinking Palm Springs would really fit in well to the California scenery.

 

Hopefully it's coming 

 

Cheers,

 

Interestingly enough, Aerofly actually has a fairly detailed rendition of Palm Springs Airport already included. Nothing to match the Orbx version, but as always I'm often very pleasantly surprised at all the airports such a tiny company was able to include with very passable detail!

 

I would love to see the orbx version and its expanded area though, and would especially love it as part of a region with extended autogen!

 

Not to mention Las Vegas and San Diego, and.............

[Scott Harmes]

To be honest I hadn't even checked the default Palm Springs yet (my bad) but as you say a lot of the airports are really nicely done as they are.  I was pleasantly surprised when I started visiting the airports that are in the default simulator.  Still, after flying around Innsbruck in  VR for the first time, now I am looking for as much ORBX as can be squeezed in .

 

Cheers,

[HiFlyer]

8 minutes ago, scottharmes6 said:

To be honest I hadn't even checked the default Palm Springs yet (my bad) but as you say a lot of the airports are really nicely done as they are.  I was pleasantly surprised when I started visiting the airports that are in the default simulator.  Still, after flying around Innsbruck in  VR for the first time, now I am looking for as much ORBX as can be squeezed in .

 

Cheers,

 

Go visit it, it's one of the numerous pleasant surprise locations. (Especially if you have installed the free Hi-resolution texture addon for the area)

 

Then I think of autogen for the area, and airport vehicles, and moving people and night lighting for the roads and all the things that Orbx could do, and my credit card gets itchy. 

[olderndirt]

Took advantage of the sale and installed Meigs FS2.  Very nice except for the line of demarcation between Orbx and FS2.  Didn't really notice it with Innsbruck but it's really ugly with Meigs - crying for that 'autogen' extension .

[Benny]

On 8/8/2017 at 11:43 AM, HiFlyer said:

Go visit it, it's one of the numerous pleasant surprise locations

 

We should do a list of those....

Ben

[Raspou]

Personally since the day they evoke the possibility to have NA PNW scenery on AFS2 i expect this more than nothing with impatience. Hope this project scenery is not abandoned.

[John Venema]

We have not started on AFS2 PNW yet, we're still finishing Germany South.

[Raspou]

Nice to hear you will work on it, thanks for your answer. Hope you can start PNW soon 

[sun_king_135]

Will Germany South be for P3D and AFS2 from the start?

 

Kind regards.

[NoLonger]

3 hours ago, sun_king_135 said:

Will Germany South be for P3D and AFS2 from the start?

 

Kind regards.

 

I am not an Orbx employee but I can tell you the answer is no. Simply because P3D regions won't and never will be made to work in AFS2. AFS2 requires photoreal regions while P3D regions are mostly landclass. This means AFS2 regions can't be converted like airports can. And that's why it will take up quite some time before we see an Orbx region in AFS2.

[wolfko]

49 minutes ago, J van E said:

 

I am not an Orbx employee but I can tell you the answer is no. Simply because P3D regions won't and never will be made to work in AFS2. AFS2 requires photoreal regions while P3D regions are mostly landclass. This means AFS2 regions can't be converted like airports can. And that's why it will take up quite some time before we see an Orbx region in AFS2.

 

JV stated not too long ago that PNW will be the first Orbx region for AFS2.

[NoLonger]

19 minutes ago, wolfko said:

 

JV stated not too long ago that PNW will be the first Orbx region for AFS2.

 

Yes, I know. He also stated, just a few posts above yours, that they haven't started on it yet. I personally don't expect anything this year when it comes to Orbx and AFS2. I'd like to be wrong though.  And apart from that, it won't be a straight and simple convert job from FSX/P3D to AFS2 because of a.o. the landclass which needs to become photoreal. Could well be they will have to work on it from scratch. The main point for Orbx is that all the PNW airports will fit into it.

[olderndirt]

"No news is supposedly good news" but, in this case 'Ah hae ma doots'. 

[Raspou]

On 10/08/2017 at 6:00 PM, John Venema said:

We have not started on AFS2 PNW yet, we're still finishing Germany South.

Hello, now Germany South is finished can we hope ORBX will begin PNW for AFS2 or is it delayed?

[Xflyboy]

1 hour ago, Raspou said:

Hello, now Germany South is finished can we hope ORBX will begin PNW for AFS2 or is it delayed?

+2

[John Venema]

PNW-AFS2 has been approved internally as a project which Holger will be leading. We have a bunch of new technology we are working with for some unannounced projects which will allow us to tackle very large photoreal products with all the usual FTX full fat region goodies included.

 

Additionally Jarrad and Alex have been working on refining the tech for airport ports from P3D to AFS2 so we will soon have an internal SDK made available to Orbx developers.

 

We are liaising with the IPACS team on a continual basis and there will be new features added to their engine to help us achieve our mutual ambitions.

 

Remember, our investment in AFS2 is a marathon not a sprint, all good things take time.

[Raspou]

This is great news and more than i expected! Thank's a lot for your answer.

[jay109]

2 hours ago, John Venema said:

PNW-AFS2 has been approved internally as a project which Holger will be leading. We have a bunch of new technology we are working with for some unannounced projects which will allow us to tackle very large photoreal products with all the usual FTX full fat region goodies included.

 

Additionally Jarrad and Alex have been working on refining the tech for airport ports from P3D to AFS2 so we will soon have an internal SDK made available to Orbx developers.

 

We are liaising with the IPACS team on a continual basis and there will be new features added to their engine to help us achieve our mutual ambitions.

 

Remember, our investment in AFS2 is a marathon not a sprint, all good things take time.

 

Good to hear.  I recently bought several hundred dollars worth of ORBX scenery for P3D and then realized a few days ago that AFS2 is by far the superior flight sim for graphics and performance in VR and is the obvious future of flight sims.  It's so much better I uninstalled P3D and have no plans to ever play it again.  I'll be looking forward to all of those 40% discounts once those ORBX regions and airports I purchased are converted to AFS2

[olderndirt]

You've restored my faith.

[Sir Ash]

Awesome news!! How is the Chicago patch coming along? I bought it anticipating all that beautiful cityscape autogen.