Hosted by Eric McClintock, Mark Stewart, Brendan Farmer, and Chris Palmer.

Listen Here:

Download Audio Here

Video:

Download Video Here (720P, 920MB)

New X-Plane Photo Scenery Concept

Here are some new screenshots from a quick test in the French Alps. This uses very accurate vegetation data to cover the whole areas, with an optimized simplification algorithm to reduce the polys complexity without loosing too much precision. The .for files will be created and optimized later with our own trees textures.

For full details, and screenshots, see here!

PMDG Released 747-8i/F Expansion and PMDG Refreshes Website

Built with technical input from Boeing and using the latest modeling techniques for FSX, the PMDG 747-400X -8i/F Product Model Extension adds the majestic new Boeing 747-8 variant to your existing PMDG 747-400X installation.

This high definition visual model raises the bar on large airliner modeling by showing the 747-8i and 747-8F in exquisite detail. Transparent cabin windows, fully detailed flight controls, 3D engine cores, scalloped nacelles and the incredible 747-8 wing flex are all presented in vivid detail. The model is covered with high definition textures, giving an incredibly lifelike appearance to the model, right down to the finest details.

The PMDG 747-400X -8i/F Product Model Extension will also please your ears, as we have included a new GEnx based engine sound set so that you can experience the amazing audio experience of the new GEnx engines mounted under-wing.

Price: $24.99, More Informaton (Requires PMDG 747-400X)

PMDG Has also refreshed their website!

 

PMDG's view on FS2004; Will Others Follow?

Posted By: Robert S. Randazzo Jan 21 2010

Captains-

We have been reading some truly ridiculous statements in this forum during the past 72hrs regarding FS2004 vs. FSX development.

I have stated PMDG's position on FS2004 a number of times, but it appears that some folks are under the misguided impression that there is a debate to be had on the topic.

There isn't.

As I have stated many times, PMDG has at our fingertips a wealth of data on current market trends for the entertainment flight simulator market. These trends for some time have been making it increasingly clear that the market for FS2004 customers is shrinking at an astonishing rate.

When analyzing the sales data available to us, we are seeing trends that make it clear that the long-awaited migration from an FS2004 centric community to one centered on FSX started in May of 2009. This trend began to accelerate rapidly in September, and has continued during the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first two weeks of 2010, leading to year-over-year increases for FSX products, and very steep declines in demand for FS2004 products.

The reasons for these trends, in our opinion, have everything to do with the steady advancement of computer hardware during the past three years combined with the performance gains seen in the conversion to Win7. In fact, the release of Win7 coincides with the VERY dramatic shift in sales performance of FSX products and a VERY dramatic decline in the sales of FS2004 products.

With these trends in mind, let me be abundantly clear on two things:

1) The future of an FS2004 based 737NG2 is doubtful at best. We will make this decision while the FSX version is in beta testing. While we do not doubt that some of you would be very interested in this product under FS2004, we are less and less certain that such a development cycle would recoup its own costs, especially when compared to the growing strength in FSX sales. One of the most critical factors that we will consider in this decision will be the projected costs in dollars and TIME to product this product in FS2004. I will be candid and tell you that right now, I am not comfortable sustaining FS2004 development- and this is based upon my review of 4Q09 trends and our considerable experience with development of complex add-ons. We will make a decision when the FSX version of this product is in beta testing, as that will allow us to evaluate against data that is current at the decision making time.

 

2) Aside from the 737NG2.0, no other PMDG product announced or in development will be considered for the FS2004 platform. This means that the Dash-8, the 777 and the recently announced 747-8 Extension will be in FSX only. I am sorry if this was not clear in our announcement from Saturday- but this has been stated before in previous discussions, so we thought it was understood.

 

Now- some folks (on both sides of the argument) have taken to becoming extremely emotional about this conversation. There is nothing emotional about the decision. It is based upon mathematics and economics.

We have seen some folks write some really off-the-wall comments in this forum of late, accusing one another of being cheap, snobby, rich, poor, smart, stupid, etc. We have also seen some folks make up information and pretend to speak with some authority on our data-based decision making.

ENOUGH. This forum is not a venue for such behavior- so please take it off-line. We are not interested in a debate about the merits of one simulator versus another- nor are we interested in a debate about whether we are making the right choice or not in consideration of your own opinion.

When making decisions we must consider what is best for the long term vitality of PMDG, and this means evaluating information in a cold, detached manner.

The numbers dictate the rules in the game of business- and the numbers DRAMATICALLY favor us simplifying our development process and focusing on the platform where our customers are heading.

Does this mean that a percentage of you will not buy one or more future products? More than likely... But sentimentality will not keep the lights on, nor will it recover development costs for products that the market is communicating quite clearly that it does not want.

So- once again, we will evaluate the future of FS2004 development as it relates to the 737NG2 in a few months. The major factors in this decision cannot be controlled by any argument here in the forum- they are controlled by the numbers we see in our systems- and MOST IMPORTANTLY by our assessment of the time and monetary costs associated with converting a project this complex to the older platform.

View It Here, What are your thoughts? E-Mail or Call Us!

Aviator 90: Episodes 1 and 2 Released

A huge thanks to Chris for putting this out for people to enjoy, Aviator 90 Episode 1 and Episode 2 are now released! Interested in some great training material? Check it out! Check back every other day for a new one!

Mark's Texture Conversion program last week, how did it work?

Still need to try it out? Click Here. Let us know what sort of improvement you saw!

 

Discussion: Community porting FS2004 aircraft to FSX... Is it right?

A couple of weeks ago Mark recommended one of Nemeth Design's AS350 choppers in FSX format. Nemeth Designs released the chopper as Freeware in FS9 format, and a group called "Nor Cal Prop Club" converted the helicopter to FSX and re-released it as freeware, giving credit to the original developer.

Will, from our forum posted some links to other FS forums to our attention that shows some developers not happy with Nor Cal Prop Club re-releasing their work.

Link: http://www.cbfsim.org/cbfsim/cbfsBB/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=15989

Link: http://mainescenery.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=genav&action=display&thread=7332

Mark contacted Nemeth Designs, and asked their opinion on this practice, their response:

I have no problem with which Nor Cal is doing as long as they do it only with our freeware releases and they don't sell it as payware. We have no time to convert those old freeware stuffs to FSX so they just do favor to the FS community with taking the time to do that.

Your Thoughts? Give us a call! 

Carenado releases C185F Skywagon for FSX

Carenado have released their C185F Skywagon for FSX, As always, high quality designed aircraft, polygon optimized model, friendly FPS and a Control Windows new feature for controlling eyes candies (wheel chokes, bag & package, pitot cover, sights prop and tiedown ropes). Pop up Skywagon manual with performance charts and normal & emergency procedures. It also has its original instruments.

Price: $25.95

Link: http://www.carenado.com/ecommerce/buscador.php3?id_producto=80

Hardware News: EVGA's W555 Motherboard

• TWO Intel LGA 1366 Slots (For Xeon Processors)
• 12 DDR3 RAM Slots
• 7 PCI Express 16x Slots (Up to 4 16x At a time, others are 8x)

Hardware News: Matrox 3H2Go Doubles Monitors

Multiple DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go Graphics eXpansion Module (GXM) support to drive up to four or six monitors, respectively, from a single system. A second GXM can now be connected to the secondary output of a supported dual monitor graphics card so two DualHead2Go GXMs can power up to four outputs in 2×2 or 4×1 modes, while two TripleHead2Go units can be combined to connect six displays to produce either a 3×2 or 6×1 setup.

More Info.

Great Cockpit Building Podcast From MyCockpit.org

Looking for a great series of FS related podcast just for home cockpit builders? Check out the latest releases from MyCockpit.org. One such release is an interview with Peter Dowson (Of FSUIPC), check it out here!

Recommendations

Eric: Freeware De Havilland Tiger Moth DH-82A, By Anthony Lynch

• Very high quality gauges, air model, VC, external, etc...
• Pilots have moving heads
• Hand start prop!!
• Model approved by OZx
• FREE!

Brendan: http://www.avsim.su

Mark: PLANEMAKER / BLENDER TURTORIALS - x-plane 21 part series

E-Mails and Voicemails

ArkView USB Monitor Adapter In Action

There is a video on YouTube of the Arkview USB adapter in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfrl2wUxtmQ

What needs to be noted is that these are 1 to 1 devices. You can extend up to 6 monitors, but you need 1 for each monitor.

Ted

Enclosure

Hosted by Eric McClintock, Danton Berube, Mark Stewart, Brendan Farmer.

Listen Here:

Download Here

More information on Cascade Game Foundry

Full Article: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25919

Co-founder and managing director Kathie Flood spent about 15 years with Microsoft in various roles, mostly concentrated on Aces and sports titles like Project Gotham Racing 3 and 4; she's joined by co-founder and creative director Rick Selby, who spent half his 10 Microsoft years with Aces, primarily working on Train Simulator, product design and business development.

The team is comprised currently of 15 individuals: "We're a bunch of people very passionate about working on sims that can take us to the next generation," says Flood. "We loved doing that inside Microsoft, and we decided we wanted to keep doing it. It turns out there are a lot of opportunities to do things different, better... as much as we loved doing it inside Microsoft, we're having quite a lot of fun."

Resetting The Genre

Selby sees an opportunity to "step back and do a reset of what sims could be about." The genre has traditionally focused on the same elements; vehicles, for example. "We thought there's a lot more you could really do with this," says Selby.

The hardcore simulation audience is "a very loyal, viable entity for us to pursue," he says. "But I think there are some things we can build into the sim titles to give them more of a broad appeal."

For example, Flight Simulator pleased its hardcore fanbase with its detailed renditions of the nuances and details of flying. "That's all still valid," says Selby. "But what's missing is... if you start thinking about what you could do around those single-player experiences that do simulate some aspect of a life or a location, suddenly you start to see a lot more opportunities."

Flood says that traditional sims have been somewhat "intimidating" to those outside of the genre's fans, and Selby says that simplicity is definitely now a design goal for the team.

"We want stuff to be simple enough that my mom can use it," he says -- and yet it's important to offer the opportunity for a player to grow into the high level of detail traditional sim fans have always desired. "We still want to give the ability to grow into that level of caring, but not eclipse any gameplay opportunities that may exist downstream from there... those complexities can't be a barrier to [other players] enjoying the experience."

Reaching Broader Audiences

Flood envisions "sliders on reality," simulation experiences where players can customize the granularity of realism to a level that's comfortable and interesting to them. "You could turn off or tone down certain elements so that somebody who is less knowledgeable can still enjoy the fantasy of the experience."

And the idea of allowing players to control the complexity of their experience -- having further details open to them as they acclimate into the simulation -- necessarily lends itself to learning experiences, something Selby is excited about.

Another area of focus for the Cascade team is offering high-quality toolsets alongside their projects. Flood notes that traditional simulation fans have enjoyed modifying and working with toolsets to customize their experiences even when those tools aren't very good.

"Certainly, the tools that we will need to build the games ourselves... can be a much more accessible toolset, and extend the audience of people who can participate."

Closing The Gap

The challenge ahead of the Cascade team, then, is making experiences that are compelling and yet approachable -- and therefore bridge a gap Flood sees in the addressable audience.

"There's such a big gap in the game market right now between, say, the big blockbuster first-person shooters and the casual online games. We feel like sims, if done correctly, the design would be multigenerational," she explains, pointing to the broad audience that enjoys television programming on Discovery Channel and National Geographic.

"We want to tap into some of that same magic... a lot of the topics we're thinking of here have a lot of that broad appeal," she says.

Bringing The Past To The Present

To accomplish their goals, the team hopes to combine the best elements of their experience within a large corporation like Microsoft with the agility and creativity of an independent studio.

"There's something very motivating and freeing at the same time you suddenly realize you own your destiny, and you have the ability to make the decisions you need to make," says Selby. "Sometimes that's harder to do inside of a large organization."

"I spent my entire adult life at Microsoft," reflects Flood. "We loved our jobs there, so this has been very fun -- it almost feels like graduating from school."

Flood and Selby aren't ready to discuss what that next project is, but say to expect some announcements soon. In the meanwhile, they feel strongly about their team vision and that Cascade is bringing with it the important lessons from Microsoft combined with new ideas about what the simulation genre can be and who it can reach.

 

Carenado PA32R 301 Saratoga SP For FSX

• The usual features you would expect from any Carenado aircraft, but this one sports original Collins radios, Audio/Marker and ADF and also the original Altimatic IIIC (Century III) autopilot installed.

Full list of features here: http://www.carenado.com/ecommerce/buscador.php3?id_producto=78

MyTrafficX Pro5.2B Update Released

MyTraffic X Version 5.2b Professional is a giant step forward compared to previous versions and a huge leap towards fully using FSX multitude of new possibilities. All included airports and schedules are in the FSX-format. The majority of the included aircraft types is already in the new, highly optimized FSX Service Pack 2 format, pairing top optical quality with ultimate performance.

It is available as a lower cost incremental upgrade for owners of MyTrafficX, or as a full retail version.

The update is intended for previous customers of the 5.1B, 5.2 or 5.2A boxed versions.

http://secure.simmarket.com/mytraffic-x-incremental-update-from-5.1b-5.2-or-5.2a-to-5.2b-pro.phtml

MyTrafficX Lite Released

MyTraffic X is known to be leading AI traffic solution for FSX. What started in 2002 with about 100 repaints of the stock Microsoft AI aircraft and a few licensed models, grew to a giant product with 177 models, 4900 paints, 1600 simulated civil airlines, 2000 modified airports and bunches of tools for all user needs in MyTraffic X 5.2b Professional - with all the options and complexity of such a powerfull tool.

Not all users need this, many users just want it to be simple. Replace the stock airliner traffic on the aiports of their region from the fantasy airlines Microsoft installs to realistic airlines - to watch United and Frontier at Denver, Iberia in Madrid and Lufthansa in Frankfurt. Nothing to worry about, no tools but the traffic density slider that Microsoft supplies, simple install, little framerate hit.

MyTraffic X Lite is the answer to these needs. It contains a selection of 68 airliner or commuter models, 680 paints of 263 airlines. This selction has been chosen to show approximately 90% of all airliners that fly over Europe and North America, and approximately 80% of all commuters in these areas. In addition, some stock GA planes are used to populate the skies.

Since the vast majority of the users fly in these regions, the rest of the world only sees long range traffic from these countries, but no regional traffic - that is the main secret how thousands of paints could be ommitted.

Due to these limitations, it was possible to largely simplify the installation MyTraffic X Lite. Just install it and it will work, and you even can uninstall it without any thoughts once you want to go professional and update to MyTraffic Professional. Users who purchased MyTraffic Lite will get a huge rebate for MyTraffic X professional.

MyTrafficLite includes 68 aircraft models, where as MTX Pro includes 176.

http://secure.simmarket.com/b.-renk-mytraffic-x-lite.phtml

Four News Items from Aerosoft

Aerosoft Opens USA Office in Dedham, MA

Aerosoft has now opened a subsidiary in the US! Effective immediately, the office will process all American orders, which means faster and lower-cost shipping for our customers. It will also drive new sales efforts and open up new retail channels for our products. This is not only a gain for our loyal direct customers, but also a step to ensure a good and even more intensive relationship with our US and Canadian dealers and stores. Wolfgang Burchhardt will be heading the office. His background is in the gaming industry, having previously being head of development at the famous model train company Märklin. He will carry our FlightSim, TrainSim and other PC simulation product variety.

US Shipping from $6.99.

Ibiza X released (for FSX and FS2004)

This package features the complete islands of Ibiza and Formentera with photorealistic ground textures in a sensational resolution of 0.5m/pixel (FSX).

The scenery features exact coastlines, mesh and a completely new designed airport (LEIB). This add-on also includes AESLite, bringing dynamic apron traffic as well as traffic to the surroundings of the airport. In addition it also features marine traffic such as dynamic ship traffic and ferry services between Ibiza and Formentera. Static Yachts and boats can be found in the bays and beaches of Formentera.

A detailed AFCAD for AI traffic makes it a lively and highly realistic airport to fly to. This scenery is of course compatible with AES 2.04 in both FS2004 and FSX!

Link: http://www.aerosoft.com/cgi-local/us/iboshop.cgi?showd,,D11162

Lelystad X (FSX only)

Lelystad Airport is located at -12 feet in the heart of one of the main polders of The Netherlands. It is where most Dutch civilian flying schools are located and its a brilliant airport for training. This scenery has been done with great attention to detail according to the most up to date ideas on making scenery for FSX. It is very good looking but it is also extremely framerate friendly.

The Aviodrome, the aviation theme park and biggest aviation museum in the Netherlands is housed on the airport and has a large collection of aircraft, many of which are in flying condition. These are on display outside and you will be able to use the stands of the museum to park your aircraft. If you fly our Catalina for example you can exactly recreate an everyday event at Lelystad! It's the perfect airport to train your traffic circuits!

http://www.aerosoft.com/cgi-local/us/iboshop.cgi?showd,,D11164

Luxembourg Airports (FSX only)

This package includes the detailed airports of Luxembourg and the complete country with all relevant landmarks and sightseeing objects. It has detailed mesh and aerial imagery covering the terrain. All buildings on and around the airport of ELLX are photorealistic.

Through the support of the Cargolux simulation department, all ground marks and relevant signs were adopted to reflect reality. The status resembles the date of the inauguration of Terminal A, as of August 2008.

http://www.aerosoft.com/cgi-local/us/iboshop.cgi?showd,,D10989

FlightSimDaily (FlightSimX.co.uk) Merges News Into The Flight Simulator Network

I’ve been running the blog here at Flight Sim Daily (previously FlightSimX) for around 4 years now. During that time, I’ve added some 3,000 posts and our readership has continued to grow.

In recent times, however, I’ve found I wanted something a little more involved than simply posting news, which is why I created the Flight Simulator Network. The Network has seen tremendous growth over the past few months and it’s very rewarding to be a part of that site. The interaction that takes place between users on the site is fantastic, whereas the number of comments here on the blog has always been pretty low. It’s become a little like working in a vacuum here on Flight Sim Daily. A lot of work goes into it from me, but very little comes back.

http://www.flightsimulatornetwork.com/group/flightsimulatornews

Article: Why I Get 50FPS and you don't

From Mathijs Kok on the Aerosoft Forums:

In the last few weeks there has been one question that I heard most of all as I was attending the Aerosoft stand at three flightsim events. "What is the hardware this is running on?" I understand the question as I always leave the framerate indication on screen and almost never show anything below 40 fps in FSX. I was asked a few times if I could discuss this a bit more...

View the PDF Here: http://www.forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=9064

A REALLY great read!

X-Plane 9.41 released

A few fixes and enhancements, update using the X-Plane updater. Full list of fixes:

• Keyboard preferences labeled in the menus.
• Multiplayer dataref fixed.
• Orthophoto scenery night lighting comes on all at once, to avoid a checkerboard effect.
• Mouse jumps to the current yoke deflection in mouse-flight mode. This will avoid sudden control deflections when flying with the mouse.
• CUSTOM_LIGHT bugs fixed in OBJ files.
• The current livery is now available in a dataref. Improved memory use with OBJs. Rosetta can be overridden via command-line. Default livery can now be picked again after a custom livery is selected. Cmd line --no_autovary option can be used to turn off dithering of urban textures. Multiplayer should not cause any problems with the FMS.
• A number of changes to make the IOS with 20 students work a bit smoother... being used at a school in Georgia to teach 20 students at once! A lot of fun, and good training.
• Should not crash on quit while text-to-speech is playing, as it could before.
• Electrical system should work fine even for planes created on the ancient old PPC macs from many years ago.
• Marker-mute command now only mutes the marker audio, and does not dim the lights as well.
• Airfoil-Maker defaults to a 10-degree linear region for the lift line, which is a much better default.
• EFIS-App should have all navaids now... more accurate for those avidynes... EFIS-App to be published soon. A few changes in the Eclipse jet avionics for FAA-certification in EFIS-App as well.
• Support for "generic" lights on airplanes (sample plane coming soon)
• More accurate amp calculation for panel lighting
• AP self test datarefs added
• Electrical System for 930 planes loads with correct generator setup
• Lighting fixed on glass artificial horizon
• "Null texture, how?" Bug fixed on NVidia/Windows Hardware.

HD Environment 2010 for FS9

HD Environment 2010 greatly enhances the overall visual appearance of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 by replacing the default environmental, autogen, airport and runway textures with ultra-sharp, ultra-realistic HD quality textures that drastically improve visual realism with no adverse frame-rate effects whatsoever. HD Environment 2010 uses high definition textures and virtually lossless image compression to deliver an unprecedented balance of quality and performance that is sure to please any flight simmer!

Price: $14.95

More Info: http://www.hdenvironment2010.com/

Holiday Discounts and Specials for FS addons

• 10% Off All Eaglesoft Products until December 31st: http://www.eaglesoftdg.com/coupons.htm
• 30% Off Most Carenado Products until December 19th: http://www.carenado.com/ecommerce/buscador.php3?categoria=19

Captain Sim 767-300, 200, and 767F Review

767-300 Basic Features:

• Unparalleled visual quality and realism
• Designed according to FSX standards
• DirectX 9/10 compatible

Systems:

• Extensive Systems Programming
• Flight Management System (FMS)
• 2 high resolution full-screen 2D Panels
• 40+ additional 2D Panels
• New! Integrated CS Weather Radar (€9.99 value)

Exterior:

• Five highly detailed and accurate Boeing 767-300ER Models (including GE, PW and RR variants)
• High resolution textures of 14 Liveries
• Hundreds of Custom Animations
• Animation Control Panel
• Stewardess model (various airline uniforms)
• Wing Flex
• Wing Vortices
• Winglets
• Custom Self-shade
• Custom Views

Interior:

• Highly detailed VC including:
  • Flight Deck
  • Complete Passenger Cabin
  • Galley and lavatories
• Custom Self-shade
• Hundreds of custom 3D Animations
• High resolution Textures
• Custom Views
• Custom Lighting

Misc Features:

• Realistic Flight Model
• ACE - Aircraft Configuration Editor
• Authentic Sound Set
• Exclusive visual Effects
• Crew voice messages
• Extensive Manuals in 5 parts (hundreds of pages in total)

Price for 767-300 Base: 40 Euro ~$60 US

767-200 Addon Pack Basic Pack Price: 10 Euro ~$15 US

767F Basic Pack

• Includes interactive Cargo Loader

Price: 10 Euro ~$15 US

Captain Sim also offers the KC-767 refueling aircraft, and E-767 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft. Each available separately for 10 Euro.

E-Mail

Handy iPhone Application from Rick

Hey guys, I just got an iphone and was shopping for aviation apps, and came across an interesting and handy app for the IFR pilot. It is called fltplan.com. and it tis free.

If you have an iphone or a capable internet phone you can access approach plates and sids/stars. Only works for USA airports!.

when you select an airport, all the available approach plates can be brought up on the phone's screen, and depending on the phone, can be zoomed in with great detail. It is like having you own mini EFB (electronic flight bag) for the entire US. All plates are current and updated on a regular basis.

Thanks for your time and keep up the great work!

Rick

Recommendations

Danton: X-Plane Application for iPhone/iPod Touch

Brendan: http://www.space-shuttle-mission.com

Eric: Airline Manager Facebook Application

Enclosure