Controls menu - roadmap

  • Hey guys

    Love the progress that has been made so far, great work.

    I have a question regarding the future plans for control options and assignments.

    The reason I'm asking is that I am building new section of my home pit control panel with many switches, pots, and rotary encoders.

    Rotary encoders with Leo Bodnar's card will work just fine for stuff like radio and autopilot tuning. I'm just not sure whether the rest will work in AFS2, thus the question.

    - Are we going to be able to assign potentiometers to panel and instrument lighting ?

    - Will AFS2 accept toggle switch input for other functions like landing gear, external lights etc. in the way when if "button pressed" = light on, "button released = light off" ?

    I know there was this request already but I'm just asking what your plans are as I can still modify my build to make it usable with your sim.

    Thanks Jay

    Over and Out

    Jay

  • Quote

    - Are we going to be able to assign potentiometers to panel and instrument lighting ?

    - Will AFS2 accept toggle switch input for other functions like landing gear, external lights etc. in the way when if "button pressed" = light on, "button released = light off" ?

    Yes, both will be supported in the future.

    If you don't have other constraints, we would always recommend to use relative / incremental controls like rotary encoders and push buttons instead of absolute encoders like potentiometers and switches. Doing so avoids most of the synchronization problems between the controller positions and the simulated positions (like airplane is placed on runway, gear lever in cockpit is still up)

  • Hello Marc,

    Will the long time existing Saitek (now Logitech) panels ever be supported? I have all of them and only a frustrating very few actions/features are currently supported. This is the Multi panel, Switch panel, Backlit Instrument panel, Radio Panel, and TPM panel.

    Second question is do you think the Saitek FIPs, the small, individual flight Instrument panels have any chance of ever being compabile with Aerofly FS2?

    Assuming the negative for the above, how about some sort of support for tablets and iPads for flight instruments, like Sim Innovations?

    Regards,

    Ray

  • Hello Ray,

    most of the Multi panel, Switch panel, Radio Panel and TPM panel functionality is supported in the current version, we will add more to it in parallel to adding those things to our aircraft.

    The Backlit Instrument panel is highly user configurable, so we will need some sort of additional user interface to get the individual assignments right.

    Saitek FIPs will be supported in the future, but this is not high priority and may take some time.

    If you want to use your tablet or pad for flight instruments, moving maps or synthetic vision, the current version supports network data output for FSWidgets and generic data for use with software like ForeFlight and others.

    Regards,

    Marc

  • Thanks Marc for your reply. It comes as unexpected but, very good news that IPACS will support Saitek FIPs at some future date for Aerofly FS2. I understand that it is way down on the priority list, but, the fact that it will actually be on the list is good enough for now.

    I think you may be receiving incorrect or at the very least, incomplete and deceptive information on the current level of support for the Saitek large panels. By no stretch of my imagination could I agree that most functions are currently supported on the Multi Panel or Switch panel. I don't use the TPM anymore so I can't speak for that one, and yes the BIP is totally blank with zero support.

    Because the Backlit Information Panel only reports conditions, such as Gear Up or Gear Down, Lights On or Off, Pump conditions, etc. it would seem that it would not be that difficult to send that information to the BIP.

    My Multi Panel is the center piece for external flying and would be an asset for flying the Aerofly FS2 Lear if just a few of the basics features were activated. Mine reads HDG, all the time, in all modes - whether Aerofly FS2 is on or off. All lights are dark at all times. Of the 100 or so total functions available, I think only 3 actually work, or partially work.

    - The Flaps switch works properly and the AP will engage but does not have any indication on the unit that it is engaged and no indication when the AP disengages.

    - The Heading knob does function but does not give any digital readouts of the heading on the unit as expected.

    - NAV is hit or miss, mostly miss with no indication of On or Off.

    - VS features are totally absent along with any and all ALT functions and readouts. (These functions are sorely missed, by me)

    - IAS is dead and dark

    - APR is also dead and dark

    The Switch Panel is similarly not well supported. The Landing Gear knob and indications do work and the Landing Lights on/off switch works, but I think that is the extent of it for the Lear 45. I have heard that the Nav lights work on the Cessna, but Nav, Strobe, Taxi, Beacon switches do not work on the Lear.

    The Radio Panels do work as expected but the Transponder codes are crippled in the sim so that feature will most likely work properly once the full code list is coded in AF2. Maybe this will come with ATC. :/

    So yes, there is some support for the Saitek Panels in the current version, but, by no stretch could it be considered as most functions. My wish would be to get the Multi Panel up and running so it could be considered at least somewhat useful. Obviously, all or most of the information is readily available because we can see it on the HUD and some on the FSWidgets GMap screens.

    Maybe the 3rd party supporter of Saitek panels will pickup Aerofly FS2 now that it is out of beta. All of these Saitek panels are currently fully supported in all the major competitive flight sims. ;)

    Regards,

    Ray

  • You dream of working saitek panels, I dream of working GoFlight panels (13 in my case), so everybody has his dreams.

    Regards,

    Thomas

    Regards,

    Thomas

    i7-14700KF @ 5.6 GHz, Geforce RTX 4090, 32MB RAM, 1TB SSD M.2, 1TB SSD M.2, 2TB SSD M.2, 32" Monitor 4K, Pimax Crystal

  • Yes, both will be supported in the future.

    If you don't have other constraints, we would always recommend to use relative / incremental controls like rotary encoders and push buttons instead of absolute encoders like potentiometers and switches. Doing so avoids most of the synchronization problems between the controller positions and the simulated positions (like airplane is placed on runway, gear lever in cockpit is still up)

    Thanks Mark, this is all I needed to know.

    I am aware of the synchronization issue however either solution requires "reset" of the physical cockpit at the start of each flight though.

    Anyway, I'm happy with that.

    Thanks Jay

    Over and Out

    Jay

  • I fully agree with you Ray (Jetjockey10). The Saitek panels support is quite good in the settings menu, but most of these settings cannot be linked to actions in the cockpit, beside NAV, COM and a few lights, or at least I couldn't find a way to configure keys like magnetos, master switch, alternator, avionics, etc.

    That's amazing because corporate pictures show that IPACS do have Saitek panels, it should thus enable testing and fixing the functions.

    I managed however to assign the mixture axis of my yoke.

    Cheers

    Antoine

    Config : i7 6900K - 20MB currently set at 3.20GHz, Cooling Noctua NH-U14S, Motherboard ASUS Rampage V Extreme U3.1, RAM HyperX Savage Black Edition 16GB DDR4 3000 MHz, Graphic Card Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 8GB, Power supply Corsair RM Series 850W, Windows 10 64 bit.