My feedback

1st Official Post

    I made a good IFR flight from Zurich to Bern, Switzerland with Cessna 172. During this flight I noticed some things which I would like to mention here as feedback for IPACS.

    • In Zurich (LSZH) there is no predefined parking position in the GA airfield area, so you cannot take off from there. I tried to position the Cessna 172 there, but for one thing you can't get on the ground, for another thing Cold & Dark doesn't work. Besides, there was already an airplane on this position. A parking position there would be nice.
    • During the flight planning I did not find the departure VEBI1K on the Vatsim charts. It is no longer valid? I chose the departure VEBI2N, but I didn't found it on the Vatsim charts, because the correct name is "VEBIT 2N". Aerofly seems to shorten these names to 6 characters. The name shouldn't be shorten.
    • The autopilot in the Cessna 172 does not seem to use the set altitude in the altimeter, but the real altitude. If you enter the wrong air pressure in the altimeter, the autopilot seems to fly below or above the required altitude. There are autopilot devices where you can enter the air pressure. If this function is not available, the autopilot should use the altitude of the altimeter, shouldn't it?
    • I miss the possibility to reset the aileron and rudder trim by keyboard key. This is not absolutely necessary, but very helpful. One keystroke and you know that the trim is set to 0.
    • The delete button cannot be assigned to a function because the key is used to delete an assignment. This is a bit awkward. If a context menu was used, this button would also be assignable.

    Some feedbacks so far. Thanks for listen. :)

    Control the view when flying with a monitor is still difficult and this after 30 years of flight simulator history. I like to tell IPACS some ideas.

    • Currently the software zooms to the middle of the screen. It would make much more sense to zoom to where the mouse cursor points. Without the current zoom functionality you have to get first the target to the center of the screen and then zoom in. You even have to repeat this process if the target is not in the middle of the screen. This is very cumbersome and slow.
    • The auto-zoom of FS2020 is actually very good. But it does not zoom to the position of the mouse pointer. In Aerofly FS2 I would like to have an auto-zoom, which takes the device or switch to the center of the screen where the mouse cursor is pointing to and zooms it in.
    • I would like to put the auto-zoom on the right mouse button. If you have something to operate, all you have to do is put the mouse pointer near the device or switch and press the right mouse button and it will be shown enlarged and centered. With the view-reset I am back to normal display, also the zoom should be reseted.
    • It would be much better to separate the two functions 'zoom' and 'button operation' and assign them to two different mouse wheels. So it happens again and again that you want to zoom, but instead you turn the button or toggle the switch. My mouse has a second wheel. I don't know if this would be possible with the Logitech software.
    • The view reset should also reset the zoom.

    The flight simulator becomes better and better, but handle cockpit's switches and devices is still difficult. Each improvement should be implemented. Thank you.

    • Official Post

    Thank you for your feedback and suggestions :)

    I've merged your two threads, that way it's easier for me and other to reply. We've had users that opened 30 separate threads for each single suggestion in the past and I want to avoid that as much as possible because then I never find the great suggestions later on.

    The procedure names are as coded in our database. It's a correct identifier as far as I know, even though the charts may contain the full waypoint name. Currently the ILS for 07 would be shown as I07. Which I don't think is very clear. So we may extend these names and write them out in full length.

    We've experimented with zooming in on the position that the mouse cursor is pointed at and even though it get's the job done really well and focusses on the element that you point at it creates a strange head rotation that got me and other tester motion sick really quickly. So we abandoned that approach and instead kept the zoom in = field of view decrease and nothing more.

    We don't want to make the camera control work correctly only if you have two mouse wheels. Almost nobody has two mouse wheels and a lot of our platforms do not even have a mouse wheel at all. They use the z and shift+z commands which currently does the exact same as the mouse wheel (unless the mouse points at a thing). I like the suggestion of zooming in with the right mouse button, this is something that would help a lot. It would be a great additional way to get to the panel quicker. Though with enough time in the current view system I don't really think this is necessary. With the current system I can already zip around the cockpit in no time, much much quicker than if I had preset views and it's fluid and of a non-binary nature (meaning the view doesn't instantly change, it naturally moves around).

    Double-clicking resets the view and the zoom, which is my preferred way of looking straight ahead again.

    I think the camera navigation is something one can get used to quite quickly. If you are "spoiled" by 30 years of other flight sims it may not be as easy to re-learn it and you may even prefer the old methods because you are just so used to it. But after flying Aerofly for many years myself now I have the same feeling when I switch to other simulators. There I am not used to the different camera controls and have the same struggles that you are having right now.

    Overall I find that Aerofly has the quickest cockpit interaction and it takes the least effort of all the control methods that I know of. I don't have to move my hand from the mouse to the keyboard and back, I don't have to push any other button except the left mouse button to rotate the view or the be able to interact with the cockpit. I point at what I want to manipulate or I point at a free space to not interact with something, that's it. And with the advanced camera view I can read things on the panel, so I don't even have to move the camera position at all, which I have to do if I turn it off or use "other sims".

    Thanks Jan for the detailed answer.

    I think it's great that you have already tested my proposal. I wonder why it should be more disturbing than helpful. I believe you. Unfortunately I can't test it myself.

    I started flying simulator with Mircosoft FS4, but the visual problems started with the introduction of the 3D cockpit. Since then no really good solutions have been found. I'll say this for myself, because there are users who get along wonderfully with Track IR, while I don't like using the product. That is also the reason why I don't use your Eye-Tracker solution, because it is not based on eye-tracking but on head-tracking.

    I tried to understand how you control the view and tried it again. It's true that you can pan the view very fast with the mouse and with the flywheel of the mouse I also zoomed in very fast, but I can't get the target object to be in the middle of the screen. Then I still have to correct the viewing orientation again.

    My tests showed that the right mouse button works exactly like the left mouse button except that you can only use levers and not buttons and switches. However, when the cursor is over a switch, you cannot pan. I do not understand the sense of this behaviour. Wouldn't it be a good solution, if the right mouse button can only be used for panning and thus an accidental operation of buttons is not possible?

    I can't imagine that my mind is irritated and gets sick when I select the target object with the right mouse button by clicking or double-clicking the target object and it is zoomed in with a short camera movement. As long as exactly happen what the mind expects, you actually don't get sick. I still remember the EZdok add-on. With one keystroke the camera pans to the desired destination. Because of the short camera movement this was very pleasant. It is only important to use very short acceleration and braking phases.

    What do you mean by "advanced camera view"? You can switch through several views in the cockpit, but on the one hand there are no useful views (e.g. to control the radio) and on the other hand it takes too long.

    IPACS does a good job. Thank you very much for that.

    • Official Post

    With the right mouse button you can grab multiple levers at once, e.g. all thrust levers or both engine condition levers.

    The advanced camera view movements is a setting in the view settings menu that should be on per default I think. If you don't have it on your camera will only rotate with the mouse. With it turned on your camera moves around as you rotate the view, it keeps the panel up direction aligned with the screen up direction so it's much easier to navigate through the cockpit.

    In German you surely mean "Optimierte Sichtsteuerung", right? With me this setting was off. I turned it on, but I couldn't tell any difference. I'm sorry, but I didn't understand your description either. This setting is also not described in your wiki.

    Now I know the difference between left and right mouse button. So far I don't need this function because I use hardware throttle quadrant.So the right mouse button is free for another function.

    I know, IPACS doesn't like a lot of setting options, but it's fantastic if the software can adapt to your needs. That's why Microsoft Windows became so popular, you could customize the colors. ;):)

    Wow. I have tested "advanced camera view" again. With the Cessna and Piper this option has no effect, but with the Airbus and other aircrafts it is fantastic. You did a good job. :thumbup:

    But the problem remains that pan and cockpit knob control conflicts. I suggest offering a new view option that completely disables the right mouse knob control. In this mode the mouse wheel should not control a cockpit knob while the right mouse button is pressed. Additionally, you could offer that double-clicking and drag the left mouse button moves all levers of a group, as a replacement for the right mouse button function.

    Have you ever tried to start the Cessna from Cold & Dark while it is dark? This is not possible because you cannot see anything. :huh: Not even the light and battery switch. I had the idea to assign keyboard keys to the battery and light switch, but this is not offered for the battery switch. I helped myself to set the time of day to day for and back again. This is not very realistic. ^^

    I also noticed that key repeat does not work. To switch cockpit light from dark to light you have to press the light button several times.

    I am looking forward to new great things in Aerofly FS2. :) Most of what I miss is life. The beautiful world is unfortunately death. You are all alone. ;(