is ground services and functional jet bridges a work in progress now?

Quote from Cyhl

i remember someone said ground service is easier to implement than push back. but why is ground service still not a thing in aerofly after push back has come out for over a year?

I don't believe that was a statement from IPACS; the statements from forum members aren't always accurate. The developers always strive to deliver the best results;That's why ground service will not be an easy task.

I dealt with the pushback when I took over the pushback tractor as a single vehicle. The difference between the pushback integrated by IPACS and the pushback with an independent vehicle also became clear to me:

- With the pushback integrated by IPACS, the pushback tractor basically follows like a trailer, so the plane always drives. This is the only way to ensure that all users can use it.

- With my stand-alone pushback tractor, the tractor drives and pushes the aircraft in front of it like an oversized rotary trailer. This is much more difficult and can quickly lead to a collision.

Therefore, from my point of view, IPACS has solved the integrated pushback very cleverly. However, this clever solution has nothing to do with a simulated traffic of vehicles on the airfield, so that no ground service can be derived from it.

Quote from ApfelFlieger

I dealt with the pushback when I took over the pushback tractor as a single vehicle. The difference between the pushback integrated by IPACS and the pushback with an independent vehicle also became clear to me:

- With the pushback integrated by IPACS, the pushback tractor basically follows like a trailer, so the plane always drives. This is the only way to ensure that all users can use it.

- With my stand-alone pushback tractor, the tractor drives and pushes the aircraft in front of it like an oversized rotary trailer. This is much more difficult and can quickly lead to a collision.

Therefore, from my point of view, IPACS has solved the integrated pushback very cleverly. However, this clever solution has nothing to do with a simulated traffic of vehicles on the airfield, so that no ground service can be derived from it.

I don't think ground service is a priority for the developers. It was different with pushback. Without pushback, parking spaces at the gate make no sense. They'll probably focus on other things.

When you can simulate cold start, fuel, weight, and even open cargo doors, shaping the ground service system seems like a natural process. I am curious, without discussing A350 or aircraft, what advanced features can the underlying system of the game bring to users by 2025? For example, adding night lighting effects, mobile boarding bridges, or ground service vehicles to red runway signs and yellow taxiway signs. In addition, the loading animation of the trailer will suddenly pop up. If all vehicles have walking animations, that would be even better.

Quote from ThomK

I don't think ground service is a priority for the developers. It was different with pushback. Without pushback, parking spaces at the gate make no sense. They'll probably focus on other things.

We need at least the ground power unit so that the airliners external power supply button makes sense.

Quote from Cyhl

maybe ground services will come out with fuel and weight adjustment feature. i think they will make the total weight of the aircraft depend on how much cargo and fuel you load using ground services. so, instead of just model and add animation on ground vehicles, maybe they are trying to make ground services associate with aircraft weight and fuel system. that sounds more like what IPACS will do

For example??? Will the landing gear gradually compress as ground vehicles continue to load???

I think it just showcased the trailer, and it has already been released; they didn’t reveal or hint at any other features.

That’s why I framed it quite „softly“. They were showing what they were working on; e.g. the B737 surrounded by ground vehicles. I am no assuming anything - but sounded like it in a very „IPACS-esque“ way.

As we have a lot of developments going on (global airports, A350-1000, system depths…) and the team is quite „small“, ground services might have gotten postponed or even stopped for now.

They developed trailers because in the past we needed to activate the aircraft’s reverse towing to taxi normally, it’s that simple. You mentioned global airports and system depth, but excluded ground services. So, are ground services part of airport development? Should ground services operate within the airport? Does airport development fall under system depth? Or is it only aircraft development that counts as system depth?

I think the developers have explained more than once that there is no causal relationship between airport development and aircraft development.