Thank you Jeff for your statements. Together with Jan's explanations about upcoming aircraft system we have a better view of what to expect next and the feeling that at least some people at IPACS share some of our points of view...
Keep up the good work
Cheers
Antoine
where is this game heading ? can i see aeroflys project map somewhere? what is the longterm plan, something like fsx?
where is this game heading ? can i see aeroflys project map somewhere? what is the longterm plan, something like fsx?
My earlier post.....
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May I suggest the you guys have a chat with Peter ........ who I have supported.
http://pmem.uk/joinfs/index.html
He would be a very good addition to your team to specialise in multiplayer (collaborative flying).
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IPACS - You may have your multiplayer plans well advanced? and thus don't need to take a look at the great work this chap has done and continues to do for the sim community.
I know he said he tried to make contact with you guys briefly but heard nothing back.
If that's true it is a real shame.
Either way please look at this for ALL our benefits.
Currently, in FS2 in VR, I feel like I'm alone at a fantastic nightclub just doin my thing. If I'm bustin moves I want my flyin buddies to see and I want to see them too - is all !!
Cheers.
BG2518-Bob.
Currently, in FS2 in VR, I feel like I'm alone at a fantastic nightclub just doin my thing. If I'm bustin moves I want my flyin buddies to see and I want to see them too - is all !!
Cheers.
BG2518-Bob.
Yep I agree! Feels awful lonely. 
This is the main reason I joined the forum. Let our voices be heard. Multiplayer is what this sim needs more than anything else.
This is the main reason I joined the forum. Let our voices be heard. Multiplayer is what this sim needs more than anything else.
Yep!
Hi guys, yes multiplayer is very important and would suit the Aerofly FS 2 very well. Just don't forget that there have been even more requests for ATC in the past and that is why ATC is in development right now. There will be a lot of side-benefits of the ATC integration such as realistic departure and arrival routes, probably improved route planning, airspaces, maybe taxiway signs and a lot of other things. Multiplayer wouldn't have that many benefits for anyone not using it. The ATC feature, even if you may never use it, improves the Aerofly FS 2 on multiple levels at once. I have no doubt that multiplayer will be added to the Aerofly FS series in the future, I'm very much looking forward to flying with you all in this beautiful landscape!
We hear your voices!
Multiplayer is what this sim needs more than anything else.
More than anything else...?! I totally disagree. The sim needs (apart from the obvious scenery and planes) weather, ATC, AI (and support from 3rd parties!). There is a LOT that the sim needs more before multiplayer becomes important. Obviously this is a very personal preference... 
Looking at the sim now imho what the sim needs most is a weather system. Things will never become realistic without a proper weather system. I do understand the current focus on ATC but without a proper weather system the sim feels a bit dull and limited.
I have to add that due to the imho ugly small circle of clouds that AFS2 offers right now and the bad performance of them, I always fly without clouds. Luckily there still is cirrus and the visibility you can change on the fly to keep things a bit varied but a good weather system is really needed to make the sim come alive.
Multiplayer wouldn't have that many benefits for anyone not using it.
Because of me Aerofly does not need multiplayer. I would never ever use it. So for me you don't need to waste resources for it. 
Very interesting and very opposed positions.
Let's see what the developers will do with it.
They have several years of experience with multiplayer in aerofly RC.
Rodeo
I don't care for a weather systems as I can alter viz.
There is more to weather than just visibility. Kind of clouds, amount of clouds, layers of clouds, wind changes (and hence runway changes), participation, temperatures, barometric pressure, etc.: all kinds of things that not only change what you see outside but which also influence your flights in various ways. You may have to change the landing runway and hence the entire arrival, you will have to monitor and change various instruments depending on the situation and yes, obviously this also can change the view out of the window drastically. More than changing visibility would do.
I have to add that a few years ago I never bothered with weather but after getting Active Sky for FSX and later on P3D I think having no weather system is a huge pity. It really transforms the sim in various ways and, what's even nicer, quite often in very unpredictable ways. A flight you did yesterday may be completely different today. Things will never be the same twice.
Now ATC obviously also has a few things going for it but to me it doesn't transform a sim as much as weather does. And btw so far I didn't read (correct me if I am wrong) that IPACS is also thinking about AI whenever they talk about ATC: I may be wrong here but it is possible, odd as it may sound, to have an ATC system without AI. (Though not preferable, of course.) I am not entirely sure if the upcoming ATC for Aerofly FS 2 will also fill up the skies...? Still, whenever I flew with AI in the past I mainly noticed this on the ground: up in the air, where I spent most of my time flying, I hardly noticed anything of AI. Unlike the weather.
Hi,
regarding ATC/AI is for me a matter of priority. You can build ATC and add AI later.
If you do it the opposite way, you may create a lot of dangerous situations in aviation.
Weather is doubtless extremely important, adding multiplayer we have 4 highly important features to deal with.
Rodeo
Here is everything that we want in Aerofly... ATC + "AI" / multi-"player", phenomenal weather, cold and dark and so forth
Of course I would be happy to have multiplayer in FS2.
But there is an excellent alternative to multiplayer if one wants to fly in formation, or just get some air traffic around, or traffic on ground, moving or not. That's so easy. Unfortunately, it's not yet possible in FS2.
Oh yes I wish I could fly in formation in FS2 ... the way I can do with Xplane9 and XP10-32bits. I know I am repeating myself, sorry friends.
Thanks to an amazing plugin from http://www.classicjetsims.com, I can taxi, take off, fly with any kind of aircraft or helicopter, fly the way I want, where I want and kind of record that flight. Then, I can simply fly again, again with any kind of aircraft, and fly in formation with the previously recorded flight(s) when I able to, or use that flight just as a simple traffic. I can repeat that several times and have up 10 aircrafts together in the sky and on ground. Maybe I fly in formation with a few of them, maybe I just let them fly around me as a normal traffic. It works beautifully, smoothly, and realistically. It's very simple to use. It's much more interesting than trying to fly in formation with AI traffic. As a former military pilot, I can assure you that I have the same sensations I had in the real thing. If you want to see videos of some of my flights, just ask and I'll send them via Dropbox to you.
I fully agree with people saying that multiplayer formation flight would make FS2 much more attractive. After a while, flying alone can be boring. Flying in formation is never boring 
IPACS, please ask Greg Hofer from Classic Jet Simulations to work for you and adapt his beautiful plugin for FS2 ! I could sell my mother for this!!
jjs,
the idea of recording a flight, replaying it and then flying in formation with your replay is really surprising!
Because It is exactly what we have already for years in the aerofly RC versions. And it is fun!
I never thought about this for the aerofly FS2. Why not?
It is not a substitute for multiplayer, but may provide another nice feature for aerofly FS2.
Rodeo
Why not?
Hi Rodeo,
sadly this isn't as easy as it sounds, "just reenable it". You'd have to render the entire aircraft twice and for an RC aircraft with only like 30 parts this is easy, the Aerofly FS 2 aircraft have literally thousand of 3D objects that would need to be rendered twice then. So this may be a performance concern. Probably not that much of an issue on a PC but certainly a concern or issue for the mobile version. If we render multiple aircraft for multiplayer I think this could be a by product and it could be quite useful for formation flight training, with yourself It would be even cooler to be able to record yourself flying in formation with a recording and then merge the files... Then you could fly in formation with 4 of your recordings or so 
And then share that recording, all though I've already heard that there will be issues as soon as we update one aircraft, the recording may no longer work for the updated aircraft with other object names and more parts...
Jan,
of course you are right, it is not an easy solution for it.
And now it's clear about updating aircrafts and records.
But for multiplayer or recording we have to create the outer hulls of the existing aircrafts anyway.
Get rid of all internals, get rid of the cockpits and so on. This will reduce the amount polygons.
But still it is not a simple task.
Regards
Rodeo
Well, Jan is right, it's not as easy as it sounds. But the fact is: I have no noticeable FPS drop when I fly in formation, even when I reach the maximum number of aircrafts. When I update an aircraft, as long as I do not change its name, the "recording" still works. I say again. It is amazingly simple.
When I want to eliminate an airplane from my list for any reason, the aircraft is replaced by the default Cirrus the jet. If I put the eliminated plane back in the list, it works again!! As simple as I say.
Now, I am just a keen, simple FS2 and Xplane "enjoyer". I have no idea how Greg Hofer builts its plugin. It's not quite a recording of the airplane. It remembers all my impunts. If I change the plane after "recording", the new machine flies what I have done. Sorry for my english. If I record a flight in command of an A380, then I decide to drop this airplane from my list, when I "replay", the default XP9 Cirrus flies what I did with the A380.
So, I keep a file with all my planes, just in case.
Before I built a "mission", I imagine a scenario. Let say I'll be the leader of a 4 planes formation. First I fly the leader of that future formation, it means I behave like a leader, in other words I have consideration for my future wingmen. Then, when I fly as a first wingman, I can usually follow my leader without difficulty, I mean not more than the difficulties encountered in the reality. Then I repeat that an makes the second, then the third wingman. You see what I mean? The result of all this is incredibly funny. I can spend a whole evening creatind a new mission. I can ask friends to fly at this or this position. Then, years later, I remember who is my leader or who takes off with the A350 over there.
Take the B737, take off on the left side of the runway, never use full power, give a chance to your wingmen, fly like a hooligan inside the Grand Canyon, emerge from it making a barrel roll, throttles back, and land. Then, do it in formation, taking off from the right part of the runway, slightly behind your leader, at 45-60 degrees behind him, well, in formation with that crazy guy. It's a huge lot of fun. Believe me. Additionaly, I can copy my flights and send them by email to a friend. It's installed in his own Xplane9 in 5 seconds, and then he can open his Xplane, select the flight, and play it. He can use my flight as a traffic, or fly in formation with me, or with all my planes.
I have hundred of flights which I can share with people.
Well, Jan is right, it's not as easy as it sounds. But the fact is: I have no noticeable FPS drop when I fly in formation, even when I reach the maximum number of aircrafts. When I update an aircraft, as long as I do not change its name, the "recording" still works. I say again. It is amazingly simple.
Are you referring to X-Plane or Aerofly RC 7 here?
