Updates Coming Your Way

drhotwing1 (IPACS) · June 5, 2017 at 7:55 PM Official Post

Hello All,

I wanted to give everyone some reason to be excited about some upcoming updates to Aerofly FS 2 (more than the pure excitement of flying in general). So, most of you already know about the upcoming ORBX releases of LOWI and KCGX, and the mention that ORBX is planning on releasing more larger regions to follow. We want you to know that there is a lot going on that is indeed very exciting for the future of FS2. Current work is being done to complete the new GeoConvert tool that will allow for you to easily make your own photo-real scenery to fly over. As you already know, there is an SDK available that allows for you to make your own airports to go along with this new upcoming tool, this is an important step in the future growth and user interaction of FS2. The SDK will improve further over time as well.

There is already a tool to make custom aircraft liveries, and the list of custom liveries to choose from keeps growing.

Also being finalized is the Q400. This bird is the Bombardier Dash 8 (Q-Series) which will be the first turbo-prop aircraft released for Aerofly FS 2, and it's a beauty. There are just some more tweaks here and there and it will be released. This aircraft will be worth the wait.

Further updates to the autopilot system and FMS will also be released after a little bit more work; and a couple more surprises thereafter following improved autopilot functionality.

And of course ATC; this system is extremely complex and will still take some time to complete but it's going to take FS 2 to the next level. There will be further information on ATC in the future.

As most of you know, programming takes time, but what you can clearly see here is that Aerofly FS 2 is certainly on the right path, and there is a certain pride and passion that comes out of each update which clearly shows that IPACS doesn't just rush to throw an update at you, they are well thought out and planned quality updates.

There is much more coming your way than what i just mentioned to you here. Just remember, all amazing structures start with a solid foundation, and IPACS is well under way building that solid foundation. It will only get better from here.

Jetjockey10 · June 5, 2017 at 8:08 PM

Water, water, water. Too much time in the deserts of Arizona and Utah. Need water and maybe a floatplane to land on it.

Thanks for the forecast.

Regards,

Ray

KenR297 · June 5, 2017 at 9:36 PM

As always, thanks for the update...

jcomm · June 5, 2017 at 9:38 PM

Thx for the Report Jeff!

Looking fwd into it!

Well, suposedly we already should have a turboprop in AEFS2 - the C90 with it's PT-6....

I hope the turboprop enhancements will also be ported to this model. For instance I would liek to see FF not varying with prop RPM adjustments at constant throttle / condition / altitude...

Pipeorgan · June 5, 2017 at 9:44 PM

Quote from Jetjockey10

Water, water, water. Too much time in the deserts of Arizona and Utah. Need water and maybe a floatplane to land on it.

Thanks for the forecast.

Regards,

Ray

Agreed, what about the Milviz Beaver as a payware aircraft:)

dannyvhm · June 5, 2017 at 9:46 PM

Thank you very much for this exciting news Jeff.

May I ask where in your priority list the development of the A380 currently stands?

Regards,

Daniel

drhotwing1 (IPACS) · June 5, 2017 at 9:53 PM Official Post

Quote from dannyvhm

Thank you very much for this exciting news Jeff.

May I ask where in your priority list the development of the A380 currently stands?

Regards,

Daniel

Daniel,
i'll defer that question to Jan. I'm not sure if the A380 was put on hold or just WIP

John Hargreaves · June 5, 2017 at 10:40 PM

Looking forward to seeing what you guys have been working on, it will be nice to have some of these new OrbX sceneries to explore, and the new scenery and livery tools will open up some exciting possibilities. There is quite a lot of anticipation around for the next stage of development.

J van E · June 5, 2017 at 11:12 PM

Thanks for the update! Things are looking very good, specially now JV posted on the Orbx forum how well the engine keeps on performing with 500000 buildings in their Meigs scenery and still maintaining great performance. Or how about this: "How about 12,000km2 of photoreal stretching from Milwaukee down to Gary? You got it! It's a sandbox ready for more content. We are building tech right now to cover entire regions with super footprint-accurate buildings and trees. Not landclass, but photoreal." Things are looking VERY good!

HiFlyer · June 5, 2017 at 11:34 PM

Quote from J van E

Things are looking VERY good!

They always were! :cool:

Hartman · June 6, 2017 at 12:12 AM

Quote from J van E

We are building tech right now to cover entire regions with super footprint-accurate buildings and trees.

Really magnificent ......!

Mr. Bean · June 6, 2017 at 2:04 AM

Excellent news! You had me at Q400.

drhotwing1 (IPACS) · June 6, 2017 at 2:39 AM Official Post

Quote from Mr. Bean

Excellent news! You had me at Q400.

The Q400 is a really nicely modeled aircraft, we will get some additional pictures up shortly for all to drool over

Jetjockey10 · June 6, 2017 at 5:43 AM

Quote from drhotwing1

The Q400 is a really nicely modeled aircraft, we will get some additional pictures up shortly for all to drool over

I'm practicing my drooling now. It doesn't take very much to get my shirt wet anymore.

Regards,

Ray

Jet-Pack (IPACS) · June 6, 2017 at 9:35 AM Official Post

Quote from jcomm

Well, suposedly we already should have a turboprop in AEFS2 - the C90 with it's PT-6....

I hope the turboprop enhancements will also be ported to this model. For instance I would liek to see FF not varying with prop RPM adjustments at constant throttle / condition / altitude...

Well the C90GTX has a single stage turboprop. The Q400 has a different engine, two spools and one power turbine.
And since we accurately simulate each of the spools we're talking about a different engine internally. But yes the C90 will most likely be changed as well. Together with the turbofans of the airliners and probably the piston engines as well.

Fuel Flow should vary with power, so if you keep the torque the same but reduce the rpm the power goes down and so does the fuel flow. But maybe the PT6 isn't controlled by power but by core RPM... That would mean if you change the pitch of the prop the power would remain constant, rpm would decrease, torque should increase. Q400 closes the control loop on torque, so it's fuel flow should theoretically decrease.

Regards,
Jan

Jet-Pack (IPACS) · June 6, 2017 at 10:10 AM Official Post

Quote from dannyvhm

Thank you very much for this exciting news Jeff.

May I ask where in your priority list the development of the A380 currently stands?

Regards,

Daniel

We weren't happy with the 3D model of the A380, not good enough for the PC version, so we changed it. Moved the cockpit around and redid a bits of it, so this one might take a little longer. We redid the A320 displays as well, that has to be merged with the A380 displays, too. Luckily they look almost identically in the real world so mostly a matter of copy pasting and checking all inputs are correctly working. Once the model is finished Andreas and I can go back to the A380 and fix all the switches and buttons. For that reason we haven't officially posted any screenshots of the A380 for the desktop version and we can't give you any time frame yet. Depends on how important the A380 becomes compared to other things like engine start, FMSes, etc.
I hope that didn't sound too negative. I think we can bring that aircraft up to date in a moderate amount of time. It's not like we're starting from scratch, its just a bit of monotenous work ahead of us. Fixing existing things.

Regards,
Jan

GameAddict · June 7, 2017 at 3:54 PM

Excellent news! Every little news makes me excited about the future of Aerofly!

windquest · June 7, 2017 at 7:38 PM

Jeff mentioned ATC in the early parts of this thread....forgive me if I have missed something, but from what I have read, Aerofly is billed as a VFR simulation. As such, there is very little ATC. The Turbo prop is wonderful and I look forward to more GA airplanes. Given the nature of what I read, this is a more casual approach to flying and that is refreshing, but I see the temptation to move into more complex areas that are already covered in the market.

Henry

John Hargreaves · June 7, 2017 at 9:34 PM

From what I've read on these forums, the ambition is there to make a proper full simulation, but IPACS is a small team and they are making an enormous piece of work, so it will be ready in stages. Where it is now and where it might be in three years time are probably very different.
If JV at OrbX can see the potential then that's enough to capture my attention. AFS2 is just a baby right now, let's wait and see.

drhotwing1 (IPACS) · June 7, 2017 at 10:32 PM Official Post

What everyone is going to see is a lot of dedication and passion coming your way via IPACS, however, only a little slower and steadier that some might wish for. For IPACS the motto is quality over quantity, and slow and steady wins the race

By the way, ATC (Air Traffic Control) is going to be a very nice major feature. And it's currently being worked on by the brilliant Dr. Marc Borchers. This will still take more time to complete.