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manual:beginners

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Getting Started

Purchasing and Installing Aerofly FS 2

Aerofly FS 2 is currently a Steam game and can be purchased on the Aerofly FS 2 Store Page. You will need to install the free Steam Client prior to installing and running Aerofly FS 2.

Note Aerofly FS 2 can also be purchased on DVD through the Aerosoft Shop. This version is different from the Steam version and may not have all DLC and updates available.

Once you download and install the Aerofly FS 2 core game, it is highly advised to download and install the free “Aerofly FS 2-High Resolution Texture Pack for Southwestern USA”. This free Download Content (DLC) adds high resolution photoscenery to your simulator. Note - Additional DLC can also be added to improve your flying experience.

Download additional DLC content by following these simple steps:

  • Start your Steam client
  • Open “Library” / “Games” and click on Aerofly FS 2
  • Choose the DLC you wish to buy
  • Add your DLC to the cart and check out
  • The download starts immediately after payment receipt
  • You can check the download progress under “Updates”

Note - You will need 147 Gb available hard drive space if you plan on installing all available DLC at this time.

Launching Aerofly FS 2

When launching Aerofly FS 2 from Steam you have three options.

  • Play Aerofly FS 2 Flight Simulator - This option will launch Aerofly FS 2 in normal 2D mode. Note - If you chose to create a desktop shortcut when installing Aerofly FS 2, you can also use the shortcut to launch in this mode.
  • Launch Aerofly FS 2 VR (Oculus) in Oculus VR Mode - This option will launch Aerofly FS 2 in the Oculus Rift run engine. This is the optimal mode for users with the Oculus Rift VR headset.
  • Launch Aerofly FS 2 VR (SteamVR) in Steam VR Mode - This mode will launch Aerofly FS 2 in Steam VR Mode for users with the HTC Vive VR headset. Note - Oculus Rift users can also use this mode however Oculus VR Mode is optimum.

Beta Channel

At times, updates will be presented to you through the beta channel. This option allows for the community to “test out” the latest update to provide valuable feedback to the developers, while separating those that do not want to participate. You can always opt out of beta in the same way. Note - Many times both beta and regular channels are at the same version.

  • Start your Steam client.
  • Open “Library” / “Games” and right click
    on Aerofly FS 2.
  • Open “properties” to see the window
    shown on the right
  • Select the tab “Betas” and select for the beta status
  • After that you will see [Beta] next to the game title.

Triple Monitor Support

Properly setting up your computer and Aerofly FS 2 if you intend to use 3 monitors is important for Aerofly to look right and perform well.

If you have 3 monitors connected, and you are using a NVIDIA graphic card, the first thing you should do is enable the NVIDIA Surround mode in the NVIDIA control panel. This way Aerofly FS 2 will recognize all 3 monitors as a single monitor and allow to properly switch to fullscreen mode. So if you have 3 monitors with a resolution of 1920×1080, you will see a new fullscreen mode in Aerofly FS 2 with a resolution of 5760×1080, after activating NVIDIA Surround.

If you want more fine grained control of what each monitor displays, you need to manually edit the Aerofly FS 2 configuration file called 'main.mcf'. main.mcf is located in the folder 'Documents/Aerofly FS 2/'. You can open it with a simple text editor like notepad.

Look for the lines:

  • <[list_tmsettings_separate_3d_view][separate_3d_view_list][]
  • >

Aerofly FS 2 allows you to render a complete view of the simulator to separate parts of the window. So in case of a 3 monitor setup, we want each monitor to receive its own view. If all monitors have the same resolution, insert the following lines between the above two lines:

  • <[tmsettings_separate_3d_view][element][0]
  • <[float64][x][0]>
  • <[float64][y][0]>
  • <[float64][w][0.333333]>
  • <[float64][h][1]>
  • <[float64][field_of_view_factor][1]>
  • <[float64][z_axis_offset_in_degree][-90]>
  • <[float64][is_main][0]>
  • >
  • <[tmsettings_separate_3d_view][element][1]
  • <[float64][x][0.333333]>
  • <[float64][y][0]>
  • <[float64][w][0.333333]>
  • <[float64][h][1]>
  • <[float64][field_of_view_factor][1]>
  • <[float64][z_axis_offset_in_degree][0]>
  • >
  • <[tmsettings_separate_3d_view][element][2]
  • <[float64][x][0.666666]>
  • <[float64][y][0]>
  • <[float64][w][0.333333]>
  • <[float64][h][1]>
  • <[float64][field_of_view_factor][1]>
  • <[float64][z_axis_offset_in_degree][90]>
  • >

Each field show be self explanatory. However here is a small overview:

  • The x and y fields specify the position of your sub window.
  • The w and h fields tell Aerofly the width and height of the sub window. In our case 0.33333 is 1/3 of the whole window.
  • Using the field_of_view_factor, you can assign slightly different field of views for each sub window. Some users like to have a slightly wider view on the left and right monitors.
  • Finally the z_axis_offset_in_degree tells Aerofly by how much each view is rotated compared to the default view. For this example the left and right monitors are looking 90 degrees to the left and right.

Upon entering Aerofly FS 2, the main menu is the first screen that you will see. From the main menu you can easily navigate through everything needed to get off the ground.

Setting Up Aerofly FS 2 For The First Time

Prior to playing Aerofly FS 2 for the first time you should first familiarize yourself with what each function does by reading through this manual. Below you will find a description of what each button does on your main menu screen.

Clicking on the Start button continues you in the scenario that you were in the last time you exited Aerofly FS 2. You will continue where you left off.

Flight School allows you to progress through a series of training courses where you will be evaluated based on how well you did. Each training scenario will unlock as you progress. If you are new to flying, Flight School will get you started with the basics of flying.

Here is where you select the aircraft that you want to fly.

Choose your airport and take to the sky.

From here you can easily set up your flight plan. Take off from your home airport and fly to the destination of your choice.

Easily choose your time of day, wind conditions, cloud coverage, and visibility for your flight.

When you load Aerofly FS 2 for the first time this is the first place that you should go to set up your configurations based on your computer hardware.

Want to know the current version that you are on or the team behind your Aerofly FS 2 experience?

This shuts down Aerofly FS 2. You don't really want to do that now, do you?

Quick Flight Checklist for Beginners

Setting up a flight from one airport to another is quick and easy with Aerofly FS 2. Once you familiarize yourself with each individual function described in detail within this manual, use this quick flight checklist to take to the sky.

Choose your Aircraft:

Choose your aircraft by cycling left and right. Once the aircraft that you would like to fly is centered, you can choose the theme/color of the aircraft and press select. Once the aircraft is selected the screen will go back to the main menu.

Choose your Weather Conditions:

You have full control over your time, wind, cloud coverage, and turbulence by navigating through the three easy to use options. Make your selections and simply back out of this menu. Note - More detail about weather conditions can be found in this manual.

Choose your Departure Airport:

Use the location page to choose your starting point. If you only want to fly around without following a flight plan this is the only page that you need to visit. Note - Further detail regarding the location and navigation pages can be found in this manual.

Choose your Flight Plan

This is the second step if you wish to fly from one area to another using a flight plan. A flight plan will present a true path for you to follow, and will also enable GPS and autopilot path finding functions. Note - Further detail regarding the location and navigation pages can be found in this manual.

Once all settings are configured to your liking, from the main menu press start to begin your flight

manual/beginners.1526571421.txt.gz · Last modified: 2018/05/17 17:37 by jf