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Thx. Somewhere in that endeavor is revealed the next projects we'll be working on...curious if anybody will figure it out Anyhow....the WIP of the cockpit lighting.

Sometimes they just don´t clap...

Not for some time. The cockpit looks great in XP12, even after 13 years since its first incarnation. PBR effects are applied in several areas of the cockpit already. There is a limit to the resolution of the textures where more does not necessarily equal better and a specific balance was chosen at the onset. One thing that has not changed much over the years is monitor "dot pitch'...with a few exceptions (Apple's retina display). Having chosen a minimum distance from camera to surfaces that we consider reasonable for a good simulation experience....and also in consideration of anti-aliasing algorithms, we have found that going higher and higher resolution results in poorer detail at the nominal viewing distances and there is a 'sweet-spot' balance between resolution and anti-aliasing algorithms. Anti-aliasing gets less effective at 'too high' resolutions and you get more 'jaggies', not less. Sure, when you get the camera right up on the surfaces, they look good then, but if a real pilot had to get as equally close to a surface to see its detail, you would most certainly question his last eye exam. As such, we selected a nominal range of camera distances from surfaces for typical simming activites and developed our resolutions based on those use cases. Going any higher doesn't yield any worthwhile benefit in our experience as of yet. I'm not saying there's not room for improvements in a few areas...but relative to other ares of the 3D, its certainly one of the better textured areas and not at the top of the list for improvement.....and we're quite proud of how good it still looks in XP12 after 13 years. Nils Danielson did an unbelievable job of texturing the cockpit, best I've ever seen to this day IMO, and those who have experienced his work and the immersion it imbues (myself included) know what I'm talking about. We'll keep on eye on it, vs the state of the art technologically, and if there's something we feel we can do that will improve the immersion experience, we'll ceratainly put it on our wish / todo list and try and knock that out. -tkyler

definitely. we're not touching that. On another note, we are back full steam on the IXEG after that short MU2 detour for Sporty's Pilot Shop. Working the lighting pass now, probably one of the bigger jobs. We have over 700 inidividual surfaces / lights that we have to audit 1 by 1 for the proper brightness values in XP12. After that, I'll hit the wing-flex and then the final punchlist items list. Jan is performing more test flights for any obvious bugs also. After the V12 compatibility / port release and bug chasing dies down, we'll start the "improvement" phase. -tkyler

I have a confession. I was approached about 10 days ago to participate in a short-notice endeavor (X-Plane related) that was tough to refuse and had me put the IXEG work on hold for this time frame....so this short delay in our original time estimate is squarely on my shoulders.....but I feel was the wiser decision for my continued work in X-Plane. I'm back on to the IXEG tomorrow. This side endeavor will become known sometime today I suspect. The good news (hint) is that completion of this endeavor will allow me to continue on the IXEG development right after the V12 port version comes out, and not have to detour back onto any other work....and there is a bit of an 'Easter Egg' in this endeavor that reveals the two projects we plan on working on in 2024. So we'll roll out the V12 port and I'll jump right back onto the FMS and other improvements planned for the remainder of the year. So this endeavor delays the V12 port, but moves forward the follow-on work. Those improvments (FMS, new nav data, beginnings of new 3D exterior) will take the better part of 2023 I'm sure, but we'll start that immedately after the V12 port release. As far as time frame for the V12 port now.... I can't say exactly. we always feel "close" because all the big stuff is out of the way. My todo list largely consists of finishing the interior texturing (rear galley), putting in the wing flex and squashing Jan's list of 'mostly small' issues, that's the list. I am dealing with 3 graduations of my kids this weekend (and family get-togethers).... and they will get my time to celebrate their achievements. I'd like to be done within 3 weeks, that's all I'll say. Will we be done in 3 weeks? I don't know. If not, I'll certainly be closer than I am today and still moving! -tkyler

wingflex done. Kudos again to Laminar...someone there snuck in a good implementation of it while I wasn't paying attention, saving me coding time. Moving on to wrapping up the cabin lighting and texturing and then final punchlist and QA checks. -tkyler

This thread (and this forum at large) are the correct place - although there will be an email newsletter when the plane is ready for XP12. We are in the final stages of updating, I am not going to dare and put a date on it, but the plane is flying fine and the remaining work is some 3D, some minor bug squashing and a final user-experience polish. Cheers, Jan

Another successful testflight this morning - Flagstaff, Az to Tucson, Az. We are still ironing out some issues, but here are two screenshots (one showing the current look of the new GUI).

This will serve as an official announcement that we have released the TOGA Simulations MU-2 Marquise version 2.1.0 update. All customers who have purchased the MU-2 Marquise v2 up till now have been sent an e-mail by X-Aviation with complete instructions on how to obtain your update. We have made this a very simple process! For those that purchase the MU-2 Marquise v2 from today forward, your purchased download will already be updated to version 2.1.0 for you. What if I didn't get the update e-mail? If you did not receive your update e-mail don't fret! X-Aviation has updated our system to allow all customers to update with ease, regardless of whether you received an e-mail for the update! Here's what to do: 1. Login to your X-Aviation account here: https://www.x-aviation.com/catalog/account_history.php 2. Find your original MU-2 Marquise v2 download and re-download the file. It will download as the latest version! This version brings official X-Plane 12 support. See all the v2.1.0 changes by clicking here! As always, thanks for being a customer with X-Aviation. We appreciate your feedback and support! Enjoy these latest updates, and stay tuned to the forum as we continually announce the latest happenings.

We are making good progress!

I would like to chime in here - I have worked with Tom on this over the last week intensively - previously I had test flown the 737 in XP12 (after we fixed the major roadblocks of even getting if flyable, like making the flaps work, etc.) and I had tuned the flight model. Tom worked hard on 3D modeling over the last months with little for me to do (I am too stupid for blender and those things) and now with him approaching the end of that work, I dove back into flight and system testing. The more I test, the more stuff shows up that does not work anymore, because Laminar changed things - and these changes are all improvements in modeling systems, yet they still leave our "old" way of doing/overriding them unusable. So in a very real way we have to redo a lot of the things we already did for XP11, it is not a quick conversion at all - and this is something we definitely underestimated when we initially said to "upgrade to XP12 for free". The move from XP11 to XP12 is not an upgrade, it is in many areas a repeat of the dev work work we already did for XP11. And I am thankful for most of our customers to be very understanding of the fact that we charge a small price to compensate us for this! I think the old 737-300 still has a lot of life in her, I thoroughly enjoy my "test flights" and find myself again and again to "just finish this approach" even though I was just testing some autopilot PID constant ... simply because it is fun to fly and looks great in XP12 . Cheers, Jan

Thx....but.......Jan didn't like it. "...that's not how I remember it" he said. (Thx Jan) sent me this... so here we are now....and still tweaking Jan's a tough one.

Hey guys. Something came up about 10 days ago where I switched my focus to the MU2 very agressively (to the tune of multiple 12+ hour days). The result of this is the MU2 for V12 release is imminent. The time frame was aggressive enough that I could not get all of the outstanding items on my issues list into this V12 port, but did get about 80% of them done. That list of fixes and changes are now online here. These issues are in addition to the XP12 specific features like the rain and ice effects and all the new lighting. What did not yet get addressed are the engine stuffs, the EGT and FFs yet, those are the same as now for the moment. In addition XP12.05 has mismodeled the BETA reverse IMO......it can take up to several seconds to get reverse pitch after moving the levers into reverse. Laminar has said this is fixed in 12.06, but I haven't got that version in my hands yet so I can't verify if that is the case. If not, I will work with Laminar again to rectify this. So the plan now is to go back to the IXEG and get those customers flying in V12 asap. Going forward, I'll start looking to fine tune the engine model and performance, as well as add liveries and more fun items. If anybody is interested in making liveries, but wary of the paint kit complexity, let me know. I'm thinking about doing a video showing some advanced techniques for making liveries with Blender....but if there's no real demand, I probably won't. With the MU2 in V12...I can start to pace myself a bit more regularly and start adding more luxury features. ....and for those who are excited to see the ice effects on the windshield....good luck! I had trouble getting ice to form and spoke with Laminar about it and found its a pretty complex system. If the temp is too cold, then wet drops won't hit the window and freeze...if the wind is 'warm" that affects it also...and wind speed of course...and precip levels. X-plane, fortunately has a tool for simulating the ice for developers because getting ice to form takes just the right conditions and a fair amount of time, but the effect is in there -tkyler

Show ´em the fire warning spill lights, show ´em the fire warning spill lights!

Hi folks, this is updated ACFs with added Pax and Payload stations for Mu-2 (2.1.0) and Load Manager script. No settings changed from original except Payload stations. Custom (original) Gyration is enabled. You can disable it in PlaneMaker to let X-Plane calculate moments of inertia depends on Pax\Payload. How to install: 1. !BACKUP! your XPlane12\Aircraft\X-Aviation\Mitsubishi MU-2 Marquise v2 2. Copy xsMU2B60_XXX.acf form ZIP to XPlane12\Aircraft\X-Aviation\Mitsubishi MU-2 Marquise v2 3. Copy Mu-2_Load_manager.lua \XPlane12\Resources\plugins\FlyWithLua\Scripts 4. (Optional) Mu-2Assesories.lua \XPlane12\Resources\plugins\FlyWithLua\Scripts How to use: 1. Open window via: Plugins \ FlyWithLua \ MU-2 Marquise Load manager or Assign Keyboard\Joystick button via \FlyWit\Lua\Mu2LM control(see Manager_Open_Close_Key.JPG) 2. LOAD Fuel: Input required Fuel in Lbs., Press LOAD FUEL - Fuel will be loaded to aircraft respecting Tanks sequence. 3. LOAD PAX: 3.a. IF "Random Pax" UN-checked: input required number of passengers, Press LOAD PAX: Script will load requested number of PAX respecting seating sequence, with each Pax weight = 195 lbs. 3.b. IF "Random Pax" Checked (Default) and Pax total weight equal to 0: input required number of passengers, Press LOAD PAX: Script will load requested number of PAX respecting seating sequence, with random Pax weight for each Pax within range 70-275Lbs. 3.c. IF "Random Pax" Checked (Default) and Pax total weight inputted: input required number of passengers, input required total weight of passengers, Press LOAD PAX: Script will load requested number of PAX respecting seating sequence, with random Pax weights but Total weight equal to specified. 4. LOAD BAGGAGE: Input required BAGGAGE Weight in Lbs., Press LOAD BAGGAGE - BAGGAGE will be loaded to aircraft into BAGGAGE area. 5. Note Total Weight and MTOW, if exceeded it will change from MTOW OK (green) to MTOW EXCEEDED (red). Note: All input fields are limited to Numbers found in POH. Note 2: No Pilot Payload exist in this loadout due limitation of XP12 and assumption that aircraft is trimmed\adjusted\loaded to compensate pilot weight. Mu-2Assesories.lua This is Optional script required for additional Lights, headset and parking brake Controls. This script adding several control commands you can map to your hardware to utilize buttons or switches to manipulate Nav, Beacon, Strobe, Taxi and Landing Lights, plus Parking brake (in Hold-on, release-off mode) and Headset. How to install: Copy Mu-2Assesories.lua to XPlane12\Resources\plugins\FlyWithLua\Scripts . Look for new commands in "Mu2Misc"block of keybindings\controls. Mu-2-LoadManager-for-2.1.0_v1.zip

I've uploaded a demonstration video of some of my livery painting techniques, to show how you can use Blender to help create UV layouts for the livery painting. Hopefully this will make the process a bit less intimidating for some. -tkyler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kir6KFz8cg4

Hi there, Since this seems to be something you're really hoping for (seen a couple posts from you about it now), I don't want to sugarcoat the answer. There are no near-term plans to do anything for MSFS. The team has a very full plate right now with X-Plane work, and it will stay that way for quite a long time should things go as planned.

It becomes tiresome to read the whinging about upgrade prices from a vocal few who seem to have no respect for the amount of work it takes to develop hi fidelity addons. I bought the IXEG a long time ago nd have flogged it to death and will be very glad to see one of the most immersive addons in any sim updated and expanded upon. Anyone who expects that for free after years of usage is being disrespectful to ALL developers who spend many hours for very little reward. Big thanks to those who are bringing the 733 back bigger and better than ever.

Preview of X-Plane's window icing effects, in case anybody hasn't seen it. This was my first time seeing it https://www.dropbox.com/s/o261awvzn9rotog/thermal_inertia_opt.mp4?dl=0 DISCLAIMER: This is Laminar's default window icing effect and in-sim developer tools....I'm only implementing it. They did a good job! It has been thought through fully. Without it, the IXEG 733 would have to be retired. You want some shock....ICON aircraft was 'selling' their aircraft at an estimated 140k about 5 years before it hit the market (and taking deposits against that estimate too)...it ended up hitting the market at over 350,000.00 (over 400k now maybe?) And their board of directors consisted of a prior Google CEO, Boeing executives, etc. The point is things change and you adapt as best as you can. We're not looking back, just forward. -tkyler

Did you read anything that was said above in the initial announcement? Anyone who purchased the product from the date the product page was updated will receive the upgrade for free. That promise has not been broken. We made ZERO announcements about a free update to existing customers anywhere. We did publish on the product page clearly made for new customers they would get a free update for X-Plane 12. There was a reason for that, and this is not uncommon in the software industry when products are in transition. A product page is an advertisement for potential customers. And, we are holding up that promise as was outlined in the announcement. A product page is not a means of communication to existing customers. We communicate by e-mail and forum announcements to existing customers, and always have. You're stretching things here.

Truth be told Bulva, I don't have a VR setup (used to, but not for a while)....BUT....will be getting a new one shortly, so yes, I do expect this aspect to be improved. I develop on a Mac and swapping back/forth to my Windows box is a bit of a pain atm, but I'm getting a KVM switch to make things more painless and this should make things much more palatable for developing for VR. -tk

it is NOT as expected, it also should be backlit. on my list for next patch.. Thank you. -tk

I will add that I myself prefer a bit longer startup as I enjoy the sights/sounds of the start process myself. Right now its hard coded and I can lower the 'starter strength' to slow it down a bit, which I probably will when I get back to the Moo engine tweaking...to make it more of an "average" start time of 40 - 50s, etc. -tk

The libacfutils fix shows promise as a stable workaround. We'll be deploying updates for our products with that implemented soon, targeting early June.

Yes, 2.1.0 is for X-Plane 12.

I'll definitely be putting in something for sure. Again, step 1 is get my IXEG customers in the air in V12 and then the "fun stuff" will begin...like this ice and wing flex for the MU2. Note that not all product's ice effects may be the same though. Laminar's icing effect can only be applied to four channels. The MU2, having independent heating on the left/right windshields takes up two of those channels. I elected to use the 3rd channel for the 'minor accumulation' of ice on the side window, leaving only one channel left for whatever I may use it for (if at all) The thing about Laminar's icing effect is it has a "fading animation" effect, which is great for ice accumulation / slow melting animations. I'll probably have to go the tried and true "show/hide" route for the other exterior surfaces that can ice up. This method (depending on how its implemented) cannot fade in effects, so its a bit harsher, appearing / disappearing instantly for the most part. There are ways to mitigate that, but its not the same as Laminar's smooth fading effect. So the Diamond there, probably only having one icing channel for the windshield icing, leaves the other channels for the wings, whereas I don't on the MU2. So just be aware that because one product has the icing effect implemented in 'X' way, doesn't mean that others may. As devs, we're always trying to bend X-Plane's available tech to our projects. All that said, its important that you be able to look at the window and see ice accumulation...and I'll definitely strive to come up with something as best I can. -tkyler

Absolutely! Just be sure to run the installer for EACH version of X-Plane. Are you sure you have your throttle setup correctly? Please be sure to check the documentation on that: https://www.togasim.com/mu2docs/setup/hardware_setup.html

I apologize I couldn't get to the engine stuff just yet....but there's lots of pressure to at least get these guys flying in XP12. Once that's done and folks can get a fix on some level at least....then I'm actually looking very forward to taking a breath...and start the refinement process...and indeed some fun stuffs. I'm really enjoying the work. -tk

As others I invested heavily in Xplane 11 and eventually bought Xplane 12. Whilst I enjoy flying airliners in 12 the lack of scenery for vfr flights and the fact that my favourite TBM 900 remains some way away from xp12 means I now use both. GA flights including hot start CL650 I run on xp11 and run commercial jets like TollissA321 on xp12 as well as CL650. If orbx and plane developers don’t catch up and xp11 does not get supported then my hobby will die with xp11 Shame as xp12 has some great plus points Water on the runway and better clouds is not enough.

OK, thanks anyway Jan. The information to edit could also be in one of the cockpit obj files: I'll have another look and post back if I do find a solution. :-)

Well that's some kinds of disappointment, I think I'd like to pay 15$ for an update in xp11, but anyway thanks for reply.

@Graeme_77 Got this fixed! Also I noticed the manual fuel pump wasn't working either. That's been corrected also. -tkyler

Got a few more from a recent flight showing the aircraft easing into Le Bourget

Yes, it is.

I bought the SR22 Entegra for its avionics. Too many devs stuff LR's G1000 into their planes. Some even tweak it. I've come to realize that emulating an full avionics suite is such a heavy lift and, that it improbable that many devs will step up to the challenge. Perhaps somebody will began developing h-fidelity drop-in avionics. Then devs could drop it into their offerings. The PC-12 uses the Honeywell Apex Primus Suite. No one has stepped up to modeling it. By extension, there are no PC-12NGs or PC24s or any aircraft that uses that suite exclusively. Your thoughts on "study-level" reminds me of JRR Toiken's thoughts on Good morning in the book, The Hobbit. I'm hoping study level means your third option. As long as you disclose that the intent is for simulation only I don't think you'll have any problems with legality. Of course, that's wishful thinking, albeit the Hot Start Challenger fits. Foxtrot Alpha, a real-world veteran Challenger pilot says he personally knows of pilots who've used the Hot Start 650 as a supplement to help get their type-rating for that aircraft. Perhaps one day, more simulation aircraft will be as thorough. Can you imagine paying $100 to $300 for true [quote] study-level [unquote] add-ons? I agree whole-heartedly with your sentiment on the Moo. It's really a different beast. I can hardly wait to get my paws on the XP12 version.

A freighter version for the -400 has potential because the workload to produce that is "relatively" light. The -500, being a shorter variant would require a much more laborious effort to change both the 3D and the flight model, being geometrically disparate...and the return on investment in that, I believe, probably would not justify the efforts. While I think a freighter variant would appeal to a statistically smaller set of customer use cases, I recognize that there is still a place for it...and so I do want to do a -400 freighter at some point. ..and yes, I'm still working on the 733 every day...my carpel tunnel and "tennis elbow" remind me constantly. I think I can safely say at this point that we'll definitely put out a more informative report this week on whats going on with the development. -tkyler

Thanks for the kind words Manolo, I'll keep working to improve it, I can still think of lots of cool things to do. It will probably always be a work in progress. Thanks all for the Xchecklist work..I haven't used it before, but will have to check it out, it looks quite handy. -tk

Agreed. Back in 2016-18 I flew basically two airplanes exclusively: the C172 and the Piper Arrow III/IV. I have a bunch of video on my YT channel in the Piper. At the time, I was trying to stick to aircraft I might actually fly IRL. Once I decided I am not going to finish pursuing my PPL, I decided I would fly whatever suits my fancy. Then I fell in love with the PC-12. Since the Citation X and the Challenger I've been transitioning to biz jets, which has segue to airliners. However, I always return to my pistons and turbo props for the love of those planes. Same here @Blueb. I tend to let my curiosity get in front of my wallet. I'll buy a GA airplane, usually around $25US, fly it a few times and move on. Those I mark as a favorite, I'll return to for more flights. BTW: I flew the PC-12 from the Congo to RDU (Raleigh-Durham International) similar to the way @Rick310 is flying through AK. If y'all haven't tried FSEconomy, then it worth a look. To move an aircraft from one location to another you have to fly it there. No teleporting.

I might be wrong but(it hard to see on video): - You do not really need to press red buttons (primer?) - Throttles should be at Ground Idle or at list lower than Flight idle. - It looks like switches are on Crank, while should be in Run. - Your Main tank is empty. Engines are feeding from Main tank in MU. It seems last point is the most possible reason. XP12 managing fuel wrong way for Mu. If you concerned - try one of mine amended ACF (and fuel loader) here in the forum.

I seem to recall that one of the goals of this aircraft is to give virtual pilots an idea of what the Challenger pilots actually do. I think they did a great job from arriving at an FBO to returning to the FBO after a flight. Admittedly, I don't tend to do a proper walk-around but I do remove the covers and pins. The save state feature is awesome. It allow for quick flights, if used, giving us the ability to skip C&D starts (you'll be required to do a C&D start at least once then you can save it). For newbies, Reflected Reality Simulations and Foxtrot Alpha Aviation YouTube channels are great resources for getting started. Thanks to everyone who had a hand in bringing the CL650 to virtual life!!!

@Ian Hi, I have checked the behavior on the XP12 version I am testflying right now, but I am sure that the logic for this was not touched since the XP11 version: When moving the pack switches to OFF (moving between auto and high should have no effect) the N1 indicated on the N1 LIMIT page increases by 1.0 percent N1 - this is correct and according "to the book". It makes sense, too - without the bleed air being extracted to drive the packs you can create more thrust before you hit the EGT limit. What is probably missing is getting the same effect when turning OFF the engine bleeds - as you would in a takeoff where the APU powers the packs (as opposed to having packs off for an unpressurized takeoff). I will add an issue to our internal list to also add this dependency. Cheers, Jan

@Graeme_77I got this mostly fixed. In the one use case where you switch the knob between ADF / VOR, then the needle won't cross the 0º to get on the newly selected bearing....so depending on the delta between the tuned ADF/VOR relative bearings at the time of knob switching, the needle may swing "the long way around", i.e. more than 180º. This specific use case constitutes a special "transition mode" that I'm not in any hurry to fix as it only rears its head for about 0.5 seconds when swapping the ADF/VOR knob position, but preserves the continuity of the animation, which I feel is important for the immersion. -tkyler