Leaderboard

we certainly want to encourage that kind of 3rd party interaction with the 737 and do plan to publish datarefs/commands as needed. We are wanting to start a dedicated forum just for "interfacing geeks", where cockpit builders and other developers can discuss how to go about doing things and what is needed from IXEG to facilitate such efforts. -tkyler

Jeez, it seems to always be one extreme or the other. Either it needs to be released now or they should work on it for the rest of their lives. I am a part of a software dev team, as you put it, and I can confirm that the work gets harder to do as you get closer to release. I also can say definitively that release is always after the time you originally thought it was going to be. I also know from experience that, if you want to make it completely up to your standards with no issues, it will never be released. Your standards will continue to rise as your skill level does. At some point you've got to compromise. You've got to decide to release the aircraft and to improve the aircraft as you build skills. Nobody in this world is ever the best possible at anything. If you can do everything perfectly, you can do it faster. If you can do it perfectly and fast, you can do it more cheaply. There will always be room to improve. I really wish people would develop a more moderate stance on this. At some point products need to be released. "Very soon," (not quoting anyone here, just in general) turns to, "A few days," that turns to, "A few weeks," that turns into, "A few months." And it goes on and on until you decide, "You know what? This plane is way better than I ever expected. I'm going to release it now, and I can always update it afterwards." And, at this time, I don't *think* that this applies to the IXEG team. The time left before release seems to be dwindling now, as opposed to increasing. Sorry for this wall of text, I just had to get it out. -VETTE PS: Really looking forwards to release, however soon it may be. Now it's time to go make some money

Hi, You can watch the movies we did (I mention and show the effect of airflow sounds changing on a few occasions, iirc.) to see how we modulate cockpit sounds. Since the 737 has no pneumatically driven "demand pumps", driving the flaps in the same situation will not have an audible effect, though. You would see a spike in EGT - as the electrically driven hydraulic pump B has to struggle to satisfy hydraulic power demand, and therefore the APU has to generate more electricity. At the same time you could see a marked drop in hyd B pressure - with flaps driving a lot slower than on EDPs. Cheers, Jan

I never get tired of looking at XP's lighting. It's just so realistic! Not sure if I counted them correct, but the 737 has about 18 (!) different lightsources inside the cockpit that you individually can adjust to your liking. Great way to waist time during a long cruise at night

It is not lost on use to simulate every little "effect" due to every possible input by every possible system, but the thing here is simply the "volume" of things to be dealt with. Being this is our first product, in order to be competitive, we really have to achieve the same technical level as a 17+ year old company with more resources and experience and well....that is just taking a while, especially given that we're a 4 man team working in our spare time. This is a testament to using Gizmo and its vastly reduced compilation time. It is our belief; however, that once we get this initial tech on the market, we can then expand upon the smaller details and try and capture as much of the real thing as possible. Rome wasn't build in a day, nor in 5 years. In time, we'll refine the 737 and eventually, get to that vision we have. Its enough for now just to get a really robust FMS / AP implementation, which is priority 1. -tkyler

Ok, here's a real report. In the last few days, we have seen very, very few gizmo crashes (from my bad programming) with regards to FMS work. There are a few fringe cases, but they are getting very tough to reproduce and usually come about when you start punching buttons like that kid in the movie, Airplane 2. ...stuff most of you would not do. In prep for the final steps before letting beta folks test it, I have refactored (programmer speak for "cleaned up") the code to be more user friendly towards VNAV predictions and debugging VNAV performance values......and that is what we are currently working on. If you don't plan to use VNAV, well I'm sorry, the FMS was ready for you a long time ago....but once you do learn it, and it actually works as expected, its quite satisfying and fun to experience....hence our efforts to really make it work. So tomorrow I'll be flying some test routes to fine tune the descent code....and if all goes well, we want to let the beta testing folks have a hand at it asap. I think Jan is planning a "full flight" preview, but no promises, I can't speak for him, he may not have plans for that. (no micro-management here). Now I know most folks automatically assume that once a closed 'beta' begins, that will uncover a slew of other bugs, which adds to the development time, but I have to tell you now...that I have NEVER seen a tester like Captain Jan Vogel! (He IS that kid from Airplane 2), except with 100x the knowledge (very dangerous). This guy finds stuff that nobody will EVER try. and when this guy says, "its good for V1.0", then I will challenge the beta guys to find something we don't already know about. Now note I said, "know about". We know there's holes in the FMS, but feel its getting to the point to handle a good 90+% (or better) of use cases. If you are that super hard-core simmer that likes to explore the fringes of FMS usage....well...I'd say, "fly some normal routes first or wait". Work continues daily! -tkyler

Damn it! Thought the aircraft was released!

There's also my somewhat dormant "x-httpd" project which is part of the roadmap for getting Gizmo-powered systems onto things like tablets and smart phones as a "Remote FMS" input system. External hardware and integration is definitely on our radar, at all levels.

Absolutely. The Saab 340 is my favorite plane in real life, and I actually bought XP10 just to use this addon. I can't believe how detailed the Saab is, just like the Majestic Q400 or PMDG NGX for FSX (maybe even more so), and as a platform XPlane is superb. I love the 'feel' I get, like I'm actually driving a large metal machine through a fluid medium. I'm having enormous fun recreating Northwest Airlink Saab flights out of DTW I'd take as a kid, and actually haven't fired up P3D in days. Good luck figuring out this little quirk, but until then I can deal with all the phone numbers I'll get from ATC for clogging up their runways

IXEG Team: I am a customer of "Brand P" and one of the biggest values they bring is they high level of quality of their software. Please help set a new standard among X-Plane dev teams and release a great product, a "v1.0" can stand alone and not *have to have* updates. As far as comments about dev time: I've been part of software dev teams and it's always easy when you start and gets harder as you go, especially when it's "close". I remember reading comments on our product's forum about delays, guesses on what we did all day and worse. It can be demoralizing and while some devs develop a thick skin, it's tough to read or see. Imagine - your mom is making cookies for you. You go into the kitchen, complain when can't help taste the dough and you want to take them out of the oven early. When your mom doesn't let you, you start questioning her ability to bake, her skills in measuring ingredients and in some cases, her quality as a parent. How would she feel? Happy to wait for a product IXEG is proud to sell... Steve

glad it is getting better for you as well. I do not want to post much more and keep speculating on this. I will try to spend some time next week when able to come back on this and see if i can figure out what is going on for providing the developers better evidence about this in the meantime enjoy this bird, is one of the very best available for xplane.

There is no such thing as a perfect plane! There are bad planes, good planes and very good planes. Unfinished planes, half done planes and mostly done planes.

Colin, Molokai is looking great. Can't wait for its release. Years ago I flew into Mokokai's Kalapapa's small airstrip, which services the former leper colony there, several times as a passenger on a Cessna 210. Quite a challenge for the pilot, a short runway with strong winds and salt spray from nearby shore break waves . Look forward to doing it again on X-Plane with your scenery package in place. Aloha. Paul

Time for Molokai airport. I have closed QGIS and MeshTool and hope not to open them again for a few weeks. I will not be starting Molokai until I get back from Spain, but I will hopefully be updating Niihau and starting work on the improved Lanai and Kahoolawe. Molokini will be updated when Maui is released, as I will be removing the XP8 quality SketchUp model that is a blemish on the reputation of Hawaii Photoreal. Considering pulling the file outright until we have Maui ready to go. Anyways, here's Molokai from a different angle than usual. It's looking pretty sweet.

Interesting and off topic, did you consider ZeroMQ? Since IIRC MQTT handles only messaging (very well).

I've been dabbling in the world of Arduino/ESP8266 and IoT. My preferred protocol at the moment is MQTT. Gizmo will be getting more powerful USB API options in future too so we can make sure any of our product integrations are 100% seamless.

Looking forward to your upcoming release! I do have a quick question. Have you guys been able to expose a lot of datarefs and commands for the plane? I love to play around with external screens (like Air Manager) and build hardware cockpit panels. Sometimes getting all the data we need can be tricky. Are you guys exposing everything we need to create external panels, and reproduce the output of all glass screens, including the FMS, on external panels? I warn you, I'll be one of the first guys trying to dig these up after you release! Good luck on your launch, I know lots of people are looking forward to this plane!

Truly buetiful picture, and I don't no about you guys, but I CANT &*^%$# WAIT!!!!! Great work IXEG.

This makes me happy. I won't have to open QGIS for at least another three weeks and MeshTool for another month. HD Mesh is done, update to the Hawaii UHD pending. Warning: It removes all roads, but if flightseeing is all you're after, this might be the thing for you.

Cool idea.

Please be careful with uninformed assumptions and generalizations. You are so far off the truth, it's almost laughable.

There are moments of victorious accomplishment... And moments of utter defeat...

If you read back, you will see Tkyler explain what you want. His quote at the end of his comment is "wouldn't it be great to have this plane is 5-6 weeks?" You will understand what that means if you go back and read it. Also, you should know that these guys were doing this project on their spare time. 5 years may seem a lot, but with what we have seen, we can see why it takes this long with the circumstances.

it was ironic. I only think that 5 years are too much, also for a perfect plane. I know what it takes to develop a perfect plane, just beacause i am doing it. The most is fmc programming, but it request a specialist and this is what i needed for my plane, until i decided to develop a citation. "The plane is coming" I am sure about that, sure and faithful to the developers, but they shouldn't give us "release dates" like in the end of december... This is my only critic

Well in the video Jan did the SWA livery is N654SW. So I will spend my first day doing what the real aircraft is doing. As an example N654SW's routing tomorrow 2016-03-16 WN4472 Phoenix (PHX) Little Rock (LIT) 17:20 PM MST - 21:45 PM CDT Estimated departure. 17:30 PM 2016-03-16 WN3027 Austin (AUS) Phoenix (PHX) 16:05 PM CDT - 16:40 PM MST Estimated departure. 16:15 PM 2016-03-16 WN3027 Dallas (DAL) Austin (AUS) 14:35 PM CDT - 15:30 PM CDT Estimated departure. 14:45 PM 2016-03-16 WN28 Houston (HOU) Dallas (DAL) 13:00 PM CDT - 14:00 PM CDT Estimated departure. 13:10 PM 2016-03-16 WN17 Dallas (DAL) Houston (HOU) 11:00 AM CDT - 12:05 PM CDT Estimated departure. 11:10 AM 2016-03-16 WN373 Austin (AUS) Dallas (DAL) 09:25 AM CDT - 10:25 AM CDT Estimated departure. 09:35 AM 2016-03-16 WN372 Dallas (DAL) Austin (AUS) 08:00 AM CDT - 08:55 AM CDT Estimated departure. 08:10 AM

I wasn't relating my post solely to the post you singled out... I'm not trying to moderate anything. and what did I do to receive this remark ? "Further discussion on this will NOT be had, and that's definitely my warning to you." *edit: feel free to respond in a private message, so we can keep the unrelated and non IXEG stuff to a minimum here

a.) Not for 1.0 This is something that real airline pilots use very rarely, well, except for adding the fix "HOME" so they can input the coordinates of their house. Complex missed-approaches are part of the database, or can be made with conditional waypoints (PBD). But for 1.0 we won´t have conditional waypoints, but you can use the FIX page to "visualize" maneuvers that are off the normal FIXES. b.) not sure what exactly you mean - the acceleration altitude is the altitude at wich the plane should start to accelerate, this has nothing to do with the thrust rating. Thrust is reduced (usually from TO or R-TO to CLB) at the thrust-reduction altitude. This altitude can be set on the TAKEOFF REF page (it defaults to 1500AGL). If you push the N1 button below this altitude, then the autothrust will set the current thrust limit (which will be R-TO or TO). You can change the thrust limit manually on the N1 LIMIT page, though. c.) Yes, of course. But - as in the real plane - you must be at a different altitude than the one set in the altitude window. So you can´t be at 3000 feet, have the altitude window set to 3000 and then expect to engage V/S. It is not allowed (technically the aircraft intercepts the 3000´ again before you even start to gain any vertical speed). To start a final approach descent in V/S just put the MCP ALT to something suffiicently "high", then dial it down to missed approach altitude when you have safely descended from it. Jan

Hard date estimates are too tough...but as an eternally optimistic kind of guy, what I can give you is a "hey, it would be awesome if we could have something in X weeks". Then when we get to that day and we're not there, I'll say it again, "it would be awesome if we could have something in X weeks"....and if we don't make it then, we'll do it again and again and if we're steadily moving closer to our goal, then one day, the estimate will converge with reality. I don't care if I have a moving target as long as the delta between me and the target is always closing....that math adds up to convergence at some point if you go far enough....the trick is to get there. This is the way I find my motivation to push on, I always have to believe I'm close enough to keep moving...and if thats what it takes to get this done so we can all have this sim experience, then it is what it is. I understand other folks would do it differently, but hey, they're not doing it now are they . It would be awesome if we could have something in 5-6 weeks wouldn't it? -tkyler

Please stop asking. You've already been told no.

Nice.... That's good for me.. can live with that and get an update later. Close beta should be 1 day tops... its getting closer... i guess...

Recently Nvidia released new drivers (364.47) that have since caused issues for many many users, most particularly those with multi monitor setups. https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/49cy4i/new_36447_driver_released_with_vulkan_support_in/That driver has been pulled and replaced by driver version 364.51 which is intended to address these reported problems and seems to work for most people. Be aware however, that some are still reporting issues even with this latest driver. https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/921332/geforce-drivers/official-364-51-game-ready-whql-display-driver-feedback-thread-released-3-10-16-updated/49/Be cautious! Make a restore point before trying these out.

But I think another thing to consider is, how do the salmon and ants feel about this?

You must postulated to fly with it last time. We can make a petition to lufthansa if you want

Not Boeing, not flying

To me as a desktop driver, it's Airbus' design philosophy in general. While they were clever at some points, they tried to be very consequent in the fly-by-wire design and did some things that give some pilots headaches. I am thinking about the sidestick which isn't interconnected, the non-motorized thrustlevers that do not give you a valid feedback on thrust setting and other stuff (just think about the LH A320 that did a 4000ft dive because of frozen sensors - the pilots had to turn off a few systems to regain control) and other stuff. Proper reaction to errors which were not described in the manuals takes longer, as systems are more complex and more interconnected. Much more A320 pilots say they do not understand all systems/functions than any 737 (including NG)-pilot would do.

It´s starting to wear on me that we only have 5 or 6 737s left at Lufthansa. Last flight is planned for something like October, and I really hope they will throw a farewell party, but for some reason I doubt it. I start taping and taking pictures of all the 737´s I see, my Copilots think I am crazy . Just yesterday I saw our newest model, D-ABEF! (Only a little over 20, still a youngster!). And what do we get to replace them? NEO´s... what a nightmare. Jan

The weeks will fly by! Something tells me the experience will be well worth the wait. Thanks for the update and good luck needle hunting.

I'm totally on your side and I don't care when it's going to be released. But if you sort of set a deadline on multiple ocasions (the end of 2015 was the deadline most Forum users were expecting), only using the word "close" for weeks and weeks after not meeting that line shouldn't make you wonder about people "bitching" to find out when it's finally going to be released.

File Name: Saab 340A Flight Manual File Submitter: PinkJackal File Submitted: 04 Nov 2015 File Category: Plugins and Utilities This document will help you fly this beautiful aircraft by the numbers. Enjoy! Regards Albert Click here to download this file

The pace of this forum is such that posting every few days seems appropriate. I'm sorry if it isn't in your view. I was under the understand that the purpose of a forum was to learn, and share your own opinions. You didn't really lay it out clearly. You were pissed off that that other guy interjected into the thread, and jumped down my throat when I asked what you meant. Yes, I can totally understand this. If you had said this, it would have made more sense. The example you gave, which you said was simplified, reflected a different assertion than what I took away from it. This I was definitely mistaken on, at the time I was under the impression you only supported windows, after visiting your website I have learned you support OSX as well. Hey, I'm sorry people have been hassling you into supporting their favorite platform. I really didn't come here to piss you off, I really have not been a member of this forum for long, and honestly I was just looking to figure out what you saying. The comment you made to the other guy really seemed to imply that you were under the impression that Linux people don't pay for any software, and the implication was that they pirated it. This is why I asked the original question. You quickly cleared up that you were not implying piracy, and then began to discuss your other argument. Which I continued to discuss with you. Your example implied to me that you spent like development time, when really you were just trying to say that it takes more time that you ever end up returning in sales. Again, I apologize, I really was not trying to be inciteful, I was just trying to get clarification on your arguments.

please stop playing big brother for the IXEG team... They might actually be willing to shed some light on it (as tkyler did a few posts later) I notice that I'm getting more and more irritated by the attitude you are showing from time to time... Most of the time questions like 'is it ready yet, when will it be released, how much will it cost' will sort out themselves. just save your moderator powers for when discussions really get out of hand. and for the IXEG Team: Keep it up guys, nearly there... I'll be cheering at the finish for you ! just my 2 cents

Ohhhhhh I'm getting Excited!!!!! How long is the closed beta supposed to be once it starts? Great work IXEG!

Well I guess you know the answer.. No one really knows that.. Yes developers have a internal time frame when testing is started (already said in this form as well) but is only a estimate.. I know as both tester and developer of given things, how that can changes and gets updated as it´s important for you as tester to know some kind of time frame as you might work for other developers as well.. But it is a estimate that is subject to changes, the best example is (CRJ700 / 900) where things have not followed the plan as the publisher wants, and keep updating stuff to get it to the latest standards.. else you might end by a Fokker project by a new VC and the old product from 2008 just to take a ex. I know it would be the other way around in that case.. but that was a side step to get a complete understanding about the many complex things you have to take in to consideration. But you have to understand the final part is hard work and where the smallest thing can be a show stopper until corrected and sometimes that’s by going far back and re do things, sometimes as close as to the start, I have tried that and it is so frustrating. Another factor is depending on the company size and such things, you would know 1 delay cause problems further down the line. We sometimes have seen when testing is good and nearly done and ready, they need a installer but since the person that should do that does not have time as he works by other projects.. If you start count all those things, that you do not have much control about. You would realise how difficult it is to estimate to the public, as you do not know the facts about what would happen you can try but you never know what´s behind the next corner. How is it in the gaming industry do they always keep promise ? NO.. What does it cause? More negativity and bad reputation around the world.. That´s why some developers do no show what they work on, and just out of a sudden a new product ends in the store. But a EST of beta or release is never easy or a good way in the public, as it often cause more negativity when it is not going to happen, then when you get to the store and find it´s out.. Not only does it lower the pressure of the developers but also the system that should handle forum and shop in the final end.. That was a long one, I just feel it does not make any sense to keep asking as its like some just try push on to get information, but it has the opposite effect.. Would you give info if some one keeps asking the same thing ? as when they give a release date another might start arguing that it takes long time and there we go again.. We have seen it so often sadly..

The guy has asked me on Skype, in private message, and on here, as well as to other team members. He was told politely many times we were not seeking more beta testers. He's not asking for a progress update. I (or anyone) really didn't need you to chime back. No one was "moderated". I asked him to "please stop asking." Simple request. Don't blow this up. I'm now going to politely ask you to please discontinue any attempt to moderate or derail this topic. Further discussion on this will NOT be had, and that's definitely my warning to you.

Then your post had absolutely no business being in this topic. Back on topic, please. To all others: We have a pretty awesome product to discuss here! Let's keep it clean and on topic. Further posts like A121017's will be removed from the topic so as to keep this thread what it's really about. Nice screenshot Morten!

I think i am waiting for a plane that doesn't exists... Always same escuses like "few things to be solved", "Gizmo crashes" and so on for 3-4 months. This is not a correct behavior, you should work instead of post screenshots. Altough It will be a great add on, but i hope that it will be for XP10 and not for XP256461