Xsimreviews

Another day and another update, again this is mostly joystick focused, the details :

X-Plane 10.10 Beta 3

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed washed out cockpits on older airplanes like the CL415. Blog post coming soon explaining what this was, why authors might want to update their planes, and what’s coming in the future for cockpits.
• Fixed erratic joystick behavior on windows that prevented proper calibration
• Fixed linux joystick problem preventing the detection of rudder pedals/trim wheels etc (NOTE: If it still doesn’t find your device, you’ll need to UDEV your /dev/input/event* device to give X-Plane permission).
• Fixed roads shooting into the sky at LSZA. (There are a lot of the roads on this planet and we can’t check them all by hand, so if you find yet more roads shooting into the sky, please file a bug!!)
• Sim won’t go into ‘safe mode’ after an auto-update.
• Aircraft carrier wake doesn’t show through carrier.
• Fixed crash at night with C130 and other planes with no 3-d cockpit.
• Fixed heat blur to not show up in first class cabin of 747 and other interiors.

On the last one “Fixed heat blur to not show up in first class cabin of 747 and other interiors.” … well if you pay extra in First class you used to get Heated Seats!

As Ben notes…

“What possessed us to send Chris off into HID land on a quest for new IO code?  The new IO code is meant to support a number of features, a few in 10.10 but most coming in a future build:

• Hot swapping (here now).
• Correct hat switch operations (here now).
• Preferences bound to more than one stick without resetting (here now).
• Automatic configuration (coming in the future).
• Better descriptions of the hardware in the UI (coming in the future).
• Ability to easily open source the Linux IO code (coming in the future).

The new code sets up a unified interface to the hardware, with the hope of sharing configuration info and being able to open source the low level IO code.

The long term goal is to make it really easy to work with X-Plane joysticks: plug it in, go through the absolute minimum configuration just once, and you’re flying.”

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So a little pain now to get a lot more functionality later, well that makes a little sense to me.

On the Joysticks, I have never had a problem (Mac OS), First I waited till the 9 pages of pain were read on the forums and thought “well better not do that then!”

On installing 10.10b1 I unplugged my “Thrustmaster” and then started X-Plane, when ready I inserted my USB and reset my Joystick and Throttle combo and it worked like a charm, the bonus is now I can change from throttle (for “The things with wings”) to collective (for things were the “wings move in a circle” without resetting every part of my throttle settings of which was getting seriously annoying.

Only major issue I had been the resetting all my keyboard and throttle settings back to where I like them, I didn’t know how many there was to do – nearly every key in one form or the other.

On the cockpit panel reflections mine was interesting as well…This is the panel of The Dash Q400.

open this picture up and notice the Control Column reflections on the flight displays, this I think is the aim of the idea, not perfect yet but clever…but now gone again on 10.10b3

And glance at my frame rate in the data box – 39.63 fr, with a major Virtual Cockpit in there, I was lucky to get 8 – 18 frames out of the Dash 3d VC this time last week – Happy, Yes Sir.

But and here is the BIG but…I keep running out of memory and that…..

Is a crash!

I can use the Dash Q400 at heavy sceneries like KLAX and my London Heathrow and with my VC cockpit and all but It is still very buggy, the differences between HDR “ON” and “OFF” are weird, In that the frame rate numbers are not that much different? odd to say the least but with HDR “ON” I get a much lighter (gamma) setting than HDR “OFF” and the HDR “ON” looks like it is a render (or two) setting lower…

A look at the (Brisbane) river here and the mountains and how Jaggy it all is with very poor resolution.

So has there been a trade-off?

But there is some great changes here with the lighting and HDR “ON”,

Coming in at dawn the lighting is positively beautiful.

Look at the luminous Clouds through the x737 C Windows.

First Dawn

Aircraft light reflections are first-rate.

Look down at the Mountain Ranges and the sweet lighting.

At every phase it is simply lovely stuff.

Only problem is every phase comes in with a thud and not a slow transition from one element to another.

And finally Brisbane, here the gamma is a little to high on the engines and wings.

And all this with great frame rate.

On my BO (Bloody Obvious) list at least three things have at least been given attention.

> Steering_wheel Toggle.

Which is the one that at the end of the runway that you toggle to keep the front wheels straight and releases the rudder, now works fine “yeah”

Engine Heat blur now is correct, but now and again I get a black shadow a little way back from the engines that looks odd.

Sticking to the right livery after you change a render setting, this is an almost goal, by moving them over to the set up UI, but change the livery and you go back to start?…so a fix?

Not really.

 

A few more on my BO list that are still in there like:

FMS plans still don’t advance at each waypoint?

HDR lighting shows through the floor (now only in HDR “OFF” and “ON” is fine.

Taxi light ground reflections doesn’t work separately from the Landing Lighting? you can have one or the other…(which strangely enough they did work correctly in the original Beta?)

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Overall I am saying that 10.10b3 is still very buggy and that is with my constant “Out of Memory” errors, but there is certainly a lot I really like in here for when it is sorted, If the frame rate can be steadied at where I think it can be set…then we will have a huge improvement there and HDR will finally be able to be left ticked on all the time, and that is a very positive outcome…but it may take a while yet to get there.

 

But 10.10b3 is not the fix upgrade

We will have to be patient a (fair) while longer yet.

FT56