*Sorry for asking here, but is seems to be the most relevant place at the moment*
What is going to happen in regards to jetway animation for airport sceneries in general? Everybody is doing different things in trying to achieve the same goal. Would it be possible to come to some kind of universal standard? (SODE being the best in my opinion)
We will soon have the following systems:
1. FSX default, inverse kinematics, Ctrl +J jetway animation.
See here:
http://www.fsdeveloper.com/wiki/index.php?title=Jetway_IK_video_tutorial
Limited system, simplified animations, lots of bugs, implementation is not developer friendly, free for the end user.
2. AES jetway animation based on BGL opcodes & graphics engine hacks.
See here:
http://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/topic/82019-prepar3d2-support-once-more/?p=588234
Perfect animation options, relies on low-level hacks & legacy code, not cross-platform, requires implementation by 1st party instead of scenery developer, (most of the time) pay-per-airport for the end user.
3. Simobjects Display Engine (SODE) using FSX/FSX:SE/ESP/P3D native Simconnect interfacing.
See here of course.
This is what FSX native jetways were supposed to be, allows multiple user-controlled jetways, very developer friendly, still in development, no licence required for developers & users (donationware).
4. Airport Controller (AC) using FSX/FSX:SE/ESP/P3D native Simconnect interfacing.
See here:
http://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/topic/74892-aerosoft-split-x-preview/page-4
http://en.shop.aerosoft.com/eshop.php?action=article_detail&s_supplier_aid=11975&s_design=DEFAULT&shopfilter_category=Flight Simulation&s_language=english
http://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/topic/69566-mega-airport-prague-preview/?p=630991
Not much is known, appears to be similar to SODE, licensed by developer/Aerosoft.
I really don't think the end users would like to use 4 different jetway systems, depending which airport scenery they are using at the moment. What is the plan for the future for the development community?