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FSX GPS based "paper" map for FSX/P3D

Vitus

Vitus

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newzealand
Good afternoon Ladies and Gentleman!

There is a question in my head that i am pondering for a long time now (many years actually) but never got around to ask the wise folk of fsdeveloper.

Is it possible to use the gps map in a more... static way? As you guys know, I'm into vintage aircraft and aviation and it always bugs me that the FS makes it so easy to not get lost. One thing that I'd love to see implemented in FSX/P3D is a map that doesn't show your position, but just a static map, like one printed on paper. maybe it would be possible to create a bubble-sextant-like gauge with it that can be used to draw lines and estimate your position based on it. It would be necessary to draw gridlines on it, and it must be possible to pan and zoom.

What do you think? Is it possible? What would you estimate the workload for something like this would be?

Yours truly,
Vitus :coffee:
 
rpmc

rpmc

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1,564
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thailand
Easy to do. Just omit the aircraft icon and use a fixed lat/lon for the fsmap <Latitude> and <Longitude> rather than (A: PLANE LATITUDE, radians), (A: PLANE LONGITUDE, radians).

If you're interested, there's a Stationary Map example (where the aircraft icon moves across a stationary map, like the passenger info map in an airliner) in the FSMAP guidebook download. That gauge has a lot of other stuff in it, but you can see the approach to fixed lat/lon.

Estimated workload - it's trivial. Near zero work involved. There are also XML sextant gauge examples out there, somewhere, if I remember correctly. You can pan and zoom using the fs9gps:Map commands, although it will take you a few minutes to set up the pan and zoom click spots (a few minutes using FS9 schema; x10 if FSX :p). Gridlines will have to be drawn using separate XML elements because LayerGridlines doesn't work. But all of it is possible. I guess you would spend the most time scaling locations of the gridlines if you need those lines drawn on specific lat/lons.

Bottom line is that everything you mentioned is truly very easy except for the gridlines if those need to be drawn on specific lat/lons.

If you don't already have it, you might consider downloading the FSMAP guidebook which contains explanations of the fsmap variables and also includes XML examples of moving and stationary map gauges that demonstrate most things covered in the guidebook.

Bob
 
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M

Maddz

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150
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england
Some ideas for you, this guy uses sextant gauge and google earth, see discription for links :
 
n4gix

n4gix

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unitedstates
Great tutorial, but it sure underscores why the Navigator didn't really have many other duties. He/she'd be far too busy looking stuff up and making calculations... :eek:
 
Vitus

Vitus

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newzealand
Thanks for your replies! Bob, it certainly sounds easy enough from what you are saying. I always tried to avoid the fs9gps, fearing it's just too big a task (and there are so many other things needing to get done). I hope I'll find the time soon to put something together.

Maddz, yes I saw that a while back. I didn't find the time to actually try the gauge itself, but I really enjoyed watching the instructions. The gauge looks a bit... outdated though. It would be cool to have something like this combined with the gps map.

Bill, the way I see it is is that on the one hand you want to give the user a glimpse of what it means to fly in these times. And one aspect of that is that you wont know where you are when you fly through the clouds for instance. On the other hand I don't want to overwhelm the user and fulfill two or three roles while flying (pilot, engineer and navigator). I recently came across this video here:
It's an educational film about the duties of a navigator from the 1940s.

It's a difficult line to walk, but one thing that I definitely dislike is hitting a button and you know where you are. I want to get lost! And the flight simulator doesn't et me! :D

Those are my two cents. Thanks again for your input. You are, as always, very helpful!
Vitus
 
rpmc

rpmc

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1,564
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thailand
one other thing ... If you want a simple starter XML map example, download the attached map gauge found in the recent FS9 map range and rotation thread. Bob
 
Vitus

Vitus

Resource contributor
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1,480
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newzealand
rpmc said:
one other thing ... If you want a simple starter XML map example, download the attached map gauge found in the recent FS9 map range and rotation thread. Bob
Click to expand...
Saved. Thank you for the tip!
 
Heretic

Heretic

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6,830
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germany
You can also use WebSimConnect for maps or similar. I think I've seen it used for something like this in one of Daan's (Dutcheeseblend) projects.
 
COBS

COBS

Messages
542
Country
australia
Map relevance to user pilot !

When you start a flight sim session you select a start location , so with different sessions different locations will be chosen .
Your fixed map must be relevant to the current geographical location , otherwise it's useless to the user .

There are several ways to "set" the location of your fixed map to ensure it is relevant to your flight .
(1) set plane Lat/Long to unique map Lat/Long .
(2) manually enter a Lat/Long and set it to unique map Lat/Long .
(3) do a nearest airport ICAO search and set ICAO Lat/Long to unique map Lat/Long .

the following example sets the " unique map Lat/Long " ,
Code: 
                                             (A:PLANE LATITUDE, degrees) (&gt;L:FixedMapLatitude,degrees)
                                              (A:PLANE LONGITUDE, degrees) (&gt;L:FixedMapLongitude,degrees)

Regards " Panning the map display " the following link details the full code for panning the display ,
http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/radar-stand-off-panning-display-aspects.428124/

in my code the position of the map can be moved in increments of 1 nm out to your set maximum distance from the original location ,
in that example max distance was set at 300 nm , but you can set the max distance at any value that you desire .
Once you move that map , you can then rotate the map position in 1 degree per click in a circle at the current distance about
the original map location .
It also has a reset button that instantly returns the map to it's original location .

Cheers
Karol
 
Vitus

Vitus

Resource contributor
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1,480
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newzealand
Thank you so much for your information. I can't wait to get to play around with the map now. I wish the days were longer, there are always so many other things to do :laughing:
 
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