• Which the release of FS2020 we see an explosition of activity on the forun and of course we are very happy to see this. But having all questions about FS2020 in one forum becomes a bit messy. So therefore we would like to ask you all to use the following guidelines when posting your questions:

    • Tag FS2020 specific questions with the MSFS2020 tag.
    • Questions about making 3D assets can be posted in the 3D asset design forum. Either post them in the subforum of the modelling tool you use or in the general forum if they are general.
    • Questions about aircraft design can be posted in the Aircraft design forum
    • Questions about airport design can be posted in the FS2020 airport design forum. Once airport development tools have been updated for FS2020 you can post tool speciifc questions in the subforums of those tools as well of course.
    • Questions about terrain design can be posted in the FS2020 terrain design forum.
    • Questions about SimConnect can be posted in the SimConnect forum.

    Any other question that is not specific to an aspect of development or tool can be posted in the General chat forum.

    By following these guidelines we make sure that the forums remain easy to read for everybody and also that the right people can find your post to answer it.

P3D v4 RELEASED - Free SpacePort Demo for Prepar3D V4.x and 5.x, FSX:SP2 and FSX:SE

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ca-ontario
Hi everyone!

Finally, a comprehensive update to SpacePort Demo is here! We are pleased to announce that the free demo of our upcoming spaceflight module SpacePort for FSX and P3D series simulators has just been uploaded to our Web Site!

To download, please go to our Web Site or directly to our downloads page and download "SpacePortDemo.exe" (256 Mb). The installer detects versions of the simulator (currently supporting FSX:SP2, FSX:SE, P3Dv4.x and P3Dv5.x) and if you have multiple simulator installs, you can choose for which versions you want to install.

Also, we have released an accompanying PhotoRealistic scenery of Kennedy Space Center area, that goes along with the active 3D infrastructure included in the main SpacePortDemo package. It can also be downloaded from the above links, and it is 1.39Gb in size.

A few notes on the SpacePortDemo package:
  • SpacePortDemo will be installed to only one (user-chosen) location, and all the platforms that are using it will be referring to it.
  • For P3Dx.x platforms, the installation is fairly benign and un-intrusive, thanks to the LM's super friendly and simple add-on installation scheme. The only things added to the P3Dvx.x is an entry to add-ons.xml, and a few settings overridden in P3D.CFG file (things like default ATC, traffic disabled, virtual copilot disabled, aircraft-specific warnings disabled, etc.). There is an installer option to save the copy of the P3D.CFG file before any changes are made, so that if anything goes wrong, you can revert back to the original P3D.CFG.
  • For FSX:x platforms, the installation is a bit more involved. There are content entries added to FSX.CFG, DLL.XML and Scenery.CFG. As with the P3D install, backups of those 3 files will also be created so that the user can safely revert to the state of the sim before SpacePortDemo. Also, as with P3D install, there are entries changed in FSX.CFG, and in addition, there are FLT files copied to user directory, and some content (effects, bitmaps, sounds) copied to the FSX:x install directory. These files are automatically removed upon in-installation of SpacePortDemo.
  • For FSX.x platforms, first time you run the simulator, you will have to acknowledge 1 main app and 8 new gauge DLL security permissions (P3D does not have this requirement). You will have to do this only once, and the DLL's will be listed as "friendly" in the FSX.CFG.
  • Since there is no way we can check and cover all the possible ways users have configured their simulator platform(s) (especially the add-ons they are using), we have tested the SpacePortDemo on clean installs of all the FSX:x and P3Dvx.x versions. If things are not working, please disable all the add-ons you are using in the simulator and try again. We have, through the course of the development, found that some third-party add-ons grossly misbehave in the execution of their code and the cleanup of their content. For example, we've found that VRS's TacPack promptly deletes ALL the spawned AI objects (not just the ones it spawns) above certain altitude, rendering SpacePortDemo unusable (as you can imagine).
  • We'd love it if you would report on problems and overall experience you are having during installation and usage of SpacePort demo - it helps us improving our product and making user experience more enjoyable. As for bugs and features, we are aware of some of them, but feel free to report any minor or major showstoppers.
  • SpacePortDemo works best with P3Dv4.5 (version we did most testing on). P3Dv5.5 has some issues with the menu/UI system we're looking into, and a few other minor hiccups, such as going into "pause" mode upon starting or reloading of the flight. FSX:x version is showing its age and is generally slower - especially with a lot of smoke effects (rocket smoke trails and plumes) because this portion of the sim wasn't optimized as well as the P3D versions.
  • As with real spaceflight, the GNC (Guidance, Navigation and Control) is fully automated, meaning, the launch is a "ride" that astronauts are monitoring all the way into orbit. This means that the launch in the demo FLT has pre-set orbital parameters. However, these parameters are specified in SpacePort-specific CFG files and can easily be changed by the user. The guidance at this stage of development is in its "pseudo" mode, meaning, it is only partially functional. Nonetheless, it will get you into orbit every single time you launch. SpacePort is a complex spaceflight environment consisting of many new "moving parts". SpacePort development is on-going, and as we continue to expand the capabilities, we will release Software Development Kit so that the users can create their own spaceflight content and explore this new dimension of simulation.
That's it for now. Keep watching this thread for updates on the development of this exciting new way to enjoy our simulator hobby.

P3D SpacePort Team
 
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ca-ontario
Oops! Sorry folks, this should have been posted (and now is) in the "Showroom" forum... Can moderator please erase this thread if it doesn't belong here? Thanks!

Mitch
P3D SpacePort Team
 
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