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Suggestions for Future Versions 2010

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danfoster said:
Two suggestions (for ADE9):

1.

When a parking node is selected, the graphics currently show the node as a circle with a thin line down its central axis (one half of which forms an arrow shape). However, when the parking node is not selected, this thin line disappears, and the only graphic is the arrow shape.

It would be great if the thin line remained visible at all times - including whilst one has other items selected (such as taxiway nodes) - so that it is easy to align the adjoining taxi-link to the parking node (by aligning the taxi-link with the thin line of the parking node).

2.

I don't know whether it is possible to change the colour of guide lines, especially while they are the currently selected item? I find it hard to see the ends of the guide line whilst moving it around the screen, as it doesn't stand out well from the background colour. Also, it is drawn behind taxi nodes, meaning that one cannot accurately place the end of the guide line on the exact position of the node.

Oh, and 3 :p

There are a number of situations where one is dragging an object across the screen with the mouse button pressed, and it is necessary to zoom out (and then back in). When I do this, ADE tends to zoom around the point where the mouse was when it was first pressed, rather than zooming around the point where it is now. This means that as you zoom back in to accurately place the dragged object, the screen view loses the point of "action". Naturally, it would be better if the zoom used the current mouse position as its focal point.

Maybe that is a bug? Either way, it would be a welcome improvement.

Many thanks! And also, thanks for such a great program!

Dan
Click to expand...

I will look into them Dan. currently you can change the color of guide lines but not the color for selected items.

ADE does zoom around the mouse point as I recall :confused:
 
scruffyduck said:
ADE does zoom around the mouse point as I recall :confused:
Click to expand...

Indeed it does! :)

However, there are a few circumstances in ADE9 (I don't do FSX/ADEX) where this doesn't happen quite as you may have intended. If nothing is currently selected or being "operated" on, then the zoom function works perfectly - it focuses on the current mouse pointer position. But this doesn't seem to happen when one is using the mouse to operate some other function at the same time as zooming in or out.

If you click the "add taxi link" button, zoom in close, add a node, now zoom out and move to the other side of the airfield, now zoom back in to accurately place the next node, you will find that the zoom focus has not stayed with the current mouse location. It is still focusing on the initial node, so as you zoom in, the screen no longer shows the intended location of the second node. I seem to remember something similar with apron vertices. Dragging objects is actually ok most of the time (if you don't drag too quickly), contrary to my original assertion.

The recurring "theme" seems to indicate that the focus point is defined by the mouse-pointer's last position at which no buttons were depressed. When a mouse button is being held, this interrupts the pointer-position updates to the zoom focus. But as I said, oddly this problem doesn't seem to affect simple dragging of objects (most of the time).

In retrospect, I think my suggestion that the zoom should keep the mouse-pointer as the focal point - even when using the mouse for other tasks - is something that you probably allways intended. In which case this is a bug.

Hope that makes sense,

Dan
 
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danfoster said:
Indeed it does! :)

However, there are a few circumstances in ADE9 (I don't do FSX/ADEX) where this doesn't happen quite as you may have intended. If nothing is currently selected or being "operated" on, then the zoom function works perfectly - it focuses on the current mouse pointer position. But this doesn't seem to happen when one is using the mouse to operate some other function at the same time as zooming in or out.

If you click the "add taxi link" button, zoom in close, add a node, now zoom out and move to the other side of the airfield, now zoom back in to accurately place the next node, you will find that the zoom focus has not stayed with the current mouse location. It is still focusing on the initial node, so as you zoom in, the screen no longer shows the intended location of the second node. I seem to remember something similar with apron vertices. Dragging objects is actually ok most of the time (if you don't drag too quickly), contrary to my original assertion.

The recurring "theme" seems to indicate that the focus point is defined by the mouse-pointer's last position at which no buttons were depressed. When a mouse button is being held, this interrupts the pointer-position updates to the zoom focus. But as I said, oddly this problem doesn't seem to affect simple dragging of objects (most of the time).

In retrospect, I think my suggestion that the zoom should keep the mouse-pointer as the focal point - even when using the mouse for other tasks - is something that you probably allways intended. In which case this is a bug.

Hope that makes sense,

Dan
Click to expand...

Sounds more like a bug. Perhaps you can report it on the Issue Tracker Dan?
 
I'll get round to it soon... ;)

I have another suggestion. It may not be possible, and it may not even be necessary in the future, but here goes:

When in the Nav aid list, would it be possible to add a function where if you (for example) right-click an ils, you are given the option to delete it. But before you can delete, you have to click a button confirming that it is an afcad produced duplicate.
 
danfoster said:
I'll get round to it soon... ;)

I have another suggestion. It may not be possible, and it may not even be necessary in the future, but here goes:

When in the Nav aid list, would it be possible to add a function where if you (for example) right-click an ils, you are given the option to delete it. But before you can delete, you have to click a button confirming that it is an afcad produced duplicate.
Click to expand...

Probably but as per my answer in another thread the code in ADE should find this anyway.
 
OK, no worries, that's good enough for me.

In case you missed it, I posted a link to the specific file that ADE failed to handle.

Thanks for your prompt responses to all my enquiries! You provide un-rivalled user support! And I never forget that it is all for free...
 
danfoster said:
OK, no worries, that's good enough for me.

In case you missed it, I posted a link to the specific file that ADE failed to handle.

Thanks for your prompt responses to all my enquiries! You provide un-rivalled user support! And I never forget that it is all for free...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback - much appreciated :)
 
Can we have an automatically generated thumbnail from a new object loaded into the library manager instead of having to create one manually?

EZ_Scenery sort of does it when placing an object, hope that makes sense...:)

John
 
VulcanDriver said:
Can we have an automatically generated thumbnail from a new object loaded into the library manager instead of having to create one manually?

EZ_Scenery sort of does it when placing an object, hope that makes sense...:)

John
Click to expand...

It does make sense but it isn't that easy to do. EZ Scenery creates an In-Sim 3D model of the object. Now I do have a tool that can draw a 3D image of an object but it works for FS9 and not FSX. However it is a good suggestion and I will add it to the list :)
 
Thanks Jon. Even if its a simple, untextured model it would help to place an object.

Just thought of two other additions. A flatten command for FS2004 (like FSFlatten does) and the ability to add a background texture poly to an airport so you can use an image from Google Earth or similar.

John
 
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I find myself frequently opening airports just to edit the approaches. Could ADE have an "approach only" mode where it only generates approach and navaid information? Yes, I know I can edit the generated XML to strip everything out, but it would be nice to skip this step.
 
odog1999 said:
I find myself frequently opening airports just to edit the approaches. Could ADE have an "approach only" mode where it only generates approach and navaid information? Yes, I know I can edit the generated XML to strip everything out, but it would be nice to skip this step.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you are asking for - is it the capability to create an approach only bgl file? or something else?
 
To update the approach data for airports without depending on the underlying airport scenery. This way I can do the updates that would support both stock FSX airports as well as payware upgrades.
 
True but we will still need to load airport data. So it would be a case of a partial compile that generated only approach code. I will add that to the list
 
Command line parameters

Would it be possible to call ADE with a couple of command line parameters, as in:

"Airport Design Editor" /x
and;
"Airport Design Editor" /9

You wouldn't believe how lazy I can get :D
 
chris said:
Would it be possible to call ADE with a couple of command line parameters, as in:

"Airport Design Editor" /x
and;
"Airport Design Editor" /9

You wouldn't believe how lazy I can get :D
Click to expand...

Would that be quicker than using the version selector?
 
chris said:
Certainly, in 'Airport Design Editor 9x Properties' edit Target: and add 'x' at the end of the string (I never use 9)
Click to expand...

If you never use FS9 then you must have it installed otherwise ADE would load ADEX immediately without going through the version screen....
 
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