Military AI Works

Tim mentions there something that will be critical in us supporting MSFS, and I think that we want to, is having the tools for the job.
We can't have the situation where people need to download a source file and compile it themselves so that they can produce json files and with the aid of a text editor so they can add AI aircraft.

It has to be simpler and slicker than that. A look around our forum shows that a fair percentage of people have issues over the years with our very simple package installs. Imagine every install being a personalised manual experience.

My feeling is that only when the way the system works is fully explained in the SDK, will we get the tools to enable people make the process simpler/easier. Only then will we be in the situation to create addons for MSFS.

It will, frustratingly, take time. The fact that one person has made something happen just means a step along the road and not an arrival at the destination.

There are plenty of free tools out there that generate the .json files for you.

For those who feel the need for speed... watch all the way to the end

Huge improvements in reflections (no, it's not raytracing, apparently), and is that a hint that Africa may be the next regional improvement package?

Also the tie-up with Top Gun 2 is going to bring some interesting gameplay. Love the SR-72!

Hmm I thought this would trigger a bit more conversation because MSFS embracing military aviation is something I at least never considered a possibility.

Perhaps my need for speed reference was missed or nobody apart from Tim bothered to watch the trailer beyond the 2-minute mark. In that case:

I definitely watched it.
I am happy that it is close. I am happy to finally have some mil metal in the sim.
I am also very pleased that they have sorted out carriers in game, I assume that they will move and you can land on them, plus of course very nice to have catapult and arrestor wire capabilities.

The only thing that makes me pause is that it is basically an advert for the xbox version. I hope that the SU5 will have all the same capability. For designers SU5 marks a significant point as info on drag will be made available in the SDK for the first time which will definitely aid developers. I am looking forward to the info working its way into the Alpha Jet that is out there so it can become realistic.

Incidentally, Asobo have outsourced the development of gliders and helos to a third party to develop the flight engine for those.

Then I'm happy to tell you that SU5 and the Xbox release are one and the same.

There's just one sim. Whether you're on PC or an Xbox Series X|S, in the back it's using the same systems. You will even be able to save a flight on PC and continue it on your console.

Perhaps it's a little unfortunate indeed that they teased the Top Gun expansion at the end of a trailer for the Xbox console release, but the two aren't connected.

I hoped that this was the case but it is nice to have it confirmed.

Just to give a teaser as to what AI could be like in MSFS. I'm not sure exactly how it was done; the various main models (777, C17, C5M) are FSX flyable aircraft, but there are a lot more occasionally in shot. The videography is excellent (I love the shaky camera as the C-5 lines up!) and the soundscape is to die for - I've just watched it on a 43" screen in 4k with studio reference monitors. Hopefully we'll all be able to make stuff like this one day.




Edit: as I suspected, none of it is driven by the AI system. The secret is SkyDolly (https://flightsim.to/file/9067/sky-dolly), which allows sequential recording of multiple aircraft in-sim to create an ensemble effect.

Awww. You so nearly had me convinced there, Tim.

Edit: as I suspected, none of it is driven by the AI system. The secret is SkyDolly (https://flightsim.to/file/9067/sky-dolly), which allows sequential recording of multiple aircraft in-sim to create an ensemble effect.

So it's the MSFS version of the FSRecorder module.

So I took the plunge finally now that I have a laptop that can run it. Runs great so far. Lots of eye candy, found my house fairly easily.

Something like a 130GB download which took...wait for it.........10 hours to complete....

Wait for the upgrades!

Also do you have the Premium Deluxe version? If you do it doesn't sound like you have all the addons downloaded. Go to the Content Manager screen to see if you have updates available to you.

Firebird wrote: ↑24 Sep 2021, 15:25 Awww. You so nearly had me convinced there, Tim.

It’s a great watch, as long as you concentrate on the aircraft and not the scenery! It’s a pretty poor rendition of Kabul; far too clean and neat. The 777 in particular looks very good - and this is an FSX model, not native MSFS. But I think the chances of us having AI that looks like this, with several n-hundred mb aircraft all moving around, are slim till we all have 24-core 15GHz CPUs, 256Gb RAM, and multiple 3090 GPUs!!

Firebird wrote: ↑25 Sep 2021, 05:45 Wait for the upgrades!

Also do you have the Premium Deluxe version? If you do it doesn't sound like you have all the addons downloaded. Go to the Content Manager screen to see if you have updates available to you.

Just the Deluxe version.

Wanted to help a 3rd party developer out on a rotary project, so took the plunge and purchased the new sim finally. Busy downloading popular freeware aircraft add ons.So far landed next to my house and had no servers last night which I guess is the norm. It does look great, but I can see/feel the "game" part. Reading on the AIG forums about AI, may wait on that one.

What GPU do you have, Chris?

I'm running a 1080Ti and haven't done much as far as tweak any settings. I did install to a SSD. Got to deal with the "insert disc 1" issue and I hope have that fixed. I was looking over VR as I use it in DCS, but my old TrackIR is fine for now. Did try landing at Navy Pensacola and found out the runways are not flat! Hate seeing generic AI at all my mil bases.

I would regard the 1080 TI as the minimum for the sim, not what MS still say. My mate has one and since SU5 he has happily got 40 fps with everything set to ultra. Although MS have not got back to me to confirm it they indicated to me that a GeForce 10 card architecture is now needed as minimum. The 1080 TI is just such a great performer.

Saw something that made my jaw drop today. it bugs me that after each upgrade of the nvidia drivers it keeps switching off my fps limit. Today, I noticed that the GPU was running at 81% on startup and then noticed that the fps was 1004! I kid you not. Who the hell needs a startup sequence with that stupid amount for an fps total.
Set my limit back to 30 fps, still trialling stuff on the new system, and the GPU usage went back down to 8%.

I may now actually have to switch off the cap in FS9 just to see what I can get.

That's crazy Steve. I'm still experimenting with the game/sim trying to figure out how much it is pushing this little Alienware laptop. The CPU and GPU temps seem to be pretty high to me but I'm still trying to sort out what is normal.

1080? I'm running it quite happily on a 780ti and an old (don't remember what gen) i7. I guess a lot depends on your perception of what is acceptable. I'm getting around 30fps, but then I don't have any *heavy* addon aircraft or sceneries... Surprisingly it runs ok in VR on this well-below-the-glideslope Spec....

SeanG