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Tat Nishioka
FlightGear is an open-source, cross-platform, flight simulator. The goal of the FlightGear project is to create a sophisticated flight simulator framework for use in research or academic environments, for the development and pursuit of other interesting flight simulation ideas, and as an end-user application.
What's New
Version 2.4.0:
Aircraft operations
- A new head-up display (HUD) system
- An in-sim moving map
- ATC/ATIS improvements
- EICAS instruments are available on a selected number of aircraft
- Improved autopilots
- TCAS, works with AI and multiplayer aircraft, provides aural warnings for conflicting traffic and is also capable of driving a realistic traffic display. AI aircraft also respond to TCAS alerts and take evasive action
- Updates to the KLN89 GPS.
- Tankers now refuel with any callsign, and can enable/disable refueling in flight.
- A standalone AI flightplan generator program
- Approaching aircraft now follow realistic approach trajectories
- Ballistic objects can be slaved to any AI object
- Improved AI ballistics behavior
- More communication / interaction between AI aircraft and ground. Support for multiple frequencies for AI/ATC interaction.
- Speed-up for AI traffic initialization by means of an aircraft usage statistics collection mechanism
- General and commercial aviation traffic at LOWI airport
- Malaysian Airways / Kuala Lumpur based traffic
- Traffic for Adria (Croatia)
- A new MIL-STD Turbulence model has been added to the JSBSim flight dynamics simulation engine
- A local weather system to simulate physically correct local weather phenomena
- Discard of outdated METAR weather information sources and improved METAR parsing
- New Fog layers with limited elevation
- Scenery can be downloaded and installed on-the-fly via an in-sim TerraSync interface
- Specific multiplayer pilots can be selectively ignored
- Complete overhaul of the autopilot system
- New digital controllers
- Flexible use of input and output values
- Support for mathematical expressions
- Usable for generic numeric data processing as a "property rule" system
- Better integration of separate weather systems
- New support of draggable 3d objects like throttle-levers
- Support for textures generated from VNC clients
- Unified runway selection code that is shared between user controlled and AI controlled aircraft
- New HLA interface for distributed simulations
- New on demand loading of Nasal modules
- New support for external (aka real) Garmin 400/500 WAAS Units
- Various graphics improvements using shaders, including 3D urban effects, reflections, water, rock textures, lightmaps, skydome scattering
- Easy GUI-based access to a host of stereoscopic 3D rendering effects
- Panoramic distortion
- Persistent contrails
- New standalone 2D-Panel rendering utility
- Fixed METAR live weather (http requests from NOAA)
- Fixed many sources of the infamous NaN errors
- Improved stability by fixing many segmentation faults, deadlocks and memory leaks
- Improved placement of random objects
- Fixed inconsistencies with scenery tile scheduling
- The replay system now works again as advertised
- The ground proximity warning system (GPWS) works reliably now
- Runway lights also working with ATI graphics cards now (rendering option to disable point-sprites) Many, many more. See our bugtracker for an extensive list
- A new and highly detailed IAR-80 (a Romanian-produced WW2 fighter)
- A new highly detailed Piper Cub
- Airbus A320 Family (318/319/320/321)
- An improved P-51D, completely remodeled and containing improved flight dynamics
- Boeing 717
- Boeing 757-200
- Bombardier CRJ700 Series (700/900/1000)
- Bombardier CRJ200
- Douglas A-4F Skyhawk
- Improvements to the Boeing 787
- MiG-15bis
- PZL-Mielec M18B "Dromader"
- Short S.23 Empire flying boat
- The Boeing 737NG Series
- The Boeing 747-400 and 777-200 have received lots of improvements
- The Douglas DC-8 Series
- The Eurocopter EC130 B4 Helicopter
- Tyre smoke effects on many aircraft
- Zeppelin LZ 121 Nordstern
Version 2.4.0:
Aircraft operations
- A new head-up display (HUD) system
- An in-sim moving map
- ATC/ATIS improvements
- EICAS instruments are available on a selected number of aircraft
- Improved autopilots
- TCAS, works with AI and multiplayer aircraft, provides aural warnings for conflicting traffic and is also capable of driving a realistic traffic display. more...
Requirements
PPC / Intel, Mac OS X 10.5 or later.
PPC / Intel, Mac OS X 10.5 or later.
FlightGear User Discussion (Write a Review)
Overall:
(1)
(1)
| Downloads:43,227 |
| Version Downloads:6,037 |
| Type:Games : Simulation |
| License:Free |
| Date:01 Oct 2011 |
| Platform:PPC / Intel |
| Price:Free |
Overall (Version 2.x): |
| Features: |
| Ease of Use: |
| Value: |
| Stability: |
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FlightGear is an open-source, cross-platform, flight simulator. The goal of the FlightGear project is to create a sophisticated flight simulator framework for use in research or academic environments, for the development and pursuit of other interesting flight simulation ideas, and as an end-user application.
Copyright © 2012 MacUpdate LLC
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+3
+12
I could be able to write a better comment/review with some remarks on the flight model (no stall possible?) or the function of various systems (if existing) and less ranting about missing eye candy, but I have basically no chance to spend longer than 10 minutes in the program before it crashes in OSX. It's not possible to find out how to start engines from within the program so go KSFO and try to place the aircraft 9999ft in the air - instant crash recipe. Most of the (also unfinished) aircraft crash the sim. When staying on the safe side (flying the C172) it crashes much later though and saves me from the bad experience of a landing in LEGO world.
Of course performance is being decreased by OSX in first place, what the software uses up for drawing the angry unproportional "scenery" is taking the life out of anything lower than a brandnew Mac Pro. If you know how stunningly FS9 performs on an old single core Win computer with a half decent video card, you'll be crying the utterly complete waste of CPU performance you'll be witnessing.
It's all full of what would've been a "good start" 10 years ago, but in this crude form "free software project" becomes an urgently needed apology, not the proud attribute it should be. Yes I know I can try to make it better, but that seems to be the general mistake in projects like this - to assume someone would come and could actually make it better. As we see, too few came and had the skills to make it better and so I don't believe this will ever become as ripe as a commercial product that has to meet standards (as low they may be) and which decides about you having food or not.
+5
-5
+1
Anonymous reviewed on 20 Jan 2005
First the good news. Graphics: OK; close to MSFS (pretty good for freeware, in other words). Sound: Good, but then flight sims aren't the most complex soundtracks on the planet. Stability: takes a long time to load (about 2 minutes) and appears to be the pizza of death, but after the screen changes resolution and aspect ratio a few times it seems to work reasonably well (is the splash screen supposed to tear up like that?).
Now the bad.
User interface: horrid. Not just the "ported-from-UNIX-ugly-but-works" style, I mean pull-down menus that don't do anything except tell you to use an XML editor to edit the preference files (hacking is fun, but shouldn't be mandatory). Major settings like screen resolution and controller options seem to be inaccessable from inside the game.
Physics: I managed to roll through the terminal building on a take-off run, did an inverted loop (in a 707!) and flew straight through the ground, which then disappeared leaving only a black dot. For me, detecting collisions with ground objects is a major part of the "simulation" aspect of any flight sim. Its harder to make a comment on the flight models, since my machine (eMac 700MHz, 32MB nVidia, fine according to the limited system specs on the HTML manual pages) couldn't manage more than about 8 fps (guessing, the fps display didn't seem to work), and the poor UI design meant that changing the settings was too much of a chore*.
Installation: "Drag the FlightGear folder to Applications" say the (rather meagre) installation notes: this I tried, and got a permissions error. Fixed with "Get Info". The other problems I can forgive as development issues, but this is just plain carelessness. Found no other relevant documentation on the DMG, just some bible quotes, which were absolutely no use under the circumstances (praying DIDN'T help...).
Frankly, if this software is actually used by anyone in the groves of academe doing serious research, I'm never flying again! For now, I'd suggest sticking with Warbirds or X-Plane; they may not be open source, but they work...
*I'm one of those old-fasioned people who believe that computers are supposed to make life less complex and more enjoyable, not the other way around.
FPS counter does work, but is unlabelled and hard to find. Perhaps it shouldn't be on the instrument panel...
Necessary to exit game to change plane.
Mysterious crash (program, not the plane) after changing planes (opening dialog box, splash screen, sound, then nothing).
Does detect ground collisions, but only with landing gear down. Plane can get stuck at odd angles, only option is to reset the simulator.
Some menus do work, but many settings don't appear to do anything. Settings aren't retained (surely there has to be some GPL source code for XML editing out there...).
Default controller setting maps the throttle to the joystick "Z-axis". Impossible to change, because it STILL won't copy to my hard drive (argh!).
Still runs like a cow (and I don't mean with bells on).
And it was a 737, not a 707. It still flies underground, though, and it feels way too responsive (more like a Lear Jet).
and a desktop machine. The last stable
version (from my experience) was 0.9.3.
After that, it has been very unstable
(memory leaks) and crashes regularly.
So it doesn't surprise me that the OS X
port gives people a bad taste in their
mouth. On a reasonably fast machine
(in PC terms, >2GHz) with a video card
that does direct-rendering, and back when
it worked well, it was one of the most
realistic flight simulators around. The
keyboard interface is hard to get used to
but it did work (at one point). Serious
flyers used a joystick. Hopefully, they'll
get the bugs worked out...soon.
Perhaps we can convince the Fink project
folks to try another port of this (although
I can't blame the person who ported it,
I think it's been unstable since 0.9.6).
--sam
Anonymous reviewed on 19 Jan 2005
My computer meets the requirements.
It now rests in the trash. Sad really because it looked like it would be a ton of fun.
+5