V10.30 Release Notes

New GPS navigators X-430 and X-530

Contents

Select the new GPS/FMS system in the Systems screen of Plane Maker to get it into your aircraft. Two slots are available for pilot- and copilot side. New instruments are available in the panel editor to enable screens of the 430 and 530 for 3d-cockpits.

The old GNS430 instrument is very small, so it is treated based on the size in the panel:

If the instrument is given a REALLY SMALL spot (e.g. 62 pixels tall) it draws ~~a compact display with just frequencies – not realistic, but at least readable~~ the default nav page of the old GPS, but the new GPS logic is still running in the background. Other pages are accessible through the pop-up window (changed in beta 8).
If the new instrument is given a BIGGER spot (The cutover is 96 pixels vertically, but authors SHOULD give it the full 240) you get the full instrument layout, and how sharp it is will be a function of the spot size – at 240 pixels tall you get the ideal look.
At all times, at any size, you can click on the NEW instrument’s screen in 3-d or 2-d and get a POPUP that runs at full size and full sharpness.

The new GPS navigator reads instrument approaches from a database with near-worldwide coverage which is provided by Aerosoft. Subscribe to Aerosoft Navdata Pro to get monthly updates for all instrument procedures world-wide!

The new GPS navigator also provides a better interaction with HSIs and CDIs in the panel, and allows for more realistic autopilot set-up. Be sure to read the tech notes on http://developer.x-plane.com to understand how to set up your plane correctly.

The Cessna 172, Baron B58, and KingAir C90B all (as of beta 6) use the new GPS units.

More New Airports

With X-Plane 10.30 beta 6, we’ve brought in new airports created by X-Plane users and shared with Robin. Robin received over 750 submissions, including almost 600 airports with 3-d lego brick buildings. (This set includes updates to the airports in X-Plane 10.25 and over 300 completely new airports.) ICAO codes new to this release (some are 3-d, some are not):

0L7	EDEM	EDHF	EDWF	EDXC	EGNJ	KAUW	KHYR	KTRI	LSZS
0O2	EDEN	EDHG	EDWG	EDXD	EGNS	KBFM	KIFP	KTTN	LSZV
0WI4	EDEP	EDHI	EDWH	EDXF	EGPE	KBLF	KIPT	KUNU	MHDU
16D	EDER	EDHK	EDWI	EDXG	EGPL	KBUF	KJHW	KVGT	MHPL
39N	EDES	EDHL	EDWJ	EDXH	EGPN	KCAK	KJST	KVIQ	SAAR
3D2	EDFA	EDHN	EDWK	EDXI	EGPO	KCGE	KJYO	KVJI	SABE
3L2	EDFB	EDHO	EDWL	EDXJ	EGPR	KCGS	KLWB	KVRB	SADF
47N	EDFE	EDHP	EDWM	EDXK	EGPU	KCJR	KMDZ	LDSB	SADP
4B7	EDFG	EDHU	EDWN	EDXL	ESMQ	KCWA	KMKJ	LDSH	SAEZ
4S7	EDFI	EDHW	EDWO	EDXM	ESSL	KDAA	KMQI	LFLI	SAMM
5N2	EDFL	EDRY	EDWP	EDXN	ESSP	KDAB	KMRB	LGKF	SAMR
61C	EDFM	EDVA	EDWQ	EDXO	ESSV	KDAF	KMTV	LIDG	SAZW
63C	EDFN	EDVC	EDWR	EDXP	ETHB	KDCA	KNYG	LOIH	SCAC
79C	EDFO	EDVE	EDWS	EDXQ	ETHF	KDET	KOCQ	LPCR	SCAN
8D1	EDFP	EDVG	EDWU	EDXR	ETHS	KDNL	KOKV	LSGC	SCBE
91C	EDFQ	EDVH	EDWV	EDXS	ETMN	KDTS	KORD	LSGL	SCCT
CYLS	EDFT	EDVJ	EDWX	EDXT	ETND	KECG	KOSU	LSGN	SCFX
CYYR	EDFY	EDVK	EDWY	EDXU	ETNH	KERI	KPBH	LSPG	SCHA
ED01	EDGB	EDVL	EDWZ	EDXW	ETNJ	KESN	KPBI	LSPL	SCIL
ED02	EDGF	EDVM	EDX1	EDXY	ETNS	KEZF	KPKB	LSPM	SCLN
ED03	EDGK	EDVN	EDX2	EDXZ	ETNT	KFAF	KPSK	LSPN	SCSB
ED04	EDGR	EDVP	EDX3	EDY1	ETNW	KFLO	KRCX	LSPV	SULS
ED06	EDGS	EDVR	EDX4	EFRO	ETOU	KFRG	KRMN	LSZB	SUMU
ED07	EDGT	EDVS	EDX5	EG53	ETWM	KFRR	KSSQ	LSZE	UHMA
ED09	EDGW	EDVU	EDX6	EG74	KACY	KGKT	KSTC	LSZF	VA42
EDDH	EDH1	EDVW	EDX8	EGEL	KAFW	KGPZ	KSUE	LSZG	WT18
EDDV	EDHB	EDWB	EDX9	EGEY	KAGC	KGYR	KSXL	LSZL	X6MU
EDDW	EDHC	EDWC	EDXA	EGGD	KAIG	KHEF	KSYR	LSZN	XBRO
EDEF	EDHE	EDWE	EDXB	EGJB	KARV	KHTS	KTKV	LSZO	XPLO

Playback and analyze your REAL flights in X-Plane!

Xavion is now a Flight Data Recorder!

With ZERO input required from you, Xavion records every flight you make.

Then, with X-Plane you can simply go to the File menu and select IMPORT XAVION FLIGHT to see your real flight… in X-Plane!

This brings flight data recording and visualization from the test pilots and professionals right to you, with a very easy user interface in X-Plane to get and display the data! Fun!

Cloud and Atmosphere Changes

Cloud code has been bug fixed a bit. Notable bug fixes:

Fixed the “white-out” bug – no more loss of visibility when near clouds.
The transition out of the bottom of clouds should be consistently close to the bases set in the weather screen when you set up a non-stormy stratus system; this is good for practicing ILS break-outs at a specific elevation.
Transition into clouds should be less visually jarring.
Lighting calculations for cloud puffs rebuilt to look better.

This patch changes the scaling of the cloud rendering slider, so you will want to re-tune your cloud rendering settings for optimal framerate on your hardware.

A few notes for cloud-tweakers:

The texture layout for clouds matches X-Plane 10.25; existing cloud replacements should work.
The cloud lighting constants are different, in an attempt to make the cloud lighting more realistic.

The white band of fog in high-altitude views has been fixed.

There is now an official override for clouds (sim/operation/override/override_clouds) – setting this to one gets rid of all cloud puffs and white-out; it is no longer necessary to use art controls to replace X-Plane’s built-in clouds. Using this override saves CPU time that would have been spent building clouds and VRAM that would have been spent storing cloud meshes.

Controls for Networked External Visuals

The options for controlling networked computers for multiple visuals have changed in 10.30.

In the External Visual tab of the networking setup, there is now just one checkbox to make this machine a networked “slave” and enter the IP address of the master. The controls to make it an extra visual, extra cockpit, or extra anything are located elsewhere.
In the External Visual tab of the networking setup, each entry for the IP of an extra visual has a checkbox to determine whether the external visual tracks the view of the master. If this is off, the views are controlled on the slave machine. If this is on, the view is set to be the same as the master, but modified by the view offsets in the Rendering options.
The Rendering Options have three choices for the Default view. (The Default view is what you get with the “w” key and is the view that you first get when you load the aircraft.)
– forward view with panel (X-Plane’s default)
– forward view with scenery only (no HUD)
– forward view in the 3D cockpit (with 3D view controls active)
The Rendering Options menu has a new checkbox to lock the view to the default. If set, the view will always be the default cockpit view and cannot be changed by view controls or the network master machine.
lateral offset can go -9.99 to 9.99, as per customer request

New Art Assets

Several enhanced and 38 new textures: an extended set of tropical ones, providing more climatic nuances, enhanced cold-dry regions and some special landuses for HD-sceneries.
Autogen library tweaked to avoid having tall buildings on approach paths to airports. For example, KBOS 22L is no longer blocked. This fixes the case where the autogen is “medium density” but the art asset being mapped via the library was incorrectly a tall building.
Tweaks to urban terrain textures.
A number of DDS files have been re-ground from their PNG sources to improve color fidelity.

Fixed DSF Scenery Files

10.30 contains fixes to a few dozen DSF files – these fixes typically fix water errors and the shape of the mesh near airports. Fixes are listed by the ICAO of an airport in the affected DSF.

KGSO – fixed terrain near airport.
ENSG – fixed terrain near airport.
KECP – fixed autogen on runway.
VNLK – fixed slope of terrain under airport.
KORD – fixed trees and autogen on runway.
KPAN – fixed terrain near airport.
LECI – fixed terrain near airport.
LEMG – removed autogen from airport.
KDCU – fixed Tennessee river.
SBRJ – fixed spikes in mesh near Rio.
PANC – fixed Lake Hood.
EFSA – land was missing under city – fixed.
UKBB – fixed missing city land class.
KATL – fixed trees on runway.
KJFK – removed beaches under bridges.
EDKB – fixed trees on runway.
LEMG – fixed terrain under airport.
RJTT – fixed land under runway.
2A8 – added lakes near airport.
GCHI – fixed airport.
YPPH – fixed urban land class.
NV77 – turned water into salt flats.
KTRK – fixed Truckee river.
3356 – river near airport contained break
CYND – Ottawa river fixed.
EDDF – airport terrain fixed.
YSSY – Sydney harbor is now a harbor.
KEDW – fixed lakes that should have been salt flats.

Cylindrical Projection

(New to beta 4): The cylindrical projection controls have been reworked; X-Plane now provides an arbitrary grid to correct for warping from a cylindrical projection surface. By calibrating the warping grid, you can compensate not only for projecting onto a cylinder screen, but also for the projector being titled or off-center from the cylinder. A panorama projection applies on top of this to make a perfect multi-screen projection setup.

The projector grid can now be added by keyboard commands. Use Ctrl+Arrow (or Cmd+Arrow) to select a node. Then use arrow or Shift+Arrow to move that node (new in beta 8).

Aircraft Conversion from V9

The interpretation of the trim setting datarefs changed from X-Plane 9 to X-Plane 10. The datarefs in question are

sim/cockpit2/controls/elevator_trim
sim/cockpit2/controls/aileron_trim
sim/cockpit2/controls/rudder_trim

In X-Plane 9, the values returned by the datarefs were the trim setting as a fraction of total control surface travel, corresponding to the way trim range was declared in PlaneMaker. In X-Plane 10, the values of the data refs are the trim setting as a fraction of total trim range, meaning the range returned is always +1.0 to -1.0. To compute the actual control surface deflection in degrees, multiply the trim setting by the trim range in degrees.

Fuselage Mounted Speedbrakes – Change in Flight Model

There is a minor change in the flight model for fuselage mounted speedbrakes. Prior to 10.30, only positive extension angles caused drag. As of 10.30, drag is based on the net extension angle, meaning the difference between the current speedbrake angle and its retracted angle. This means that speedbrakes with negative retracted angles (for example, to match a tapered fuselage) will create more drag than they used to. To get accurate drag on deployment, it is important to specify an accurate retracted angle. (You get one degree for free to allow retracted speedbrakes to hide in the fuselage.)

New parameters for steered and castoring gears

Better support for castoring versus steered gears and better tail-wheel lock function:

If you enter a steering angle in Plane-Maker for a given gear, then that gear is considered to be a wheel that can pivot, not a fixed wheel like a main gear.
If you enter a wheel as CASTORING in Plane-Maker for a given gear, then that gear is also considered to be a wheel that can pivot… not a fixed wheel like a main gear.
Once a wheel has been defined as one that can pivot (either by entering a steering angle or checking the box that the wheel is castoring), then:
- If the tailwheel lock is engaged or nosewheel steering is on, that gear will move through the steering angle (which may well be zero for a castoring gear, which simply locks that wheel at zero).
- If the nosewheel steering is off or the tailwheel lock is off, then the wheel free-castors.
So, simply put, by entering a steering angle or “this wheel castors” checkbox in Plane-Maker, you define that wheel as being able to pivot. If the tailwheel lock is on or or the nosewheel steering is on, it will do so through the commanded steering angle… very possibly zero for castoring gear! And once the nosewheel steering is off or tailwheel is unlocked, all such gear will castor.

Plugins and Datarefs

As we modernize X-Plane’s use of OpenGL, the plugin system will start to catch illegal drawing – that is, drawing outside of a drawing callback. If your plugin is drawing at an illegal time, you may see a message in the log with your plugin’s name (and the OpenGL code will not be executed). If you see these error messages but believe your plugin is operating according to spec, please contact us.

Bug fix: Custom operating-system-provided cursors work for plugins. (This feature worked in X-Plane 10.10 and was broken in 10.20.)

Datarefs:

The second GPS unit is available – virtually all GPS datarefs have been cloned for GPS2
8.33 khz tuning is available on all COM radios
All sound preferences are available as datarefs – see sim/operation/sound/.
The winch default parameters can be customized – see sim/world/winch/
Rotor brake strength can be customized – see sim/cockpit2/switches/rotor_brake_ratio
sim/flightmodel/position now has angles both in OpenGL coordinates (useful for drawing, available since X-Plane 6) and in a coordinate system relative to level flight (new to 1030); therefore you can use these new angles to create custom instruments without “jumps” when X-Plane loads scenery.
X-Plane’s built-in clouds can be disabled with sim/operation/override/override_clouds
Added writeable dataref “sim/cockpit2/autopilot/TOGA_pitch_deg” so plugins can set the desired pitch angle for the TOGA mode of the autopilot. (Added in beta 6).
Added an override for nosewheel steering: set “sim/operation/override/override_wheel_steer” to write to the datarefs “sim/flightmodel/parts/tire_steer_cmd[n]” on the ground or “sim/flightmodel/parts/tire_steer_act[n]” in the air if you want to set any wheel in any direction. (Added in beta 6).
Added dataref sim/flightmodel/engine/POINT_driv_TRQ[n] which reads the per-prop torque, summing all engines that drive that prop. (Added in beta 8).
Added dataref sim/flightmodel/engine/POINT_max_TRQ[n] which reads the maximum per-prop torque that can be exerted by the sum of all engines that drive that prop. This dataref can be used in conjunction with POINT_driv_TRQ to make a percent gauge. (Added in beta 8).
The red FMC route line can be removed from the moving map by setting sim/graphics/misc/kill_map_fms_line to 1. SET THIS BACK TO 0 WHEN YOUR PLANE UNLOADS! This is a bit of a hack, but since the map line was the one map element that could not be removed via transparent textures, there is now a dataref. (added in beta 8).
The prop mode can be overridden sim/operation/override/override_prop_mode. This is for the user’s plane, not per engine. (Added in beta 8).
sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators has a set of datarefs to read and write the nav and com radios (main and standby) with separate values for the mhz and khz digits. So 112.35 can be set separately as 112 (mhz) and 350 (khz). This can make it easier to create radio manipulators without having to write scripts (Added in beta 8).

Correct Blended Drawing in the 3-D World

A new dataref lets 3-d drawing callbacks differentiate between the solid part of drawing (where OBJs can be rendered with correct shadows) and the translucent part of drawing (where alpha effects can be over-drawn without HDR artifacts). See this technote.

sim/graphics/view/plane_render_type

Plugin-Added Forces

New datarefs let your plugin add arbitrary forces to the aircraft – see this technote for more info on how to write them and how to share them.

sim/flightmodel/forces/fside_plug_acf
sim/flightmodel/forces/fnrml_plug_acf
sim/flightmodel/forces/faxil_plug_acf
sim/flightmodel/forces/L_plug_acf
sim/flightmodel/forces/M_plug_acf
sim/flightmodel/forces/N_plug_acf

Plugin-Added Electrical Bus Loads

Plugins can add custom electrical loads to any of X-Plane’s 6 buses via a new dataref:

sim/cockpit2/electrical/plugin_bus_load_amps

Please note that this dataref is not meant to be shared – only a plugin installed with the dataref can write to this because there is no provision for coordination between plugins.*

Miscellaneous New Features

New view commands: direct selection of all 8 view directions. Assign these to an 8-way hat switch.
Increased limit on lateral view offset in the rendering options for offset monitors.
Commands to control APU bleed air.
Commands to toggle DME audio.
Commands and plugin datarefs to enable/disable TrackIR.
Option to automatically dismiss error messages for extra visuals and aircraft under control of an IOS.
Added commands for setting the directional gyros:
- “sim/instruments/DG_sync_down”
- “sim/instruments/DG_sync_up”
- “sim/instruments/copilot_DG_sync_down”
- “sim/instruments/copilot_DG_sync_up”
Added commands for helo governor and clutch:
- “sim/engines/governor_on” ,”Throttle-governor on.”
- “sim/engines/governor_off” ,”Throttle-governor off.”
- “sim/engines/clutch_on” ,”Clutch on.”
- “sim/engines/clutch_off” ,”Clutch off.”
Dome projection EXPERIMENT allowed without key. You can test dome and cylinder projection for your setup before buying a Pro Key.
Added commands and datarefs to control carriers and frigates from plugins better.
Added command for carrier cat-shot
Carriers are not replaced when they are under plugin control
Added internet output option for SkyDemon
Added FlyQ as a supported iPad app for X-Plane data output
Planet textures receive a one-notch resolution increase. This will help the look of the planet at a relatively low VRAM cost for most users.
Added commands for fuel pumps and hydro pumps (new in beta 3).
- “sim/fuel/fuel_pumps_on” ,”Fuel pumps on.”
- “sim/fuel/fuel_pumps_off” ,”Fuel pumps off.”
- “sim/fuel/fuel_pumps_tog” ,”Fuel pumps toggle.”
- “sim/flight_controls/hydraulic_on” ,”Engine-driven hydraulic pumps on”
- “sim/flight_controls/hydraulic_off” ,”Engine-driven hydraulic pumps off”
- “sim/flight_controls/hydraulic_tog” ,”Engine-driven hydraulic pumps tog”
Added new “Custom data” directories for updating navdata (new in beta 8):
X-Plane now has a folder “Custom Data” that is ignored by the X-Plane updater. Thus, updated navdata won’t cause annoying messages when updating X-Plane. If the earth_nav.dat, earth_fix.dat or earth_awy.dat are found in “Custom Data” they are used rather than the ones in Resources/default data/.
Likewise, if Airports.txt, ATS.txt, Navaids.txt, Waypoints.txt and Proc folder for the new GPS are found in Custom Data/GNS430/navdata they take precedence over Resources/GNS430/navdata
Lastly, the new GPS will try and read ALL airspace text files in openair/winpilot format it finds under Custom Data/GNS430/airspaces
Added advisory VNAV capability (with WAAS glidepath scaling) for GPS/RNAV approaches using the new GPS (new in beta 8) Note that for synthetic glidepaths to work reliably you should absolutely check the option “Runway follows terrain contours” in the rendering settings.
Added a serial port as an output option for datarefs. Selected datarefs can now be sent over a text protocol on the serial port to various hardware (new in RC 2).

New Features for Aircraft Authors

New equipment option in the special equipment in plane-maker: fire warning bell equipped! check this to get the fire bell. NOTE: previous versions of x-plane ALWAYS gave you a fire bell if there was an engine fire. Now, you must check this box to get that warning!
New Plane-Maker feature to not draw the OBJs, but draw the ACF flight-model geometry when editing so you can edit the acf and see what yor are doing without having the flight model geometry hidden by OBJ
Updated propeller control for turbo props: prop can now go into beta when pulled to idle, as real props do! Then, the prop goes into reverse when pulled aft over the gate. This is activated by a checkbox in Plane-Maker that must be checked in order to simulate that behavior of PT6-like turbo props.
Autopilot can now track nav courses based on GPS, LOC, OBS setting or heading bug, depending on type of autopilot. See the technote on autopilot sources for more info!
See the technote on HSI sources for more information on how to get the new GPS in your plane, and the new GPS technote on how the new GPS will interact with the autopilot.
Plane-Maker and Airfoil-Maker are available as 64-bit apps for Linux users.
Generic lights numbers 16-63 can now be used, for up to 64 generic lights on an aircraft. (In X-Plane 10.25 only the first 16 were independently controllable.)
Generic needle instrument can now take deflection sources for pitch. This lets you build a crude mechanical artificial horizon strictly out of generic instruments.
Attached objects have a new mode: “prefill only”. If all of the objects in your aircraft are too ‘heavy’ to do efficient cockpit prefilling (e.g. they have too many vertices or too many animations), you can make a new dedicated object that will be used only for prefill and crudely mask out most of the cockpit without users seeing it. The existing mode (object is used for prefill and drawn) is still available, and existing planes do not need any modifications.
The texture resolution check-boxes for attached objects correctly reflect how objects will be loaded when there is texture sharing between objects. If you set the “high res texture” option for one object, all objects sharing the texture receive the same setting.
GLOBAL_cockpit_lit now works with panel regions that are not a power of 2 or do not cover the entire 3-d panel. This was a screwy case for 3-d cockpits and did not work correctly in 10.25. If your panel’s UV map seems screwed up in 10.30, please contact Ben for advice on how to fix your aircraft.
Landing gear retractability can now be set per gear. (Added in beta 2.)
You can create your own 8.33kHz-spaced COM radio using generic radios in Plane Maker. (Added in beta 3).
Added command for VNAV button on GNS 530 so authors can make 3d bezels for virtual cockpits: sim/GPS/g430n1_vnav (Added in beta 6).
3-d Panels used with GLOBAL_cockpit_lit as a panel texture no longer have to be a power of 2. (Added in Beta 6). This makes it easy to update an existing plane to use correct lighting – simply add GLOBAL_cockpit_lit to the top of each of your cockpit object files.

New Features for Scenery Authors and Modelers

The “frame rate” data output now contains two fields: CPU and GPU. These times show the time the CPU and GPU spent drawing one frame (on average) in milliseconds. This means that not only can you tell whether your framerate is CPU or GPU limited (the larger number is the limiting factor), but you can tell the relative loading of the CPU and GPU, and you can measure improvements in CPU or GPU use even if they are not the dominant factor. GPU time on OS X is only available in OS X 10.9 and later.

There is a new art control “hdr/debug_lights” that, when set to 1, will show you the cone area of all spill lights. The cone area of the spill lights on screen is a good indicator of how much GPU power the spill light is taking. If your scenery or airplane is very slow at night in HDR mode, turn on light debugging and look for huge, wasteful spill light cones. If you can make these smaller you may improve GPU performance.

The road.net file format has a new directive LOCKED_POWERLINES – if put on its own line, it indicates that X-Plane should not attempt to “optimize” power-line tower placement for this road network. Instead, power line towers will be placed in every junction and vertex from the original data (in the DSF, with no extras added). You can use this directive if you want to cleanly control powerline tower placement when you generate your custom scenery.

DSFs now support multiple road.net files, including different road.net files in different overlay layers.

Autogen blocks contain a number of new features, including selectable sub-grids, to support development of the next update to the urban autogen art assets.

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

Bug fixes in RC 2:

airport sceneries with broken taxiway/runway links are detected and logged, but no longer cause the sim to quit
the new guiding line for refuel operation is ONLY displayed if you are actually flying a refuel mission
native installer/updater for 64bit Linux added
running the updater on modified global scenery no longer causes airports from Aerosoft to be deleted

Bug fixes in RC 1:

Fixed high oil temperature limit not triggering annunciator light at correct temperature
Fixed annunciator/warning lamps not working when avionics power switch was turned off
Changed ATIS voice on Mac: It now allows selecting a different default voice, as long as it is an English voice.
Fixed crash when authors created ATC rules that refer to non-existing runways – X-Plane will complain about the respective airport instead
Fixed some GPS datarefs not working with the new GPS
Custom airport data for the new GPS may now contain airport identifiers with three-letter codes
Fixed possible hang on startup on Linux
Fixed extra beacon appearing at some airports – some showed a seaplane beacon instead of a land airport beacon
Fixed bad GL clip planes for generic instruments – this fixes the X-Rotors AW139 panel
Fixed positioning the user’s plane from a networked IOS station not placing the plane correctly
Fixed cumulative distance display on flightplan of new GPS not working with long flightplans
Fixed EFIS map flightplan not disappearing when flightplan is deleted from the new GPS
If a plane changes the pitch setting for autopilot TO/GA mode, the default setting is restored when loading another plane
Fixed METAR parsing for NSC “No significant clouds”
Fixed possible crash on asynchronous scenery load
Fixed a bug with certain helicopters where the rotor droop and prop blade endcaps were not always drawn right

Bug fixes in beta 8:

Fixed “Reverse Flight Plan”-function of the new GPS corrupting approach data (possible crash).
Fixed new GPS not drawing any amperage from avionics bus
Fixed new GPS not updating GPS speed dataref
Fixed DME digit overflow on the new 530-style GPS
Fixed new GPS not displaying holdings in lieu of procedure turns with certain approach transitions
Failure modes of the new GPS now work analogous to the old GPS (GPS receiver failure causes navigation errors)
Fixed fuel gauges in the 3d-cockpit of the Piaggio Avanti
Fixed crash when loading a custom scenery with user-created spill-lights with non-normalized normal vectors.
Fixed crash when loading a custom airport with user-generated traffic flow that has no valid runway
Fixed crash when loading a custom airport with user-generated traffic flow that has no valid ICAO code as reference station for weather
Fixed an error in summing up bus amperages – this fixes the electrical system of the JRollon Jetstream
Switched curve interpolation in dome projection to bicbuic so we can keep the edges from curling out
METAR-reader bug fix where vis is set better when report is “6 miles or greater”
IFR flight time is logged properly in the logbook now
Made sure clicking zap boxes in projector setup window does not accidentally move a node-point!
Improved depiction of thunderstorms when reported by METAR
The rose on the local map screen now uses global coordinates so it keeps working correctly after a region shift
Added some more translatable strings for creators of X-Plane UI translation files (data out screen)
Fixed some landing lights not syncing between networked external visuals. Now all 16 landing lights work as expected
Blades of counter-rotating rotors on helicopters like Chinook or Mi-12 now bend in the correct direction under load
ATIS text-to-speech on Mac now always speaks English regardless of your system language
Fixed missing taxi light spill on King Air
Fixed flap indicator on King Air
Auto-coordination rudder is now active whenever there is NO other input (joystick axis, mouse, or keyboard control) is currently controlling the rudder
Cloud bases now should match weather settings for stratus bottoms of clouds
Steam version also works when Steam Client is offline

Bug fixes in beta 7:

Fixed floating car in office building in airport lib.
F-4 canopy does not block clouds in HDR mode.
Pilots added to F-4, Kingair and Baron.
Fix airplane change from IOS station.
Fixed errors when auto-updating. Note that this fix will work when you update beta 7 to beta 8.
Direct-To on the new GPS remembers the active point in the current flight plan. This allows you to re-center the CDI with just two clicks: -D->, ENT.
Fixed GPS turn count-down.
Fixed a confusing display on the new GPS direct-to page leading users to believe they cannot select the NRST airport field.
Fixes to French translation.
Fixes to METAR parser for thunder storms.
Fixed trim reset.
Fixed rain in sunny areas.
Fixed METAR parsing with variable direction winds.
Cylinderical projection uses curved interpolation between grid points.
Cylindrical projection grid can use arrow keys to tune the grid.

Bugs fixed in beta 6:

Fixed problem with framerate, particularly with Windows AMD cards.
Fixed slow performance with clouds – you should be able to use the same cloud settings you used in X-Plane 10.25.
Fixed XPLMBindTexture2d – it now resets the the GL_TEX_ENV mode (as it used to in X-Plane 10.25 and older). This fixes incorrect reflections when MaxxFX and the A320 Neo (or FlightFactor 777 or Leading Edge Saab) are used together.
Fixed issues with UDP interface: “Place user at airport” and setting COM frequencies works correctly. Fixes 3rd party apps like X-Airports
Fixed loading aircraft from instructor station
Loading an aircraft from IOS now also loads correct engine sound
Fixed crash on exit when running X-Plane full-screen on OSX 10.10 Yosemite
The new GPS approach selection now allows cancelling the transition selection by pressing the CLR key
Added declutter function to the map of the new GPS
Fixed reverser toggle function not working when engine 1 reverser failed
Fixed engines going to idle when reverser failed
Fixed fuel gauges on the Piaggio Avanti both showing same tank
Plugin-added forces work when using more than one flight model iterations per frame.
Plugin forces are used to consider total damping of stopped planes, so plugins can do push back at high fps.
Disabled the use of pinned memory on Linux with AMD drivers – this fixes thrashing clouds and flickering.
Framerate test now works correctly with clouds and does not try to contact the internet for updates during the test.

Bugs fixed in beta 5:

32-bit application on Mac OSX is working again
new GPS takes screen brightness from instrument brightness rheostat assigned in Plane Maker

Bugs fixed in beta 4:

METARs reporting only vertical visibility are interpreted correctly
If a METAR reports a visibility as “X or more” X-Plane now increases the visibility based on the dew point spread: The less moisture is in the air, the more visibility you get!
Read METARs reporting visibility in meters instead of kilometers correctly
fixes for French translation
fixed display of new 10.30 commands on the joystick and key assignments screens
fixed no gear sound playing when loading a replay file
you can now enter negative values for some limits in Plane Maker, for example a lower redline for negative oil temp
fixed cloud and time-of-day settings in the quick-flight startup screen
fixed broken click spots for CLR and COM swap buttons on new GPS pop-up
fixed direct-to not working for discontinuing an approach and going to a different airport using the new GPS
fixed some modal pages of the new GPS (like MSG) not switching back to the page where you came from
the new GPS now depends on both avionics power and the electric bus you select to power the instrument in the panel editor of Plane Maker
fixed COM frequencies not displaying correctly in replay mode
made the glance view commands act relative to the current view and return to it on release
cleaned up the UI in Airfoil Maker
cleaned up the UI for loading real flight recordings from XAvion into X-Plane
Fixed TrackIR support that was broken in earlier Betas
changed the code that downloads stuff from the internet – if you experience problems with the update check, getting new updates, or downloading real weather, please file a bug!
Networking code used to check for updates now uses libcurl – this may help users who have problems updating X-Plane behind a proxy server. (This change is for X-Plane – the change has not been rolled into a new installer yet.)
Glance left/right view function returns to previous view.

Bugs fixed in beta 3:

2-d/3-d Panel Editor menu commands go to the right panel.
Putting a radar map before a moving map in Plane-Maker no longer disables the map-zoom selector.
Plane-Maker correctly asks to save changes when you have edited a panel.
Plane-Maker tracks the slider for dataref preview separately for each array item of an array dataref.
UI fix in Plane-Maker engine screen where some text overwrote the UI in some places when the auto-set-rpm button is checked.
New metar scanner accepts capitalization errors made by metar reporters
Updated data output for xavion
Added the ability to select both IAFs and transitions for instrument approaches using the new GPS. Note that this feature requires the initial approach fixes to be correctly flagged by the navdata provider, Aerosoft or Navigraph.
Added an option to directly activate an approach, transition, or vector-to-final from the approach selection on the new GPS.
Relative bearings to GPS waypoints are now correctly updated when using the new GPS. This fixes interaction with Avidyne-style displays.
Generic instrument COM radios are now aware of the new 6-digit COM frequencies and act as 25kHz COM radios by default. Note that a new option has been added in PlaneMaker to convert them to 8.33kHz radios if desired.
Fixed GPS flightplan saving and loading on case-sensitive file systems.
Fixed new GPS not updating sim/cockpit/g430/g430_nav_com_sel dataref that tells whether the left knob input goes to COM or NAV radio. This fixes some issues with Carenado aircraft.
Added a scrollbar to the approach and transition selection of the GPS, so you can easily see if there are more instrument procedures available.
Turned on mouse-repeat on the new GPS so you can tune radio frequencies more easily.
Fixed approach preview overlapping the UI of the GPS when in HDR+FXAA on nVidia GPUs.
Fixed a GPS crash that could occur when changing the approach airport or inverting the flightplan before setting the approach transition.
Added the option to go direct-to a waypoint in your flightplan, or the nearest airports, directly on the direct-to screen of the GPS.
Fixed an error that could cut-off or completely hide the GPS popup window in some airplanes or from some viewpoints.
Fixed the CDI calculation for flying direct to a holding in lieu of a procedure turn as first leg in the approach.
Fixed the click-spot size for triggering GPS popup windows.
Fix display issues with the approach plan when intercepting a vector-to-final from an “unsual” angle.
Fixed DTK and distance not calculating after loading a saved flightplan in the new GPS until you activate the first leg.
Fixed a bug not setting up the correct airport for approach procedures after using the “invert flightplan” function of the GPS.

Bugs fixed in beta 2:

Multiple GPS screens are allowed, as long as they are all of the same unit.
Network setting checkboxes can be changed.
Clipping for instruments works – fixes Q400 and other aircraft.
Local map is faster in textured and sectional mode – only major highways are shown.
Fixed “black smoke” on pulsing lights in HDR mode.
Tuned icing rate.
Fixed saving quick-view preferences with aircraft.
Fixed METAR parsing when // in metar.
Fixed French some translations.
Fixed navigation with old-style GPS when mixed with new GPS.
Default aircraft will be loaded if selected plane has borked GPS system settings. (This avoids being “locked out” of X-Plane.)
Fixed text-to-speech ATIS.
VNAV goes up to FL410.
Fix FPL page scrolling into nirvana when an approach is selected on an empty flight plan (which is legal).
Fix crash when selecting “activate vector to final” with no approach selected.
Fix loading too long waypoint names from saved flight plans.
Fixed inconsistent symbols on 430/530.
Fixed typo in sim/operation/ datarefs.
Fixed wing-rocking on A320 Neo. This was caused by the damping of sim/flightmodel/misc/slip changing. The damping has been restored. Please note that sim/cockpit2/gauges/indicators/slip_deg still shows the new, 10.30-style less-damped slip, which is a much better indication of actual slip.

Bugs fixed in beta 1:

Individual prop pitch controls (Prop1, Prop2, etc.) control only the prop they are assigned to.
Joystick centering logic handles joysticks with an offset center so they still have full control input.
Autopilot course tracking on VORs with an offset magvar now works correctly.
Accuracy improvements in long range VOR and glideslope tracking.
OBS knob operates the correct HSI when used with a fixed source HSI (e.g., HSI to Nav 1 only).
HSI source selector is reset to Nav 1 when a new aircraft is loaded.
Local map retains its zoom level when you use the weather menu.
“Show our ILS” and glideslope display in the local map identify the approach more reliably.
“Shutdown tailwind ILS” now works reliably in gusting crosswinds and doesn’t switch ILSs on and off every other second
Joystick buttons are now numbered consistently in the Basic and Advanced button assignment menus.
Save Situation and Save Replay work when “Save Preferences on Exit” is disabled.
Turning off “Save Preferences on Exit” no longer causes a crash warning on the next startup.
Aircraft count is automatically adjusted when you add multiplayer aircraft.
Multiplayer aircraft are removed from the environment when you turn off the IP connection.
Networked IOS now reliably loads aircraft and airports on the student machine.
Space Shuttle: Initial speed for the final approach is set to the correct 300 kias.
Custom chord offsets in V9 aircraft import correctly into V10.
Trim speed in V9 aircraft imports correctly into V10.
Retracted angle setting for fuselage mounted speedbrakes is back in PlaneMaker.
Brake response more realistic, with the whole plane not being held back by just a smidgeon of brakes if the craft was stopped before
The FCU (fuel control unit) of turbo props now takes the highest of throttle and backup throttle, like it does on a real PT-6
The sync real-time checkbox is no longer required for Xavion
Corrected depiction of landing gear deflection in Plane Maker
Changed a constant to get the transonic drag down just a hair, as it needs to be according to testing with the citation X, and a (real) F-18 pilot testing with the falcon 7-X indicates that this is needed for the high-subsonic aircraft
Joystick UI shows that null zone applies to toe brakes and it does indeed apply to toe brakes
Reverse thrust sound variation much reduced, as per notes from numerous real pilots
Manual weather-dragging scaled better now, you can get levels of thunderstorms and clouds much more readily
Planes used to lean off to the right ever so slightly. It turned out this was due to an error in the computation of flow along the spar direction in cases where wings had dihedral – Some component of this lateral flow took an axial component after sweep was applied, so the right wings were moving slightly slower than they should have been the effect was a fraction of a knot, but till just enough to lean the plane to the right a hair. That is now fixed!
Turn coordinator now reflects bank rate as well as turn rate to give a more immediate response, as does the real one
The data output was not showing the total bus amperages correctly since it was displaying the data while it was still in the process of being summed. Now, we show the total bus loads in the data output
Logic error fixed on when to apply rotor dynamics
Foreflight output is now working at 1 hertz like it should
Improved response of external visuals on network computers
Fixed saving situation files from the map screen
Plane-Maker VIEWPOINT, ENGINES and SPECIAL EQUIP screens re-organized
Mouse-dragging of the throttle now syncs for beta and reverse according to the settings in Plane Maker
Fixed circle camera view jerks when a new scenery tile was loaded
Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and XAvion recorded flights can now be up to 4 hours long
Fixed X-Plane going into replay mode when you just opened the FDR window without actually selecting a file.
Fixed the virtual cockpit viewpoint of the Avanti
Raised max wind speed enterable in the weather window to 150 knots – winds aloft can really be that strong at times!
Made over-wing condensation effect stronger by just a hair
Fixed X-Plane hang when ADSB weather out is selected. Improved output for XAvion to correctly emulate a Sagetech Clarity ADSB receiver.
Added nominal bus voltages to the Flight Data Recorder so we can see what the plane is doing
Improved eagle claw gears to look better, considering the pitch of the aircraft, and to handle the inverted eagle claw case as well
When running a REAL Garmin GPS and NAV/COM hardware unit from X-Plane, failures now are properly labelled, and functional in the way you would normally expect. Also, the setting of the left input to go into COM or VLOC is now available as a dataref
Fixed pro-use key mis-match message across a network to indicate what PC has a key, and what one does not, to help debugging what machine needs a key
Set visibility lower limit to 100 meters, as per the minimums for a Cat-3 approach, and the lowest vis that you can encounter in clouds
Failure screen shows only air inlet heat failures for engines that we actually have, and put them in engines: de-ice where they belong
Fixed a bug in anchoring sea-planes: the anchor was not always dropped where the flight was started. Now the anchor should go to the right place when seaplanes start (no matter how they start: placed by menu, dragged on the map, whatever)
Ice now accumulates mass on the aircraft with something closer to surface area than aircraft weight, so that is more realistic
New METAR-interpretation engine from Xavion: It is now much much more robust, and capable of handling online weather data from European and Russian reports just fine as well!
Flap handle and flap surfaces now follow the Flight Data Recorder properly now, so you can analyze accidents caused by flap failures properly in replay.
Transmission temperature comes up at a more realistic rate, getting to terminal temperature in a reasonable time-frame
New variable added to the electrical accessors to let people add their own bus voltage if they like, as per various requests.
The new dataref is: sim/cockpit2/electrical/plugin_bus_load_amps float[4]
this is bus load that a plugin can add to the total loads, if desired
If an electrical bus is down due to failure or under-voltage, then it will not build up amperage, which should be more realistic
A new dataref sim/cockpit2/switches/rotor_brake_ratio float is now avail to control the amount of rotor brake being applied
Clarified the various settings for FADEC and critical altitude in Plane-Maker
Commands to move prop governor #1 no longer affect all props by mistake
Datarefs added for winch control, to control the line length, ramp-up time, and speed
ATIS works even if both com1 and com2 audio monitor are selected, as it should in the real plane
Improved simulating the physics of VOR needles and flags better, especially visible when switching between sources for a mechanical HSI
Added command to bring up acf load menu
Fixed the autopilot and instruments and added datarefs to make the GPS 2 (co-pilot GPS) useable.
Direction of heat blur is fixed! You don’t need to change your aircraft; the heat blur will simply be drawn in the expected direction of exhaust.
VRAM optimized for non-power-of-2 3-d panels.
CDI deflection range on needle generic instrument fixed.
Fixed black line in the center of the screen when HDR is enabled and the window is an odd number of pixels tall.
Lit level on generic triggers now work.
CPU type is correctly logged for OSX.
AI airplanes should pick different start locations at gate. Warning: if your airport layout has too few gates, the airplanes will stack up. You may need to add more gates to the airport. This fix will only work when there are enough gate slots.
If an airplane fails to load, flight parameters are reset – avoids some rare crashes.
Reading of manipulators used to take place between the solid and blended phase of drawing; this could cause animations to appear out of sync between parts of the plane in the 3-d cockpit. Animations are now always in sync between the different parts of the plane.

Back to Knowledge Base

X-Plane 10.30 Release Notes