It is a common complaint that the SDK’s released from Microsoft for Flight Simulator are lacking. The reason for that is… well, I will leave it for one of the ACES team to explain… But suffice to say, I am sure we will see improvement in this area. Because the SDK’s are lacking, people have had to simply delve around in the source code and attempt new things and this can be a VERY frustrating thing to have to do.
Because of the lacking documentation, I constantly get emails from freeware and Payware Flight Simulator scenery / aircraft developers with questions regarding design methods. The common query is “Where can I go to find the answer for blah blah blah”. The answer is simple… www.scenerydesign.org a site that Arno created and I assist him with. Currently, the site is focused on scenery, but we welcome you aircraft designers if you want to come share your thoughts…?
Apart from the forums, which have some of the cleverest developers hanging around, we have recently added the Wiki which I mentioned a few posts ago. A Wiki is a “shared manual” where multiple people can add, edit and work together on documentation. Out aim is simple… to have the perfect flight simulator designer’s manual….
Arno and I have already added and updated a few articles, tutorials etc. But please… this is a community thing, don’t just take from the Wiki… please add to it as well! (That includes you Payware guys!). I know for certain that there is a HUGE amount of people out there, all with a little bit of info on the game code. If we could simply Brain Dump to this Wiki then better and better add-ons for Flight Simulator would appear.
This post applies to your ACES guys and gals as well. You promised 😉