--- James Palmer wrote:
> I have a better idea on what is involved now for adding dogfighting to
> FG.
> Thanks to all who have given me input,.. Keep it coming.
<snip>
Hi James,
It is wonderful that you are so enthusiastic about contributing to the
project, and commendable that you are really thinking about what you are
doing, and discussing it on the list. However, I think it is time to add a
bit of pragmatism here that others have touched on but not really
emphasized nearly enough IMHO.
What you are suggesting is very, very, ambitious. As I understand it, you
intend to
1) Completely re-architect FG
2) Completely re-write the MP protocol
3) Add collision detection
4) Improve sub-models for munitions.
Off the top of my head, I'd say that represents something in the region of
6 man-months of full-time work, plus about the same again in bug fixing
(remember, this has to work on almost every platform known to mankind). Do
you really have an entire year to work on this for 7 hours every weekday?
The architecture document you refer to has been around for a while, and
while it offers an improved architecture for a flight simulator, it isn't
at all clear how we can separate the existing monolithic core of FG into
the different components. More to the point, as far as I know, no-one has
actually attempted to implement it, even though there are contributers
here who put many hours into FG each week.
There is also the minor issue that you aren't very familiar with the code,
having not (as far as I am aware) made any contribution to the project
before. Inevitably this means you will have a learning curve ahead of you,
both to really understand the code, and The Way Things Are Done.
I really don't want to discourage you from contributing - I am sure that
you wouldn't be suggesting this set of enhancements if you didn't have a
lot to offer the project. However, I would humbly suggest that you look
for some smaller features to implement before starting on such a large
project. Obviously, you will need to find something that appeals to you,
but here's some random suggestions to whet your appetite:-
- Improved weather system. Currently when the METAR updates, the weather
changes instantaneously, causing control problems. A more intelligent
weather system would be of great benefit, and an interesting challenge.
- Ridge-soaring. Implementing orthographic lift and mountain waves would
enhance the gliding features immensly.
- Same aircraft MP. A nice stepping-stone towards dog-fighting would be
implementing a MP capability for two users to share the same cockpit,
allowing pilot/copilot or instructor/student
Once again, you obviously have a lot to offer to project. It would be a
great shame if this was wasted on a huge project that might not complete.
Best regards,
-Stuart
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