SODE V1.6.2 available

Update: I want to apologize for the quick succession of micro updates. The new model existance checking revealed a couple of bugs that need to be fixed. With the release of V1.6.2 I am confident that this newly introduced mechanism is now working as intended.

It’s been a long time since the last SODE update, but work has continued in the background.

The focus was set to improve stability and polish some minor details. Of course, fixing bugs is always a task…

Stability and performance

To improve stability, I had to re-think the entire process of handling SimObject injections into the sim. While SimConnect still offers the same simple object injection method, the art is in how one uses that method to achieve the desired functionality like conditional display, etc.

In the past, SODE would just throw in all objects it found in a certain radius into the simulator. While this works perfectly for smaller airports with few SimObjects, larger projects with hundreds of SimObjects (jetways) could saturate the simulator’s SimConnect server and this would result in a stutter until all objects are loaded.

Now, SODE injects its objects in chunks with small delays in between. This way, SimConnect and the sim remain responsive.

 

Also, another source of stuttering was eliminated when the simulator was not able to find the requested SimObject on your harddrive. A missing SimObject is not the fault of SODE, it is an issue coming from installers forgetting to install the SimObjects properly or uninstallers forgetting to remove the controlling xml file but correctly removing the SimObjects. Both cases lead to a controlling xml requesting to inject a SimObject that does not exist! The simulator is trying hard to find the requested SimObject and this results in massive stutters for each object requested!

In this version, SODE checks during initialization if each and every SimObject (i.e. the MDL file belonging to a SimTitle) is actually accessible on your disk! If the MDL file is not present, SODE will internally replace that with a “red cross” object to indicate the missing object(s) to the user. Now that the simulator is able to load a model anyway, the stutter will not occur!

 

Another mechanism to enhance performance is the addition of cutting-off injections when the user aircraft is above 18’000ft. Cruising above a heavy SODE jetway populated airport will not affect performance anymore.

New features

This version introduces an automatic selection of your parking stand. When you have set the parking brakes and call up the SODE menu (Tab+S ), SODE tries to figure out the parking spot you are at and automatically selects it. So you can directly operate the jetways from there.

 

Speaking of the Tab+S keystroke…there were many support questions when users failed to operate SODE jetways at Drzewiecki Design airports because they tried to use Tab+S. As stated in their manual, DD airports use a custom key combination “SHIFT+D” to operate their jetways.

In hindsight, I found this confusing and have now changed the logic internally so that you can use Tab+S also for their airports. Also, SHIFT+D will work on non-Drzewiecki Design airport as well if you are used to that combo…Any valid key combo will work now!

 

That’s it for the main improvements, more details can be seen in the extensive change log: changelog.

 

Best regards,

Jeffrey

SODE goes 64-bit! V1.5.3 is available


Update 21JUN17: V1.5.3 should fix all the P3D registration problems and fixes a bug in the object injection loop.


This version supports all the previous sims as well as the new Prepar3D v4.

The way how SODE is integrated in P3D v3 and v4 has been changed to leverage the native ‘add-on.xml’ mechanism of P3D. This ensures that none of the exe.xml, dll.xml and simobject.cfg files are touched! This step should make the SODE install much more robust since it is now in its own ‘sandbox’.

Besides the usual bugfixes a method has been introduced to define sim-specific models in the placement xml. This enables the developer to have all legacy sims still supported while for the new sims, he can take advantage of the latest SDK features in their models. The xml syntax for this new feature is described here: <TargetSim>

 

Also, the SODE-to-GSX API has been refined and enhanced to enable new features concerning dynamic jetways in GSX. Stay tuned!

 

At this point, I want to thank you for your continued support and for your donations.

For a detailed listing of the changes, have a look at the changelog.

-Jeffrey

SODE and Prepar3D v4

I am happy to announce that SODE is working with version 4 of Prepar3d. The SimObjectAnimationModule.dll was ported to 64-bit and a mechanism has been introduced to support simulator specific models, e.g. you can have a scenery object that was compiled using the latest P3D v4 SDK only be loaded by SODE when P3D v4 is launched.

More on this and all the other fixes and improvements hopefully next week.

SODE V1.4.2: Enhancements, bug fixes and better Platform Manager utility

Lots of work was put into the code since the last update. I have finally found a solution to a long standing, annoying bug when using the (secret) AI Traffic detection feature for the jetways. Now I can announce that optional feature to the public 🙂 It is disabled by default, but you can turn it on if you wish via the new “Settings” window in the Platform Manager.

Speaking of the platform manager, I have tried to make that utility more stable and I am happy with the results now. Nearly all SODE issues reported lately are linked to a incorrect/incomplete installation or configuration of the various exe.xml, dll.xml and fsx.cfg/simobjects.cfg files and not about the SODE module itself. The platform manager will indicate now if such misconfigurations exist for the simulator and will offer a repair function if it can fix those by itself. The SODE.log was extended to store more debug information.

Also, I got rid of the “SHIFT+MINUS” secondary command key by default. By now, everyone should be used to “Tab+S”. If you still need to have a secondary key combination for some reason, you can set that via the new Settings window in the platform manager.

The SODE module itself has got two major enhancements concerning the jetway system. These additions (such as dynamic gate numbers on the jetway) will be featured in upcoming commercial airport packages.

Another new thing is the support of stairs for the T-Type jetway, updated scripts that handle those are also available (Jetway SDK V1.6).

In the downloads section of this site, you will also find the updated User Guide with a 3-step troubleshooting checklist included if you should run into problems…

For a detailed listing of the changes, have a look at the changelog.

V1.4.1 paves the way for VDGS Pack

V1.4.1 is a service release and addresses a couple of minor bugs.

Behind the curtains, the VDGS logic has been updated and enhanced to support the new jetway N and T types. The code is now ready to drive the upcoming VDGS Pack models.

 

If you have installed V1.4.0 before, you can just run the V1.4.1 installer on top of it without uninstalling the previous version. The new installer will automatically uninstall any old versions.

As always, a complete listing of the changes can be found in the changelog.

SODE Jetway SDK v1.5 released!

With the release of SODE V1.4.0, two new jetway types are supported. For the developers to build these new types, the SDK had to be updated:

  • SDK Manual completely revised (clean-up and new images) and sections about the two new types are added
  • New scripts to build all three jetway types!
  • Sample models for the two new types included in gmax and 3dsmax file formats

Note: The modeldef.xml has not changed with this SDK release. You can still use the “old” one from V1.4 (the one with the Wheel-Spin animation defined)

 

V1.4.0 adds two new Jetway types!

This release has been tested with the new Prepar3D v3.4 for compatibility.

V1.4.0 now supports two new jetway types (fixed leg and T-shaped bridge), see them in action here https://youtu.be/uPhzJ2R3RxM and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUG19dF7uaw. I still need to finalize the SDK scripts for the scenery developers.

Through a collaboration, I have been able to create some fixed leg type jetways for a upcoming commercial scenery and they work nicely. Also, the new types are supported by GSX (same protocol as for “standard” jetways).

Thanks to various user reports/feedback, a couple of bugs could be solved including the jetway head rotation bug that has survived throughout several SODE versions! Thanks for reporting and your continued support!

A complete listing of all changes can be found in the changelog.

 

Commercial developers: If you don’t have the man-power to implement SODE jetways into your sceneries yourself, I am open to offer my jetway creation service to you. I have collaborated already with various payware scenery developers and several airports with SODE jetways were released already.

I have developed a workflow that enables me to create SODE jetways for all platforms relatively fast.

If you are interested, leave a message via the e-mail address found here: Contact.

 

 

V1.3.4: Minor enhancements and a couple of bugs fixed

This release finally handles the detection of FSX:Steam Edition correctly in both single and parallel installation setups.

For developers, this version adds the already introduced “IgnoreFilterRadius” flag also to triggerable animations. Also belonging to the animation system, two additional part visibility flags are added that signal the end state of the forward and reverse running triggered animation.

For more detail about the minor fixes, refer to the Change Log. Also note that I have fixed a bug in the Jetway SDK creator script (see post below).

 

Outlook: I will now concentrate on adding “non-standard” jetway types, i.e. those with fixed legs and T-shaped structures.

Jetway SDK 1.3 Correction

If you have downloaded the V1.3 of the Jetway SDK and you are using gmax to build the model, please re-download the SDK, because it contained the wrong script files. This is now corrected and included in the SDK package and the wheels should now be animated.

[EDIT] July 6, 2016: I have fixed another issue with the stair angle calculation. Please recompile your jetway model with the latest scripts.

V1.3.3 adds new features for developers

This release mainly adds/improves developer related features. The most prominent one is the support of jetway wheel animation. In order to make use of spinning jetway wheels, the developer has to compile the model with the updated Jetway SDK V1.3 scripts. However, older models will just work as before.

For the end-user’s convenience, the text-menu can be closed by hitting TAB+S again.

For more detailed info, see the change log.

 

Last but not least, I would also like to thank all the people who have donated so far! 🙂