Can we ask for a brand new category in the Activities section? Aerial Application / Crop Dusting.
Since this release of MSFS is based on real satellite imagery of the world, I am sure that most of the fields that are sprayed in real life, can be used as well to spray as an adventure activity in MSFS.
Then using techniques like showing grass when getting closer to the ground, show the crops instead.
Add a new property in the Scenery Editor of the Development tools to mark an area as a field and specify the type of crop.
Then also please build in some functionality to measure how much spray reaches the ground (crop), so that a map can be populated with how the spray application actually went.
This will of course also means that the computer used in crop dusters will also have to be developed together with a few crop duster aircraft.
I really think for the first time in MS Flight Simulator’s history it is ready to model and simulate agricultural aviation.
I’d never considered this, but sounds interesting. You got my vote.
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There was a crop dusting game in FS4 that was a lot of fun.
I think it would be a great addition as part of a Sim Update that brings AI placed autogen farm buildings and crop vegetation types. Then you could dust potentially thousands of places. Autogen telephone poles and fences would make nice additions to the challenge too. Not having to worry about any sort of obstruction, and being able to land anywhere like it’s a perfect airstrip makes it a bit too easy currently.
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I remember. It was fun. I also remember the field was a lot of grids. If you fly over a grid its colour changed.
This is something I would really love.
I’ve been working on an Ag Computer and Lightbar. Must say it makes this more realistic and fun to “spray”.
They are running as external C# applications. In early development still.
I’ve mapped 2 joystick buttons to select the next or previous swath.
What I really would like to see is how to create a facade of Soy, Corn, or Wheat plants to appear when one is close to the crops.
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@BenderS92 is this still in development? ORBX just released the PAC 750 which is based on the Cresco, a plane used extensively in New Zealand for aerial applications. The screenshot you’ve posted (a while ago) are very similar to this systems they usually have. I and I’m sure many others should be keen to see this released.
Check out Jimbo Burgess on yt for some examples from nz
I am still working on it but this is my winter project. Since it summer for us I am working on my S-92 cockpit again.
Since the app is a bit beefy, one either needs a powerful PC to run both MSFS and the C# app, or you can run it on a second PC over the network.
I’ve seen the NZ videos before, very interesting. In particular the ones with uphill landings. It will scare the who knows what out of me.
Glad to hear the project is still alive. MSFS has the potential to work so well with all types of ag air ops. Best of luck with both projects. I look forward to seeing any progress whenever that may be.
Thanks.
I just have one small issue in MSFS that is not as friendly as in X-Plane. In X-Plane, you have facades of Maize, Soy or Wheat. One can easily put these crops on a field and that makes the aerial application so much more immersive. In MSFS you have the fields nicely done by the Satelite imagery but it is flat. It gets a bit boring after a while to spray empty fields. Also to spray the lines that the plants make helps a lot in detecting drift and you don’t have to rely on the GPS so much when on a swath.
MSFS really needs a way to add crops easily in the Scenery Editor.
adding crops is fairly easy to do with a bit of blender experience. I may give it a crack soon when I get a spare few hours.
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I can appreciate the issue, it’s pretty immersion breaking if what your spraying isn’t actually there. Most of the topdressing in New Zealand is done onto grass and so it’s pretty much the ready to go in that environment. Although I don’t have any IRL experience with crop dusting etc. I am experienced with operating the GPS tractors and applying products albeit from ground level… not at all the same I know. However if you get to the point that you’ve developed something that you want others to test I’d help out any way I could.
That would be very much appreciated and makes a great difference in the immersion.
One can make low-profile plants like soy and even grass and a higher profile like corn or maize. I guess to make it frame rate friendly, implement different LODs.
I find the default grass in MSFS a bit short, but yes they do appear when you really fly low. But not doing it for me. I need bigger plants.
Will keep you in the loop.
Currently, the software consists of:
C# Spray Computer with a Lightbar.
C# Planner application that lets one create swaths from polygons that you draw on a map.
Stuff to implement still is the calculations of the swaths based on the type you select e.g Race Track or Back to Back. I also want to implement that you can set your A-B (and C) points when in the air. Currently, A-B lines are set beforehand. And I need a way to reduce the payload weight as you spray so that the aircraft gets lighter the more you spray.
Crop dusting in the Bell 407 would be fun.
Has there been any progress with this? Now helicopters are officially supported there are some great opportunities.
@MechMadness9582 Did you find some spare time?
@BetterSpade9 The progress is slow. Since we last spoke, I managed to talk to a few people. The demand for this type of functionality is very low. That can be derived from how many votes this request to Microsoft / Asobo has.
I also had to look into WASM vs External applications. To learn WASM means I will have to restart from scratch. So I will probably stick to an external C# application.
Since then I rewrote the swath creation code and I can now create many swath patterns.
But like I said, this is my winter project and it is pretty much still summer in the southern hemisphere.
I see that one of the Cowansim helicopters has provision for sprayer booms so that will also add another platform that will benefit from a spray computer and lightbar.
