Thanks, will do and we are nearly there.
3 Likes
@PipsPriller It took more than 3 hours to load, but I finally managed to test FS2024. Overall, it is a big improvement for “Virtual Toursists” over FS2020.
However, it is not going to put you and your team out of business.
I flew low and slow in an Optica along the Wall from Milecastle 39 to Housesteads, and then south to Vindolanda. The ruins of the Wall and castra/forts seem just as hard to make out as they were in FS2020.
One thing I did notice however, is that coupled with TMD reconstruction, MSFS 2020 and 2024 topography makes it a lot easier to understand why the Romans placed the Wall and supporting forts where they did.
For example, it is very clear that Vindoland is protected on three sides by land that slopes away doward. That was somewhat evident when I visited the actual site. But it is much easier to see it exploring the site from the air.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if FS2024’s default vegitation and buildings were layers that could be turned off and replaced with custom layers of vegitation and buildings from different eras? Then one could reconstruct Roman or Medieval Britain with all its fortifications, towns, cities and connecting roads.
Yes, the eye candy would be very tastey. But it would also be very informative to see these things in their topographical context, unobstructed by today’s human infrastructure.
2 Likes
I am pleased to haer you got in - I am still trying!
And good to know that we are still in the game - if the imagery has not updated then perhaps we will be able to get HW180 into '24 more easily than we think.
It is the relationship between the Wall and the topography that I keep coming back to, both in the central section where the Wall enhances the naturral barrier, and in the west and east sectors where it simply divides the land in two to create the frontier.
The ability to create customised biomes and manage things with custom layers would be a really powerful tool for communicating the past - and save us quite a lot of work! Perhaps I should set up a vote for it? 
Hi all, to help you get into a “Hadrianic State of Mind” here is the manual’s Spotters Guide to Legions by their turret design.
2 Likes
@PipsPriller
FS2024 — Sorry to hear that you are still having trouble getting in. It is hard to imagine that Microsoft could have mismanaged their servers this badly!
I have yet to get in between 13:00 and 21:00 GMT. That seems to be peak traffic time.
Have you tried early morning?
Layers – Yes. Do push MS-Asobo to think deeply about scenery layers. If they are serious about promoting their product to “virtual tourists,” then scenery layers would be a great feature. I imagine it might also make the MSFS “digital twin” more adaptable to all sorts of other uses.
Turrets – I wondered if the different styles. Assigning them to different sectors is a great idea!
1 Like
@MeusMagister a bit a delay in replying (see next post) but have now managed to get into '24 and even test HW180. The good news is that there only seem to be a few places where the mesh is playing up.
Layers - defintely, they would make a huge difference in all sorts of ways so will do
Turrets - thanks - they are one of the many places where the “known knowns” end and the “known unknowns” begin!
1 Like
Wouldn’t that be amazing? We could fly over Watling Street, Eboracum, etc. etc. as if it were really that time period.
2 Likes
Hi all
OK, so I cannot quite believe I am typing this but after a long week and a very long night, this morning we sent the release version of HW180 up the line to Microsoft for testing and validation.
We will still have a bit of work to do in their test servers but all being well, it will be out very soon.
Thanks as ever for your support and interest in the project. I think we have managed to create something pretty unique for you so here is a taster of what to expect…
Pips
13 Likes
@PipsPriller Congratulations to you and your team! With all the diappointments of the FS2024 launch, this is a ray of shunshine.
3 Likes
Congrats, I’m looking forward to it!! It’s been really amazing to read your posts over time with details on the reconstruction and how you’re adapting it to the sim environment and it’s going to be really fun to explore with the helicopters and low & slow planes. 
3 Likes
Congrats! Hoping for the best!
2 Likes
Congrats mate!!! What a relief it didn’t need major surgery for 2024!
So will the same exact version work on both sim versions now?
Can’t wait to check it out.
Helicopters for sure, but I might even dust off the old Juice Goose and drive the length of it!
3 Likes
Thanks all, much appreciated and have passed onto the team. Being so much younger they are playing it unbearably cool!
Hopefully the sun will break through properly on '24 soon.
I hope so, I have spent a lot of time in Ant’s Tiger Moth over the last few weeks channeling OGS Crawford, the father of aerial archaeology, but have yet to try it in a helicopter or the Juice Goose.
We think so. Only about 5% of the Wall itself needs some attention, and in places where we have had trouble previously in '20.
My plan is that we will port to '24 as the standard model asap, and then I have a roadmap for an “enhanced” version to take advantage of the '24 features. The aim is to allow you to walk the entire 73 miles along the wallwalk, in and out of the turrets and into the forts and Milecastles with selected building interiors modelled.
We are already developing a proof of concept with an Iron Age Hillfort so that you can land outside, walk up through the ditch and bank system and into a fully modelled roundhouse.
4 Likes
I remember seeing and visiting a replica Iron age village with round houses while driving south from Scotland (in north northumberland?) Would make a great “walk through” example.
3 Likes
Thanks, that’s encouraging - there might be a new thread opening in the New Year!
2 Likes
@PipsPriller An iron age hill fort is exciting news. Did you add the link to Worlebury because it is one you are considering …and are you going pick one based on its association with well known historical figures like Caratacus or Vespesan …or based on the extent of its archaeological record?
1 Like
@MeusMagister, yes was a specific reference 
We have been commissioned to recreate Worlebury as part of a heritage trail being developed by the local town council (Weston super Mare).
That gives us a way to work with the '24 tech with a view to creating content that can be used by the local museum. We are then going to use that to create a pack of eighteen of the local hillforts that run up the Severn Estuary and across towards Wiltshire, for which the concept art is almost complete.
That in turn gives us the assets and the understanding of how we create the earth bank and ditch systems to take on the really big beasts like Maiden Castle, Danebury, Vespasian and Hod Hill with its post-siege Legio II fort (connecting us back to HW180).
Each stage will draw on the current archaeology and historical sources, so for Worlebury that includes working with the County Archaeologist, with whom we had a site visit a couple of weeks back.
Next after that is the nineteenth century Cornish tin mining coast but that is way off the current topic!
1 Like
Haha! Nice piece of work that.
We might have to a few of those as well… There are some top ones out there.
5 Likes
This is still releasing for 2020 correct?
1 Like