Enable 3rd party GPS products

There are existing 3rd party in the market making high quality GPS add ons. Some are panel integrated, some not (showing up as their own 2D pop up panel in other simulators). Please support this in the SDK, even if the built-in GPS is not removed, and for me - especially for GA aircraft (e.g. GTN750, GTN650, GNS530, GNS430 etc.)

13 Likes

Should move this to the wishlist section. Well worth getting some votes to support it.
You can move it by editing your heading.

3 Likes

Wouldn’t that be an amazingly huge improvement in the experience if we could use Reality XP’s GTN750 !!! It’s what is holding me back from flying in FS more right now. Just some bush flying for me, flying in VR and the GTN750 is a match made in heaven, and one that I have enjoyed in Xplane for the last couple years now.

4 Likes

It is supported. Building custom gauges is possible. It’s just that building a realistic Garmin etc. simulator from scratch is an extremely complex job. Especially that they are often fine tuned for each aircraft type.

Reality XP will not work inside the sim because it’s not using the supported technology (web assembly). It also runs a official Garmin G1000 emulator in the background which would be impossible to integrate (gauges run inside a sandbox and can’t communicate with other processes because of security reasons). It would be possible to run it as an an external application and communicate through Simconnect but I don’t think it offers enough API’s currently to fully work. It would also not be very immersive.

Try bush flying with just a map and timer. It’s much more intersting than following a magenta line. In VR you can use LittleNavMap (topo map) inside a popup window. Off course turn off the display of current aircraft position. It’s great fun.

1 Like

IT’s too bad, I mean I really enjoy the experience in Xplane. Being able to flight plan in VR is awesome, compared to the G1000 not being touch screen it just a night and day difference in ease of use.

1 Like

I’m loving the bush trips !!! Half way through the Alaska one right now. Indeed makes VFR flying a lot more fun.

@lkowgli I’m sorry to be blunt but you’re spreading false information.

It might seem like so but it just seems like so. Please read below about one of the problem among a few others.

TL;DR: we do need a proper ‘override’ system for simvars which is paramount to a whole category of add ons which can’t be offered on MSFS2020 because of the SDK sandbox.

Let me illustrate: from FS9 up to P3D5.x the only way to integrate our GPS products into the simulator autopilot system is to hack the code inside the simulator in order to ‘override’ the stock GPS code which is otherwise hard-coded in the autopilot system (in-process detours like approach). Similarly the only way to override what any 3rd party HSI gauge is displaying is to hack the simulator to add the capability to ‘override’ the XML, and the C SDK variables, which are otherwise read only.

This is just a glimpse of some of the limitation in the FS2020 SDK inherited from the FSX SDK. Please note the X-Plane SDK doesn’t have any such limitation because it is offering what 3rd party vendors are needing from the get go.


Update: Additional information and and how this is also affecting the CJ4

14 Likes

You are right. I didn’t think it through. Although you can implement whatever gauge you want visually, if you can’t interact with the sim (due to limitations in the SDK / API’s) it’s kind of pointless. You are right.

– edit
So it seems the only way now is what for example WorkingTitle are doing. Modify / rewrite the UI of the stock instruments. Although it seems a bit deeper, since in the CJ4 they already modified the whole route planning feature to use their own custom code. It’s not just the display layer.

2 Likes