Immersive panels: pbr-rendering of the vfr-map, etc

Currently, in-game panels (especially the VFR map panel; shipped version as well as community mods) don’t merge with the environment in any way. They are brightly lit “screens” not affected by or affecting the otherwise very nicely rendered cockpit.

For the wish list:

  • In VR, treat the colors of the panel as base/diffuse color, requiring illumination.
  • Allow illumination of the panels the same way as the rest of the cockpit (e.g. daylight, dome light, flashlight/torch).
  • Make it a “per panel” option: it doesn’t make sense for the ATC panel to behave this way, even though some adaptation to the surrounding illumination level would be nice (i.e. make the panels darker in a dark cockpit). Third-party panels (e.g. for showing charts, notes, etc) may however choose to enable this option.

Why?

Immersion. Yes, the map can still be a moving map, but a more realistic rendering would make it blend in. I can position the current VFR map on the seat next to me, but it looks out of place and it is blinding at night, breaking the VR-immersion.

Again, thanks for a great product! I’m very happy with it as it is, but can’t stop adding things to the wish list anyway.

Presenting things like the VFR map and ATC panel could be done via a simulated tablet, that probably most RL pilots would probably carry with them in all types of aircraft.

Such a virtual tablet could be rendered as though it were a “real thing” and could be made sensitive to the lighting and shadows in the virtual cockpit.