MSFS Passport 2024 | EFB App by Baracus250 | Discovery, Exploration & Achievements Tracker [Announcement & Discussion]

[Baracus250]

Introducing MSFS Passport 2024!

What is it? In short, it’s a sort of “Discovery, Exploration & Achievement Layer” for MSFS 2024.

Visit the website to see further information:

MSFS Passport 2024 — In-Sim EFB Flight Passport for MSFS

It runs as a Native EFB App and tracks your flying in the background (even with the EFB closed), building up your own personal Passport as you explore the world. There are thousands of things to discover and do, ranging from straightforward sightseeing and destination hunting to rewarding your flying skills (stunts, aerobatics, landing challenges, some disasters and much more!) and performing in structured Airshow Challenges, plus a TON more.

A few of the main features:

• Automatic tracking of countries, points of interest and other destinations, with visual and audio notifications.
• Thousands of Tasks and Challenges to discover and complete.
• Achievements, Stamps, Badges and Awards for completing pages in your Passport and proving your piloting skills.
• Stunts, Airshow and Precision Flying Challenges: detects and rewards loops, rolls, hammerheads, cuban-eights, half-cubans, split-s, knife-edge, Chandelle and more. Tricky landings, water & treetop skimming, canyon runs and LOTS of other things to explore.
• Aircraft-specific Challenges, including tasks aimed at helicopters, gliders, jets, airliners, bush planes and more. There is even a special “Got Friends” category giving you challenges specific to their aircraft and a special Award for completing them all!
• Hidden and Cryptic Challenges for those who like surprises and hunting for things.
• Optional nearby task/radar assistance, if you want the app to point you towards something interesting to do next.
• Information about recognised sights as you fly past them, including photos and fun facts.
• Personal Records & Flight Statistics Log, so you can see what you’ve actually been getting up to.
• Daily & Weekly Streaks: complete at least one task a day or week to keep your streaks alive.
• Works perfectly in VR, in vertical or horizontal orientation, and is designed to have essentially no measurable impact on FPS.
• And importantly, it works with any aircraft, including third-party aircraft.

New tasks (or adjustments to existing ones) can be added remotely and Passport will synchronise any new content the next time you open the App. The idea is to provide regular content drops with new Destinations, Tasks & Challenges, constantly growing your experience.

The idea isn’t really to turn MSFS into an arcade game. It’s more about giving you a reason to go somewhere or try something you might not otherwise have thought of, whether that’s hunting down obscure locations, trying to improve a flying skill, monitoring your “Personal Bests” or simply seeing how many things you can tick off in your “Passport” over time.

Public Beta Version

I have been running a closed Beta and added a whole bunch of extra features and content through feedback received during that process. Now this has gone beyond the scope of one lowly person (and a few friends) to test properly, as there is so much to do, especially when that same person is also adding features, creating content and trying to keep the coding side of things under control!

So I’m opening it up to a wider group of simmers for a Public Beta.

The important bit: this is a Beta. Some bugs are probably hiding. Things with the rules / detection and so on will occasionally not behave as they should, and there will undoubtedly be things I’ve missed. Having said that, I’ve tried to get it as polished and stable as I could before putting it in your hands.

What I’m really looking for now is pilots who are willing to use it normally, try some of the challenges, explore the features, put some time into it and, ideally, find issues that I haven’t managed to find myself, as well as give me ideas of what else you’d like me to add or change!

Suggestions for new tasks, challenges, achievements etc, bug reports and any feedback are very welcome. There is also a link to my Discord within the App (on the Settings page) where you can come to chat and report any issues.

One other thing worth being completely upfront about: the eventual aim is for MSFS Passport to become a payware product. I’ve had some incredible support, comments and encouragement from my testers so far and the feeling is it’s a worthy product to make into a paid app. The Public Beta is therefore intended as a tuning and development phase, rather than a permanent free version. Once the commercial version is ready, access to this Beta version will be closed. Your progress will carry over should you wish to get into the full version.

For now, though, it’s free, it’s there to be played with, and I’d really like to see what happens when a bunch of other simmers get their hands on it!

If that sounds like your sort of thing, I’d love to have you along for the Beta.

You can download the latest App version from the website:

MSFS Passport 2024 — In-Sim EFB Flight Passport for MSFS

Join my Discord to chat and give any feedback: Baracus250's MSFS

If you’re serious about testing, my Discord has a list of specific stuff to focus on but really any reports would be hugely appreciated!

See it in action…

[CMCollazo71]

With all you already do for the community already, and now this!

Thank you Baracus!!

[CMCollazo71]

Quick short bush flight to try out Passport before being able to devote more time exploring the app, but like it already…

Result of a short flight between Vines and Dewey Moore in the Idaho Backcountry.

[Baracus250]

32ft stop is very nice!
Thanks for your first comments! I hope you have fun exploring all it can do

[CMCollazo71]

Thanks!

I set up some preferences and took flight, looks good… more flight time to come!

[AerobaticAce]

A question:

Are these "Tasks and Challenges", "Achievements, Stamps, Badges and Awards", and particularly the “Aircraft-specific Challenges” aircraft model specific. For instance, if I want to fly my Carenado YMF-5 in a bush flight can I do that or must I, like Career mode, use a specific plane?

I have flown aerobatics in the YMF and have done all those manoeuvres that you listed - they’re just not very pretty and the knife-edge requires more than a little altitude. Actually, come to think of it, most manoeuvres in the YMF require more than a little altitude!

I’m looking forward to see how this turns out and I may hop on board the beta test in the near future.

Bob

[Baracus250]

No, the only Challenges that are tied to SPECIFCALLY NAMED aircraft are the ones in the Got Friends Pack so far, e.g.

• Fly the Wilga at over 16,000ft ASL for 5 mins
• Fly the Taylorcraft over water for 3nm at max of 25ft ASL
• Do a hammerhead turn over Lago di Garda (Italy) in Lake Skipper
• Fly the Aeroprakt Vixxen above clouds for 10 mins
• Do an Aerobatics sequence in the F4F-4 Wildcat (Loop > Immelmann > Cuban Eight)
• Roll on 1 wheel for 10 seconds in Double Ender (not on runway)
• Reach summit of Mount Vesuvius (Naples, Italy) in the AS 33 me
• Do 3 loops in 30 seconds with the Mini 500
• Land the Optica in a forest clearing at over 5,000ft ASL
• Do 5 aileron rolls within 10 seconds in the Astro ONE
• Jump the Crosskart over 50ft AGL without crashing on landing

Some tasks require a specific CATEGORY of aircraft or EXCLUDE a category (like for helipad landings you have to be in a helicopter, for some of the “Tricky Landing” challenges you need to be in an aircraft over a certain weight threshold which bascially excludes smaller planes from making an EASY landing and getting the “tick” for it on a long runway in the TRICKY LANDINGS category lol) and various conditions like that, but you can use any aircraft you want for most tasks.

For aerobatics, yes the knife-edge move has fairly strict rules so you really do need to take a plane capable of doing it but you are welcome to try in anything and it will detect and respond if you pass the test!

[AerobaticAce]

Excellent! And to prove my comment, “I may hop on board the beta test in the near future…” I’ve downloaded it. Now to install and try to suss out what needs doing and am I, or my plane(s), capable of doing things.

I’ll try to give some feedback.

Bob

Edit:

P.S. Is there a manual or how do I install this - just drop it in the Community 2024 folder?

[Funghie]

Great work! You really are forcing me to move up to 2024 from 2020…

[Baracus250]

Thanks! Yes just drop in Community folder (the folder INSIDE the Zip, not the Zip itself). Ping me if you have any issues! Or you are welcome to join my Discord to chat and feedback.

[CMCollazo71]

Do it! No “REGERTS”

[AerobaticAce]

@Baracus250

Yes just drop in Community folder

Done! I’ll have to wait a couple hours to try it out but I’ll give it a go this evening (Canada EDT).

[Baracus250]

Judging by your username I expect you to complete all of these!

If you want any more let me know what and I can easily add them, and they will appear next time you open the EFB.

[AerobaticAce]

On the last screenshot above this post it shows the icon to allow the tablet to be put on another screen. How do I get that? I opened the passport on the bar at the top of the screen and I didn’t see that.

Also, there’s another aerobatic manoeuvre you can add (unless I missed it) - The Derry Turn. You roll left or right, turning while you roll, as you roll beyond 90 degrees you increase the roll and pull back more on the stick. You roll upright having done a 270 degree turn while losing altitude the entire time.

I’ve got just a few minutes in the Extra 330LT having spent a while just trying to set the switches on my hardware! I’ll be doing more tomorrow.

Great stuff so far having stars for inverted, rolls, split-S, Immelman, and I did a couple more that didn’t show up like the Derry Turn. Also, what’s a “Loopy?”

Bob

[Baracus250]

The top toolbar app is just a viewer. You should use the EFB. If you haven’t yet got a button or key bound to it, search it up in control settings. “Toggle EFB”. It should be assigned to tab if you have standard 2024 key layout.

“Loopy” is just my silly name for the regular loop-the-loop achievement track

I’ll look at adding the Derry Turn, cheers!

[AerobaticAce]

Does the achievement board keep track of individual aircraft or is it just an accumulator? For instance I have an achievement for rolls, vertical dives, inverted, etc. in the Extra 330LT. What happens when I try my YMF-5?

It might be neat to be able to rate these achievements by how hard they’d be in different aircraft. Aerobatics in an aerobatic aircraft are a given; the same cannot be said for a Cessna 172!

In other words, any plane can go sightseeing but not every plane can land on water, fly inverted indefinitely, or do rolling circles. Okay, I just read that sentence and yes, any plane can land on water - some just might not be able to take off again!

Just thoughts.

Having fun with this and looking forward to see what transpires.

Bob

[Baracus250]

Thanks for the comment!

Currently:

• The Achievement tracks list the date and time that you got each star, newest at the top (you can expand each row by clicking it to see details).
• The Personal Records log which aircraft you used to get that New Record (and the date and time).
• There is no record of aircraft used to receive stars or ticks.
• Awards are “one-time” badges based on various criteria, but you only get them once based on other achievements so they would not work with aircraft as some take multiple tasks to “add up” to a single Award.
• When you do more actions that go towards any of the Achievement tracks, it notches up, so doing more stunts in a slower aircraft has no penalty… you can still work towards any relevant Achievement with any aircraft.

I see your point about basing some of the tasks on difficulty, and some ARE engineered that way but doing that across the board would be tricky… how would I judge every single aircraft for every task? Sounds impossible to keep up with. I would need to add every new aircraft as they release so that would not work. I could do something based on general parameters perhaps but it might not really apply reliably (weight, engine count, engine type, number of wheels, speed, aircraft category - but “Airplane” is a category that includes basically everything except helicopters, gliders, lighter than air and “other”, so bush planes to jets to airliners are all together). I added the “dry weight” as a condition so I can at least limit things to small or large aircraft. I just can’t see how I would easily do what you want. Any ideas?

As for “landing on water” when it’s a crash… that is already excluded (impact ft/m limit) but landing “well” with a wheeled aircraft would probably count! I can see what I can do with detecting if wheels are up/down etc as that could solve another bug that was reported on my Discord.

[BySeatofPants]

Best wishes!

[AerobaticAce]

Is there a list of all the aerobatic manoeuvres you have records for so far? On your site I see loop-the-loop, Split-S, Immelmann turns, Knife-edge, aileron rolls, and Chandelle.

On that note I just had a flight around St. Catharines Ontario, Canada and had a couple things may need fixing:

“Near Prince of Wales Hotel Youngstown NY.” - This is actually in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario and I got the credit for flying over it unexpectedly as I was heading for Youngstown!

I also got credit for 3 Hammerhead stalls when all I did was, at most, a gentle wingover. Or perhaps my interpretation of a hammerhead, being at the top of a vertical climb, is wrong? A wingover, again as far as I know, is from a more gentle incline.

And, finally, how do I get credit for flying below 20 feet AGL? The EFB kept telling me to unlock this one first.

Having a ton of fun in the Extra 330LT which seems to be much better than it was back in MSFS 2020.

Looking forward to buying this on day 1!

Bob

[Baracus250]

@AerobaticAce

Is there a list of all the aerobatic manoeuvres you have records for so far?

AEROBATICS: Aileron rolls, Loop-the-loop, Immelmann Turn, Cuban Eight, Half-Cuban, Hammerhead Stall Turn, Knife-edge, Split-S, Chandelle.

Definitely going to add the Derry Turn.

It also detects regular inverted flight and rolling over the crest of a mountain ridge and following the other side down.

As for the hammerhead, yes I could tighten it up a bit but I found if I made the requirement too perfect/strict, it was nearly impossible to get so the current condition is: over 60 degrees pitch up, reduced speed at the top of the climb to at least half your entry speed, at least 60 degrees pitch down dive and level out heading around 180 degrees from your entry direction (give or take a bit of margin) and level off. As soon as I started requiring perfect rotation at the top most aircraft I tested with failed it so I settled on this “for fun reasons”

Thank you for the other bug reports. Noted to check but I’m tied up this weekend so will need to be early next week before I get to it!