That’s great!
1 Like
What the heck do you mean “using the drone” one might ask 
If you go into the camera in the toolbar at the top, you can choose “Showcase” which will switch to a “drone” camera. You can control it’s position with key strokes, the W, A, S, D, R, and F keys move it in three dimensions, and the numeric keypad arrows rotate it about an axis. The problem is, at the default speed, it’s wicked slow 
but, yay!, you can fix that in the options menu by increasing the “Drone speed” (wish you could make that option persistent. Maybe you can? I don’t know.), at which point now you can move quickly around the landscape.
Hopefully someday Asobo will allow click spots in “External” view. Ant’s Airplanes Tiger Moth has gotten around this shortcoming by creating other camera views in “Cockpit” mode that take you outside the airplane and thereby bring you to locations that have click spots so you can perform tasks outside the airplane like spinning the propeller and checking the oil, etc.
And I’m all for allowing having the sandbox Wild West implementation, if they would only bring back the ability for individuals (and therefore groups) to have locked servers, too, just like FSX. It’s fun to go into the Wild West area, but, yeah, I like flying with like minded people, too. For instance, I’ve been a user of Boston Virtual servers since they opened. I used to also belong to one of the Bomber squadrons as well that sponsored flights.
I have yet to learn how to use and try the Reno stuff, so, I don’t know how that works. Maybe that’s a start of a system there?
And of course FSX also had the ATC radar station you could sit at and control flights and watch others fly into and out of airports from a control tower viewpoint, which was really awesome, as well as a voice system that even included a click to talk button (complemented by other third solutions that could be used, too).
2 Likes
I don’t have it. I’m not much for competitive stuff overall. And I already knew that unless they introduced some kind of anti-cheat (which they didn’t), the cheaters would immediately be in there ruining it for everyone else. And lo and behold, within a day people had already figured out multiple exploits. Outside of a small hardcore group of air racing enthusiasts, Reno DLC is pretty much dead these days.
2 Likes
Its a cheat to start the plane ready for taxi…
Im sorry, I just keep forgetting the high influx off new people to this hobby that MSFS brought in. Im just used to be part of a very niche(dare I say elite:p) communety where pretty much everyone know the basics of the sim:p.
Refreshing, that we now actually have people like you:)
Its just that, yeah I know vatsim etc etc, and Im actually started dabbling with vatsim myself, took me 12 years to get to the stage of asking for radio check:p. But sometimes I want something like a casual multiplayer enviroment, but still something with atleast a few basic rules, so an airport enviroment atleast can look a little bit plausible and where people respect traffic, when they can… Im not expecting anyone to fly perfect patterns, or anything, just the small parts, like taxiing, not just park on the runways and just idle there for lols, or flying upside down over the runway at 100 feet lol.
Maybe like someone mentioned allowing private server possibility maybe, where rulebreakers can be kicked when not following simple rules. Dunno, just something I crave for…
1 Like
“If I had my 'druthers. . . .”
I would like to see a very common “game” feature - peer-to-peer gaming - where you can “pick your friends” and fly with whomever you choose.
Or, at least the ability to create a self-contained controlled group - I think one person called it a persistent server connection/context, that would work like a private chat-room, but within a flight simulator, where you would have to be invited to attend, and could be un-invited if you were a pain.
That is the one thing I see lacking here. Not as extreme as VATSIM or IVAO, but not as free-wheeling as the current multi-player implementation, more like something in between.
I have actually been with the simulator since the first Atari MSFS cartridge came out back in the '80s.
However, I’ve only done a very small amount of buddy-flying, (in X-Plane, on IVAO), as I don’t feel qualified to impose my abysmal skills and even less skillful procedural (lack-of) knowledge on others, no matter how forgiving they might be. IMHO, I think it’s rude to join a rodeo if you don’t know how to mount the bull or how to ride it.
The more I mess with it, the more I learn how little I really know about it.
You actually can do a closed group flight. If you select “Group Only” from your MP options. But you’re limited to only flying with people on your friend list, and you’re limited to only a few members in the group (I’m not sure what the limit is exactly).
3 Likes
And group functionality is unreliable. I created a group with a friend in the early days of the sim and we flew together for a bit one day and then we finished and I (the group owner) left the group first, after which both of us were then stuck in the group and unable to leave and couldn’t fly MP at all. We finally got that sorted, but since that day I can’t see him online and he can’t see me so we cannot fly in groups any more and there seems to be no way to get this sorted, and this happened to others at the same time IIRC.
3 Likes
I wonder if that ever got fixed?
It would be interesting to pal-around with friends who could teach me things in a closed environment.
The ability to have someone “sit in the co-pilot’s seat” would be invaluable too.
Indeed. Like many other parts of the sim, group multiplayer is buggier than week-old road kill on the side of a Florida highway. There are a lot of issues with the group only option. I never said it worked well. I just said the option was available.
And that goes back to what FlyingsCool5650 said earlier in this thread…
3 Likes
Pardon me while I try not to pee myself laughing. . .!
3 Likes
That’s what we had in FSX years ago. I was a part of multiple communities where events were created and ATC people were available for a realistic flying experience at any level from simple GA VFR flight where you might ask for flight following, and if you decided to fly into a Class D airspace you could work it just like in life, to they handled tubeliners in IFR as well. And there were training documents available for people who were unfamiliar with procedures and even classes. BVATC is one of those groups that survived from that time, and eventually merged with the VATSIM ecosystem.
But you could log into the servers at any time, and if there happened to be other people flying, too, great!
Back then, yes VATSIM was very strict, and these groups were more lax, much like you want. It took a lot of work on the organizers of the groups, but they thought it was fun, and so did we.
1 Like
The only thing I “Ctrl+E” is the Guimbal G2 because the Starter is in a horrendously inconvenient location. 
Even then, I have my button mapped to Starter, so it’s not “completely” Ctrl+E.
Hell, I’ve got individual keyboard mappings for all the lights but don’t remember the last time I used them…
…because doing a complete C&D start is more fun. Learning the startup procedures for every single plane I fly on a regular basis and clicking things is just…fun!
Lastly, doing a “hard-spawn” in the air or on a runway has lead to a few CTDs in my case.
1 Like
Bees do it, Flees do it, even educated fish do it, so you spawn where you like. It isnt an issue surely.
1 Like
Since I fly out of KPNS (Pensacola, FLORIDA), I have to tell you that there are no “WEEK OLD” road kills. There are too many live varmints here that take full advantage of a nice fresh kill for there to be any leftovers past 1 or 2 days. However, we are both smiling for sure !
1 Like
It is, but the degree to which it’s an issue will vary from person to person.
2 Likes
Perhaps Florida was a bad example. Too many gators and other critters to take care of road kill. I was just thinking of someplace warm. Maybe I should have chosen Arizona. lol
But glad you got a chuckle out of my analogy. At least I got my point across. 
2 Likes
OK and now I’m thinking about Amelia Earhart and land crabs … I so hope that’s not the true end.
1 Like
She pops up in pop culture a few times, amongst which as a character in an episode of ST: Voyager, and I believe she is also mentioned in the show “Misfits of Science” pilot.
1 Like
I start “ready to go” because:
- Time constraints
And as a corollary:
- Many larger aircraft, (especially the fancier computer controlled ones), are a pain to get running and I’d rather spend my limited sim time flying than cranking the engines.
The one signal exception is the PMDG DC-6 since you actually have a working flight crew and it’s fun to try to get started.
As a side note, I never knew that radial engines were so picky about how they were run. That explains why - based on the historical records and documentaries of WWII that I saw - radial engines in fighter craft were constantly on the blink and getting replaced since given your choice of stressing the engine to avoid being shot down, or babying the engine for long service life, engines often got the short end of the stick. If they didn’t get shot full of holes in the first place. I also remember seeing WWII era training videos for ground staff on “how to replace the ‘jugs’.”, since that appeared to be a common maintenance item.
Well said Jimrh1993
I would describe myself as a very experienced simmer but I like using the Sim for the flying/navigation activity. So I find starting at the gate for example a drag. It doesnt interest me. Spawning and holding at the hold point (the Sim does ofcourse spawn at the hold point but then it moves to take off point automatically) I would find an inconvenience. Maybe all that needs to be done is an switch to disable the automatic move to take off point for those craving this bit of authenticity. But I guess all this is of more concern to multi player mode than the single mode I fly in where it would not make a bit of difference. As this subject keeps coming back maybe someone should request a mod to enable that switch.
1 Like