[Update, 14 Apr: version 0.3.5 has been released for compatibility with World Update 4, game version 1.15.7.0: https://github.com/Working-Title-MSFS-Mods/fspackages/releases/download/g1000-v0.3./workingtitle-g1000-v0.3.5.zip]
We were within a day or so of releasing the next version of the Working Title G1000 when today’s update hit. It didn’t make sense to spend a lot of time patching code that was about to be made obsolete, so we have focused instead on integrating the changes from the new sim version into our development code and putting the finishing touches on releases for the G1000 and the CJ4. After a fair bit of testing, I’m happy an announce that our compatibility update for the Working Title G1000 is also our full release of new version 0.3. There is a long list of fixes and enhancements in this version; a full inventory is available on github, but here is a quick tour of the key features:
Track-up mode
Everyone’s long-awaited favorite, the track-up map mode, has arrived. For simplicity’s sake we have not implemented the full drill-down into the configuration menu that you normally need to make to toggle map orientation. Instead, just hit the MAP soft key on the MFD and you’ll find a toggle for it next up to the NEXRAD button.
Better brightness control
The previous version of the mod offered software brightness control but ran into some issues with planes which had hardware knobs for controlling avionics brightness. Those required, in some cases, modifying the plane’s panel.xml, which was both annoying and posed problems for the premium and third-party planes.
That is no longer an issue. This version of the mod has new logic to read the configuration of the plane’s interior model and use that to automatically determine which knob to listen to for control of avionics brightness. Since this is done within the sim itself it works even with encrypted planes.
Autopilot fixes!
This version fixes what was perhaps the single most loathed behavior of the stock MSFS G1000: its tendency to flip an unwanted U-turn back to the previous waypoint when activating an approach. By careful application of our patented Unsuckotron™ we have managed to fix that. You should no longer find yourself doing a Crazy Ivan when you activate an approach. We also fixed a bug in which reversed the NOSE UP/DN buttons worked in FLC mode; they’ll now behave as a sensible person would expect.
Persistent settings
We had a breakthrough during the development of this version when @tavip on github sent us a PR which demonstrated how to use a new in-sim data store that we had not yet had time to play with. By using this we have been able to finally answer peoples’ wish for a way to save their G1000 settings. With this version numerous settings, including map orientation and brightness, will be saved between sessions. No more changing the same thing every time you load a plane. Amazing.
Extensible engine pages
We have enhanced the logic that drives the engine pages on the left side of the MFD. No longer are you stuck with one simple page that is the same across all planes. Now each plane is able to define its own set of pages and use an expanded selection of XML logic to enable it to better model real-world systems. On top of that, we have taken the same functionality we added to allow us to detect hardware avionics knobs and applied it to loading these configurations from a standalone XML file. This means it will be extremely simple to add custom panels to any plane without having to touch stock files – even the commercial ones.
Graphical updates
Our UI experts have put a lot of effort into redoing a large chunk of the interface to bring it closer to reality. You will find colors that are much more authentic along with adjustments to fonts and layout in a number of places that make your G1000 feel a little bit more like a real one.
There’s plenty more to be discovered, but that’s the highlights. My suggestion would be to check out the G36 first: it takes full advantage of our new extensible engine page code and shows off features that can be added to any other plane using the G1000 with just a little bit of work. As I noted yesterday, the next version of the community G36 mod will be compatible with this feature out of the box, and I’m working with the folks behind the DA40-NGX project to get them hooked up as well. There is documentation in the repo on how to enhance any G1000-equipped plane for those who may want to take on a little project of their own.
This is a huge update with a lot of changes following on a giant sim update with a lot of changes and there will probably be a few things that don’t work quite right, but we’ll do our best to get any incremental updates needed as soon as we can. If you check it out and something doesn’t seem quite right please let us know.
Enough talk, here you go:
Have fun!
No shenanigans from ATC made this a particularly fun flight!