[RELEASED] Astro ONE | Got Friends

Discussion Hub Aircraft
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105

They have you covered;

Official Version 1.0.2. Changelog:

  • Now Starts on Apron with Arms Extended / Power On (Asobo Workaround)
  • Updated Aicraft Information including Speed, Service Ceiling and Range
  • Updated Flight Manual with new Hotkey Recommendations for Xbox and PC
  • Individually tuned trim authority for normal, sport and tracking modes
  • Improved trim indicator
  • Trim resets when Hover mode is selected
  • Fixed compass rotation bug
  • Improved auto-level fly-by-wire algorithm (stick pressure release)
  • Improved forward-pitch fly-by-wire algorithm for Sport mode
  • Terrain Tracking max altitude increased from 55 to 100ft
  • Critical Battery max RPM increased from 4,000 to 5,000
  • New Batteries providing 50% more capacity for the same weight (30 min at max rpm, 45 min for cruise)
  • Battery low level (yellow) changed from 30 to 20%
  • Battery critical level (red) changed from 15 to 10%
  • Battery percentages added
  • Vibrations much reduced at cruise RPM and higher
  • Vibrations added during the 4 second boost
  • Vibrations in VR at 70% of normal
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106

If I started again, this is the direction Iā€™d go.
I canā€™t get over Beat Saber on the Quest, turnover of $250 million dollars in 5 years.

107

Iā€™ll have to pop another ā€˜wowā€™ on the end of that then. I wonder if they ever sleep? ā€¦ā€¦ perhaps theyā€™re really AI?

108

error 404, sleep not found.

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109

I got one other curiosity, when I let go of the stick the Astro still carries on, unless Iā€™m mistaken (probably am), at 15-20 knots ā€¦ā€¦ is this the case, and is it meant to do that?

110

mmmm, I thought so. Maybe consider putting 2 glowing red eyes on the pilot ā€¦ as in Arnieā€™s film.

111

LOL after reading this, I was going to write basically what you said a couple of posts later :smiley:

Unless their ChatBot AI is very advanced when we talk to them in Discord etc, then yeah I would swear they are all robots!

I worry for their health tbh - been there before myselfā€¦ but they seem to enjoy it so all good?

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112

By the way, re boats conversation yesterday or whenever, see my post in thread ā€˜What did you do in msfs todayā€™
Did the Thames.

113

On the new trim settings:

Track mode is pretty good. Iā€™m getting 69 kts at 5 ft ASL with full forward trim, vs 70 knts if I push the stick full forward. Of course Iā€™d like the extra knot from full forward trim, but Iā€™m not going to cry like a baby if I donā€™t get it.

Trim in normal/sport mode I think needs to be increased. The best I could manage at full forward trim in normal or sport mode at more or less level flight at 5-20 ft ASL (!) was 55-56 kts at 3810 rpm. I couldnā€™t increase the throttle further without climbing unless I pushed forward on the stick - which is what we want to avoid for continuous level flight. I didnā€™t notice any difference in trim behaviour between normal and sport mode in this test (mind you, it was a bit easier to stay below 20 ft ASL in normal mode!).

So Iā€™d say a bit more trim in normal/sport mode.

Turning to the increase in maximum track height:

I was one of the first (at least on this forum) to point out the danger of flying into treelines and other obstacles in track mode. Nevertheless I donā€™t think increasing the maximum track height was the correct solution for the following reasons.

There are alternative solutions to climbing above obstacles. Mine was to place the track toggle on the trigger of my joystick so that I could activate it as easily as possible, and leave the throttle set high so that when I switched out of track mode I would immediately balloon above the obstacle.

I later discovered that hitting Boost in Track mode would also lift you over most obstacles. But I prefer the first solution because it will deal with obstacles of any height, and also if you rely on boost and thereā€™s a second obstacle within thirty secondsā€™ flight of the firstā€¦

So you donā€™t really need the additional height.

And it comes with a significant trade-off. If you have the height adjustment bound to an axis, and you double the height that axis has to control, youā€™ve just halved its sensitivity. Is that a worthwhile trade-off?

Since Iā€™ve figured out how to deal with obstacles without relying on track height adjustment, Iā€™m going to say no.

Mind you, if The People Have Spoken, what is my lone voice? :stuck_out_tongue:

114

So you would exchange setting exact AGL altitude for constantly boosting or disengaging track mode over every single obstacle? :smiley: I wonder when you need set exact AGL altitude. If you need something between 40-60 ft, it should be easily set by Axis on quality controller. Also there was tooltip with exact altitude right? For landing it would be same, you just put Prop axis to zero.
To be honest, Iā€™m donā€™t care about track mode that much anymore, I would need like 300 - 400ft to be usable for my city sight seeing.
What is worse is max trim, but I have no doubt they adjust it even further.

115

Hi, bravetoss07

First of all, let me say I agree with you about Track mode for city flying. I took the Astro for a flight over Paris, and the only time I touched Track mode was when landing to recharge the battery.

Cross-country flying is different. As it happens I did a fair amount of very low level cross-country flying in the Lake Skipper, the Astroā€™s free predecessor, and I could fairly easily hold 10-20 ft without Track mode, or indeed a radio altimeter. (Incidentally, itā€™s from that experience comes my understanding that the problem with crossing an obstacle from low level in Boost mode is that you never know whatā€™s behind it.)

What I couldnā€™t do is hold five feet. Which I can in the Astro, and do.

But there are a few problems. The high obstacles I can deal with by the means outlined above. But there are also issues with raised roads and up slopes, where your nose may hit the ground before Track mode (which is measuring the ground immediately beneath you) can respond. So even if youā€™re basically doing your flying at five feet, you do need to be able to make minor changes in height.

And thatā€™s why I deem it not worth trading sensitivity for height. The changes in height you need to make are small, but you want to be able to make them as smoothly as possible.

Hope this helps to make my position clearer.

116

I see where youā€™re coming from with the track mode altitude, could it be addressed for you by altering the curve in the sensitivity settings for that axis?
I know how curves work in Photoshop, not sure how that transfers to here though, so may/may not be helpful.

117

What you described could be fixed by adjusting sensitivity curve (Iā€™m sure there was setting which will increase sensitivity on both ends of the curve, cannot remember exact name, as Iā€™m using all linear).

118

Weā€™re it Photoshop, Iā€™d turn the linear line into an S shaped curve, then flatten out the bottom of the curve a bit more, that would give more sensitivity at the lower speed range with a price to pay at the higher speed rangesā€¦ā€¦ again, donā€™t know how this translates to the sim.

119

Excellent suggestion from both bravetoss07 and XBoxMonkey4665 (Iā€™m curious, have you ever met the other 4,664 XBoxMonkeys? :grinning:). Of course, it might be even more effective in the twenty or so feet range Iā€™m most interested in if the overall height range werenā€™t so great. :upside_down_face:

I do actually already have a throttle curve set to give me maximum sensitivity in the hover range - I imagine by now thatā€™s a commonplace.

Speaking of exploring cities, since GotFriends clearly donā€™t have enough to do and are spending all their days in useless idleness, I have a suggestion for them that might provide some work relief.

When I was in Paris I entered Hover mode near the top of the Eiffel Tower (I was up there IRL once, in 1975 - I might still be there but somebody did eventually get the lift working again. I had an umbrella with me but feared I might be just a bit heavier than Mary Poppins).

I found, though, that my attention was not on Eiffelā€™s splendid tower but on trying to adjust the throttle to yield a decent hover.

Itā€™s since occurred to me that tourists might like to have an F35 Hover mode: in the F35B, when you engage hover, height is held by the FBW system, but you can adjust it: push stick forward for down, pull stick backward for up.

And yes, I do appreciate the irony of suggesting this when in other posts Iā€™ve been saying, ā€œHey, give me better trim so I never have to push the stick!ā€

120

IMO hover mode is good as it is. You can adjust via throttle or with combination with track mode. BTW if max LIDAR was higher, you could just set height and forget :wink: This aircraft has amazing potential for city sightseeing, but if gotfriends decide to not make further changes, Iā€™ll take it. Itā€™s still just 10$.

121

Indeed. And even cheaper if you consider part of your payment to be a Thank You for the free stuff GotFriends give us.

3 Likes
122

Hey guys, great suggestions so far.

That said, I would like to point out that Terrain Tracking simply tracks collision points below the aircraft. This mode should simply be used in the right scenarios where you want a near hands-off experience and feel it more comfortable to fly with just the stick. This would arguably be more long and low terrain flying like in a desert or taxi-way as your prepare for more tough terrain. The LIDAR altitude adjustment simply gives the user the ability to adjust altitude with ease instead of using the throttle to climb with RPM. Itā€™s a very safe way to fly for beginners.

After flying 1.0.2. for a long time in testing, I believe we are going to leave the altitude max around this level. Itā€™s a perfect middle-ground for hopping over slightly taller buildings and tree lines.

As far as forward trim goes, I personally left the trim not binded on the Xbox Controller. The main reason we added trim was to ease the wrist pain for people using strong-spring sticks. On the controller, Iā€™m sure most people can handle holding their thumb an extra quarter-inch. This also leaves us room for those additional keybinds needing a home since the Xbox Controller is very limited on space.

We are reading all comments and are very humbled by the enthusiasm towards this project. We are glad everyone is adding their feedback and we will sift through the ocean of comments to implement the best changes.

One thing to note, this aircraft is based on the Jetson One and we also donā€™t want to stray to far from realistic standards. Yes, we took some liberty on the ā€œvisual endā€ to ensure she was a blast to fly, race and look atā€¦ however, when it comes to flight dynamics, we donā€™t want to push something that is not achievable in real-life. Making the Astro One faster and stronger is outside the realm of current motor/battery technology. We already took some liberties to give everyone a slightly longer battery life, but we donā€™t want to continue pushing limits on this aircraft until she is a full ā€œArcadeā€ flyer. Thatā€™s not our intention.

Hotkeys will always be a hot-topic. Everyone has different hardware with different limitations. Our hotkey setup is purely recommended and obviously we leave this to the end-user to set to their desired settings. Our biggest goal is making sure it is available to fly on all hardware and all consoles (Xbox and PC) and hopefully weā€™ve given enough information in the flight manual to help end-users setup their own hardware in regards.

As far as Trim in Normal/Sport Modes, we will continue ongoing adjustments. Everything after this last update will take some time because we are not simply working with Asoboā€™s Flight System but within our own Custom Physics Engine. It takes time and we will continue to update this project as the simulator matures, the Jetson ONE is released to the public and we can gather more information.

We are one again humbled by the community reception to this project and look forward to taking all the lessons learned on our Custom Physics Engine in order to bring more exciting add-ons in the future.

Thanks everyone!

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123

I didnā€™t think of that at all. I scratched my head hard to figure out about what is the point witch such low altitude restriction.

What about releasing ā€œunrealisticā€ version for another 10$ with high Lidar and faster. I would buy that for sure :smiley:

Thatā€™s because there is nothing remotely similar in the sim at the moment, opening many possibilities.

:ok_hand:

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124

Thing is, users do the damdest things that you never anticipate when you have an open system:rofl:

Assigning key bindings is as open as it gets.
Ditto for assuming people will only use track mode for how you suggest they use it.

Users gonna do what users gonna do. The +ve side of that is sometimes they do really inventive creative things you never even dreamt of (and sometimes hairpulling things you did, but donā€™t want them to do because reasonsā€™-!).

Personally I find trim on gamepad extremely useful in either modes, as itā€™s actually more relaxed to not have to push the stick forward and more fun to fly fast and just nudging small directional changes. Track mode is also great for exploring city environments, so you can focus on the visuals. Also more stable for filming, a little mini steadicam.

Then you can drop into manual mode for pitch/throttle when you need fine control orbiting something or navigating a really tight scene. Astro is a really nice camera platform for filming in this context.