Author Topic: Some observations after some use  (Read 4916 times)

KingCat

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Some observations after some use
« on: July 15, 2012, 05:50:23 pm »
I've been using GSX for several flights now over the past few weeks, and there are 3 things that may need some attention:

1. After the boarding has been completed, the cargoloaders also move away from the aircraft even if the cargodoors are still open. I would suggest that the cargoloaders do not move away from the aircraft until the cargodoors are closed (just like the cateringvechicles do). However, when the deboarding is finished, than the cargoloaders do stay at the aircraft.

2. GSX does not recognise at which door a jetway is attached. You always have to open door 1L to start boarding/deboarding even if the jetway is at 2L. For example: if you are parked at KLAX at gate 107 with a B744, than the jetway attaches to door 2L, but GSX insists on opening door 1L to start boarding/deboarding.

3. When you're at an FSDT-airport (e.g. KLAX), it should be automatically recognised if a user has GSX installed or not. So that the default vehicles at the gate are removed already. Right now the default vehicles are only removed when requesting GSX-services. Again this is only valid for a FSDT-airport.

These are some first observations I've come across. Hopefully these are helpful in improving the product.


Jon

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Re: Some observations after some use
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2012, 06:06:38 pm »
1. After the boarding has been completed, the cargoloaders also move away from the aircraft even if the cargodoors are still open. I would suggest that the cargoloaders do not move away from the aircraft until the cargodoors are closed (just like the cateringvechicles do). However, when the deboarding is finished, than the cargoloaders do stay at the aircraft.

That's by design because, since it's likely that after deboarding, you'll ask other services, by maintaining the loaders in a predictable position close to the airplane, the chance of vehicles from subsequent service clashing into them is minimized.


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2. GSX does not recognise at which door a jetway is attached. You always have to open door 1L to start boarding/deboarding even if the jetway is at 2L. For example: if you are parked at KLAX at gate 107 with a B744, than the jetway attaches to door 2L, but GSX insists on opening door 1L to start boarding/deboarding.

What B744 ? It's not a GSX problem, but ann aircraft configuration issue: if it has a door flagged as the main exit, but the jetways coordinates in the aircraft.cfg are set to the 2nd one, GSX can't obviously know, unless you create a GSX.CFG for that airplane using the GSX editor, to change the doors assignment.

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3. When you're at an FSDT-airport (e.g. KLAX), it should be automatically recognised if a user has GSX installed or not

It already does, of course.

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So that the default vehicles at the gate are removed already. Right now the default vehicles are only removed when requesting GSX-services. Again this is only valid for a FSDT-airport.

This doesn't make much sense: default vehicles should only be removed at the gate YOU selected for your own airplane, removing them everywhere would be wrong, because it would remove them from servicing other AI airplanes. So, in order to remove the vehicles only from the parking you selected, it has to wait for you to select it first...which is what it does.

KingCat

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Re: Some observations after some use
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2012, 09:40:24 pm »
Here are my answers to yours regarding my observations:

1. I think there's a misunderstanding here. I'm not talking about the cargoloaders on the deboarding side (I only used this as an example), but I meant the cargoloaders on the boarding side. The cargoloaders should not move away from the aircraft after loading is finished until the cargodoors are closed. This is not the case right now. They move away with the chance of cargo falling out of the airplane because the cargodoors are still open. As another example: the cateringvehicles also move away after the doors are closed (same principle should be used with the cargoloaders).

2. I'm using the PMDG B744. So, this airplane should be recognised by default. I didn't change anything in the aircraft.cfg. The jetway movement in this example is from AES.

3. What I was suggesting is that GSX should recognise that an user is on a FSDT-airport and that GSX is installed. If that is the case then the default vehicles should already be removed at the gate the user is parked at (and that doesn't mean every other gate) upon loading the flight. Not when you're requesting the services. This prevents default vehicles clashing with an user airplane (e.g. the PMDG B744 at gate 107 at KLAX) before GSX is requested. It just looks nicer then.


Jon

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Re: Some observations after some use
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2012, 11:09:44 am »
They move away with the chance of cargo falling out of the airplane because the cargodoors are still open

That's not the case. It's not the cargo loaders have a "timer", so they move out regardless how what the cargo situation on the airplane is. They are obviously syncronized, the loader "knows" how much containers are to be loaded, and it won't go away until all cargo has been loaded so, there's now way you'll ever see cargo falling out of the airplane.

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As another example: the cateringvehicles also move away after the doors are closed (same principle should be used with the cargoloaders).

Maybe, but that would only accomplish being consistent between the two services, not because there might be any problems.

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2. I'm using the PMDG B744. So, this airplane should be recognised by default. I didn't change anything in the aircraft.cfg. The jetway movement in this example is from AES.

That's an entirely different issue, it's the AES door config that has the AES jetway move to the 2nd door, not the airplane.cfg, GSX is just configured to use the 1st door that is found in the aircraft.cfg or in the GSX internal database, and this WILL work on a scenery that uses standard FSX jetways, because they will move there.

The issue is, since AES uses its own door config, its own jetways will read that one and go to the other door, but GSX couldn't follow this strategy because, it the user doesn't have AES, the default jetway will then move to the 1st one (as specified in the aircraft.cfg, which FSX default jetway follows), ideally GSX might try to recognize if AES is in use and then read the door configuration from the AES file, to know were AES will place the jetway.

We are not very keen on doing this, considering that, 5 months after GSX release, AES still hasn't been modified as it should to integrate better with GSX (it should stop having its vehicles appearing automatically as soon as its menu is opened, and only create them when some operation is selected, like GSX).

So, the best solution in your case, which is only a problem because you are using GSX and AES together, is to modify the AES configuration file for that airplane, to use the 1st door, so it would behave as a default jetway.

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3. What I was suggesting is that GSX should recognise that an user is on a FSDT-airport and that GSX is installed

As I've said already, it does it right now.

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If that is the case then the default vehicles should already be removed at the gate the user is parked at (and that doesn't mean every other gate) upon loading the flight. Not when you're requesting the services. This prevents default vehicles clashing with an user airplane (e.g. the PMDG B744 at gate 107 at KLAX) before GSX is requested. It just looks nicer then.

If I understood you correctly, you would like to have GSX remove parked vehicles as soon the airplane is positioned there, instead of removing them only after the parking is selected or an operation is selected at the parking ?

First, I don't see how this would be relevant to FSDT sceneries specifically, if we adapted this strategy, it would be exactly the same on any other airport, at least all that have default ground vehicles.

But see my above reply: we made GSX in a way to ease (from our own side) an integration with AES.

The whole idea was to do nothing, unless the user do "something" with the GSX menu and selects something, either select a parking to be serviced, or select an operation when already parked. Doing this, we ensure that, from our side, we are allowing the user to freely choose using GSX or AES to do something, because we don't do anything unless a menu option is selected.

KingCat

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Re: Some observations after some use
« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2012, 08:25:32 pm »
Regarding your responses:

1. That's exactly what I've been trying to explain from the beginning. Consistency between the cargoloaders and cateringvehicles would be very nice. No movement from any vehicle, before the doors are closed.

3. Yes, you've understood me correctly. I would like to have GSX remove the default vehicles as soon as the airplane is positioned at the gate. If you could apply this to any airport, that would even be better. I just assumed that this would only be possible at FSDT-airports.

And another observation I made today is that when starting the pushback, the wingwalker just keeps reminding you to release the parkingbrakes. I would say that 1 time is enough. It gets a bit annoying to constantly hear the wingwalker when you're still working on some final preparations in the airplane (but you would like to have the pushback truck in place already to start an on time pushback when fully ready).


Jon

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Re: Some observations after some use
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2012, 09:38:35 pm »
1. That's exactly what I've been trying to explain from the beginning. Consistency between the cargoloaders and cateringvehicles would be very nice. No movement from any vehicle, before the doors are closed.

Ok, we'll try to verify if we did this on purpose, or it can just be made that way.

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I would like to have GSX remove the default vehicles as soon as the airplane is positioned at the gate. If you could apply this to any airport, that would even be better. I just assumed that this would only be possible at FSDT-airports.

See my above reply for the reasoning behind this. If it was done, it will work with any FSX airport. However, with FSDT airports, GSX could *also* remove selected static parts of the scenery, like custom ground vehicles (works only with the latest sceneries, KDFW and KLAX, though)

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It gets a bit annoying to constantly hear the wingwalker when you're still working on some final preparations in the airplane (but you would like to have the pushback truck in place already to start an on time pushback when fully ready).

We might just set the delay controlled by the "Waiting for your action", in the GSX Preferences.