FLIGHT GEAR FLIGHT SIMULATOR revision 3.0.1 - Friday, Sep.11.98 "The future of flight simulation is here" -------------------- Table of Contents -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- I. Introduction to the project/Mission Statement II. News and updates (project status) III. A simplified wish-list IV. An explanation about GNU V. Contacting the Development Committee ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT / MISSION STATEMENT On April 8, 1996, David Murr (dmurr@pen.k12.va.us), drawing on ideas brought forth by others, proposed a new flight simulator developed by volunteers over the Internet. This flight simulator was to be distributed free of charge via the Internet and similar networks. Since that day, the project that has come to be known as "Flight Gear Flight Simulator" has mushroomed in size and scope. As of this writing, a large number of people have inquired about the project and offered their services in various areas, including kernel development, world building, documentation writers, and testers. In only a few short months, Flight Gear has managed to attract the attention of at least one prominent flight sim magazine, Computer Pilot, as well as a chance encouter with a real life aerospace company. So, what exactly is our goal? Briefly, it is to create a new flight simulator from scratch that: * is freely available from the Internet and possibly CD-ROMs * is developed cooperatively over the Internet by fellow simmers * is in agreement with the GNU license * accurately models the geography of the entire world * has accurate flight modeling * has extendable capabilities by providing the simulator's source code and extensive documentation of file structures. If you would like more information on the current events regarding FGFS, please visit the FGFS website at: http://www.menet.umn.edu/~clolson/fgfs/ This page is maintained by Curt Olson. Another site for miscellaneous information will be served at: http://www.erols.com/fsnews/fgfs/. If you are unfamiliar with the concept by which Flight Gear will be developed and distributed, please see resources on the following software projects: * Linux (http://www.linux.org) * POV-Ray (http://www.povray.org) II. NEWS AND UPDATES (as of November 1, 1996) Please check the Flight Gear website for the most recent information, however, as of Nov. 1, 1996, these people are known to be working on the following items: * Eric Korpela (Kernel [DOS, Linux, SUN-OS]) - Implementing basic functions for Flight Gear - Kernel development - Adding keyboard and mouse support * Curt Olson (Admin/PR/Kernel) - Picking apart another free flight simulator for Linux, ACM, to try and extract information that might be useful to FGFS - Maintaining the mailing list and website * Dean Catalano (Flight Modeling) - Working on flight modeling * Michael Basler (Docs) - Coming up with some preliminary documentation provided in LaTeX and PostScript formats * David Murr (Admin) - Converting LaTeX documentation source to HTML * Matt Pickering (Win95 port, PR) - Working on a port of FGFS to Windows 95 - Bussiness connection III. A SIMPLIFIED "WISH-LIST" This list should not be considered complete at all. It is just a small listing of features that we would like to see incorperated in version 1.0 of Flight Gear and beyond. - Multi-player functions for local networks, modem connections, and over the Internet - An interactive, intelligent ATC. Simulator add-ons such as Flight Simulator Flight Shop provide ATC functions, but often do not recognize the area's topography, sometimes leading one into mountains and other objects. - MSFS 5.1-level graphics or better. 24-bit graphics are being explored at this time. - Acceptable frame-rates on a 486DX-66. Optimal minimum system configuration might be: Pentium 133MHz, 24-bit graphics card, Linux or Windows 95, 1-2MB of VRAM, a sound card, CD-ROM, and a mouse or compatible pointing device. - Possible compatibility with Microsoft Flight Simulator scenery files. Please understand that this is NOT very likely, especially in the early stages of Flight Gear, however, if this is possible, it would allow coverage of a vast part of the world already designed (originally for FS5/FSFW95) - A wide selection of default available aircraft. - GPS display and other such modern avionics on the default panels At this point, we're looking at the following operating systems for porting: * Linux/X11/Mesa/3dfx/glide/etc. * Windows 95/98/NT * IRIX * SUN-OS * Other Unix * MacOS * OS/2 (?) If there are any features you'd like to see that you haven't seen mentioned on the website or in this document, please submit them to us on the mailing list. IV. THE GNU PUBLIC LICENSE Please see: http://www.erols.com/fsnews/fgfs/gnu/ for a copy of the GNU License. It is rather long, and as such, we are not including it directly in this propsal document. V. CONTACTING THE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE * People: dmurr@pen.k12.va.us - David Murr, Administration - Curt Olson, Admin/PR/Kernel pmb@knUUt.de - Michael Basler, Documentation korpela@ssl.Berkeley.EDU - Eric Korpela, Kernel Development Please note that there are many other people working on this project, however, the people listed here are basically team liasons and should be able to help you or refer you to the appropriate person. * Flight Gear on the Web: http://www.menet.umn.edu/~clolson/fgfs/ - Main FGFS Website http://www.erols.com/fsnews/fgfs/ - Ancillary site * Flight Gear Developer's Mailing List: Send an e-mail to message to: flight-gear-request@infoplane.com with SUBSCRIBE in the body of the message to subscribe to the list. To send a message to the list participants, send your post to: flight-gear@infoplane.com.