Slashdot Mirror
X-Plane Flight Simulator For Linux
sho-gun writes: "It seems that Austin Meyer, creator of X-Plane, is going to be porting his simulator to Linux. X-Plane is an incredible flight simulator which models flight dynamics by using blade-element theory. Many big companies use X-Plane for development. Currently only the support programs (the programs that build the planes, scenery, airfoils) are available but the full application should be available soon, according to the website. Along side with the open-sourced
Flightgear,
this certainly is good news for flight simulator fans
that use Linux."
Slow down cowboy!!!!
suck it, Taco.
Will they include the WTC so people could try it our for them selfs ?
Along with PGP, flight simulators were used by terrorists in the horrendous attacks of September 11th. We should ban open source flight simulators unless they provide a special government backdoor to monitor who is using them and where they are flying in the virtual world.
a penguin in your bums!
I thought Austin Meyer made hot dogs???
My simulator has a first name,
It's L - I - N - U - X,
My simulator has a second name,
It's M - E - Y - E - R...
(Sorry, that's all I can remember...)
Linux or not, the program ain't free. You guys are just advertising commercial software. That's not why I read slashdot... although maybe now I should think twice about that...
Now MicroSoft can't track every one using flight simulaters and file them as posable terrorists. The System fails again.
When I was a boy the goverment stole everything from us.
Oh, never mind.
The very coolest thing about X-Plane is the extensive set of flight physics. Land the Space Shuttle, Fly on Mars. They sound cool, but are rightfully difficult! (but fun)
Any word on the price of X-Plane? Is there a chance it may be GPLed? Or at least priced lower than the Win/Mac versions?
MUST APPEAR BEFORE ME, naked
For sexOr
Will there be a FreeBSD version ? Will it work in compatibility mode ?
Does linux support the popular flight controller joysticks like the thrustmaster flight pro III that are essential for serious flight simulation ?
Finally, isn't it a bit irresponsible to go releasing this flight simulation program for free on a free OS platform after the events of September 11th ? Shouldn't we be making it more difficult to learn how to fly, not easier ?
(n/t)
For instance (just because this is the one I'm currently addicted to) MS flight sim- it's got practically the whole country modeled. Does this thing have any landscapes included, or is it just the a few places you can fly in?
Username taken, please choose another one.
Does it include updated flight maps of NY city or do we still have to navigate around the twin towers?
so now i don't need to buy expensive proprietary software to learn how to crash into buildings! freedom and free software wins again!
cheers,
osama
After all, every school boy knows that you can catch viruses when doubleclicking on attachments of dubious mails. What did they think? They still didn't learn after Melissa, ILuvYou, Sircam, etc.
...but does it run under linux? Oh wait...
question why don't the US military/air force open up their simulators ?
I thought in the good US of A that all projects that the government does the people of the US of A had access to the source
Unless
It was deemed that it was endangering security of the nation
Or
It was contracted out to a company and then they had all the IP
I don't see how a simulator could fit into any of the above
The dynamics of a fighter plane YES but not a Cessna
The military airports YES but not civil airport where the data is already published
Since the MS flight sim is ahead of most things what have you got to lose in asking ?
(Politely since the Military don't like question right now)
regards
john jones
p.s. I am not a citizen of the USA so am just wondering
Just hire a couple of pre-free software aerodynamics post-graduates for a few months and you'll have the same stuff GPLd.
I'm the guy doing the port. I'm not sure whether Austin had plans for this but I guess he gave up after the repeated requests he got to give me the source to port on it. Some details:
1. It won't be open source.
2. It won't be free (I don't know what Austin's plans are but I guess the price will be the same as the Win/Mac version).
3. I'm not getting any money for doing the port -- as I told Austin, I'm doing it for the sake of having a good flight sim for Linux.
4. The file format, network data and outputs will be compatible with the Win/Mac version.
5. The port uses libSDL (before you scream bloody murder about license violation, have a look and note that it's dynamically linked).
6. Since it's SDL-based, a FreeBSD port should be easy enough to do once the general *nix porting issues are solved. I don't know what's the status of OpenGL on FreeBSD; X-Plane *requires* OpenGL and you probably don't want to run it in software emulation. Until a native FreeBSD version will exist, the Linux binaries should run just fine using the Linux compatibility mode (but see the OpenGL notes above).
If you want to see the full app happening, here's how you can help:
1. Download the beta, test it, and send me feedback.
2. Email austin@x-plane.com and tell him that you think a Linux version of X-Plane is great. This is needed because I only got the subprograms source so far, and he doesn't seem 100% convinced yet to send me the main source too.
Petru
Someone already sent an anthrax-coated letter to Bill.
GNU-jihad!
I can't remember when it was, but at some point recently, all the intelligent people left and idiots like this guy replaced them.
This is it, I've had it with Slashdot, goodbye.
I got 5.x a few months back, and upgraded all the way to 5.66 (which i'm happy with). I wasn't too impressed that even though I'd only had 5.x for a few months, there was no upgrade path to 6 (gotta pay full price) - so it's the only reason I keep Win98 around.
when 6 gets released on linux, i'll be buying it and trashing my 98 install.
go petru! go austin!
Internet Explorer has a hilarious hidden easter egg feature! Press Alt+F4 to see it happen!
I don't think they are trying to double-click on their snail-mail. ;)
But now you maybe will see virus scanners for both types of mail.
If academicians aren't allowed to say innocent things like this, we're soon living in a fascist society.
Mad propz to my Tux doll with extra vaseline.
:o)
From the page on Mars sims:
To me, this is the best reason I've seen yet for creating sim software that uses real-world physics and modeling. I don't know of any other sims in existence that offer this level of "playability"; am I wrong here?
These guys have gone to great lengths to make this thing "the real deal", and I applaud their decision to make it usable under Linux. I stopped messing around with Windows-on-Linux type stuff months ago (well, partially due to the fact that almost everything I use runs under Linux
I can tell already I'm gonna be spending entirely too much time modeling new plane designs (and consequently flying them into the ground, d'oh! ).
Are there any other projects out there that focus this heavily on the physics modeling side of things for sims? Please tell me some of them run on Linux
What's the name of the new flight simulator for Linux?
X-Plane.
Explain what?
Just X-Plane.
I want you to tell me what the name of the new flight simulator for Linux is.
X-Plane!
Look, i don't know how i can be any clearer here.
--
Mod up a post Rob doesn't like and you'll never mod again
We all take our karma where we can get it. But "funny"? He's a fascist, not a commedian.
The site claims the Windows version runs fine under Wine.
like the goatse man's?
drsoran is a troll, as can clearly be seen from this post. Please moderate him down accordingly.
Don't let the door hit you on the ass, fucknuckle.
The people who really wanted to buy X-Plane already did -- months ago, when it came out initially. These people aren't likely to go out and buy it *again* -- even though it'll now run on their favorite OS -- unless they're TRULY dedicated to the game.
X-Plane came out in Feburary for Win32. How many games do you know of that you like so much that you'll buy it *again* after eight months? Not many!
If you want people to buy Linux games and buy them in reasonable numbers, you're going to need to release the Linux version at about the same time as the Windows version -- otherwise, only a few people are going to buy your game.
Suppose you've got your average gamer -- he dual boots between Linux and Windows. He goes into the computer store, and sees X-Plane for Linux -- $50. He then sees X-Plane for Windows in the bargian bin for $10. Which is he likely to buy?
The same applies to Mac ports of PC games, but to a lesser degree -- after all, outside of something like SoftPC, a Mac cannot run the same software as a Windows box -- where a x86 box that runs Linux box could also run Windows and therefore Windows games.
In any event, since Austin is doing the port for free, I guess they're not going to lose much on this one, even if nobody buys it.
Just one.
And it hasn't quite made it to $9.99 yet (at least not via mail order) -- EBWorld.com seems to sell it for $19.99. Not sure how much it is over at the mall ...
dougmc is a troll, as can clearly be seen from this post. Please moderate him down accordingly.
Just a little something written by a Unix guy inspired by flying.
http://www.hrbibt.com/silent.htm
Sorry.
X-Plane 6.0.4 came out on the 10th of October for Mac and Windows.
http://www.x-plane.com/
And you won't see it in the bargin bin, because the developer has gone to distributing it himself.
http://www.x-plane.com/order.html
"X-PLANE 6.00 IS NOT BEING SOLD IN STORES! IF YOU WANT X-PLANE 6.00, ORDER IT HERE!
X-Plane 6.00 is $59.99 +$10.00 Domestic or $30.00 International shipping.
This CD includes both Macintosh and Windows versions of X-Plane, as well as your choice of scenery CD.
Your purchase allows free updates through all 6.x versions."
{SAE} What?
{ABURATSUBO} They look like eyes.
{SAE} Eyes?
{TAKEO} "How are you?"
{SAE} Stand still, stand still. But my butt!
{NANAKA} What are you looking at, jerk!
{SAE} Don't gaze at my butt!
{NANAKA} I'll teach you a lesson if you touch me.
{ABURATSUBO} Because you're not standing still.
{SAE} No! Don't flip the skirt!
{NANAKA} Hey, you pervert!
{ABURATSUBO} Oh, no such a place.
{SAE} I should've rolled the cushion around the broom.
{Sae} Concentrate, concentrate.
{NANAKA} Stop it, you pervert!
{TAKEO} Later perhaps they're going to examine our bodies. Sawanoguchi-kun and Nagatomi-kun will be examined by them and will look shameful. Then I'll defeat them completely and the girls will respect me. No, even I who challenged them gracefully will look shameful. Nevertheless, I'll defeat them. I'll get injured and look shameful, and the girls who are still look shameful will confess me their love. Or I'll be defeated alone and will look shameful, and the girls will look down on me. No wait, shameful looking Sawanoguchi-kun and Nakatomi-kun will become more shameful and will do shameful things to me who look shameful...
You obviously don't understand how Austin's business model works - when you buy his simulator, you get a cd that serves to verify you paid for his sim - you can then download free updates from his web site until the next major version. If you pay for the sim, you can download it for win32, macos and now linux. You don't have to pay for each individually. I bought x-plane a while ago, and previously used it only on windows. Now I can use it on linux without paying a cent.
This space intentionally left blank.
It's never perfectly debugged but it's also never stopped adding cool details, features and stuff. These get divided among flight model features and eye candy. In the former category, Austin (yes, this is all ONE GUY coding it) added support for gyrocopters. (It's _always_ had helicopter support, which is rare). In the latter category, he's been enhancing the clouds and scenery hugely- even 5.66 (not the new version) already has very impressive 3D clouds, which don't even eat the frame rate that much.
The true geek factor in X-Plane is not even flying the planes- it's designing them. Using all the tools like Part-Maker, Plane-Maker (and these need to be included, 'scuse me for stating the obvious) you can literally design just about anything, right down to designing your own _airfoils_, using various third-party stuff to determine lift/drag/moment of the foil at various angles of attack, and then entering that into Part-Maker to bring the airfoil into X-Plane for use. Plane-Maker is about placing wings and elements anywhere, NOT about punching in 'stall, top speed' etc values: the utterly amazingly geeky thing about this sim is that it builds the flight model from just analysis of the plane parts, ten times a second, relative to things like AoA and speed and propwash and ground effect. So when you put something together in Plane-Maker, and it doesn't exist in the real world, you're actually using X-Plane as an aeronautical design tool, and instead of working out on paper whether the CG is too far aft, you save the plane, fire up X-Plane, 'get in the drivers' seat' and take the bastard up and see if it kills you ;)
That's about as cool as virtual reality gets, right there- and it's the heart of the geek appeal, to me: if you play with the sim this way you have to _be_ capable of interpreting behavior like a test pilot. The planes behave in amazingly unexpected ways. I've had a high-speed jet show a nasty tendency to pitch up sharply at a certain speed- puzzling until I realised that it was hitting Mach 1, and the shockwave was interacting with the wing geometry (!) Try _that_ in MSFS or Fly...
I've actually taken ideas from Slashdot into X-Plane: some time ago there was an article about Japanese ground-effect flying trains, so naturally what do I do? Go fire up Plane-Maker, and try to build a ground-effect vehicle that maintained a consistent ground height all by itself. Didn't quite succeed, but I did manage to make the most forgiving aircraft I've ever seen for zooming about really close to the ground... and now there's gyrocopter support, there's lighter-than-air support (and the Hindenburg), and the helos (and the SoloTrek- yes, the two-ducted-fan thing that you stand on), and whatever neat aero thing turns up next year on Slashdot, I am sure X-Plane will be able to handle modelling it. Hell, there's even an entirely fictional Japanese Anime Plane to play with. I flew it straight up into space and the stars came out, in a perfectly black sky, as I passed escape velocity. Now if we could model something _real_ that does that, we'd really have something...
Think of it as a commercial aviation design simulator for less than $50. There are in fact a _number_ of people using it to rough-draft real-world planes being built in real life... suffice to say, X-Plane getting a Linux port is _totally_ news for nerds, and if you're an aero nerd it is very much stuff that matters. It's probably the single coolest program I have, of any description. If you want a specifically opensource flight sim, Flight Gear has a lot going for it- but if your interest is strictly aviationgeek and not coder, X-Plane absolutely maims anything else out there, by a wide margin, even given that it's usually kinda quirky (5.66 was running nicely for me, though).
I will be buying it
;-)
bit of advice on porting it
test and code it on more than one arch say PPC and x86 running linux and maybe even have a go at getting it to run on solaris
(alot of uni hardware is sparc solaris so think of all the profs willing to play
you can download Solaris for x86 for free or get it on CD for shipping costs
(this reduces the amount of hardware that you need)
once its running on this the sparc is just a differant set of compile switchs in that big ol makefile
oh and have a go with gcc3.01 just for fun (-;
thanks again
regards
john jones
It's still all that and a bag of chips, but please don't get the impression that X-Plane comes from gamer land.
Thirty bucks to ship a cdrom to Canada? Fuck that noise.
I was thinking of all the `Loki will port X game to Linux' posts that seem to make it to slashdot. -- they almost always force you to buy the game again (Loki didn't do Unreal Tournament, did he? THAT you could download a Linux port for, and that was done right (and later versions had the Linux version on the CD.))
If you want to try it, there is a demo version available (MAC/Windows only).
"They do not preach that their god will rouse them, a little before the Nuts work loose." Kipling, 'The Sons of Martha'
...I hate how they advertise their product with all those pop-under ads.
That's because the emphasis on X-plane is on realistic flight modelling, not realistic scenery.
Yes.. MS Flight Sim (I have it) has excellent scenery. I had fun flying small planes around my hometown (Central B.C.) by landmarks alone.. quite interesting.
Apparently, the X-plane flight model is second to none.
Allah_Spork, accept me in thy kingdom...
Why?
Just because some software can be free, it does not follow that all software must be free.
I for one don't give a flying fuck about having the source for any of the apps I use because I'm not a programmer: I don't miss it and I couldn't do anything with it even if I had it.
Open your mind a little and realize that both free and commercial software can, nay, should exist. I don't mind paying others for their albour and expertise in things I know nothing about, the same as I get paid for my expertise.
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
What does the GPL have to do wtith price?
"GNU Pricing Levels"
Suppose you've got your average gamer
This isn't really a product for your "average gamer"...
I really like flight simulators, and hated going into Windows just to play Fly!. I will hold off getting the new version of X-Plane (I was going to get it for my birthday), since they are working on a Linux version.
Of course, now I will have to see if I can get my CH Yoke, and pedals working under Linux.
This is great news!
"I for one don't give a flying fuck about having the source for any of the apps I use because I'm not a programmer: I don't miss it and I couldn't do anything with it even if I had it."
So by your reasoning Linux should be closed source. Good thing your not the only one on the planet.
"The fact remains: if software has value, people will pay for it."
So if people are downloading Linux, does that mean it has no value? Interesting POV.
I dunno - after I took off I was doing manuevers I'm used to in fighter sims with a British Airways Airliner - like aileron rolls, and cuban loops - and I'm serious. Although I've never flown a real air-liner I doubt one would do this as willingly as the game made it seem. I could pull turns that one would use to evade missle locks without even stalling.
:).
If I had a bit more power I probably could have pulled off the bell manuever (where you fly straight up - let the jet stall, and come straight down at some attack angel)
Keep working on it guys
"...good news for flight simulator fans that use Linux."
You mean the 0.0001% of the linux user base ?
Tried the demo, 48 meg download but its worth it.
In fact to beta test the modules this was the only way I can get them to work. Although the plane maker one will not load with the demo as it needs "cockpit:standard:aoa".
Not bad, actually it seems like a lot of fun. Especially with lots of planes already available. Just wish setting up joysticks on Linux didn't suck so much.
StarTux
X-Plane costs less $60 US... it's right there on the web-site.
However, if your are interested in accurate physics (at least in space), you ought to try Orbiter. I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned it yet.
The physics there are the most accurate I've seen for a PC space game. The graphics are spectacular, and accurate (at least for those space bodies where such data exists). For some bodies there are 8192*8192 bitmaps (heh, you'll _need_ a good graphics card if you choose that option!). Best of all, it's free.
The only downside is it is not open source, nor does it run in anything but Windows.
I really recommend it to anyone who likes all the nice physics stuff, and the eyecandy, but isn't scared off by a _steep_ learning curve. At least go take a look at the purty screenshots.
For those who asked: as I said in the previous post, I don't know what Austin's plans are, but I believe that it will be the same as with the current Mac and Win32 versions: if you have the CD, you can play on any platform.
:)
Thus, people who already bought the CD can simply download and run the Linux version with no extra money to pay.
PS: (the shameless plug part) I'd love it if I got a job working on flight sims, I'm sick and tired of web development
Petru
Would it run reasonably smoothly on my ghetto AMD-K6 200Mhz/64MB RAM 'puter if I turned the graphic quality down a few notches? Would love to try the game but don't want to waste the time installing it only to find it runs like molasses..
can you read ?
(insulting I know but I'm sick of this)
read my comment and pay attention to what I say about military airports and planes
I have got sick of people on slashdot recently unable to read comments and have the feeling that VA Linux staff do 98% of the moderation
did you not read the part about F18 simulation and Military airports being classified ?
but civil NOT being
its sad that the people of the US say they are open but in fact the government agencies contract out all the work and so then it cant be open
regards
john 'bad mood' jones
p.s. oh and I stuck in the citizen of USA bit so that fools would not complain about me not being and harp on about national security but that failed didnt it !
mod
His business model used to work a bit differently. If you wanted his program, you paid. If you wanted a game, he didn't want your money.
Stupid hippie.
Let me rephrase:
'If people percieve software as being worth some of their money, they will pay for it'.
Would I pay for linux if I had to? Now? Abso-fucking-lutely.
You techno hippie open-source nerds need to quit watching 'Antitrust' like some kind of cult classic and go get a life. It's not for you to tell others they shouldn't sell their work.
39.95 at compusa
I'd like to X-press my X-treme X-huberance at another X-game for X-windows. I'm in X-stacy!
I just hope it's as good as X-pilot!
Signed,
X-bill
AC's cheerfully ignored
The X-PLane 5.0 CD I purchased had both a mac and a pc version on it. They both require the cd to be inserted so you can't play them on different machines at the same time. I guess that the Linux version will funktion the same way.
I have no idea if the s/w is acurate on that level, or if such things scale, but it seems like you might be able to come up with some impressive party favors.