RealFlight Trainer Edition version 1.50.209 is now available as a free release for all Trainer Edition users. It adds support for the new Spektrum WS3000T and various other improvements.
When it comes to using your own transmitter with RealFlight, the new Spektrum WS3000T Wireless Simulator USB Dongle is a game changer. For radios that support Smart Transmitter Files, the WS3000T sends an STF to the transmitter that automatically configures it for RealFlight. Then, RealFlight detects the WS3000T and automatically selects the correct radio profile. The whole thing becomes a true plug & play process, eliminating complicated user setup to get you flying faster and more successfully!
If your radio does not support Smart Transmitter Files, that’s okay. The WS3000T retains the same broad Spektrum DSMX and DSM2 compatibility as the WS1000 & WS2000 before it. However, it improves on them by supporting up to 20 channels compared to the previous maximum of 8!
Some other noteworthy “quality of life” improvements:
Users now have the option to specify the location where RealFlight will read/write “user files” on disk. This offers a workaround when the default location causes problems. See the bottom of this post for details.
It should not be possible for RealFlight to make the DirectX driver crash in modern Windows. Such problems typically indicate some kind of GPU hardware failure. However, if that does occur, RealFlight handles it more gracefully now.
Release Notes:
Features
- Added support for the new Spektrum WS3000T Wireless Simulator USB Dongle
- RealFlight detects the WS3000T and automatically selects a radio profile designed specifically for it
- Ability to specify RealFlight's "user files" location on disk via command line (details below)
Improvements/Fixes
- Improved handling of DirectX driver crashes. RealFlight displays a single error with more useful information about what is happening and offers to restart automatically.
- Fixed a crash on startup if RealFlight experiences an error retrieving the Documents directory from Windows
- Training: When loop behavior is enabled, lesson playback correctly handles reaching the end of a lesson
- Selection menu filters normally persist within a session, but if they result in an empty list, the menu will revert to unfiltered on its next load
- Clicking Reset to clear all selection menu filters does not alter the scrolled position of the filters section
- Radio Profile Editor: The "Smoke" channel is more accurately labeled "Smoke/Gear"
- Award dialog appearance is correct when unlocking vehicles (fixed a broken header image) (Does not apply to Trial Version)
- Improved the descriptions for several settings that are sometimes disabled based on attributes of the currently loaded airport. When disabled, the descriptions contain additional text to better explain the cause. Affects:
- Pilot Position (located in Free Play > Pilot View menu)
- Camera Type (located in Free Play > Pilot View menu)
- Sun Azimuth (located in Free Play > Environment menu)
- Sun Inclination (located in Free Play > Environment menu)
- Scenario Quick Select dialog correctly defaults to the most recently loaded scenario, even if some invalid scenarios have been removed from the list above it
- Scenario Quick Select dialog displays error messages for invalid scenarios when a filter is active (though only for scenarios that filter includes)
- The default multiplayer server message text refers to its correct location on disk for those who wish to modify it
- Manage Game Lists dialog's listbox is now scrollable for stock game lists, allowing all the games in longer lists to be viewed
- Misc. other UI improvements
How to Get It
Steam will detect the new version and automatically update RealFlight when it thinks your computer is not very busy. You can trigger the update manually if desired by completely restarting Steam. Right-click the Steam icon in your system tray and select Exit. Once everything closes, run Steam again, and the update should complete.
Custom User Files Location
As mentioned above, users now have the option to specify the location where RealFlight will read/write “user files” on disk. By default, Trainer Edition uses \\RealFlight Trainer Edition (e.g., C:\\Users\\Ryan Douglas\\Documents\\RealFlight Trainer Edition). However, sometimes that default location causes problems for RealFlight, such as when the path contains unsupported characters or when Microsoft OneDrive is involved. Setting RealFlight to use a different location on disk can sidestep those issues so the software will run.
Specify the desired location using a command line argument as in the following example:
-UserFilesLocation="D:\\My Files\\RealFlight Trainer Edition"
Notes:
- The location given must be a full path including drive letter (i.e., an absolute path).
- If there are spaces anywhere in the path, the whole thing must be wrapped in quotes as shown above.
- If the specified directory does not exit, RealFlight will create it.
- Make sure it is in a location that is writeable by an application with standard user (non-administrator) privileges.
- Do not set it to the user files directory from a different version of RealFlight!
To add a command line argument for RealFlight:
- Run the Steam client.
- Right-click on RealFlight Trainer Edition in the left pane and select Properties…
- On the “General” page, add the new option as shown above in the text input box beneath the text saying “Advanced users may choose to enter modifications to their launch options.”.
- Close the Properties dialog.
- Run RealFlight like usual.
This is a new feature. Please report any issues you encounter while using it.
