NEWS! - Laminar Research releases X-Plane 12.1.3 beta

 

 

Laminar Research have released a new version of X-Plane in v12.1.3 in Beta form. The focus of this update is on the ATC (Airtraffic Control) with a load of ATC fixes and the important SID/STAR routing. A great change is the Separate Sound devices for aircraft AUDIO and ATC audio, as it now allows you to have aircraft sounds on the desk speakers, and also the ATC on your headphones!

Loads of Weather improvements (NEXRAD recalibration, METAR/GRIB rework, altitude jump fix) and new small scenery addition in KJRB Downtown Manhattan Heliport. The inclusion now of a X-Plane Identity (which a new login system for X-Plane and a stepping stone to the XP Store), some A330 Autopilot improvements and UI (User Interface) changes

 

ATC System

• Improved support for VFR flying, including flight following and controller hand-over
• Support for SIDs and STARs in IFR flights

Sounds

• Assign different output devices for sounds and radio
• Custom Airports

Downtown Manhattan Heliport (KJRB)

Weather

•     Altitude and pressure changes will no longer happen quickly and violently (XPD-15826)
•     Creation of cloud voxels in real-weather mode no longer tries to sample outside the available data
•     Creation of cloud voxels no longer incorrectly blends different clouds together by taking the maximum value from both
•     METAR winds with altitudes midway between standard wind altitude levels are no longer off-heading and reduced velocity
•     Fix data-out for “ISA temperature”, Surface, FL140 and FL340 were actually showing 0 ft, 1772 ft and 3243 ft MSL
•     GRIB data was being discarded near METAR data locations
•     METAR data will no longer have any effect on the tropopause
•     Fade out METAR temperature curve to maximum METAR reporting altitude to avoid altering upper atmosphere temperatures
•     Make coverage noise pattern change sensitive to the weather seed
•     Reset weather lat / lon and random seed when moving the aircraft in static-weather mode, static weather cloud patterns should change if you move the aircraft to a new part of the world
•     CAVOK / SKC etc. in METAR reports will clear cloud as expected
•     Fix cloud discontinuity crossing the dateline
•     Improved NEXRAD rendering to be more accurate and display less red / magenta areas (XPD-16042)
•     Processing real weather in areas with many METAR should use less CPU time
•     New option “Maps show weather details as METAR” in settings to show weather conditions as METAR on the map
•     Better parsing of METAR data, especially of “no data” groups in automated METAR
•     Add explicit no-cloud layer below the lowest METAR cloud layer. Try to sanitise base/tops after blending individual cloud types in overdraw mode
•     Change handling of zero-thickness GRIB clouds – fixes vertically smeared cirrus.
•     ATIS not longer reports clouds after the first overcast layer or after 10.000 ft
•     ATIS of an airport will include the transition level when appropriate
•     Support AWOS at helipad/seaplane only airports

 

Fixes and Enhancements
General

•     VRAM optimisations for non DDS textures
•     Updated the default navigation data to AIRAC 2306. Many thanks to our friends at Navigraph for providing us with the data.
•     Fixed stutters in the simulation when showing UI elements such as the menu bar (XPD-16018)
•     Performance improvements when loading .acf files
•     Wrong DME distance is displayed if the VORDME has been selected on the map and a new scenery tile has been loaded
•     X-Plane 11 lights are restored to their previous brightness during the day. These lights may be used on scenery, third-party objects and vehicles, not just X-Plane 11 aircraft
•     Floating VR windows retain their positions when they’re re-opened, and move relative to the pilot’s seat when changing aircraft

 

 

Theses fixes gave me a load of scenery errors? (VRAM optimisations for non DDS textures), and the default navigation data has been updated, to June 2023.

 

ATC

•    Add bindable command for toggling taxi guidance arrows
•     Improved the performance in finding ATIS and controllers near the user’s aircraft
•     Puerto Rico and Alaska belong to the United States airspace in X-Plane
•     Changed for Canada the region to ICAO phrases and inHg pressure unit settings
•     Improved the implementation around RVR, issued when needed and on request when a runway is assigned
•     Hold sequencing has been improved
•     Implemented a smoother ground to tower handoff when approaching the active runway
•     Transition altitudes are no longer rounded to the nearest 500 ft, as some regions use meters
•     Taxi routes will look at other aircraft’s planned routes to try and avoid sending aircraft both ways on the same taxiway, were any other route is possible
•     In case some pilots get off course during a flight, we improved the off course detection and ATC will contact them with a friendly reminder
•     Use explicit reminder the first time an altitude warning is issued followed by an ‘expedite’ thereafter
•     Weather related vs. normal overnight airport closures will be handled differently now
•     ATC will consider all runways in a flow when aircraft specific requirements could not be met and not just the appropriate arrival / departure runways
•     Improved generation of runway flows for airports with only parallel runways and no flows defined
•     Always include a long runway in generated flows if it looks like it’s needed
•     ATC will tell you the expect approach or expect runway
•     Allow request for a different parking spot when one is already allocated
•     ATC system is aware of the aircraft purpose when assigning a parking position
•     Added a new ATC request to shutdown the engines
•     Localised phrases for radio check
•     Localised greetings for non-US controllers
•     Waypoint names are spoken wherever possible
•     Give the altitude for the initial segment when requesting a landing from a regional controller
•     Disable ATC auto tune for COM1 as soon as the user changes the frequency manually
•     The dataref "sim/atc/atis_enabled" to mute ATIS can be used per frame again (XPD-15850)
•     A three-letter airline identifier set as part of a livery is now considered when ATC assigns a parking spot
•     Don’t allow a radio check to an AWOS station
•     Allow immediate ‘Cross runway…’ call after handoff to tower if possible
•     Allow radio check anywhere and not just on ground before contacting ATC
•     Add ‘Have Information’ if the pilot has listened to the full ATIS message
•     Transition Altitude and Transition Levels are properly supported now. We also support airport and controller specific transitions.
•     It is possible to report a failed transponder. ATC will afterwards request regular position reports.
•     Previously, it was possible to request a diversion during cruise only. Now it is possible to even request if during approach and landing, but only the diversion to a nearby airport.
•     It is possible to request an alternative runway for arrival and departure (XPD-14062)
•     Improved ATC instructions when landing on Aircraft carriers (XPD-14189)
•     Improved ATC instructions when doing a go-around
•     Improved calculation of ATC transmission strength depending on your location
•     ATIS and radio calls are changed for airports which are closed due only to time restrictions in a flow – i.e. a typical small airport which is only staffed during business hours. When out-of-hours, there will be no response by radio and ATIS, if it exists, will be replaced with AWOS which will include a phrase saying which controller to contact to clear a flight plan. Normal comms still happen during open hours, even if the airport is closed due to other restrictions.
•     ATIS letter change broadcasts should happen in FAA regions only
•     Autogenerated runway flows will now include a long runway in all flows, where a particular flow only has a short or soft-surface runway where a longer runway exists.

AI Aircraft

•     Allow GA, rotary, gliders and VTOL AI to use grass / gravel / dirt and lakebed runways
•     Added much more variation of the initial altitudes
•     Added a minimum turnaround time at airports
•     AI aircraft will set the transponder if needed
•     AI Aircraft use now the correct speed for wind corrections
•     AI Aircraft use the correct external lights logic (beacon, strobe lights, …)
•     AI will switch on anti-ice in icing conditions
•     AI aircraft will descend on the glide-slope between calling ‘established’ and getting landing clearance
•     AI will make turns autonomously even if ATC is talking, on procedure segments which require no verbal instructions
•     Improved trans-polar flights
•     Holding aircraft can block departing aircraft if a teardrop turn is used after backtrack. Previously 180 degree turns were done to the side of the main path, but if a hold-short was close to the end of the runway it would be possible for waiting aircraft to be close enough to the turning aircraft that it was unable to complete the turn. Now the turn will be generated after checking for a hard surface on each side of the runway, where a turning area or access point exists, and will fall back on a symmetrical teardrop where needed.
•     AI Aircraft were not consistently being refuelled before departing an airport and may not have received enough fuel. AI will now periodically switch fuel tanks while the engines are running to keep balance. They will also switch tanks when fuel gets low or runs out in a particular tank.
•     AI Aircraft will initiate go-around if they have not heard from tower in time. Tower will initiate go-around earlier if it becomes clear that two arriving aircraft will conflict instead of waiting for the last minute. It will also initiate go-around for approaching aircraft which get too close. In both cases the aircraft redirected will be the furthest aircraft instead of the last to reach the runway. Several issues with detecting backtracking aircraft both on arrival and departure have been fixed.
•     AI Aircraft are now aware of icing conditions and will enable anti-ice features when needed

X-Plane Identity

•     Added option to create an account and link your current license to it

 

 

The account is shown on the top right of your "Main Menu" page

 

Flight Configuration

•     New option to filter ramps suitable for the currently selected aircraft in the airport view and display additional ramp information
•     New option to filter airports suitable for the currently selected aircraft

Map

•     Display active runways for airports
•     Display parking ramps and taxiway lines on the map when you zoom in to an airport
•     Added checkbox on map to disable taxiway lines when zoomed very close
•     New option “Maps show weather details as METAR” in settings to show weather conditions as METAR on the map
•     Display IDs for ILS, GPS and GLS approaches to better distinguish them when multiple approaches of the same type and the same runway are available

 

 

Active runways are now shown in green (grey are non-active), embedded Taxi-routes can now also be toggled ON/OFF

 

 

Parking ramp selections now have stand data in, name, type, purpose, size class and equipment.

 

Aircraft

•     Added the new command sim/flight_controls/speed_brakes_arm_toggle to arm/disarm the speed brakes
•     The font of the new HUD will not scale anymore regardless of the selected font size in the General Settings
• Cirrus Vision SF50
•     Fixed the fuel capacity and the display of it on the G1000 (XPD-15955)
• Cessna Citation X
•     Using full reverse thrust will no longer trigger a takeoff warning (XPD-15680)
•     The performance calculation of the FMS will no longer use hardcoded values for the number of passengers, available flap settings, etc. All those values are taken from the acf file or the performance data instead to allow the integration of the FMS in other planes.
•     Added a new dataref called "sim/cockpit2/engine/indicators/N1_fadec_arc" for the FADEC N1 target

Plane Maker

•     Plane Maker no longer crashes with an out of VRAM error when loading aircraft with large texture files (XPD-16061)
•     Added a scrollbar in the object list if needed (XPD-16105)

Local Web API

•     It is now possible to unsubscribe from multiple datarefs or by using the keyword “all” (XPD-16067)

SDK

•     XPLMPlayPCMOnBus API should now always call the sound-complete callback on the main thread (XPD-15907)

Linux

•     Because of some dependency issues we had to drop support for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. Please consider updating to a newer release of Ubuntu if you are still on version 20.04 LTS. It ships with quite a few outdated libraries. In order to run X-Plane 12.1.3 make sure you have "libwebkit2gtk-4.1.0" installed.
•     Zink has been disabled for Linux users for the time being. You can still enforce Zink by running X-Plane with the command line parameter "--zink". We expect to get Zink support back during the beta phase.

 

You can update to X-Plane v12.1.3 now via the built in X-Plane Installer application, just select "Update X-Plane" and make sure the "beta" selection box is ticked.

 

I'm not expecting v12.1.3 to be a long beta, running only a few weeks before going RC (Release Candidate), then the next step release of v12.2.0. Will it be released before Christmas or After in 2025? pick your choice, my bet is before Christmas.

___________________________

 

NEWS! by Stephen Dutton

19th November 2024

Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews

 

(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved

 

Seems like a good update to me. However this article has made me realize that the update, at least temporarily, will have moved my Airac back from the current month that I had as a subscriber to the 2306 one provided in stock XP12. On the account login it is very subtle (I did not notice it for a while) but when you set up an account it links automatically to my Xplane subscription. Using the same email address for the account that you used when buying your subscription is perhaps important?

Adding in that the release of the new MS FS seems to have gone so spectacularly badly (there is even one of the Hitler parody videos of him trying to log on) perhaps now is the time for nice steady progress by Laminar?