FlightGear 2.10 gets more realistic environmental conditions

F-14b over the alps at dusk
Source: wiki.flightgear.org The FlightGear project has released version 2.10 of the open source flight simulator. The most obvious improvements are in the simulation of the environment, weather and computer-controlled aircraft, but the developers have also put a lot of work into the rendering engine, the main results of which are more natural rendering of dazzle effects, restricted fields of view during night flights, and shadows.

Wind direction in the new version affects the movement of waves on the surface of water, the density of fog banks varies three-dimensionally, and VFR conditions on moonlit nights are rendered much more realistically. Sunrises and sunsets are now location- and altitude-dependent, which should permit simulation of the alpenglow effect.

There have also been improvements to the flight models, with revamped Boeing 777, Mirage 2000-5, A-4F Skyhawk, and Hawker Hurricane cockpits. When selecting an airport, FlightGear 2.10 displays an overview map of the airport.

Further details of the new release are provided in the change log. FlightGear 2.10 is available to download for Windows and Mac OS X from the FlightGear web site. Linux users currently have to compile the GPL-licensed source code for the new version themselves, with the FlightGear team leaving provision of distribution-specific packages to the individual distributions.

(sno)