Why is FSUIPC needed for FSX?

[McCrash]

FS9 I know but FSX is all new.

[Pete Dowson]

FS9 I know but FSX is all new.

Yes. And ...?

Pete

[McCrash]

FS9 I know but FSX is all new.

Yes. And ...?

Pete

WHY is it needed?

[sn.ave]

Lots of reasons. Same as FS9.

[Pete Dowson]

WHY is it needed?

If you need it you need it. If you don't you don't.

Just install FSX itself, and run it. You don't "need" anything but a really fast machine and video card and FSX. You don't "need" anything else.

If you want to learn more about FSUIPC, download it and look at the documentation. If you want to see what it does for applications which use it, download the SDK (there's a part for FSX in the announcement above).

If you don't use any applications which "need" it, then you don't need it for those. If you don't "need" any of the other facilities it offers, you don't need it at all. It's your choice, I cannot decide for you. And it's free for the applications interface in any case, so part of the decision isn't terribly hard, is it?

Regards

Pete

[n4gix]

WHY is it needed?

Simply because many of the third-party folks aren't going to invest the time to totally rewrite their code to use the new SimConnect interface...

...at least, not in the short term.

As Pete has said though, unless you are using a third-party application that uses FSUIPC, then you don't "need" it. ;)

Personally, I use the extremely useful additional features that Pete programs into FSUIC (such as the everlasting battery, finer calibration/control for yoke/joystick, etc.).. :lol:

[sn.ave]

We really do seem to be approaching an age where the assumption of personal responsibility is being abrogated in the face of abject stupidity. :roll:

The purpose, reason and methodology of FSUIPC - both 3 and 4 - is written in BIG LETTERS in the readme and documentation - which may be freely downloaded and analysed at the potential users leisure.

Suffice to say, you'll look bloody silly complaining about an addon that used to work perfectly in FS9 and now doesn't work at all in FSX if you don't understand the need for and the purpose of, FSUIPC... :wink:

And that's before you get to the added features as Bill says. :lol:

[webbm]

If developers write their software to use the FSUIPC interface, and not the new MS SimConnect interface, then there software will be compatable with both FSX and FS9. If we chose to just use SimConnect, then our products will work with FSX only.

Give that a significant amount of the FS community will still run FS9 for a while yet, it makes sense to support both platforms. FSUIPC provides this without having to write 2 interfaces at our end.

Matt.

[The_glideslope]

I'm sorry, but I must interrupt the line of thought that you reached here.

webbm says:

If developers write their software to use the FSUIPC interface, and not the new MS SimConnect interface, then there software will be compatable with both FSX and FS9. If we chose to just use SimConnect, then our products will work with FSX only.

Does this mean that addons such as the PMDG 747 written to use the FSUIPC 3 interface for FS9, will work with FSX using FSUIPC 4?

If so, how's this accomplished?

I ask this because PMDG will charge for a new updated version of the 747 for FSX and if the above is entirely true then they should reconsider the update and just update the installer, right?

[Pete Dowson]

I

Does this mean that addons such as the PMDG 747 written to use the FSUIPC 3 interface for FS9, will work with FSX using FSUIPC 4?

I think you misunderstand something quite fundamental here. Just because PMDG aircraft make some use of FSUIPC doesn't mean they ONLY use FSUIPC to interface to FS!

The PMDG747 is an aircraft. Aircraft, scenery, other DLLs, Gauges, are all examples of bits that although classed as "add-ons" are really made part of FS -- they have to be made to fit into the version of FS they are intended for, and they are dependent upon the features in FS itself much more than whatever little they ever used FSUIPC for, if anything.

Almost no scenery, few gauges and fewer add-in DLLs use FSUIPC. With the few aircraft and gauges the predominant use of FSUIPC was to obtain AI aircraft positions for TCAS radar displays. That started with FS2002 -- but Microsoft provided a direct way in FS2004 so many used that.

PMDG used FSUIPC for quite a few more things, and, indeed, during FSUIPC4 development they were a great help in testing it as their code used a lot of things in FSUIPC which I would not have otherwise even understood fully yet alone been able to test. They most certainly could still use FSUIPC in their updates for FSX, if they so desired, though I think that there will be so many other changes that they will want to (and in some areas need to) make that I think they will be moving over to drive SimConnect directly rather than indirectly.

I hope that clarifies things for you.

Incidentally, there are add-ons, such as FSNavigator, which have never used FSUIPC. Obviously any compatibility FSUIPC4 might provide to FSUIPC3 clients cannot apply to those at all. FSNavigator for FSX is predicted to be available mid-2007 I understand.

Regards

Pete

[The_glideslope]

Ah Ok.

I used PMDG as an example, of course. I was aware that its whole programming for FSX didn't exactly depend on FSUIPC integration.

I was just trying to understand when it was said that:

If developers write their software to use the FSUIPC interface, (...), then there (sic) software will be compatable (sic) with both FSX and FS9.

I thought that this meant those FS9 built software wouldn't require much updates to work in both FS9 and FSX.

But it has been clarified, thank you.