Open744 747-400 Simulator / News: Recent posts

This is 747IPC v3.1, for Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP. It includes WinPS1
for running PS1 inside a window (only works on Win2000/XP systems).
You must have PS1.3 with the EE4 update. You can obtain this from
http://744.hoppie.nl/pub/node/198 or
http://www.hoppie.nl/tmp/update13aEE4_0.zip.

For general users, you should download the Windows installer
"747ipc-3.1_install.exe".
For hackers, you should download the source code "747ipc-3.1_src.zip".... read more

The past 3 months saw involvement of a few users who gave valuable feedback. One has even started graphical work on an expanded MCP Mode Control Panel which will be used in a later release.

This release boasts of many new features and bugfixes:
Added runway and ILS microshift (a re-implementation).
Moved SDL-related code to proc_SDL.c.
Added networking code, including FlightGear support.
Added continuous engine and wind sounds.
Added early joystick support.
Bugfixes for CO ROUTE upselect, INI file Origin=/Dest= mishandling.... read more

This release moves WinPS1 a step closer to BETA status. It is my hope that more users will try out WinPS1 and report their experiences with the compilation and installation process.

Changes:
Added TCAS, ATC and ATIS sounds. ps1_wav_queue() renamed ps1_event_sounds().
Bugfix for faulty SYS_eof() return value that screws up FMC RTE page and fix selection page.
Checks for existence of 747PS13.CFG; creates one if not found.
Known bugs: Dest fuel. F/O checklist sounds.

After a long break, WinPS1 is back with a bugfix for the "gone ballistic" bug. A 'CD 3E' byte sequence in the AP/FD mode annunciator code was misinterpreted by the FPU un-emulator and resulted in FPU stack overflows.

There are many other minor bugfixes, such as in the handling of Shift-XXX keystrokes for the CDU.

The WinPS1 Project website has been updated too. You'll find a description of design and implementation of WinPS1 among the docs there.... read more

I discovered the cause of the bug that results in random crashes of the sim when the autopilot is engaged (and other situations). This bug originated in irregularities in the FPU stack.

A pair of bytes "0xcd 0x3b" at seg 0x131C offset 0xC159 (a procedure that updates the Autopilot/Flight Director annunciator) was incorrectly interpreted as a FPU emulation instruction, and translated into native FPU opcodes. Restoring the original bytes fixed the bug.

I am now able to scale PS1 from its native 640x480 window to 1024x768 (and possibly any other dimension) with little loss of quality other than streaky fonts. This is possible thanks to Hardy Heinlin's extensive use of 'vector graphics' in his original drawing code.

The CDU keypad can now be operated using "Shift-XX" keystrokes, where XX is the original PS1 CDU keystroke, eg F7 for the INIT REF page. The same code also allows for overhead panel keystroke injection. However, the overhead panel will only be activated via commands from the network, once the WinPS1 network code is written.... read more

The major improvement in this release is the addition of audio ! This requires the SDL_mixer library, which comes with most Linux and FreeBSD systems by default. Work is needed on ATC and ATIS sounds, and multiplexing cockpit sounds (the code for this already exists in 747IPC v3).

Changes:
Uses shared memory for PS1's data segment, directly accessible by the SDL process.
Audio support added.
Mouse pointer captured as steering tiller when within bottom 10 scanlines of screen (Y > 470).
magvar lookup now uses our own code (faster!) via comm_trap.
comm_trap: a common gateway to ease the handling of software traps and hooks.... read more

This is a special re-build of deprecated code.
747IPC v2.x was retired when version 3 (although still in BETA) was released. The last official release was v2.8 (5 October 2003). v2.x work best on Win95/98; Win2000/XP will work, but behaviour is not extensively tested.

747IPC works best with PS1.3A, but also supports EE4 and EE4 to various degrees.

In 2.8, there is new support for floating point values in IPC.poke and IPC.pokeSust. This allows add-ons like Hoppie's "Tug" to work.... read more

Lots of bugfixes in this pre-WorldFlight 2006 release, and many enhancements to make WinPS1 run smoother. I now get typical CPU PERF figures of 70000/18 on approach, up to 220000/18 when parked at the apron.

Changes:
Increased the socket read buffer to 8192*16 bytes; this eliminates all BGI op errors.
Created the 'ps1_FILE' typedef to mirror Pascal's FILE.
Fixed various problems in file I/O buffering and EOF checks.
Load INI now works.
Track plotter now works correctly (implementation of SYS_rename).
Bugfix: grey keys now work correctly.
Bugfix: SYS_toupper() now uses native Pascal subroutine.
Polygons have spurious diagonals because SDL_gfx expects polygons to be closed (first point = last point) but BGI DrawPoly doesn't, and neither does PS1.... read more

This is 747IPC v3.0, for Windows 95/98/2000/XP. It includes WinPS1 for
running PS1 inside a window (only works on Win2000/XP systems). This is an older version of WinPS1, not to be confused with the current SourceForge WinPS1 747-400 Simulator project for x86 Unix platforms.

Notable changes since v3.0 BETA 9 include:
VMD character recognition bugfix (the letter "L" etc) and optimisation.
VMD now works under Win95/98 ! Use is limited to the CDU only. However you are able to connect MCDU to Broker and use it as a remote CDU.
Supports FlightGear 0.9.10.
Included a few docs that some might find useful.

This is a special re-build of deprecated code.
747IPC v2.x was retired when version 3 (although still in BETA) was released. The last official release was v2.8 (5 October 2003). v2.x work best on Win95/98; Win2000/XP will work, but behaviour is not extensively tested. You are better off running 747IPC v3 with WinPS1 on Win2000/XP: http://hoppie.nl/ivan/ipc3.html.

In this release, there is new support for floating point values in IPC.poke and IPC.pokeSust. This allows add-ons like Hoppie's "Tug" to work.... read more

Bug-fix for the 'gone-ballistic' problem, which also fixes a lot of other things. PS1 is now flyable with the keyboard, and the auto-pilot works as designed.

This release, like the previous, is for FreeBSD and Linux platforms.

The first open-source release of WinPS1 !

This version has a functioning mouse and keyboard interface.
User interface faithfully follows the original PS1's,
barring a few bugs (eg the EICAS N1 tapes, circular MCP
buttons, instructor page buttons).
There is no audio and no networking support.

There is a bug that causes the flight-dynamics model to
go ballistic (literally) when F/D is engaged. I suspect
it is related to the floating point library emulation.

The first open-source release of WinPS1 !

This version has a functioning mouse and keyboard interface.
User interface faithfully follows the original PS1's,
barring a few bugs (eg the EICAS N1 tapes, circular MCP
buttons, instructor page buttons).
There is no audio and no networking support.

There is a bug that causes the flight-dynamics model to
go ballistic (literally) when F/D is engaged. I suspect
it is related to the floating point library emulation.