Multiplayer, JoinFS, new chances for FlightGear?

Hello Oswald,

I've really not researched the communication protocols for the various multiplayer addons for the many simulators currently available. Like many users, I've basically used them "out of the box" so to speak - learning only what I needed to get connected and troubleshoot general issues that the addon addressed in their documentation.

I really have my hands full enough, so I have no plans on digging into this area any deeper and will, unfortunately, be of little help at this point in your efforts. I would hope that others in the FG community with more knowledge of FG communication protocol and that of the other addons for P3D/FSX/Xplane would be able to address this and hopefully come up with an addon that would bridge these simulators.

I did look at the JoinFS settings, and set your JoinFS in "Hub Mode" that allows the entry of an IP address. I don't believe this IP address is broadcast out, but appears as a unique JoinFS address that others will use to connect. I'm also not sure what communication protocol is used between the simulators and JoinFS, but it's entirely possible that it's unique to JoinFS. I'm guessing there is information available regarding Vatsim protocol, as I think there are a number of 3rd party addons that allow Vatsim following and displays. Therefore I"m guessing that's open source, but not necessarily the same as what is used by JoinFS. If JoinFS could be connected to FG through any process, I would think that information would be posted on some internet site.

Even our old FSHost servers allowed us to fly together using the common FSHost Server that could be set up on a fixed IP like our TeamSpeak servers are. Still, I don't think that FSHost would communicate with JoinFS even if they were both on the same server because they probably don't share the same communication protocols. That's why pilots needed to use the FSHost client addon just like we now all must have the JoinFS addon running locally. I'm just guessing, but like http packets, those not recognized by the receiver would be ignored.

I think that programs like Plan-G don't communicate directly with addons like JoinFS, but use the data after those communication addons share or inject it into the simulator. Therefore, Plan-G is actually getting the data from the simulator and not from the communication addon - that's why it connects to the simulator and not those addons separately.

Again, I'm just guessing at a lot of this here. My messing around in communication protocols for P3D/FSX and FG has been limited to the recording of flight data for sending PIREP and position reports to our site. FG is completely different in how it sends data than P3D/FSX, and it's standards are much looser - varying greatly based on the aircraft model developer and therefore, the specific aircraft model flying. While I can chart the locations of planes on a map as I've done with our Active Flights area for both P3D/FSX and FG, that's much different and simpler than injecting all the data into the various simulators that includes flight models, gear and light settings, etc.

To summarize my verbose response - I really have no idea if your addon might connect to JoinFS, but I'm doubtful <img src="tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-heybaby.gif" alt="heybaby">. I would continue to glean the Internet for a proven solution. Perhaps then we might work together in getting that to work for us here on future Multiplayer St. Paul Airlines flights.

Sorry I can't be more helpful, and the current state of connection issues will likely be even more complicated with the release of FS2020.

John<br /><br /><!-- editby --><br /><br /><em>edited by: jer029, May 09, 2020 - 12:53 PM</em><!-- end editby -->

Hello Oswald,

I read your post on the forum link you provided and the response to it. If I understand correctly, Swift operates like JoinFS (as an addon for FG just as JoinFS is for P3D/FSX). Also, if I understand correctly, it will work - to some degree, with P3D/FSX if those of us with P3D and FSX will switch to that version of Swift for our multiplayer flights. The concern is related to missing information related to landing gear and lights and plane models as noted in that post and alluded to in my earlier thread here as a complication.

Still, it's worth exploring further at some point, and it's likely things will improve over time if the developers can keep up with the constant changing of available simulators and version updates.

It would be a bit premature to test this on our next and final Caribbean flight, but we can look into it further as time permits. I'll have to look into that addon first - the version for P3D/FSX, and research it further before any experimentation can take place.

John