New RF7 public beta (7.50.015) is available

Ryan Douglas

Ryan Douglas

Administrator
Staff member
7.50.015 is now available as a free public beta download.

Grab the new version and check out the F3A pattern-style Futaba Sky Leaf 55!

We included a host of other fixes and improvements in this update. See the full release notes below for more info, and please let us know if you discover any new bugs. We expect to make this update public soon.

Compatibility note: RealFlight 7.5 is not compatible with Windows XP. If you are using XP, do not attempt to download it. It will not run.

This version is compatible with 7.50.011 and 7.50.013 for multiplayer.

If you already downloaded 7.50.013, this new build will automatically appear in the list of versions available to you. Otherwise, perform the following steps to obtain it:
  1. Start the RealFlight 7 Launcher
  2. Click Additional Options, then Technical Support
  3. Click Enter Tech Support Code
  4. Enter the following code: B#5ch93455cf9a (If successful, you will see a message saying "You are now registered to use the Public Beta site until the new version is posted to official download site.")
  5. Go back to the main Launcher menu and click Registration/Updates
  6. Make sure that in the bottom left corner it says Temporary Public Beta. If not, try reentering the code
  7. Click Update to Latest Version; alternatively, click Update to Specific Version, choose 7.50.015 from the list, and click OK.

The LauncherHelper will need to restart partway through this process. Answer "Yes" when it asks if you want to continue downloading the new version. When this process is finished, you will have the latest available version of RealFlight 7.


NEW FEATURES:
  • Futaba Sky Leaf 55
  • Airspeed Sensor electronics component
  • Quadcopter and Quadcopter X now use the multirotor flight controller for advanced functionality like the newer muiltirotor models in RealFlight. The original versions were preserved as "Classic" variants.
  • Electric motors can reverse direction using the new "Is Motor Reversible" advanced property

FIXES/IMPROVEMENTS:
  • Fixed a potential crash on airport load
  • Closing the sim with the multiplayer gadget open does not cause a crash
  • SLT Wireless Interface: If the radio is turned on after RealFlight starts it will be properly calibrated
  • SLT Wireless Interface: Completely powering down then booting a computer with the Interface connected does not sometimes leave the device in a partially functioning state
  • SLT Wireless Interface: Devices that previously triggered KEError 24047 will now function normally (requires a separate download--available soon--since affected users cannot perform online updates)
  • Multirotor Flight Controller: Multirotors no longer occasionally spawn with the flight controller stuck commanding the max rotation rate on some or all axes
  • Multirotor Flight Controller: Return to Launch mode always returns to the original spawn point. It ignores rewind and any temporary remembered reset positions.
  • Multirotor Flight Controller: Various minor improvements. They are split between reversible motor support and fixing previously existing issues with non-reversing behavior.
  • Automatic aircraft reset is not triggered by models with no motor, such as sailplanes. This affects bungee, aero tow, and hand launch aircraft, as well as challenge levels that use those launch methods.
  • The Heads-Up Display's reticle appearance is correct
  • Challenge UI elements, participant nametags, and "showMeTheMoney" crash cost text continue rendering properly after content is exported
  • Aircraft Editor: "Fit to Visual" functionality doesn't crash when used on a fuselage
  • Aircraft Editor: "Fit to Visual" functionality is enabled for fuselage components. Also, visuals are immediately refreshed after all "Fit to Visual" actions to display the new position and shape.
  • Aircraft Editor: Prop glow is not turned on after a property value changes
  • Aircraft Editor: The Multirotor Flight Controller's "Flight Mode 1, 2, & 3" property descriptions contain detailed explanations of the different flight modes
  • Aircraft Editor: The Multirotor Flight Controller no longer contains a "Yaw Throttle Compensation" property. Improved controller logic makes it unnecessary.
  • Aircraft Editor: The Multirotor Flight Controller's "Gimbal Pitch Output" and "Gimbal Roll Output" appear consistently in the list of available inputs for other components. They also function as expected outside the editor (gimbaled cameras do not sometimes lock on one or both axes).
  • Aircraft Editor: The Multirotor Flight Controller has a new "Controlling Reversible Motors" property that allows its "Minimum Throttle Value" property to be applied about center stick
  • Aircraft Editor: The "Number of Connections" property for the Multirotor Flight Controller shows the correct total of its subcomponents' connections
  • Aircraft Editor: The "Number of Connections" property for the Electronic Flybar's Elevator subcomponent shows the correct number of connections
  • Aircraft Editor: Aircraft sounds play at reduced volume
  • Aircraft Editor: Grappling Hook component sounds are muted
  • Aircraft Editor: Clicking control surfaces in the 3D viewport selects the parent component when the Electronics pane is active (this matches the behavior of the other panes)
  • Aircraft Editor: When different component wireframes overlap, clicking the intersection to cycle through components now works for both sides of symmetrical components
  • Aircraft Editor: The curve editor dialog no longer goes blank when all points are deleted, and the OK button is disabled
  • Aircraft Editor: The Detachable Item component's "Detachment Servo" is now a Standard property
  • Aircraft Editor: The Heli Mechanics component's max weight is 100kg instead of 1000kg
  • Aircraft Editor: The Flood Time property can be modified with the scroll wheel regardless of its current value
  • Aircraft Editor: If save on exit fails due to incorrect read-only detection, dialog exit is aborted to prevent changes from being lost
  • Edit Radio Profile dialog: The Save button's enabled/disabled state is updated correctly after saving
  • Descriptive label text (ex: "Roll", "Dual Rates", "Knob") is appended to input channel numbers in the Aircraft Editor's Radio pane and in the Edit Radio Profile dialog (for InterLink controllers only)
  • Challenges: Grapple levels 5 & 10 can be completed again (the missing planes are back in the hangars)
  • Challenges: Levels end properly and scores are recorded for users with non-English characters in their Windows username
  • Challenges: The perfect times for Balloon Burst level 4 and Limbo level 4 are more attainable
  • Challenges: Quadcopter Trials gate and touch pad objects have the correct material type. They do not emit grass chaff when struck.
  • Airport Editor: Using an InterLink Elite digital trim tab while the main editor viewport has focus does not cause a crash
  • Airport Editor: Pressing 'Z' to undo while Ctrl-dragging a newly added object does not cause a crash
  • Airport Editor: Toggling Fixed Camera Only on and then off does not prevent pan and pivot operations in the main editor viewport
  • Multiplayer: The Join dialog indicates which sessions are password protected
  • Opening the Edit NavGuides dialog by clicking one of the displayed items results in that item be properly selected in the Edit dialog
  • Import/Export: Clicking the "import successful" console message after importing a recording successfully loads the new recording
  • Manage User Files dialog: Categories are sorted alphabetically, as are scenes within the Airports group
  • The on-screen camera control is disabled in trainers
  • The following operations all require a non-default pilot name: starting a recording, entering Multiplayer, and entering MultiMode. If the pilot profile has not been filled out and RealFlight cannot determine an appropriate default username (this is typically only an issue for Windows account names using non-English characters), then when any of the aforementioned operations are attempted a helpful message is displayed instead of simply opening the pilot profile with no additional information.
  • The previous wind speed and direction are restored after exiting the challenge system (unless exiting puts you at a different airport than where you started)
  • The standard Windows "wait" icon is displayed when certain time-consuming operations are selected, such as opening the MFC selection dialogs or the Manage User Files dialog
  • User Interface: Various colors and images are correct for French, Italian, Spanish. The "Red" UI skin is no longer available.
  • User Interface: A handful of UI elements that could previously shrink and even disappear after being repeatedly toggled on and off no longer exhibit that behavior
  • Smoke Emitter airport objects now output a small quantity of smoke particles when the Initial Velocity is set to 0. Also, the Initial Velocity property now has a non-zero default value.
  • MultiMode: The airport editor is disabled in this mode
  • The mpBanPlayer console command does not accept an optional second paramter
  • The About dialog's controller serial number label text is correct for the SLT Wireless Interface
  • Some unused items are no longer added to the .ini
  • Updated German translation
  • Launcher: The serial number entry dialog correctly reads the serial number from the SLT Wireless Interface
  • Launcher: The "View Tasks" button and functionality is removed from the Technical Support dialog
  • Launcher: Performing an online update to any 7.5 version does not break Launcher functionality for any previous generations of RealFlight that are installed

AIRCRAFT:
  • Various: Most aircraft were retrimmed
  • Various: Any nonzero software radio trim was removed
  • Multirotors: Aircraft descriptions were updated to provide more info about each model's flight modes
  • Explorer 580: Altitude no longer increases slowly with centered throttle in Loiter mode
  • Flyzone Sensei: The color scheme can be saved for customization
  • General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper: Rockets no longer fire from wings that have broken off
  • H4 Quadcopter 520: In managed altitude flight modes it no longer bounces slowly on the ground
  • Octocopter 1000: In stabilized flight modes, its yaw behavior and its ability to hold its heading (including with full throttle and/or pitch inputs) are improved
  • Octocopter 1000: In loiter mode, it is better able to maintain position in the wind
  • X8 Quadcopter 1260: Gimbal camera is named "Gimbal"
  • X8 Quadcopter 1260: In loiter mode, it transitions from movement to holding position without excessive oscillation

AIRPORTS:
  • Air Race Desert, Tropical, and Desert Final: Default wind direction is correct
  • Air Race Stadium: Default wind direction is correct
  • Aqueduct: Fixed some floating rubble
  • Construction Site: Fixed numerous objects that had shifted, some of which were intersecting terrain or other objects
  • Japanese Temple: Added an aero tow recording
  • Marooned: Removed a message in a bottle that always sank
  • Santa Clara County Model Aircraft Skypark: Some previously dynamic depth buffer objects are now static
  • Santa Clara County Model Aircraft Skypark: Eliminated a duplicate depth buffer object that led to continual collision noises
 
If you previously downloaded the 7.50.013 public beta, here's what is different in 7.50.015. For everyone else, the post above tells you everything you need to know.

  • Fixed a potential crash on airport load
  • SLT Wireless Interface: Devices that previously triggered KEError 24047 will now function normally (requires a separate download--available soon--since affected users cannot perform online updates)
  • Multirotor Flight Controller: Various minor improvements. They are split between reversible motor support and fixing previously existing issues with non-reversing behavior.
  • Aircraft Editor: The Multirotor Flight Controller's "Gimbal Pitch Output" and "Gimbal Roll Output" outputs appear consistently in the list of available inputs for other components. They also function as expected outside the editor (gimbaled cameras do not lock on one or both axes).
  • Aircraft Editor: The Multirotor Flight Controller has a new "Controlling Reversible Motors" property that allows its "Minimum Throttle Value" property to be applied about center stick
  • Aircraft Editor: If save on exit fails due to incorrect read-only detection, dialog exit is aborted to prevent changes from being lost
  • Some unused items are no longer added to the .ini
  • Aircraft Editor: The electric motor property called "Reversing Throttle" in 7.50.013 is now called "Is Motor Reversible"
  • The Encore Invertix 400 included in 7.50.013 is removed

A few words about the Invertix:

That early beta version was not ready to ship; it was included because it was the easiest way to grant access to the people who would help us test it and finalize the setup. We initially hoped that adding reversible motors would be enough to fully support that design. However, Feedback from the Invertix developers helped us see that closing the gap between real-world performance and behavior in the sim wasn't just a matter of further tuning. Some fundamental code changes were needed, requiring engineering time and effort we're not in a position to commit right now.

It's a disappointing outcome for all involved. We'd still like to see it in a future version of RealFlight. But we care enough about getting these things right that we're willing to pull it at this time, even after everything we've invested in it.

We left all the reversible motor code support in place so that users can still play with these types of multirotors if they wish.
 
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