                     SGI Flight Simulator Release Notes

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Contents

   * Release Information
   * Changes
   * Problems & Solutions
   * Todo
   * Feedback & Bug Reporting

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Release 1.01

This release of the Silicon Graphics Flight Simulator is unsupported. We are
giving it away because its fun, and it demonstrates the potential for
OpenGL-based games on the Windows platforms.

Flight requires Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0. Earlier versions of Windows
are not supported.

Flight uses the beta release of Cosmo OpenGL, which is included with this
distribution. If you run flight on Windows NT or on a machine which supports
hardware acceleration of OpenGL, the Microsoft version of OpenGL is used
instead.

By default, flight temporarily changes the screen resolution to 640x480. If
you wish to run in the default resolution of your display, specify the '-f'
option and flight will not resize your display.

If your display is running in 256 color mode, flight automatically runs in
color-index mode. The color-index version of flight differs from the RGB
version in several ways:

  1. The airplane models are simpler
  2. The instrument panels are simpler
  3. The foothills are not displayed
  4. The framerate is higher in the absence of hardware acceleration
  5. Fog and texture mapping are not available

For best results on machines without hardware acceleration, change your
display settings to 256 color mode. Flight will run at higher color depths
but the framerate will be reduced.

This version of flight is compatible with the version shipped with Silicon
Graphics workstations, and network play between the two machine types is
supported. However, the SGI version uses UDP multicast network packets by
default, while the Windows version uses UDP broadcast packets because the
current version of Winsock does not support multicast. As a result, the PC's
will not recognize the SGI machines, but the SGI machines will see the PC's.
To work around this, you must enable UDP broadcast on the SGI machines by
running dog with the '-b' option.

UDP broadcasts have been known to cause problems for some older machines; in
particular, DEC VAXen grind to a halt when large numbers of UDP broadcast
packets cross its network interface.

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Changes

Changes since 1.0:

   * Flight no longer causes some systems to hang after changing the screen
     resolution.
   * The artificial horizon and radar now draw correctly under Windows NT.
   * The instrument panel no longer flashes on the Matrox Millenium under
     Windows NT.
   * Pressing the left and right mouse buttons together now emulates the
     middle mouse button.

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Problems & Solutions

 Problem:    Flight runs slowly in 24-bit under Windows 95.
 Solution:   Cosmo OpenGL has not yet been optimized for 24-bit displays.
             Change your screen depth to 8, 16, or 32.

 Problem:    When running under Windows NT on a Matrox Millenium, the lines
             in the horizon and radar meters are jagged.
 Solution:   This is fixed in the latest driver. Download from:
             http://www.matrox.com/mgaweb/ftp_mill.htm

 Problem:    When running under Windows 95 on a 3Dlabs Permedia, the entire
             scene is distorted.
 Solution:   Modify your Flight shortcut and add the '-f' option.

 Problem:    When running under Windows NT on a 3Dlabs Permedia, the
             control panel flashes.
 Solution:   Run in "heads-up display" mode by adding the '-h' option, or
             type the 'H' key after selecting a plane.

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Todo

   * Provide and alternate mechanism for the middle mouse button
   * Debug problems on specific graphics boards
   * Add support for joysticks

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Feedback & Bug Reporting

As this is unsupported software, I cannot promise a response. However, you
may send comments and bug reports to:

     Michael I Gold <gold@sgi.com>

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Last update: April 4, 1997
