Our weekly live dev-cast in text format.
September, Friday the 13th
Hey Pilots,
Here’s a quick digest of this week’s live dev cast with Brian, the owner and lead developer of SayIntentions.AI. It was another engaging session with a mix of updates, new features, and a special live Q&A!
What’s New This Week?
Bug Fixes: Over the last week, 37 bugs were fixed, primarily ATC-related and Co-Pilot related.
Slow Taxi Instructions: New mini feature! When receiving long taxi instructions, ATC will slow down their speech, just like in real life.
Cabin Crew Audio Enhancements: Now, the cabin crew’s audio will sound different depending on whether they are addressing passengers or other crew members—adding another layer of immersion.
Pushbacks: Pushback direction (e.g., face south) is now available
AI Co-pilot feature is fully live on Primary Server, with only a minor bug or two to be fixed.
Taxi Lighting: “Follow the Greens” feature coming soon, where your entire taxi path will be illuminated via progressive lights instead of arrows.
Traffic Update: While there’s been a lot of interest in the traffic feature, Brian emphasized a gradual, step-by-step rollout. He reiterated that there won't be a sudden, big announcement for traffic—it’s being introduced and improved incrementally. See our previous email for more information.
Brian's Q&A Here’s a full rundown of the Q&A session with Brian. He responded to all kinds of questions, from technical to more casual.
Q1: Will ATC say "caution wake turbulence"?
Brian: Yes! That should be live within the next day or two.
Q2: Does the cabin crew respond to seatbelt sounds?
Brian: No, not to sounds directly. But we don’t use the seatbelt light since most planes don’t model it correctly. We use other flight phase cues instead.
Q3: Can the ATC guide us with taxi instructions like "turn right on Alpha, then Bravo"?
Brian: No turn-by-turn instructions, but our progressive taxi system with light-up arrows covers this in a different way.
Q4: Is it planned to see other pilots' traffic models?
Brian: Yes, we'll get there.
Q5: Any plans for multi-crew or shared cockpit?
Brian: Not currently, it’s technically challenging. Maybe after traffic stabilizes.
Q6: What's more challenging: developing for GA or IFR?
Brian: General Aviation, definitely! VFR is unscripted, much more difficult than the IFR world.
Q7: Will we be able to use buttons in the Sim to activate the microphone?
Brian: No, it needs to be a button on your yoke or joystick, a piece of hardware we can read.
Q8: Is there a plan to provide tower services when staffed?
Brian: We’ve considered it, but most towers don’t publish hours, and it could lead to frustration if the service isn’t available when expected.
Q9: Have we influenced any builds to support CPDLC?
Brian: We’ve had some discussions with developers. I’ve seen a working demo from one group, so stay tuned.
Q10: Any plans for a user-controlled airspace tuner?
Brian: We already have one but it's reserved for our moderation team. It’s very powerful and can break things, so we keep it restricted.
Q11: Is there still work to be done on IFR flights?
Brian: Yes, plenty of work is still ongoing. We're aiming for an average IFR rating of 9.5, and we’re currently at 8.5. We’re working on it every day.
Q12: Ground crew for pushbacks?
Brian: Expect something on that soon.
Q13: Will traffic work for X-Plane too?
Brian: Unclear at this time. We’re focused on MSFS first, and we’ll see how things develop.
Q14: Any plans for military-based ATC?
Brian: No, that’s a very different system, and we don’t plan to dive into that.
Q15: Ramp controllers?
Brian: Stay tuned for more information on that soon.
Q16: Will co-pilot handle CPDLC?
Brian: Maybe, but CPDLC already lowers your workload. Adding the co-pilot for CPDLC might be redundant.
Q17: Are there plans for terrain awareness?
Brian: Yes, we’re working on it, but it’s a long-term project.
Q18: Any success with MSFS 2024 early access?
Brian: Unfortunately, we don’t have any contacts inside Microsoft to get early access, but we’re hoping!
Q19: Will ATC shift changes be implemented?
Brian: We have the capability to do this, but it’s currently turned off for debugging purposes. Might turn it back on later. That wraps up this week’s dev cast. Feel free to drop any additional questions in Discord, and we’ll catch you next Thursday for another session!
What’s Coming Next?
Living World Concept:
We’ve continuing to evolve our “AI Living World” concept. These new features are a continuation of our efforts to create a more realistic and interactive AI environment, mimicking real-world conditions across many different aspects.
Thanks for your continued support, and we’ll catch you next week with more updates and a spotlight on another member of our team.
Happy flying,
Brian and the SayIntentions Team
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