Update from VATSIM Technology Teams

[VATSIM]

 

 

 

 

Update on Velocity Technology Issues and Changes

 

 

 

It has been one week since the rollout of our Velocity technology which brought high speed position updates to our network, allowing users to view other aircraft with a smoothness not seen before on VATSIM. Since rollout, our developers have been working on fixes to some bugs that through reports from the membership, we have been able to identify.  If you have experienced any issues, we apologize for any inconvenience it may have caused. Here is a quick update as to what our tech team is working on:
 

 

 

·         Cases of aircraft appearing to “float” when parked at gate, as well as “rubber-banding” or slewing in random directions very fast.

o   Most instances of these bugs were determined to be a result of how different pilot clients were conveying data to each other.  All pilot client developers are actively working on updates to address these issues, and some of them have already been solved.

·         Aircraft appearing upside down or rotated when stopped.

o   This issue seems to be related to the momentum of aircraft as they come to a stop. The last velocity packet sent may have a slight amount of movement in it, which causes the aircraft to continue to move in that direction. As velocity packets stop when the aircraft stops, that little bit of movement continues resulting in the aircraft rolling or pitching until the next normal packet is received showing no movement. Once the aircraft moves again, the aircraft corrects itself.  All the pilot client developers are working on this issue.

·         FSD Server Splits and Disconnects.

o   Understandably, Velocity takes a larger toll on our servers, and during periods of high connection counts, server splits and disconnects have been observed.  The tech team is working on this, and server capacity will be added as required until a permanent fix is implemented.

·         Audio for VATSIM issues.

o   We are aware of random loss of communications and exception errors coming from the Audio for VATSIM standalone program for controllers. The Audio for VATSIM team is investigating the cause and a fix is currently being tested by beta users.

·         Loss of in-client flight plan filing in xPilot.

o   This is a new feature of xPilot and we will not revert back to in-client flight plan filing.  vPilot soon will follow suit.  By moving to pre-filing on myVATSIM, it will allow more flexibility when making changes to how flight plan data is processed. We will publish training materials to help you adapt to this new way of filing flight plans.
 

[Tim Barber]

As always, we are eternally grateful to our entire development and tech team for their hard work.  Thank you!

 

TB