Category: Development

Ongoing development updates

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Will NZTI Taieri work in MSFS World Update 12 — New Zealand?

Until the release of World Update 12 on 24 February 2023 I won't know if a NZTI update will be required, but if so, I will release an update as soon as possible. But yes, it will work, even if it does require an update.

Any update may tweak the heli trolley start points a bit to match the new default helicopters, plus I will make a decision whether or not to change the existing parking start locations on the trolleys to actual helipads. There are pros and cons to this, the main con being that the helipads act like runway starts -- your aircraft will be ready for takeoff with the engine running, which is not really the ideal state for the trolleys. So although it would be nice to have actual helipads now that MSFS supports them, it may be better to leave them as is.

One option is a hybrid solution -- adding both a normal parking spot as well as a helipad to each location. You will see these shown as helipads on the world map, and moving the mouse over the helipad will toggle between each. Well, kind of a toggle. Parking = cold start, helipad = ready to fly. A bit of a kludge, but it does work, I just need to figure out whether it would be more of a nuisance than a help.

I'm excited for WU12, this will be the best representation of New Zealand that we have ever seen in a simulator, whether default or addon, and it's all for free. The preview screenshots showing the updated elevation mesh are especially enticing -- New Zealand is famous for its pointy bits, such as mountain peaks, so this will add a lot of realism to flying over the country.

Posted on

Well, that was a quiet year.

More than a year since my last news post, that gives a bit of a clue as to how things are progressing. The limiting factor is still my inability to gain access to airports, which began with the Covid restrictions, but hasn't really changed at all. As I'm now a pensioner, this isn't a complete disaster. The website does cover its own costs, through residual sales, but this may change -- already 2023 has seen some huge price increases in tools to maintain the site (270% in one instance) and if this continues to happen then I will need to decide how to proceed.

In the meantime, you can still download your previous orders, and still purchase scenery, for at least another year here at the Godzone Store, and beyond at SimMarket, where the overheads are managed differently. Don't worry, you'll get plenty of notice if I need to make any changes to the site.

I am still poised to return to 'normal' at some point, all I need is to gain reasonable access to a regional airport within New Zealand. 'Reasonable access' simply means being able to photograph the airport fully. So if you own or manage an airport and would love to see it accurately depicted in Microsoft Flight Simulator and Prepar3d, then please get in touch.