PSX_Earth: PMSG for PSX! 100% realistic! :-)

[martin]

Greetings!

Don't have X-Plane?
Don't want to fiddle with FSX?
But still want to have a look at The World when flying your PSX 744?

[size=16]PSX_Earth[/size] may be the answer: a Poor Man's Scenery Generator for PSX!

Right up front two

Caveats:

1. This application is no competition (it never aspired to be) for the VisualPSX/FSX or XView/X-Plane combos.
In particular, do not expect their smoothness and frame rates.
It is much better (psychologically, above all   ) to think of PSX_Earth as a glorified moving map.

2. PSX_Earth is not difficult to set up and operate. But it is not as trivial as e.g. ELVis or PAMELA, either.
For instance, it requires no less than three servers to have an intelligent conversation with each other: the one built into PSX, the one (on the Internet) for Google Earth, and a third one built into PSX_Earth itself.

This means that this time you must really really read (and follow) the instructions in the documentation.

Then again, there are also a few redeeming points:
[size=8](quoted from an older thread here on the forum where you will also find even more caveats)[/size]

free of charge (both the GE plug-in and PSX-Earth)
 bypasses the "photo scenery" vs. "landclass scenery" dilemma
__(FS9/FSX fans will know what I mean...)
 map/satellite imagery more or less always up to date
__(to the extent that Google update it all the time)
 100% realistic imagery
__(becoming better and better over time; current quality is amazing)...
 complete worldwide coverage!!

So, if someone is still left over out there who has neither FSX nor X-Plane connected to PSX already, here's your chance to see the world anyway!

The online documentation is here (also included in the ZIP file for offline reading).

It includes the download link (intentionally buried deep in its innards... )  :twisted:

If you don't want to download the cat in the bag, here are some pretty screenshots.

(Hardy has put some more into the thread mentioned above.)

Have fun!

Cheers,
Martin

[Kurt]

Thanks Martin, - seems you are on a "add-on for PSX spree"  :mrgreen:

Keep it coming

Cheers

[744kid]

Martin, I'm probably doing something stupid, but PSX Earth times out after a few seconds. In those few seconds, PSX BellyCam Control works and moves the GE view, but then I get an error message saying: "Problem with connection to PSX...connect time out" and questions whether the psxIP address is correct or whether the PSX server has started.

I'm certain my IP address is correct. Indeed, if I change it then the connection error message comes up immediately. The port is the default 10747 check-marked in Preferences-Basics (not Extras, which is what your documentation says) and is what is in the PSX_Earth.ini file. And, yes, the main server is started.

I can't figure out why it times out after about 5 seconds. Any ideas?

Thanks.

[martin]

Sorry 744kid, but break-down after a few seconds of properly working is a new one for me; never have seen that.

Do you see reasonable values (and not e.g. "NaN" in the fields below the map (coordinates, heading, etc.)?

Could a firewall or anti-virus software be interfering?

And what is your OS and Java version?

Otherwise, no ideas at the moment.

Wait, one more thing:
Try to start PSX_Earth from the command line in a console / Windows "Command Prompt" (details are in the doc.), to see if after the break-down any Java error messages are generated there. If so, please report.

Good Luck!

Martin

[martin]

seems you are on a "add-on for PSX spree"

That was "backlog", Kurt -- won't be able to keep it up after this...  

Cheers,
Martin

[744kid]

Thanks, Martin, for the assistance.

I do see reasonable coordinates, heading etc, though the map doesn't jump to my PSX position. For example, I'm approaching Honolulu in PSX and the GE map jumps to somewhere in Scandinavia!

From Terminal on a Mac, I run PSX_Earth with the command "java -jar psxEarth.jar" which runs it but then after 5 seconds it times out with this message on the terminal screen: "java.net.SocketTimeoutException: connect timed out"

I do have McAfee Internet Security running so I will disable it to see if that is the cause (I haven't done this yet).

I am running OSX 10.9.4 and Java 8 Update 11 (this may be the problem!)

[744kid]

Martin, I should have added that I see reasonable coordinates etc while PSX-Earth is running for those 5 seconds. Once the app closes, the field values change to NaN

[744kid]

Success! It was my firewall. Switched it off and PSX_Earth works. Thanks, Martin, for the help and for another great app. Now, to have a bit of eye-candy fun. Cheers!

[martin]

Thanks for the update!

No conclusive evidence yet, just some thoughts.

It does sound like a genuine connection time-out (as opposed to e.g. wrong or no data arriving over a good connection; in this case, Java would create a tapeworm of error messages); and that means very probably it is a real network problem.

Are PSX_Earth and PSX running on the same machine?
If not, might be worth to try that, at least experimentally, to simplify things.

McAfee (in my personal opinion) is always bad news.  

The Scandinavian aiport you see is the one to which PSX_Earth is positioned initially, this happens even before/without making connection to PSX.
If that is the only one you see, it means that PSX_Earth very probably never gets a single position update from PSX.

So the connection really never gets established at all, not even during those 5 sec you report -- that is just a delay before the error message pops up. (It's intentional to give people a chance to e.g. tell their firewall to accept the connection, in case they are prompted for it.)

And so far no one has tested with Java 8. I understand this version contains substantial changes over 7 (well, it would, as a major version number step), and that may well create complications.
For just that reason I haven't installed it yet (and don't intend to); perhaps we'll hear from others who run it already.

Finally: You are using numerical IP addresses, not DNS names?
(E.g. use "127.0.0.1", not "localhost" even though that should point to the same machine.)

Closing shop now until tomorrow...
Good Night!

Martin

Update
Synchronous posts!

Success! It was my firewall.

Excellent! Thanks for prompt report! Now I can sleep at night!  

[ScudRunner]

Martin,

just a note to say thanks for your efforts in putting this together. I will certainly make use of it.

If the functionality to view the flown route should somehow come along in future.. even better!!!


thanks again

Scud.

[martin]

Thanks, Scud!

functionality to view the flown route

This made me realize that the subject requires more discussion:

What I have actually been working on is displaying the active (i.e. planned) route as extracted from the FMC, not the track of the actual (already flown) route.

In any case, you will be aware that both these functions are already available in PSX itself: the map on the Instructor > Situation > Position page can display the flown track and the waypoints of the active FMC route.

And I wonder how useful it really is to replicate this functionality in PSX_Earth.
Of course it would be nice to see track/route in the "Real World" environment, but how much trouble (and extra "load" for the application)  is it worth? It's not as trivial as it initially seemed (to me, too   ):

¤ For the planned active route, there is obviously the matter of extracting data from the FMC; this is what I was already working on when the crash hit.

¤ For the track (actually flown route), it's perhaps easy enough [size=8](until one tries   )[/size] e.g. to write a KML file; but that may disturb the general timing; and then that KML file has to be served, too.

So, don't hold your breath... But I'll keep the issue in mind.  

Cheers,
Martin

[pcpilot]

Hi Martin,

Just a thanks for your great free add on.  I have tried to use  XPLANE with PSX  with Xview and I don't have enough power really to run both. PSX is fine Xplane grinds to a halt.

I find PSX_Earth just great for taxing around the Airport and for general visual awareness and approach.

Great work keep it up.

Many thanks

Graham.

[martin]

Thanks, Graham!

I don't have enough power really to run both.

That's the "PM in "PMSG".    
I have always thought there is a "niche" for that.
The other niche is perhaps the role of "LMSG" (the "Lazy Man's Scenery Generator") for those who wish to keep the fiddling to a minimum (or so I hope, with regard to PSX_Earth).    

Cheers,
Martin

[cavaricooper]

Martin-

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT MATE!  

As GE and it's plugin and PMSG mature I am sure that bank and tilt will be incorporated.  As furiously as GE is adding data, in a decade we will all be flying over a fully 3D rendered earth model, and YOU have led the way in providing the roadmap.  

Now, if HH finds a way to show this BEHIND the current PSX window we'd be laughing

Ta!

C

PS- PMSG really does open the door for a VATSIM flight WITHOUT FSX..... Jeroen- would you please have a think about a VATSIM client for PSX.....?