Flight Control Replay - Quick User Guide

 INTRODUCTION                 

FlightControlReplay Embedded is your Recorder and Replay tool integrated with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. It is available anytime, anywhere and it is compatible with all default aircraft or third party aircraft.

Thanks to Microsoft and Asobo Studios teams for their invitation to join Flight Simulator 2024 project and to provide this tool to the whole flight simulation community!

Fabio Merlo – flightcontroltools.com

 HOME Main Menu              

FlightControlReplay Embedded is accessible right from the start of any flight when you click Ready For Takeoff. Its interface is only displayed in the main window of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. It displays at first the following commands, loaded with nice features so you can benefit of :

• GHOST : add other AI pilot companions who fly in formation beside you, and they follow your path
• RECORD : save up to a complete flight, replay it as much as you want
• INSTANT REPLAY : review your last minutes of flight and to continue your flight from any moment that you want (if you want to retry a part of it and try to do it better),
• PLAY AS AI : manage a group of several AI companions who follow the flight path of a previously saved flight.
• CONFIGURATIONS : menu of various general settings in FlightControlReplay Embedded.

 GHOST                                   

This menu manages one or more AI pilot companions who fly in formation beside you, and they follow your path.

• < GHOST Plane 1 > : The first GHOST is created and displayed right away. You can create more, up to 5. Select here the number of the GHOST Plane for which you are setting up the variables below. Use the left arrow “<” or the right arrow “>” to cycle between each GHOST.

Create more GHOSTS by clicking on the button “+” at the bottom. Click “+” to add a new GHOST. It becomes Ghost Plane 2, Ghost Plane 3, 4 and 5 maximum.

Cycle between each GHOST by using arrows “<” on the left, and “>” on the right.

• Distance : sets the distance between your aircraft position and the GHOST. -/+ in feet by notch of 50. A positive distance places the GHOST in front of your aircraft.

A negative distance places the GHOST backward your aircraft.

• Angle: sets the angle between your aircraft longitudinal axis and the GHOST’s, -/+ in degrees by notch of 5, between 0 and 360.
• Height : sets the difference of altitude between your aircraft and the GHOST’s, in feet by notch of 25. If you are on the ground, you cannot set a negative height and sink your poor GHOST victim.

If you are in flight, set a negative height value to set the GHOST at an altitude below your aircraft.

• Delay : sets the time delay for the response of the GHOST if you want him to perform your maneuvers and follow your path with a delay, in seconds by notch of 1.
• Show/Hide : The slashed eye icon HIDES the selected GHOST Plane.

Beside, the normal eye icon DISPLAYS again the selected GHOST Plane.

• Bin : Delete the last GHOST Plane with the Bin icon (starts deleting the number 5, then 4th, then 3rd..)
• Back returns to HOME Main Menu.

Notes :

1. When activated for first time in your session, the spawned model may freeze for a couple of seconds. And then it starts following the User plane as it should. This is a bug in the simulator that will be solved by future updates.
2. You can change the settings live while in flight. Modifying the settings resets the GHOST aircraft position.
3. The message “GHOST (Not Enabled)” means that you don’t have any GHOST displayed. Use the eye icon to DISPLAY it again.
4. This GHOST mode is not compatible with helicopters due to technical limitations.
5. If you delete a GHOST, you won’t be able to respawn It right after. The workaround is to disable GHOST, and enable it AGAIN by clicking on the SHOW/HIDE button designed as an EYE with a slash.

 RECORD                            

This menu is made to handle the standard Replay feature.

Your FIRST Replay !

1. Start a Recording session by clicking on the small CIRCLE Record •button.
2. The chronometer starts running on the right side to display the total time length.
3. Stop the Recording session by clicking again on the small CIRCLE Record •button.
4. It’s not automatically SAVED, you may click on the SAVE button or you may loose it.

Now, you have several options to proceed :

• Pull the timeline selector to the full right, and start Replay.
• Or use the Backward   button, and click on the Play   button.

While it’s playing, you cannot move the timeline selector. Pause first, and move it to another instant on the timeline. For pause while playing, click on the Play  button.

For stop and continue flying from this instant, click on Stop □button. “You have control” message is displayed.

Click again Play   button to if you don’t want to continue flying and just proceed with the recorded Replay.

Take Plane Control

At any instant during Replay, just like when you click on Stop □button, you can leave the Replay mode and take control of your plane. That’s indicated if you want to retry a part of your flight, and try to do it better (missed waypoint, wrong approach, misaligned runway final descent, hard landing, etc).

1x button SLOWER

Slower speed of Replay. Click again to replay 2x slower, or even 4x slower. Keep clicking on it to cycle back to normal speed at 1x standard setting.

x1 button FASTER

Faster speed of Replay. Click again to replay 2x faster, or even 4x faster. Keep clicking on it to cycle back to normal speed at x1 standard setting.

Save

Stop the recording session first to enable Save action. It will save your current Replay. You will find it later from the Main Menu with LOAD REPLAY feature.

FlyBy Camera

This starts the feature to display your flight Replay from an exterior point of view. During ground operations, it

simulates a spotter point of view. In flight, it mimicks the point of view from another virtual plane. You can change the settings of the FlyBy Camera from the Main Menu, and then select CONFIGURATIONS.

FlyBy Camera is only available during Replay mode. That’s why it’s greyed and not available until you start first a Recording session. And it’s not available in Live Flight due to technical limitations.

Sky Camera

Enables the pilot view with hidden 3D virtual cockpit.

Go To Configurations menu to adjust the respective settings and offset distance of your point of view.

Back

Click here to return to Main Menu.

 INSTANT REPLAY                             

This feature is indicated for a quick Replay of the last moments of your flight, available at anytime during your flight.

  Instant Replay starts automatically recording when you enter this mode. Do not use Stop □button unless you want to resume the flight, or you will loose your recording of the last minutes of flight.

When you want to get the Instant Replay after your flight session, just pull the timeslider handle back in time, in direction to the left side.

Similarly to the REPLAY mode, control your Instant Replay with the common buttons and the timeline bar that starts on the right side in this mode. Times starts running right away when you enter Instant Replay and “Relive recording” message is displayed.

Maximum time limit of Instant Replay is 5 minutes : the last 5 minutes of your current flight can be replayed instantly during which you can Replay by pulling the Timeline handle to the left, or by using the Backward button.

Click on the Play  button to start Instant Replay. “Playing…” message is displayed. Replay is played in loop mode no-stop.

When you start replaying this Instant Replay, it will reset the flight time in memory at 00:00 and another session of 3 minutes maximum will be available for Instant Replay.

Click Stop □button to return to your last known position before the Instant Replay and your flight is resumed.

Or select another instant with the timebar slider and click on Take Plane Control to resume your flight from there.

1x button SLOWER

Slower speed of Replay. Click again to replay 2x slower, or even 4x slower. Keep clicking on it to cycle back to normal speed at 1x standard setting.

x1 button FASTER

Faster speed of Replay. Click again to replay 2x faster, or even 4x faster. Keep clicking on it to cycle back to normal speed at x1 standard setting.

Save

It will save your current Instant Replay of the last 3 minutes of your current flight session. You will find it later from the Main Menu with LOAD REPLAY feature.

Sky Camera

Enables the pilot view with hidden 3D virtual cockpit.

Back

Click here to return to Main Menu.

FlyBy Camera is not compatible with Instant Replay mode.

 LOAD REPLAY                             

Here are listed your Replays, and Instant Replays named by date (format Year-Month-Dat) and time with the respective aircraft model.

Select a saved flight from the list below.

Up to 5 saved flights are visible, and scroll down / up to navigate if you have more saved flights. Click the Bin  icon to delete the selected saved flight.

Back

Click here to return to Main Menu.

 LOAD PLAY-AS-AI                    

First step, you need to configure the offsets for PlayAsAi companion plane. You can only load 1 PlayAsAi companion plane maximum.

Distance offset : 0.05 nm -/+ by 0.05 nm

Set the distance between your aircraft and the PlayAsAi companion. If the distance is set negative, the PlayAsAI companion will be placed at the opposite of your aircraft according to the following rules of Angle offset.

Angle offset : -/+ by 5 degrees.

Set a negative angle between 0° and -180° to place the PlayAsAI pilot on your left side, from 0 to -90° will place it afterward, from -90° to -180° will place it backward your position.

Set a positive angle between 0° and +180° to place the PlayAsAI pilot on your right side. from 0 to +90° will place it afterward, from +90° to +180° will place it backward your position.

Altitude offset : -/+ by 50 ft

Set the altitude difference between the PlayAsAi companion and your aircraft.

If the altitude is set negative, the PlayAsAI companion will be placed at the altitude set below your aircraft position. If the altitude is set positive, the PlayAsAI companion will be placed at the altitude set above your aircraft position.

Load PlayAsAi

Select among your Saved Flights. Then click on the Play  button to load an AI Plane that will follow the saved flight path of your Replay. He will perform his flight independently from you and beside your aircraft.

Back

Click here to return to Main Menu.

 CONFIGURATIONS                   

This is where you can adjust the following settings :

FlyBy Camera Configuration parameters :

Distance: 0.05 nm -/+ by 0.05 nm (around 0.05nm is a good start point to try)

Camera Angle from Plane: -/+ by 5 degrees.

Set a negative angle between 0° and -180° to place the PlayAsAI pilot on your left side, from 0 to -90° will place it afterward, from -90° to -180° will place it backward your position.

Set a positive angle between 0° and +180° to place the PlayAsAI pilot on your right side. from 0 to +90° will place it afterward, from +90° to +180° will place it backward your position.

Camera Change Max Distance : -/+ by 0.1 nm (around 0.3nm is a good start point to try)

Sky Camera Configuration parameters : -/+ by notch of 1 (no unit by default)

These settings modify the positions (with offset) of the Sky Camera, the view in which the 3D virtual cockpit is hidden. In case case that your Sky Cam view is obstructed by any object, you can move the eyepoint by adjusting the following Offset parameters.

Left/Right Offset : “0” is the default setting.

Set a negative offset to move to the left, or a positive offset to move to the right.

Down/Up Offset : “0” is the default setting.

Set a negative offset to move it down to the ground, or a positive offset to move it up to the sky.

Back/Front Offset : “0” is the default setting

Set a negative offset to move it backwar, or a positive offset to move it forward.

 MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR 2024 SETTINGS 

Options

We must recommend you to deactivate the Stress and Damage option in MSFS24 that may generate conflicts like display artefacts, or impact the performance.

Language

FlightControlReplay Embedded is coded to support your language selection and its dedicated menu, settings and features are already translated in your language as selected in the options of the simulator. Due to a bug in the base code of the simulator that I cannot access myself, it’s currently displayed only in English until a future update fixes it.

 

November 19^th 2024