Things that (in my opinion) should be changed
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I absolutely agree on all points! I always get GA airfields with grass runways in my Austrian Airlines schedule which should be airliner only... No way to edit such a useless schedule.
Minimum runway lenght is set to 7000ft but it schedules 2000ft or less airfields. -
Thanks for all the feedback. I think some of your items will be addressed quite soon. I'll be refining as we go and I'm reading/absorbing everything to determine what's missing, what I got wrong and what I need to improve.
You can edit/rebuild your schedule by clicking the Edit icon in the top right, next to your profile photo. It's not a full on schedule editor but you can refresh it and change your base, airline and your filters.
In the future I plan to add more and it feels like the scheduling is the area that is getting the biggest focus from customers so this will continue to be improved as we go. I've been working on improving the scheduling since the day Fly the Line went live and a lot of the frustrations around this have been ironed out. Min flight time has been set to 10 mins, small airfields, shorter runways, more accurate real world routes and some more bits and pieces. That will be in the next update (being tested as we speak). It may not address all your feedback but hopefully you'll see an improvement. I've had a lot of feedback on this area and I think I have a pretty good idea of what the majority would like. It's a lot so it will take me time to do it all but I plan to address as much as I can as fast as I can. It's early days but I'm committed to making Fly the Line as good as I can.
The request to not return to the home base is a big one and that is being worked on and I'm hoping to get this out in the update that follows the next one. I've done it but it needs polish.
As for schedule lengths - this can be done and is on my list. I didn't realise everyone would want to have a limited schedule. I rather foolishly thought they would want a big schedule so they could see way in advance the type of routes they would get - I got that wrong and it will be updated so it can be capped by a user-specified length.
With regards to real world times - this has come up quite a bit but I'm not quite sure how it would work? The main idea behind Fly the Line was to give you routes to fly and provide you with a set schedule at a set time. I think flying in real time is going to be difficult to track? Unless I've misunderstood?
Let me know if you have any other questions.
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Thanks for all the feedback. I think some of your items will be addressed quite soon. I'll be refining as we go and I'm reading/absorbing everything to determine what's missing, what I got wrong and what I need to improve.
You can edit/rebuild your schedule by clicking the Edit icon in the top right, next to your profile photo. It's not a full on schedule editor but you can refresh it and change your base, airline and your filters.
In the future I plan to add more and it feels like the scheduling is the area that is getting the biggest focus from customers so this will continue to be improved as we go. I've been working on improving the scheduling since the day Fly the Line went live and a lot of the frustrations around this have been ironed out. Min flight time has been set to 10 mins, small airfields, shorter runways, more accurate real world routes and some more bits and pieces. That will be in the next update (being tested as we speak). It may not address all your feedback but hopefully you'll see an improvement. I've had a lot of feedback on this area and I think I have a pretty good idea of what the majority would like. It's a lot so it will take me time to do it all but I plan to address as much as I can as fast as I can. It's early days but I'm committed to making Fly the Line as good as I can.
The request to not return to the home base is a big one and that is being worked on and I'm hoping to get this out in the update that follows the next one. I've done it but it needs polish.
As for schedule lengths - this can be done and is on my list. I didn't realise everyone would want to have a limited schedule. I rather foolishly thought they would want a big schedule so they could see way in advance the type of routes they would get - I got that wrong and it will be updated so it can be capped by a user-specified length.
With regards to real world times - this has come up quite a bit but I'm not quite sure how it would work? The main idea behind Fly the Line was to give you routes to fly and provide you with a set schedule at a set time. I think flying in real time is going to be difficult to track? Unless I've misunderstood?
Let me know if you have any other questions.
@NeoGeo78 Hey, thanks for the quick reply!
I just found the option you mentioned to edit the schedule. Would you consider moving the edit button from where it is now to the schedule area, maybe next to the calendar or the day itself? I think it’d be more practical there.
One thing I forgot to mention earlier that I find a bit inconvenient is the map behavior when syncing sceneries. When you go to generate your schedule, the map shows all installed sceneries, not just the destinations of the airline. That’s fine if I’m creating my own fictional airline, but if I’ve selected a real-world airline, I think the map should only show that airline’s actual destinations. The map is already a bit clunky to use (especially on a 4K monitor where everything looks super small) and showing unnecessary destinations makes it even harder to navigate. Sometimes I can’t see anything at all.
About the schedules you mentioned, I get your point, and honestly I think your approach makes sense. But in the end, I think a fair solution lies somewhere between what happens in real life and what a user is actually willing to fly in the sim.
For example, in APL V2, I just keep regenerating the random schedule until I see a few destinations I feel like flying to. Let’s say this week I want to fly to GCTS and maybe EGLL. I just regenerate until both of those show up in the roster along with some other random ones, which works really well.
But if I want to fly to GCTS and it gives me a 200-day roster where GCTS either never shows up or only appears on day 180… that kind of kills the vibe. I noticed there’s a grayed-out “request route” option. Maybe that’s something you already have in mind, to let us fly a route we feel like doing at that moment, kind of simulating a route swap? If so, that’s a really good idea.
As for the real-route time sync.. Look, personally I really don’t like it when an addon changes the sim time for me. In theory, it’s a cool feature, but in practice it tends to go wrong for one reason or another. The sync is never perfect, and it ends up causing more issues than it solves, especially if the app penalizes you for it (and especially if you use MSFS 2024 or Xplane)
Honestly, I think the forced time sync of the real route should be optional, like I mentioned. Or better yet, just remove it completely and let the player set whatever time they want in the sim. Then, add a bonus if the player flies the route at the same time as scheduled in the roster. Personally, I always fly in the sim using real-world time and real weather. I rarely change it because the flight loses realism if I do. The time of day affects weather conditions, it’s not realistic to fly to Qatar at 4 AM sim time and have 50c because you are flying it at 13:00z IRL, if you know what I mean. So even if the roster shows a 04:00z departure time, if the time I have available to fly it in real life is 15:00z, I’m not going to change the sim time, I’ll just fly it at whatever time it is in real life.
Let me give you an example:LEBL-EDDV, departure time 04:10z
If I fly that route at 12:00z (sim time or real time), don’t penalize me, but don’t give me a bonus either.
If I fly it at 04:10z in sim time or real time having the sim time in sync with the real time, then give me a bonus.
Just please don’t force the sim time to change. Let me choose. If I follow the schedule, cool, I get a bonus. If not, no bonus, but no punishment either. I think that would be a fair system, and it would also save you some coding work. You could still add a penalty if someone changes the sim time after the flight has started, just to avoid people cheating around delays. You know what I mean?
Anyway, thanks again for the fast reply and for being so open to improving the product. It’s clear you’ve put a ton of work into this, and I think it has amazing potential. Like I said earlier, it has all the tools to eventually surpass what APL V2 is doing, which is currently the gold standard in this space.
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I think the flight schedule might be difficult for those that are not in the time zone for the airline they are flying. As an example, I'm from the US (east coast) and my VA is Americanva.net... so naturally, I fly American... However, I've been living in Germany for a long time, and while the morning US flights are doable, the evening ones aren't (as they would fly around 2am my time, roughly). I don't mind the sim being set to the schedules, but as Astur mentioned, I prefer to fly live times. Doing the scheduled flights on time with a bonus sounds good, but not flying at the scheduled time without a bonus sounds like a good idea.
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Wholeheartedly agree on all fronts - especially the back to hub spoke approach to scheduling. In fact, I haven't touched the program since the day I bought it because of that limitation.
With the flying real-time vs scheduled time, I 100% it shouldn't matter (or penalize you) for flying outside of the scheduled route time. I, much like the OP, only fly real-time. I can't think of a time where I've changed my simulator time manually at all. So the solution is the exact same way APL has it done - offer the scheduled time, but don't mandate it. In fact, I don't think it adds value at all to require flying a leg at a scheduled time.
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I also like the idea to get a bonus if the time is the same as in FTL, but no penalty if not.
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Wholeheartedly agree on all fronts - especially the back to hub spoke approach to scheduling. In fact, I haven't touched the program since the day I bought it because of that limitation.
With the flying real-time vs scheduled time, I 100% it shouldn't matter (or penalize you) for flying outside of the scheduled route time. I, much like the OP, only fly real-time. I can't think of a time where I've changed my simulator time manually at all. So the solution is the exact same way APL has it done - offer the scheduled time, but don't mandate it. In fact, I don't think it adds value at all to require flying a leg at a scheduled time.
@Frafty said in Things that (in my opinion) should be changed:
With the flying real-time vs scheduled time, I 100% it shouldn't matter (or penalize you) for flying outside of the scheduled route time. I, much like the OP, only fly real-time. I can't think of a time where I've changed my simulator time manually at all. So the solution is the exact same way APL has it done - offer the scheduled time, but don't mandate it. In fact, I don't think it adds value at all to require flying a leg at a scheduled time.
Exactly. For me, what APL does in that sense is perfect. It gives you the real-world departure time, and if you want to follow it, great, and if not, no big deal. If Fly the Line adds a bonus for doing it, that would actually be a nice incentive over APL since APL doesn't have that kind of bonus.
I understand it's a bit of a headache for the developer because he already added an earlies/lates system, which makes sense, but I think the bonus would fix the issue by encouraging users to fly at the real scheduled time or to simply adjust the sim time to match. That way everyone wins, both those who don’t mind changing the sim time and those who prefer to always fly in real time.
What really bothers me is when the sim time gets forced. I honestly find that super annoying. I hate when an addon does that. That’s actually why I gave up on OnAir. It always forced the sim time and if it wasn’t perfectly synced between the sim and the app, it would just stop tracking the flight. Really frustrating. Especially in X-Plane 12 where time zones aren't handled properly and you have to set them manually. It was always off by one or two hours compared to the real time at that location. And in MSFS 2024 it's the same story I mentioned earlier. It's a total mess. Asobo just can’t seem to get it right. Sometimes changing the time also changes the weather, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s completely random and broken and just not usable.
If I do a real-time morning flight to LEST I know I’ll probably run into thick fog. But if I do it at 15:00z IRL hour and the program forces the sim time to morning, I’ll arrive at LEST at 6:00z sim time with 30c and CAVOK. That completely kills immersion for me, I would just stop using the program, just like I stopped using OnAir. Totally a no-go for me.
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I will take a look at this, I promise but it does mean a significant change to the logic and I have to weigh up the complexity of it all. I would probably need to run both as a lot of customers like the fixed schedule but I get some don't. By design, FTL was intended to create a set schedule for users really to mimic working for an airline where you don't get to choose your flight times.
I think the challenge is we're all different and we all have our preferred way to sim.
There's a lot going on the background and every change has a knock on effect and is tied in to how the career mode functions. There are a lot of factors to consider and that will require a lot of work. If I introduce this, I then have two different areas of logic that need to be considered and that opens up the risk of things getting really difficult to manage.
As mentioned above, I will look in to it. I need to wait for things to settle as it's very early days. My current focus is fixing all the bugs and ensuring everything is 100% stable. I'll then take a look at the core list of community items that have been raised and see which can be done and then prioritise them. If the real-time request is feasible and then it will be added but it really does need a thorough review first. I just don't have the time at the moment.
That said, I am listening so please continue to provide feedback. It's really useful and I do value it.
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I will take a look at this, I promise but it does mean a significant change to the logic and I have to weigh up the complexity of it all. I would probably need to run both as a lot of customers like the fixed schedule but I get some don't. By design, FTL was intended to create a set schedule for users really to mimic working for an airline where you don't get to choose your flight times.
I think the challenge is we're all different and we all have our preferred way to sim.
There's a lot going on the background and every change has a knock on effect and is tied in to how the career mode functions. There are a lot of factors to consider and that will require a lot of work. If I introduce this, I then have two different areas of logic that need to be considered and that opens up the risk of things getting really difficult to manage.
As mentioned above, I will look in to it. I need to wait for things to settle as it's very early days. My current focus is fixing all the bugs and ensuring everything is 100% stable. I'll then take a look at the core list of community items that have been raised and see which can be done and then prioritise them. If the real-time request is feasible and then it will be added but it really does need a thorough review first. I just don't have the time at the moment.
That said, I am listening so please continue to provide feedback. It's really useful and I do value it.
@NeoGeo78 I understand that it takes more work in Career mode, since many variables would be affected by the change and implementing it would therefore take more time. However, in Schedule mode, that issue doesn’t exist, it seems like it could be implemented directly without too many problems, right?
I'm sorry for being so insistent about this; I really hope it’s not bothering you. It’s just that this feature wasn’t mentioned anywhere when I purchased the software, and now I’ve discovered it’s there and that I can’t turn it off...
And considering that refunds aren’t accepted (not that I would ask for one, I want to support you because you’ve done an amazing job), I’d just hate to end up not using the software after buying it.
I hope you understand. Like I said, it’s not my intention to bother you or be a nuisance. And if you ever need help with anything, I’d be thrilled to contribute, just let me know.
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It's OK, I don't mind the questions
So all three modes run off the same logic so I need to look at how to seperate it (or for it to run across all three). I will look in to it but it will be a bit further down the line as there are a few things that need doing before then. As I said before, no promises at this stage, but I will review. If it's not too complex, I will likely bring it in. -
It's OK, I don't mind the questions
So all three modes run off the same logic so I need to look at how to seperate it (or for it to run across all three). I will look in to it but it will be a bit further down the line as there are a few things that need doing before then. As I said before, no promises at this stage, but I will review. If it's not too complex, I will likely bring it in.@NeoGeo78 Of course, thanks for considering it, take your time. In any case, I don’t think it’s much more complicated to remove or disable the sync than to keep it, mainly because it’s just going to give you headaches all the time, since as I said, it’s a feature that only causes problems for both the users who have to deal with it and the developer who has to fix it. In fact, I’ve already seen several posts here with problems of that kind. It would make your life easier in the long run.
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Hello. I have not purchased this program, and I’ll explain why. Perhaps this could also serve as an idea for the developers. What I would absolutely love (and I believe many others here would as well) is the ability to create our own customized schedules. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I’ve read, the program generates routes for you. I like to fly older planes (such as the Fokker F28, BAe 146, MD-80, etc.) from defunct airlines. If this program allowed me not only to create these airlines but also to recreate their past bespoke schedules, which are easily found on sites like timetableimages.com, departedflights.com, and flightsimdispatch.com, that would be fantastic!
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Hello. I have not purchased this program, and I’ll explain why. Perhaps this could also serve as an idea for the developers. What I would absolutely love (and I believe many others here would as well) is the ability to create our own customized schedules. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I’ve read, the program generates routes for you. I like to fly older planes (such as the Fokker F28, BAe 146, MD-80, etc.) from defunct airlines. If this program allowed me not only to create these airlines but also to recreate their past bespoke schedules, which are easily found on sites like timetableimages.com, departedflights.com, and flightsimdispatch.com, that would be fantastic!
@neinnunb said in Things that (in my opinion) should be changed:
the ability to create our own customized schedules.
I second that. It would also be great if schedules could be shared between users. I imagine a community page where everyone can upload a schedule.
