FCOM open beta

TL;DR:
If all you want to do is download and use FCOM, skip to “Getting started” and “Bugs and suggestions”. Nevertheless, it would be much appreciated if you could go through this entire post 😀

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FCOM is finally ready for open beta!

Yeah, unfortunately it doesn’t have a nice user interface yet. That’ll come later.

Okay, there’s still quite a few kinks here and there, but I really want to see how the server performs under load before the Big One (CTP) rolls around, so that I can improve performance before everything comes crashing down, right when everyone needs it.

In the meantime, please try FCOM out and try to receive as many messages as you can. Okay, perhaps it would be nice if you could be a little more considerate on the day of CTP (not that I can control you anyway), but for now, it would be nice if I could simulate the amount of traffic my poor bot would get hammered with on that very day.

Getting started

First, you’ll have to join the Discord server (invite link). This is where the bot lives for now.

Once you’re in, please take a look at the #announcements channel (in particular, the pinned messages) before going anywhere else (yes, there aren’t any pins right now, but I’m working on it).

Download the FCOM client here: FcomClient-0.8.0.zip

Requirements:

• Windows 7 or newer
• .NET Framework 4.7.1 or newer
• WinPcap

Some reading material:

• How to use/install
• FAQ

Bugs and suggestions

Please take a look at the GitHub issue trackers (FcomClient, FcomServer), before using the #bugs and #suggestions channels on the Discord server.

Unfortunately, the bug I mentioned in my last blog post still exists. I haven’t been able to get around to it. In case you’ve missed it, forwarded messages will sometimes contain random code attached to them, such as the following:

AAL123:
Here's a test message
$CQLAN2250:@94836:ACC:{"config":{"lights":{"strobe_on":true}}

In case you’re curious, that’s information regarding the state (i.e. flaps, lights, landing gear) of nearby aircraft, which is then used by network clients (e.g. vPilot) to render aircraft inside the simulator.

Source code

Source code if you’re interested (yes, it’s a mess, but it will have to do for now):

• FCOM client
• FCOM server

Credits

A special thanks to all of the early volunteers:

• Early testers
  • Britannia
  • Grant
  • Mark Doyle (Pritt)
• Logo
  • Britannia
• Closed beta testers
  • Agera
  • AidasP
  • Avalanche
  • Barbate Brandon
  • Elias
  • flightcode
  • Ka Hei Zheng
  • Pronoun
  • Sterling P. (bantha121)
  • Tafia
  • Tivec
  • triplesevenbob
  • Vikaas
  • Zack

Also, thanks for all the shitposting encouragement over at the /r/flightsim subreddit and the /r/flightsim Discord server. But no, seriously, I wouldn’t have taken FCOM this far if it weren’t for all of you.

Also, a special shout-out to Hubok over at the /r/flightsim Discord server for walking me through on how to set up MariaDB. It’s saved me from having to Google it, which would’ve eaten into what limited dev time I have (I’m not a sysadmin, nor do I have any devops experience prior to this).

Happy flying! And may the odds be in your favour if you’re planning to furiously mash F5 book a slot for CTP.

Oh, and if you like what I’m doing, consider donating. Aside from showing your support, it also helps keeps the lights on for the server/bot 😉

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