TODO for Flightgear JA-37
=========================


Features and improvements:
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GUI: Option to turn off verbose popups.
GUI: Make something procedual, just to test it out.
GUI: Test new FGPlot.
GUI: Checklist.
GUI: Option to switch off hitting stuff above ground.
Aero: Make canopy increase drag.
Aero: When wings break, remove most of normal force.
Aero: Make cannon pod detachable and have pointweight.
Aero: Check kinematic on all flight-control surfaces.
Aero: Air-brakes, even though they got welded shut in mid 80ties.
Animation: Switches.
Animation: Make wings break off when they break due to structural damage.
Animation: Adjust instrument materials, and make the gauges look more similar.
Animation: Animate wheels. (tough when gears get compressed..)
Animation: Pilot from F16CJ?
Animation: Proper pilot seat.
Animation: Flight-stick.
Animation: Throttle.
Animation: Make minimal polygon model for multiplayer LOD.
Animation: Min and max on several gauges.
Animation: Gauges that share mount design should also share geometry and textures.
Animation: Strobe looks bad in FG 3.0, but better in FG 3.1
Sim: Improve autopilot further.
Sim: Make autopilot depend on instrument properties not sim properties.
Sim: Make canopy able to break off.
Sim: Limit cannon rounds to 150. (146?) And make menu item to reload it.
Sim: Overhaul crash code. (sliding, loss of inertia when crashing, short random failure time at structural break instead of instant failure)
Sim: Instruments should turn on when battery gets turned on, instead of generator, but still be able to fail when electrical system fails.
Sim: Add Bombable support, if aircraft can still work without having Bombable installed.
Sim: Implement ejection seat. (with parachute?)
Sim: Make braking parachute.
Sim: Reset controls after A/P let go of them.
Sim: Stop using integers in xml where floating point is expected.
Sim: Check that all instruments and instr. lights rely on battery/generator power. Plus on instrument properties, not sim properties.
Sim: Make verbose property to be used in all nasal scripts. (possible include in options)
Sim: Key to match speed of HUD selected radar track.
Sim: Air to ground missiles.
Sim: Move all radar logic into radar so that users of FG HUD can use combat features.
Sim: Make replay show the new guided missiles flying.
Sim: Carrier tailhook although the original did not have one.
Effect: Rembrandt landing lightcone.
Effect: Check contrail effect is properly installed.
Effect: Make pilot faint/die due to G-forces.
Effect: Make tires burst if too high speed with parking brakes.
Effect: Sun glare.
Effect: Smoke after structural break.
Effect: Adjust normalmap to be more subtle.
Effect: Smoke for aerobatic demos. (look at F-7MG)
Sound: More annunciater warnings and other sounds. (fuel low..)
Sound: Make sounds when taking damage in bombable.
Sound: Make annunciator warnings only work if the system has power.
HUD: Make TILS landing system in the HUD (maybe just make it follow ILS)
HUD: Make individual parts in HUD fail if the corresponding instrument fails. (like heading indicator etc.)
HUD: Make desired height columns for landing and boxes for desired pitch.
HUD: make more methods out of similar code, introduce more comments and name variables better.
HUD: alt scale follow pitch lines at more than 1 degree roll from level flight. (swedish pilots seems able to read upside down, not sure I will make this)
HUD: make symbol for warning: pull up! (plus annunciater sound)
HUD: Use instrument properties instead of simulation properties.
HUD: Make too low reference speed change reticle fin down.
HUD: Seperate landing and takeoff mode. Reticle with fin should also be shown in landing mode.
HUD: Sideslip indicator dot at bottom of HUD?
HUD: Track semi circles and semi box should have a line in them.
HUD: Option to see plane type instead of callsign.
HUD: Smaller symbols, but same font size.
HUD: Adjust pilots eyes so that HUD is viewed as in the real (angle and distance). Also key to zoom in on HUD.


Bugs:
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Aero: {Johan G} Find cause of buffeting. (autopilot also does it, seems like fast elevator changes is cause) [does not happen much anymore]
Sound: If at the end of non-looped replay view mode is fly-by-view, sounds will continue looping. [not reproduced]
Report: {JabberWocky} After A/P the plane consumes too much fuel. [not reproduceable, was likely sim time speed-up]
Sound: Occasional wierd buzz in external sounds. [reproduced]
Aero: The plane can spin into NaN. Check that. (maybe cap on some dampers, use FG-Plot to check which ones) [might be fixed]
HUD: When the altitude difference to a target is much larger than the horizontal distance, the target positions are off.
Sim: {JazzTp} On Linux, after firing first missile, the key bindings for weapons go to other things, like exit FG. [Cannot reproduce on Win]
Sim: If the fuel and payload dialog is open while firing a missile, the logic when loading a missle does not act predictable. [so keep it closed :)]
Sim: {JazzTp} Flying real slow can make a missile when firing shut down the engines. [not reproduced yet]
Sim: Missiles do not show when using FG 3.0, in FG 3.1 they work fine. [reproduced]
Sim: Missiles will not lock on to ferries that is missing the radar properties.
Sim: Find out why cannon and sidewinder fire randomly after instant replay.
Sim: {JazzTp} A repair did repair aircraft except for HUD, it was frozen. [not reproduced yet]
Sim: {JazzTp} Radar screen did not see MP aircraft pass by. [not reproduced yet]
HUD: {JazzTp} When FG HUD is in 2nd or 3rd mode, it does not go away when switching to custom. [reproduced]
HUD: I have experienced that combat mode was on by default. [not reproduced]
GUI: The performance monitor can duplicate itself when selecting airport. [reproduced]


Issues with FG: (or my limited understanding of it)
---------------
Effect: Rembrandt makes the afterburner flame not transparent. (test using animator, some of the other planes achieved it)
Effect: Rembrandt does not make the engine flame lit enough, unless diffuse and ambient is increased also.
Sim: Get flightrecorder to record position with higher frequency.


Compatible version with FG 2.6 (on hold, as it crashes when loading ja37)
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Smaller textures
Less polygons
Less particle effects
No radar (done)
No custom HUD (done)
Default FG HUD (done)


Require modeling/texture skills (above my level):
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Animation: Model proper panels and cockpit layout.
Animation: Put in more working instruments and controls. (semi doable if can find similar instrument in other plane, but too many to look through)
Animation: Animate scissor gear compression. The gears are currently modelled wrong for this.
Animation: Proper animation of gear doors.
Animation: Model the reverser for reverse thrust.
Effect: Make gun fire bullets from correct position. (should be a pod under belly)


Depends on better 3D cockpit:
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Sim: Make control surfaces depend on hydralic system.
Sim: Make proper power flow to external lights and HUD. (use potemkin)
Sim: Make proper fuel pump system. (Fuel tanks 3V and 3H is used for flying upside down. All fuel to engine has to go through tank 1)
Animation: Put in alot more not-working instruments and controls for immersion.


Require more data: (or aerodynamic know-how)
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Aero: Detailed axial coefficients.
Aero: Mass distribution.
Aero: Detailed high speed aerodynamics.
Aero: Accurate weight of empty drop tank.
Aero: Weight of 30mm cannon pod.