Love, and Updates, Are in the Air.
This edition of the Monthly Recap takes a look back on February 2022 and features a review of feature update 22.1, an interview of Community member Robertine, and more.
Written and edited by Christian Church (nativetoalaska)
February 28th, 2022
February 28th, 2022
Feature Update 22.1
Two months into the new year, Infinite Flight has its first update of 2022. For the first two weeks of February, Infinite Flight users were anticipating the release of feature update 22.1, as it was supposed to ship with a handful of new liveries, a pile of 3D airports, and other features such as new ground textures and custom terminal buildings/towers for airports such as Los Angeles. On February 14th, flight simmers received a special Valentine's Day gift in the form of an update, while I, the writer, gifted a person of interest a heart-shaped box filled with Lindt truffles. She must've not liked it because we're no longer on speaking terms. In regards to the update, everything displayed beforehand, such as the long-awaited UPS livery for the 747-8, made it to the simulator, along with features that were up in the air in terms of release, such as animated jet bridges, to even items none could've expected, such as the new Stand Guidance feature at select airports. The entire changelog can be found at Infinite Flight's official blog post regarding the update.
Animated Jet Bridges and Stand Guidance
Moving the spotlight on, arguably, the largest features of 22.1, jet bridges and stand guidance. On January 2nd, 2022, a video was uploaded to the Infinite Flight YouTube channel displaying a never before seen feature many in the flight sim community had been hoping for: animated jet bridges. It was further revealed that though a user parked at a gate with the feature could manually dock jet bridges to their aircraft, the bridges would be assigned to doors automatically, with door assignment potentially coming in a future update. Additionally, other users cannot see whether or not jet bridges are docked in multiplayer, and jet bridges do not show up as docked in replays, though developers have stated they wish to fix these issues in the future.
Stand guidance, on the other hand, did not get a preview and users did not know the feature was coming until the update was released. Stand guidance works automatically, with it being enabled as a user approaches a gate equipped with the feature. It provides positional information, including whether the user is on the centerline, feet remaining until they need to stop, and more. Additionally, it was found by community members that Atari Breakout was sneaked into the feature, and can be activated by a combination of parking brakes and lights being turned on, and can be played via tilting the mobile device being used. All in all, this feature adds another level of realism to Infinite Flight and will become a lot more supportive and loving than the majority of my, the writer's, relationships in the real world.
Stand guidance, on the other hand, did not get a preview and users did not know the feature was coming until the update was released. Stand guidance works automatically, with it being enabled as a user approaches a gate equipped with the feature. It provides positional information, including whether the user is on the centerline, feet remaining until they need to stop, and more. Additionally, it was found by community members that Atari Breakout was sneaked into the feature, and can be activated by a combination of parking brakes and lights being turned on, and can be played via tilting the mobile device being used. All in all, this feature adds another level of realism to Infinite Flight and will become a lot more supportive and loving than the majority of my, the writer's, relationships in the real world.
Writer's Review of 22.1
22.1, in the end, brings somewhat less than the previous update, 21.8, but enough as most updates. Two new features, jet bridges, and stand guidance, along with some liveries such as the highly requested Copa Airlines 737-800 and a plethora of 3D airports were added, and some new custom towers and two custom terminal buildings. However, 22.1 was a relatively bug and glitch-stricken release, warranting the release of a Hotfix just 9 days after launch. Additionally, users have been reporting that Infinite Flight has become unstable and difficult to run, with many experiencing a noticeable amount of unexpected crashes, including myself. All in all, I believe the features and additions do outweigh the bugs and performance issues, as those can be fixed and optimized accordingly. Still, some features remain unfinished, such as the functionality of jet bridges. Because of the reasons I've listed above, I'm rating feature update 22.1 at an 8/10.
- Christian Church (nativetoalaska)
- Christian Church (nativetoalaska)
An Interview of Community Member Robertine
Robertine is this month's featured Community member interview. Based out of formerly Washington state, and now France, Robertine is known for their unique persona and outgoing contributions to the community, such as writing a hello to the community forum on a beach and walking around with a tracker to write another hello.
Question: How and when did you join the Infinite Flight Community?
Answer: I joined four years and six days ago. I had made an account in the community after seeing a loading screen tip that told me to do so. At first, I was hesitant to stay here. The forum was still quite experimental, with very few members and a dark, not very reassuring theme. I decided to stick around and request all the planes I desired and then I met EwanFleming. He kept me active on the IFC but has since sadly left. Overall, this forum has been a very positive part of my life and I am very happy to be a part of it.
Question: You’re known for your real-world photography. How did you get into this?
Answer: In 2018, I was at SFO spotting with a Canon ELPH 175 from 2014. I was practicing filming since my plane was late and that's when it hit me. I spotted a 777-300 make a severe crosswind landing, caught it on video. Ever since I have gone to the airport whenever available to spot these wonderful flying machines.
Question: You're also known for your more creative activities, such as writing a message to the community forum on a public beach. What's the story behind this?
Answer: I was looking at windy.com and saw a live webcam not far from somewhere I was. At first, it stayed in PMs, having me write people's names in the sand, but then, I was on a phone call with DeerCrusher, who dared me to say hi to the IFC. Being the absolute lifeless fool that I am, I did it.
Question: What would you say is your favorite topic or post, and why?
Answer: Over my four years here, wrote 6.9 thousand posts (nice), making it really hard to choose one, but I will try my best. This is my favorite topic, it was just a fun time trying to solve a mystery when the IFC was in its October hibernation period. This is my favorite post by me, by someone else, and favorite topic made by someone else.
Question: What are you most excited about in regards to 22.1?
Answer: From a general point of view, I am very excited about the new airports. Moderators and staff (and many of them don't get a lot of recognition) spend hundreds of hours working on them, making the experience much better than when it was just flatlands. From a personal point of view, I'm hoping IFAET will be able to do their stuff again in this update.
That is all for this interview. Thank you to Robertine for being this month's featured Community member interview, and stay tuned for more from other Community members!
Question: How and when did you join the Infinite Flight Community?
Answer: I joined four years and six days ago. I had made an account in the community after seeing a loading screen tip that told me to do so. At first, I was hesitant to stay here. The forum was still quite experimental, with very few members and a dark, not very reassuring theme. I decided to stick around and request all the planes I desired and then I met EwanFleming. He kept me active on the IFC but has since sadly left. Overall, this forum has been a very positive part of my life and I am very happy to be a part of it.
Question: You’re known for your real-world photography. How did you get into this?
Answer: In 2018, I was at SFO spotting with a Canon ELPH 175 from 2014. I was practicing filming since my plane was late and that's when it hit me. I spotted a 777-300 make a severe crosswind landing, caught it on video. Ever since I have gone to the airport whenever available to spot these wonderful flying machines.
Question: You're also known for your more creative activities, such as writing a message to the community forum on a public beach. What's the story behind this?
Answer: I was looking at windy.com and saw a live webcam not far from somewhere I was. At first, it stayed in PMs, having me write people's names in the sand, but then, I was on a phone call with DeerCrusher, who dared me to say hi to the IFC. Being the absolute lifeless fool that I am, I did it.
Question: What would you say is your favorite topic or post, and why?
Answer: Over my four years here, wrote 6.9 thousand posts (nice), making it really hard to choose one, but I will try my best. This is my favorite topic, it was just a fun time trying to solve a mystery when the IFC was in its October hibernation period. This is my favorite post by me, by someone else, and favorite topic made by someone else.
Question: What are you most excited about in regards to 22.1?
Answer: From a general point of view, I am very excited about the new airports. Moderators and staff (and many of them don't get a lot of recognition) spend hundreds of hours working on them, making the experience much better than when it was just flatlands. From a personal point of view, I'm hoping IFAET will be able to do their stuff again in this update.
That is all for this interview. Thank you to Robertine for being this month's featured Community member interview, and stay tuned for more from other Community members!
February 2022 Community Highlights
This month's featured screenshot was taken by the Editor-in-Chief of the Monthly Recap and writer of this edition, Christian Church (nativetoalaska).
"For one, I didn't have time to reach out and sponsor someone, and for two the Monthly Recap and I stand in support of Ukraine, so why not dedicate this screenshot to them? It's what little I can do, aside from praying for them." |
This month, the 2022 Infinite Flight Screenshot Competition concluded, with aviatorluke04 coming out on top, with Butter_Boi running up in a close second. This put Group B at a win with Group A at a loss. Congratulations to the victor and the runner-ups!
This month, the fourth edition to the popular Flightradar24 findings series of threads launched but was suddenly closed following users posting findings relating to the ongoing war with Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. The reason for the closure was to "keep war talks at bay." Additionally, the feature request for the now-destroyed Antonov AN-225 "Mriya" was also closed for the same reason. From the Monthly Recap, our hearts are with those being affected in Europe, and we sorely wish we could do more. This month, it was revealed a cornerstone tradition of the community, the popular Friday Night Flight series, was coming to a close. For the past seven years, Friday Night Flights have been a staple in the forum, with the first and final flights occurring along the American West Coast, from Los Angeles to Seattle out to Denver and all in-between. Friday Night Flight will be dearly missed, but Infinite Flight users look forward to the future and what comes with it in regards to official and community-hosted events. |
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