I have written a draft document that outlines the design for the model set plugin architecture for SquawkBox 3. This architecture will be a replacement for the current CSL-centric system that exists for viewing multiplayer planes in SquawkBox.

It will allow users to use the model sets they prefer and have them interoperate well with other users. It will allow model set developers to write plugins for SquawkBox that will ensure that their models will display at the appropriate times. It will allow VAs to create their own special model sets with special liveries without the problem of their planes not showing up correctly on other people's machines.

Please review the document. Then visit the forum to discuss.

The system is in the preliminary stages of design and so nothing is written in stone at this point. I welcome your feedback.

I have gotten lots of inquiries about how to build module DLLs for Microsoft Flight Simulator. I have taken the relevant code out of SquawkBox 3 as an example of this. You can download it from the downloads page.

I would be happy to receive feedback about whether this is useful to you.

Today I made great progress on the multiplayer implementation, wrapping the details of the DirectPlay interfaces into a simple class.

More to follow....

Nothing too exciting has gone into SquawkBox 3 the last couple of weeks, but good progress has been made all the same.

I have been working on integrating the login process, so that connecting to Flight Simulator for both multiplayer and for FSUIPC, as well as connecting to the FSD servers, are all coordinated in a single dialog box. This includes connecting to Flight Simulator when it is running on another machine.

Work on multiplayer continues after this week.