OpenSkies FAQ

The most commonly asked questions about OpenSkies:

What are the hardware requirements for OpenSkies?
You don't need a high-powered, expensive computer to run the OpenSkies Virtual Environment Training System. All you need is the following components:

• A PC running Windows 98, 2000 or XP
• 1GHz processor
• 512 MB of RAM
• A Graphics Card supporting DirectX 9 or greater
• 1 GB of hard disk space for installation

And optionally:

• A sound card or integrated motherboard audio
• A joystick or gamepad (Force Feedback can be used on controllers that have it)
• At least Super VGA resolution (1024x768 at 15"+)

Specs listed above are minimums. Better performance will be seen with better hardware.

What screen resolutions does OpenSkies support?
OpenSkies supports screen resolutions of up to 1600x1200 with full graphics and a frame rate of up to 30 Hz, depending on graphics hardware. You frame rate may also be affected by processor speed, amount of memory, and hard drive speed.

Frame rates can be increased by selecting lower resolutions if performance is unsatisfactory.

What is the status of OpenSkies development?
The OpenSkies alpha version was released on March 19th, 1999. New versions have been periodically released ever since then, as we update the system.

Will I be able to create custom aircraft/panels/terrain/buildings/behaviors?
The OpenSkies Training System was designed to permit customization of just about everything, and it is possible for you to edit these items. Customization tools are not included with the beta release, but documentation and tools exist to facilitate such customization. We may release a beta of these tools in the future.

Graphics, land, objects, sounds, behaviors, etc. are all open for modification and customizations. Customization of some of these items is complicated enough that a programmer may be required to do them.

Is OpenSkies only for aircraft?
OpenSkies is not limited to aircraft like other simulators are. The initial focus of OpenSkies is flight simulation, but the underlying OpenReality engine is suitable for all types of simulations -- including simulations with a mixed set of air and ground vehicles over a network! Rather than using pictures of the ground, OpenSkies uses feature-based terrain which allows for the addition of ground and/or sea vehicles. You can explore these possibilities in the beta version by driving the Hummer.

What is the difference between feature-based terrain and image-based terrain?
Features describe information about a terrain characteristic, such as the properties of a road or a runway. Images contain only visual information that make things look nice to a human viewer. There is a current trend in simulators to take photos of the ground and lay them out below you. We believe that to create a truly expandable simulation system, visual information is not enough. Roads need to be real roads and not gray pixels, and the simulation should read water as water and not as a blue texture map. OpenSkies is preparing for the future by gathering as much information about the environments we simulate in as possible.

How do you prevent OpenSkies from crashing when first starting?
If OpenSkies crashes when you first bring it up, you probably need to update your OpenGL drivers. The most recent release version of these drivers is in the downloads directory (be warned, it's 50+ MB). Most problems can be fixed by simply installing these drivers first, then reinstalling OpenSkies.

Can OpenSkies run under Windows 95?
Yes, but you will need the Win95 winsock patch from Microsoft's website. It's called "W95ws2setup.exe".