Version: 1.3.10.0
Frequency: Consistently
Severity: Blocker
Context: in flight (missions)
Similar MSFS 2020 issue: No bug/issue is present in MSFS 2020 regarding this
Bug description: Custom-made in-game panels are not functional in msfs2024. It seems like this behavior is broken, and therefore no toolbar-custom panels are shown during mission flight.
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As mentioned above, this is a core SDK bug
Itâs unlikely to be an SDK bug if your in-game panel appears in Free Flight but not during Missions - it looks more like some restrictions applied during missions.
Can you please be a bit more specific on this issue? For instance, can you name a package that adds an in-game panel that demonstrates the problem?
Best regards,
Eric / Asobo
What kind of restrictions does the sim impose on in-game panels and are those restrictions also applied to custom EFB apps?
thanks @EPellissier for checking in.
The in-game panel appears in Free Flight but not during missions. This behavior was not observed in MSFS 2020 (panels would appear normally with developer being able to speficy buttons/actions, etc.) and so i thought this must have been related to an SDK bug.
Perhaps this is not a pure SDK bug after your mention of restrictions - which I hope wil lbe modified as in-game panels are vital in this context.
so perhaps a couple of questions coming from this:
how can we implement in-game panels in missions? like it was possible in MS20
also, importantly, and perhaps a bit unrelated to this, developer mode tab/options are not available in missions, which makes impossible to debug mission elements, ie WASM (again this was fine in MS20)
many thanks Eric
p.s. in relation to your question on existing packages, I am not aware of any public MSFS2024 packages that demonstrate the issue (ie panels visible in missions in MSFS2020 but not in MSFS2024). i can provide pacakges confidentially if you need though
I am trying to find the information regarding potential restrictions during missions, Iâll get back to you on this asap. Can you please elaborate on the âcontextâ part of your comment in âin-game panels are vital in this contextâ? I think the more direct question would be: why do you absolutely need this in-game panel during missions?
Best regards,
Eric / Asobo
Iâll give you a few of our products:
Flow: a toolbar replacement that enables a lot of new functionality like twitch chat, beyond-SimConnect integrations with external apps and much more. It is an in-game panel.
SimFX: we need javascript to get data SimConnect canât give us to drive visual effects. We have to run that JS in the toolbar as MSFS2020 doesnât offer anywhere else to do so. There are also visual effects settings in the panel itself.
ChasePlane: we need to run javascript in the toolbar to get data unavailable via SimConnect and to communicate via WebSocket to our external bridge. Let alone the fact that the in-game panel is the main way to interact with the product/camera.
Weâll probably have a lot of other projects like this. As far as I understand, the EFB is not subject to such restrictions?
Actually the EFB Apps are restricted in what they can do during missions (but they are still visible in the EFB) - for instance, I am told they cannot change fuel levels. I am trying to get a full list of those restrictions that have been added when flying a mission.
Regarding the original topic of in-game panels, I have had confirmation that - by design - we only show a preselected subset during missions. Iâll talk to designers regarding the use case you described. I think restricting the capabilities of those panels (as was done for the EFB) should be enough (no need to hide them) but Iâll have to talk to various people within the team to understand what the exact intent was.
Best regards,
Eric / Asobo
@EPellissier - thanks once again for actioning this quickly. I appreciate the design insight and hoping there will be the possbility to reinstate the ability to show custom panels during missions.
I think these are âvitalâ for our ability to produce quality missions that are complex enough to engage the audience. We had already made a start in MS2020 (unpublished yet), however unable to reproduce this in MS2024.
A few examples below although the list of customisation one can achieve with custom panels can be much longer and more creative:
-interactivity with users
-provide user input (ie mission actions depending on user choice)
-scoring system
-many custom options (ie in-panel photographic/video material)
-âŠetcâŠ
p.s. in relation to your comment about âRegarding the original topic of in-game panels, I have had confirmation that - by design - we only show a preselected subset during missions.â - would you be able to share what is currently available/possible within missions?
Thank you for this. I see no issue with that on our end!
hey @EPellissier - i just wanted to follow up on this and see if you have any updates on the following
-custom panels availability for missions
-developer mode is still blocked/unavailable in missions (debugging impossible)
Unfortunately I donât have any news to share yet - I suspect we will be able to allow some panels to display in missions (although it still needs to be confirmed) but I doubt we will allow DevMode to be used in Career mode (unless we add some kind of âsandboxedâ Career mode).
We are still working on critical issues within the sim which is why this topic hasnât moved forward significantly enough yet - Iâll try to push again for it once the current emergencies are cleared (hopefully this week or next one).
Because the next focus will be on stabilizing SU2 which has received tons of changes/fixes, I doubt we will be able to improve the situation on these topics prior to SU3 (maybe panels can be addressed for SU2 - I need to check).
Best regards,
Eric / Asobo
@EPellissier Thank you for the update, totally appreciate the need to focus on priorities at the moment-so will look forward to hearing more when there is more bandwidth
As for panels, bringing this function back into independent/standalone missions satisfies most scenarios for DLC. The DevMode will also allow debugging of complex actions (ie through WASM), so it would be great to have this back in independent missions too.
p.s. understood about Career mode - a sandboxed career âdev modeâ could be interesting to allow content creation though -happy to test if needed
Are you sure the custom mission is set up correctly? You need to have a FlowStateAction in your mission script, otherwise the toolbar will be disabled.
In my missions, I just set everything to freeflight and everything works fine
hello @EPellissier -hope you are well.
Just wanted to follow up on this topic to see where the team is at and if any progress is planned please?
We are also affected by this issue, even with our own missions we canât get our own panel to show up (despite having it defined within the .SPB for the mission, which works on 2020).
@Jayshrike Are you able to provide a sample that works for you in 2024?
So for MSFS2024, a few undocumented changes happened to the toolbar system. But after a lot of testing and by looking at the stock mission and panel files, Iâve figured out how to get a custom panel.
For the custom panel, you need to create the same .xml definition file as a regular panel, but with a few changes:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<SimBase.Document Type="InGamePanels" version="1,0">
<InGamePanels.InGamePanelDefinition
id="PANEL_PANELNAME"
Name="Panel Name"
url="html_ui/.../panel-name.html"
resizeDirections="None"
HAnchor="RIGHT"
minWidth="40.000" minHeight="40.000"
defaultWidth="40.000" defaultHeight="40.000"
defaultTop="5.000" defaultRight="2.000"
buttonVisible="false"
collapsible="false"
headerVisible="false"
noBackground="true"
managedByToolbar="false"
DependsOnToolBarAction="true"
DependsOnSRToolBar="true"
>
<ShowOnEvent>SHOW_PANELNAME</ShowOnEvent>
</InGamePanels.InGamePanelDefinition>
</SimBase.Document>
The important tags here are DependsOnToolBarAction and DependsOnSRToolBar. And the event you defined in <ShowOnEvent>.
Then, in your mission script, add the following:
<SimMission.FlowEventTrigger InstanceId="{guid1}">
<Descr>PlaneSpawn trigger</Descr>
<Activated>True</Activated>
<FlowEvents>
<FlowEvent id="CHAIN_MESSAGE_FLIGHT_END_LOADING"/>
</FlowEvents>
<Actions>
<WorldBase.ObjectReference id="Show Custom Panel" InstanceId="{guid2}" />
</Actions>
</SimMission.FlowEventTrigger>
<SimMission.FlowEventAction InstanceId="{guid2}">
<Descr>Show Custom Panel</Descr>
<FlowEvents>
<FlowEvent id="SHOW_PANELNAME" />
</FlowEvents>
</SimMission.FlowEventAction>
Hey @EPellissier, does the bug logged tag here apply for completely custom missions, or only for those in career mode? If the latter, should I open a new issue for panels not working in our own missions?
The solution @Jayshrike provided only works if the flight is launched via SimConnect, not through the in-game missions menu
Thanks,
Jack
My original question was for custom missions (outside career mode) so i assume this is where the bug report is assigned to. As an extension, it would be good to know what happens in career mode too, however the basic need is custom missions displaying custom panels, and of course, developer mode access.
@EPellissier - is there any update on where the team is with progress and/or if there is any negative decision against offering this for developers? It is quite a vital asset so would appreciate any update please.