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#REDIRECT [[FlightGear#History]]
{{Orphan|date=April 2010}}
{{R from merge}}

{{Userspace draft|source=ArticleWizard|date=March 2010}}

[[FlightGear]] started as an online proposal in 1996 by David Murr. They proposed a new flight simulator developed by volunteers over the internet. The flight simulator was created using custom 3D graphics code.<ref>[http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php/FlightGear_History FlightGear History]</ref>

FlightGear incorporated other open-source resources, including the LaRCsim flight model from NASA, and freely available elevation data. The first working binaries, using OpenGL for 3D graphic code, came out in 1997. Enthusiastic development of newer versions for several years resulted in progressively more stable and advanced versions. By 2001, the team was releasing new beta versions regularly, and by 2005, the maturity of software lead to more widespread reviews, and increased popularity. 2007 marked a formal transition out of beta development with the release of version 1.0.0, ten years after FlightGear's first release in 1997.

In 2008, version 1.9.0 of FlightGear included a major change from PLIB to OSG, which caused the temporary loss of some features like 3D clouds and shadows, while newly added features, such as particles, imparted another degree of realism to the simulation.

==Early Development (1996–2001)==
[[Image:Panel2Flightgear.jpg|thumb|left|3=200px|Panel in an old version of FlightGear]]
Development formally started in the late 1990s with an online proposal and code being written in 1996, but using custom 3D graphics code. Development of an OpenGL based version was spearheaded by Curtis Olson starting in 1997, after the initial start in 1996. A large community response led to many contributing to the project from its start in late '90s up to the present.<ref name = "Manual">''The Flight Gear Manual'' Version .9, April 2006.</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Flight Gear Flight Simulator Proposal | url = http://www.flightgear.org/proposal-3.0.1 | accessdate = June 26, 2007}}</ref>

Rather than start entirely from scratch, FlightGear developers made use of the LaRCsim flight model from NASA, with OpenGL for 3D graphic code, and freely available elevation data. First working binaries came out in 1997, with an intense updating of newer versions for several years resulting in progressively more stable and advanced programs.

==Versions 0.7–0.9 (2001–2003)==
[[Image:FlightGear - Approach lighting.jpg|thumb|200px|This shows a Cessna 172 with nightime landing lights
in version 0.9.9 in 2005]]

By 2001, the team was releasing new beta versions regularly (0.7.x, 0.8.x over 2001-2003). Later in the decade, the rate of final public releases slowed, but had larger amounts of content (0.9.8, 0.9.10, etc.). The maturity of software by 2005 led to more widespread reviews, and increased popularity. The use of version numbers slowed dramatically after the late 2002 release of version 0.9.0. Versions 0.9.9 (2005) and 0.9.10 (2006) had about 8 all-new or redone aircraft adding to a total of 70-90 aircraft, while 0.9.11 has about 33 new or redone designs.

==Versions 0.9.0–1.0.0 (2003–2007)==
[[Image:FG-A-10.jpg|thumb|left|200px|3D Cockpit panel for [[A-10 Thunderbolt II|A-10]] in version 1.0.0 in 2008]]
FlightGear graphics are outdated in many respects compared to flight simulators such as ''[[X-Plane (simulator)|X-Plane]]'' of the same period, but can compare well to older versions and to open source contemporaries such as ''ACM Flight Simulator'' or ''Vertigo''. A number of special features are available, such as sloped runways and has over 20,000 runways, new 3D clouds, multi-platform support, multiple open flight data model (FDM) choices, and roughly 100 aircraft choices. All these features being implemented by version 0.9.10 provides a well-rounded feature set for FlightGear.

The version number of 1.0.0 marked a formal transition out of beta development since software's first release in 1997, ten years prior.

==Versions 1.9.0–1.9.1 (2008–2009)==
On December 21, 2008 FlightGear v1.9.0 was released.

FlightGear 1.9.0 represents a fundamental code rearrangement, incorporating over two years of development. After finishing the 1.0.0 release in December 2007, the FlightGear development team has directed their full attention to finishing the code overhaul that had already started in October 2006.
Version 1.9.0 of FlightGear is built upon the critically acclaimed [[OpenSceneGraph]] library, thereby widely expanding FlightGear's graphical capabilities. The switch to OSG (OpenSceneGraph) marks an important milestone for FlightGear, as it allows full use of the advanced rendering options already available in OSG, such as stereographic view modes, on screen statistics, easy definition of cameras for multiscreen systems, native OSG 3D model loaders and much more.

Due to a bug in FlightGear, another minor version was released, FlightGear 1.9.1.

FlightGear's World Scenery, which has the whole world's terrain and elevations, was being developed for simultaneous release with FlightGear 1.9.0. It was made using the freely available [[Shuttle Radar Topography Mission|SRTM]] elevation data. Even though the World Scenery was meant to be released with 1.9.0, World Scenery was made so it ensures backwards compatibility with version 1.0.0 and 0.9 too.

==Versions 2.0.0 (2010)==
[[Image:Fgfs-screen-002.png|thumb|250px|FlightGear version 2.0.0 with the [[Boeing_777#777-200ER|Boeing 777-200ER]]. Note the more photo-realistic cloud textures.]]

{{Quotation | FlightGear 2.0.0. reflects the maturation of the OpenSceneGraph port that started with the previous 1.9.0 release. In addition to many internal code improvements, FlightGear 2.0.0. marks the introduction of many new exciting improvements in the graphics and sound system, as well as improved usability of key features, and improved behavior of existing features.<ref name = "Version">{{cite web | title = FlightGear Flight Simulator Version Summary| date = 25 February 2010 | url = http://www.flightgear.org/version.html | accessdate = 2010-04-09 }}</ref> |Curtis L. Olson | ''FlightGear's Website'', February 2010}}

FlightGear 2.0.0 is a version released in early 2010. It has had many new features added. The sound code was completely over hauled, and doppler effects, distance attenuation and the ability to select your preferred sound device.It has new features such as wildfire when your plane crashes and water textures that include reflections from objects such as the sun. A more dynamic world is being developed which has steam trains and cars. Also, in version 2.0.0, FlightGear saves its screenshots in a [[Portable Network Graphics|PNG]] format (instead of its usual [[Netpbm format|PPM]] format) which allows more compatibility with image readers.

==Release timeline==
Final build code release dates by year.

{| class="vatop"
|width="500" |
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date
! Version
|-
|July 17, 1997 || First major code release
|-
|September 23, 1997 || 0.12
|-
|December 9, 1997 || 0.15
|-
|December 17, 1997 || 0.18
|-
|December 30, 1997 || 0.19 (first binaries)
|-
|January 6, 1998 || 0.22
|-
|Mar 11 98 || 0.37
|-
|April 8, 1998 || 0.41
|-
|April 14, 1998 || 0.42
|-
|April 23, 1998 || 0.43
|-
|Apr 28, 1998 || 0.44
|-
|May 7, 1998 || 0.45
|-
|May 11, 1998 || 0.46
|-
|May 18, 1998 || 0.47
|-
|June 9, 1998 || 0.48
|-
|June 27, 1998 || 0.49
|-
|July 13, 1998 || 0.50
|-
|July 21, 1998 || 0.51
|-
|August 15, 1998 || 0.52
|-
|September 2, 1998 || 0.53
|-
|September 25, 1998 || 0.54
|-
|October 23, 1998 || 0.55
|-
|November 23, 1998 || 0.56
|-
|January 21, 1999 || 0.57
|-
|February 10, 1999 || 0.58
|-
|March 31, 1999 || 0.59
|-
|May 26, 1999 || 0.6.0
|-
|June 21, 1999 || 0.6.1 (Stable)
|}
|width="500" |
{| class="wikitable"
! Date
! Version
|-
|rowspan=2 | September 11, 1999 || 0.7.0 (Development)
|-
|0.6.2 (Stable)
|-
|October 22, 1999 || 0.7.1 (Development)
|-
|February 17, 2000 || 0.7.2 (Development)
|-
|May 18, 2000 || 0.7.3 (Development)
|-
|July 20, 2000 || 0.7.4
|-
|September 18, 2000 || 0.7.5
|-
|December 19, 2000 || 0.7.6
|-
|June 20, 2001 || 0.7.7
|-
|July 13, 2001 || 0.7.8
|-
|February 16, 2002 || 0.7.9
|-
|April 20, 2002 || 0.7.10
|-
|September 7, 2002 || 0.8.0
|-
|December 3, 2002 || 0.9.0
|-
| December 5, 2002 || 0.9.1
|-
|June 4, 2003 || 0.9.2
|-
|October 24, 2003 || 0.9.3
|-
|March 26, 2004 || 0.9.4
|-
|July 29, 2004 || 0.9.5
|-
|October 12, 2004 || 0.9.6
|-
|January 18, 2005 || 0.9.8
|-
|November 17, 2005 || 0.9.9
|-
|April 5, 2006 || 0.9.10
|-
|May 2007 || 0.9.11-pre1
|-
|December 17, 2007 || 1.0.0
|-
|December 22, 2008 || 1.9.0
|-
|January 25, 2009 || 1.9.1
|-
|February 25, 2010 || 2.0.0 (latest release)
|}
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://wiki.flightgear.com/ FlightGear Wiki]
*[http://www.flightgear.org FlightGear's official homepage] - [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.flightgear.org Archive]

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Flightgear}}
[[Category:Flight simulation video games]]

Latest revision as of 09:31, 1 March 2014

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