I have recently written a simple tool to record and replay my flight and would like to share it with the community.
And thanks IamSean for allowing me to include his video as a showcase of the tool's capability and the awesome graphic fidelity of MSFS.
Instructions
Extract and run FlightRecorder.Client.exe.
Features
- Record and replay in the sim
- Change replaying speed
- NOTE: when speeding up, your computer might not be able to load scenery fast enough and that will negatively affect frame rate.
- Save recording into a file to replay later or on another computer
- Export the recorded data into CSV for further analysis
- Quickly jump to any time in your recording (you have to Pause Replay first)
Notes: The tool records this list of variables from SimConnect Structs.cs for each sim frame. Some of them are only for analysis and display and don’t affect replay.
Incompatibiity
- Experimental version of the FBW A32NX
- Stops responding to simvar `GENERAL ENG THROTTLE LEVER POSITION`, which mean the tool cannot replay thrust lever on replay. This means during replay you will not hear the engine spooling up/down, the reverser won't be activated and there might be "Don't sink" warning constantly. Your aircraft will still fly on the recorded path though.
I have filed an issue at https://github.com/flybywiresim/a32nx/issues/3703, but probably FlyByWire team won't be able to fix it due to custom FBW implementation. - Stops responding to simvar `AILERON POSITION`, `ELEVATOR POSITION` and `RUDDER POSITION`, so you will not see aileron, elevator or rudder movement during replay.
- Workaround (suggested by Abriael): since the recording still has correct data, you can replay it on stable/dev variant of the 32NX, or even the default A320.
- Stops responding to simvar `GENERAL ENG THROTTLE LEVER POSITION`, which mean the tool cannot replay thrust lever on replay. This means during replay you will not hear the engine spooling up/down, the reverser won't be activated and there might be "Don't sink" warning constantly. Your aircraft will still fly on the recorded path though.
- Default A320 and A23NX
- Aileron reacts wrongly to simvar `AILERON POSITION` when aircraft is in the air.
- I have reported this in ZenDesk #95574. I'll wait for Sim Update 3 before working on a workaround.
Other Limitations and Notes
- When starting a replay, your aircraft might be teleported to a far away location which doesn't have loaded terrain. This means the ground can jump up/down really quickly and you might get a crash (not CTD) due to damaged landing gear. Disable crash detection might be a good idea if you frequently replay your flight.
- I don’t know a reliable way to tell if an engine is running or not, so this tool does not auto-start the engine (because it doesn’t know when). Hence, you should start recording/replaying when engine is already running (or the aircraft will move without a running engine) and stop recording before turning off the engine (not really a problem, but the tool might not shut the engine down for you). Not doing that won't prevent you from replaying or using any features, but replay can look like your aircraft is powered by magic ;).
- Replay looks weird when turning on the ground. I’m not so sure what is happening there yet.
- To prevent fighting with MSFS own calculation, the tool sends freeze command when you start replay and unfreeze when you stop replay.
This means replaying might conflict with other tools leverating the same freeze feature (e.g. YourControl when you are not in control, other replay tools).
Reporting Issue
If you have any issue with the tool, please report it in our GitHub page with information for troubleshooting such as screenshots, logs and profile exports.
https://github.com/nguyenquyhy/Flight-Recorder/issues
You can also join my Discord server for further discussion https://discord.gg/azqQrWWEbV.
Other useful links
Source Code: https://github.com/nguyenquyhy/Flight-Recorder
Releases: https://github.com/nguyenquyhy/Flight-Recorder/releases
277 Comments
multimediawill
This is an incredible add on! Great job! I am so happy that this allows me to fly in VR, record the flight, and replay it back in either VR or 2D in any camera view I want. Simply amazing to watch your take offs and landings from the passenger wing view. I really hope there's a way to get the Working Title CJ4 and FBW Experimental A320NX working with the proper engine sounds/thrust.
airshipseb
hi, i tried many times, but when I try to open the flight recorder, the message "cannot initialize simconnect". But for sure MSFS2020 was running.
i tried also to unzip while MSFS2020 was running.
When I first open, I have a message from Windows protected your PC. Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognised app from starting". but I press "run anyway" and it opens, but in blank and a message "cannot initialize simconnect"
hope you can help me.
thanks in advance.
it's really fustrating because it seems such a nice tool.
Raymond66
Thanks to your tool, here is another nice outside view of aerobatics in stormy Bugalaga...
It's a rainy day in Bugalaga, Papuan Indonesia, so this is an opportunity for interesting aerobatics in such an interesting location! Dangerous, therefore fun! Certainly not a reason to cancel!
Extra 330LT display in rainy Bugalaga, Papuan Indonesia : Outside view.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esVknrRUhwc
Extra 330LT display in rainy Bugalaga, Papuan Indonesia: Cockpit view
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmyFIgrYKfA
benjibatch
Wow wow wow, THIS IS SO COOL, YES
BinkNL
Hi there, great tool! One question though: When I save my flight, can I play it outside FS2020 and if yes with which program?
dndre
Hi, i have a question, when i watch the replay afterwards, can i watch in different cameras or just the one i recorded it?
Joshbear
Hi. Thanks for the tool. Awesome job. Please can I ask one question. I have the Spitfire plane but when I playback the recording it shows as one of the standard MSFS planes. Thanks.
afffe18
when you finish your VATSIM flight at the Gate and then look the replay, will the plane be shown on the ATC?
atwlaw
Perfect. only glitch I may see is a flash mirror image of one frame once in a while during some replays. It is understandable since this is a third party app on top of MSFS so some FPS are probably lost in the recording then even a few more as I try a recording software over it, but the awesome part is I can replay a landing or take off and then change to the wing view I want or some drone view fixed on the runway. and just replay and then use MSI afterburner, OBS, or nvidia shadowplay to record it all. Still on the fence on which recording app works best for me at quality on top of the replay. :)
spaceman2003
I like this recorder. Some tip, recordin when aircraft got ising. Ai recording.?
Hubi
Thank you very much, this application works great. Congratulations!
disastorm
Great job, just tried it out for the first time. I have a question, I suppose I could try it myself but I figured it would be easier to ask, if I do something and hit restart to keep trying it over and over like for example a landing and i leave the tool recording the whole time, will it actually record all the tries or will it just get the first or last one or something like that ?