Changing the time

[N85988]

I would like to know if there is a way for me to change the time when i set up my flight on your servers. I work mostly during the day, so that usually leaves me time to fly late at night. Most of the time, when I set up a flight, the time that loads up is at night. I only fly in the U.S., so the server time is accurate for the time I am flying. But I don't like flying at night, at least not very often. Is there any way I can change the time I fly inn when I'm connected to your servers? I really like flying here, especially during the group flights. But if, when I fly on my own time, it is always going to be dark outside, I probably won't stick around too long. What can we do?

[Travis]

Most of the time our servers are set to -6 or -7 hours in relation to the real time. This will be altered from time to time for some group flights. I don't know if this however is the case here. The reason you stated is the exact reason we set it to the time of -7 hours. By looking at the server map it looks like the time is accurate and how it should be. I don't think it will be pushed anymore one way or another. But you are more than welcome to try.

[Wingman]

I'm surprised to hear that you're flying in the dark, because as Travis implied, the servers are usually set so that our North American pilots (myself included) can fly in daylight after we get home from work -- you seem to be in that same boat (err, plane?), so you should see daylight like we do.

On which server/platform do you fly? (FSX:Boxed Edition server? One of our FSX:Steam Edition servers?)

Travis mentioned the map on the msFlights.net home page. It shows you the current daylight status on the FSX Boxed edition server only. Developers are currently working on a Steam version of that map, which I hope we can incorporate into the website soon! Nonetheless, the North America (NA) Steam server should have its time set similarly to the Boxed Edition server.

Also, how late into the evening for you (Pacific Daylight Time) do you fly? In Travis's example of the server being set to real-time-minus-7-hours, midnight for you should look like 5:00 pm over your house in the server (still daylight). This does mean that it's going to look like 8:00 pm in New York on the server (dark) at midnight your-real-time. More daylight will be had further west, of course -- Alaska & Hawaii if you like flying in the US with FAA-based charts/etc.

P.S.- When it does go dark in the US and I still want to fly day VFR, my go-to destination is Australia/New Zealand. There are some great scenery add-on options for the area! Often the United Kingdom serves as an alternate choice for me as well.

[Travis]

I talked to him a little bit last night Wingman, He flies on boxed and this post was made at 5AM Eastern time. That's why it was dark, or almost.

[N85988]

Many times I'm not on till after midnight pacific time. And, yes, it is usually dark when I connect, otherwise I wouldn't be complaining about it. I usually get off from work at 10pm, get home a little after 11pm, and I'm usually not ready to fly till after 12 or 1:00am. By then, the servers give me a night indication on the map, and sure enough, when I log on, I am in the dark. And I don't really want this to come across as a complaint. I was merely asking if there is any way for me to change the time, or if there is any way you can disable forcing the time on the server. I fly FSX-boxed and steam and P3D. And as far as having a go-to destination where it is light, I do not wish to fly in other countries. I live in the US, and I prefer to fly in the US. I will occasionally fly in other countries during group flights, but that is not where I prefer to fly. And I understand how to use the map to see where the light is, and understand how the -7 hours affects the time across the country. I get that. For your posts to question me like you have makes me feel like you think I don't know what I'm talking about. You clearly don't understand what I was asking. I even stated that what I see when I log on is accurate to what your map is showing, so I know to expect night time where I want to fly. I was only asking if there is any way I can change the sim time on my end to give me daylight when connecting to your server gives me night time. That is all I was asking. I don't need a lecture on how the map works on msFlights.net home page, or what time the servers are set to, or where I can fly when it is dark where I wanted to fly, especially across multiple posts

[Karl]

I don't need a lecture on how the map works on msFlights.net home page, or what time the servers are set to, or where I can fly when it is dark where I wanted to fly, especially across multiple posts

I think the initial question was itself more than reasonable as was the manner it was asked . It can be frustrating to always be flying in the dark. As we near winter that will only get worse.

On the other hand I don't feel that the tone of the lecture comment was warranted. This is an issue we've dealt with many times. The responses of the other members were sincere attempts to offer comprehensive assistance in the form of details and anticipation of additional questions that our answers historically have lead to. I don't believe that you should conclude that your feeling of being slighted or talked down to was actually the case in this instance.

[Travis]

I would like to know if there is a way for me to change the time when i set up my flight on your servers. ...... What can we do?

To be more direct, No, there isn't a way for you to change the time when you set up your flight on our servers. What can we do? We probably wont change it unless it gets a majority approval, however you can try this if you want to: FSX FS Real Time Download and use at your own risk. I have not used nor tested this.

Most of the time our servers are set to -6 or -7 hours in relation to the real time. This will be altered from time to time for some group flights. I don't know if this however is the case here. The reason you stated is the exact reason we set it to the time of -7 hours. By looking at the server map it looks like the time is accurate and how it should be. I don't think it will be pushed anymore one way or another. But you are more than welcome to try.

My post here was to give you information on how we run our servers so you have a better understanding. I also let you know my opinion on if the server time would ever be changed. Just an FYI, the server time is set this way because it has been agreed upon by the majority of pilots who fly here. Changing the server time for each pilot that requests it would not keep the majority happy. Yes we want everyone, including you to be happy, but when it comes to the server time it may not always happen, and the staff will not be changing it on every whim. If you have a good reason, like you are hosting a group flight or something else valid, I am sure staff will be happy to change it. Karl and Robert Dunn 2 both have access to the servers, Ask them well in advanced.

I'm surprised to hear that you're flying in the dark, because as Travis implied, the servers are usually set so that our North American pilots (myself included) can fly in daylight after we get home from work -- you seem to be in that same boat (err, plane?), so you should see daylight like we do.

On which server/platform do you fly? (FSX:Boxed Edition server? One of our FSX:Steam Edition servers?)

Travis mentioned the map on the msFlights.net home page. It shows you the current daylight status on the FSX Boxed edition server only. Developers are currently working on a Steam version of that map, which I hope we can incorporate into the website soon! Nonetheless, the North America (NA) Steam server should have its time set similarly to the Boxed Edition server.

Also, how late into the evening for you (Pacific Daylight Time) do you fly? In Travis's example of the server being set to real-time-minus-7-hours, midnight for you should look like 5:00 pm over your house in the server (still daylight). This does mean that it's going to look like 8:00 pm in New York on the server (dark) at midnight your-real-time. More daylight will be had further west, of course -- Alaska & Hawaii if you like flying in the US with FAA-based charts/etc.

P.S.- When it does go dark in the US and I still want to fly day VFR, my go-to destination is Australia/New Zealand. There are some great scenery add-on options for the area! Often the United Kingdom serves as an alternate choice for me as well.

Wingman was trying to get more information on the situation so he can further help get to a resolution. He was further explaining the server time in case you didn't understand how it all works. He was in no way insulting you. Just trying to help. He also went as far as throwing out other options to fly in, in the mean time while this is being resolved. He didn't have to do that.

Many times I'm not on till after midnight pacific time. And, yes, it is usually dark when I connect, otherwise I wouldn't be complaining about it. I usually get off from work at 10pm, get home a little after 11pm, and I'm usually not ready to fly till after 12 or 1:00am. By then, the servers give me a night indication on the map, and sure enough, when I log on, I am in the dark. And I don't really want this to come across as a complaint. I was merely asking if there is any way for me to change the time, or if there is any way you can disable forcing the time on the server. I fly FSX-boxed and steam and P3D. And as far as having a go-to destination where it is light, I do not wish to fly in other countries. I live in the US, and I prefer to fly in the US. I will occasionally fly in other countries during group flights, but that is not where I prefer to fly. And I understand how to use the map to see where the light is, and understand how the -7 hours affects the time across the country. I get that. For your posts to question me like you have makes me feel like you think I don't know what I'm talking about. You clearly don't understand what I was asking. I even stated that what I see when I log on is accurate to what your map is showing, so I know to expect night time where I want to fly. I was only asking if there is any way I can change the sim time on my end to give me daylight when connecting to your server gives me night time. That is all I was asking. I don't need a lecture on how the map works on msFlights.net home page, or what time the servers are set to, or where I can fly when it is dark where I wanted to fly, especially across multiple posts

We are sorry to hear you get off later than most people. And know we cant cater to each person all the time. Its just not possible. Also we all have jobs or work that needs to be done in our personal lives and cant always be here to help. This is why we use our forums to communicate, which is the same reason why you did.

This last post really upsets me, we are only trying to help you and come to a conclusion. Sorry for not telling you No upfront since that's the answer you wanted. A small handful of staff can, That's why we were trying to get the big picture about the situation. We also clearly understand what you want! and we are trying to piece it together to help you! Try getting this type of helpful response from other places. Remember, we are hosting servers(computers that use power that has to be paid for, and internet, that has to be paid for), That is up basically 24/7 for you to use for FREE! So we can all fly together. Isn't that so nice and awesome! Also the staff that are trying to help you here are all volunteering their time to help you. If you are not going to appreciate the responses, then consider what you are asking before posting. Now I feel insulted by trying to help you from your response. Also, if you knew what you were talking about, you would know that users cannot naturally change the time on a multiplayer server hosted by FSX, client or host side. In order for this to be change, the server has to be shut down and restarted with desired time.

Also Google and other search engines are your friend. This is how I found FS Real Time. It may or may not work. But at least I tried helping. And if it works let us know, if not please don't post about it.(other than a simple it doesn't work)

And remember, We are trying to help you, Its quite rude for someone to be disrespectful when asking for help: "You clearly don't understand what I was asking."

[Storm]

How can a pilot change time in multiplayer? Help may be at hand! :eagerness:

It's possible that, one day soon, we'll start running our multiplayer servers with one of the multi-platform concurrency programs we're testing. Those allow players from many different flight simulators - FSX classic, Steam, P3D, X-plane - to fly together and see each other. When this will happen I don't know, but hopefully it could be soon.

So what? Well, even though that concurrency is good by itself, there's a nice side-effect of these multi-platform systems - at least of the ones I've seen - that you might like. When you start your simulator with these systems, you do so in free flight mode - in other words, in single player mode - not multiplayer. Only then do you connect to the rest of the system and see everyone else, and they see you.

How does this help? Because your simulator thinks you're in single player, you can change your time of day whenever you like, something you can't normally do in conventional multi-player! This won't affect anyone else: they will see the time of day that they've set up, without it affecting you, and yet you'll still all be flying together.

(Another benefit of this system: you can very quickly change your aircraft, if you want to, without leaving and rejoining the session - something else you can't do in conventional multi-player.)

Stay tuned!

[Wingman]

Ok, ok; no need for lengthier posts. I definitely danced around the short answer of "No." But, I could have just come out and said it and left it at that because I know 988 spends a lot of time flying and, per his suggestion, a "no" would deter him from enjoying that flying while hanging out with us. I didn't want that.

So, instead, I got overly helpful and never answered the initial question, as was clearly pointed out. (I didn't even realize I was doing that.)

But, I'm glad Storm chimed in. Good point!

Tangentially, I'm very much opposed to forcing use of any applications (even FSX isn't a requirement to just hang out and talk flight simming with us, in my opinion). Therefore, I'm pre-disposed to being anti-fsCloud. But, Storm makes a good point that it could allow client-side time management to suit a pilot's needs.

[N85988]

I sincerely apologize to everyone here in these forums, especially to those who responded to try and help me. I know you were only trying to help, and I thank you for trying. My choice of words for your responses came out more aggressive than I meant to. I had asked if there was a way for me to change the time on my end, and instead I got responses about you changing the server time, and how you can't accommodate everyone with the server times. I got mad because I felt you thought I was asking you to change the server time to accommodate me so I would not have to fly in the dark, when all I was asking was if there was a way that I could change the time on my end, so my response was a bit heated, and for that I am really sorry. I don't know much about the actual servers and how they work. But I know you can control the time. Isn't there a way to turn off "forced time" on the servers though? I've only occasionally flown on servers like yours. Most of the time I've flown on "FSHost" servers, and there are options to "force time", and that can be turned off. I'm guessing on your type of servers this is not an option.

To be more direct, No, there isn't a way for you to change the time when you set up your flight on our servers. What can we do? We probably wont change it unless it gets a majority approval, however you can try this if you want to: FSX FS Real Time Download and use at your own risk. I have not used nor tested this.

No, FS Real Time won't work, because the time I am on line, the location I fly at is still in the dark. Thank you for the suggestion though.


Now I feel insulted by trying to help you from your response. Also, if you knew what you were talking about, you would know that users
cannot naturally change the time on a multiplayer server hosted by FSX, client or host side. In order for this to be change, the server has to be shut down and restarted with desired time.

Also Google and other search engines are your friend. This is how I found FS Real Time. It may or may not work. But at least I tried helping. And if it works let us know, if not please don't post about it.(other than a simple it doesn't work)

And remember, We are trying to help you, Its quite rude for someone to be disrespectful when asking for help: "You clearly don't understand what I was asking."

Again, I truely apologize for insulting or upsetting anyone here. I over-reacted to the responses I got. I know everyone here is just trying to help. I didn't mean to be disrespectful. Its just that the responses were about you changing the server time, and my question was about me changing the time on my end, and I felt that this was very clear. Again, my sincere apologies.

[Travis]

Apology accepted. I am happy to see this was just all some miscommunication as I know you are a good member to our community. Also you can't use FS Real Time, I tested it and the server will not let you change the time. It always reverts to -7. Would have been a good tool. I would be more than happy to change the secondary server to a requested time zone for you if you are planning on flying with someone, Otherwise I recommend you fly in single player, their usually isn't many people flying that late at night. If we can be more helpful to you just let us know!
See ya in the air!

[Razor]

But I know you can control the time. Isn't there a way to turn off "forced time" on the servers though?

Simply put no.
There is no way to shut off the force time option, it is built into the multiplayer system, the reason FSHost works is because it runs through single player.

[N85988]

okay, thank for your reply. I guess I'll need to find other places to fly.

[Dinkleberg]

okay, thank for your reply. I guess I'll need to find other places to fly.

Have you tried flying in strange places simply to explore? I became very fond of Switzerland by starting out in Geneva, the capital city, making bigger and bigger hops across the country. The south island of New Zealand is another favorite of mine, particularly for bush flying through the fjords and trying to navigate the various different paths.

[N85988]

I used to alot, but quite a few years ago. That was back when I had alot of addons for other countries, as I get bored flying over default scenery. Lately I have not because I have been trying to streamline the size of my sim and only add scenery to areas I intend to return to, and places I am familiar with. My goal these past few years has been to explore every square foot of the United States, since this is where I live. So the only times I've flown in other countries is when I'm flying with other pilots. I have seen some really beautiful scenery here and there. It looks like I'll be spending more times in other countries exploring new areas as long as I stay with these servers, which I don't really mind. In fact, I may find a new place or two that might keep me exploring over and over again. I'm definitely open to suggestions. Thank you.