Upgrading From Version 1 to Version 2

Major Changes

vPilot 2.0 introduces significant changes in two areas: model matching and running vPilot over a network. This document describes these changes in detail and provides answers to some questions that many users will likely have before they upgrade.

You can skip this document if you don't run vPilot over a local network and if you don't have any special requirements for model matching, such as custom model matching rules for your VA.

Automatic Model Matching

The model matching configuration has been completely rewritten for vPilot 2.0. It is now much more automatic. Users no longer need to download model matching rule sets. vPilot will now check your registry to see which supported simulator is installed, and scan the simulator's configuration files to determine which models you have installed. It then compares this list of installed models against a database of known model information. This database includes the aircraft type and airline code for each model. vPilot then knows which of your installed models it can use to represent other user's aircraft when they are encountered while flying online.

If you have more than one supported flight simulator installed, vPilot will ask you which one you want to use, and only that simulator's model folders will be scanned.

Users that want to have more control over their model matching can still load custom model matching rules using the same file format as was used in version 1.0. Also as before, custom model matching rules can still be loaded to make use of models that are not in the vPilot model database, such as custom models distributed by a virtual airline. vPilot will look in your custom rules to find a match before it makes use of the automatic model matching described above.

For users that have more than one AI traffic package installed, vPilot provides the ability to prioritize the folders, so that your favorite traffic package will be used first, even if a match can be found in more than one package.

vPilot only scans your hard drive for installed model information when you first run vPilot, or whenever it detects changes to the installed models.

In order to keep vPilot's model database up-to-date, whenever vPilot scans your installed models, it sends information about any models that aren't in the database to the vPilot web server, so that new model information can be added to the database over time. The more people that use vPilot 2.0, the more comprehensive the database will be. This means that over time, vPilot will be able to make use of more and more of your models as the database is updated.

Running vPilot 2.0 Over a Network

Running vPilot over a network is now much easier to configure, since it no longer requires SimConnect for network communications. Now, you will run vPilot in "host" mode on the simulator machine, and in "remote" mode on the remote computer. The remote copy of vPilot will connect to the host copy using an IP address you enter in the settings window.

The copy of vPilot running in host mode handles all the interaction with the flight simulator, and thus TrafficProxy is no longer needed. The host copy also handles all the network communication with the VATSIM server. The remote copy is essentially just the main user interface. Think of it as a "remote control" for the host copy.

With 2.0, you can now choose which computer (the host or the remote) will handle voice communications with VATSIM controllers. This means that you can run the main vPilot user interface on a remote computer, but still have all ATC voice communications coming through an audio device on your simulator PC. Or you can have the voice comms come through an audio device on the remote, as was the case with vPilot 1.0

Q & A

Do I have to uninstall vPilot 1.0 in order to install vPilot 2.0?
No, vPilot 2.0 will automatically overwrite version 1.0 (unless you tell it to install in a different folder) and upgrade your configuration file.

What changes will be made to my existing configuration when I upgrade?
The only thing that will change is that all the model matching rule sets you downloaded from the vPilot server will be removed. These rule sets are no longer needed because vPilot 2.0 automatically detects your installed models and generates its own model matching rules accordingly. Any custom rule sets you have installed will remain. vPilot determines which files are custom based on the filename. If it finds any filenames that match the list of files that were available for download in vPilot 1.0, they will be removed. Any filenames that are not recognized will not be removed, since it is assumed that they are custom rule sets that you wish to continue using with vPilot 2.0.

I have put a lot of work into making my own model matching rule set. Will all that work be wasted?
As long the file name of your custom rule set is unique and does not match the filename of one of the rule sets that were available for download from the vPilot web site, vPilot 2.0 will continue to use it. If you have made modifications to the downloadable rule sets, those changes will be lost, because vPilot 2.0 will remove those rule sets when it first upgrades your version 1.0 configuration file. The actual file will not be deleted, it just won't be loaded. So you can always rename it and load it back in after the upgrade is complete.

Can I prevent vPilot from using certain models for model matching?
Yes, after vPilot scans your installed models, you can go into the settings and choose models to exclude from model matching.

Will I need to open a port in the firewall in order to run vPilot over a network?
Yes, if you run vPilot over a network, you will need to open port 8809 on the host machine. (The machine that runs your flight simulator.) This port can be changed in the settings window if desired. vPilot uses this port to keep the remote and host copies in sync with each other.

Do I still need to run TrafficProxy when running vPilot over a network?
No, when you run vPilot in host mode, it takes care of all communications with the flight simulator including the smooth movement of aircraft. In fact, when you install vPilot 2.0, it will delete the TrafficProxy executable file, assuming you install it into the same folder where you had vPilot 1.0 installed.

How do I run vPilot in host or remote mode?
To start vPilot in host or remote mode, use the appropriate shortcut found in your programs list. When you install vPilot 2.0, it creates five shortcuts:

Normal standalone mode (for when you are not running vPilot over a network)
Host mode with voice comms
Host mode without voice comms
Remote mode with voice comms
Remote mode without voice comms

Can I run voice communications on both the host and the remote?
No, you must enable voice comms on either the host or the remote copy, but not both.