The Rafale continues to evolve, with update 1.2.0 coming soon.
Alongside numerous improvements and bug fixes, this update introduces an exciting new feature that takes the aircraft’s avionics capabilities to a whole new level!
As some of you may know, the MSFS SDK does not currently allow developers to display live simulator footage directly on avionics screens. Until now, aircraft imaging systems have therefore been limited to alternative solutions, such as static satellite imagery, which cannot accurately reproduce the actual simulator environment.
Recently, several community add-ons have been experimenting with MSFS camera rendering to apply visual effects, adjust colors, or integrate taxi cameras into airliners.
Out of curiosity, we started experimenting with these techniques ourselves and quickly realized that, with some serious tweaking, it was actually possible to capture and display live simulator imagery directly within the aircraft’s avionics. What started as a small experiment eventually turned into a fully integrated feature for our Rafale. And today, we are excited to show you the result!
Check out the video below to see it in action!
This new feature significantly expands the capabilities of the imaging system, including:
- Live simulator imagery displayed directly on the lateral display’s IMA page.
- Air and surface target tracking, with six zoom levels.
- TV and IR (infrared) imaging modes to support night operations.
- Custom control bindings to manually pan and adjust the camera view.
This feature is only available on PC, as it requires a small external application to establish a bridge between the camera output and the in-sim avionics. We also want to emphasize that this technology remains highly experimental. Since it relies on low-level interactions with the simulator’s rendering system, we cannot guarantee compatibility with every hardware and software configuration. For this reason, we are releasing this functionality as a completely free and optional extension. You can choose whether or not to install it, and the Rafale will continue to work normally without it.
And that is not all for this update. The complete changelog for version 1.2.0 is more extensive:
- Expanded the capabilities of the IMA page on lateral display with additional features and parameters
- Added support for displaying live simulator footage on the IMA page (requires free external software, PC only)
- Added the ability to slew the imagery manually
- Added Rafale-specific bindings to the control options
- Added more bindable events for cockpit controls, autopilot functions, and other actions
- Fixed flight plan waypoints being imported incorrectly from online flight planners
- Fixed ILS approaches not being detected at some airports
- Fixed TACAN information not being displayed in APP mode
- Added COM subpages to make setting frequencies easier
- Implemented OFS (additional vector) with secondary goal on the HSI page
- Fixed incorrect FBW roll input when disengaging the autopilot while banked
- Fixed the aircraft failing to maintain wings-level flight with an asymmetric payload
- Improved acceleration chevron movement and corrected inconsistent behavior during turns
- Enlarged the clickable areas on the autopilot page to make selecting submodes easier
- Improved the smoothness of the terrain-following HUD display
- Added shoot cue on HUD in AGM mode
- Fixed rocket exhaust effects appearing during the weapon jettison sequence
- Fixed target explosion effects appearing with a vertical offset
- Fixed the AUTO GUID indicator not illuminating
- Fixed the fuel totalizer alarm being triggered when the automatic totalizer option was enabled
- Fixed water effects appearing around the nozzles on wet runways
- Fixed the low-pressure crossfeed valve showing an incorrect state on the FUEL page
- Fixed slats extending while taxiing
- Added another tentative fix for the highlight box appearing on the HUD on consoles
- Slightly reduced the HUD color intensity for a more natural appearance
Alongside this update, we are also pleased to introduce AzurPoly Hub, a new lightweight application that will be available for download from our website. AzurPoly Hub is designed to centralize and simplify the installation of optional components for our aircraft, including weapon system extensions and the new camera imaging module. Your feedback will be particularly valuable in helping us improve it!
Update 1.2.0 is expected to roll out progressively next week on the Microsoft Marketplace and Contrail, for PC, Xbox, and PS5.
We are excited to continue working on more features for our Rafale. Stay tuned, as we think you will love what’s coming next!
Official Licensed Product – DASSAULT Aviation.
Developed by AZURPOLY in cooperation with JFEXP.