Animated Jet Bridges

Last week in our 2021 Year In Review, we gave users a sneak peek into what's coming in 2022. The big surprise was animated jet bridges! Naturally, a lot of questions popped up and we've collected them here in a Q&A. For more info, have a read through the topic on our community forum here.

Q: Will the canopy be animated?

Possibly, but likely not in v1. We'll iterate on this if they don't animate in the first release.

Q: How will they know which aircraft?

The bridges will dock to the aircraft that is parked at the same gate.

Q: How will they know the position of the aircraft on the stand?

The magic of 3D Vector Math, Pythagorean Theorem, and various other things.

Q: How will they know where on the plane to latch onto based on the aircraft position?

Developer Laura has set the positions of all doors for all aircraft that park at gates

Q: How will the jet bridges work? Will there be a button like “attach jet bridges” or something else?

For the first version, it’ll be just a simple dock/undock and it gets the available jet bridges. Some airports may not have that functionality initially, depending on how much time it takes to retrofit them. The process should be quite easy so [developers are] hopeful most airports will have the gates in working order.

Q: Will the player be able to control where it goes or is it just automatic?

Automatic for now. [Laura] used a manual system to develop them, but for simplicity, it’s all auto. Airport editors will configure doors/gates to make sure all assignments make sense.

Q: With the A380, will the jet bridge latch to a door on the upper deck, like they do in real life?

Yes, in cases where the jetbridge can reach it.

Q: Let's say I have a 757 at a gate with one jet bridge. Will I get to choose the door it goes to or will it automatically choose the front one or the closest one?

In the current code, it goes to L1 first. In [the] debug system [we] had a way to attach a specific bridge to the door of the user's choosing but for simplicity’s sake, for now, we’re making it all auto.

Q: Will this feature apply for airstairs as well on remote gates?

Not for this version. We’d love to have it as well for stairs eventually.

Q: Will the bridge movement be seen by other users in multiplayer mode?

This is an end goal for us but it may not be in the first release of animated jet bridges due to other engineering constraints on the multiplayer side.

Disclaimer: This feature is a work in progress and subject to change. Footage in development builds may not necessarily represent the final product.

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