This sections refers to a sepecific part of the simulator, an interface from the main computer (host) to the software which is rendering the out of the window scene (OTW). Usually this software runs on a separate machine, the image generator (IG) consisting of a single or multiple PCs. Simple simulators or part task trainers often use a single channel whereas more complex simulators feature large multichannel displays.
Boeing's flight simulation has proposed an open prototcol for this interface. By implementing this interface any host computer can connect plug and play to any image generator. Since IGs tend to be high priced items, for development purposes it would be good to have a low cost IG available for the first steps with the systems. This was the purpose of developing xCIGI, the CIGI 3.2 implementation for X-Plane.
If you are building you own simulator, why not use the same interface the professionals do? Just include the CIGI class library in your code and use xCIGI to use x-Plane as low cost IG solution for home use or testing. Should you come across a full flight simulator using CIGI just plug in your ethernet cable, se the network parameters and off you go, isn't that cool?
xCIGI is available only as a partial implementation targeted for testing. Currently xCIGI Version 0.3 is available. For installation please follow the instructions in the pdf Documentation which is included in the zip file. The software is implemented as X-Plane Plugin and requires a network connection to a host computer on a PC with a different IP address.
The new version features a configuration file where you can store your network settings parameters. You do not need to edit this file by hand, just use the xCIGI menus in X-Plane as they update the configuration file. Also 0.3 supports new packets and comes a lot smaller. It has been tested with X-Plane 8.60.
Sometimes its difficult to get rid of the X-Plane panels for an unobstructed view. Athought not a perfect solution, this dummy aircraft may help. Its an aircraft model with no panel and tiny 3d model. Should you have problems with the files, please make sure you have read the documentation. Here are the files I used in my test installations on X-Plane 8.60. For testing I recommend to use the CIGI Host Emulator 3 (HEMU3) before using you own CIGI implementation.
Have fun and please drop me a line if you like it.