Cross-Country Soaring 2004
User Guide 
15. Possible Future Improvements
Here are a few things I have in mind for future releases of Cross-Country Soaring (CCS). (Of course I make no guarantees that any of these improvements will actually be made.)
- place FS (not BGL) clouds atop thermals, or place thermals under these clouds (I’m doubtful this is possible but plan to look into it.)
- make clouds drift with the wind (so that thermals are more directly under the clouds as in reality)
- make the glider roll when one wing’s in stronger lift than the other
- add localized areas of substantial sink (like inverted thermals)
- make the sink surrounding a thermal strongest on the thermal’s downwind side
- add an FS “Modules” menu entry for starting CCS
- limit the vertical extent of thermals (rather than every thermal existing as a continuous column from the ground to the lift ceiling)
- make a sinking period at the end of each thermal’s life
- model the ridge lift/sink effects of surrounding terrain, not just the terrain directly beneath the plane
- make thermals trigger from realistic locations (e.g., the sunny, upwind side of ridges) rather than from completely random locations
Let me know what you think of CCS, and let me know what improvements you'd like to see (see Contacting the
Author). Check the CCS web site for new releases.