Raphael or Rafi, the community manager of Aerosoft, recently carried out an in-depth interview with Torsten Liese, founder and lead systems developer at Toliss. The discussion offered valuable insight into the company’s development approach and its upcoming move to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 with the A340-600 and A330-900 wide-body aircraft. It also shed light on Aerosoft’s involvement. They’ll handle 3D modelling and texture work, while Toliss focuses exclusively on systems development and flight dynamics.
Toliss’s Background
The 30-minute discussion centred on the systems depth of Toliss aircraft. However, Torsten also reflected on Toliss’s history and technical journey.
Toliss’s origins date back to 2008, when Torsten worked on the QPAC A320, a project notable for being among the first to feature a fully simulated fly-by-wire system within X-Plane, albeit with a 2D cockpit. A decade later, in 2018, the Toliss A319 marked the company’s first major standalone release under its own brand. Torsten mentioned its success was quickly followed by the A321 in 2019, a period that saw an explosion of home-based flight sim activity as many pilots and enthusiasts sought professional-grade aircraft for their virtual flying during the pandemic.
Aerosoft’s Involvement
While Toliss leads the systems and flight model side, the Aerosoft team is responsible for creating the 3D models and textures so that the aircraft meets the visual standards expected in MSFS. This clear division of labour, highlighted in the discussion linked below, allows Toliss to remain fully focused on technical depth, while Aerosoft contributes the visual fidelity its team has more experience delivering.
Transition to Microsoft Flight Simulator
While discussing the technical differences between X-Plane and MSFS, Torsten noted that X-Plane processes data “each frame,” reading and writing continuously on a single core. This approach can cause frame rate limitations. MSFS uses asynchronous processing, where callbacks return data more sporadically. Torsten mentioned that adapting Toliss’s framework to this model proved challenging, with the MCDU requiring substantial reengineering to integrate properly within the simulator’s environment. Below is a link to the technical preview of the A340, published in July, showcasing some of the systems and behaviours.
Another major topic was flight model fidelity. While acknowledging the limits of MSFS’s native aerodynamic model, such as only being able to simulate one aileron control surface per wing, which would not accurately represent the A340, Toliss has decided to implement its own custom flight and ground model; developed with input from university students and real-world pilots. This includes an intricate friction model to ensure authentic handling on the ground which took several months to complete. Torsten stressed that while the team is not porting Laminar Research’s X-Plane flight model, they are reproducing the same feel and handling accuracy, validated by professional Airbus pilots.
Toliss simulates each aircraft system as part of a larger integrated framework, meaning that individual components, such as hydraulic lines and reservoirs, are modeled so that a failure in one component produces knock-on effects across all dependent systems. This approach was implemented in their X-Plane releases and will continue in MSFS 2024, resulting in over 200 possible system failures. Other features from previous releases, including auto-saving, configuration options, and integration with external services such as Navigraph and SimBrief, will also carry over to the new platform.
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