Online Condor
Using Condor on your own is fine, but the most fun to be had is with flying with others, either just ambling around, or, for the more competitively minded, flying online racing tasks.
How to get onto an online session
Bear in mind that to join an online session you need to have the correct scenery for that session installed on your PC. Sceneries can be downloaded from ‘Condor Club’.
There are two ways you can join a session.
A. Use a link from one of the online server lists:
Which looks like this:
You can sort columns in the list or search to find the desired server more easily.
Selecting ‘Join’ next to one of the sessions should start Condor and open the multiplayer page.
These lists can sometimes be slow to update - sometimes others are better. See the ‘alternate-server-links’ section for alternative lists.
B. Use ‘Multiplayer’ from the Condor home screen
Insert the server’s IP address directly in the 'CONNECT TO, Host address' box, and then select 'Join'. Some servers need a password.
Whichever way you used, after you click ‘Join’ you should then connect to the server, and Condor will download the task that you are going to do.
Many of the details that you then see are the same as you would see in a solo session - the TASK, WEATHER, HANGAR, NOTAM tabs are all there.
There is also a ‘CHAT’ tab - which will show you who is already connected, and whatever (typed) conversation there has been already.
In the Hangar section, the task designer may have restricted the classes of gliders that may be used - in which case you can only select gliders from the available class.
Right clicking on the ‘Task Points’ in the TASK (map) tab will show you if there is a maximum or minimum start or finish height specified.
When you are ready, click ‘Join Flight’ to get started.
Other differences from Solo Condor
When you are in an online session, there are a few differences to note.
There is a (typed) chat function. This is part of Condor - nothing to do with Discord. If you press BACKSPACE, a yellow “123.50:” will appear at the bottom left of the screen. Whatever you type next will be transmitted to all users on the server - when you press Return. This chat will remain visible for a few seconds.
If you want to see the chat history, press ‘D’ ('extend chat log'). Pressing ‘D’ again will remove it from view.
(Sometimes you accidentally change the frequency by touching either BACKSLASH or APOSTROPHE. You can get it back to 123.50 by using the other of these keys.)
The TAB key ("show classification") will show you the list of all pilots in the session and details about them. You can turn it on and off as desired.