Tacview 2.0 – The future of flight analysis
A glimpse into the future of flight analysis

Welcome to the new Tacview 2 FAQ!
Our team is committed to providing you with the best flight analysis software possible. With Tacview 2, we're introducing a powerful, customizable engine that is designed to be easy to use. We're using the latest technologies to provide more detail and improved performance, and we're working hard to ensure that Tacview 2 is future-proof and works with a wide range of simulators and real-life devices. Read on for answers to some common questions about Tacview 2!
Please, feel free to post any suggestions and remarks – regardless of your aircraft or simulator – on the official threads:
Tools
Absolutely. During an online debriefing with Tacview 2, any participant can seamlessly download the necessary flight data from any other participant in the background. This allows for just a single person to need to record the flight, thereby streamlining the online debriefing process like never before!
Telemetry and multimedia are two very different types of data. While telemetry data is relatively light and can be easily handled and transferred by Tacview, multimedia files are typically much larger. Transferring them during an online debriefing would require a specialized solution which falls outside of Tacview's scope. Therefore, while it may eventually become possible, this feature is likely to be part of a future update.
Yes, Tacview 2 will support both Web Map Service (WMS) and Web Coverage Service (WCS). In other words, it will be able to load mapping, satellite, and elevation data to display real-life terrain, similar to other tools such as Google Earth.
Flight Data Recording
Currently, we have maximized performance as much as possible on our end. Tacview exporter code takes a negligible amount of CPU, the remaining performance issue lies within DCS World Lua interface.
For much more details, see the post on that matter: FPS Loss While Recording Your Flight in DCS World
Now, with Tacview 2, we are considering the development of an official third-party paid exporter, which could – in theory – grant us access to more powerful tools, not only to export more data, but also to get better performances out of this process. Do not worry, the standard exporter will always be available at no extra charge.
Yes! We plan to update the exporter for improved usability during multiplayer sessions. After a real-life time delay set by the server, you'll be able to review your entire flight without the need to stay connected for extended periods.
Interface
Definitely! Not only will Tacview 2 honor the light/dark theme of your operating system, but it will also offer several skins. These skins will be customizable via configuration files, and you will eventually be able to share them with the community.
Extensions & Developer Tools
Absolutely! The Tacview 2 Lua SDK is designed to be versatile and will include an API for straightforward handling of HTTP and HTTPS requests. This will be particularly useful for loading custom terrain and textures from mapping services such as OpenStreetMap.
Licensing & Upgrades
If you have a Tacview 1 license, it will be compatible with Tacview 2 for desktop editions (Windows, macOS, and Linux). This means you can enjoy the same advanced features you're used to, along with improved ergonomics, performance, and detail at no additional cost. Over time, we will introduce new advanced features, which you can access by upgrading your existing license.
Please note that iOS and Android versions of Tacview 2 will require separate licenses, as they involve significant development work and will be available on different app stores than the desktop editions.
Compatibility
Yes, Tacview 2 will be compatible with your current acmi 2.x files!
Tacview 2 introduces an improved acmi file format that offers additional telemetry types and easier implementation for third-party programs.
Over the years, there have been several iterations of the acmi file format:
- The old (1.x) binary format, which hasn't been used for almost a decade, will not be supported by Tacview 2.
- The first text iteration (1.x) of the acmi file format is also not planned for support in Tacview 2.
- However, the current major revision of the acmi file format (2.x) will be supported by Tacview 2, ensuring all flights you're presently recording can be seamlessly viewed in the new version.
Please note that the new acmi file format introduced by Tacview 2 will not be supported in Tacview 1. It would require significant effort and wouldn't be practical, as Tacview 2 offers many more capabilities.
Tacview 2 will be able to run on macOS and Linux. While it is developed on Windows, its engine is fully portable and runs well on Linux, including Ubuntu, Debian, and even Raspberry Pi.
The 3D engine of Tacview 2 is programmed using Vulkan, which needs to be ported to macOS. However, the core engine of Tacview 2 already works natively on the new M1 Macs.
We are working hard to make sure that Tacview 2 can be supported on all the main operating systems. At launch, Tacview 2 will be released for Windows first, followed by Linux, macOS, iOS, and then Android. To ensure everything runs smoothly, we'll fix any bugs on each platform before releasing the next one.