Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020
Release Notes (1.20.6.0) Sim Update VI Now Available!
Posted by: Microsoft Flight Simulator Team
If you are playing on PC, some packages in your community folder may not have been updated and, as a result, may have an unexpected impact on the title’s performance and behavior. Please move your community package(s) to another folder before relaunching the title if you suffer from stability issues or long loading times.
RELEASE NOTES 1.20.6.0
To celebrate the launch of Windows 11, Microsoft Flight Simulator is lighting up some of the world’s most famous points of interest in Windows 11 colors! There is also a free livery for the EXTRA 330LT.
Stability
Several crashes have been fixed across the title
More optimization work has been performed including performance issue with Real-time AirTraffic after a long period of time
Improvements of the installation logic for outdated / missing packages
Navigation
New AIRAC cycle 2110 is now available
Improvements on offset localizer/LDA approaches for the Navdata
Updated the in-sim Magnetic Variation model
Fixed ATC announcing a DME Arc approach with 10 times the radius
Separated different airways with the same name in the Navdata
Fixed cases of corruption in Title and Descr fields in flight plans
Weather
Activated gust tweaking in custom weather settings
Ambient pressure is now smoothly calculated across the entire air column
Improved ATIS Cloud layer reporting
VR
Fixed aliased menus and ingame panels
Fixed some lighting issues in VR
Fixed wrong camera initial rotation in some cockpit
Fixed “dot” cursor when using the mouse
Fixed mouse cursor depth when hovering the toolbar
Improved general stability in VR mode
Activity
Fixed Friends status as offline friends were still marked as online
Better handling of edge cases when loading save files
Fixed Balkan bushtrip which could not be completed due to missing airport
Fixed conversion error in POH takeoff speeds in the Flight assistant panel
Fixed issue where the altitude displayed on the nameplates was incorrect
Fixed VFRMap icons disappearing during bushtrips
Fixed bug causing the female voice to be heard instead of MALE voice in the Deadstick Landing tutorial
Fixed ICAOs on main path disappearing from the VFR map after resizing it
Planes
General:
Fixed a bug that prevented Live/AI aircrafts lights from showing
Reduced the effect of clouds water density on air density (source of drag when flying through clouds) by a factor of 10x
Altimeter reading should now properly coincide mathematically with atmosphere ambient pressure
Fixed physical altimeters so they can now display different values
Fixed UseTemplateValue put inside an Action for custom checklists
Corrected issue that would cause trim keys to start repeating instantly when held down
Fixed shared large cameras for hangar sequences so they no longer display the ground only
Analogic external HUD now supports negative altitude values as the interior instruments
Reworked gear advisory audio warning system for floating planes
Improved water rudder and water handling at low speeds. Plane now turns into the wind
Increased aerobatic max rotation speed and acceleration which improves aerobatic handling
Improved auto rudder assistance crosswind cancellation to make it smooth over 0 to 500ft, instead of brutal on/off on takeoff
Improved pfactor for tail dragger airplanes
Improved free full castering for tail dragger airplanes
Removed backward limitation for flap lift center displacement. (Effect on lift center and Cm)
Added system to precisely define lift center motion across ranges of AOA
Fixed a bug with the spoiler/speedbrake lever animation not being in the correct position when using an external device to control it
Fixed a bug with external devices AP keys not doing exactly what they should on some aircraft
Fixed some camera issues with aerobatics: Inverted flight camera transition between normal & inverted flight and fast rolls behavior in 3rd person view
Fixed issue where Waypoint generated on WorldMap were not flown along by the Autopilot
Fixed existing flyback issue on KLCT KBVT flight
Reference QNH can now be changed during flight
Autopilot will no longer automatically transition to altitude capture when in avionics managed mode
Fixed corrupted VFR & PFD 2D Terrain in some cases
Corrected an issue that would cause the trim keys to behave incorrectly when used on a plane which has a trim switch but no trim wheel
Fixed the altimeter not displaying the correct altitude at the start of a flight (especially in some missions)
Made reverse flight transition smoother so that one can take 90° turns or a bit more than 90° without weird roll transitions
Connected all the transponders from the base sim to the new transponder IDENT simvar
Added a link an Ident and a type to the radio frequency. Ident is ICAO code. Type is one of the following: ATIS,UNI, CTAF, GND, TWR, CLR, APPR, DEP, FSS, AWS, Blank
Fixed custom airports are displayed twice on navigation instruments
Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental / Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner
Minor fix in the way ILS frequency are displayed in Boeing FMC
Minor fix in the way Flaps are displayed in Boeing FMC
Fix Boeing Flaps behavior at handle 9
Fixed a bug with the Boeing yoke by Thrustmaster failing to toggle “hold” AP modes
Fixed icing art issue
Fixed rain on both interior and exterior
Added geometry when reverse thrust is on
Fixed cockpit camera collision
Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner
Limited max steering angle to 70 degrees as per POH to make ground taxiing easier and more realistic
Fixed issue that could introduce an inverted elevator control causing the A320 and 787 to crash into the ground
Altitude reference on HUD is now synced with other instruments
Partial improvement of FBW (does not use trim anymore)
Minor display fix on FMC Approach page
Fixed Incorrect flaps positions
Fixed missing reg number under wing
Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental
Fixed occurrence of autopilot failing to capture GS
Fixed external HUD Airpseed with cockpit Airspeed
External HUD Airspeed tapes now has speed ranges similar to cockpit tapes
Fixed minor display issue on FMC Legs page
PFD airspeed now displays speed for current and next flap setting in approach
Airbus A320neo
Fixed issue that could introduce an inverted elevator control causing the plane to crash into the ground
ND altitude restrictions are now more accurate
Diamond DA40NG / Diamond DA40 TDI
Corrected an issue which prevented the fuel transfer pump from working
Fixed “LOW FUEL” warning not showing for the correct amount of fuel remaining
Fixed master knobs not reflecting actual simulated state in some cases
Cessna 152 / Cessna 152 Aerobat
Fixed the inversion with flaps interaction using a gamepad
Fixed left strobe light not turning on
Fixed checklist autocompletion failing to start engine
Fixed missing reg number on the Aerobat base version
Cessna Citation Longitude
Removed some outdated glass cockpit alerts
Added missing tooltips for speed mode and speed units knobs
Corrected an issue that would cause the aircraft to incorrectly indicate the Yaw Damper is active
Fixed display Messages when Reverse Thrust is engaged on Cessna Longitude EICAS instead of COM/NAV frequencies
Glideslope improvement
Corrected an issue which would prevent light controlling push buttons from properly updating when toggling all lights
Fixed the Up and Down button that were no longer working on Flight Plan page on TSC
Updated cabin pressure warnings and aircraft configuration with real values
Adjusted H nav PID to reduce nav horizontal oscillation
MAIN GEN warning now checks the simvar GENERAL ENG GENERATOR ACTIVE
Zlin Savage Cub
Fixed master knobs not reflecting actual simulated state in some cases
Disabled some unused electrical circuits improving overall battery lifetime when idle
FlightPlan no longer missing from VFRMap
Fixed VFR Transponder key
Cub Crafter X Cub
Minor improvements for the checklist
Fixed tail wheel steering
ICON A5
Icon A5 have now access to the new Aera interface
Fixed steering animation issue
Flight Design CTLS
Added access to the new Aera interface
Fixed sync external HUD Tachometer with cockpit Tachometer
Fixed VFR Transponder key
Fixed steering animation issue
JMB VL-3
Fixed steering animation issue
Cessna 208 B Grand Caravan EX
Lowered the minimum N1
Added dynamic Red Line Torque Engine gauge
Add blue Torque Engine gauge to indicate the Maximum cruise torque
Added turboprop condition lever implementation
Reduced rudder stability for more realistic yaw simulation
Checklist was modified to work with the new condition levers
Beechcraft King Air 350i
Added turboprop condition lever implementation
Reduced rudder stability for more realistic yaw simulation
Significant reduction of flap & gear drag to increase ROC at LDG. now closer to 2000fpm (used to struggle to maintain 700fpm)
Fixed prop drag idling and adjusted flap drag
Checklist was modified to work with the new condition levers
Zlin Shock Ultra
Engine temperatures and pressures were adjusted to have a better behavior
Adjusted gear advisory alarm trigger speed to better match the different float planes
Beechcraft Baron G58
Fixed cockpit camera for hangar sequence
Diamond DA62
Updated animation issue in the cockpit
Update all airframes animations
Fixed rain issue in the cockpit
Reduced the light popping effect in the cockpit
Cirrus SR22
Fixed airframe for the nosewheel
Pipistrel Virus SW121
Fixed QNH setting bug
Cessna 172 Skyhawk
Fixed animations issue for skis
Glass cockpit: Arm standby battery in custom departure
Reduced rudder lift coefficient from 2.0 to 1.5. Will reduce rudder twitchiness and increase adverse yaw
Adjusted elevator twitchiness & authority
Daher TBM 930
Specific FX files moved to SimObject folder
Fixed the autostart/autostop procedure
Reduced rudder stability for more realistic yaw simulation
Reduced excessive flap drag
Tuned Flight IDLE state Torque, RPM and ITT
Fixed overspeed (barber pole) strip incorrect on Standby Airspeed Indicator
EXTRA 330LT
Improved aerobatics behavior
Fixed idle RPM causing an engine stall at some altitudes / temperatures
Avionics
Fixed Wind vector not accounting for MagVar on Garmin screens
Fixed issue where FLC behavior using the NOSE UP/DN buttons was reversed on the G1000
AS3X, GNS430 & GNS530 now have automatic backlighting depending on the hour of the day
Runway icon rotates depending on the orientation of the map
Fixed duplicate waypoints with the same distance & bearing
Aera Flight Plan has been completely remodeled to better match the real Aera
The external view of the Aera in portrait mode is now in the right orientation
Corrected an issue that could cause the avionics switch simvar not to match the physical switch state
Engine monitor instrument with small form factor updated on Vigilus
Vigilus now can display turbine engine data and units set are saved between flights
New Fuel Flow monitor instrument template added for the Miniflo/digiflo
Automatic backlight depending on time of day on the Vigilus
Adjusted engine monitor color ranges for equipped planes on the Vigilus
ISA temperature reading is now more realistic on the G3000
Minor frequency color fix on the G1000
G3X no longer show NaN bearing when flying a DirectTo toward an airport
Fixed occurrence of Garmin-featured plane not catching LOC/ILS
Fixed G3000 scrollbar stuck at bottom after selecting a Direct To
Nearest Waypoint/NDB/VOR does not flicker on the GNS530
Fixed corrupted VFR & PFD 2D Terrain in some cases
Fixed incorrect values for Bearing (BRG) and Distance (DIST) data fields on G3X
Fixed issue where G1000 outer COM knob would only increment the frequency no matter the direction it was turned
VFR map
Fixed corrupted VFR & PFD 2D Terrain in some cases
VFRMap now capped at > 80° in latitude instead of 75°
Fix rare occurrence of VFRMap flickering
VFRMap no longer fails around Longitude 180°
Minor enhancement of VFRMap FlightPlan display
We now prevent some cases of VFRMap waypoint loading stalling
World
Terrain level of detail can now be increased up to 400 (instead of 200) in Graphics options on PC
Fixed jetways not spawning in some cases
Fixed bug during animation when the pilot call the jetway in an airport
Fixed scenery not being reloaded when adding or removing a package from the Content Manager / Marketplace
Fixed blurry lights on ultra-wide/4k resolutions
Optimized photogrammetry erase function by adding a quadratic approximation of earth curvature -Improved clipping issue with close trees close to poles by dynamically extending the LOD 14 draw distance
Optimized conversions for world processing using quadratic lat long conversion approximations
Fixed gaps between some ground surfaces
Improved LOD display in game at LFPG
Reflection cubemap resolution and reflected clouds details have been increased
Fixed a bug provoking SSR to ghost when rotating camera
Fixed autogen buildings that were sometimes absent or of low quality in the UK
KPFN is now closed as real life
Fixed missing light at KECP
Fixed approach light too long at ENBR
Fixed windsocks bad orientation on some bespoke airports
Fixed control tower archetype to match with real life at EDFH
EDDI & EDDT are now closed as real life
Fixed floating night lights in some locations in England
Fixed tower building near Stuttgart
Fixed trees in front of the runway at EGGP & EGCC
Fixed terraforming at EDRS
Fixed jetways issue at RCYU
Fixed Taxi Ribbon can go underground when taxiing to runway 35 at HUEN Entebbe Airport
Fixed despawn of the World map when changing the rolling Cache amount
Fixed wind turbine night light fade out when getting close
Fixed camera pan in the Manual cache menu
UI
Minor quality of life improvement on Marketplace
Fixed ATC Options will be cleared when the User attempts to enter another in the Customization Menu
Gust speed input slider uses a logarithmic range for better precision
Fixed previously loaded airports aren’t displayed in the history of the airports list
Fixed top menu ‘Arrow’ Graphic does not Fades During Flight
Fixed Photogrammetry low resolution in manual cache
Fixed missing Axis Y from the Select An Input list when mapping actions to the mouse or searching for an input
Fixed cursor snap to top left corner whenever you change in cockpit camera with keyboard controls
Fixed important changes to sliders on in-flight menu don’t appear to have any effect (now increments accordingly)
User should no longer get stuck in the Freelook view and be unable to bring the cursor back up on Xbox
Fixed endless result screen with no prompts to leave when user cancels touchdown and after completion of a landing challenge
Fixed all profiles blanked when clearing a custom profile for the HOTAS One
Fixed reset for the mouse sensitivity to default values on a custom profile
Fixed unable to select the last ICAO searched in the search result
Fixed disconnection pop up failing to appear when unplugging the ethernet cable before or after press any button screen
Peripherals
Reduced the increments of the mouse wheel on the elevator trim
Added Thrustmaster TCA Boeing support
Added Turtle Beach VelocityOne Flight support
Fixed a wrong freelook assignment on the Virtual Fly Yoko+
Fixed mappings shown in Controls screen for T.Flight HOTAS One doesn’t align with the actual buttons / axes on Xbox
Fixed Joystick events on Simconnect
Fixed wrong biding on the Hotas One prior World update 6
Fixed mapping of cockpit view Yaw Axis for CH Pro Throttle USB as the axis was reversed
Fixed warning appears when user tries to map an axis to the Elevator Trim Axis (0 to 100%) command
Fixed default mapping for Left / Right Brake axes on CH Pro Pedals
Fixed default mapping for View Yaw, View Pitch, and Throttle axes on CH Pro Throttle doesn’t work
Fixed default mapping for Ailerons axis on CH Fighterstick doesn’t work
Fixed default mapping of Propeller and Throttle axes on CH Flight Sim Yoke are incorrect
Fixed default mapping for Elevator, Ailerons, and Mixture axes on CH Flight Sim Yoke doesn’t work
Fixed default mapping of axes on CH Throttle Quadrant are incorrect
Fixed unresponsive Joystick L-Axis Y on CH Throttle Quadrant
Fixed unable to exit Pause menu using Menu button on T.Flight HOTAS One
SDK
JS API
RNAV approach type (LPV, LNAV/VNAV, LNAV) data now available from the JS airport facility approach information
Added raw approach type, approach suffix, runway number, and runway designation to JS airport facility approach information
Added “SEARCH_BY_IDENT” (ident, facilityType, maxFacilities) call to JS facility listener, which will search for facilities of the specified type that start with the provided partial ident string
Added “GET_METAR_BY_IDENT” (ident) call to JS facility listener to get a METAR by airport ident
Added “GET_METAR_BY_LATLON” (lat, lon) call to JS facility listener to get the closest METAR by latitude and longitude
Circling approaches should no longer include incorrect runway 0 in the provided approach name
Center runways should no longer be missing “C” designator in runway name
Added threshold length and runway end elevation data to airport facility runway information
Fixed bug where primaryILSFrequency and secondaryILSFrequency were almost always blank even when the runway had a valid ILS ICAO specified in the data
ILS frequencies in JS airport facility API frequency list now include the station ICAO
Aircraft editor
Added rotation acceleration to aircraft tracking debug screen
Improved aircraft tracking and sim curves debug pages for more clarity on drag & lift calculations and values
Allow negative wing camber values in the flight_model.cfg file
Clarification of debug aircraft speed, legacy and simtuning pages
New aircaft drag debug screen
Added Cd breakdown per surface set to drag debug page
Added ground effect debug page
Added elevator_trim_up_limit et elevator_trim_down_limit optional variable to CFG
Improved wheel debugging window: Added steering angle and mode information about friction
Updated FLT loading for Engine parameters preventing accidental override of some parameters when loading a mission flt
Fixed a bug with ADF frequency DEC keys that could cause the frequency to undeflow rendering the ADF system unusable
Fixed a crash when saving an airplane with no pneumatic system
Added an option in cfg files to exclude an aircraft from AI Traffic
Fixed the “light types” dropdown list in the Lighting section of the Aircraft Editor
Implemented a new version of a supercharger for piston engine with multi speed support and an affine boost curve
Implemented a manifold pressure regulator for piston engines
Electrical System – More realistic battery discharge for batteries with a different capacity but a similar voltage
New primer electrical pushbutton template and covered magneto switch template
Added new table for jet engines fuel flow vs altitude tuning
Devmode
Fixed potential corruption in some CFG files when saving your project
Fixed crashes caused by the Resync function in the Aircraft Editor -Added a close button to the “Debug position” window
Added a new devmode option to switch between GDI and NanoVG at runtime for XML Gauges rendering. The option is found under ‘Options->Use NanoVG for XML Gauges’
Added close button to SDK updates window
Added collisions debug draw to devmode’s options
Added dev mode communication prompt at launch
Added dev mode communication prompt display in SDK updates window
Fixed SDK versions buttons sublabel display
Fixed the download button that was not starting any download
Added devmode windows’ background behavior setting, “opaque when docked” as default
Along with the new Model LOD Limits feature, 4 new columns in the Statistics profiler allowing you to better understand which LODs should be better optimized
Fixed an issue where encrypted packages could freeze the game
Fixed some occurrences of textures not being found
Fixed documents with some saved and some unsaved modifications no longer prevent closing an edition tool
Renamed “Model behavior” to “Behavior”
Behaviors window now allows you to modify L-Vars, I-Vars and O-Vars by clicking on them and inputting a new value
Pressing Ctrl+G while hovering an interactable component as the Behaviors window is open will now set it to that component
The Behaviors window now has an Error tab which lists the issues recorded while loading the current XML file (only if the behavior window was open during the loading)
Restored the DevMode font that had disappeared from the latest version
SDK release notes are now downloaded individually to reduce downloading times
Windows are now opaque when docked to the game’s window and transparent when floating inside
Added debug tools to identify memory-consuming LODs
Added option to freeze LOD selection
Fixed gamma correction issues with the NanoVG for XML gauges
Project editor
Fixed Package Editor filter not checking all package groups
Added “Save as” action, binded to Ctrl+Shift+S
Improved project creation window: now requires projects parent folder and generates the new project folder, new project name field is correctly emptied after the window’s closure
Recent projects which fail to load or have a non-normalized path are now deleted on selection
Made default creator name not mandatory when creating a project from the –menu
Added auto save on project, package and asset group creation
Added package thumbnail validation after build
Fixed asset group asset and output directories modification: absolute paths were set
Fixed crash when cleaning a package that has been already cleaned
Fixed Ctrl+Y on asset group creation not setting back asset and output directories values
Fixed custom asset group template instantiation path
Fixed custom wizard generated asset groups paths: now correct for build
Added a clean package operation when a package or an asset group is removed
Fixed editor’s popups not showing when editor’s main window is hidden
Post build and post export prompts are only displayed if user did not agree to them
Fixed non-normalized path saved to recent projects list
Fixed the removed package that were still appearing in export window package list
Fixed asset group type combo list empty in wizards if the project editor window was never shown before
Fixed package’s name and company name not updated in Inspector if it is not shown when selection changed
Replaced automatic package name modification by an “Update package name” button
Improved Inspector summary tab with titles and sections
Fixed SimObject template
Improved clean package: now checks for locked files before trying to delete them all
Scenery editor
Fixed a crash when closing the scenery editor
Gizmo window can’t be edited if no object is selected OR all selected objects are locked
“Has 3D Mesh” checkbox in FUEL TaxiwayParking properties to allow removing the 3D object attached to it by default
Added flipUV & offsetUV for aprons
Added tiling, rotation, coloration, falloff and opacity for material applied to polygons
Automatically reload biomes when mounting/building a package containing biome or species definitions
Color Extractor window is no longer available as it was causing some crashes
Fixed a crash in the Scenery Editor when deleting a package with pending modifications
Fixed pink airport when moving far away
Fixed rectangular apron rotation
Fixed Scenery Editor soft lock when closing and trying to save
Fixed sim object bounding boxes
Fixed update object list after building a package with models
Generate Taxiway Signs no longer crashes when the package is not built
Hiding and Lock system rework. New icons to make buttons more intuitive to use. More info check the official documentation on the Scenery Editor
Improved Text rendering on NanoVG, in particular stretched text
Moving a group that contains standalone towers no longer crashes the game
Clicking the “Create Hierarchy by Type” button no longer crashes the game
Optimized projected meshes
Projected Meshes can now be selected by clicking on it in the viewport
Projected Meshes no longer randomly disappear in Edition
Removed all the sub-edition options (add/remove points, subdivide edge, etc) from the squared apron right-click menu
Removed irrelevant options (tire mark, end cap, tire gum, etc) for material type of Taxiway Path
Removed the ‘Scripts’ section of TaxiwayParking properties
No longer see a ‘ghost’ of the object when unchecking ‘One-click placing’ checkbox
Sample
Templates.xml: Fixed a bug that caused some interactions hints to show incorrect bindings
Added missing content info thumbnail on simple aircraft sample
Updated sample jetway model and animation
Material editor
Fixed valid bitmap label displayed in red in Bitmap Manager. Fixed bitmap size fisplay in Inspector
Improved material deletion warning prompt clarity
Simvars
Added a new simvar: COM_RECEIVE_EX1 (with the target com receiver as index) returning the state of the com receiver without checking the transmitter state
Added a new [settable] simvar: INTERACTIVE_POINT_GOAL (with the target interactive point as index) which let developpers set an in bewteen position to an interactive point instead of the default open/closed
Fixed a bug with the COM_RECEIVER simvar initialisation which would badly initialize COM and NAV circuits switch state within the electrical system
Added simvar RECIP ENG SUPERCHARGER ACTIVE GEAR
Fixed several simvar Getter and Setter. Lots of Getter were false and referenced the same simvar. Lots of setter were missing. Now, every simvar about “BREAKER” should be gettable/settable
Fixed FLAPS_HANDLE_INDEX simvar behavior on increment/decrement events
Added simvar “GPS OVERRIDDEN”, which disables the sim GPS engine update and allows the user to write to the GPS simvars
Made simvar “GPS DRIVES NAV1” writable
AUTOPILOT NAV SELECTED can now be written to select a different nav radio index
Added AUTOPILOT DEFAULT PITCH MODE and AUTOPILOT DEFAULT ROLL MODE read-only simvars
Console
Several UX/UI improvements to the console: multiple messages selection, “Log to file” feature, more visibility to the Details section, new “Copy” button
Script editor
Fixed editor not closing if a modification has not been saved before
WASM
Removed some math optimizations in wasm which created inaccuracies
VFX editor
Coordinate systems have been standardized for positions and velocities. They now use the same system, ECEF world or local, depending on a single parameter
Position and rotation offsets are now always expressed in the space local to the attachment (node or contact point)
Clamping of manual inputs in the node graph is now handled properly
Added “Graph Parameters”, which allows to specify an RPN code in a model behavior, to execute it in a VFX graph using the new “Graph Parameter” node
Added an “EmitInLocalSpace” parameter on the Emitter block to control the spaces where your VFX lives
Added a “LocalDirection” node to initialize position & velocities relative to your local space for effects that live in world space
Added an “Age” attribute for the GetInstanceAttribute node
Added a “Color” node with a color picker
General stability improvements. Duplication, Deletion, Copy & Paste shortcuts now available in the node graph editor
Copy and Paste are now supported across documents
New Document, Undo and Redo shortcuts now work properly
It is no longer possible to connect the output of a node to the input of an upstream node
New Visual Effects now have a working material by default
Fixed a crash when a multiplayer plane spawns an effect setup on a contact point
Fixed occasional wrong triggering of water landing effect
Fixed offset display in VisualEffects spawner tab, feet converted to meters
Removed “visible” and “enabled” properties from node edition data
Removed the confusing “Add…” drag and drop button to create new Object References in node graph inspector
Removed the edition data tab in node graph inspector, it does not display any relevant information
Removed the edition data related to deleted nodes
Removed the redundant “Items Tree” window
Removed unnecessary nodes from VFX template
Removed “AttachToEmitterTranslation/Rotation” parameters in the Emitter block (replaced by EmitInLocalSpace)