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FSX:SE Sim Connect Hell

Flyer50

Flyer50

Messages
40
Country
us-texas
Hi all,


I’ve been trying to build a personal-use co-pilot app for FSX: Steam Edition, but I’m completely stuck on SimConnect integration.


I’ve spent about a month working on this and have a solid UI, but I cannot get any working connection to FSX, across multiple approaches and languages.



Environment​


  • FSX: Steam Edition (installed on D: drive)
  • App running locally on same machine (C: and D: drives)
  • Using Electron + Node.js for main app
  • Also tested with:
    • C#
    • C++
    • Python
  • SimConnect + FSUIPC4 both installed


Current Issue​


I’m now attempting to use node-simconnect, but I’m hitting import/runtime errors immediately:



import { open, SimObjectType, Period } from 'node-simconnect';


Error:




SyntaxError: The requested module 'node-simconnect' does not provide an export named 'Period'



This happens during Electron app startup.



What I’ve Tried​


  • Multiple languages (C#, C++, Python) → no successful connection
  • Using Node.js + Electron with node-simconnect
  • Running FSX before launching app
  • Verifying SimConnect is installed via FSX:SE
  • Using FSUIPC4 as alternative bridge
  • Different project setups and rebuilds


Observed Behavior​


  • Either:
    • No connection at all (silent failure), or
    • Immediate module/runtime errors (Node environment)


What I Need Help With​


  1. Is node-simconnect actually compatible with FSX:SE + modern Node/Electron?
  2. Has anyone successfully connected to FSX:SE using Node.js, or should I abandon this approach?
  3. Why would SimConnect fail silently across multiple languages?
  4. Is there a known working minimal example (any language) for FSX:SE specifically?
  5. Could this be a SimConnect version mismatch issue with Steam Edition?


Context​


I’m not building anything commercial—just trying to create tools like a first officer assistant and weather integration for my own use.


At this point, it feels like I’m missing something fundamental with SimConnect itself, not just my code.



Any guidance, working examples, or direction would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks.
 
Looks like you found the problem. I will get back to you. Since I do frontEndDesign im going out of my comfort zone.🤞
 
Hi! node-simconnect developer here :wave:

I developed node-simconnect for the Virtual Norwegian Pilot Client which is based on Electron (64-bit) and connects fine with FSX:SE.

The key thing with Electron is that you need to put all the code that uses node-simconnect in the main process (not the renderer process), since only the main process has access to native low-level system APIs like TCP sockets and pipes, which SimConnect uses. You’ll then need to use Electron's IPC API to send data and commands back and forth between the main and renderer processes.

Make sure to check out one of the examples that you can run in the terminal, like this one.
 
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