DCS: World

Friday Development Update - February 07, 2014
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Hello everyone,
A very busy week here in the office. I’ve finished the alpha version of the Fw 190D-9 manual. Really enjoyed it. Starting on the 109K-4 manual next week, should be easier and quicker. Had a lot of fun scouring gigabytes of scanned original documents looking for info on cockpit controls, system diagrams, procedures, numbers, etc. Totally new experience for me, even after what, 14 years of doing flight simulations.



Thanks to the manual and a certain button in the Dora cockpit, we have a new office meme. We’ve always been a memetastic group. Most people don’t realize just how juvenile a bunch of flight sim developers can be. One minute we’ll have an aircraft designer with 20 years of experience designing real planes fill out the whiteboard with formulas in order to double-check some flight test curves, and the next minute he’s bellowing animal sounds and making Gumbys faces.

We were woefully short on a DCS meme, and now, thankfully, we have one. We could not be happier.

There is a little thing stuck in the far back corner of the Dora’s left console that the manuals call the Flugzeugvernichter, that is, Aircraft Self-Destruct. Somehow the word Vernichter just really stuck, and now the entire office presses invisible buttons and yells “Vernichter”. We also have to add it to the end of every German aviation term we can. Spreizklappenanzeigen? Spreizklappenanzeigen Vernichter! Kraftstoffverneblerleitung? Kraftstoffverneblerleitung Vernichter!

What do you call a device that destroys your ability to disable the self-destruct button for your aircraft? A Flugzeugvernichtervernichtervernichter.

As any inside joke, it’s probably weird to anyone outside out small group of old friends, but, well, we enjoy the heck out of it right now.

Now, another really exciting thing we’re doing this week is playing with Oculus Rift. It’s pretty good, although the implementation is pretty basic at the moment. No 6DOF yet, and the world outside is a bit warpy and it looks like you’re inside an egg, but the immersion of being inside the cockpit is just superb. It is such an incredible breakthrough, the feeling is so life-like, that words simply cannot describe it. Once I put it on, I don't want to take it off. Could spend hours just flying over the landscape and watching things move around.


Great Scott!
Also, it’s really fun to bug people wearing a full face mask while playing a game. As you can see everything they’re doing on the screen, we love to add extra immersion by kicking and poking the player at the right moment. Also, it’s extremely annoying and maddening when those louts at the office break my immersion by kicking and poking me while I’m trying to enjoy an awesome gadget.

And finally, here’s a sneak peak at something else that's really beginning to shape up nicely.


Hope you guys have a good weekend!

Progress...

Just a little vid to show you AM radio tests, communication with wingman

Roland WIP

Remember that little "surprise" we had for the DCS crowd? well here it is:
Announcing the Mirage 2000C for DCS, with a superb model from Metal2Mesh (creators of some of the finest models around) we´ll bring to DCS this magnificent product. We have learned so much during the T-2 development process that we decided to move forward with this high performance and high profile fighter. Does this means we cancelled the T-2? not at all, gentlemen, it´s just being moved aside for the time being. But enough of the chatter, let´s put some pics here!..
Also, we´ll have another big DCS surprise shortly, regarding other models being readied for DCS, all these will have an AFM , aiming for the highest fidelity possible, in a combat simulator.
Gentlemen, we officially announce, the RAZBAM Mirage 2000C for DCS

Su-24M WIP.

Dear All,
Here is the current situation with the Hawk anticipated release date for the end of February.

We are still in discussion with BAE regarding the IPR licence agreement of using the Hawk name, shape and functionality of the aircraft. This has taken longer than expected and will put us past the anticipated February release date.

There are also some fundamental changes coming in DCS World 1.2.8. that benefit all 3rd party developers and you, the pilots flying our mods.

We feel that given the delay on the IPR issue, we can benefit from these changes in 1.2.8 and want to make full use of them to give you a better product.

Therefore; release of the Hawk will be delayed until the IPR issue is resolved and DCS World 1.2.8. has been released to the public.

We would like to thank you for your continued support and patience on the Hawk project and look forward to seeing you flying Hawk around in DCS soon.

Chris and the VEAO team

Some Screenies of the Roof Console and the Collective.

Less time in the moment. Exterior model is unwrapped and ready for skinning.

I'll use this post to collect your wishes, concerning the skins you like.

Thanx again for your patience

So, I got permission for Oculus to say a bit more...

Both myself and the team in Moscow have the HD Prototypes that are 1080P. (1920x1080)
Split to 960x1080 per eye. It also has reduced latency. This version already provides a much better experience than the DK1 with 640x800 per eye (split).

Alex has been working with it the last week and we already have DCS up and running on the Rift to include:

Head tracking
Re-centering hot key
Automatic Rift detection
Stereo 3D
Fixed HUD projection for 3D
In-mission GUI
Using Rift for view control in Replays
F2 view working with Rift control
Adjustments for distortion and chromatic aberration

More to still do, but things are shaping up well.

-Matt

Press Release

NEW CUSTOMER BONUS SYSTEM!

DUXFORD, UK, February 19th, 2014 – The Fighter Collection and Eagle Dynamics will reward our loyal customers with a new bonus system that will provide discounts with DCS product purchases.

When purchasing a DCS product a full price (not on a discount sale, or discounted price), customers will receive a 20% bonus based on the price of the purchased DCS product! A bonus is applied to only the first purchase of a specific DCS product.

If you purchase two DCS products at full price, you will receive a DCS bonus of 25% based on the value of the order.

This bonus escalates with the purchase of additional DCS products:

• 3 DCS products: 30%
• 4 DCS Products: 35%
• 5 DCS Products: 40%
• 6 DCS Products: 45%
• 7 DCS Products: 50%
• 8 DCS Products: 55%
• 9 and more DCS Products: 60%

Customers that purchased DCS products at full price prior to the start of the bonus program can register their products and receive a bonus of 20% of the purchased price.

These bonuses will be credited on the customers’ personal Bonus Accounts of the DCS website. Customer bonus funds can only be redeemed for the purchase of DCS products from www.digitalcombatsimulator.com.

The bonuses for previous purchases can be reviewed at:
English: http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/personal/account/
Russian: http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/ru/personal/account/
Note: Bonus accounts are based on the local currency of purchases.

About DCS World
DCS World is a vehicle combat simulation game created by Eagle Dynamics. DCS World uses a powerful engine that delivers realistic and engaging gameplay. The battlefield includes a spectacular mission area - the location of the Georgian conflict in 2008. Fly the Su-25T in a massive, semi-dynamic campaign to achieve dominance in the skies over Georgia! DCS World serves as the basis for which all DCS aircraft operate within.

The huge variety of aircraft, land units and warships are included from countries such as the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and others. Units are controlled by sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI) and they have an amazing level of detail. This all allows for the creation of engaging, real-world combat missions in this flashpoint region. DCS is a true "sandbox" simulation that can and will cover multiple time periods covering many types of combat and civilian units.

About The Fighter Collection
The Fighter Collection, as well as developing software for the entertainment and serious game markets, also operates, rebuilds and maintains Europe's largest collection of airworthy WWII fighters and is based at Duxford Airfield, in the UK. For more information visit our websites: http://www.fighter-collection.com/

Originally Posted by Scrim View Post
I just gotta ask, if you've actually sorted out your issues within the team, what's up with almost every single YT film of your module still being set to private?

Surely you understand why that isn't exactly incredibly trust inspiring, or why it doesn't make sense? I can hardly imagine there being some complex bureaucratic process behind making YT films public.

The account those videos were posted under is deprecated following the internal structural changes.

The MiG-21 is a completely different aircraft from the time of those videos. Almost every single line of code and every piece of artwork has been replaced or changed in some way.
They are not representative of anything anymore. This of course does not include the latest startup video that was posted.

We will be posting new videos soon.

Friday February 21, 2014 Development Update – The Importance of Planning Ahead
2 comments Liked 16 likes
Afternoon gentlemen!

Sorry, I was traveling back home last weekend, had to skip out on the update.

This Friday, my usual practice of selecting something to show on Friday morning proved very near-sighted. My plan to show the Bf.109 as it is in the engine came to a screeching halt.

As DCS WWII is part of the general DCS development environment, a bug introduced on Thursday made the entire environment look off. Very off. Everything is black and shiny.

I have screenshots and I’m still not sure what’s worse, to show them or not to show them.

This is pretty normal for a development environment, that’s what keeps it less tedious and gets the developers chuckling, but I’m not sure if publicly showing silly bugs, especially someone else’s bugs, is really appropriate.

Basically, imagine the entire game world covered with black lacquer, and you’ll get the rough idea of what everything has looked like for the past two days.

Perhaps, the best solution is to keep these for now, then do a non-Friday update early next week once the bug is fixed, where we can show what the bug looked like, and what it looks like with the bug fixed and the cockpit systems working.

Other than that, the work is progressing. The two-man team making the Bf.109 are ticking off their tasks. The systems programmer is currently finishing up the FuG 16ZY implementation, and the aerodynamics programmer is doing the MW 50.

The best bit of news for this week is that the web programmer our team is sharing with a lot of other development tasks has finally jumped back onto our web interface, the work that had lay dormant for some time. He’s been doing nothing but our stuff since Monday. I’ve made some overly optimistic predictions before, so I won’t today, but the plan is to stay on the task until it’s complete and released to the public.

On the Fw 190D-9 front, we’ve hit a bit of an unexpected barrier. While we have gigabytes of original factory documents on this aircraft, as it turns out, some of the less important systems just don’t have a good enough technical description in any of the sources available to us. It was a lot easier with the P-51 because we had access to a living breathing aircraft and to the men who fly it. With the Dora, we don’t have that luxury.

We have a list of about a dozen questions on things like the circuit breaker panel and the oxygen system and info plates like deviation tables and Baumusterkartes. We need to have one last internal discussion Monday, and then we’ll probably post these publicly. Hopefully someone in the community will have some rare bit of knowledge that we don’t that will allow us to close that final tiny gap in our references.

On a final note, several of our external team members are located in Kiev, Ukraine. I’ve been to that beautiful city many times. Clean, green, always pleasant, wonderful people, great food. One of the few cities in the world I’m always glad to visit, always sad to leave. I was actually looking forward to flying down there for a couple of days this trip, and I’m absolutely crushed by the recent events. It breaks my heart to see the streets I’ve often walked on fire.

I really hope that somehow, some way, the situation will deescalate, things will come down, and people will stop dying in the streets. How incredible to even be writing these words.

Let’s all hope for a speedy resolution to this crisis.

Dear all,

We are looking for detailed information on the M1A2, preferably SEP update, to include:

1- Commander's independent thermal viewer (CITV) with second-generation thermal imager, commander's display for digital colour terrain maps for IVIS.

2- DRS Technologies second-generation GEN II TIS thermal imaging gunner's sight.

3- Inter-Vehicle Information System (IVIS.) The IVIS system allows for the automatic and continual exchange of information between vehicles. By incorporating information provided by an on board Position/Navigation (POSNAV) system, unit commander's can track the location and progress of subordinate elements automatically, without tasking vehicle crews. In addition enemy positions can be identified, plotted and disseminated, while reports and artillery requests can be automatically formatted, transmitted, and processed. Lastly, map graphic control measures and operational orders can be rapidly distributed via the IVIS system.

4- Complete and detailed description of the driver control system and driver's integrated display and thermal management system.

4- Detailed functional description of all commander, gunner and driver control panels.

5- Detailed and complete photography of inside commander, gunner, loader, and driver areas.

- Note, please do not just link to items found on Google. Been there, done that.

If you feel you have unique data that is NOT classified, pleas drop me a PM. We may also be looking for M1A2 SMEs.

Thanks!
Matt

Announcement coming in the first days of next week.

Hello,

I'm writing a manual for DCS Fw 190D-9. It's generally finished; however there are some holes in the historical reference we have. Some of the more obscure systems are not very well described at all, or at least, not in the way that we need to properly model them in a flight sim.

Here's my list.

1. Is there any info on the technical specs of the boosted controls?
By looking at the blueprints we can easily see the simple mechanism, but we need numbers. Is there anything like a graph or a text that says that for x degrees of control deflection you get y degrees of surface movement?

2. Same question for the engine's Bediengerät. Are there any numbers on it, precise data, as in, for an input of x, the device outputs y?

3. We cannot find good info on MW-50 Controls. Where is the On-Off switch? What does it look like (assuming Fl 32350). What about the MW-B4-Selector?

4. How does the Notzug system interact with the MW-50 system?

5. Is there the Auto-Hand Luftschraube switch with the corresponding rocker switch on the throttle, as on the earlier variants?

6. We could use more info on the pull-out Kuhlerklappen handle. When was it used? What effect did the flaps have? Was it in any way connected with the Bediengerät?

7. Is there a good quality hydraulic system diagram anywhere?

8. We need better info on the circuit breaker on the right console. What were all the buttons? What were the standard captions for each?

9. We need better oxygen system info: tank capacity, which order the tanks were used in, approx. oxygen supply at different altitudes.

10. Some references have the left console with only one FuG 16 ZY frequency dial, while others have a second one next to it.
The first one we’re clear on, but the second one – the FuG 16 ZY Handbuch does not seem to mention it, but it's right there in the aircraft Ersatzteilliste. We have no idea what the switch does.

11. The Frequency dial – what do the frequencies actually do?
The I position is for Y-Führungsfrequenz, or Management frequency.
The II position is for Gruppenbefehlsfrequenz, or Group Order frequency.
The ∆ position is for Nah-Flugsicherungsfrequenz, or the Air Traffic Control frequency.
The □ position is for Reichsjägerfrequenz, or Reich Fighter Defense Frequency.
That we're clear on. What they were used for however, we need more info on that.

12. The frequency dial and the AD 18 switch – what in the world does it affect? What's E-Messbetrieb? What's Zielflug-Anzeige? How did they actually work? What were the cockpit procedures?

And why does the FuG-16 Handbuch only list interactions with AD 18 for Frequenzschalter in positions I and II, and nothing about ∆and □?

13. What did the earphone plug look like?

14. What did the Flugzeugvernichter button look like? A cockpit diagram from the Lehrmittel appears to show it as an actual cockpit control on the right console.

15. What did the Dora's “Hinweisschild u.Bauteilschild” look like?

16. What did the Dora's Baumusterkarte look like?

Dear DCS Community,

First of all, a massive thank you for your patience.
We know it is frustrating to be kept in the dark, especially after the bombshell of an announcement that was dropped in January.
It was never our intent for our internal issues to go public. Unfortunately we've had to hold off on making this announcement for far too long.

Every team and business will at some point undergo difficult times, times where everything is seemingly smashed to pieces and the outlook seems most dire.
After having experienced this, we can look forward to a bright future, moving forward as a team that is now stronger than ever.

While we appreciate the fact that everyone is eager to know exactly what lead us to the internal difficulties,
we feel the need to keep as much of our private matters, private. We're here to deliver top-notch quality DCS products, not to run a forum soap opera.

No development team can exist without trust between its' members.
Of paramount importance is internal transparency and accountability-- especially with regards to financial transactions. A key issue was identified
where this requirement of trust broke down, and as such, steps had to be taken to protect everyone involved in the development of this module.

We can confirm that Laszlo “beczl” Becz has recently left the MiG-21 team.
Beczl has resigned his position amicably, and without any external or internal pressure to do so.

Hence, we are hereby known as Leatherneck Simulations and we are here to stay.


This internal restructuring primarily affect those of you who have backed the MiG-21 project on IndieGoGo.

To make it abundantly clear:

We do not have, nor will we receive, a single cent of the funds raised on IndieGoGo.

However: in the interest of goodwill and as a thank you for your incredible support over the years, we will honor each and every backer to its' fullest extent, at our own cost.
Some physical items that you are entitled to may be slightly delayed (Shirts, DVDs, etc.). We simply do not have the money required to produce these items en masse before release.

In essence, the only difference to you (the backer) -- is that you may have to wait a short period to receive your physical goods. We hope that is amicable.



Q&A

Hold On! Isn't Beczl the founder of the DCS: MiG-21?
Yes and No. The DCS: MiG-21 started as a 50/50 partnership between beczl and Novak Djordjijevic (Dolphin887). Novak has been the driving force for code development on the MiG-21 for the past 3 years, and is responsible for the majority its' codebase.

Who is Novak?
Novak has been with the project since day one, and has been the main driving force behind the code development of the DCS: MiG-21. The majority of the systems and the AFM can be attributed to Novak. With only 38 posts on the forum to date, it is understandable that he has flown under the radar.

Can I get a refund for my IndieGoGo contribution?
This is not our responsibility or decision.
We will honor your contribution to its' fullest extent at our own cost.
We do not have any of the money contributed via the IndieGoGo campaign.

Whatever you drama queens. When is this damn thing getting released?
While work has continued at a steady pace during these internal issues, it goes without saying that we are now slightly short on manpower and time has been lost.

We are looking at several options for release windows. Do not expect a long delay from the previously announced release date.

WHAT!? But you said March 30th?!
At that time, no one expected something this big to occur and hinder our development progress.
We are committed to giving you accurate and realistic time frames.

It is what you deserve and what we should be held accountable for. We will see to it that this is the case in the future.

But, seriously, when are you releasing?
There will be more info on this soon. Promise.

What happened to all the videos?
The videos are old, outdated and do not paint a proper picture of the module at this point in time.
The aircraft is a completely different piece of software relatively to a year ago.

We will post new videos very soon.

What about the MiG-23?
The MiG-23 is not in our near-future plans. It remains an attractive option for us in the long-term, as code commonality with the MiG-21 amounts to roughly 60-70%.

We hope to share future plans with you soon. There are things we are incredibly excited to show you.

I have more questions?
Feel free to ask in this thread. We understand that recent events are frustrating from an outside perspective. We are committed to to DCS and hope we can put your fears to rest.


Once again, a sincere thank you for your support, patience and understanding.
With your continued support we are here to stay and will help to foster a simulation environment that is everything a simmer could ever wish for.

Look towards a new development update for the MiG-21 later today.

Sincerely,

Leatherneck Simulations
DCS: MiG-21bis Team
__________________
Artist
Leatherneck Simulations

DCS: MiG-21bis

Coretex Designs
Update: 01-01-14


In the past three months we've made some great progress throughout our development. Below you will find some of our development updates categorized by their areas of progress.

Company Progress

- We're in the process of registering Coretex Designs as a Limited Liability Company. We are expecting our registration to be completed mid-March.

- A new programmer has joined to ease the workload of development.

- A new cockpit artist has joined Coretex Designs to work on all our modules. (The_Fragger)

F/A-18E Super Hornet Progress

Note: Everything is a work in progress, and should not represent the final module.

EFM/AFM

- We are still proceeding with testing and tuning the flight model to our testers feedback.

Cockpit Programming

-Weapons systems are being implemented.

- Added Manual and CCIP modes in conjunction with Single, Salvo, Ripple Single, and Ripple Multiple sequences
- EADI (Electronic Attitude Display Indicator) Added
- EFD (Engine Fuel Display) Completed
- AOA (Angle Of Attack) Indexer Added



3D Progress
(Photo's Below)

- Hook Re-Vamped
- Refueling Probe Re-Vamped
- Pylons Re-Vamped
- ECS (Environmental Control System) Auxiliary Duct Doors Added
- KY-58 Control Panel Added
- Wing Flex Added
- Pilot Complete (Created By: Sven Borchert)



2D Progress
(Photo's Below)

- Pilot Diffuse/Normal Maps Complete (Sven Borchert)
- Cockpit textures are actively being worked on. (The_Fragger)

At the top of this thread you will find a poll we have created that we would like your input on. Your input will determine our next course of action, and it would be appreciated greatly.

As always, we hope you stick around to follow our updates, and support our development. If you have any comments, concerns, or suggestions feel free to contact us through Skype, Email or any of our social media networks posted below.

Thank You, The Coretex Designs Team

Hey all, since the T-2 updates have slowed a bit, I figured that would justify more detailed updates within their own separate thread to keep updates more organized. so here goes...

I'm just the flight model and system coder so no new eye candy, unfortunately all my stuff is under the hood.

1. Now that we have branched into multiple projects at a time, I am reworking the entire code structure to be even more modular than before. I did a little bit of this before but I'm breaking everything up even further so that common code elements can be dropped in across airframe models relatively easily. This is taking a bit of time but hopefully will save time in the long run

2. Matured some of the systems models to include engine, hydraulics, and landing gear. The code structure has been developed for the electrical system and I hope to try integrating some of the example radio code to try that out as well. I also hope to improve the weapons coding a bit. I'm also making small tweaks and improvements as I learn more about the SDK.

3. The flight model is pretty solidified. Once I get the engine model a little better I can start doing performance comparisons to the spec. I've done very minor spot tests and they look really good.

I know many of you were under the assumption that because other projects were being worked on, that the T-2 is completely dropped but that is not the case at all!

Back to work

BelSimTek Nearing Completion of F-15C Advanced Flight and Engine Models
The original F-15C flight model currently featured in DCS was developed over a decade ago and represents an earlier generation of simulation technology. Despite demonstrating generally correct aerodynamic performance under normal flight conditions and providing great gameplay, current user expectations, available computer power, and developer expertise demand a higher level of fidelity. As a result, a comprehensive advanced flight model of the primary U.S. jet fighter, the F-15C Eagle, has been under development for DCS.

The complete aerodynamics model accounts for mass, force, and moment interactions of the aircraft’s elements as subjected to airflow. Unlike the previous model, which regarded the aircraft as a single point of focus, the new flight model consists of individual aircraft elements carefully tuned to reflect their unique aerodynamic characteristics and joined together to determine the sum vector of the airframe’s momentum.

Over a year a hard work has gone into the development of this model and now it is finally ready for initial external testing. The primary element of the new model is accurate aerodynamic performance that closely matches the characteristics of the real F-15C Eagle throughout the flight envelope, including in critical angles of attack, stalls, and spins. Maneuverability characteristics are also correctly modeled throughout the flight envelope, providing accurate performance in acceleration, available sustained G, maximum airspeeds, maximum altitudes and other characteristics.

Of course even real aircraft differ somewhat from their documented performance characteristics due to slight individual variability, but we have made every effort to ensure you are truly immersed in the experience of driving – without a doubt – one of the best fighters of the 20th century.

In addition to the aerodynamics model, the flight model includes a new engine model, based on the F100-PW-220 engine with increased dry and afterburner thrust. The model accounts for inverted and negative G flight effects and features a special afterburner component model. The flight model also includes a new fuel system model as well as nosewheel steering and wheel brake component models.

Special attention was paid to accurately recreate the design of the F-15C flight control system, including Pitch Ratio control adjusted for airspeed and altitude, Aileron/Rudder Interconnect (ARI), Control Augmentation System (CAS), Attitude and Altitude autopilots, and the Pitch Trim Compensator (PTC).

The new model significantly improves the entire flying experience, making special flight conditions like air to air refueling, landing, and edge of the envelope flying far more dynamic, exciting, and even more challenging. Straight and level flight no longer feels like “flying on rails” while maneuvering flight provides a sensation of the power and control in your hands.

At this stage of development, we can confidently provide a highly accurate aerodynamics model of the F-15C accompanied by a partly reproduced systems model.

The estimated release date of the new flight model for F-15C Eagle DCS module is late March, 2014.

Friday March 07, 2014 Development Update – We're Getting THere
6 comments Liked 17 likes
These regular updates are really hard to do when you’re in pre-alpha. If there’s one thing I learned during this project, it’s that there really was a very good reason for the industry standard to announce and market projects after they’re ready and playable.
I yearn for the days of yore when I could just boot up a game, set up a quick scenario, snap a bunch of action screenshots, and be done with a Friday update in an hour.

Actually, I yearn for the day of even yore-er yore. Seems like it was just yesterday when I could say, hey, I’d like to fly plane X. And a month or so later I’d be flying it. It’s only been, what, 10 years since that was the case. Of course, there’s no going back to that. Even the simplest flying games of today probably can’t do an airplane in a month. I myself can barely stand to look, much less to fly, airplanes from 10 years ago. But I am still a bit sad about all the work that goes into the extra quality. If you were to draw a graph on work hours vs simulation quality, the line grows exponentially.

And while you’re here, close but not quite at the self-imposed 100%, progress is very hard to show.

First of all, here’s where we are with the backer rewards section. We really tried to have it operational last Friday, but internal testing showed that once again we had a logical flaw for larger reward tiers with more than one copy of a stock plane selected. Had to drastically redo the flyable selection this week. Lost all the prettiness and ended up with a painfully simple design, but at least it works.

I guess the page is ready for the world, we just have one final task: to merge the kickstarter and paypal database of backers with the DCS site member list, the hardest part of which is dealing with accounts for backers that do not currently have a digitalcombatsimulator.com user profile.



On the aircraft front, we finally do have a delay on one aircraft model, the P-47 external. We had a long unpleasant saga with trying to get high-quality original blueprints for it last summer. That took longer than anticipated, and what we got was not as thorough as we needed. Once we finally got into animating all the bits and pieces of the aircraft, we’ve realized that our data was not good enough, and that some parts would go out of alignment when moved. We had to go chasing pixels, and start fitting parts back together, animating, measuring, refitting, and trying again. This, again, goes back to my earlier point about standards. In an older game, we’d never care that an aileron slightly clips through the wing when fully deflected. We wouldn’t care that a gear strut does a physically impossible warp a few inches to the side in order to move to the down and locked position. And so with DCS, we have to go and make sure every movement is absolutely perfect, spending more time on these details than on the entire model in an older project.

The 109, our flagship, the pinnacle of our hopes and desires, is still a bit shiny everywhere. Not nearly as bad as two weeks ago, but it still fluctuates. Graphics programmers are slowly but surely moving DCS over to DX11, and it’s a process.

The choice for me is extremely painful - show nothing, or show something that does not look great.


Shiny!


From switch to shining switch

The cockpit programming is complete. All the gauges and switches and systems are working, except, annoyingly from the point of a Friday update, you cannot see it in the cockpit yet. We can see it all in debug mode. However DCS cockpits are done in a peculiar complex way, different from what we’re used to from before, and a programmer cannot simply tell a certain needle to rotate a certain number of degrees. As it is during most of the process, the cockpit mesh is a monolith. In our previous projects, we would simply make each moving part a separate object with a pivot, and the programmer would move that object about that pivot when needed. In DCS, we have to do a lot more work on cockpit animations, doing them manually, and we’re still waiting for them to be complete.

In the meantime, all the gauges gauge, and the switches operate all the systems, the radio talks, the AFN2 guides you to airfields (the only objects at the moment you can guide to), everything works, and this would have been a great time to make a cockpit procedures video, except you can only see all of that happening in debug readouts and not in the cockpit 3D model.

So, since I’ve made too many overly optimistic predictions in the past, I won’t this time. I will only say that it’s very frustrating for me to write these kind of updates, that I really want to have a fully functional plane I can take for a spin and screenshot away, and that we really are tantalizingly close.

OK, it's late, I'm still awake, just finished few things with Mike /Rudel/.
I have few minutes for update - not a fancy one /I have low-end PC, no fancy screens.../.

In latest set of weapons tests, Roland and I implemented 3 pods available for RU planes: GUV-7800 G, GUV-7800 M and UPK-23-250. Note that I have never saw 21Bis with any of these.

Most integrated weapon is UPK-23-250. Really impressive thing and closest to MiG-21Bis weapon system. I really recommend that one instead of 7800M. It has 2xGsh 23mm guns /which is the same gun 21 have/ and can pack serious punch. Besides, it fits the ASP natively. Pure Eagle weapon, no tweaks or "guessed" stuff. UPK will come with 21 for sure, well see about other things /more integration and tests needed... time?/.

I have no screens at the moment, sorry. Mike might fire few rounds for you if he has some time tomorrow.

As for the Kh-66, it's done also. You will have difficulties with this weapon, although it is a fun and a challenge to use it. Ill tell you just one thing that will create a lot of problems: asymmetric load after one missile is fired. Asymmetric load for heavy payload is not allowed on 21. However, once you get in the cockpit it will be your problem. At the moment it is ours. You'll have to discover other problems and realize why weapon development went the other way.

We only need to integrate new Kh control box although it could be used even without it.

(Note: screens here are 3 days old, that's all I have at the moment.)