Ells228 Veteran



Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: London, UK Posts: 7,457

August 2016 Dev Update

I can't believe it's the end of August already, where has this year gone??



Being the holiday season mainly over here in Europe a few of our team are off enjoying the summer sunshine which means development slows down a little; however this does give me some more time to actually enjoy flying the aircraft whilst doing more lengthy testing sessions rather than just jumping in, testing a specific system and back out of DCS, multiple times, over and over.



As most of you know I'm more of a jet head but I have to say I'm thoroughly enjoying flying the P-40F with all of it's little quirks, especially in VR.

One thing that really struck me the other day was doing circuit bashing, trying to get my landings right (to save embarrassment later) and in the P-40F cockpit along both sides are two big canopy frame bars that run the entire length of the canopy.

You really feel how close these are in VR and when turning final you have to hunker down to see under the canopy bar to keep your bearings on the runway.

I remember speaking to the pilots at various Duxford air shows and they talked about this a lot.

Chatting to Stevo Hinton when we got a chance to sit in Princess Liz a couple of years back I remember this big bar running down the canopy and imagining how Stevo would have to hunker down to see out, which he was explaining; well you really get this feeling in the P-40F as well, especially in VR.



As I've said before the P-40F has really been designed with VR in mind from the model to the textures as these add massively to the whole VR experience, along with the sounds of course.

Which brings me nicely on to what I'm working on today in fact. Updated sounds from our sound engineer are being integrated into the module replacing our temporary place-holder sounds.

It really is amazing how sounds make a huge difference to the whole experience and I can't wait for you to hear the roar of the Merlin as you taxi out and do your power checks with the canopy open and then can still hear and feel that roar as you close the canopy and wind her up for take off.

As I've said I'm more of a jet head but man I'm loving this bird, more than any of the other WWII aircraft in DCS and I hope you will too.



Flight testing against the numbers has also started and many thanks to the tireless repetitiveness of testing from our core testing team to record the flights for analysis against the numbers.

This is essential for ensuring the EFM is as accurate as possible, along with the niggly quirks given to us by the pilots who fly her at TFC Duxford.

We obviously want our first WWII module to be special and the team have done an amazing job on this one.



Chuck is chomping at the bit to get his hands on P-40F for making a video for you guys and making one of his excellent guides so keep an eye out for both of those coming soon.



Next steps for us are to polish off the module and get it over to TFC and ED for verification and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the reaction from you guys during future live flight streams.



Now, let's talk about Hawk.

She is definitely a labour of my love and we've had a rocky history over the past several years.

Most of you know the problems we have had with coding, textures, DCS updates causing issues and all of those things.

I feel we have learnt a hell of a lot from our first module release and she still teaches us how to do things today given the advancement of the sim.

These are lessons learnt which has given us a better direction going forward with our upcoming modules.

But, I hear you say, what about Hawk and all of those lessons...

Well, Hawk will be getting a major overhaul from a complete re-write of the ASM code to an updated cockpit to a realistic weapons suite and many more features.

We are bringing on new talented staff and utilising the excellent skills of our current staff to give her an upgrade.

I'm not going to go into details just yet about what that upgrade will include as I want it to be more of a surprise to you when it gets patched in the future but I think you'll like what I have planned



For now, the team are still concentrating on fixing the bugs that still exist, patching up the holes if you will, which will help with the upgrade later.



Again, I can assure you that Hawk has not been forgotten about.



On to the other side of the business, the military aspect and events promotion; I've had some excellent tech demo's over the past few months and some exciting opportunities are coming up which we are working on. Some are early discussions and some are more advanced and in final negotiations. These will also benefit our consumer side of the business and details will be revealed later on as to what aircraft they entail.

We are also working hard with our events partners and you should be seeing more of Hawk out and about very soon with an exciting livery on her. I'll be posting some screens soon on what we're working on so keep an eye out for them.



As we've said before; the updates will focus on our current and upcoming release products and work is still going strong on all of our other modules in development.

When they're closer to release we'll be posting more details about them.

However; do keep an eye on our Facebook page and chats through these forums as sometimes sneak peak stuff is discussed or shown.



Many thanks for your continued support and we wish you a great summer.

Chris and the team.



Edit >> Some screenies taken just now whilst sound testing with Jav. Good Morning Guys,I can't believe it's the end of August already, where has this year gone??Being the holiday season mainly over here in Europe a few of our team are off enjoying the summer sunshine which means development slows down a little; however this does give me some more time to actually enjoy flying the aircraft whilst doing more lengthy testing sessions rather than just jumping in, testing a specific system and back out of DCS, multiple times, over and over.As most of you know I'm more of a jet head but I have to say I'm thoroughly enjoying flying the P-40F with all of it's little quirks, especially in VR.One thing that really struck me the other day was doing circuit bashing, trying to get my landings right (to save embarrassment later) and in the P-40F cockpit along both sides are two big canopy frame bars that run the entire length of the canopy.You really feel how close these are in VR and when turning final you have to hunker down to see under the canopy bar to keep your bearings on the runway.I remember speaking to the pilots at various Duxford air shows and they talked about this a lot.Chatting to Stevo Hinton when we got a chance to sit in Princess Liz a couple of years back I remember this big bar running down the canopy and imagining how Stevo would have to hunker down to see out, which he was explaining; well you really get this feeling in the P-40F as well, especially in VR.As I've said before the P-40F has really been designed with VR in mind from the model to the textures as these add massively to the whole VR experience, along with the sounds of course.Which brings me nicely on to what I'm working on today in fact. Updated sounds from our sound engineer are being integrated into the module replacing our temporary place-holder sounds.It really is amazing how sounds make a huge difference to the whole experience and I can't wait for you to hear the roar of the Merlin as you taxi out and do your power checks with the canopy open and then can still hear and feel that roar as you close the canopy and wind her up for take off.As I've said I'm more of a jet head but man I'm loving this bird, more than any of the other WWII aircraft in DCS and I hope you will too.Flight testing against the numbers has also started and many thanks to the tireless repetitiveness of testing from our core testing team to record the flights for analysis against the numbers.This is essential for ensuring the EFM is as accurate as possible, along with the niggly quirks given to us by the pilots who fly her at TFC Duxford.We obviously want our first WWII module to be special and the team have done an amazing job on this one.Chuck is chomping at the bit to get his hands on P-40F for making a video for you guys and making one of his excellent guides so keep an eye out for both of those coming soon.Next steps for us are to polish off the module and get it over to TFC and ED for verification and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the reaction from you guys during future live flight streams.Now, let's talk about Hawk.She is definitely a labour of my love and we've had a rocky history over the past several years.Most of you know the problems we have had with coding, textures, DCS updates causing issues and all of those things.I feel we have learnt a hell of a lot from our first module release and she still teaches us how to do things today given the advancement of the sim.These are lessons learnt which has given us a better direction going forward with our upcoming modules.But, I hear you say, what about Hawk and all of those lessons...Well, Hawk will be getting a major overhaul from a complete re-write of the ASM code to an updated cockpit to a realistic weapons suite and many more features.We are bringing on new talented staff and utilising the excellent skills of our current staff to give her an upgrade.I'm not going to go into details just yet about what that upgrade will include as I want it to be more of a surprise to you when it gets patched in the future but I think you'll like what I have plannedFor now, the team are still concentrating on fixing the bugs that still exist, patching up the holes if you will, which will help with the upgrade later.Again, I can assure you that Hawk has not been forgotten about.On to the other side of the business, the military aspect and events promotion; I've had some excellent tech demo's over the past few months and some exciting opportunities are coming up which we are working on. Some are early discussions and some are more advanced and in final negotiations. These will also benefit our consumer side of the business and details will be revealed later on as to what aircraft they entail.We are also working hard with our events partners and you should be seeing more of Hawk out and about very soon with an exciting livery on her. I'll be posting some screens soon on what we're working on so keep an eye out for them.As we've said before; the updates will focus on our current and upcoming release products and work is still going strong on all of our other modules in development.When they're closer to release we'll be posting more details about them.However; do keep an eye on our Facebook page and chats through these forums as sometimes sneak peak stuff is discussed or shown.Many thanks for your continued support and we wish you a great summer.Chris and the team.Edit >> Some screenies taken just now whilst sound testing with Jav. Attached Thumbnails



Last edited by Ells228; 08-30-2016 at 12:23 PM . Reason: spelling :P