Thrustmaster have posted an article about the upcoming helo sim and an interview with Wes Eckhart. Here's an extract:
"During the planning process for Comanche 4, we sat back and took a look at what technologies were pushing video gaming forward in 2001. The latest 3D cards are designed specifically to push polys rather than voxels – unfortunately the Voxel engine did not take advantage of these new advancements. It made sense to use a polygon engine as it has allowed us to bring the Comanche world to life with a tremendous amount of detail, which has been enhanced through the latest 3D technology, the realism of the interactive terrain will simply blow players away."
SimRacingWorld have posted a look at the GP3 update. Generally, it's a very positive review and here's a snippet:
"Quite frankly, the improved AI is outstanding. The rival cars will now block more aggressively, will take any chance to overtake, and will not back off if you decide to block them while speeding on the straights (unlike GP3). I would go as far as saying that they are just as aggressive as real-life Formula One drivers are. It’s difficult to put into words what the AI is like, but trust me, the AI alone seems to make the money spent worthwhile."
As Bluesnews report, The Daily Telefrag have posted a preview entitled "Mid-air dogfight". Here's a snippet:
"I have to say it right away: the game is so captivating that it would stick even non-sim players to their monitors for hours. Even non-gaming staffs at our office are trying to take off taxing at the airstrip and study the dogfight basics as I am writing this. The reason for this is of course the historical authenticity, unique gameplay, and apparently the stunning graphics that IL-2 sports. I will go deeper into this later, but let me just note that even a casual IL-2 flight turns into a pure esthetical pleasure. The graphics is jaw-dropping, although this fact inevitably leads to a tough system requirements."
Thrustmaster have posted an informative article discussing the various sites that have sprung up lately. Here's a snippet:
"There have been a large number of dedicated IL-2 web sites, and these have grown up at an increased rate since the release of the demo. The release – or leak – of the raw demo has helped, in spite of the fact that the demo was meant for internal use and was not really intended to be available to the public. (There are a lot of unfinished features in the demo, including the flight models themselves)."
ThrustWorld is a new Online Gaming Sevice that will be opening soon. They are currently looking for beta testers. Here's their description of the service:
We will have a private games service which we are aiming to charge for at the price of £5 -£6 per month. You will be able to access it from any ISP. It will have prize money and prizes to the tune of £5000 per month.
As membership is paid for by the user we will ensure the service is operating the way you want it.
There will be the following features on our service:
Game only 0845 dial up DirectPlay Games support FPS games support Leagues Ladders Competitions Chat MessageBoards Personalised homepages when members enter the site News from TW General Games News Webspace for each member Email address @thrustworld.com for each member Clan server booking and rental Sponsorship for individuals and teams
The idea is to give you all what you want at good speeds and low cost. We are a business and we need to run this as a business, gone are the days of free games services especially with the content we will be giving you, there will be different packages available to purchase like one year up front for the price of 10 Months.
So what has this got to do with Simmers I hear you ask. Well they are going to have an extensive flight sim section with inter Squad leagues, dogfight leagues/ladders. Matching services for Janes F/A-18, EAW, IL2 (once released) and several other sims will be supported based on demand. There will also be a Nascar 4 championship and more. Prizes for the ladders etc will include Hotas Cougar's GeForce 3's, DvD Playes and plenty of other goodies.
Participation in the beta is open to anywhere in the world and is free with no obligation to become a member once the service goes live. All beta testers will receive a months free membership of the live service. I need people to test the flight sim side of things but testers will also be free to make use of all the other facilities including fps and rpg servers.
Sign up for the beta now (remember to quote Frugal's World as the source :) by clicking
HERE
Check out this thread in our F4 forum. Junglegeorge reveals the intentions of Interactive Imaging Systems in regard to a Head Mounted Display (HMD) device that, as George says "could revolutionize military flight sims forever".
Novalogic have posted an FAQ for the new sim. Here's a snippet:
"10. What will the missions be like?
Comanche 4 will run the gamut from the more traditional "search and destroy" missions to reconnaissance, force protection, and special operations. Players will fly cover for advancing armor, scout ahead for enemy positions, provide air cover for an embassy evacuation attack an aircraft carrier and safeguard an international diplomat. More military operations include assaulting an aircraft carrier and providing support for Delta Force."
Missed this one earlier. WWII Online have published a very useful guide to the gun sight operations that got a make over in the 1.2.5 patch. It's in PDF format and here's snippet:
"To determine range with the 88mm, go to the Commander position and switch to the binocular view. This is a standard 10x50 set of binoculars with a 10x magnification. A crosshair is provided to specify what is to be used as a target for range finding. Line up the target and hit the "r" key to start the crew working. Around 8-10 seconds later, the crew will report their estimation of the range, to the nearest 50 meters."
Dan "CRASH" Crenshaw of SimHQ has reviewed this recently released re-release (?!). Here's a snippet from Dan's review:
"Known bugs or problems were not addressed. Inverted Zero Fuel flow, cat launches from runways, lack of a moving carrier - yes that carrier has been stuck in the same spot since the original Hornet in 1994, single engine performance issues, none of these are any different than the patched version of Hornet 3.0. One of our readers on our forums discovered that the DAT file is the exact same file form the Hornet Korea release of 1997. Based on this, there is no surprise that the four year old bugs from the previous versions are still there."
Sim-News have posted an article by Tim Admire where he looks at the effects of the recent tragedy on a few upcoming titles as well as the future of sims. Here's a snippet:
"With all of this speculation that PC simulators may be the perfect aid to secretly training yourself to fly an aircraft, a recent Simulation News poll found that 92% of our readers thought that no changes should be made to sims like those in Microsoft’s Flight Simulator line in an effort to make them less useful for flight training purposes. Are we simmers just biased and want our sims in the most realistic flavor possible? That may be the case."
I received the following statement from Microsoft concerning the postponed release of MS Flight Sim 2002:
Microsoft is shocked and saddened by the horrible tragedies that occurred on September 11th. Our hearts go out to everyone involved in and affected by these attacks. We are focused on doing the right thing out of respect for the victims, our customers, partners and employees. With this in mind, we have decided to postpone releasing Flight Simulator 2002 for distribution. We will announce a new date when it is determined.
"The Sturmovik Technika website has been designed for military flight simulation enthusiasts who enjoy the technical and historical aspects of veteran aviation. The IL2 Mission Builder is fully explained and in conjunction with the Technical section will help provide a historical backdrop to your missions. Sturmovik Technika, part of the Dogfighter.com network, is written / coordinated by Ham and Sotka
This site also hosts missions and artwork from across the flight simulation community, you are very welcome to contribute your work."
Dogfighter have posted an update, with development screenshots of this non-commercial flightsim of the RAF night bombing campaign. The official site is here.
Len Hjalmarson at Thrustmaster continues with his third report on the IL-2 Beta and looks specifically at the damage modelling, graphics configuration and multiplayer. Here's a snippet:
"The really great thing about this model is that you have to work hard for a kill. And when you get it, you know it’s because you worked hard! There is no fudging here, no extra invisible “hit bubble.” That hole in the wing of the La5 in front of you is only there because you managed to get on his tail, and get him in your sites long enough to squeeze off twenty or thirty rounds."
The following announcement has been posted at AVSim:
"In a conversation tonight between Darryl Saunders, Program Manager for FS 2002, and AVSIM Staff, Darryl stated that Microsoft has been devastated by the events of last Tuesday - as have all flight sim enthusiasts. He confirmed the rumors that have been running rife on the Internet for the past three days. That is that Microsoft will remove the World Trade Center from FS2002 and that the release of FS2002 is postponed indefinitely. When asked about the time condition selection which would allow the WTC before 91101 and not after, he said that this would be too complicated at this juncture in the production of FS2002.
The October ship date of FS2002 will not happen, according to Darryl, and no future release date has yet been established. Darryl stated that the release of FS2002 "has been postponed indefinitely". Darryl has committed to keep us informed, and of course, we will report any updates as they come to us. Also, he indicated that a press release would be issued tomorrow morning for the maintstream press and media outlets."
SimHQ's John "Spoons" Sponauer has put Saitek's latest offering through it's paces. Here's the intro from the review:
"There's good news and bad news to this review of the Saitek X45 USB HOTAS. The good news is that the X45 looks and works just like its predecessor, the X36. The bad news is that the X45 looks and works just like its predecessor, the X36. That's not to say the X45 is a bad piece of gear....it clearly isn't. But if you already have an X36, the reasons to upgrade are minimal, and if you don't have an X36, I'm not sure the X45 is going to be your first choice when you compare it with other setups either out now or soon to be."
Check Six have recently posted an interview with the producer of Comanche 4, Wes Eckart. Here's a snippet:
"Keeping in mind that the real Comanche is a fly by wire craft, where the computer takes simplistic inputs from the pilot and converts them into movement of the helicopter, the scalability in our flight model will come from a mixture of separating out specific controls and enabling certain situations to occur. For example, players can de-couple the fantail from the simpler flight model and use rudder pedals to directly control it. The weather vane effect will be modelled, appropriately decreasing the effectiveness of the fantail as a steering device when the Comanche hits certain speeds. Complex effects like blade-vortex interaction are beyond the scope of this game. We had autorotation in Comanche 3 and Comanche Gold, so there's always the possibility it will make it into Comanche 4, but we're not sure yet. It turned out to be one of those little used features."
Could a PC flight simulator give terrorist aviators the experience they need to fly and crash huge commercial jetliners? The answer is yes, reports Dr. Bob Arnot on MSNBC.
Dusty "Redwolf" Rhodes over at Dogfighter has reviewed Saitek's replacement for the X36. Here's a snippet:
"Fire Buttons A and B on the stick and Fire Button D on the throttle are colored orange, are transparent, and are now backlit. This really serves no purpose other than adding good looks to the product. The pinky switch at the bottom of the stick, however, has been changed to a new hooked handle used as a pull switch, contrasted to the older X36 model's version where the pull-to-use switch was more inlayed within the handle itself. I found the new version slightly cumbersome and less comfortable than the older style in this regard. The good news is that this hooked switch can be removed and replaced at will if you don’t like the feel of it."
Quite a lot going on with WWIIOL at the moment. The 1.2.5 was released with a whole bunch of general improvements. As usual, the patch can be installed via an auto-update when launching the game or from the WWIIOL Downloads section.
The full list of enhancements and additions are detailed
HERE
Blue's News have noted that the "official" demo seems to have been released. Here's what Blue's News have to say:
"Although not yet noted on the official site, Ubi Soft has released an updated demo of IL-2 Sturmovik, the WWII flight sim in the works at 1C Maddox Games, for download from their ftp server. This 102.1 MB download appears to include some tweaks to one of the demo missions but is otherwise identical to the previous demo (story) which turned out to be prematurely released, so this is likely the official demo."
The link may not be available at some times as it still hasn't been formally announced. Try to download if you wish
HERE
Check out Jan-Albert van Ree's site detailing the development of a new theatre. Here are some details of the campaign:
"The campaign will be based around the Fulda Gap scenario. In this scenario, the Warsaw Pact would advance through West-Germany along the Vogelsberg towards Frankfurt. From there they could seize Germany's industrial heart, the area around the Ruhr, "Ruhrgebiet".
In this conflict, Yugoslavia, Switzerland and Austria will remain neutral. All NATO members will take on the East-German, Czech and Polish army. Most of the small states ( such as Liechtenstein) will side with NATO.
We will take the situation in early 1989, just before the fall of the Berlin wall. However (due to some limitations) we will use some newer units (F-16C instead of F-16A, same for the F-15C vs F-15A etc etc)
The idea is to be able to integrate this with the Superpak efforts lateron, so no additional hassle is needed to install this theater once it's released."
Jan-Albert is also looking for more people to join the development team. Check out the site
HERE
SimHQ have posted a link to The Adrenaline Vault who have posted an interview with Mr. Kawahito of Third Wire. Here's a snippet:
"We are investing a lot of time in developing sophisticated flight model code. It’s a six degrees-of-freedom force-based model, and it uses non-linear stability derivative coefficients for the force generation. We also have a fairly complex avionics model, including variable radar cross-section and IR signature depending on aspect, so radar and other electronic gears should operate as they would in the real world. There will be options to turn various effects on and off, such as stall, center of gravity shift, drag due to external stores, damage, and more. Other than that, we have no current plan to dumb-down the high-fidelity flight model since we don’t feel it affects the game’s accessibility."
SimHQ have posted an interview with Wes Eckhart, Producer working on Comanche 4. Here's a snippet:
"The weapons will have realistic physics applied to them. For instance, the hellfire trajectory will send them almost vertical to top attack targets that are hull down on the battlefield. Also, since the hellfire is a beam riding weapon, you'll want to fire several into the air with a slight delay. Once the lead missile has hit a target, you can quickly change to the next closest target, and the next missile will hit it. This ripple-fire technique can be used to great effect against armored columns, minimising the amount of the time you need to remain exposed."
AVSim have posted an preview of FS2002. Here's a snippet:
"Another improvement is that FS2002 ships with a worldwide terrain mesh. The resolution of the mesh varies according to the data that the developers were able to obtain, but the results are visually stunning, especially in mountainous areas. The texturing in such areas is also partially dynamic—the texture engine examines the terrain mesh and applies a suitable texture depending on the gradient at that point. The upshot of this is no more green mountains—the texturing engine now knows to apply a rocky or snowy texture (as height or season befits) to steep areas of land."
Thrustmaster have posted the second part of their interview with Glenn “Sleepdoc” Kletzky, co-founder of iBeta and veteran of the Falcon 4 flight simulation. Here's a snippet:
"And no doubt the management team of this newly formed F4UT is a veritable "who's who" in Falcon development over the last two years. But you get my point here. So in the spirit of the unified team, I will leave the names to be read in our public announcement and to be seen as dynamically changing over time. More great players are joining every hour. The community’s next great name is someone we have never heard of yet. Although it always comes down to the people, I think what makes this team new and exciting is that this team is based on the idea of unification. It’s not about old team loyalties or old team names and individuals. It’s about unification."
Thrustmaster have posted the second part of their look at the beta release and details the writer experiences with various dogfights. Here's a snippet:
"Later I spoke with the observing pilot about the fight. He commented that it was like watching a Discovery Channel documentary from the war, only in high-resolution and in color. The maneuvers up and through the clouds were simply beautiful to watch."
Gavin "Araquael" Bennett of SimHQ has posted a comparative review of eTeam's eFalcon 1.10 and Realism Patch Group's RP5. Here's a snippet:
"And then, like some weird shining light, the holy grail... or a grail shaped beacon, SuperPak appears. SuperPak promises to do everything I ever asked of the Falcon patching process... integrate the eFalcon code improvements and the Realism Patch edits, and combine the results with the third party theatres, especially the newly completed Balkans terrain. So, while we wait, and hope, we have at least the imperfect combination of RP5 and eFalcon 110."
Who needs a Cougar ;-) Tech-Planet have posted a review of this HOTAS. Here's a snippet:
"Well my when I first looked at this I thought to myself, this is one big and bulky joystick, then I stated to think about it. With it been big and bulky you would be able to have more of a feel for what you are doing. Well as you can see from the picture above, yes it is detachable, it comes apart, this is a very unique feature of this joystick. With this extra feature you are able to pull the apart and move them away from each other instead of it been all cramped."
BBall has updated his column with a look back at his time in the "727 Flight Engineer new hire class" at Northwest Orient. Here's a snippet:
"I marched over to “Al”, and as I extended my hand in greeting, he kind of waived it off, and summarily began “the beatings” with this statment: “Sit down. What are the requirements for a take-off alternate if the airport is reporting an RVR of 600’ touchdown, 600’ midfield and 600’ rollout? “WHAT THE…?” I think. “Take out your “C” manual, turn to page 121.23.45 and read aloud the requirements for a take-off alternate. Alright, now highlight that! No!, not like that, like this! Now, when you’re on a circling approach into the mountains and the glideslope is out on the ILS, what are the five requirement in terms of visibility to continue below the circling minimums for a landing? What? SHIT, turn to page XXX.XX.XX and read them aloud. O.K., now highlight them….” This went of for about fifteen minutes. I was about to soil my new blue pin-striped suit."
Dogfighter have detailed a report published at FGN Online that explains of the agreement between Xicat and Jane's Information Group. Here's a snippet from the statement:
"PC: Xicat Interactive has reached an agreement with Jane's Information Group, whereby Xicat will be the sole licensor of the name Jane's.
Xicat will continue the heritage of military games left off from Electronic Arts with titles already in the pipeline that aim to accurately and fully capture the realism and drama of military conflict."
Thrustmaster have posted an interview with Glenn “Sleepdoc” Kletzky, one of the founders of iBeta. Here's a snippet:
"Thrustmaster - Tell us how you came to be involved with F4 ongoing development shortly after the original release. Glenn Kletzky – The story was pretty straight forward. Like everyone else around here, I was waiting, what seemed an eternity, for this great release. Once it came out, I saw it for what it was – an incomplete masterpiece. I can honestly tell you that at the time that I decided to form a group named iBeta on the net with buddies, I had no idea what was really possible (the data edits, etc…that took F4 to its next quantum leap). My only goal at that time was to report bugs in multiplayer and get it working better so my LAN squad could play and have a great time."
