Combat Flight Sim (DCS, IL-2, RoF, CAP2, and a bit of WT)

Discussion in 'Simulation' started by Aspius, Oct 22, 2014.

  1. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare
    Figured it's time for some IL-2 news.

    The Battle of Kuban map has been released

    A new career mode is on the way and they are making good progress there.

    Most of the Battle of Kuban planes have been released. The missing ones are Yak-7b, P-39L and A-20B.

    They ended the latest devblog (which was posted on the 28th September) by starting what they call 'the month of surprises' with announcing a new collectors plane. The Bf 109 G-6. Will be interesting to see what other surprises they have.
     
    MostlyHarmless likes this.
  2. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare
    As i have been catching up to the current state of these games (Been to busy with racing simulators the past months), i have learnt that there have been some major changes within companies that are developing for DCS. So i thought i would write a summary of what all of them are working on and what have changed.



    Eagle Dynamics, they guys behind DCS. They have a couple things they are working on. Biggest one is the improvement of DCS itself and bringing it to the the future version 2.0 and eventually 2.5. Other then that they are hard at work on a F/A-18C. They are also working on a P-47D, updating the flight models for the Flaming Cliffs 3 planes (MiG-29A and MiG-29S are the only remaining ones). Several maps, Nevada Test & Training Range, Normandy (WW2) and Strait of Hormuz. Plus an update to the Caucasus map.

    Belsimtek, they recently finished the Mi-8 and released a navigation system as a DLC for it. They have been helping Eagle Dynamics alot with the F/A-18C. Recently announced that they have started work on 2 new projects the F-4E and Mi-24P.

    VEAO simulations, probably the devs who have had the biggest change. They have announced that they are leaving the DCS platform. They have stated that they will finish the Hawk so that it is at DCS quality and that sometime after DCS 2.5 is released they will release their P-40F.

    RAZBAM (did the Mirage 2000). Their big focus is on the AV-8B NA. They are also working on a MiG-19P. These planes are also in developement but they seem to be secondary: A-29B, A-7E, A-6

    Leatherneck is no more and have been split into 2 companies, Heatblur Simulations and Magnitude 3 LLC

    Heatblur is resposible for the AJS37 Viggen and the upcoming F-14A & B

    Magnitude is responsible for the MiG-21bis. They have another project in the work and they have been teasing about it. Still not known what it is though.

    AvioDev is working on their C-101 EB and C-101 CC. They are also working on a Mirage F1, i believe its the EE variant.

    Polychop-Simulations have also had a abit of a split. Some of the developers went off and created what is now MilTech-5. Polychop is resposible for the SA-342M Gazelle. They are working on something else but what is unknown at the time.

    MilTech-5 have taken over work on the Bo-105. The variant have changed to be the ROK BO-105 CBS-5 KLH.



    That covers most of it, i probably have missed something as the information isnt always clear and can sometimes be hard to find. It should give an idea of what is going on atleast.
     
  3. Flessar

    Flessar Well Liked Viking

    Messages:
    1,362
    Likes Received:
    616
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Klamath Falls, OR
    Ætt (Clan):
    Huscarls
    I am working on getting a decent joystick still, but haven't been able to play in several months. I will prioritize it for sure if the F4 or the A6 get released as those are my favorite jet aircraft.
     
  4. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare
  5. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare
  6. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare
  7. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare
  8. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare
  9. MostlyHarmless

    MostlyHarmless Master of Recruits Staff Member Jarl SC Huscarl

    Messages:
    5,539
    Likes Received:
    2,879
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    CFL/NoVA
    Ætt (Clan):
    Svinfylking
  10. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare
    Big news for IL-2.

    Post is split in two parts due to character limits
    Dear Friends,

    Once again, it is my honor and pleasure to announce our current and future plans for the modern IL-2 Sturmovik product line. It has been about fifteen months since I told you about our plans for Battle of Kuban and beyond. Today we make our biggest announcement yet!

    However, before we do, we are happy to inform you that Battle of Kuban is nearing completion and should be finished by the end of this year as planned. We were able to meet our biggest objectives and complete many other new ones not in the original plan. The list is too long to post in this announcement, but our Developer Diaries tell the tale quite well. Some minor features that did not make it into Kuban will be included in the next product development cycle. Development never stops for us and we continue to march onward and upward! Our beloved Sturmovik has never looked or played so good!

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
    The Sturmovik development team is an amazing group of people who work tirelessly to bring you the combat flight-sim experience you want. As their Producer and partner for many years it still amazes me what they can accomplish. They deserve your continued support. Please show them how much you appreciate their work.

    We also want to say thank you to our customers who have helped us weather the storm and keep going. We cannot do this alone and so many of you help us when we need help and so many of you have told your sim buddies to purchase our products. We thank you from the bottoms of our hearts. This community is a special one and we’re in this journey together.

    Without further delay, our next title, sorry, our next THREE IL-2 Sturmovik titles are going to be the following - BATTLE OF BODENPLATTE, FLYING CIRCUS and TANK CREW!

    That’s right, Sturmovik is expanding into new territory and we are going to tackle building and releasing three new titles in 2018 and into 2019. All titles will be unique in their own way and all will be branded IL-2 Sturmovik and will share the same client software. Flying Circus and Tank Crew will be their own series within the Sturmovik ecosystem and give Sturmovik fans new ways to have fun. This ambitious and aggressive development plan will be made possible by working with talented professional studios whom we have partnered with in the past few months. If everything goes to plan this will allow us to do parallel development like never before. More about our partners and their role in future development diaries.

    Battle of Bodenplatte
    Although it was technically an “operation”, for continuity sake, we’re calling it a battle! Battle of Bodenplatte will explore the air war near the end of 1944 and into 1945. This late-war setting offers a wide variety of classic fighters and fighter-bombers for you to fly including some of the hottest piston powered airplanes to ever grace the skies. In addition, we’ll introduce our first jet aircraft! The Allies flew many low-level tactical missions into Germany from bases in Belgium and Holland during this time. In a desperate attempt to stem the tide of war, the Germans launched a surprise attack on Allied airfields on January 1, 1945. The ensuing battle became legendary.

    [​IMG]

    Planned to be Included in Battle of Bodenplatte:
    Flyable Aircraft and Content:
    • Bf-109 G-14
    • Bf-109 K-4
    • Fw-190 A-8
    • Me-262
    • P-51D
    • P-47D
    • Spitfire Mk. IX
    • Tempest Mk. V
    • Fw-190 D-9 (Collector)
    • P-38L (Collector)
    • B-25 (AI)
    • European Low-Countries Map (Final size TBD) (Parts of the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany)
    • Many Allied and Axis airfields, cities, towns and villages. Winter and Summer textures are planned.
    • New Allied and Axis Ground Units and Scenery.
    Battle of Bodenplatte Pre-Order Launched!
    As of today, you can Pre-Order Battle of Bodenplatte in our webstore. As always this will give you access to Early Access and a Pre-Order discount! The Pre-Order price is $69.99. Just click on the image to order.

    [​IMG]

    Flying Circus – Volume I
    Flying Circus will finally give our loyal and patient Rise of Flight customers a new way forward into the future! Our eventual goal is to essentially re-build ROF inside of the Sturmovik universe and give WWI all the latest technology like VR, 64bit, DX11 and improved visuals. We will start by focusing on re-furbishing ten of our existing WWI airplanes and providing a partial map of France to fly and fight over. Subsequent Flying Circus products will further expand content and we’ll work to integrate Flying Circus into our Campaign and Career systems over time. Volume I is merely the first important step and it will be a lot of fun! If Flying Circus proves popular we can eventually fire up the Great War assembly line and break out the canvas and timber once again to make some new crates! Guynmere, Fonck, Coppens, McCudden, Bishop, Rickenbacker and von Richtofen shall fly again 100 years later!

    [​IMG]

    Planned to be Included in Flying Circus – Volume I
    Flyable Aircraft and Content (Tentative List):
    • SPAD 13 C.1
    • Sopwith Dolphin
    • Sopwith Camel
    • RAF S.E.5a
    • Bristol Fighter
    • Albatros D.Va
    • Fokker Dr.1
    • Fokker DVII
    • Pfalz D.IIIa
    • Halberstadt CL.II
    • France map (100 x 100km Approx.)
    • Several airfields, cities, towns and villages. Summer textures are planned
    • No Man’s Land
    • Entente and Central Powers Ground Units and Scenery.
    Pre-Orders for Flying Circus will be available sometime first half of 2018.

    Tank Crew – Clash at Prokhorovka
    Tank Crew will be expanding upon our initial adventure into tank combat by including ten new tanks and armored vehicles and improving our two existing tanks. Tank Crew will create a ground combat component that can be integrated into single-player content and multiplayer servers. Our tanks will be multi-crew in multiplayer which most other leading tank games are not capable of. Our playable tanks will also be modeled both inside and out with realism in mind and improved damage modelling. The map will feature the southern portion of the Battle of Kursk with the village of Prokhorovka and town of Belgorod included. The map will also be built somewhat differently giving tank players a better ground environment then our current large maps. Further details about Tank Crew will be released as development ramps up.

    [​IMG]

    Planned to be Included in Tank Crew – Clash at Prokhorovka
    Playable Tanks and Content (Tentative List):
    • T-34-76 STZ
    • KV-1s
    • M4A2
    • SU-122
    • SU-152
    • ZIS-5 + 72K
    • PzKpfw III Ausf.L
    • PzKpfw IV Ausf.G
    • PzKpfw V Ausf.D
    • PzKpfw VI Ausf.H1
    • Sd. Kfz. 184
    • Sd. Kfz. 10 + Flak38
    • Prokhorovka - Belgorod Map {100x100 km Approx.)
    Pre-Orders for Tank Crew will be available sometime first half of 2018.
     
    Solis Obscuri likes this.
  11. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare
    La-5 FN and Bf-109 G-6 Pre-Order Launched!
    In addition to all this amazing news we have launched pre-orders for the deadly La-5FN and Bf-109 G-6. These two planes further build our plane-set and fill in gaps in the Soviet and German war chests. Pre-Order now and enjoy a discount! Each aircraft is $14.99 for a limited time. Click on the image to order.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles Demo and Series
    In 2018 we plan to release a Free Limited Demo for Sturmovik that will allow new customers to easily try Sturmovik. Users can then purchase content to turn their demo into their home-base for all things Sturmovik. More details on the Great Battles Demo first quarter of 2018.
    In addition to the demo, our entire collection of products will be made part of the IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles series. Any product displaying this logo will be compatible with one another and part of the overarching collection.
    [​IMG]

    Digital Warfare Engine
    Previously our simulation engine was known as the Digital Nature Engine. Over the years many, many changes and improvements have occurred that has essentially re-written almost all of the engine and it now supports a wider range of vehicles. To commemorate this new reality, we have christened our updated engine the DIGITAL WARFARE ENGINE.

    Larger Picture
    As you can see we have ambitious plans for Sturmovik. No doubt you will have many questions and concerns about what we have announced. The bigger picture is that are now ready to try making parallel products for our WW2 fans, WW1 fans and possible new customers who enjoy tank battles. But beyond that, we hope to accomplish the following in our next development cycle.
    • New MP matchmaking system and lobby with chat
    • Improvements to aircraft fuel systems and add drop tanks
    • Oxygen masks for pilots at high attitude
    • Jet engine technology and associated physics of higher Mach numbers
    • Improvements to AI
    • Option for 4K skins by default and preview pics in the GUI for Custom skins
    • In-Game Model Viewer (hold over from Kuban)
    • Mods On/Off (hold over from Kuban)
    • More attractive GUI and better GUI optimization
    • …. and many other small, medium and large improvements to usability, functionality and performance.
    Last but not least, part of our overall plan is to work with one of our long-time professional development partners to produce airplanes. This is not a guaranteed success and much work needs to be done to make this a reality, but we are giving it a shot. There is much more to our airplanes than just the model. Much training will need to be done to pull this off. If successful, we plan to make the Li-2 next. We are making NO PROMISES, but here are a couple very early WIP pics.
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    See you in the skies and thank you for your continued enthusiasm and support!
    Jason and the IL-2 Sturmovik Team
     
    Solis Obscuri likes this.
  12. MostlyHarmless

    MostlyHarmless Master of Recruits Staff Member Jarl SC Huscarl

    Messages:
    5,539
    Likes Received:
    2,879
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    CFL/NoVA
    Ætt (Clan):
    Svinfylking
  13. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare
    You know, i thought 2017 was a very good year for simulators but 2018 is looking to be even better.
     
  14. MostlyHarmless

    MostlyHarmless Master of Recruits Staff Member Jarl SC Huscarl

    Messages:
    5,539
    Likes Received:
    2,879
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    CFL/NoVA
    Ætt (Clan):
    Svinfylking
    I have to completely agree with you, my only real concern is with RoF. I'm holding off on buying anything else in fear that it will require being paid for again with each of the flying circus expansions. As awesome as it would be for them to let you keep everything you have already bought, it's hard to make money on updating all the models doing that.
     
  15. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare
    I see the Flying circus expansion as a sequel to RoF, it's just tied in with IL-2. The game engine have been upgraded alot since they stopped development of RoF. It will bring improved graphics, flight models, damage models and hopefully (if it's popular enough) we will have more planes then what we did with RoF.
     
    Solis Obscuri likes this.
  16. MostlyHarmless

    MostlyHarmless Master of Recruits Staff Member Jarl SC Huscarl

    Messages:
    5,539
    Likes Received:
    2,879
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    CFL/NoVA
    Ætt (Clan):
    Svinfylking
    I like how you are thinking of it as a sequel, that is probably the best way to view it.
     
  17. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare
    The Yak-52 have been announced for DCS.

    [​IMG]

    The Yakovlev Yak-52 is a tandem seat, radial engine, trainer aircraft that served as the primary aircraft trainer for the Soviet Union and many other nations. Introduced in 1979, the Yak-52 has been a popular choice among air forces given its rugged construction, ease of handling, tricycle landing gear, and simple maintenance. These same characteristic have made it a popular civilian aerobatics aircraft in its later years.
     
    MostlyHarmless likes this.
  18. MostlyHarmless

    MostlyHarmless Master of Recruits Staff Member Jarl SC Huscarl

    Messages:
    5,539
    Likes Received:
    2,879
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    CFL/NoVA
    Ætt (Clan):
    Svinfylking
    I was incredibly happy to see the announcement about the Yak-52, this will make a wonderful initial trainer for people looking to get into DCS!! also a fun little plane to just fly around with
     
  19. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare
    Eagle Dynamics, the devs behind DCS. Posted a letter were they are talking about where they were, where they are now, and where they plan to be.

    Dear valued DCS World customers,

    Over the past several months, we have read your concerns and frustrations regarding aspects of the growth of DCS World. In particular, the length of time that it has taken to create the unified DCS World version (DCS World 2.5) and our DCS World War II developments. We’d like to talk to you about both of these to help foster a clear picture of where we were, where we are now, and where we plan to be.

    First of all, thank you all for your support and being with us for the past 27 years and sharing our vision of what we believe the flight simulation genre can ultimately achieve. From the very beginning, when Eagle Dynamics was established in 1991, our main priority was the creation of highly realistic flight simulations. At that time, there were just seven of us when we released our first project: Su-27 Flanker 1.0 in 1995. Over the past 27(!) years, we’ve come a long way from a simple computer game, to a professional-level combat environment simulator. Today, we have about 80 internal programmers, artists, managers, testers and producers. Additionally, we have 18 partners and 3rd party developers that are participating in our internal projects, as well as developing their own modules for DCS World. During our entire history, we have remained loyal to our initial dream of making the most realistic combat aviation simulations. Starting from one simple, Standard Flight Model (SFM) Su-27, we took our next step in 2003 with seven aircraft for Lock On: Modern Air Combat (LOMAC). Following LOMAC, we created our first Advance Flight Model (AFM) for the Su-25T in 2005. Next came our first Professional Flight Model (PFM) for the Ka-50 Black Shark and the A-10C Warthog in 2008 and 2009. For an aircraft like the A-10C, it usually takes about three years of hard work to develop a PFM.

    In parallel to development of the software for these aircraft, getting the required permissions/license agreements (aircraft manufactures and government) can often be a big obstacle and time-consuming process. For both the Ka-50 Black Shark and A-10C Warthog, we spent two years of great effort to get such permissions! More recently, and with great difficulties, we finally signed the necessary agreements to allow the sale of our upcoming DCS: F/A-18C Hornet. The team has been working very hard on this project and we are at the point now where we are talking much more about it with regular updates. After a long period of developing needed technologies (flight model and radar), research, design (data on late-LOT F/A-18C), and legal matters, we are nearing the point in which we will be able to provide the Early Access version of the Hornet. Right behind the Hornet, we have other modern, combat fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft ready for development within the Eagle Dynamics internal studio. Our talented 3rd parties are also working hard on other great aircraft like the AV-8B Night Attack S/VTOL, F-14 Tomcat, FC-17, F-4E Phantom II, Mi-24P Hind, Bo-105, and others. Naturally, all 3rd party projects are only made possible with very active, hands-on, technical support and creation of APIs from Eagle Dynamics. So, please be assured that we have not given up our initial dream! Modern, combat aviation is alive and well in DCS World and will continue to be. This is our bread and butter.

    One of the biggest factors in creating a great flight simulation is the graphics engine. This is also probably the most technically complicated. During our 27 years history, we have internally developed five generations of graphics engines. This is a massive effort for such a small company, whereas many other companies use “off the shelf” graphic engine solutions. We have evaluated other engines (MSFS, OSG, etc.), but we always returned to our own internal solutions because only they provided the capability and quality we demand for a modern, combat aviation simulation. The biggest needs has been the ability to render an environment that looks and performs great from 1 meter to 50,000 meters. This is where we believe our graphics engine is quite unique and powerful.

    Graphics cards are developing so rapidly that many companies are not capable of keeping their technology current with new hardware. After eight years of intense work, we recently developed a very stable version of our graphics engine that is based on DX11, Deferred Shading technology, and Physical Based Rendering (PBR). We are also developing our engine to take advantage of the Vulcan API to further improve game performance. Having a great looking game is moot if it does not perform well. It’s important to understand that a graphics engine is not only a Scene Renderer, but the terrain creation tool technology is equally important. This is the main reason why we could not merge DCS 1.5 Caucasus and 2.1 Terrains for such a long and regretful time. To do this, we first need to convert all the terrains, missions, training, and campaigns that were developed over many years for Caucasus map to an absolutely new terrain data structure and adjust all applied programs. We’ve put a massive amount of work into this effort and it is almost complete. We plan to release DCS World 2.5 in the coming weeks!

    Now, let’s talk a little about DCS World War II and why it does not delay our modern day combat aircraft and why it’s a valuable aspect of DCS World for us and you.

    • The Fighter Collection (TFC), Eagle Dynamic’s principle partner, has one of the largest,

    private collections of World War II aircraft. TFC has been requesting World War II aircraft for a long time, so we cannot ignore our partner. We and TFC agree that WWII combat aviation is a very interesting flight simulation genre, especially for customers that enjoy history and massive dogfights. TFC has supported this direction from the very beginning.

    • World War II aircraft attract new customers that may have not otherwise been familiar with DCS World. Many DCS World War II pilots move to our jet aircraft that are within the integral DCS World. So, our World War II aircraft provide a good advertising environment for the DCS World concept as a whole.

    • Many of our new programmers and artists are responsible DCS World War II. They are separate from our main project (like the F/A-18C) developers, and they are not involved with the modern aircraft development efforts. Otherwise, it would not be practical/efficient to develop aircraft like the F/A-18C with staff split between projects. Also, DCS World War II is a great “school” for new programmers before they take on extremely complicated Modern Air Combat projects.

    • We could deliver modern, complicated aircraft faster than we and our 3rd parties are already doing, but growing a business needs more and more revenue to grow the team and make better products. We were very surprised to find that the investment vs. generated revenue has been excellent for the World War II aircraft. In fact, the P-51D Mustang has twice the cost effectiveness of the A-10C Warthog.

    As you can see, DCS’s World War II series doesn’t compete with modern aircraft projects for development resources. In fact, it supports it! The same is true with the L-39 and Yak-52 projects. These two projects were also sought by government institutions, but we were also able to negotiate their release to you.

    We very much hope this all makes sense for you and sheds some light on these matters.

    We are reaching an important milestone of DCS World with the release of DCS World 2.5. This combined with an exciting list of new aircraft, new maps, and great new mission content, is furthering our dream from 1991. Thank you for being part of the journey with us!

    Sincerely,
    Eagle Dynamics Development Team
     
    Flessar likes this.
  20. Aspius

    Aspius Well Liked Hirdman

    Messages:
    2,923
    Likes Received:
    1,005
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Sweden
    Ætt (Clan):
    Drakjägare