Phil's April 2018 Newsletter
Phil's March 2018 Newsletter
Flight
Sim World
has left Early Access
and is now in Phase 2 of development with Dovetail moving from regular quick
updates and switching focus to some longer term goals, including:-
IFR implementation,
expanding the core fleet of aircraft,
improving the look of the world
Live weather
and improvements to ATC
Phase 2 was released on the 1st February and included ‘Dynamic Weather’ (although I don’t seem to be able to access it on my copy - I need to check the download options) as a step along the way to ‘Live Weather’. Read the full media release here.
FSW have identified their next ‘Warbird’ (I don’t know why they didn’t go with this one first) as a Rolls Royce Griffon 65 powered Supermarine Spitfire FR.XIV. No release dates as yet.
True to their word, Eagle Dynamics- the team behind DCS World released version 2.5 which effectively seamlessly merges their two streams of development. The highlight is the significantly updated Caucasus map. For me the biggest ‘update’ relates to the trees, which look ‘just right’ and the bonus is they are ‘season’ correct: a covering of snow and a mid-day sun casting long shadows is spectacular.
Don’t forget, DCS World is still free, you get the operating system and 2 default aircraft the SU25 ‘Frogfoot’ ground attack aircraft and an Unarmed P51 ‘Mustang’.
Yes, it’s a bit of a ‘weighty download’ at 12Gig but once installed you can enjoy it with no limitations. Additional aircraft are available- called modules in DCS parlance- all tend to be system perfect study level simulation and whilst quite expensive, there are sales every few months where you can add to you hanger at more reasonable cost.
And finally, but by no means least, Prepar3d Version 4 has been updated to version 4.2. In real terms, over and above minor bug fixes, this adds an additional fixed wing Aircraft (Just Flight’s Lockheed Electra) and 2 helicopters (2 versions of the C53 Super Stallion).
Can I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy New Year. I hope Santa was generous to you and you all had a little Flight Sim magic to enjoy over the festive period.
Phil's November 2017 Newsletter
Welcome.
It seems an appropriate moment to mark
the passing of group Member Ralph Hopper.
Many of you will remember Ralph as a true gent. Our thoughts and prayers
go to his wife and family at this
difficult time for them.
It has been correctly pointed out that
my newsletters tend to be FSX/P3D biased, mainly because those are the sims
that I fly, so I was grateful to Alan Wright for sending the following-
AOA
V22 OSPREY For XP11
The word ‘difficult’ sums up this review,
there is so much I love about this representation of the aircraft, sadly, some
things that, in my opinion, let it down. Having said that I still think that it
is pretty good value for the money.
I have been keen on VTOL/STOL flight
simulation for many years and have flown (in flight sims only!) the FSX civvy
Osprey/Wilco Harrier/Dino’s F35B and of course helicopters & autogiros; I
am not an expert but I can get them airborne and, often, down again safely.
Hence when I saw this release from AOA for X-Plane 11 on X-Plane.org store website,
I did not hesitate.
Familiarising myself with the cockpit using
the documents supplied caused a few nagging doubts as so many switches and
knobs have no functionality and the phrase ‘not implemented’ appears too often;
I hope these will be addressed with time. Before trying you will need to
familiarise yourself with the user guide etc.
I have never seen a V22 in real life and
thus I cannot make any comments on the accuracy of the model.
The model looks good although there are a
few minor gapping issues where intakes, vents etc. join the airframe; They are
invisible from the pilots seat, so this is not an issue for me. The 3D cockpit
is well done apart from the significant non-functionality. Because of this I
would not call it a study aircraft but you will need to study, especially if
you aim to add in-flight-refuelling to your achievements.
The documentation is reasonably adequate
and backed by a couple of YouTube videos. (e.g. try this)
Start-up from cold and dark is relatively
easy, as is take-off in either VTOL or STOL mode manually controlling the rpm
and nacelle tilt angle; the only word of caution is that this aircraft
accelerates much faster than a helicopter so watch your speed!
I found transitioning back to a hover much
more challenging and had me re-reading the user guide for tips. Easy on the
power / gentle stick movements and don’t panic – let it stabilise! I hope when
I get better I might avoid those unexpected drops – so I have not tried this in
VR yet! Once transitioned to VTOL mode, landing / manoeuvring is much like most
large helicopters.
To ease your learning, control of nacelle
angle, longitudinal trim and Flaps can be either manual or automatic. Read the
docs carefully as some manual control can be overridden by the “on-board”
computer.
Control requirements are modest although a
HOTAS arrangement seems best (I use the SAITEK X55 Rhino) as all the buttons
etc. are ideally situated; you don't want to be having to search for something
in a critical part of the flight, he says from experience, or it will
misbehave! As this set-up is unlikely to be useful for other aircraft use
XP11’s Profile Manager to create a profile for all V22 a/c. If you have an axis
input spare, map it to the thrust vector for fine tilt control. Remember that
XP11 now allows you to define Profiles and associate them to specific aircraft,
a significant improvement.
This is a very hands-on aircraft, it is
fitted with the default FMC but all my flights to date have been
Exeter>Berry Head(VOR)>Plymouth training flights and I have not needed
any extra workload. Similarly, I have not used the autopilot successfully? More
reading I expect. The good news is that it seems to implement X-Plane default
datarefs for the auto-pilot settings so you can use your usual controls (my
Go-Flight MCP works fine)
There are some wonderful animations
(extending re-fuelling probe, folding wings/rotors and tilting nacelles etc.)
and while they add to the spirit of the aircraft, I think that the time spent
developing these features, especially the impressive wing swing and Rotor fold,
could have been better spent on implementing more useful aircraft systems.
I am fortunate in having a moderately
powerful PC, biased for reliability rather than pure speed; out of date now of
course! The reason I include that info is that I have not had any frame rate
issues with this aircraft, and I was flying over photographic (ortho4XP@17)
scenery.
Re-reading the above, this review feels a
bit negative – it was not meant to be, I have enjoyed the learning curve so far
and each achievement was very satisfying (or was I just feeling smug?). Even
just learning how to initiate a taxi is so different to any other aircraft I
have used; I find hover taxiing easier.
Thanks Alan
The
Osprey can be purchased form the X plane store for $32. Follow this link to read more
Orbx are close to releasing the new
‘photoreal’ scenery for The Netherlands and this appears to herald a new era
for the developer as they move on from generic land classes to true photoreal
scenery. Click link for some video
of the Netherlands
They recently announced that, following their acquisition of
aerial photography for all of the UK and Ireland has paved the way for
photoreal regions for England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland. The
first sim platforms these UK/Ireland regions are to be released on will be
X-Plane 11, followed by Aerofly FS2. FSX/P3D will follow and release dates of
2018/19 are to be anticipated.
Click this link for
some early video of England demonstrating on X Plane and follow this
link for the full release and forum discussion that followed the
announcement. The 4 areas of the UK are
likely to be around £40 each and will be available individually.
There is no doubt this has the potential to be a ‘gamechanger’ for
all of our sim. Start saving.
Finally, for those of you
interested in some early video of Aeroplane Heaven’s Lancaster (and who isn’t?)
Follow this link
and turn the sound up!!)
Links to Useful Sites
www.digitalcombatsimulator.com DCS World
www.fullterrain.com
ORBX Scenery
Whilst we have mentioned this before, we would be
most grateful for your observations on this newsletter, its content, depth and
style. Please pass on any developmental
feedback, via the website. We always
welcome any items by group members for inclusion in future newsletters. All contributions
would be greatly appreciated by the editor. All pictures are taken from the
respective developers’/ organisation’s websites and remain their intellectual
property. All opinions expressed are my own and are not representative of the SWFSG.
(P.C)
Phil's March 2018 Newsletter
Welcome.
So- we are halfway through March and probably a bit breathless by all
the movement in 3 of the ‘big’ sims over the last couple of weeks.
IFR implementation,
expanding the core fleet of aircraft,
improving the look of the world
Live weather
and improvements to ATC
Phase 2 was released on the 1st February and included ‘Dynamic Weather’ (although I don’t seem to be able to access it on my copy - I need to check the download options) as a step along the way to ‘Live Weather’. Read the full media release here.
FSW have identified their next ‘Warbird’ (I don’t know why they didn’t go with this one first) as a Rolls Royce Griffon 65 powered Supermarine Spitfire FR.XIV. No release dates as yet.
True to their word, Eagle Dynamics- the team behind DCS World released version 2.5 which effectively seamlessly merges their two streams of development. The highlight is the significantly updated Caucasus map. For me the biggest ‘update’ relates to the trees, which look ‘just right’ and the bonus is they are ‘season’ correct: a covering of snow and a mid-day sun casting long shadows is spectacular.
Don’t forget, DCS World is still free, you get the operating system and 2 default aircraft the SU25 ‘Frogfoot’ ground attack aircraft and an Unarmed P51 ‘Mustang’.
Yes, it’s a bit of a ‘weighty download’ at 12Gig but once installed you can enjoy it with no limitations. Additional aircraft are available- called modules in DCS parlance- all tend to be system perfect study level simulation and whilst quite expensive, there are sales every few months where you can add to you hanger at more reasonable cost.
And finally, but by no means least, Prepar3d Version 4 has been updated to version 4.2. In real terms, over and above minor bug fixes, this adds an additional fixed wing Aircraft (Just Flight’s Lockheed Electra) and 2 helicopters (2 versions of the C53 Super Stallion).
As we discussed in the last newsletter, this is going to be a busy
year for flight sim; based on the last month we should have no grounds for
complaint.
Payware
aircraft.
Only a few releases over the last few weeks.
Mentioned in a previous newsletter, the ‘Dunkirk Spitfire (Mk 1 &
Mk 1a) developed by Aeroplane Heaven and marketed by Just Flight has been
released at a reasonable £16.99
I have flown a copy. It appeared a little too ‘tame’ and simple to
fly ( not always a bad thing as frustration builds if you can’t even get the
thing off the ground!!)
The exterior model is good although there are some shading and
reflection issues and the sound files definitely need sorting. All in all,
reasonable value for money and doubtless a service patch will resolve most of
these issues over time.
Just Flight’s ‘in house’ developed study level Cessna 152 takes centre
stage. I have to admit I was a little surprised to see this as an aircraft for
them to be releasing but, and this says more about time passing, both the
original JF & Carenado 152 are close to a decade old so, given the
development of FSX and its’ ‘children’ over that time, maybe a new version was
well overdue.
Priced in line with its GA sister aircraft at £27.99, I’m sure they
have done their homework and there is a market out there. It certainly looks
nice. Given recent JF history, I would envisage a ‘port over’ to X Plane and
FSW.
Continuing with Just Flight, rendered exterior screen shots of both of
the big 4 engined bombers – Aeroplane Heaven’s Lancaster and in house developed
Vulcan B2- have been released on the respective developer’s websites. Both
looking very nice. Both are being designed with FSX/Prepar3d in mind. On the JF site there are also some initial
shots of the Vulcan’s cockpit layout and a sample of its instrumentation. Interestingly,
Just Flight are rumoured to be considering developing the Vulcan for X Plane
they are certainly reworking their successful BA Hawk T1 for the platform.
Free
Payware Aircraft
No, not a contradiction in terms.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I am always impressed with those
developers who offer their latest models as a ‘free demo’.
This month I want
to redrawer your attention to Black
Box Simulations (BBS). I thoroughly
enjoyed their Bulldog but their interpretation of the Britten Norman Islander
slipped under my radar. Given that the
now aging Flight 1 is unavailable- this seems an astute move by BBS.
Just flight are
offering Demo’s of their latest developed release, the VC10 and DHC 3 Otter and
the Stinson L 9 Sentinel.
Links to Useful Sites
www.digitalcombatsimulator.com DCS World
www.fullterrain.com
ORBX Scenery
Whilst we have mentioned this before, we would be most grateful for
your observations on this newsletter, its content, depth and style. Please pass on any developmental feedback, via
the website. We always welcome any items
by group members for inclusion in future newsletters. All contributions would
be greatly appreciated by the editor. All pictures are taken from the
respective developers’/ organisation’s websites and remain their intellectual
property. All opinions expressed are my own and are not representative of the SWFSG.
(P.C)
Phil's January 2018 Newsletter
Welcome.
Welcome.
Can I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy New Year. I hope Santa was generous to you and you all had a little Flight Sim magic to enjoy over the festive period.
I thought I would start the year by taking a moment to look forward to
some of the software that is in development, to give you something to look
forward to and possibly save your pennies for.
Developer
|
Platform
|
|
AH
|
FSX & P3D
|
|
AH
|
FSX & P3D
|
|
AH
|
FSX
& P3D
|
|
AH
|
FSX
& P3D
|
|
AH
|
FSX
& P3D
|
|
JF
|
FSX
& P3D
|
|
JF
|
FSX
& P3D
|
|
JF
|
FSX
& P3D
|
|
JF
|
X Plane
|
|
Ca
|
FSX
& P3D
|
|
Ca
|
FSX
& P3D
|
|
Ca
|
FSX
& P3D
|
|
Ca
|
FSX
& P3D
|
|
Al
|
FSX
& P3D
|
|
A-29
|
Raz
|
DCS
|
C2 Greyhound
|
DC
|
FSX & P3D
|
T45 Goshawk Professional
|
DC
|
FSX & P3D
|
A
|
||
A
|
P3D v4
|
Key
AH-Aeroplane Heaven JF-Just
Flight
Ca-Carenado
Al-Alabeo
Raz- Razban
DC - Dino Cattaneo
A-Aerosoft
I am already clearing space in the hanger for the two, four engine
Avro bombers!!
Interestingly, A2A simply state on their website state that they have
2 significant projects underway, fully integrating an improved ACCU-SIM
experience, benefiting from the enhancements available with P3Dv4. The
1nteresting thing is they haven’t announced the aircraft!
For accuracy, I have copied a significant portion of the end of year
newsletter from DCS World. The developer had a very busy 2017, with a number of
‘modules; released. The newsletter contained the following list of products
lined up for release in 2018
• DCS
World 2.5 by the end of January
• DCS: F/A-18C Hornet
• DCS: Strait of Hormuz Map
• DCS: F-14 Tomcat
• DCS: JF-17
• DCS: MiG-19
• DCS: Mi-24P Hind
• DCS: F-4E Phantom II
• DCS: Bo-105
• C-101CC variant for the DCS: C-101 module
• DCS: Yak-52
• DCS: I-16
• DCS: Christen Eagle II ( interesting- 2 non- military modules -Ed)
• New aircraft carriers
• Other new maps and continued updates to our existing maps
• Several other unannounced projects
• DCS: F/A-18C Hornet
• DCS: Strait of Hormuz Map
• DCS: F-14 Tomcat
• DCS: JF-17
• DCS: MiG-19
• DCS: Mi-24P Hind
• DCS: F-4E Phantom II
• DCS: Bo-105
• C-101CC variant for the DCS: C-101 module
• DCS: Yak-52
• DCS: I-16
• DCS: Christen Eagle II ( interesting- 2 non- military modules -Ed)
• New aircraft carriers
• Other new maps and continued updates to our existing maps
• Several other unannounced projects
“We
will be releasing DCS World 2.5 by the end of January 2018. This is not an
estimate, this is a promise. DCS World 2.5 will be released as a new download.
DCS World 2.5 will unify our projects and several exiting new modules such as
the F/A-18C
Hornet: Strait of Hormuz combat theater map and The Yak-52
We will also be working on
improvements to clouds, explosions with improved proximity damage, virtual
reality, spotting system, network play, Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR),
air-to-air missiles. In parallel, we will continue to support and improve our
existing modules.”
All in all, potentially a very busy year for Eagle dynamics.
2018 is also likely to see the launch of two Brand new Flightsims:-
As we discussed after Flightsim 2017: ‘Deadstick’
is a Bush plane based simulator, where your role as the pilot is to carry out
tasks, to build up resources to improve your aircraft and so take on greater
tasks. The developer is clear he wants this to be an engaging ‘pilot’ centred
simulation. Expect this to be launched in the autumn.
The second is currently called the Flyinside
Flight Simulator and is being developed by the team that brought you
Flyinside- the VR software. (stop press- Flyinside now supports P3Dv4). The
team claim ‘Our new flight simulator is designed to take advantage
of modern multi-core processors and GPUs to provide great frame-rates, accurate
flight dynamics, and a flexible, open platform for add-on developers’.
Links to Useful Sites
www.digitalcombatsimulator.com DCS World
www.fullterrain.com
ORBX Scenery
Whilst we have mentioned this before, we would be most grateful for
your observations on this newsletter, its content, depth and style. Please pass any developmental feedback, via
the website. We always welcome any items
by group members for inclusion in future newsletters. All contributions would
be greatly appreciated by the editor. All pictures are taken from the
respective developers’/ organisation’s websites and remain their intellectual
property. All opinions expressed are my own and are not representative of the SWFSG.
(P.C)
Phil's November 2017 Newsletter
Welcome.
So, as we
look back over the last year, I guess we must ask ourselves, ‘What’s changed?’
and, as far as I can see, the answer is ‘Quite a lot.’
The launch
of Oculus Rift CV1 and the significant price reduction in the second half of
the year has certainly made VR Flying more accessible; as evidenced by the
number of headsets on a Sunday at Ipplepen.
Dovetail’s
FSW has been launched and appears to be a bit of a slow burner, with increasing
‘add on’ content becoming available alongside relatively regular and meaningful
updates.
Prepar3d V
4 and X Plane 11 seem to be the platforms of choice, with a launch of the
former and then significant updates to both during the year.
DCS World gets
ever nearer to the ‘merging ‘ of 2 and 1.5
to update to 2.5 which will allow
unification of the two parallel developments, so that the new platform can access all maps currently available and
those on the horizon.
Aerofly 2 is
becoming an increasingly popular sim, especially with the introduction of
additional ‘free’ scenery packages being made available. It still remains the
prettiest sim.
So, not a bad year
after all, lets hope for the same pace of development through 2018.
News
DCS World followers
will doubtless have picked up on the imminent release in beta format of the
RAZBAM developed AV-8B Harrier Study level simulation. There are already quite a lot of video’s
featuring late alpha development
aircraft on Youtube, some good quality reviews being conducted by
‘JABBERS’, inclding a good demonstration of a vertical take off and landing. Link Here.
I anticpate the
Harrier launch will be followed very shortly after by the release of their F18
Hornet and the Straights of Hormuz map, you can see how those are shaping up by
clicking here.
Dovetail FSW
has announced the imminent release of it’s first non GA payware aircraft, a Curtis P40
Warhawk developed by Blue Sky Flight Simulations. I have to say this is a brave choice of
subject, I don’t know how much of a
‘draw’ this particular aircraft will have. The good news is that, as with all
add ons for FSW, their incorporation helps push the development of the sim too.
Interestingly, Dovetail have just announced that they will shortly release the FSW SDK so we can anticipate a wider diversity of add ons in the not to
distant future. Follow this link
to check out the Warhawk
Just Flight
are continuing to develop a number of
aircraft, including some interesting ‘British Heavy Metal’ although, in truth,
two of the three seem to have been ‘ on the drawing board’ for years! Firstly, the Gloster Javelin FAW 8/9
still continues to show external shots of the model only at this time- I guess
we will know how things are progressing when we have some internal cockpit
shots.- Their development of the Vickers
VC10 appears to be making speedier progress, with a multitude of internal and
external shots to have a look at.
Finally, in October,
Just Flight announced their next big project, their interpretation of a Vulcan B2. Again there are some
interesting screen shots, albeit only unrendered external views at the
moment. Click Link to the
Just Flight development pages.
Sticking with Just
Flight, you might wish to consider their recently released DHC -3
Otter. Available for the FSX family of platforms including P3d v4. There is
also a time limited
demo on the page to ‘try before you buy’.
Things seem to have been a little quite of late for
Australian Developers IRIS, but they
have ended the year releasing a CT/4F AKALA, a small antipodean ‘bulldog-esq’ trainer, with a fully updated glass
cockpit. Click
Link for further details
A few months ago I
drew your attetion to the Scottish
Aviation Bulldog developed by Black Box Simulations. Well, they have added to their hanger by releasing
their interpretation of ths classic Cessna
L-19 – Bird Dog. Both have been
updated to be fully compitable with P3d v4 and the even better news is that you
can download a free, time limited demo of both aircraft. Click Link
to have a look for yourselves.
And
finally…
Which is the Best Sim?
Now, if
you have looked at the title and thought you would find the answer here then
I’m sorry, but you’ll be disappointed. I
do however have a suggestion on how we might find out.
Just
Flight have released a Piper PA28R Arrow for both X Plane 11 and Dovetail FSW
and a Piper 28 Warrior (ok not a perfect match but close enough!!) for P3dv4.
All we
now need is someone running all three 3 platforms to purchase the 3 models;
install; fly and let us know the results…
Any
volunteers?
Links to Useful Sites
www.digitalcombatsimulator.com DCS World
www.fullterrain.com ORBX
Scenery
Whilst we have mentioned this before, we would be most grateful for
your observations on this newsletter, its content, depth and style. Please pass any developmental feedback, via
the website. We always welcome any items
by group members for inclusion in future newsletters. All contributions would
be greatly appreciated by the editor. All pictures are taken from the
respective developers’/ organisation’s websites and remain their intellectual
property. All opinions expressed are my own and are not representative of the SWFSG.
(P.C)
Phil's October 2017 Newsletter
Welcome.
So that’s Cosford over for another year and I think we can classify it a success. When the show organiser notices that ours was one of the busiest stands, we know we must have been doing something right.
With the group Saitek panel and with Matt, Paul & Alan demonstrating their systems, we were able to offer a wide range of platforms, to keep the visitors interested.
Here are a few pictures, which I hope convey how busy we were, from set up on Friday evening……….
………..throughout the day.
Tiring but
worthwhile. Find more pictures on the SWFSG Blog.
One of the benefits
of being at Cosford was the opportunity to attend some of the seminars in the
nearby leture theatre. I thought it might be interesting to share a couple of the presentations….
Deadstick is the name of a brand new simulator, destined for
release in the next 12 months. The
premises of the simulator is to give the sim pilot the best expirience of bush
flying . The sim will concentrate on
small area of forested, moutainoius terrain, modelled to the highest
fidelity, realistic and dynamic micro climate weather. The sim will follow a
‘career’ mode, where you undertake
transporting goods and passengers which, in turn, earn credits which can be used to service or upgrade you aircraft, to enable to
to access more complex missions.
Early screen shots
were impressive, especially the trees and grass which were both very
convincing. Expect the grass to be blown about by the propwash! Follow the link
on their Homepage to their Facebook pake for further screenshots.
Flight Sim World gave us the final presentation of the
day. Some time was spent resuming how far the Sim had come since launch in May
2017 and the almost fortnightly updates since then.
The
presentation highlighted how the sim would be developing in the future, driven
mainly by the ‘payware’ developers they are currently working with.
In each
case they approached a developer to produce an add on for the sim. The
developer in turn looked at the sim and identified those areas it needed, to be
able to deliver the product. The example they gave was how one of the payware
mission packages required the windscreen on an aircraft to shatter following a
bird strike. The sim was updated to accommodate this (a claimed first in a
Flight sim). Similar accommodations were made with the first payware scenery ‘Big
Bear City Airport’ designed by
Turbulent Designs and the first aircraft, a
Pipe Pa 28rr Arrow developed by Just Flight.
There is no clear timeline
for the ongoing development of the sim, however, the team are keen to accommodate further
enhancements to the weather engine; a state of the art ‘intelligent ATC’ and native VR. The next six months should be an interesting.
One of our near neighbours
at the show FS
Elite, a HUB of Flight
Sim News, Previews, Reviews and Community Content. A
visit to their website shows lots
of up to date content, presented in an accessable format. They also run the occasional
competition, with Flight Sim related prizes,
so why not Click Here for a link and go and check it out for yourself.
And
Finally, an ‘unusual’ FSX aircraft, the Fairey Barracuda available as freeware
from the prolific hand (should that be mouse?) of Rob Richardson. I’ve
mentioned this site below and it is a goldmine of mainly, vintage British
aircraft. The good news, for me, is that he is continuing his efforts on a
TSR2. More power to your elbow Sir!! Rob's Aero Files
Links to Useful Sites
www.digitalcombatsimulator.com DCS World
www.fullterrain.com ORBX
Scenery
Whilst we have mentioned this before, we would be most grateful for
your observations on this newsletter, its content, depth and style. Please pass any developmental feedback, via
the website. We would welcome any items
by group members for inclusion in future newsletters. All contributions would
be greatly appreciated by the editor. All pictures are taken from the
respective developers’/ organisation’s websites and remain their intellectual
property. All opinions expressed are my own and are not representative of the
SWFSG as a whole. (P.C)
Phil's September 2017 Newsletter
Welcome.
Well.
Summer's gone and Christmas is just around the corner. Where did that year go?
I hope the
summer gave you a chance to relax and maybe get out and about in this glorious
part of the world and, maybe for some, sometime overseas.
However
you have spent your time, you can rest assured our Hobby hasn’t been ‘sleeping’
and whilst there have been very few ‘big’ releases, there is evidence of a
period of consolidation for many of the new ‘sims’ to market.
Dovetail Games Flight Sim World
Since
release, FSW has undergone 10’ upgrades’ over the summer, with numerous bug
fixes but also with some significant additions such as the Weather Engine and
the ability to have ‘cold and dark’ starts.
FSW has been criticised because it launched as a ‘closed’ simulator, but
all that could be about to change with Just Flight’s recent announcement that
it is developing the first third party add-on aircraft in the form of an FSW
version of their popular Piper Arrow III. Clearly this could act as a barometer
for the popularity of he sim and a possible vanguard for more to come?
(Released 7/9/17!!)
DCS World
Work
continues to move towards the ‘unification’ of Versions 1.5 & 2, which
actually means the programme will be able to manage multiple maps.
The
release of an F18 Hornet and F14 Tomcat appear to be quite close and certainly
these herald the way to a “Straights of Hormuz/Arabian Sea” map and scenarios.
This is backed up by various images of modern military warships to act as a
backdrop for these maritime military encounters.
Onetime FSX developers Razbam continue
with the development of an AV8B Harrier (Arabian Sea Scenario?) and Mig 15
(Korea/Vietnam scenarios?). However, quite out of the blue, they revealed an
HMS Ark Royal/Invincible class Light Carrier of the Falklands Era. So, there
might well be a chance of a South Atlantic Scenario with the AV8B being
reprofiled for FAA Sea Harriers FRS1’s and RAF GR3’s. I guess we must wait to see if A4 Skyhawks;
Pucaras; Mirage 5s and some Super Etendards make an appearance.
VR
The
£399 Oculus Rift Bundle has doubtless tempted a large number of sim enthusiasts
(myself included). I thought it might be interesting to look at the current
crop of popular Flight Sims out in the market place and look at their VR
credentials.
Where
a SIM is VR Native, it means it can ‘drive’ you VR Headset from within the
programme (normally within the display options menu).
Interestingly,
programmes like Flyinside, sit between the original sim and ‘project’ the video
signal to the headset. These programmes tend to offer more adjustments and
enhancements over the ‘native’ programme. This is possibly best demonstrated in
a programme like Prepar3d Vr 3 which has a ‘native’ setting but the Flyinside
option offers a little more flexibility and a slightly better presentation.
Clearly there a judgement call if the
extra expense of Flyinside is worth that enhancement- the could news there is a
limited free trial option follow the
link for more information.
To
add to the confusion the Developers of Flyinside are currently developing their
own standalone Flightsim. Given their expertise in VR that is certainly worth
keeping an eye on!
The
table below is a round up of where we are at the moment. Click on the links to
take you to the individual programmes.
Native VR
|
No Current VR
Option
|
||
√
|
|||
Battle of Stalingrad/
Moscow
|
√
|
||
Cliffs of Dover
|
√
|
||
√
|
|||
√
|
|||
Dovetail Flight School
|
√
|
||
√
|
|||
FSX
|
√
|
||
√
|
|||
Prepar3d 1
|
√
|
||
√
|
|||
√
|
√
|
||
Prepar3d 4
|
√
|
||
X Plane 9
|
√
|
||
√
|
|||
√ (By End of 2017)
|
√ ( Beta)
|
||
√
|
Diary Dates Flight sim 2017 at the RAF Museum, Cosford near
Wolverhampton has been confirmed for Saturday 7th October 2017.
Advance tickets
are on sale for £8 (plus £0.93 booking fee per ticket) and all advance ticket
buyers will get a free Goodie Bag on the day of the show! Alternatively,
just go on the day and pay £10 admission on the door.
There's
no admission charge for Under-16s accompanied by an adult and entrance to the
RAF Museum is free to all visitors, so there is more than enough going on to
make a day of it.
Links to Useful Sites
www.digitalcombatsimulator.com DCS World
www.fullterrain.com ORBX
Scenery
Whilst we have mentioned this before, we would be most grateful for
your observations on this newsletter, its content, depth and style. Please pass any developmental feedback, via
the website. We would welcome any items
by group members for inclusion in future newsletters. All contributions would
be greatly appreciated by the editor. All pictures are taken from the
respective developers’/ organisation’s websites and remain their intellectual
property. All opinions expressed are my own and are not representative of the
SWFSG as a whole. (P.C)
Phil's June 2017 Newsletter
Welcome.
So, it
appears that 64 bit flight simulators are a bit like busses; you wait for ages
with no sign of them and then you get three of them along in short succession.
After a
period of relative calm in the industry, there arrival of Xplane 11 (XP11), Dovetail’s Flight Sim World (FSW) and, latterly, Prepar3d Version 4
(P3D4) have obviously ‘stirred the pot’ for developers big and small.
Being
first out of the blocks, XP 11 has been building up a slow head of steam, with
more and more developers aligning themselves with the simulation. For example,
FSX diehards Alabeo and Carenado are porting over their respective hangers.
Similarly, Milviz have announced they are working on an ATR Regional Jet.
P3d4
not only arrived with a significant level of compatibility with ‘add ons’ which
worked with VR 3 but also P3d4 stole a march, by additionally announcing a
list of developers who were actively working with the simulation; A2A announced
a fully compatible Cessna 172 on the day of release.
Unfortunately,
this is the direct opposite to the experience with FSW, where there appears to
have very little direct engagement with developers, other than a ‘wistful’
promise of things coming down the road in the future. Given the strong support
for the other two titles, I do fear for FSW. I can almost see it following
their earlier ‘Flight School’ into oblivion. This view seems to be supported by
some of the industry’s biggest commentators. In short, their view is
simply ‘choose between P3d4 or XP11 & just go flying & enjoy.’
Whilst
already posted on our Website, Frooglesim has recorded a video blog review of
the current state of our hobby. Click this link to go straight to this vlog.
+++
Now, I
have already mentioned the value of YouTube to our Hobby and again I thoroughly
endorse Frooglesim’s weekly news update to you, but YouTube can be a great
instructional tool as well. I’ll let
group member Brendan H tell you more:-
“I
guess like many others, I use YouTube tutorials to improve my knowledge of
flightsim techniques. Despite doing lots of searches, I'm surprised that I
continually come across videos that I haven't seen before. For that reason, I
thought there might be some value in encouraging club members to
contribute suggestions of tutorials etc that they have found useful, either in
the newsletter or via the Website.
I'll
start the ball rolling with videos from Ralph Freshnour and, in particular, a
series of 23 tutorials (yes 23!) describing how to use the PMDG 737 MCP. They
are very clear, very well produced and present as being authoritative as I
believe he was an instructor for Boeing on the 737. Here's a link to the first
(introductory) video of the twenty-three. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5YbzxLpom0
DCS World appears to be having a very
busy year with the close release of a F18 Super Hornet ( 5 years in development
apparently) to be joined by an F14 Tomcat and, as discussed last month, a
USMC AV8B Harrier. Clearly these
suggest a very maritime environment and all sit well with a ‘Straits of Hormuz’
Campaign & map set. The aircraft are also joined by some very detailed
maritime assets including superbly modelled aircraft carriers. They also seem
to be developing aircraft for a Korean/ Vietnam series of missions with some
early development shots of Mig 15 & 21 being circulated.
Diary Dates
With the summer and the ‘display’ season approaching, I though it
appropriate to include dates and links to the few airshows we have down in this
part of the world. We are in interesting times at the moment, with air displays
& aerobatic manoeuvres being significantly limited, other than over the
sea/bodies of water. In date order these
are :
Flight sim
2017 at the RAF Museum, Cosford near Wolverhampton has been confirmed for
Saturday 7th October 2017.
Advance tickets are on sale for £8 (plus £0.93 booking fee per ticket) and all
advance ticket buyers will get a free Goodie Bag on the day of the show!
There's no admission charge for Under-16s accompanied by an adult and entrance to the RAF Museum is free to all visitors, so there is more than enough going on to make a day of it. Alternatively, just go on the day and pay £10 admission on the door.
As I can attest, Cosford is a reasonable 31/2 Hour Car journey from the Westcountry so ‘doable’ in a long day!
Links to Useful Sites
www.digitalcombatsimulator.com DCS World
www.fullterrain.com ORBX
Scenery
Whilst we have mentioned this before, we would be most grateful for
your observations on this newsletter, its content, depth and style. Please pass any developmental feedback, via
the website. We would welcome any items
by group members for inclusion in future newsletters. All contributions would
be greatly appreciated by the editor. All pictures are taken from the
respective developers’/ organisation’s websites and remain their intellectual
property. All opinions expressed are my own and are not representative of the
SWFSG as a whole. (P.C)
Phil's May 2017 Newsletter
Welcome.
So, as was hinted at last month, Dovetail have now formally announced the beta release of their new flight sim, to be known as Dovetail Games Flight Sim World (DG FSM).
The choice to release this in beta format is either an interesting or clever choice, as it allows the users to ‘drive’ the simulation forward. In short, those with the loudest voices will be heard so it is their particular ‘must have’’ that will go to the top of the queue for future adoption.
As I write this, there are no firm details of a price on release (I’m guessing about £30) but you will see some smug looking individuals because Dovetail will be gifting DGFSW to those people who purchased DT Flight School.
There are a number of promotional videos doing the rounds so I will place links to some of these at the end although I know this is duplicating some of the items already on the group website.
The tone of DGFSG is set by the ‘free’ aircraft in the initial release, 7 GA aircraft, some of which you will be familiar with from DTFS. No Tubeliner jets, helicopters or military aircraft in the first tranche although these are promised in the future, probably from third party developers.
So, what are the headlines around the release. Well the sim will a 64 bit operating system. Long considered the holy grail for flight simming as it removes the 4GB RAM limitation of 32 Bit operation. This allows your onboard RAM to offset some of the load on the CPU. (No more out of memory issues?) The rewritten code also allows a greater split in the workload between the CPU and the GPU, so your investment in a new Graphics card should really pay off. Linked with the ‘graphic updates’ includes adoption of DX11.
Dovetail quote ongoing collaboration with A2A and ORBX for early inclusion of ‘Accusim’ and FTX Global at release.
There is one area which possibly comes as a bit of a health warning. DGFSW is released on the STEAM network and there has always been a bit of history around their pricing structure around down load content (DLC)
STEAM have, apparently, always looked at a 30% profit margin on all software sold through their site. It is strongly suggested this might be the only method of obtaining third party software. This commercial model might put some developers off, as they are going to have to pitch their price point including STEAM’s percentage to cover their development costs. In short ‘add ons’ might be quite expensive. Clearly some manufacturers might ‘hold off’ until the market is more clearly defined and stable before investing in ‘new’ models. Anticipate a number of ‘port overs’ in the early months after release.
As to free content, if Dovetail do follow their Train simulator franchise (also on STEAM), there is an active community providing some free content so this is worth monitoring for DGFSW.
The one good thing, as most STEAM users will attest, is that, like DFS, here is always a sale on, so it may always be better to wait for that DLC you fancy, rather than jump in first thing.
We are set for an interesting next 6 months.
Quick Video Links:-
DCS World’s next big release will be their Normandy 1944 map & scenery , the perfect scenario for flying your Spitfire in! Visually the map, landclass and placed objects look fantastic as you can judge for yourself by following DCS Normandy and watching FROOGLE’s take on things.
Whilst we look at DCS World, RAZBAM simulations are well advance with their AV8B Harrier and are currently modelling the weapon systems. Let’s hope for an appropriate UK style GR9 version/ scheme to be available early doors.
Razbam are also developing a Mig 19 for the same platform, something to pit your F86 Sabre up against!!
Aeroplan Heaven appear to have limitless capability at the moment, as they announce the very close release of their C46 Commando military/civilian transport aircraft and their latest ‘in development’ shots of a Republic P47D ‘Thunderbolt’. Both are in development for FSX & Prepar3d.
And finally
Here’s an aircraft I have been waiting for for ages. I had the Alphasim version in FS9 but nothing seemed to work on it. Rob Richardson is developing a TSR2 and, whilst still in early stages, the screenshots already look promising. The even better news is that all Rob’s offerings are free, Rob’s site is always worth a visit for some classic British metal.
Diary Dates
With the summer and the ‘display’ season approaching, I though it appropriate to include dates and links to the few airshows we have down in this part of the world. We are in interesting times at the moment, with air displays & aerobatic manoeuvres being significantly limited, other than over the sea/bodies of water. In date order these are :
2nd Torbay Airshow (centred on Paignton Sea Front) 4 & 5 June 2017
Plymouth Armed Forces Day Saturday 24 June 2017
On the flight Sim front, the Live Drone Racing and Flight Simulator Convention is Planned for the weekend 22nd & 23rd July at the National Helicopter Museum, Weston Super Mare
Flight sim 2017 at the RAF Museum, Cosford near Wolverhampton has been confirmed for Saturday 7th October 2017. Details to follow.
Links to Useful Sites
www.digitalcombatsimulator.com DCS World
www.fullterrain.com ORBX Scenery
Whilst we have mentioned this before, we would be most grateful for your observations on this newsletter, its content, depth and style. Please pass any developmental feedback, via the website. We would welcome any items by group members for inclusion in future newsletters. All contributions would be greatly appreciated by the editor. All pictures are taken from the respective developers’/ organisation’s websites and remain their intellectual property. All opinions expressed are my own and are not representative of the SWFSG as a whole. (P.C)
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