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Interview With JSF_Aggie
By Skyviper,
CombatACE Interview With JSF_Aggie
In this week's CombatACE Spotlight Segment we have the wonderful oportunity to interview a member who has been here since 2004. JSF_Aggie who is reffered to as the Campaingn Guru and kind enough to do an interview with us.
So, JSF_Aggie, can you tell us a little about yourself?
I'm married with two children, a daughter who's a freshman in high school, and a son who's in 1st grade. I'm a software engineer, and I work in a flight simulation lab. My wife is a teacher. I run a youth basketball league and spend a lot of time coaching.
What interest you about aviation?
I'm an Air Force brat. My dad was a gunner on the B-52H until they took the gun off, in about '92. I grew up at several SAC bases, went to high school at Edwards AFB, and worked there on the flight line, during high school and college summers. The plan was always to become a pilot, but my vision was not good enough.
What is your favorite aircraft and why?
B-52, because of the family connection, but also because of its history and service length.
What got you interested in flight simulation?
Just general love of aviation. I grew up around aircraft and every job I've had has dealt with aviation in some fashion. Being able to tweak and create like you can with the TW sims is important to me as well.
Do you remember the first flight sim you ever played?
Probably Jane's USAF. I didn't have a computer until my last couple years of college. I didn't have one that you could really enjoy a flight sim on until after I graduated.
What motivated you to arrive here at Combat Ace and stay here 9 years?
Thirdwire's sims cover what is my favorite eras of aviation. CombatAce has some StrikeFighters guys that were around before I discovered the game. Most everyone here has always been very willing to help out when I had questions, and the mods that have been created by these guys take the sim to a whole different level, compared to the stock game.
When did you start modding?
Shortly after I started flying Strike Fighters, sometime in 2003, I think the first thing I uploaded was high res skin/template for the Beagle.
What does modding do for you? Is it something that is relaxing, a neat hobby, etc?
It reminds me of building aircraft models as a kid. Outside of family and work, it's one of the few hobbies I try and make time for.
What motivated you to make the Operation Desert Storm Campaign mod?
Dave's constant nagging.
What events led to you being called the Campaign Guru?
I think Dave stuck that there after the original ODS was released. I think there were fewer guys doing campaign stuff back then, so I think it had more to do with quantity rather than quality.
What is a campaign you would like to make provided the resources are available?
A Soviet vs. US campaign for the DBS terrain. I've gotten pretty far along three different times, and eventually started over. The last time was to take advantage of what SF:NA gave us. I plan to get back to it soon.
What modding tools do you use and why?
Photoshop for texture editing. TW's TerrainEditor and gerwin's TFDTool for terrain work. And gvim and examdiff for text files.
What is your favorite mod you have created?
The skin template for the B-52 is the only time I've skinned a model totally from scratch. I begged Dave to do it and I think it turned out pretty good. I've also been on the team of some really good stuff like ODS and OTC, and I think it was really cool to be able to contribute to large mods such as those.
What is your favorite mod that you did not create?
I haven't been able to come up with just one. I lean towards the effect mods that deuces did back in the day, and what Stary does now. Also, I think there are several really good add-on terrains that add a lot to the sim.
Who is a Modder you admire or inspired you to start modding?
Lately I would say eburger68. I hope everyone realizes how much work goes into the mods he puts together, and the older ones he's updated for us.
Do you have any favorite quotes or thoughts about being here at Combat Ace you’d like to share?
I'm sure I'll take crap for this, but what the hell are all the references to the Eels about?
Thank you for reading this week's CombatACE Spotlight Segment. There is still more to come, until next time, I'm Skyviper wishing everyone out there happy landings.
CombatACE Interview With Developer of War Thunder
By Skyviper,
CombatACE Interview With Gaijin Entertainment
Because flight simulation is a pasion and hobby for most of us here at CombatACE, we are always staying on the watch for new flight simulation programs. War Thunder, an award winning MMO, has definately grasped our attention as well as the attention of 3.5 million users. But who is behind this awesome MMO? To answer that question CombatACE contacted the developer of War Thunder; Gaijin Entertainment. We are honored to have met with its founder and president, Anton Yudintsev, who agreed to do an interview with us and tell us the awesome story of Gaijin Entertainment, which is Russia's largest independent game developer.
Thank you Anton for doing this interview with us. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your role as President of Gaijin Entertainment? I founded the company together with my brother Kirill, who became Creative Director, and Alexey Volynskov, who had became Technical Director, and since then we take part in everything our company does: development, talking to press, running business, working on technology. Our team isn't that big yet (it's like 100 people in different offices), so we have the unique opportunity to oversee every department and every member of our team which larger companies lack. What interest you about flight simulation and gaming? We started to make games when we were in school. Some of those games had become very popular (for example, Doom2D, which was side-scroller game inspired by famous Doom 2, had audience of millions of players), some not - but games were our passion. And Russian developers always had passion about WW2 history and especially, aviation. The best flight sim games were always from Russia, and one of the most famous was IL-2 Sturmovik. When we were offered to develop the console version of IL-2 Sturmovik, we saw it as a unique challenge. This legendary flight sim was already one the most famous (and well-received) games created in Russia. To make our own version, updated for modern (at the time) Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 systems, and to show everyone that you can make a popular flight sim for consoles - you just can't miss an opportunity like this.
What are the events that inspired the creation of Gaijin Entertainment in 2002? When I was a student at the Moscow State University, I was already employed in game development studio. It was the end of 90s, so there weren't a lot of them around in Russia. Anyway, I had a lot of my own ideas for new games and for the development process and wasn't satisfied with the inefficient development processes. That's why I decided to found my own company. Becoming Russia’s biggest independent game development company must have been challenging. What were some of the obstacles Gaijin Entertainment encountered and how have they been overcome? One of the hardest things was evolving into a self-funded company and loosing the big publishers grip. A lot of Russian gamedev studios were basically living from one game to another (and spending publisher's money) without any means to survive on their own. When the economical crisis of 2008 struck, almost none of them were left afloat. But we already had switched to console development and started working with such companies as Activision and Konami and gained international renown by that point. The next big challenge was embracing the free-to-play model and getting to know how MMOs work as it is obvious that in current market it is the only way to create a truly popular game for PC.
Did you ever think Gaijin Entertainment would be as big as it is today compared to what it was when you first started? I don't think a lot of people create their own game development studio and think "Eh, I'll just stick to making some small budget titles". Not us, that's for sure! Almost everyone wants to achieve success, earn a lot of money and become famous all around the world. And we're proud that our hard work and dedication made it possible. Of course, back in 2002 that size of game development company was something unusual, we would be very big (that time) if we would have 100 people. Nowadays, 100 developers are considered to be a "rather small" company. Over the years Gaijin Entertainment has received numerous awards for its games such Flight of Fancy, IL-2Sturmovik, and the recent 2013 War Thunder that has numerous awards for its quality. Will Gaijin Entertainment continue to make more flight simulators and if so what types of aircraft would you like to use? War Thunder already has like 300 planes inside. And it is going to have more. That is impressive to have 300 aircraft in one game when most games only offer a handful. Besides flight simulators what are some the other games that Gaijin Entertainment make and will continue making in the future? Right now we're focusing on the development of War Thunder and we still have a lot to do - main goal being implementation of ground and naval forces in addition to aviation in our game. And this enormous task will take all of our resources for a couple of years to come. What do you think the future of gaming and flight simulation is and how do you see Gaijin Entertainment doing its part to shape that future? We see one of the main missions of our company as showing everyone that military vehicle simulation in general should be accessible and popular genre, like racing games, not some niche one. This was our thinking during development of Birds of Prey, Birds of Steel and Apache: Air Assault. And success of War Thunder with its 3.5 million players is living proof to that. Living proof indeed. Once, Anton Yudintsev, again thank you so much for taking the time to an interview with us and for making the awesome games you make. I wish you and everyone else at Gaijin Entertainment continued success. Thank you for stopping by. I’m Andre “Skyviper” Ford with the CombatACE news team, signing off. If you are you interested in more titles released by Gaijin Entertainment you can check them out here. The photos are links to their respective pages. Click on the Gaijin Entertainment logo for a complete list of all of their games. Please note that Modern Conflict 2 is an app. .
Thank you Anton for doing this interview with us. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your role as President of Gaijin Entertainment? I founded the company together with my brother Kirill, who became Creative Director, and Alexey Volynskov, who had became Technical Director, and since then we take part in everything our company does: development, talking to press, running business, working on technology. Our team isn't that big yet (it's like 100 people in different offices), so we have the unique opportunity to oversee every department and every member of our team which larger companies lack. What interest you about flight simulation and gaming? We started to make games when we were in school. Some of those games had become very popular (for example, Doom2D, which was side-scroller game inspired by famous Doom 2, had audience of millions of players), some not - but games were our passion. And Russian developers always had passion about WW2 history and especially, aviation. The best flight sim games were always from Russia, and one of the most famous was IL-2 Sturmovik. When we were offered to develop the console version of IL-2 Sturmovik, we saw it as a unique challenge. This legendary flight sim was already one the most famous (and well-received) games created in Russia. To make our own version, updated for modern (at the time) Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 systems, and to show everyone that you can make a popular flight sim for consoles - you just can't miss an opportunity like this.
What are the events that inspired the creation of Gaijin Entertainment in 2002? When I was a student at the Moscow State University, I was already employed in game development studio. It was the end of 90s, so there weren't a lot of them around in Russia. Anyway, I had a lot of my own ideas for new games and for the development process and wasn't satisfied with the inefficient development processes. That's why I decided to found my own company. Becoming Russia’s biggest independent game development company must have been challenging. What were some of the obstacles Gaijin Entertainment encountered and how have they been overcome? One of the hardest things was evolving into a self-funded company and loosing the big publishers grip. A lot of Russian gamedev studios were basically living from one game to another (and spending publisher's money) without any means to survive on their own. When the economical crisis of 2008 struck, almost none of them were left afloat. But we already had switched to console development and started working with such companies as Activision and Konami and gained international renown by that point. The next big challenge was embracing the free-to-play model and getting to know how MMOs work as it is obvious that in current market it is the only way to create a truly popular game for PC.
Did you ever think Gaijin Entertainment would be as big as it is today compared to what it was when you first started? I don't think a lot of people create their own game development studio and think "Eh, I'll just stick to making some small budget titles". Not us, that's for sure! Almost everyone wants to achieve success, earn a lot of money and become famous all around the world. And we're proud that our hard work and dedication made it possible. Of course, back in 2002 that size of game development company was something unusual, we would be very big (that time) if we would have 100 people. Nowadays, 100 developers are considered to be a "rather small" company. Over the years Gaijin Entertainment has received numerous awards for its games such Flight of Fancy, IL-2Sturmovik, and the recent 2013 War Thunder that has numerous awards for its quality. Will Gaijin Entertainment continue to make more flight simulators and if so what types of aircraft would you like to use? War Thunder already has like 300 planes inside. And it is going to have more. That is impressive to have 300 aircraft in one game when most games only offer a handful. Besides flight simulators what are some the other games that Gaijin Entertainment make and will continue making in the future? Right now we're focusing on the development of War Thunder and we still have a lot to do - main goal being implementation of ground and naval forces in addition to aviation in our game. And this enormous task will take all of our resources for a couple of years to come. What do you think the future of gaming and flight simulation is and how do you see Gaijin Entertainment doing its part to shape that future? We see one of the main missions of our company as showing everyone that military vehicle simulation in general should be accessible and popular genre, like racing games, not some niche one. This was our thinking during development of Birds of Prey, Birds of Steel and Apache: Air Assault. And success of War Thunder with its 3.5 million players is living proof to that. Living proof indeed. Once, Anton Yudintsev, again thank you so much for taking the time to an interview with us and for making the awesome games you make. I wish you and everyone else at Gaijin Entertainment continued success. Thank you for stopping by. I’m Andre “Skyviper” Ford with the CombatACE news team, signing off. If you are you interested in more titles released by Gaijin Entertainment you can check them out here. The photos are links to their respective pages. Click on the Gaijin Entertainment logo for a complete list of all of their games. Please note that Modern Conflict 2 is an app. .
IL-2 WW1, Part 3 - air-to-air at last!
By 33LIMA,
My first couple of missions in the IL2 Dark Blue World 1916 'Code of Honour' campaign hadn't given me much experience of dogfighting. It was to remedy this that I returned to skies over the Western Front with the RFC's 56 Squadron. This time, I got my money's worth (proverbially speaking, of course, the mod & campaign being free).
From the mission briefing below, you'll see that an obliging Hun pilot had evidently decided to help me fill the air-to-air gap in my logbook, by challenging me to a duel! One thing about scripted mission campaigns - they can provide a degree of variety which you tend not to get in 'dynamic' or 'random mission generator' equivalents.
This mission was an air start, placing me just short of the duel's appointed location, over the Lines. For this mission, I'd chosen another attractive 60 Squadron skin in the 'aircraft setup' screen, this time I think of a machine flown by New Zealand ace 'Grid' Caldwell, hence presumably the 'silver fern' marking on the upper fin.
Staring ahead into Hunland, I soon made out a dark speck at about my level, drifting slightly left from the glare of the rising sun, to the East.
There was no sign of AA fire but I nevertheless took this to be my enemy, arriving for our appointment and not hesitating to meet me on my side of the Lines. I climbed slightly in the hope of starting the fight with a bit of a height advantage but it was not to be. The enemy had seen me too and came straight at me. So we started with a head on pass. I'm not actually sure if he was firing at me, but I was certainly firing at him, as the range rapidly closed.
As he swept past, I saw he was a light blue Roland DII, one of the types unique (I think) to DBW 1916. This was not a particularly successful machine and served in small numbers, usually in quieter sectors or secondary theatres, so it was a bit out of place in a hot sector of the Western Front in July 1917. Pilots reportedly disliked the unusual and view-blocking centre section pylon (replaced with more conventional struts in the later DIII model) and were not impressed by the heaviness of the controls; but my opponent seemed not in the least put off by any of this, for he threw his kite about quite readily, making plenty of use of the vertical.
The combat seemed to resolve itself into a series of near head-on passes, as each of us tried to get his nose around faster. This is where things started to get awkward. I soon realised I was suffering from two fairly serious issues.
First, there was the IL2 padlock. Perhaps it was partly unfamiliarity, and perhaps it was IL2's padlock limitations (range and angle?), arguably preferable to the padlocks of First Eagles, Over Flanders Fields and Rise of Flight, which are easier to engage and maintain. Of course, X-ray vision is not realistic but I'm with the crowd who thinks that padlock should not break too soon after a target disappears behind some part of your plane, given you should often be able to extrapolate his course and pick him up coming out the other side, without too much fuss. Anyway, whatever it was, I was mostly unable to initiate or hold a padlock on my foe. Not being a fan of head-tracking kit, I was reduced to using mouselook to (try to) keep 'eyes on' the Roland.
The second issue was the very poor visibility from my plane. Being in the middle of a fight for my virtual life, I wasn't much bothered about the rendering issues in my SE5's virtual cockpit (which the plane's readme describes as 'provisional', so the much-needed improvement may be coming). The problem was that the wings - mainly the upper one, with its inaccurately-placed and too-thick struts supporting an odd, drooping centre section - blocked a great deal of my view. I know that Fifty-six's pilots lowered the seat position before taking their SE's to war, thereby losing some of the ability to see over the upper wing that persuaded the Royal Aircraft Factory to adopt the original, higher seat. But I also know that even with the lowered seat position, which was adopted as standard, visibility from the SE was still considered very good, ace James McCudden specifically commending it. The view from the SE in the 'big three' current WW1 sims seems much better, and I have flown a dogfight in the RoF version using only mouselook and without undue difficulty. Adjusting the zoom setting seemed to make no difference. I could have switched to the IL2 'no cockpit' view but dislike using such features, useful though they may be.
Despite these handicaps, I did manage to pick up the dipping and turning Roland now and again. I even managed to get behind and put some rounds into him.
As I drew away from my firing pass, sure that I had got some solid hits, I watched my enemy carefully. I saw that he seemed to be flying much more sluggishly. It was time for the kill! But when it came, it wasn't the Roland who got the chop, it was me!
The cause of my virtual and fiery demise was not immediately apparent to me. There had been no AA fire in this mission and I was fairly sure that 'Archie' was not responsible for my losing the duel. I reckoned I'd been hit my MG fire from another aeroplane and sure enough, the Hun had not been alone. A couple of his mates had been in the air and had decided to intervene. All terribly unfair, of course.
Furthermore, my assailants seemed to have come a long way, for the privilege of despatching me. All the way from Austria and the Italian front, in fact. They were flying one of the distinctive versions of the Albatros DIII built in Austria by Oeffag. I'm pretty sure that the Austrians had better things to do their precious Albatrosses than send them to the Western Front. And as DBW 1916 now has models available of the German-built DIII and DV, there was really no need for the Austrian variant to show up. But show up they had and that was that.
To get my own back, I re-flew the mission. This time, I made a point of settling the Roland's hash without delay, making a greater effort not to lose sight of him and to hit him hard when I could.
I then gained height and flew around, to see if the two wayward Austrians would show up; and if so, whether I could repay them in kind for their services on the previous mission. I'm guessing their arrival was time-triggered, for they duly appeared.
This time, with a height advantage, I was able to pick out one of the enemy and fell on him: 'the Devil take the hindmost' as they say. I soon sent him down, apparently wounded, to a crash which, I'm sorry to say, made rather a mess of his nice aeroplane.
The other fellow lasted a bit longer. We had a short dogfight but I got behind him and hammered away until he leveled off and slowed down. I overshot but he was evidently in no condition to do anything about it.
At this point, those padlock and visibility issues got the better of me again and I lost sight of him for a while. When next I saw him, he was flying away quite fast, straight and level, in an apparently random direction; more to the south, rather than due east towards nearby German territory. Perhaps he had decided to call it quits on the Western Front and head back to Austria! Either way, I have seen seemingly-damaged Artificial Intelligence enemies disengage like this before, in IL-2, and they can be quite hard to catch up with. It took me a while to overhaul him but I finally did so.
IL-2 AI pilots appear impossible to creep up behind as they always seem to spot you and break; just as you are about to shoot, usually! The Austrian in the V-strutter was no exception but I was half-expecting it and his attempt to turn out of my way didn't save him.
In fact, his random (?) escape route had taken him towards my own airfield, which I recognised from previous missions; he had crashed just a short distance away. I trust the chaps on the ground will confirm my kill, if not all three.
Before I offer any further impressions of DBW 1916 in its latest iteration, I'm going to swap sides and have a crack flying for the Kaiser, in one of the several authentic German fighter (aka 'scout') types now available in DBW 1916. Watch this space for the mission report!
Interview with WhiteBoySamurai
By CowboyTodd41,
WhiteBoySamurai is one our most well respected modders here on the site, without him SF2NA wouldn't be nearly as interesting (or nearly as dangerous!)
Hey, thanks for taking time out for me and the guys here at the site. A couple of starters real quick, where are you from, and what do you do for a living?
I'm in my early 30s. I was born and raised in Boston, MA, and later spent a large portion of my life in Hawaii. I've been living in Nagoya, Japan for almost 5 years now. Right now I'm doing English/Japanese translation, interpretation, and second-language education.
How did you end up in Japan?
I've always been interested in Japan, actually, and I studied the language in college. The big economic crash ended up giving me an excuse to live and work here. To make a long story short, I had been doing contract work in Hawaii that was steadily turning sour, but I got an offer from a Japanese firm that gave me better job security. I sold everything I couldn't pack or store and made Japan my new home.
So what was it exactly that got you into doing naval objects, as opposed to aircraft or weapons?
My grandfather was an engineer in the US Navy during WWII. He used to tell me vivid stories about the big battleships, how the guns worked, how they'd do shock tests on the deck and hull, the combination of brute force, heavy armor, and precision machinery. It was all very fascinating to me. I ended up working in his machine shop for a while, helping make ball bearings that were to be used in gun turrets and other components for the military. Some of my earliest memories are of going to airshows with him, so he's probably responsible for my love of military aircraft and flight sims too.
What are some of your favorite ships/aircraft?
I love the Ticonderoga class cruisers, and the Aegis DDGs (Arleigh Burke, Kongo, Atago). I went aboard Japan's new Akizuki destroyer recently and it too became one of my favorites. I also have a thing for the Kirov class because of how ridiculously heavily armed they are. And of course I love the Yamato and the Iowa, the absolute greatest battleships of all time.
As for aircraft, the F-15 has been my favorite since the first time I saw it fly when I was very young. I knew there was something special about it even before I knew anything about airplanes. But then I fell in love all over again when the F-22 appeared. A close second or third favorite would be Japan's F-2. I think it's one of the most beautiful things that's ever flown.
...In retrospect, it seems like most of my favorite ships and aircraft are ones that were designed to hopelessly outmatch their contemporary equivalents. Does that make me a bully by proxy?
Not if you're playing to win. About how old were you when you first got into flight sims, and what were you playing?
I think it was F-15 Strike Eagle III by MicroProse. I must've been around 16 at the time, and had just gotten a nice new computer with everyone's favorite OS, Windows 95. (However, I remember having to switch to DOS mode any time I wanted to play the damn game.) Strike Eagle III was pretty impressive at the time, with rudimentary polygon objects and a surprisingly accurate 2D cockpit. It's worth mentioning that I got into this game after playing its console cousin, Super Strike Eagle, on the SNES-- so maybe that's actually my first "sim."(ed. I grew up with A-10 Attack! on Mac, so I really don't know what he's talking about here :P)
What's your favorite sim?
Strike Fighters 2, definitely. I've got nitpicks about it like everyone else, but overall it has almost everything I want in a flight sim. I've probably spent more time in the Strike Fighters series than all other flight sims I've played combined.
Outside of flight sims, I also really enjoyed Jane's Fleet Command back in the day, but I can't get it working on my current computer. The most fun naval sim I've ever played, though, is a Japanese game called Kurogane no Houkou 3, which lets you design, build, and command a fleet of warships in a quasi-historical setting with sci-fi/time travel elements.
How did you get into modding and 3D work?
It was only after I came to Combat Ace and started reading about how people were making all these cool mods that I decided to try it. I started by making very simple objects-- Missiles were easy enough, basically just a cylinder, a cone, and triangular fins. The careful measuring and precision of the process reminded me of my grandfather's machine shop, and being able to create something and then see the results in a game was tremendously liberating. So I stuck with it.
This was years ago in the Strike Fighters 1 days, and I quickly noticed that there were hardly any ship mods. So I started cutting virtual steel for the first time to make the Ticonderoga. I made a lot of newbie mistakes and I couldn't texture well at all, but thanks to help and encouragement from the Combat Ace community, everything worked out in the end.
If you had unlimited time and budget, what would your “dream mod” be?
My dream, and indeed my current goal, is to model nearly every major surface combatant and ground vehicle currently in service with the US, Russia, Japan, China, Taiwan, and Korea. This will give our terrain and campaign modders a full toolbox for historical and what-if scenarios like the Taiwan Strait Crisis, or a Korean war gone hot again; skirmishes over tiny disputed islands, or a full-scale near-end-of-the-world modern Pacific war.
My other dream would be to build the Yamato for our WWII PTO community. It's selfish, but I can't bear the thought of another modder touching her. Unfortunately building just that one ship from scratch would probably take as much time as all the other ones I'd want to make put together. BUT, I don't think that either of these dream mods are beyond the realm of possibility.
How did you get into SF series?
Years ago I was searching around for a new flight sim that was closer to what I wanted. I had given up on other games: I didn't have the time or patience for an ultra-deep study sim like Falcon 4.0. LOMAC ran like a slideshow on my computer at the time and was nearly unmoddable.
I found out about Strike Fighters: Project 1, which sounded very appealing to me. A large selection of aircraft, good flight dynamics but not so much switchology, lots of things to do and targets to blow up. And, of course, the series is also highly moddable with an active community, so it was the obvious choice for me.
How did you find out about CA?
I googled for "strike fighters mods" and it brought me right here. I bet a lot of other members have the same story.
Who are some of your other favorite modders?
- Dels, who somehow manages to model all of the coolest aircraft in existence. F-22, F-23, B-1B, F-117, AH-64, and my favorite mod of all time, the F-2. Even his C-130 is fun to fly, and I'd never thought I'd say that about a transport plane!
- Wrench, who gives us so many wonderful playgrounds and is an all-around great guy. Wrench has a way of helping people and making them feel appreciated at the same time.
- Julhelm is a consummate pro who taught me some very useful tricks and pushed me to higher standards of quality.
- Stary's environment and effects are just wonderful; the game wouldn't be quite the same without his work.
- KJakker has been a huge help in making sure ship weapons are working the way they should. His enthusiasm for naval combat drives me forward.
I'm sure I missed a lot of people who I appreciate, but this interview would go on forever otherwise.
Do you plan on only doing naval objects or are there other things you'd like to branch out into? Such as your Korean Forces Pack?
I do intend to make more ground vehicle packs, and the next one will be focused on China. I'd also like to make some naval helicopters at some point, such as the Ka-25/27 and SH-60R/K.
I've always wanted to try making a fixed-wing aircraft too, but it honestly seems like they've all been done already for Strike Fighters. There are still some obscure JASDF trainers and support aircraft, I suppose.
Hey, thanks for taking time out for me and the guys here at the site. A couple of starters real quick, where are you from, and what do you do for a living?
I'm in my early 30s. I was born and raised in Boston, MA, and later spent a large portion of my life in Hawaii. I've been living in Nagoya, Japan for almost 5 years now. Right now I'm doing English/Japanese translation, interpretation, and second-language education.
How did you end up in Japan?
I've always been interested in Japan, actually, and I studied the language in college. The big economic crash ended up giving me an excuse to live and work here. To make a long story short, I had been doing contract work in Hawaii that was steadily turning sour, but I got an offer from a Japanese firm that gave me better job security. I sold everything I couldn't pack or store and made Japan my new home.
So what was it exactly that got you into doing naval objects, as opposed to aircraft or weapons?
My grandfather was an engineer in the US Navy during WWII. He used to tell me vivid stories about the big battleships, how the guns worked, how they'd do shock tests on the deck and hull, the combination of brute force, heavy armor, and precision machinery. It was all very fascinating to me. I ended up working in his machine shop for a while, helping make ball bearings that were to be used in gun turrets and other components for the military. Some of my earliest memories are of going to airshows with him, so he's probably responsible for my love of military aircraft and flight sims too.
What are some of your favorite ships/aircraft?
I love the Ticonderoga class cruisers, and the Aegis DDGs (Arleigh Burke, Kongo, Atago). I went aboard Japan's new Akizuki destroyer recently and it too became one of my favorites. I also have a thing for the Kirov class because of how ridiculously heavily armed they are. And of course I love the Yamato and the Iowa, the absolute greatest battleships of all time.
As for aircraft, the F-15 has been my favorite since the first time I saw it fly when I was very young. I knew there was something special about it even before I knew anything about airplanes. But then I fell in love all over again when the F-22 appeared. A close second or third favorite would be Japan's F-2. I think it's one of the most beautiful things that's ever flown.
...In retrospect, it seems like most of my favorite ships and aircraft are ones that were designed to hopelessly outmatch their contemporary equivalents. Does that make me a bully by proxy?
Not if you're playing to win. About how old were you when you first got into flight sims, and what were you playing?
I think it was F-15 Strike Eagle III by MicroProse. I must've been around 16 at the time, and had just gotten a nice new computer with everyone's favorite OS, Windows 95. (However, I remember having to switch to DOS mode any time I wanted to play the damn game.) Strike Eagle III was pretty impressive at the time, with rudimentary polygon objects and a surprisingly accurate 2D cockpit. It's worth mentioning that I got into this game after playing its console cousin, Super Strike Eagle, on the SNES-- so maybe that's actually my first "sim."(ed. I grew up with A-10 Attack! on Mac, so I really don't know what he's talking about here :P)
What's your favorite sim?
Strike Fighters 2, definitely. I've got nitpicks about it like everyone else, but overall it has almost everything I want in a flight sim. I've probably spent more time in the Strike Fighters series than all other flight sims I've played combined.
Outside of flight sims, I also really enjoyed Jane's Fleet Command back in the day, but I can't get it working on my current computer. The most fun naval sim I've ever played, though, is a Japanese game called Kurogane no Houkou 3, which lets you design, build, and command a fleet of warships in a quasi-historical setting with sci-fi/time travel elements.
How did you get into modding and 3D work?
It was only after I came to Combat Ace and started reading about how people were making all these cool mods that I decided to try it. I started by making very simple objects-- Missiles were easy enough, basically just a cylinder, a cone, and triangular fins. The careful measuring and precision of the process reminded me of my grandfather's machine shop, and being able to create something and then see the results in a game was tremendously liberating. So I stuck with it.
This was years ago in the Strike Fighters 1 days, and I quickly noticed that there were hardly any ship mods. So I started cutting virtual steel for the first time to make the Ticonderoga. I made a lot of newbie mistakes and I couldn't texture well at all, but thanks to help and encouragement from the Combat Ace community, everything worked out in the end.
If you had unlimited time and budget, what would your “dream mod” be?
My dream, and indeed my current goal, is to model nearly every major surface combatant and ground vehicle currently in service with the US, Russia, Japan, China, Taiwan, and Korea. This will give our terrain and campaign modders a full toolbox for historical and what-if scenarios like the Taiwan Strait Crisis, or a Korean war gone hot again; skirmishes over tiny disputed islands, or a full-scale near-end-of-the-world modern Pacific war.
My other dream would be to build the Yamato for our WWII PTO community. It's selfish, but I can't bear the thought of another modder touching her. Unfortunately building just that one ship from scratch would probably take as much time as all the other ones I'd want to make put together. BUT, I don't think that either of these dream mods are beyond the realm of possibility.
How did you get into SF series?
Years ago I was searching around for a new flight sim that was closer to what I wanted. I had given up on other games: I didn't have the time or patience for an ultra-deep study sim like Falcon 4.0. LOMAC ran like a slideshow on my computer at the time and was nearly unmoddable.
I found out about Strike Fighters: Project 1, which sounded very appealing to me. A large selection of aircraft, good flight dynamics but not so much switchology, lots of things to do and targets to blow up. And, of course, the series is also highly moddable with an active community, so it was the obvious choice for me.
How did you find out about CA?
I googled for "strike fighters mods" and it brought me right here. I bet a lot of other members have the same story.
Who are some of your other favorite modders?
- Dels, who somehow manages to model all of the coolest aircraft in existence. F-22, F-23, B-1B, F-117, AH-64, and my favorite mod of all time, the F-2. Even his C-130 is fun to fly, and I'd never thought I'd say that about a transport plane!
- Wrench, who gives us so many wonderful playgrounds and is an all-around great guy. Wrench has a way of helping people and making them feel appreciated at the same time.
- Julhelm is a consummate pro who taught me some very useful tricks and pushed me to higher standards of quality.
- Stary's environment and effects are just wonderful; the game wouldn't be quite the same without his work.
- KJakker has been a huge help in making sure ship weapons are working the way they should. His enthusiasm for naval combat drives me forward.
I'm sure I missed a lot of people who I appreciate, but this interview would go on forever otherwise.
Do you plan on only doing naval objects or are there other things you'd like to branch out into? Such as your Korean Forces Pack?
I do intend to make more ground vehicle packs, and the next one will be focused on China. I'd also like to make some naval helicopters at some point, such as the Ka-25/27 and SH-60R/K.
I've always wanted to try making a fixed-wing aircraft too, but it honestly seems like they've all been done already for Strike Fighters. There are still some obscure JASDF trainers and support aircraft, I suppose.
Interview With Ravenclaw_007
By Skyviper,
CombatACE Spotlight Special With ravenclaw_007
"This place was and still is great ...Especially the willingness of helping newbies to make there first step into moding and eventually to become a modder is something I like very much on CA" -ravenclaw_007
For this week’s CombatACE Spotlight Special our next mod author calls Germany his home; a home served well, and who has been a member here at CombatACE for seven years. He is also known for his helpful nature and for the many weapons he creates that many of us enjoy dropping on our digital enemies. Thank you, ravenclaw_007, for taking the time to do this interview with us.
So, can you tell us little about yourself?
I´m 55 years old and single again; I´m disabled and on pension as result of a brain surgery where a large part of my tumor was removed.
I served for 12 years in the German army aviation as [a] flight mechanic; my aircraft was a Sikorsky CH-53G
After my Army time, I was in [the] Philippines for 10 years as [a] technical consultant. After my return to Germany, my tumor was detected and my troubles started.
What interest you about aviation?
The flying and the technique. I love the challenge to hold a aircraft airworthy and to fix and solve problems during flight.
Have you ever seen the faces of passengers during a refueling when a flight mechanic is going out on a rotor blade and fix a delamination with a [piece of] duct tape and then tell them to go back onboard? This [these] faces you never forget.
What is your favorite aircraft and why?
For WWII fighters the Me-109, we made a formation flight with CH-53 a Ju-52 and Me-109 (Buchon) over Switzerland during an air show. Something I'll never forget, we opened our loading ramp to make some pictures of the Ju-52 and the Me-109, to see them up close in the air [which] was really special for helicopters. The Sikorsky CH-53G for obvious reason for fighters the F-4E/F, I have some special memory there (long story).
Can you tell us a little more about the air show?
This air show was at a small lake in the mountains the location is called Hütten and the benefit was for disabled children, date 19.07.1987. The German Air Force and Army was invited because the Swiss Air Force could not participate because of some legal issue.
It was only the second time after the war that German aircraft are allowed to participate at such an event in Switzerland
Aircrafts from the German armed forces:
- Tornado (German Navy)
- C-160
- Bo-105
- CH-53G
This is the only air show where the audience can look from on top on the aircraft approaching [as] they stay above the edge of the valley. After we made our presentation, we landed on the left side of the valley for static display and almost blew [a] hotdog stand away!
What got you interested in flight simulation?
During my time in the Philippines, I saw a guy playing an A-10 simulation. That was the moment I got interested and bought my first game. Playing on that old 386 I had is no comparison to today; but this A-10 game was great
You’ve been a member here since 2006. How did you find CombatACE and what made you stay for so long?
It is only 7 years now, so [it’s] not that long. I was searching for an add-on for SF1 and found CA , this place was and still is great so I stayed and enjoy it every day.
Especially the willingness of helping newbies to make there first step in to moding and eventually to become a modder is something I like very much on CA
When did you start modding?
I don’t remember the year but my first mod was a Me-109 skin for IL-2 and after I discovered CA I started to make skins for SF-1
What does modding do for you? Is it something that is relaxing and neat hobby etc?
In the beginning it was a hobby, today it is much more than that it is a way to keep me busy and my brain working
I´m not the fastest modder but I like to finish a project and make it as accurate as possible I think the weapons I made for SF-2 shows that.
What modding tools do you use and why?
3ds max and paint shop pro x3, 3ds max is the only program which models can be exported from and paint shop is easy to use.
I see you released an F-4E USAF Pack, which is an awesome update to the TW, BPAO, and Crab_02 models. How long did it take you to complete the project?
It is still an ongoing project, I don’t remember how long it took because I was working on it the same time on other projects as well like the Rafale or the F-16 but I hope I can finish all the F-4E/F soon.
Do you have plans to make or update other types of aircraft?
There is a long list already but after the F-4E/F I have to finish the RF-8A/G, other projects on the list are
- Viggen family
- Recce Kfir
- A-4K cockpit
and a lot more weapons.
What is your favorite mod that you have created?
It was the Buccaneer project I took over from Russouk2004 and it is now even available for FSX.
What is your favorite mod that you did not create?
AH-64 and Su-27.
Who is a Modder you admire or has inspired you to start modding?
There are two; I admire Bpao for the work he did and how willing he was to help. He always gave you an answer to your question. He will be truly missed, and there is Amokofloo/Florian who patiently help and teach me 3ds max without him I could not have done it.
Thank you ravenclaw_007 for taking the time to do an interview and for sharing your story with us. Come back next week for another CombatACE Spotlight Light Special. Until then I'm Skyviper wishing everyone out there happy landings.
DCS 1.2.6 Update 2 is Now Available
By Dave,
Tuesday, 08 October 2013
DCS 1.2.6.18933 Update 2 Change Log
DCS World
Fixed a crash caused by AI in certain conditions.
Fixed crash caused by fullscreen mode failing to initialize when using multimonitor presets (fall back to windowed mode in case of fail).
Multiplayer. Fixed client crash caused by AWACS being killed.
Kh-22 missile 3D model corrected.
Su-25T. Laser Rangefinder doesn't turned OFF when Route mode selected is fixed.
DCS: A-10C Warthog
Fixed crash caused by Mission Prepare.
Flaming Cliffs 3
F-15C. Extra chaff loading has been corrected.
F-15C. Fixed Navigation Mode not updating after aerial refueling.
Fixed Kuznetsov aircraft carrier ATC not providing permission to take off.
Corrected position of smoke outlet of smoke generators.
Su-27. Sorbcya ECM pod 3D model - Fixed navigation light position.
Su-27. 3D model - Fixed canopy texture issue.
Su-27. Adjusted landing gear light cone.
Su-27. Fixed bug with tail numbering for Su-27 "Air Force Standard" scheme.
Su-27. Corrected landing gear animation.
DCS: Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight BETA
Corrected upper blister sections of the cockpit 3D model.
Updated animation of radio channel selectors.
Added animations for the RI-65 voice warning system control panel.
Added thumb button to the rotor brake lever.
Added wheel brake lever to the cyclic control handle.
Adjusted wheel brake sound.
Added bomb release command (B) to the default input profile.
Fuel shut off valves defaulted to off during cold start.
Corrected armament keys for joystick.
Corrected altimeter pressure limits.
Fixed audio volume adjustment when opening/closing blisters.
Removed audio volume adjustment when opening/closing fuselage door.
Fixed camera position issue caused by multiple presses of the Flight Engineer position command.
6 DOF now works correctly when switching to the right pilot position.
Corrected operation of dust protection device heating, engine heating.
Added rudder trimmer option.
Circuit breakers. Common turning-off functionality for auto-stop.
DCS: UH-1H Huey BETA
Fixed sticking commands in the left pilot position.
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