Jump to content

LATEST NEWS

    Facebook Integration
    Erik
    By Erik,
    [fimg=left]https://fbcdn-photos-a.akamaihd.net/photos-ak-snc7/v27562/73/479134732148929/app_104_479134732148929_1565370897.png[/fimg]For those of us who have Facebook accounts I have added the ability for members to sign-in using Facebook. In addition new and current members can associate their Facebook accounts if they wish to do so. The newly deployed abilities gives Facebook members new abilities and a way to minimize multiple login accounts.

    New members can use the create login link on the top right of all our pages. To sign-in using your Facebook account all you need to do is choose the Facebook sign-in option when creating a new account. During this process you will have the option to choose your display name, which is the public name people see when you post or are online. (Example RedBaron01)

    Existing members who have an account with us already you can associate your account to your Facebook account by first logging out of the site. Next log back in using the Facebook option. Once you have completed the Facebook log-in you will be given the option to "Associate an Existing Account". Select that option and enter your log-in details for CombatACE and the two accounts will be associated. This option allows more Facebook type options while using our services and features here.

    Should you ever wish to remove your Facebook association removal is easy. Log into your Facebook and click on the Apps Page > My Apps. Next find CombatACE and remove it by selecting the small "X" in the upper right of the blue box that appears when hovering over our name. You must remove it through your Facebook account because they maintain the association we only allow the log-in using their credentials.

    We hope you enjoy the new features and we look forward to seeing how they are used.

    DCS World, Overview Video, New Announcements
    SkateZilla
    By SkateZilla,
    The List of Modules in Development are the F/A-18C, SU-27SM, F-15C, FW-190, MIG-21, F-86F, L-29, UH-1H, MI-8MTV2, AH-1G, Mi-24, OH-58   http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=WBGLb98zkFQ   And now you know why the SU-27 and F-15C from FC3 both have 6DoFF Pits.  

    1C and 777 Studios will work together on new IL-2
    Dagger
    By Dagger,
      This is from 777 Studio Official Announcement   Good day pilots!   So, the long wait is over and we're ready to put the rumors to rest.   777 Studios partners with 1C to form 1C Game Studios (1CGS) and develop IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad   We invite you to our new forum, where you will find additional information about the project and will be able to ask questions and chat with the developers. You can read the full announcement on the official website of the game at http://il2sturmovik.net.   To all our ROF customers and fans - this is not the end of ROF development or new content. Please do not panic. We are still working on the details and we will inform you once we have them. Right now all current releases we promised are on schedule.   On a personal note - the ROF community and your support has made this day possible. We have always wanted to make a WWII product and your support of our WWI product has afforded us this opportunity. Now you will be able to enjoy both WWI and WWII products produced by our team and new expanded team. If all goes to plan there will be much to be happy about in the coming months and years. We hope you will stick by us and continue to support our flight-sim endeavors.   Onward and upward!     The Entire 777 Studios team"     This is from the 1C site   " NEW IL-2 STURMOVIK TITLE IN DEVELOPMENT 1C Announces Partnership with 777 Studios to create 1C Game Studios   MOSCOW, Russia – December 11, 2012 – Leading Eastern and Central European publisher, 1C Company, is proud to announce that it has partnered with award winning developer 777 Studios to form a joint venture and new studio named 1C Game Studios. This new studio is set to create IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad, a new sequel to the award-winning WWII combat flight simulator IL-2 Sturmovik. 1C is the owner of the best-selling IL-2 Sturmovik franchise of combat flight simulators and 777 Studios is the developer of the popular and technologically advanced WWI flight simulator Rise of Flight: The First Great Air war.   "1C is proud to take the next step in flight-simulation history with 777 Studios, a company and team that has grown to be one of the best flight-simulation developers in the world and has proven that their attention to detail and product quality speaks volumes about their talent and dedication,” said Nikolay Baryshnikov, VP of 1C Company. “We look forward to bringing a new era of development and spirit of enjoyment to the combat flight-simulation community together." This venture brings two of the world’s leading combat flight-simulation franchises and development teams together under one banner to form a new, dynamic team led by 777 Studios management. Giving respect to the roots of the IL-2 Sturmovik series, the partnership will start with the development of Battle of Stalingrad which focuses on the Eastern Front air war during the titanic struggle over the industrial city of Stalingrad in 1942-43. The battle of Stalingrad was an important turning point for both the Soviet and German armies in WWII, with the air war playing an important role in the outcome. Jason Williams, President of 777 Studios, had this to say, "The 777 Studios team is very excited to be partnering with such a publisher and developer like 1C. Their passion and support for PC combat flight-simulation as well as historical warfare titles has always been a blessing to these genres and we look forward to producing an excellent product for the Sturmovik legacy and continuing to bring additional content to our existing Rise of Flight product line." This partnership is also a turning point for the combat flight simulation genre that will streamline development of flight-simulation products and allow collaboration between former competitors. The outcome should be increased opportunities for combat flight simulation fans to enjoy their passion while also increasing the likelihood of success in the marketplace. Both 1C and 777 Studios see the flight-simulation genre as an important one for PC gaming with a dedicated fan-base that is eager to support interesting and immersive products. 1C Company is located in Moscow with offices throughout Europe and 777 Studios is headquartered in Southern California with development teams in Russia and Ukraine. Battle of Stalingrad will include both single-player and multi-player scenarios for virtual pilots to enjoy as well as brand new gameplay modes. Initial client release is slated for early 2014 with add-on content and additional features and theatres to follow. IL-2 Sturmovik is an award winning WWII flight-simulator video game franchise and includes such bestselling titles as IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles, Pacific Fighters, 1946 and Cliffs of Dover. IL-2 Sturmovik titles feature intense aerial combat and dozens of historically accurate warplanes and missions. Named in honor of the famous Soviet Ilyushin IL-2 ground-attack fighter, the Sturmovik series features all major theatres in WWII, from the freezing eastern front to carrier combat in the vast pacific theatre. The IL-2 Sturmovik series of titles is widely regarded as the standard by which all other combat flight-simulators are measured and remains a top seller worldwide. About 1C Company   1C Company specializes in distribution, publishing and development of business, entertainment and educational software. Founded in 1991, 1C has become the largest publisher and distributor of computer and video games in Eastern and Central Europe. 1C Company is widely acknowledged as a game developer and has several internal studios. Internal development of 1C includes IL-2 Sturmovik series and Theatre of War series. 1C Company works as a publisher and producer with over 30 independent development studios and has produced over 100 projects for PC and consoles including titles like Rig'n'Roll, Space Rangers, Soldiers: Heroes of World War II, Faces of War, Men of War series, Perimeter, Fantasy Wars, Death to Spies, King’s Bounty Series . In 2012 1C Company launched its iOS apps series for iPhone &iPad.   For more information on 1C please go to our website at www.1cpublishing.com. IL-2 Sturmovik   IL-2 Sturmovik is an award winning WWII flight-simulator video game franchise and includes such bestselling titles as IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles, Pacific Fighters, 1946 and Cliffs of Dover. IL-2 Sturmovik titles feature intense aerial combat and dozens of historically accurate warplanes and missions. Named in honor of the famous Soviet Ilyushin IL-2 ground-attack fighter, the Sturmovik series features all major theatres in WWII, from the freezing eastern front to carrier combat in the vast pacific theatre. The IL-2 Sturmovik series of titles is widely regarded as the standard by which all other combat flight-simulators are measured and remains a top seller worldwide. About 777 Studios   Founded in 2007, 777 Studios specializes in the development and publishing of games and simulation products for the PC platform. 777 Studios is the North American publisher of Tourismo Carretera and Wings of Prey and in 2009 published Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War. In 2010, 777 Studios assumed the continued development of Rise of Flight and released Rise of Flight: Iron Cross Edition worldwide. For information about 777 Studios please visit www.777studios.net. Rise of Flight   Rise of Flight is an award winning combat flight-simulation title for the PC. Built on the Digital Nature engine it brings the deadly dogfights of WWI to life and features realistic and advanced flight, damage and physics modeling systems. State of the art graphics and terrain scenery puts you over the Western Front of WWI andan in-depth, immersive Career mode allows players to discover their inner fighter pilot as member of a several famous squadrons. Rise of Flight features over 30 vintage warplanes to fly and fight against and includes adjustable settings to satisfy novice and expert pilot alike. For more information about Rise of Flight please visit: www.riseofflight.com."

    HungaroJET 3GO-MW Su-27 Flanker Model for DCS-World Released
    Dave
    By Dave,
    HungaroJET has released his much anticipated Su-27's for DCS World. You can get it by clicking this link below:     http://combatace.com/files/file/13606-3go-mw-su-27-flanker-model-for-dcs-world-fc3/    

    December Calendars Available
    Fates
    By Fates,
    The December Calendars are available   Please head over and enjoy! http://combatace.com...tace-calendars/      

    X-Plane for Android Review
    FastCargo
    By FastCargo,
      As part of the 'simming on the go' series of reviews, CombatAce looks at Laminar Research's X-Plane for Android.   Normally, we would not review X-Plane because it is a civilian flight simulation...and after all, we are CombatAce. However, X-Plane for Android has some limited air combat options. In addition, it is a well regarded flight simulator, using 'blade theory' for flight dynamics and even includes multiplayer. So we decided it was worth a look. How does it fly? Let's jump in...   As you can see at the top, this is the screen that greets you when you start X-Plane. Nice reference to the full PC version right there in the screen...more or less free advertising! And speaking of which, normally X-Plane on ALL platforms is a payware program, but due to some sort of patent issue, the Android version is free!   Looking at the Google Play store screen for X-Plane, you would think it has a remarkably small footprint. What isn't specified is that after you install and start it, it has to download more content before it would run. This only has to occur once, but makes it unclear how much space the program actually takes up. The current version requires at least Android version 2.2 to run.   Included in the basic free level are several aircraft and terrains. Terrains are a decent variety, ranging from southern California to Austria to Hawaii, etc. Aircraft are mostly light general aviation, business jet...and a JA37 Viggen hidden in the back! Additional aircraft and/or terrains are available for $0.99 each. The terrains are more famous areas, but additional aircraft are a really wide variety from the A380, F-22, Huey Cobras, to more exotic types like the XB-70 and X-15.   Unfortunately, the first obstacle to getting some air combat goodness rears its head. Only certain aircraft have air combat capability...namely, fighter types like the Mig-21, F-14 etc. No bombers or helos have combat ability in this program. In addition, none of the air combat capable aircraft are free...the Viggen isn't armed. Since I wanted to shoot stuff, I ended up purchasing teh sexplane (F-14) and the B-1B to see if we could drop bombs (nope).     Settings   X-Plane, being based off the PC version, means you have the power to tweak just about everything in the flight scenario, as is typical for this kind of program. The following thumbnails show all the different option screens , click on the appropriate link for a more detailed view.   Location Flight Conditions Weather Conditions Time Of Day Weight and Balance Failures Aircraft Calibration   Most screens are pretty self explanatory, there is even an accelerometer calibration screen, to get detailed readings on what the phone/tablet is sensing.     Basic Flight   The flight typically starts with a HUD view:     Basic pitch and roll controls are through the accelerometer. The secondary controls are on screen, including things like sweep and flaps. Note that except for the rudder, the other secondary controls have a 'lag' associated with them...ie you use the control to 'set' the flaps, then a dimmer marker which actually shows the position of the flight control moves to match what you set. Nice touch of realism to those controls.   To bring up additional views or the options, merely touch anywhere on the screen not associated with a control. Several transparent tiles will pop up temporarily, and disappear after about 5 seconds. Touch any of them while they are visible to change or activate the desired option (see the flight dynamics screenshot for more detail on what this looks like).     Included views (besides the default HUD view):     Cockpit view. Cockpit views tend to vary from aircraft to aircraft, but they are all similar in that there is no view outside, betraying X-Plane's civilian based roots. A better description would be Instrument View.     Flyby, fixed location, and external views all look roughly similar, just different in how they interact with the camera. One glaring omission is lack of any flight data in these views.   X-Plane also has a replay function, where you can look back and replay the action from different viewpoints. You cannot alter the outcome, and there are some glitches, usually related to visual damage still showing even if you rewind before the point where the damage occurred.     Flight Dynamics   The way aircraft feel in X-Plane are the highlight of this program. Aircraft are affected by weight, speed, Gs, etc. in a very believable fashion. This is not surprising, based on Laminar Research stating that 85 percent of the flight dynamics code in the PC version is incorporated into the Android version. The aircraft just seem to feel right compared to most other flight programs on Android. There are some exceptions...the F-14 for instance seems to gain speed far too quickly when the wings are swept back.     X-Plane has a nice option to actually 'see' what it is calculating in real time on the flying surfaces. You can see the vectors for lift, drag, and thrust all change as you fly the aircraft around. Quite fascinating from an air enthusiast point of view. Minor nit...the B-1B does not appear to be calculating lift from the body...whereas the real thing generates over half its lift from the fuselage when the wings are back. Flight controls appear to move correctly...makes sense based on how X-Plane works.   Weather, turbulence, wind are all modeled. Aircraft and terrain collision are also modeled. Overstress, surprisingly, does not seem to be modeled. The terrains 'wrap'....you simply appear at the far side of the map when you hit the edge.   Lights are on all the time and no atmospheric effects (vortex, Mach 'cones', etc) are modeled.   Damage effects are limited to big flames when destroyed. No airframe destruction is modeled...when hitting the ground, you simply bounce along until running out of momentum (while flaming of course).     Carrier Operations     Depending on the aircraft and terrain, you can launch and recover on aircraft carriers. The launch feels a bit simplistic, but the recovery makes up for it. The combination of the flight dynamics, sense of speed and grading system urges you to try to nail it down, giving you a challenge you'll keep coming back to.     How we lookin?   Part of the enjoyment of flight simulation is viewing the aircraft we enjoy flying. Sadly, X-Plane models are uneven in quality. The civilian models aren't bad...planes like the Avanti are quite nice. But the same can't be said for at least the military models I played with. Some screenshots:     The last screenshot is my B-1B model that I created in 1995 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 5.1. It is kind of sad to see a model created almost 15 years later that actually looks worse than mine. Stretched and mirrored textures, inaccurate or excessively blocky contours characterize the 3 military models I played with. I'm not looking for the PC version in visual fidelity...but something at least to the quality of the ThirdWire Android offering would be nice. It mainly just adds to the feeling that the air combat was just 'tacked on' in X-Plane.     Lets shoot some stuff down!     If you're looking for variety in your air combat, you won't find it here. You and your opponent's armament consists of guns and Sidewinder missiles. That's it. For single player, there is no choice of opponent or armament. You can choose where to duel though. As mentioned before, only certain aircraft are even armed and only certain terrains allow for air combat.   Based on the screenshots, you would think there are things missing. And you would be right. Other than the 'box' around your opponent, there are no visual or auditory cues to let you know you have a lock. No gun reticle, funnel or line. There is a cue at the edge of the screen to show the direction of your opponent when he is off screen.   No ECM or expendables are available. You do get an audio warning tone if your opponent has a missile in the air. Basically, most of the time, your shooting consists of either launching a missile and praying, or filling the windscreen with the target before gunning him. Missiles themselves seem to be all aspect (having been face shot a few times to verify this).   Based on what I could tell, any modern western fighter you buy will have the MiG-21 as its opponent...mainly because that seems to be the only eastern block aircraft available for X-Plane.   The AI opponent is a little uneven. I did notice that he would sometimes use a vertical loop verses a horizontal turn to maneuver. But there never seemed to be much blending of the two to turn at an oblique angle. It doesn't help that the AI cheats...I found him on the ground sometimes, fully intact but making like a tank...which makes trying to get 'in plane' difficult. But I can verify that a strafing kill works...     Multiplayer     There is possibly a redeeming characteristic of air combat in X-Plane we haven't talked about yet...multiplayer. X-Plane supports multiplayer over wifi. Within multiplayer, collision and air combat effects are modeled (with sometimes hilarious results).   Both devices have to be on the same wifi network. Connecting to each other is pretty easy...just wait until you see each other on the Multiplayer screen and then select.   Minor issues include each player can have totally different simulation situations (ie different locations, weather, time of day, etc). Which means if you pick different terrains, you won't ever see each other. Or the playing field itself could be very uneven.   The largest issue with multiplayer is because it is wifi only, you have to be in the same local wifi network. Which means you're hanging out together already. In which case, why not play something more optimized for multiplayer (like a console). In addition, both of you must have purchased aircraft that are air combat capable. PCs and consoles do multiplayer much better in that you can game over the internet...something you can't do here.     Conclusion   X-Plane is a good mobile flight simulator...but it isn't so good at air combat. Highs include fairly realistic flight model handling, especially for the civilian aircraft, and a wide range of adjustments available for the simulation 'world'. Lows include very uneven external model appearances, and sometimes dodgy combat AI. Multiplayer can be fun in specific circumstances.   I would recommend trying X-Plane for Android for basic flight simulation, but have a hard time justifying spending money for the available air combat.   Reviewed on a HP Touchpad running Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

Portal by DevFuse · Based on IP.Board Portal by IPS


×

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue..

  I accept