what am I doing now?

[Mothman 0]

In regards to moving elevators, he might have meant on the carriers. It would be pretty awesome having to taxi from the hanger deck out to an elevator and up to the cat. But it would need deck hands.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I bet that modeling and tetxuring the interior of the carrier's hangar would be a tremendous task.

[PG_Raptor 0]

In regards to moving elevators, he might have meant on the carriers. It would be pretty awesome having to taxi from the hanger deck out to an elevator and up to the cat. But it would need deck hands.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That would take a lot of time, and really wouldn't be worth the effort. However, I do remember from, I think it was Jetfighter III (I know, the king of realism ), that there was a splash screen that showed a pic of the plane in the hanger getting ready to go. I would think, however, with todays technology, that perhaps instead of a splash screen, you could play a movie showing the players aircraft being towed onto the elevator, moved up, and set on to the catipult (or into position for VTOL in the case of the harrier) they could start from there? That would still give the feeling of "getting ready to go," would save time, and would be something more interesting to look at than just some spiffy splash screen while everything is loading.

[scary_pigeon 0]

well there are moving carrier elevators planned - i just we find time to make them spawn from that. it would be kind of neat. but fiddly.

[scary_pigeon 0]

i've just finished coding for the night.

 

and for the first time in a long time ive managed to avoid playing rome:TW for a whole day.

 

consequently some decent work by me has been done.

 

I'm now working to build a really rough alpha, that should be done at the end of the month - i want to go to the flight sim show in birmingham with something in hand.

 

It is going to be very tight and I might not finish what I want to finish in time.

 

the current phase is building the mission system, and then to get the objects behaving right across the battlefield. perhaps it will be necessary to cheat at first - like AI aircraft that dont really land or take off, just spawn above their airfields going at a decent speed? we shall see.

 

at the moment prioity goes towards the mission and AI - when that is done, the whole thing becomes showable.

 

This will be a substantial task and so i fear i will not reach this milestone by nov 27th particularly with the other necessary things like improved cockpit and stuff.

[Nutty 0]

I'm now working to build a really rough alpha, that should be done at the end of the month - i want to go to the flight sim show in birmingham with something in hand.

 

That would be fantastic if you could have something at the show to see. I would very much appreciate it if you would post here if any of the team will be there and where you might be demonstrating it.

 

Cheers

 

James

[scary_pigeon 0]

the problem is, that I missed my personal deadline, so I decided not to call the show organisers to have a stand space allocated. instead I'm going to try and hurry something together for the sake of it.

 

I can then take some CD's maybe offer them to a few people, or see if I can have a chat with a magazine if say PC pilot is present.

 

There would just be me present as I am the only one based in the UK

[Nutty 0]

the problem is, that I missed my personal deadline, so I decided not to call the show organisers to have a stand space allocated. instead I'm going to try and hurry something together for the sake of it.

 

I can then take some CD's maybe offer them to a few people, or see if I can have a chat with a magazine if say PC pilot is present.

 

There would just be me present as I am the only one based in the UK

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I believe PC Pilot and Computer Pilot will be there. Let me know if you want any contacts for PC Pilot. I've written for them before. If you decided you wanted to demo the alpha you have, you'll find Bob at RC Sims pretty accommodating. I'm sure he'd be interested in letting a table go for your demo. Drop him a line, or I can (he lives just up the road and I've known him for a long time.)

 

Certainly I'll be most interested to see anything you have to show ;)

 

Cheers

 

James

[+Dante-JT 6]

I've worked hard this past week to integrate our Sea Harrier FRS.1 model into the engine following the new guidelines of compound objects for damage and anims, so it has been split in many parts then joined/defined with the config file that Steve leaves in each aircraft directory, so far it's looking good in the new system so I'm posting a few screenshots of me pretending I'm doing VTOL approach in HMS Hermes:

 

More to follow when I actually re-work the landing gear (as they're different, 2 main gears plus 2 wingtip legs) I was testing it around with gear down position and I'll wait until Steve finish the database to add the Sea Harrier properly so it can have its own exclusive config file for landing gears - and thrust nozzles which obviously will be animated - they're already set to be.

 

The ships also need to leave a wake in the water, these are all important details but to be added when each simulation unit are properly added in the simulation's database and has its own config file and features.

 

This week will also see heavy work in the Sea Harrier 3D cockpit, which I will be posting some updated here, hopefully.

[ChrisDNT 0]

Amazing!

 

I really love the sharpness of the render engine

[Nutty 0]

Wonderful!

[Mothman 0]

Nice! :yes:

 

So who's going to be the distributor? If there's no contracts yet i bet that you'll get a lot of calls after the show, if you can make it to it.

 

Good luck, just in case you go.

[+Fates 63]

great pics....

 

But, Can we get HEAT EFFECTS?

 

I know its a big FPS dropper, but that looks to be the one thing missing in that pic..

 

You've got the start of a great sim, wonderful graphics, wish you all the best in Birmingham!

 

<C>

Fates

[SkorpioN 0]

Hello, I am of Argentina and for a long time I have been following the advances in detail of this magnify simulator.

 

I have a pair of consultations or suggestions to make to them; first this related with respect to the support personnel and vehicles around the airplanes, I consider a greater realism the existence of these operating with the airplanes

 

The other consultation treats on the suspension of the landing gears, I have seen in diverse videos that when the airplanes make taxing they move slowly upwards and down, noticing mainly in the zone of the cabin; it is possible to mark this situation in the simulator?

 

Ok, I do not have more consultations to make so far and excuse the primitive language, I use a translator.

 

Saludos!

[+Dante-JT 6]

Fates: yes, I miss the shaders heat blur effects too, but don't worry, I think this is under control: as my daily job, I work in a brazilian games company who is developing a MMOG style space sim game called 'Taikodom', one of the programmers is Fabio Policarpo who is co-author of a few books on the subject and has full knowledge of advanced shaders programming and effects using the latest GPUs, there's some hyperspace bubble distortion effects in the aforementionated space sim that use similar techniques used in heat blur effets, I'm in talks with Fabio about this and hopefully when the time comes, he'll fill our gaps in the effects department - but for now, I prefer to have a fully playable campaign with naval engagements first, to add eye-candy later

 

SkorpioN: suspension in landing gears will be taken into account, it's one of the goals of Steve's compound system, to have a fully animated aircraft including suspension up and down (specially interesting for those tough VTOL landings with the Sea Harrier). Support personnel and vehicles around the taxiways and flight deck are also technically possible, this only takes time and needs some references, but rest assured, this is very important for player's immersion - nothing worst than a completely empty/dead airbase or flight deck.

[scary_pigeon 0]

well. I've done some things today.

 

 

now object placement is handled by lua, and soon aspects of AI. I've really started to be get to grips with this.

 

lua is a nice generic scripting language.

 

with regards to games development in general. I am impressed by anybody who can design these games. we've just made it up as we've gone along. not always right, but the complexity stands leagues above anything I've ever done. the system is beyond my ability to design - so it has sort of evolved. And like in real life, evolution is dirty with dead ends and stuff you cant quite get rid of like apendicies that cause problems and the odd tooth growing out of the ear.

 

anyway, I'm just tired and talking nonsense.

 

Recently theres been a lot of umming and arring for me as I develop the thing. some problems can be tackled in many different ways and so not bothering to analyse it full I just guess - and I'm pleased with my recent guesses. This LUA work is a fundamental change its going to let us do lots of good stuff and lots less work for me.

 

Dante will probably learn bits and bobs of LUA as he fiddles around and come up with lots of clever ways to do stuff from that since the lua language is so flexible. Perhaps when the demo is released there will be clever things from that from demo players. There will for example be provision (though it may be slow - to sieze control of the FM from the internal one)

 

previously until now, what you see in our screenshots, though they kind of work - and the gun turrets actually work, if I bothered to hard code them - its all set in the source code on where everything is going to be.

 

now with LUA that changes, its scripted.

 

Tomorrow will be the day were we get warships moving about following waypoints.

Tomorrow or day after we will try to get it to be able to land our aircraft on our carriers.

 

Hopefully on friday I will be able to rush together the alpha for saturday. Im very excited. Its been like walking lost through an endless forest and suddenly we step forth or about to as major things are being resolved.

[Navar 0]

 

Keep up the good work, I really can't wait to try it!

 

Edited November 24, 2004 by Navar

[scary_pigeon 0]

 

:) little bug, the turrets face into the ship!

 

 

i recently got some scripting sorted out for boats. Now they can follow waypoints and be largely programmed through LUA.

 

I'm thinking that the next thing to do is land the harrier on one of the ships.. well dante's not online at the moment probably I will make the skyhawk behave like a harrier, then I'll land it on the helepad - I just have to write some more collision routine stuff.

 

well. I have one more day after the rest of this nights programming to get something ready for that flightsim show.

 

I imagine take off and landing is at least something - perhaps a mission of some sort too.

Edited November 26, 2004 by scary_pigeon

[scary_pigeon 0]

 

at last. I've finally got round to doing collision detection for the boats with aircraft landing gear.

 

This is an important mile stone for us. we can now park our harriers on the ships. for fun, I thought I'd land on the helepad.

 

we've had the vtol thing since the start of it. but for some reason we ended up focusing on the other jets - the mirage elevons at one point were facinating - and the docs issue..

 

..but with this oh it was fantastic.

 

clumsily hovering about then that though..

 

..will my collision routines work? I lowered the throttle and let the aircraft sink and was waiting for it to sink below the ship. I feel completely delighted. it felt so good.

Edited November 26, 2004 by scary_pigeon

[scary_pigeon 0]

sort of unofficial, well, okay, i made.. movie.

 

its good for these WIP stuff, but has glitches and things - and obviously a skyhawk cockpit instead of a harrier cockpit.

 

a WIP harrier takes off from WIP hermes and lands on her again. uses xvid codec

 

http://fluffysteve.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/harrierc.avi

Edited November 26, 2004 by scary_pigeon

[Nutty 0]

sort of unofficial, well, okay, i made.. movie.

 

its good for these WIP stuff, but has glitches and things - and obviously a skyhawk cockpit instead of a harrier cockpit.

 

a WIP harrier takes off from WIP hermes and lands on her again. uses xvid codec

 

http://fluffysteve.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/harrierc.avi

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I bet you're looking forward to the sort of HUD info that helps with this VTOL manouvering! Nice vid - thanks! :yes:

 

James

[scary_pigeon 0]

definately, on the video you see how the mouse moves about - thats because I was moving the window across my screen so i could read the console - where I output flight dynamics stuff. with out riserate its nearly impossible.

[scary_pigeon 0]

I believe PC Pilot and Computer Pilot will be there. Let me know if you want any contacts for PC Pilot. I've written for them before. If you decided you wanted to demo the alpha you have, you'll find Bob at RC Sims pretty accommodating. I'm sure he'd be interested in letting a table go for your demo. Drop him a line, or I can (he lives just up the road and I've known him for a long time.)

 

Certainly I'll be most interested to see anything you have to show ;)

 

Cheers

 

James

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

would there be a spare PC there do you think?

[Nutty 0]

would there be a spare PC there do you think?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I doubt it, unless Bob can hook you up nearer the end of the day on the PC that's used for the talks. There may well be one of the crowd there happy or interested enough to see it. We can but try ;)

 

I'm aiming to be there mid afternoon 2:30pm onwards I guess.

 

Cheers

 

James

[scary_pigeon 0]

I doubt it, unless Bob can hook you up nearer the end of the day on the PC that's used for the talks. There may well be one of the crowd there happy or interested enough to see it. We can but try ;)

 

I'm aiming to be there mid afternoon 2:30pm onwards I guess.

 

Cheers

 

James

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

well I went there today. a lot of serious people. I had a go on one of the set ups, the helecopter set up..

 

..and the guy said - snidely almost i wonder? - you'd be good in Arcade

 

i was trying to make the helecoptor go upsidedown.

 

and when i landed it, i let it drop vertically into the ground and anounced, "Perfect Landing!"

 

 

 

I spoke to Just Flight publisher guy, left them a cd, explained a bit of what its about...

 

...we're not that bothered about getting a publisher yet but the notion could be interesting. we may self publish in the end which may be most profitable and with the element of freedom that we've so much enjoyed.

 

advantage of a publisher option could be, especially if they would sponsor the project - would be accelerated production. Done epic amounts this week, on my week off from work working full time on the project - I feel at that rate the game would be complete or in beta very quickly - and completing stuff is always nice.

 

Well, it was interesting, never been to a flight sim show before.

 

I'd like to go to one were theres like IL2 being played networked. something more explosive!

[Nutty 0]

Damn - I was there as well, and I thought I saw you if your picture on the main page is anything like you. But I was helping someone with a Cougar discussion and didn't see you again. Damn. Double damn!

 

Anyway it was quite a quiet affair this year. Last year we had a couple of FB machines linked with Oleg present, 2 LOMAC machines linked with Matt Wagner present, the BDG group, RealSimulator showing off their hardware, and the year before that we had several members of Frugal's World in Aker Barnes pits networked flying F4. A fantastic show.

 

Well hopefully you'll be there next year with something to show on a stall. If you do I'll provide some expensive controllers to demo with ;)

 

Difficult to say about publishers .... I would be tempted to go it alone, it will be more profitable for certain. It depends whether you want to trade profit and control for reduced hassle. After a distributor's taken their 30 to 60% cut, and you've paid 20 to 40% tax on the rest, you may decide it's better to go it alone.

 

Cheers

 

James