FastCargo

Yes. Usually it's because you are not 'pruning' the model in order. In other words, if this is your high poly model: - Fuselage -- Wing --- Engine You cannot do this: - Fuselage -- Engine You have to do this: - Fuselage -- Wing FC

Until it's out....it's vaporware. FC

Ed is correct. Bump and specular mapping is treated like any other texture by the game engine. However, the model needs to have it built in MAX initially and exported. A good example is to look at the OUT file of one of my models...you can see all the additional entries for a model with bump mapping: Note the different entries under each material line: Self-illumination enabled - For slimers Transparency enabled - For your lenses, cockpit windows, etc zzz.jpg - Basic texture zzzyyy.jpg (bump map) - Bump maps zzzxxx.jpg (specular map) - Specular maps If you don't see these kind of entries under the material section in the OUT file, the model won't have that feature enabled. FC

And here I was thinking this was going to be a new First Eagles campaign... FC

I know a few folks in the field that have been working on this kind of stuff for decades. Only relatively recently has the technology gotten cheap enough and small enough to catch up to the concept. FC

I've had Bluestacks for a while...problem is that it is kind of dodgy for controller support (ie using a joystick in place of the accelerometer)... FC

You've got me curious...how is that working out for you guys? I'd be curious as to the costs (size of staff, pay scale, expenses) verses revenue. How much of that can you talk about? I think that's what also killed the C-130 for a while... I also think it's absolute horseshit that an aircraft paid for with tax dollars cannot be considered public domain for a virtual representation of it. Hey, you want a developer to acknowledge the source, sure (ie a simple 'Created by Lockheed' or some such), but license fees should be verboten on a publicly funded aircraft. That goes for things like the military services too. If I want to create a military looking model rocket with 'US AIR FORCE' on the side as a kit, that should be okay...if you want to have a kit builder put something like 'Not An Official Representation of a US AIR FORCE Weapon System' on it...sure. We pay for this stuff once...we shouldn't have to keep paying for it. FC

Controllers, sure...panels, probably not. FC

Well, some modders here initially said that converting a model to work in DCS from TW wouldn't be that difficult (assuming you had the MAX file of course). However, as far as I know there has not been ONE model that this has happened with. From what I understand, the amount of effort to program in LUA (the language used for things like avionics) was seriously underestimated. Also, I have to chuckle a bit. One of the reasons folks would bitch about the TW sims was the constant patching. That doesn't seem like it's going to happen anymore. Any mods you create for SF2 will probably work forever. Yet no one seems to bring that up as a positive... DCS seems to run pretty well for me, but I have a fairly modern gaming laptop. FC

Though parts of the engine were the same, SF2:NA did have some significant code changes from the base SF2 engine. And as we all know, coding core is different from coding add-ons. My guess is that most of the time and money was in making those changes (rendering engine, naval battles, etc). I disagree with the old 'pull a model off the net' way of quickly populating a DLC or EXP. Having done this a few times, I can tell you it is rare that a model not built from the ground up to be used in SF will work without a serious amount of time and effort to get right. In a LOT of cases, it's better to build the model yourself rather than trying to adapt from another source. Do335, your math got me curious...I did a bit of research and found this: http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/1279/game_developer_salary_survey_.php?page=1 It's an article that came out in January of 2014, which shows average game developer salaries for 2013. Interesting is that except for QA, in the Southern US, average salaries start at just over $60k and top out just under $80k. Again, these are AVERAGE salaries. So, assuming a two man shop, and each of them earning $70k, you're talking $140k per year just for the salaries. Which would take about 4700 sales of $30 games to recoup. Of course, this doesn't include ANY other costs, like standard utilities, server costs, and anything else that an e-business/game developer requires. What I thought was interesting was reading the comments about the expansion/explosion of mobile gaming and how there is a lot of consternation that all other types of gaming (console, PC, etc) may be in serious trouble. Fundamentally, I think the hardcore, post Korea, military combat flight simmer is a niche of a niche market. And I don't know if it's going to get much better. FC

Good luck and do well! FC

I hate to say this, but none of this surprises me. One only has to look at the lack of titles that cover the same material (post Korean Air War) to come up with a conclusion. This shit is hard and expensive to do at any level much above pure arcade. Even DCS has been focusing on WWII, with the newest (beta) release an F-86F...no EW environment at all. FC

I remember reading an article in Wired magazine about the salvage operation of the MV Cougar Ace. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Cougar_Ace Got a whole new appreciation for how dangerous large boat salvage ops can be. Glad to hear no one was killed during this salvage op. Damn shame it had to be done at all. FC

Minor point here...to save money, you fly higher, not lower. The routing is more critical to fuel savings than altitude. If they were barely above the no fly zone, it was probably because of a combination of weight and direction of travel. I still disagree about modern airliners operating in war zones. The majority of threats are from MANPADS, which modern airliners are resistant to. The risk is significantly less, especially at altitude and cruise speed from a MANPAD for a modern airliner. If you look at airliner downings over history, almost all of the have been slower, lower, smaller props/turboprops...much more vulnerable to any gomer with a shoulder fired MANPAD. The big airliner downings have been due to either large SAMs (MH, Iran Air) or fighters (KAL). The one exception was DHL, and even then, that aircraft was recovered and repaired. It's simple...you should not operate airliners in an active combat area where combatants have medium to high altitude capable SAMs. What costs more...increased fuel usage or a downed aircraft? FC

Yes, all US airlines are affected if they had operations in that area. That includes cargo, charter and CRAF. Make no mistake, this was different from your standard MANPAD threat. Active combatants, both (or three...depending on how you view the conflict) all have medium range SAMs in that area. Nobody is going to fess up to this one anytime soon...unfortunately. FC

Wrong. All US airlines were affected by the order, especially long range airlines like UAL, Delta...and mine. In fact, we stopped flying in that area back in Feb. Also, most SAM threats against airline ops have been from MANPADS striking during climb out...and even then, the amount of actual airliners downed per MANPAD fired has been low due to various factors, not the least of which is the podded engine pylon design of most modern airliners. An SA-6/17 derived SAM is a different class of weapon. One only has to look at the Iran Air 665 incident to see how dangerous flying an airliner in contested airspace, in tense international situations, with long range weapons, and very little reaction time can be a tragedy in the making. A sad day for all the families affected by this. FC

Migbuster, you got it my friend. It's a Nexus 5 phone streaming to a Chromecast. Google just rolled out a public beta of the Chromecast app that 'casts whatever is on the screen of your phone directly to the TV...you no longer need an app that has Chromecast support built in. So of course I had to see how well it works with a 3D app. The answer...pretty darn good. You can see in the photo that there is a very slight bit of lag (note the position of the radar sweep on the screen vs on the phone) but it was undetectable in real world play. This got me thinking of just how powerful our phones are getting. Think about it...the phone was producing 1080p 3d imaging at least at 24 fps, and dumping all that through the WiFi at the same time. The TV screen was almost at the same res (not sure why there was cutoff...my downstairs TV showed the full image at 1080p) plus all the sound. All this on hardware not dedicated to gaming. Certain consoles are able to do something similar...the Wii U with its controller and the PS4 with the PS Vita. Even Steam now has that functionality...you can play on a low end computer games it couldn't normally play because the actual heavy lifting is being done by your gaming strength computer that is streaming to the low end computer. It makes me wonder if the future of console gaming will have 'controllers' that are actually the entire console. That they will stream to a simple, small device that plugs into a port on your TV. Or simply stream to any device that it would support through various protocols. Basically, the Ouya concept, except as a controller with more power. Or a PS Vita type device that can stream to anything...no PSx needed because it would BE the PSx. FC

Daddyairplanes...no worries. I was using this example to show a particular advancement in technology. FC

(facepalm) You guys are killing me here.... Does anyone notice what the controller I'm using is? FC

That would be Strike Fighters Android.... Fc

File Name: AT-6B for SF2 Version 2.0 File Submitter: FastCargo File Submitted: 10 September 2009 File Category: Other Readme for the Raytheon AT-6B Texan II. For Strike Fighters 2 Series. Version 2.0 Changelog: -Cleaned up some areas on the 3d model plus increased the detail in almost all areas including AT-6B specific items plus the addition of extra details. (antennas etc.) -The skin's texture size and detail has been increased, plus changed to .jpg format. -Weapon modifications in _DATA & Loadout.ini files. -Included the AGM-114L as a CGR and added Hellfire rails to the 3d model to overcome the issue of engaging moving targets. -New hangar and loading screens. -New cockpit glass reflection texture. Version 1.5 MAJOR upgrade in cockpit and model by Dels. Much closer to actual AT-6B appearance and specifications. More weapons tweaking by FastCargo. Version 1.1 Added Sounds HUD Fixed Original model, FM, drop tanks, etc. based on Dels PC-9. Idea, decals, skins and coordination by Dave. Addons and weapons by FastCargo. This version is for the SF2 version of ThirdWire sims only! Installation: Copy the Objects directory into your ThirdWire mods folder. Allow overwrites (if any). The only alteration to basic stock or the current SF2 weapons are a slight tweaking of the basic Stinger missile. Notes on this release: The FM isn't perfect, but will work pretty good as long as you remember it is not an F-22...don't try to pull like you are one. Also, for some reason, certain racks will only load through the loadout.ini, but not in the pull down menu. Haven't found why this acts this way yet. Canopy is activated with animation key #10. Notes on the aircraft, from airforce-technology.com: http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/at-6b-light-attack/ "The multirole AT-6 will be capable of performing missions including: net-centric ISR with the ability for precise geo-registration, streaming video and datalinks; light attack including combat search and rescue (CSAR), close air support, forward air control and convoy escort; homeland defence (border security), port security, and counter-narcotics operations; and civil missions such as disaster area reconnaissance, search and rescue, and firefighting. The AT-6B is equipped with a sensor suite that can include a variety of electro-optical, infrared, laser and hyper-spectral sensors, for example the Wescam MX-15Di. The Boeing joint helmet-mounted cueing system, in service with the USAF and US Navy, can be fitted for targeting. There are six wing-mounted hardpoints for stores. With its MIL-STD 1760 smart weapons interface, the AT-6 can be armed with a variety of weapons including 0.50 calibre machine gun pod; air-to-ground missiles like Hellfire and Maverick; AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles; and munitions including Paveway II / enhanced Paveway II / Paveway IV guided bombs, joint direct attack munition (JDAM), small diameter bomb (SDB) and 2.75in rocket pods." In short, the AT-6B is a LIGHT attack aircraft, perfect for COIN ops, FAC, etc. Operate it with this in mind you'll find you'll have a lot of fun with it. Questions, contact us at CombatAce. Dels, Dave and FastCargo 10 Sep 09 Click here to download this file

MS Flight Sim coming back? http://www.computerandvideogames.com/470863/next-microsoft-flight-sim-targets-2015-arrival/

Yea, I've been working on one of these too. Though the original MAX file was not mine (freeware), I've adapted it for the SF series. It's actually mostly complete and flyable. Just needs FM and weapon tweaks on the ini side, with proper skin and decals on the paint side. It could use a cockpit...but I suspect folks will be happy adapting one of their own. FC

Argh....the last 10 percent always seems like 90 percent of the effort. Anyway, it's released, includes a proper MOP model (shrinking the MOAB wasn't good enough). You should find it to be a satisfactory performer as both an AI and player flown aircraft. FC

September was almost a year ago. FC