Mothman

What? No garotas on the deck to cheer up the crew? That's sad. j/k. We can wait for those little flavor effects anyway.

Yup. E.g., The 2 argentine Neptunes for naval exploration had to be grounded early in the conflict because their radar screens just burned. Also, the A-4B had some probloems with their radios, afaik.

Very nice! Can we get some crew on the deck, beside the A-4Qs, or is it just too much for the time being?? It would make it look cooler.

Hey Bob. This is not place for flaming wars. No one claimed having sunk any carrier anyway. Chill out and congrats for the victory. Another piece of wasteland populated with second class implanted UK citizens for the Queen to worry about and spend her money. lol. Just chill out and have fun. The war is over and our soldiers are standing side by side in Chipre, btw. Follow their example. They're the ones who die for you. You just play PC games. lol

As far as i have read the decission to keep the Mirage III in the continent was to protect the air bases in the Patagonia. You all know that the Super Etendard bases in Rio Gallegos were a primary target for spec ops and Vulcans, as well as the 2 KC-130 tankers. If an air raid was not attempted it probaly was either because of political reasons (the exclusion zone set by UK did not included the mainland) or because of the limited success probabilities. The "significant part" of Argentina, that you mention in your post, was imho the air bases in the south. With the 2 KC-130 Hercules tankers the FAA had and the 4 Super Etendard with 1 Exocet each being destroyed on the ground, the air war is over over the islands. Of course, a Vulcan mission over the air bases would have been very complicated and somewhat suicidal. What if the Vulcans flew from Chile? (or could land in Chile after a mission?) Or what if Chile entered the conflict on UK's side? What if there was a conflict between Argentina and Chile after the conflict with UK had stopped? (it was very possible at the time). Those Mirage III were needed for air base protection, not for fighter sweeps or escorting missions. It also had to be preserved for an eventual conflict with Chile. Imho, it was a very rational call, although I do not think the Mirage III pilots liked the decission. I'll look for some argentinian sources, but i think i'll probably find some british sources about this first. By the way, I did not say that the Mirage III were moved "North".The Mirage III remained in their southern bases, but stopped flying over the islands. EDIT: added the lat paragraph.

Hi Bob. welcome to these forums. I cannot remember the source, but i recall having read somewhere that one of the Harriers that is listed as lost due to an accident was damaged by cannon fire from a Dagger before the accident. If that's true, I would say it was a lucky shot but anyway the pilot would hav to praised. About the air-to-air war, it is arguable. After all, there were no argentinian fighter armed for air-to-air combat after May 1st. This was the result of a decission to keep the Mirage III in the continent after the Vulcan's mission from Ascension Island that proved that the RAF could attack Argentina's mainland air bases from there. Anyway, it was a good call, because the Sidewinder AIM-B, the Matra Magic, and the Shafrir Air-to-Air missiles could not compete against the AIM-9L, afaik. Furthermore, the main goal of the Sea Harriers was to achieve air superiority = deny the airspace over the islands = prevent enemy air activity over the islands, etc... The Argentinian Air Force kept flying until the last day of the battle, flying supplies to the islands, performing attack missions and high altitude bombing mission by the Canberras duing the night. It was an air war of "attrition", that if it lasted it would have been won by the Harriers anyway. But in some books it is said it was a "tie", if there is such thing in war. Beside, i am convinced that the argentinian aircraft would have to be grounded soon because of lack of air fuel and spare parts if the combat lasted longer than it actually did, even before the Harriers could shot them all down. To be realistic, without argentinian fighters armed with air-to-air missiles after may 1st and with the aircraft's operational restrictions (range, e.g.), the only thing for a Harrier pilot to really worry about is the Harrier itself: it was (and probably still is) the most difficult aircraft to fly, as proven by its long record of accidents. The argentinian were brave pilots because, even with all the odds against them, they went against Harriers and the Royal Navy's best assets. The british were brave pilots because they were flying the most difficult and accident prone aircraft 14000 km away from home over hostile territory and landing these birds on carriers that were floating in the most treacherous waters of the planet. Needless to say, both sides performed above all expectations during the first air-naval conflict since WW2, and that's what makes this sim project quite appealing, imho. Besides, who wouldn't want to try the Sea Harrier and the Mirage, for a change! :)

I live in the US and i purchased a game not published in the US from a UK e-commerce store. It got here in less than 1 week. Worth the little wait: www.game.net. I bet they'll be selling this one. :)

Yes. That's what i was talking about.

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.

Welcome, Puremagic. :) We should create another poll for that one. I like the Augusta A109 (if i remember well the name).

Thanks for the update. :) I have been obsessed with Rome: TW myself. Best game ever, so far, imho. The credits go to Activision for giving the developer an extra year to polish it and make it as good as possible, which is unusual lately. But roman cohorts don't fly

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

Someone posted some months ago about having people on the deck. It would improve the overall realism and athmosphere of the game, don't you think? Btw, those screenies look good!

I have that same collection in spanish. As far as i know it was published in Spain and exported to latin america. Great collection, btw. I can see it in my bookshelf from here, while i'm typing. It lacks the latest aircraft and technologies, but still is a great source about aircraft active in the 80's.

If i may... I would recommend the book by Ruben Oscar Moro (C-130 pilot in 1982) titled "The South Atlantic Conflict, the War for th Malvinas" (pub. Praeger NY) and "La Guerra Inaudita, Historia del Conflicto del Atlantico Sur" 11a edicion (pub. Edivem). It is a very thourough work on the conlfict on all aspects, diplomatic and military, and provides an independant look, although leaning towards the argentinean version of the story, of course. It provides a thorough research and analysis of the conflict with an emphasis on the british government cover-ups of the argentinean Air Force and Naval Wing successes against capital ships like the Invincible and even the Hermes (some sort of conspiracy theory. lol). Worth reading for those tired of the british and argentinean official versions... because this one gives a whole new different approach to the mysteries of this conflict.

See post above.

An Aermachi was the first or second (to a Pucara) to spot the fleet in San Carlos bay the 21st May (i do not remember now). The 707 spotted the Task Force in the South Atlantic before it reached the theater of operations.

Keep up the great job. No matter the flight model, the gameplay, the graphics, this game is one that i will buy no matter what. Hey! At least you got 50 bucks assured. For what i've seen in the 3D models and movies, i know i'll like this sim a lot. :yes: Btw, the Hermes looks awesome! I like the texturing.

What do you guys use for 3D modelling? Maya?

Well... There's no trees in the islands. That will help avoid some FPS issues and the use of too much low level detail, i guess. :P Anyway, tunnel vision would be cool. B)

That picture is a painting by Exequiel Martinez, an Air Force officer who was in the islands during the war. He has painted a lot about missions of the Air Force in the islands. All his work is based on the testimonies of the pilots involved. War is no joke. Poeple dies.

I did not have the honor to meet any participant of the attack to the Invincible, but i've seen interviews on TV, and read different versions of the story like the one about the Exocet being deviated by chaff and hitting the damaged but still afloat Atlantic Conveyor which then finally sunk. Another one is about the HMS Avenger... The Avenger is an Amazon Type 21 class frigate. Even if these were Air Force pilots and not Navy Pilots, i think that they could easily differentiate between an Invincible class carrier against a Type 21 frigate. I think that even my grandma or a 4 year old kid could see the difference :P (sorry for the irony). The attack being performed at subsonic speeds, i think they must have clearly identified the ship while they were approaching in the open ocean. The only alternate scenario is that the 2 survivors were lying under strict orders of their commanders (some sort of conspiracy theory or propaganda operation). But if in fact they did hit the Invincible and are telling the truth, then the british are the ones conspiring or covering up the facts... which makes no sense as well. The war seems so back in time now and i'm sure someday the truth story will be known, but imho there is enough circumstancial evidence that the HMS Invincible was hit: - The testimony of 2 survivors. - SUE radar locks on a big target. - The Invincible remaining at sea for longer than planned after the war (apparently for repairs). - The selling of the Invincible to Australia being cancelled after the war. - The patches and new parts present on the carrier when it finally returned to the UK. - 1 british sailor died in the Invincible. - The reduction of CAP activity over the islands after the attack, as reported by the argentinians (at least until the field deployable airfield for V/STOL was finished near the end of the war, if i remember well). For the sake of the families of the british sailor and the two argentinian pilots, i hope someday they will see the truth being told either by the argentinians or by the british, either if it was a mistake or propaganda by the argentinians, or a cover-up by the british. But i believe they deserve a truth confirmed by both parties.

I was just wondering if there's a possibility to include in the game (maybe only in the mission descriptions) the work of the argentinian R.O.A. It means "Red de Observadores del Aire" or "Air Observation Network". It consisted a group of Air Force pilots with pilot training but no planes to fly. They were scattered in small teams all over the islands. A team normally consisting of a couple of guys (the pilot and a Air Force trooper, i think), whose mission was to scout the air and report contacts. I presume that they were mostly tracking enemy helicopter activity over the islands, although maybe Harriers too. I have not much info on it, but i seem to recall that they detected all the air paths the britsh choppers were using to fly troops to Mount Kent. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the helicopter hunting missions performed by the Pucara were the result of their work and maybe it would be cool to include them in the game, either in the mission descriptions or in the communications during missions. It's just an idea to explore.

About the salt: a ground crewman of the Skyhawks solved the issue about the salt sometime during the conlict. In Carballo's book (an argentinian A-4B Captain during the conflict), it says that the guy discovered some liquid mix for cleaning that prevented the salt to stick to the windscreen during the missions. B) "Salt in the cockpit"... that would add some challenge to the game. lol.

I just want to add that the Harriers had very little time over disputed airspace as well, at least until after the landings in San Carlos, where they started flying from the beachead (although the assembly of thatairfield for V/STOL was delayed when the Atlantic Conveyor was sunk along part of that kit). The argentinian said that the Mirage III stoped operating over the islands because they were being preserved for an eventual conflict with Chile. The british said that the argentinian Mirage III were kept in the continent after the Vulcan bombing missions in the islands which proved that the british had capacity to bomb the continental Argentina if they wanted. Maybe both were the reasons to preserve the Mirage IIIand given the circumstances i think it was the right call.