Skyviper

Another news article that I just came across. I'm sure a lot of you will have a bunch to say about this one. Here's the full story.

I was thinking about that myself. I see great minds think alike. nightclubs, hotels, casinos ... For the mega rich they can charger small private aircraft that land on the carrier and provide secured storage and when the boat gets near a country either launch the jet or chopper them in. And pirates would't want to screw with something that looks military. $25,000 rooms/ night $9,000 to land Plus $4,000 for the aircraft to be secured. Prices may vary.

Just came across this. Click here for full story. I wonder if I could get a battlship for a dollar ... don't know what I'd do with it but I'll figure somehting out.

Cool idea!

CombatACE Spotlight: With Sundowner "All modders are inspiring in their own right no matter what they do. It’s the work of other modders that constantly get us to strive to improve our own work." -Sundowner In this week's CombatACE Spotlight segment we focus on, Sundowner, who has been a member here at CombatACE for ten years. His most notable file with 1,281 downloads is the Jaguar GRI For SF2 Series. Thank you Sundowner for taking the time to do an interviw with us. So, Sundowner, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? I'm 50 years old [well nearly 51 now] and come from a farming family. Right from an early age I was interested in all things mechanical & spent most of my childhood messing around with all sorts of equipment & by the age of 10 I could weld as good as anybody else on the farm. About 15 years ago I got tired of working 100+ hours a week and left the farm machinery behind me and took a job in a warehouse, everybody said I'd never stick it but even though I do sometimes miss the "grunt" of using heavy machinery [my last 5 years were spent operating a 450hp grass chopper] I love being home by 4.30 pm & no weekend work. What interest you about aviation? Everything, big or small, old or new, flight is a marvelous achievement. Yes, flight is a marvelous invention. So what is your favorite aircraft and why? Wow......that's a really hard question, I have favourites from every era but if I was forced to pick just one it would have to be the mighty F-4 Phantom....any version, there's just summat (British for something) about them that's addictive. What got you interested in flight simulation? When we were buying our first pc for the kids in 1998 I saw a "Suncom combo crate" joystick & throttles, I asked the sales person a few questions about it & BINGO! Up went the spec of the pc, so did the price and the wife’s blood pressure! Do you remember the first flight sim you ever played? Novalogic F-16 & Mig 29....purchased with afore ** mentioned joystick, after that it was Janes USAF & IAF......I was hooked big style! What motivated you to arrive at CombatAce and stay over the years? Dave [uSAFMTL], we met through the Strike Fighters forums at SimHQ & once CombatAce was "formed" for want of a better term we all migrated over here, it was a natural progression. CombatAce has become the number1 site for everything Strike Fighters, the amount of knowledge and talent here is unbelievable, there is no doubt in my mind that without this community the SF series would of died out long ago. When did you start modding? As soon as SF1 was released [not the Wal-Mart version] I ordered a copy from the states & after about 6 months I took my first steps into skinning, it was the first thing I'd done for any sim, I had no Photoshop experience, everything was trial & error.....mainly error, it's only by doing summat wrong that you learn how to do it right....lol What does modding do for you? Is it something that is relaxing? A neat hobby, etc? Modding is a hobby, it has to be. I get paid to be stressed at work not in my spare time, if [and when] skinning gets stressful it's time to walk away and do summat else. I see that your most downloaded file is the Jaguar GR1 for the SF2 series with over a thousand downloads. What prompted you to make and release the Jaguar GR1? The Jag that I released is basically V2.0 of the original Mirage Factory model, BPAo and I were working on it right up to his death, I decided to carry on as best I could as I know that Oli would want us to finish all his projects. It needs an updated pit but that is way beyond my limited capabilities, I just tidied up the loose ends. What modding tools do you use and why? Photoshop for skinning and 3ds Max for my limited modeling skills, working with the max file while skinning the plane or whatever is far, far easier than trying to identify the parts on an already painted map. What is your favorite mod you have created? I quite like my version of Baltika's UK terrain......I put an awful lot of work into that, mostly stuff that I'd never tried before.....or is it the TSR2 model [ started by Craig Brierley & finished by me] it's a wonderful "what if" What is your favorite mod that you did not create? There are sooooo many.....could be any of the terrains or aircraft wise it would be anything with Ravenclaw_007's name on it or the TMF F-14......I think. Who is a Modder you admire or has inspired you to start modding? All modders are inspiring in their own right no matter what they do. It’s the work of other modders that constantly get us to strive to improve our own work. Do you have favorite quotes or thoughts about being here at Combat Ace you’d like to share? I've made a LOT of good friends here over the years; it's great to have such a large amount of likeminded folks from all over the world and all walks of life all working together to make our hobby even more enjoyable. Nicely said, Sundowner, once again thank you for taking the time to do an interview with and for telling us your story. Well that’s it for this week’s CombatACE Spotlight segment. If you’re interested in using Sundowner’s most downloaded mod you can simply click here and download it. Please carefully read all of our downloading instructions and associated readme files to get the most enjoyment from Sundowner’s and BPAO’s work. Until next time, I’m Skyviper with the CombatACE news team wishing you all, in the word’s Wrench, happy landings.

I don't drink alcohal (I get crazy enough drinking soda) So I know a number of you would love this. I just saw this and it begged to be posted here on combatACE. Enjoy.

Is it wrong of me to think of that has a nice little key chain concealed weapon?

Nice Thanks for the heads up.

I remember playing chuck yeagers sim (one of many) and the P-51 on that was a bitch too just pull up and stall you go. You had to really baby that damn thing to get her to go where you needed her too. So its cool that DCS would do the same thing too.

Nice Video Thanks for sharing it. Things that came to mind at 1:40 Star Wars Canyon Race Top Gun (In the cliffs) Independence Day (Dog fight in Canyons)

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.

I posted the link on another site I hang out on and someone then posted that. I'll ask them.

https://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/http://combatace.com/index... Here's the link.

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. .