Old F-35A Withdrawn from sales... New version almost ready for testing!

As announced previously, the "old" version of the F-35 Lightning II has been withdrawn from sales on SimMarket. I'd like to thank all the customers, contributors and supporters - it was my first payware project and, for my goals, it has been a huge success.

I have no idea when the new one will be available, but the test version will surely be ready within February.

It is basically a graphically improved version of the previous one - so do not expect additional functionality. Well, actually some "visual treats" are being left out (like wheel chocks and "remove before flight" ribbons) in order to have a much better 3d detail and accuracy.
I am quite happy of the compromise between level of detail and performance at the moment - on my system it is slightly "heavier" (in terms of fps) than the previous model... but not that much. Fair trade, IMHO, if you consider how good the new mesh looks.
Cockpit will be almost the same as the previous version - just minor tweaks here and there. I am considering to remove the "full (half) screen" radar mode as it seems to have several bugs due to the way it is implemented. Removing it will help the perfomance a bit... I am not sure.
Flight model will not change.

I am also considering to add the F-35B and F-35C to the package.
If so, the F-35B will be uncapable of VTOL operations (will only support STOL slow-speed mode...I think it is called "mode 3" on the real thing but I may be wrong).

As for the F-35C... you may already have seen some pics in this blog. Latest build looks better...but the new F-35A has a higher priority being the "base" model.

In terms of pricing, it will depend on the features... for sure it will not be expensive and it will be close to the previous version. Few Euros/Dollars more if all three models are included... or a few less if it will have only the F-35A.

I will also try to apply discounts to the customers of the previous version - afterall most of the cockpit and the flight model are the same, and you have already paid for it... Let's see what I can do.

First screenshot of the new F-35A

A quick update on the new version of the F-35A I've been working on in the past few months. It will be payware (on the cheap end of the spectrum) and will be developed for FSX and Prepar3d.
I will soon withdraw the current version from SimMarket.
I am considering building a full "JSF" experience, that is a package with F-35A, -B and -C...but the actual size of the project is still tbd. As you have seen a -C version is in the works, but -A has a higher priority for me (as it is the "base" version). I'd love making the -B and it should not take that much once the -A is ready...but it requires some money to acquire the mesh and I'd like to evaluate a little more the actual revenues, as I have already spent some money on this project...

Anyway, I'll soon post my thoughts on the outlook of flight simulation (and flight games in general...for those that are not willing to think to Flight as a sim). Let me just say that if Prepar3d 2.0 delivers 64bit code, DX11 and full FSX compatibility and a reasonable price for some sort of "home" licence that would be my preferred platform.

Happy New Year - and a small suprise!

Happy New Year! I hope you had a great 2011 as I did, and I wish you all the best for 2012.
The new year will most likely bring the new version of Microsoft Flight Simulator...which will make its ist public appearance in few weeks - I am anxious to see and know more of it, but what I saw so far, although not revolutionary, is quite good.

In the meantime, as I had some spare time during the holidays, I did some work on the F-35 - mainly due to the fact that new, low poly, 3d data for the F-35C was available and my project of the new high-fidelity F-35A was really nice to look at but way too low on performance.

So here is the F-35C....VERY preliminary shots. The ambitious project I'd like to pursue would be to have a new payware package including this F-35C and a new F-35A (designed to the same standard)....and, why not, and F-35B too. BUT it may be too much for me to handle... so I have not decided yet. Let's see.

Aside, my long term projects, the T-45C will be converted (provided that the conversion is doable) to Flight and remain freeware. While the new F-14D...I do not know. It is in a good shape...but I don't know when it will be ready. It may go straight to Flight... Let's see.

Sorry for lack of updates!

One of the latest images from Microsoft Flight team - it seems that the Beta will be held in February

All, my apologies for the lack of updates and communications in the past few months. I have been quite busy with my job and I had not much time to spend on my hobbies - nor the will, honestly, to spend even more time in front of a computer screen than the one I have to spend at work.

Hopefully I will have more time to work on Flight (Simulator) designs in the following months but I am not sure. Also I am still waiting for some informations on Flight and its development tools, in order to see how the development process will be different from FSX (not too much I hope) and what will be the possibilities of the new simulator. It looks good - much better than FSX in some areas - and I cannot wait to try it. By the way, Microsoft it seems that Microsoft is planning a Beta stage for February - which means probably a release in summer or early autumn.

Here is a brief update of the projects in my folders... although I did very little in the past few months.

T-45C Goshawk - NO UPDATES. I am quite happy with the latest release... I am just curious to see how easy it will be to import that into Flight. If it will be possible to convert it to Flight, it will be freeware.

New F-14D Super Tomcat - External model is almost ready and I am really happy for its quality (, while for the internal I am a bit undecided between making only the pilot cockpit (by reusing most of the geometry from the previous model) or do also the RIO one (which means many more hours of design). In both cases the plan would be to have completely new hi-res textures. Although I paid a significant amount of money for professional 3d data for this project, these have been covered by donations and revenue from the payware F-35 so I still plan to release it as freeware. But I have no idea on when.

F-35 Lightning II - As you may be aware of, I am working on a new high-res model based on quite expensive high resolution meshes. It is not far from being complete - but there are some bad news. It is a frame rate hog. It looks beautiful, but the vast majority of the users will not be able to run it at decent frame rates. I have tried several solutions, but they do not seem to work for several reasons. I am undecided what to to with it. Maybe Flight can handle it in a much more efficient way? I do not know - and again I do not know how easy it will be to import it in Flight. It probably requires 12-15 hours of work before release.

So, again, my apologies for the lack of updates. Also, my apologies for the lack of personal contact information - I am not using the old email anymore. I have a new one for "personal" (i.e. non FSX) uses and I may need to set up a new one for FSX... for the moment, this blog is the only way to contact me - although I cannot guarantee a reply or any level of support. Sorry for that.

Last my apologies for having having rejected all the friedship requests I have received on facebook. Yes, I am on facebook. But I have decided to use it as a communication tool for "real life" friends only - so I am rejecting all requests from all people I have not met in person. No offense intended, I just prefer to stick to that decision.

T-45C version 2.10 download link(s) - update

It took longer than I expected, but finally here is the download link to the T-45C Goshawk version 2.10 (full install):

VERSION 2.10 DOWNLOAD LINK (MEDIAFIRE)

Changes are as follows:

-Added instructor cockpit

-Changed glass material reflection for DirectX 10 compatibility (less realistic material, but 100% DX10 compatible)

-Changed landing gear animation sequence to have a lower stance

-Added VT-86 repaint courtesy of Russel R. Smith

-Changed minor texturing flaws

-Minor fixes to the flight manual, added aft cockpit diagram and ejection seat details

-Activated "Bitching Betty" sounds by default GPWS, Over G, Low Fuel, albeit voice warningsare not currently linked to DEP data. GPWS Voice is set to 300 ft regardless of DEP and Low Fuel is not linked to BINGO value (Voice activates when fuel is 300lbs or less).

As requested by some users, please find below the download links for some "auxiliary" files (these are all Mediafire links - so they may expire over time):

T-45C V2.10 "Lite version" (this version has only the default repaint and no flight manual for minimum bandwith and installation footprint - this file is untested and unsupported)

T-45C V2.10 DX9 Glass (in version 2.10 I've used a less realistic but DX10 compatible glass material, some users may prefer the older rendition so here is a zip with two models: the latest 3d model recompiled with old material and the default one for backup)

T-45C V2.10 Flight Manual (although this .pdf file is part of the default installation and is found in the .docs folder - users of the Lite version may want to download this)

In the end, this version is still far from being perfect - but I hope it is an improvement over the previous release. The main installation file has been uploaded to both avsim and flightsim. Should be online within a couple of days.

Instructor cockpit

A couple of (unusally) rainy days and several requests...and the instructor cockpit for the Goshawk is almost done. It is not ready to be shown yet, as it is missing the textures, but it is coming along quite nicely - and shoul be ready by the end of the month.

Quite honestly, I'd prefer working on the new Lightning II or on the Tomcat... but it is true that the Goshawk without the instructor cockpit is somewhat incomplete. By the way the two cockpits are similar but not identical - and the unique controls of the rear cockpit will not be functional (as they either have no function in FSX -like the ejection seat sequence control switch- or too long/difficult to implement - i.e. the gunsight).

A note to repainters (if any): the rear cockpit will need an unique texture sheet and changes to the existing cockpit textures, but the outer model and its texture layout is unchanged.

Also, if I will have the time, I will also add a "Pensacola" Goshawk and an USMC repaint (as there is only one currently in the package).

Now that the Goshawk has been released...

Well, now that the Goshawk is done...I'm still working on the Goshawk. By my standards the T-45C has been an outstanding success so far as has been downloaded several thousand times in less than 3 days... still, a couple of observations set the spotlight on a couple of defects of which I was aware of... and I considered minor issues.

So, I'm still trying to fix some of the issues that still plague the v2.01 release... namely, so far I've already:

- fixed the sound bug while opening the canopy (by making the opening faster...trivial fix!)

- fixed the weird red reflection that happened sometimes (in the "glass" the separates the two cockpits)

- (almost) fixed the "stance" which was way too high. This is not as trivial as it may seem as involves quite a lot of trials and tweaks to make sure that the gear dynamics work properly in every condition, while landing on a carrier. At the moment it is not perfect, but the aircraft sits more or less in the way it is supposed to. Still...more tweaking to be done on this. Here is where we are right now:

I know that the most wanted improvement would be the addition of the instructor VC... but at the moment I cannot promise I will do it.
I will gather all the modifications and improvements I can implement before my summer vacations (that will start on August 1st) and release an update before leaving.

Also, as you might be aware of, I am working on two "remake" projects: the Grumman F-14D Super Tomcat and the F-35A Lightning II.

At the moment, it is really hard for me to tell what, when and even if they will be available... I am working on them, but I am also sitting on the fence for Micorsoft Flight. I think (and hope) that there will be a way to convert .X files into whatever format Flight will support (I guess it would be another iteration of the .mdl format...). Anyway here is the situation.

F-14D Super Tomcat: the external model, based on professional meshe, is 80% done and works quite well. The virtual cockpit will be a (almost) complete remake of the current one. I know that a working RIO station would be great...but that is far beyond the scope of the project. If I had the time, I would do it...but I don't.

At the moment, this project is likely to be freeware. I had to face some significant expenses for the 3D mesh, but that was covered by the donations and the income from the payware F-35. So, unless I incur in some unexpected events, it will be free. It may well take 5-6 months before a test release is ready.

F-35A Linghtning II - This, too, has been created starting from professional (and quite expensive) 3d meshes. I cannot say I do not like my current F-35...but it does not capture some of the details of the F-35 design. The problem, with this model, is that the original mesh is using way to many polygons...so the optimization work is long and tedious. What I have on the screen is quite amazing...but a lot of work is needed to make it run at an acceptable speed.

The current plan for this project is create a "production" model (albeit the picture shows the AF-1), improve the virtual cockpit (but most of it would be reused from the current one) and use the current flight model. So this project is mostly a visual improvement. Most likely this project will be payware - but as for the previous F-35, the price will be low.
As it is not a complete remake, I expect this to be flyable in late September.

Of course, every sentence above is subject to change... mostly depending on the Flight release date, characteristics and (mostly) the possibility to import/use my models in the new Simulator (which looks amazing IMHO)...