BETA TEST CLOSED
SORRY FOR THE LACK OF UPDATES - DUE MY PERSONAL TIME CONSTRAINTS, BETA 1 HAS NOT BEEN AS EXTENSIVE AS I WISHED IT TO BE, NOR DID I HAVE TIME TO UPDATE THE BLOG PROPERLY.
I WILL MAKE A NEW POST WITH ALL THE CHANGES DONE IN THE PAST FEW WEEKS.
FEATURES OF THE BETA 1
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This Beta 1 build includes only the F-35A, and only in USAF markings, actually depicting AF-9, one of the Low Rate Initial Production and one very first aicraft delivered to Eglin AFB.
External model is much more accurate than the previous release and should be significantly closer to the real thing. Due to a much higher polycount, I've decided to remove some eye-candies such as "Remove before flight" ribbons and wheelchocks. It is possible, however, that the new visual model may impact the fps.
The VC has been optimized in several areas, and sports minor functional improvements, texture refinements and details.
No changes to the flight model - which has been extensively tested though in the previous releases - and IMHo mimics the behaviour of a fly-by-wire quite well in many areas of the envelope.
SEE NEXT POST FOR THE LIST OF CHANGES
9 comments:
Two things for now after a quick test:
1. Afterburner effects seem larger than engine nacelle:
http://i.imgur.com/C4vzI.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5JM2i.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/OLLgV.jpg
This may be caused by WideViewAspect=True in the fsx.CFG. I had a similar problem on the 3rd party Acceleration Hornet afterburner effects, which I mitigated by reducing the size in the effects file.
2. Cockpit glass seems to turn greenish briefly after switching views. The glass quickly returns to normal, though.
http://i.imgur.com/nwX3J.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/0M5CU.jpg
The initial time I viewed the exterior model, the glass seemed to be a reddish color, but I wasn't been able to reproduce it later on in the flight.
Autopilot need some corrections imho:
1. Steering by moving the joystick should be enabled with only alt hold mode active unless you select hdg or crs hold. And vice versa (pitch axis unlocked while holding hdg or crs only)
2. Heading and course selection is too slow. Almost 20s from 000 to 180 is painful.
3. Altitude should be automaticaly selected to the altitude you are currently flying when activating alt hold.
Btw. specular channel looks strange in my opinion and aicraft appears to be wet. I searched for F-35 photos and the skin is rather smooth. Maybe making it more subtle?
Some noted items which seem to have been addressed by others also:
1)Greenish tint breifly when switching views back to VC
2)3rd stage afterburner appears to bleed outside exhaust nozzle - first and second stage effects seem ok.
firstly: nicely improved model and textures - great job, the research and dedication to the F-35 shows!
checked w TrackIR 5 and Triplehead2Go
flight dynamics:
seems sluggish. I can see the rudder/flightstick feedback in the central cockpit console to check my stick position (very useful for testing), and checking against this, the plane's elevator response feels very sluggish. Roll is a little better, but generally still sluggish.
possibly too much (micro) stutters when stationary on runway
aesthetic:
there are some small polygons sticking out of the fuselage immediately behind the open cockpit (please see attached image). these polygons also appear to be moving around slightly. These only appear when the pilot is hidden.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s222/uses321/polys_pilotMap.jpg
cockpit reflection of pilot is there even if pilot is removed. Since this probably can't easily be made dynamic, possibly reduce opacity of pilot reflection map?
confirming previous posts:
is specular map too much (checked both in day and night)? perhaps if the spec map matched the textures better, it might work.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s222/uses321/specmap.jpg
cockpit view turning green for just a second or two when switching views.
3rd stage afterburner protrudes out of model/engine nacelle
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s222/uses321/AB_protrudes.jpg
misc:
texture.af9 folder has an extraneous jsf.mdl file that is dated 2/12/12, older than the models in the model folders
--EGan
Re: my last report - My bad (sorry): I can't seem to repeat the flight sluggishness that occurred that 1 time. I tested this again at varying speeds and altitudes.
--EGan
All,
Thanks a lot for your inputs.
Beta 1 stage will close next weekend.
I will update the post asap but here are some quick answers.
- Greenish cockpit, fixed.
- Miscellaneous issues with special effect (burner): unfortunately this is somewhat dependent on video card and FSX settings... On my card, for example, a GTX295 it happens only if I set "performance" setting (versus quality). I may provide an alternate set of .fx files scaled down.
- Autopilot: this code comes straight from stock FSX autopilot. You can change the setting via the mouse "roller" rather than clicking.
- Reflections: completely redone. Hope they look better
- Removal of the pilot is unintentional... this is what was causing the bug.
+ FPS friendly
+ Engine start/shutdown procedures work ok using both VC switches and shortcut keys
- Hornet sounds don't work for me, aliased Goshawk sounds instead
- Canopy could be opened in flight
- Some yawing or left/right drifting when stationary and parking brakes engaged
Well done, Dino!
Ciao Dino, mi spiace non essermi fatto sentire da un po, troppi impegni. Comunque complimenti per l' ottimo lavoro!
Solo una nota:
Nessuno s'è accorto che hanno ridisegnato (ridotto) i piani di coda? Hanno anche aggiunto una lamina metallica (protezione termica?) all' estremità interna degli stessi. Modifiche comuni a tutte le varianti.
Just my two cents.
Robby
Thank you all!
I'm sorry for having not written anything for a while. I've been been quite busy.
Anyway, please consider the Beta 1 stage closed.
I will update the blog asap.
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