F-35 Lightining II - Beta 2

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IMPORTANT! TESTERS PLEASE READ!
I've just realized that there may be a mistake in the folder structure of
the Beta 2 zip file, so it may not be installed correctly. You should move the F-35 folder in the FSX SimObject/Airplanes manually. If the installation is correct you should find three aircraft variants (AA-1, AF-01 and an unpainted one) - if you see only AA-1 then it is not correct.
My apologies for the inconvenience.
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NOTE: Beta 2 has been distributed only to testers - unfortunately, the email has not reached all of the intended recipients for various reasons (including mistakes from my side). No one from the Beta team has been "banned" or intentionally left out. Unfortunately I cannot access my home email right now, nor I can fix this until my new home is connected to the internet. My apologies for any inconvenience.

UPDATE: My home computer is now operational (and with a new monitor and dedicated Raid 0 disks for FSX). Still, no internet connection at home. BTW, with a clean FSX install on Windows 7 64 bit, I experience a huge performance increase in DX10. Will write a post about that - I think my Nvidia GTX295 works much better under Win7/DX10 (compared to XP 32bit). Also, no blurries - but I guess this is more due to the Raid 0. With the same settings, DX9 is much slower (like 10-15 fps) and shows major stutters.

Unfortunatley I could not complete the RC1 version of the F-35 Lightining II project for FSX on time. As I am moving into a new home in these days I will have no time to work on it nor I will have home internet connection for a while.So, instead of the RC1, I've packed a Beta 2 release. It is not yet complete, but what is in there should be good enough for public release.

The main missing features are:

• HMD 2D superimposed panel
• Operational F-35 model (i.e without nose probe and with proper EOTS)
• Model with external loads

As I will not have access to home email for a while please report EXCLUSIVELY through comments to this post.

From now on, Beta testers are authorized to discuss and comment the project publicly and post pictures (or videos) on the internet - provided that a link is given in as comment to this post.

I will resume the project and release it as soon as possible.

UPDATE - After a long struggle to make the SDK work under Win7 64bit, my home computer is operational once again (with a new monitor, a clean install of OS,FSX and SDk on new RAID hard disk). Still, no internet connection until June 3rd...

EXTERNAL MODEL:

1. JDAM pokes through weapon bay door (very small - visible only in full HD). Action: review the visual model. Status:CLOSED. Closer inspection reveals that it was a mistake in the UVW placement. Fixed on model build 59.
2. White flash on AF-01 tail shows a small blue stripe. Action: review the texture. Status: closed - texture modified.
3. Afterburner effects look different on DX10 preview. Action: unclear, may be it is difficult to solve without a complete redo of the effect - if so, EDIT/1: I've double checked the code and it is correct. Seems that the DX10 preview has some issues showing some special effects, at least on my machine. I will investigate other solutions, but I would not like too much modifying the existing .fx as they seem to work fine. EDIT/2: after some investigation, it looks like it depends from videocard/FSX settings - setting a limited frame rate seems to fix the issue sometimes. Basically, seems that FSX in DX10, on my system, "cuts" some special effects in order to keep the framerate high. Status:closed - no action.
4. AF-02 Weapon Test Vehicle texture missing. Action: create the new repaint (should not be too difficult). Status:open
5. "Mighty Gorillas" texture set and external model missing. Action: model is almost ready; create the new repaint. Status:open
6. "Thunderbirds" texture set missing. Action: this paint scheme is technically challenging due to the texture placement; final decision pending. Status:open
7. Jaggy shading in places. This is sue to the poly count optimization algorith I've used. This was not much visible on my previous monitor, but the new one is less forgiving, Action: improve geometry by adding polygons locally. Status: closed. Added polys in several areas.
8. Color mismatch between side and bottom fuselage textures. Action: improve color match/blending. Status: closed (textures blend modified).
9. Engine/fuselage interface of AF-1 model shows incorrect shading in DX10. Action: validate mesh. Status: closed (turning model into "editable mesh" fixed the issue)
10. Remove auxiliary air intake from the upper surfaces of AF-01 and subsequent models. Action: modify the specific 3d model. Status: closed.

VIRTUAL COCKPIT:

1. HUD shows an halo in DX10. Action:review material propriety/disable bloom if enabled. EDIT: materials seem correct. Halo seems to be an artifact from the DX10 preview bloom algorithm. I am unsure to modify it as it looks good in DX9. Status:open
2. MFD cover when the plane is parked was planned, and texture were made, but is not modeled yet. Action: evaluate implementation. Status: open
3. A/T switch inop. Action: the switch is actually an A/T arm. Enable the entry in the aicraft.cfg. Status:open
4. A/P switch inop. Action: check associated .XML code (seems to work on my machine) Status:open
5. Request to increase the angle of the fpm on the Virtual HUD. Action: unclear. Only track-ir /freetrack users would benefit from that - for the others, seeing the fpm disappear beyond the MFD may be less desireable. Final decision pending. Status:open
6. Mouse areas inop/misplaced. Action: awaiting to collect full list. Status:open.
7. Minor visual interference between some details in the ejection seat area. Action: fixed in VC model 28. Status:closed.
8. Seat cushion texture misplaced. Action:review UVW placement. Status:open

FLIGHT MODEL:

• no issues reported so far

MISCELLANEOUS / DOCUMENTATION:

• Product and flight manual missing
• Checklists missing
• Prepare documentation for e-commerce distributors.

Color key:

• Green - issue solved, or mitigated to the point is acceptable or not perceived by most users.
• Yellow -issue open, and could be perceived as product defect by many users. Awaiting action or investigation. Or issue open, mitigated to the best of my knowledge but will still be perceived as defect by users. Or issue open but appears easy to fix.
• Red - root cause not identified as of today. Or the problem is beyond my knowledge or impossible or difficult to solve.

F-35 Lightining II - feature complete build ready!

AF-01 model has been refined on the basis of the pictures released by Lockheed Martin recently.

This is the clean dark grey livery for repainting. An early warning to the repainters:due to some minor imperfections in the normals of some surfaces (and the resulting smoothing mistakes), repainting the fuselage in very light colors may highlight these minor defects - which are completely invisible with the default liveries or in similar colors. Should not be an issue for the vast majority of the liveries.

This is the latest build of the MFD. Several functions can be controlled by the touch screen, and you can manage its configuration in a much more flexible way than the previous builds. Still, most of the more advanced functions of the F-35 are not emulated.

Cockpit graphics have been kept as close as possible to the real plane, but some artistic licence has been taken. Also, the source material was not homogeneous (most source photos came from the AA-1 cockpit, while others were from BF-1, mock-ups and simulators). For example, the wires nearby the pedals should be covered by panels, and AFAIK the area below the MFD controls will be different in the actual planes - these discrepancies are due to the fact that the best photos I have were taken during the assembly of the AA-1 cockpit.

Yet another picture of the AF-1 over Fort Worth.

And one last for the AF-1. The real AF-1 has been retired to live-fire "slaughter" for battle damage assessment. Note the scorched surface on the left vertical stabilizer, due to the nearby exhaust of the APU. This exhaust has been moved to the lower side, afaik, with the exception of the F-35C's (due to deck crew safety concerns I think).

A very rainy evening has finally given me the time (and will) I needed to complete the remake of the MFD, which was the major oustanding item in my F-35 to-do list. The cockpit now has all the planned functions - while are fewer than the ones of the real F-35, they should be good enough for most users.

So the package is almost complete, meaning it needs some very minor debugging and the external model need to be checked against the recently released pictures of AF-1 and AF-2.

Then I need to write the checklists and the manuals and then it is ready.

The major delay will probably come from the fact that I am moving to a new home during the next couple of weeks... so I really can't tell when I will be able to release it. But I hope that the pictures above show that the project is in a very good shape and VERY close to completition.

PS - The visit of the Garibaldi STOVL carrier to my hometown - and the fact that I'm seeing it every day driving to my workplace, is revamping my intest in making the F-35B, too. The conversion is not easy as it may seem - but I'll probably give it a try.

La Garibaldi in porto a Genova !

Se vi capita di passare al porto di Genova in questi giorni, c'è la Garibaldi ormeggiata a Ponte dei Mille! Purtroppo non ho avuto occasione di visitarla, ma anche da lontano è uno spettacolo. La nave è ormeggiata a Ponte dei Mille e vi resterà fino al 5 Maggio, quando ospiterà il Presidente della Repubblica per le celebrazioni del centocinquantesimo anniversario dell'impresa dei Mille.

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If you happen to step by the harbour of Genoa (not far from my home) in these days, you can see the Garibaldi light carrier docked at Ponte dei Mille. The ship is the smallest of the two Italian STOVL carriers, the other one being the Cavour. The Garibaldi is named after Giuseppe Garibaldi, the national hero who 150 years ago led the "Mille" military expedition resulted in the unification of Italy.

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Photos taken from the web.

In search for the Ultimate Tomcat...

As I design FSX add-ons for fun, when the projects come to the final polishing stage (which is very boring) I tend to lose the focus on their completion, and usally start working on other things.

Which in this case, as some of you are aware of, would be the T-45C update.

I've been playing with the new Goshawk for some time... but I have to confess that I could not get it right. That is, there are so many things I'd like to change that I grossly underestimated the amount of work. I've also considered buying professional 3D data to speed up thing... but apparently there is no data available. So I am not so sure it is the right thing to do, right now.

On the other hand, while looking for a T-45 3d mesh I found some nice meshes for the Tomcat at a reasonable price... Played with the 3D yesterday night and the results were really good. Long story short I am putting the T-45 on hold and make a new version of the Tomcat first.

So, the status of my projects is as follows:

F-35A Lighting II
I've almost finished remaking the MFDs. Then I have to finish a couple of repaints and the external weapons model. These are the last outstanding items in my to-do list, apart from a final round of tests - just to be sure everything works.
As for the release...it will be release as soon as I've finished moving into my new home - and the new home is connected to the internet.

T-45C Goshawk 2.0
Delayed. Simply put, it is not coming as nicely as I hoped - and requires much more work than I thought. I have to think about that (...and find the time to read the Natops - thanks Phil)

F-14(D?) Tomcat 2.0
Warming up the engines. Initial work with professional 3D mesh is VERY promising. Undecided between B and D versions. It will be freeware, but may be will have payware additions (to cover the cost of the mesh license) - meaning that the base package will be freeware, and "optional" features (like different weapon loads) could be payware. Or a freeware "D" and a payware "B"... I don't know. Still, trust me, the preliminary build is looking very good.

TA-4J Scooter
Project evaluation. Well, the fact is I want to do a top-notch naval jet trainer - and I'm considering the TA-4J as replacement of T-45 - you know, in virtual reality you have the time to run backward :-)
It is just an idea, for now, but I'll probably make some preliminary work on it - if it will look good, I may decide to do this instead of the Goshawk...

Unhappy with the F-14...

I think that product quality and developer satisfaction do not come together... I know the T-45C and the F-14D are not bad for being freeware... But I am not happy about them. That is, the more you work and the more your skills improve, and the more you learn about your modeling subject.

And then... I am also never happy with what I do, and that is the main reason for the F-35 delay - for example I just started the third version of the MFD.... which is kind of stupid, given that the previous one was working almost perfectly...

Yesterday, during some F-35 flight tests, I took the old Turkey for a spin... and was unhappy. There are several small things that could be improved, let alone the fact that rebooting the F-14 with my current skills, and possibly starting from professional 3D data like I did for the F-35, could bring a much better model.

So, long story short I am considering an update/reboot of the F-14, too. I am undecided between a quick update to the existing model, or a major rework.

Some things I do not like ad that could be fixed in a quick update (say maximum 10 hours or work) are:

- Decent afterburner effects. I think the F-35 ones are much better, and I could do similar effects for the Tomcat.

- Collimated and perfectly translucent HUD.

- Minor glitches to the external model

On the other hand, investing like 200 Euros in professional 3d data and at least 200 hours in modeling / integration with the existing Tomcat model (i.e. reusing the good stuff) could bring a much better model...

What are your opinions? What should change and what should stay the same?

F-35 project update...and other things.

It is quite a busy period for me (...well...as always!) but I'm doing my best to complete the F-35 soon. The most time-consuming thing, for me, is that I'll be moving into a new house in the next few weeks... which, for you, means another potential delay in the F-35 release (due to the fact that it may take few weeks to activate the internet connection in my new home)... Still, rest assured that the F-35 will be released as soon as possible.

This blog

As you may have noticed, the AdSense banners are gone (their decision, not mine). While the reason for the suspension for the ads was unclear, I think it was due to the fact that I was suggesting to click the banners - which is against the AdSense rules. My fault - I had not read the AdSense policy carefully. It was not my intention to cheat or anything. Also, as I had not read my home e-mail for a while, I've missed the 72 hours time limit that AdSense gives you to fix your site. I've filed an appeal but as it was my fault it is likely that the ads are not coming back.

Not a big deal for me, although I appreciated the fact that the advertising paid for full access to airliners.net, for example... Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that those empty boxes you see are, in fact, empty. Will rearrange the layout of the blog asap.

F-35 Lightning II

It is almost done, meaning that it is already at least as good as my previous project... but as I was not satisfied with the MFD "interface", I am extensively reworking it. It will be closer to the actual F-35 in both graphics and functionality, although still not as customizable to the real one and given some artistic licence for FSX limitations and playability.

I've made some minor changes to the flight model (with thanks to Roberto Leonardo for providing major improvements to the Alpha and Beta1 versions) and the external models are done - with exception of the launchers and the external loads (with should not take more than a couple of hours to make).

So, the big unanswered question is the release date.... and I have no clear answer, yet. The Beta 2 / (potential) RC1 is just few work-hours away, but the actual release date will also depend on when I will have the internet connection in my new home.

T-45C Goshawk 2.0

I had very good feedback on the "T-45 Goshawk 2.0" project. I've received the .pdf files for both the T-45A and T-45C Natops (thanks Phil) and placed them in my documentation folder - together with almost every Goshawk file available on the internet.

The only thing I'm missing right now are good, hi-res pictures of the cockpit - I have some (the ones I've used in the current release), but are not as good or as complete as I'd like.

Also, I've received some appreciation e-mails from former and current T-45C pilots, so the new version will include "first hand" feedback. By the way I was happy to hear that they found my FSX rendition to be realistic - although I've learned that in most cases, real pilots are more forgiving than other users, in terms of simulation realism... I think it is due to the fact that they realize that FSX is, afterall, just a game :-)

F-14D Tomcat

There is some chance I will make a small update to the Tomcat before reworking the T-45C. While I am not satisfied with the F-14, and while I know it can be vastly improved, there are a couple of issues with the latest release that can be easily fixed. Also, I'd like to apply some of the "tricks" I've learned making the F-35... We'll see...

By the way, seems that the download links from rapidshare are broken. Will fix that too, although you can find the Tomcat at flightsim.com.

E-mail

Unfortunately I had no time to reply to many of the emails I've received in the past few weeks -my apologies. I tried to reply to the most urgent ones - and I will reply to the others asap

That is all for now. In the next post I will provide some hi-res pictures of the latest F-35 build.

Real AF-1 ready to fly at Edwards (and F-35 drop tests)

F-35 AF-1 with final painting/finishing. Will fly to Edwards soon.

In the past few weeks, the real F-35 project achieved several major milestones, including first vertical landing for the F-35B, first flight of a fully mission-equipped plane and drop tests of the F-35C. Now the AF-1 is back from the calibration lab and received its final livery (which looks close to the one I did based on drawings - the major difference is that the real characters are smaller).

By the way seeing the F-35C drop test videos (link below, also on youtube - and good source to estimate F-35 carrier landing parameters) reminded me of drop tests we did when I was working for major mobile phones company... but on a much bigger scale!

Sources:

AF-1 Completes Final Finishes, Scheduled to Return to Flight

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/2010/100413ae_af-1-final-finishes.html

First Lockheed Martin Mission Systems F-35 Enters Flight Test

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/2010/100407ae_f35-mission-systems-flight-test.html

Lockheed Martin's F-35C Lightning II Carrier Variant Undergoes Drop Testing

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/2010/100409ae_f-35c-drop-test.html