Payware F-35 - closing sales, apologies for the lack of support and 2.0 version.

First flight of the real AF-8, with full mission systems and USAF markings

As the real F-35 project is getting momentum (with first flight of AF-8 and CF-3 pre-series aircrafts) I have reviewed the status of my payware F-35 project.

First, I'd like to thank you all for the support and appreciation - I think it has been a huge success by my standards.

Second, I want to apologize for the lack of support on this project. Unfortunately my usual email address, which is also the one I used for FSX, is bloated by spam and junk emails to the point it is unusable - or more accurately, to the point in which I should spend several hours a week browsing through the messages. Last time I checked I had 1150 (!) unread emails, out of the first 50, just one was an actual, meaninful message.
Again, my most humble apologies for that. I will setup new email addresses as soon as possible.

Third, I just bough some new and more accurate (and more expensive) professional 3D meshes for the F-35 - as I felt that the F-35A was not on par with the new T-45C and F-14D. Therefore:

- A new, updated and more detailed F-35 model is in the works. The new model will be basically just a graphical update, and will be targeted at high-end computers. It will be payware, as the new 3d data was quite expensive for my budget, although it will be in the same price range as the previous F-35. The new outer model WILL NOT be compatible with existing repaints.

- I am considering to cease the sales of the current F-35 project. I do not consider this on par with the quality level I expect from the other projects. Unfortunately, agreement with some contributors of the project forbid the release as freeware.

- I am also considering to release the new model as a free upgrade to the existing one, or at a discounted price for existing customers - but I am not sure I can afford that.

- The new F-35 project will be "officially" announced soon, together with screenshots. It will still be an F-35A, anyway. I can tell you it looks really good, IHMO.

Anyway, no final decision was made so far - so I'd like to hear your opinion. The only thing I have decided is that I will make the new F-35 model, because it looks feasible (although requires a high end computer) - and what I have on the screen looks really good...and because I could not resist and already purchased the model from Turbosquid...

Flight testing and changes to the flight model

Three hours of (mostly) T-45 flight testing today, in order to nail some of the changes to the flight model I had in mind. Although I think the previous flight model did its job nicely, after some thoughts, work and time spent reading the flight manual, I've modified the T-45 file so that:

- The engine response is slightly quicker. In the previous version I wanted to give the user the "sensation" of a trainer and the fact the T-45C is not an F-16. But, the engine response was probably a little too slow, so some users have complained about excessive difficulties in formation flying.

- Drag vs Mach is now slightly lower below 0.80 Mach, resulting in a faster acceleration and more correct climb speed. Also, top speed is close to the nominal Mach 0.85 in most conditions.

- Extending the speed brakes will have a "nose up" effect. This was perceived as "not realistic" and criticized by many users, and I deleted that effect in the previous versions. But then, the flight manual is very clear on this so the effect is back to stay.

- Extending the flap has a "nose up" effect, too, while extending the gear has now a slight "nose down" effect. Again, this is to attempt to replicate what is reported on the flight manual.

- There is now a slight "nose down" tendency above Mach 0.8, again, as per the manual.

Not many changes, then - but as I said I was quite happy with the previous FM. The new one is slightly harder as the pilot will have to compensate for the configuration changes, but I think it is still an easy plane to fly and land - and should do its job in helping simmers to learn how to land on a carrier.

...and yes, as you may have noticed, not all the pictures above are about the Goshawk...

Almost ready for a Beta Build

Some more pics of the new Goshawk. The front cockpit is now functional - more or less at the same level of functionality of my previous Goshawk, but it is definitely more accurate. The external model is done - just a couple of bug-fixes and it is ready. Everything looks good for a test release at the end of this month. It may well be a "public beta" that is I am considering to make a public release of the test version - as it is unclear to me if and when I will have more time to work on this project.

Aside, I also did some work on the new Tomcat - that is the one I'm making starting from professional 3d data I've bought "investing" some of the revenues from the F-35 project. It looks REALLY good IMHO - I will show you some pictures as soon as some of the missing textures are ready. It will be an F-14D Super Tomcat, by the way.

Some screenshots of the new T-45... including cockpit images!

Here are some pictures of the new T-45C Goshawk. I finally found some time to work on the cockpit and the student/pilot station is graphically almost complete - I just have to fix some animations and clean up some textures. From the functional standpoint, some needles are not working yet, and I still have to do the warning and caution lights - and the night lighting. In terms of functionality do not expect any major change from the previous version - the major difference will be that what is there should be significantly closer to the real thing.

I am sorry but I do not have time right now to add more comments - so I hope the images above speak for themselves....

The real F-35 Full Mission Simulator

The F-35 Full Mission Simulator

As my previous post was about the real T-45C simulator, here is a picture of the first real "Full Mission" Simulator of the F-35, recently delivered by Lockheed Martin to Eglin Air Force Base's 33rd Fighter Wing.
Obviously this simulator sports state-of-the-art fidelity and realism, as well as a top-notch visualization system and, of course, can be set to simulate all the variants of the F-35.

Back to videogames (yes...I am a blasphemer...I still consider FSX just a videogame...) I have some good news. Meaning that I've made some significant progress with the T-45C student/pilot cockpit...and graphically I'd say it is 90% complete - I just miss some minor details here and there and I'd like to redo a couple of textures. It looks good IMHO. It is mostly "hand-drawn" meaning it looks less photographic and a little more stylized - but it is also much closer to the real deal - and IMHO it is closer to the general graphic style of FSX (& Flight - I hope that it will be possible to port it to the new simulator). Long story short it looks better than the previous one - and it is also less resouce-intensive so that it may be possible to model the instructor cockpit too (albeit I will probably not replicate some minor differences between the two cockpits that are there in the real plane - like different layout of external lights controls to name one). Still the instructor cockpit presence is not confirmed - I may not have time to complete it in a reasonable time.

I will post some WIP pictures of the new cockpit as soon as I've placed all the missing details - probably during the next weekend.

Now, that is a T-45C simulator...

That is a wide screen!

This is (or should be) an actual screenshot... Javier's carrier looks definitely much better :-)

I've recently spotted on the internet few pics of the "real thing", that is the real T-45C simulator... So here they are. The simulator is static and sports a pretty wide screen (although we "simmers" know that it is not the best of the best out there) which seems very effective. In terms of graphics, well, Javier's carrier looks much better IMHO :-) but again, these simulators are not made to impress with graphic realism (or have fun), their job is to help you learning the instruments and the procedures... Then, given the high standards of many "hardcore simmers" (i.e. "I bet I could land a real Tomcat even if I've never touched a real plane" armchair pilot) , I'd bet that there is someone that may consider this simulator "too arcade" :-) Talking about arcade games...for those who missed them, there are some new Microsoft Flight screens on the official website (here). The pattern seems to be a monthly update (alternating screenshots and videos). I think it looks pretty good. Although many will think it is very similar to FSX, on closer inspection, there are some interesting tweaks that make it look much better (for example a MUCH better shadow algorithm - which include autogen now). On the graphic side, I'd say so far so good. I just hope the performance will be good. Also, I think that, at this point it seems clear that, in spite of the name change, this seems to be a new version of Flight Simulator. It will probably have some more missions (which I like) and a "casual mode" (which to allow your 5 years old son fly a 747, but I'm sure it will be optional). I'd be surprised if the maximum level of realism will be lower than the one of FSX - and I honestly can't wait to see more of this new release. I just hope that there will be an efficient way to convert FSX native add-ons to Flight...

T-45C External model complete

My apologies for the lack of updates - I've been very busy in the past few weeks and I had very little time (and will) to work on my FSX projects. Needless to say I've completely missed my target of delivering a Beta version of the new Goshawk before the end of Februrary - and I'm still at least 30 work-hours away from that target.

The good news is that the external model is done - initially I wanted it to be a very light 3d model... but in the end it became a very detailed one (which may disappoint some users with slower machines). On the good side, I am extremely happy with its visual quality - although the outer doors of the main landing gear have a wrong shape.

The virtual cockpit, I mean the student/pilot one, is roughly 50% complete - it still lacks the side consoles as I have not complete their main textures.

The instructor cockpit is still in my to-do list, although I am considering a later release - as I do not have the time and motivation, at present, to complete it in a reasonable time... The main problem is that I work 9-10 hours per day in front of a computer screen, and it is really hard to find the will do sit in front of another computer screen when I am at home!

Also, while I was looking for the right mood to complete the Goshawk cockpit, I did some work on the new Tomcat - the external model is 80% complete and it looks really good too! I'll post some pics as soon as the next build is done.