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Eagle Dynamics Announce First In ‘Flying Legends’ DCS Series – The P-51D Mustang

Murray Hibble — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:00:42 +0000

Modern Flight Simulators come in a variety of forms, from Take On Helicopters to the still quite broken IL-2 Cliffs Of Dover, but none have delivered the same level of acute reality as the Digital Combat Simulator series. Crafted by developers Eagle Dynamics, the DCS series so far has delivered near-perfect recreations of the Black Shark (a single pilot variant of the Russian Kamov-50, a ground-attack chopper) and the A-10C Warthog (the venerable and frightening depleted-uranium-firing U.S. ground-pounder still in active service). Now, the ED team are delivering the Flying Legends series with the World War II classic Mustang first off the factory floor. With 6 .50 cal. machine guns, 5 inch HVAR unguided rockets and 500 lbs general purpose bombs, this is a dogfighter’s wet dream.

With every button, switch, dial and procedure perfectly modelling its real-life counterpart (barring certain non-essential, still secret systems on the Warthog) and the plethora of detailed real-world air and ground targets the DCS series has attracted a hardcore fanbase who spend countless hours planning and executing user-made missions with scary amounts of realism. Applying this level of detail to such a classic aircraft is a real treat for sim-pilots and is bound to leave a massive prop-wake in the active and cashed-up WW2 dogfighting community.

From the DCS forums;

The Fighter Collection and Eagle Dynamics will release their next Digital Combat Simulator (DCS) aircraft in 2012: the legendary P-51D Mustang. The Mustang was among the best and most well-known fighters used by the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Possessing excellent range and manoeuvrability, the P-51 operated primarily as a long-range escort fighter and also as a ground attack fighter-bomber with bombs, rockets, and machine guns. The Mustang served in nearly every combat zone during WWII, and later fought in the Korean War.

The DCS: P-51D Mustang will be modelled at the same exacting detail as the existing Ka-50 Black Shark and A-10C Warthog Digital Combat Simulation (DCS) aircraft and it will be online compatible with them. Based on many years of restoring, flying and maintaining Mustangs, The Fighter Collection brings its unique ability to portray this aircraft in its full glory.

The P-51D will be the first aircraft in the Flying Legends series that focuses on historical aircraft that have set benchmarks in combat aviation. This series of simulations demonstrates the broad scope of DCS simulation environment and its ability to introduce aircraft from all eras into a common simulation environment. While the P-51D started as an internal technology demonstration, it has evolved into an independent product that adds an all new dimension to the DCS universe. The development of the P-51D and other Flying Legends series aircraft definitely does not preclude the continued development of modern aircraft.

Judging from the screenshots below, there’s absolutely no doubt as to the fidelity of the Mustang and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Given that it will be compatible with the Black Shark and the Warthog in multiplayer, just how effective a WWII fighter-plane can be against modern radar and missile systems has many sim-pilots scratching their heads. For those like myself bemused by the lack of new content outside of the re-released Black Shark 2 (a compatibility and graphics upgrade to allow it to play online with the other DCS and Fighter Collection titles) the immediate concern was on any impact to the development of future modern attack aircraft. An ED Tester had this to say in response to such concerns;

The development of the P-51D and other Flying Legends series aircraft definitely does not preclude the continued development of modern aircraft.

DCS: P-51D is scheduled for release in 2012 and you can read a fledgling FAQ from ED’s legendary producer, Wags, here. Meanwhile, feast your eyes on the below pre-Alpha (!) screens and stay tuned to RipTen for updates.

How Bohemia’s Take On Helicopters Will Take on The World

Murray Hibble — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 23:00:07 +0000

Released just this week, Take On Helicopters is a civilian-helicopter sim from Bohemia Interactive; you know, the guys behind the excellent ArmA series. Last week we sat down with Joris-Jan van’t Land, Take On’s Project Lead and Jay Crowe the Creative Lead to ask a few questions from a Simthusiast perspective.

RipTen: Okay guys, the question of the day is… why now and why a civilian helicopter sim?

Joris: Some of the people on the team had already been talking about the idea for a while having seen how cool helicopter flight in our previous titles was. After the PMC DLC for Operation Arrowhead we finally had the opportunity to take it from concept to a real game.

Jay: Focusing on delivering the experience of (non-lethal!) helicopter gameplay has been a refreshing (and quite challenging) change for us as developers and, we hope too, for our players!

Joris: One of the more interesting opportunities our engine allows us is to have gameplay outside of the helicopters as well. Even when looking at the currently available helicopter experiences on the market, this is something they do not offer. It completes the package.

Jay: There’s definitely a place for a civil helicopter game like Take On. We’ve presented at both gaming-media events like E3 and GC, and also at simulation expos, such as Paris. The feedback has been very encouraging.

RipTen: What has the experience of marketing TKOH been like? Have you had any resistance or incredulity (like my opening question)? In a scene that is now dominated by hardcore flight-sims, who in particular are you looking at to buy TKOH from release day?

Jay: ArmA has a strong reputation in combined arms warfare, but hardcore flight-simmers have often remarked that the flight model is too simple for their taste. By extension, we’ve encountered some of the same perceptions, so it’s been up to us to show players that Take On is a new experience.

Joris: It has been hard, and still is hard, to make people who know our games understand this is a new Intellectual Property, a new brand. We have both positive and negative traits associated with our past releases and even when we change in these areas, some people are blind to the changes.

Jay: However, some players and reviewers have really ‘got’ what it is that Take On is all about, putting their pitch-forks and burning torches aside for a moment, and have enjoyed the different challenges and experiences, and recognised the potential that this game tries to offer.

RipTen: You guys have proven to be capable of delivering highly moddable sandbox experiences, how strong are the tools players will have to create their own scenarios in TKOH? And just how complicated can people make them?

Joris: This is what we’re really excited about. The possibilities are endless. Think Arma 2 plus all the new technologies, script commands and features. Even just our team still has a never-ending stream of ideas of what to do with civilian helicopters. Add combat to that and you open yet more options. Use the engine’s capabilities of doing non-helicopter gameplay and pretty much anything becomes possible.

Jay: Documenting the new features is on-going, and finding ways of presenting and teaching them to new players is what we’ll be actively working on post-release. One way we’ll do that for sure is with the community wiki (http://j.mp/TakeOnBiki), another is with support on our official forums (http://j.mp/TakeOnEditing).

Joris: We’ve already seen some custom scenarios during the Community Preview and Pre-Order Beta and are really curious whether the first real add-on will be a helicopter, or something completely unrelated!

RipTen: What sized team do you have working on TKOH? Has it taken any resources away from delivering ArmA 3?

Joris: We are a different team than the one working on Arma 3 in Brno, so no, it’s not like everyone at Bohemia Interactive is just working on one active project anymore. Of course there is cross-over, when we share technology or a particular skill-set. We’ve had about 20 active developers on the team, but there’s a lot of support staff like marketing, distribution, legal, consultants, etc.

Jay: Since January, it’s been a pretty solid core of developers, with numerous other people contributing with their skills or expertise at various stages of the project.

Joris: Also, quite some of the new tech will be redeployed in A3, so in fact it’s been beneficial to that game.

RipTen: Is this a mere side project or an attempt at a lasting franchise?

Joris: We can’t predict the future, but as the name implies we see the potential for taking on other themes.

Jay: The new technology alone attests to our investment in the project, with the integration of completely new flight dynamics and new engine features, which, while deployable across our studios, have their heart in this game.

GDC 08: Day One

Dan Landis — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 10:32:23 +0000

If you had ever wondered what it would be like to meet up with a bunch of nerds and go to the Game Developer’s Conference, then wonder no more. We’re here to walk you through the ins, outs, and slightly-to-the-lefts of GDC day one.

The people at Ripten lucky enough to get out to the Game Developers Conference this year (Head Cheese Chad, Jon, Mike, Andrew, Emily, and myself) all met up at the San Francisco Airport on Sunday. Mike was kind enough to let a few of us crash at his place, even though he was supposed to spend time with Jessica Chobot. What a true friend…

We wake up late on Monday morning, obviously, and head into the city. Rays of light surround us and angels sing out in immaculate chorus as we stroll through the doors of the Moscone Center. We go to the Super Awesome V.I.P check-in area to get our badges, and we are instantly recognized.

Okay, so maybe I embellished a little. Nobody really paid any attention to us, and the closest we got to being recognized is when a guy asked which one of us was Chad.

There’s not a whole lot going on for press on Monday and Tuesday, as the main focus is on (surprise!) game development. It’s mainly just classes and lectures, so we spent a lot of the day going over schedules and talking about prenuptial agreements. We also get better acquainted with one another since this is the first time any of us had actually met in person. A lot of high fives and ass-grabbage ensues.

We eventually get around to checking out one of the tutorials and a completely non-mechanical flight simulator (more on that later) before heading over to the Zeemote party. We have our fill of rolled-up cheese and pot stickers (which I never heard of — basically, they’re like Chinese dumplings), and then play it casually cool as we skip out to the Microsoft Casual Games party next door.

Surprisingly, the Microsoft party was in the same size room as the Zeemote party, with the exception of being completely packed and lacking in the Lara Croft impersonator department. We stayed just long enough to say, ” Let’s get out of here.” and then did just that. Unfortunately, none of us got to try the “Casualtini” in the less than a minute we were in there.

To top off the night, our hotel room’s thermostat was broken, so we cracked a window. Unfortunately for Chad, we were on the seventh floor, so we dangled him out that window, Schwarzenegger-style, and demanded our monthly allowance of peanuts. Chad subsequently had us moved to the third floor and blamed it on the thermostat to save face, but really it was because three stories would hurt less.

Overall, it was a fairly mild day. Perhaps if I was a drunk or a budding game developer (or both!), I would have found the day much more entertaining. The event gets more interesting tomorrow but really ramps up when they open the expo floor on Wednesday. Look for our updates throughout the week on the exciting (or sometimes not so exciting) experience that is the Game Developers Conference 2008.

Also, let us know in the comments section how you feel about prenuptial agreements.