A Status Update - May 2015

Hey Guys,

I thought I would do an update post for people to give you all an idea of what work is progressing and where on our various projects…Seeing as we have so many it’s easier to do one post with the updates, I will then attach a few renders/screenshots over the coming days of where things are at.

So time for some updates on the warbirds and consumer facing products from me and the guys.

So Duxford…

Anyone that came to see us at Duxford had the opportunity to try out our EFM demonstration with the Edge 540, before anyone asks yes it does have its own clickable pit etc and is running on our ASM code as well. I love flying that little plane and we wanted to put something out that people could come and throw around the sky and really experience the excellent work that our programmers have been doing. I don’t have any confirmed release plans for this yet (if at all) but it is something I will seriously look into come the back end of the year.

P-40F

The model is now complete and the damage model is currently being worked on, I have seen a lot of the work that is going on and I can assure you that the damage is as much model as it is texture and I love the way that it looks beaten up, That said I hope to see more P-40’s in one piece then smashed online!

We have agreement from The Fighter Collection to obtain sound recordings from their P-40F for the sim and will be doing those recordings in the coming weeks. The aircraft is in sim, on our EFM and ASM. It is not yet complete but work is progressing well, this was one of the reasons we worked on the Edge 540 so we could trial a few things, this has sped up a lot of the back end fiddly work on the P-40. The engine modelling is simply stunning, I can’t wait to show you guys some of the cool things that have been implemented.

Textures are being worked on and the external is pretty much done now the internal is speeding along and people will be pleased to know that it is a good step up from the Hawk textures and I am really fond of them, I’ll grab some screenies of these when I can.

So, When? Well my goal is to be showing a pretty much beta ready aircraft in July, then pending final bug testing I am hoping to get this bird on the road to download over the back end of the summer. Yes I know it’s a little late, but I think you will all be blown away with the level of detail and work that has been done on P-40.

We also have quite a few sessions booked with Real P-40F pilots to test the sim prior to release to ensure the best experience for you possible. If they say it’s good then it must be good ;)

More info in the build up to Legends in July

Bearcat

The model is pretty much finished, sadly our modeller for the Bearcat was severely ill during the backend of 2014 which has delayed us abit. I have always said that VEAO is a family unit and when one of our guys is unwell I made the decision that we would not take his work away from him and we would allow him to complete it. James, you know we are there for you mate.

Other than this, the ASM and EFM prelims are well progressed including the engine being programmed already, I expect major progress to be made on this during July and August.

Vampire

The External model is complete and cockpit is almost done, once again the systems have been done in their basic form and the EFM is on its way as well. We are optimising the model abit as the external was a little poly hungry so it’s having a slight rework to improve performance as it was a little fps hungry. This should be done in the next couple of weeks, then it’s off to the texture artists to work on. Again I am expecting serious visible progress to be made on this over the wind down from the summer. But it is progressing well.

Meteor

Model is finished and in sim, purring nicely as anyone who saw our showcase will attest to. Its ahead of Vampire in terms or working on ASM and EFM and its gone into the paint shop for work. More details on Meteor will come out after Legends, but I am expecting this to be making some kind of appearance before the end of the year.

Prelim work on all the major systems has been done, as has the basic EFM handling, we need to arrange to get it in front of a couple of real Meteor pilots that I know and we will be able to give more feedback then as to how much work we have to do to fix any issues they find with it. We are also looking into the GGS gun sight as well, which is proving an interesting challenge!

Spitfire XIV

Work has been delayed by the P-40F running late, but I am not going to say too much about this bird other than if you can come to Legends in July I recommend it ;)

It won’t be released at Legends but you will know/see more for sure.

Wildcat

Well this one is something that we are working on but we haven’t officially announced it yet, I am adding it here as someone is bound to ask about it, Model is finished, internally and externally, ASM and EFM are coming along well, including the Shotgun Start! But no news on release plans or announcements yet, Sorry!

Buchon

We have had a few issues with some specs for the aircraft, Different builds, engines, time periods, real aircraft being hybrids and cross breeds over the years. We have a better set of plans and references now, Expect more new on Buchon September-October time.

So What else have we been doing? Well other than the shows at Duxford we have also been working hard with the RAF for Typhoon, obtaining references and tech documents for that, Hawk bug fixing has taken up a fair chunk of time as well as doing private demos for non public releases and prepping for P-40F release. We are all working very hard, I do ask people to treat the guys with respect, we are all doing this as a side job to our day jobs. No one in VEAO is doing this full time work yet.

I will update you guys again with more news as/when I have some to share.

All the best

Pman

Nice update, greatly appreciated :)

 

Wildcat

 

Well this one is something that we are working on but we haven’t officially announced it yet, I am adding it here as someone is bound to ask about it, Model is finished, internally and externally, ASM and EFM are coming along well, including the Shotgun Start! But no news on release plans or announcements yet, Sorry!

 

I wasn't going to ask anything at all anymore till an official announcement I swear :D Glad to hear about the shotgun start. Very cool indeed.

As always an excellent update

Thanks PMAN!

:thumbup:

Excellent work. Keep it up

Thank Pman and great work

Thanks guys :)

I'll get the screenies up this evening (at the day job at the moment!)

Pman

Thanks for the update, it made for nice reading. Good to hear some very cool stuff is advancing well, looking forward to pretty much everything!

As for the Typhoon, will you be recording sounds from the real thing out of interest?

Thanks for the update, it made for nice reading. Good to hear some very cool stuff is advancing well, looking forward to pretty much everything!

 

As for the Typhoon, will you be recording sounds from the real thing out of interest?

Thats the plan :)

Pman

Thats the plan :)

 

Pman

Where do we sign up? ;) So much cool stuff on the horizon! Can't wait...

Is there any info on the AFM update to the Hawk.

Great update, thanks. Any word on the hawk EFM?

Is there any info on the AFM update to the Hawk.

Great update, thanks. Any word on the hawk EFM?

Nothing that I can share in an update with these projects sadly. Hawk is Chris' kitten and he will keep you posted on its developments.

It is being worked on with the other jets, however there have been a few hurdles we have had to cross in the process. As soon as we can get it to you we will. One of those things where its best left for a clever guy with a wad of documents to be shut in his room till its done im afraid. EFM really isnt the kind of things having 5 guys working on it will help, its more of a hindrance if anything

Pman

Nothing that I can share in an update with these projects sadly. Hawk is Chris' kitten and he will keep you posted on its developments.

 

It is being worked on with the other jets, however there have been a few hurdles we have had to cross in the process. As soon as we can get it to you we will. One of those things where its best left for a clever guy with a wad of documents to be shut in his room till its done im afraid. EFM really isnt the kind of things having 5 guys working on it will help, its more of a hindrance if anything

 

Pman

That is rather disappointing , I thought this would have been out by now considering your dev map.

I cant give you any more details then that really, I am not a programmer, well not to that degree anyway. But I am aware of a few of the issues we have had. To be honest its really not worth dragging the washing out in public. But things are trundling along nicely. :)

I am sure when it is available you wont be dissapointed, the guys working on the Hawk EFM are working on the Tiffie as well, so its about staff consistency as well

Pman

But things are trundling along nicely. :)

That's what we wanted to hear, I am very much looking forward to the PFM (AFM?) in the Hawk, it isn't really complete without it. But I'm happy to wait as long as needed for it to be done right. We all knew what we were getting when we purchased the beta so it's all good.

Just make sure that Typhoon slides around the sky like the real thing does and sounds like Zeus gargling nails ;)

Good to see that James is feeling better.

Without the devs, there are no planes.

PFM (AFM?) in the Hawk,

It's EFM (external flight model), get your terminology straight! ;)

(so many names for just the same thing…)

Thanks for heads-up. Some nice stuff to check out in the future.

Thanks for the update:thumbup: I 'll just keep throwing my Visa at the monitor till it sticks:megalol: Keep up the Great work!!!:pilotfly::joystick::D

Nice!

Had no idea a Wildcat was also in development, nice^2!

Also didn't know your VEAO jobs weren't full-time... I didn't have problems with the times you took to release these planes, but now it's even more justified, nice^3!

As a Spitfire fan who's mad enough to be building his own 1:1 scale cockpit, I've got to say... thanks for the update. Keep us posted. :-)

Looking forward to the Spit in dcs, but until then I'll be flying the p-51 too.

Can't wait for P-40 :)