Owen's profilepolypokePhotosBlogListsMore  |  Tools Help |
|
10/30/2007 FSX Twin Comanche images! I managed to post a few images of the exterior of the Twin Comanche as she's looking in FSX. Bloom does not work well on my PC, so I can't show images of that I'm afraid. You'll see that there is a distinct color change in the Chromalusion stripe thanks to the flexibility of the specular map. I plan on putting up some images of the VC soon!10/29/2007 FSDeveloper.com gets a new home and facelift FSDeveloper.com, a great resource for 3rd party developers, has had a bit of a facelift and move to a new server. Arno and Nick have done a great job of it, so check out the changes!FSX Twin Comanche VC nearly complete!I managed to get nearly all components of the virtual cockpit of the Twin Comanche animated and tagged for click spots over the weekend. A few animations did not translate very well and Bill & I should be able to sort those out within a few days, I'm sure. Once I get the VC in a "beta-ready" state, I'll go back and get the two "retro" schemes up to FSX standards complete with specular maps. We plan on adding a few other paint schemes in as well! I originally hoped for this process to be done before the Christmas holidays - now I'm certain we'll beat that estimate! Stay tuned! 10/26/2007 FSX version of the Twin Comanche status reportSince the release of the FS 2004 version of the Twin Comanche, I've been hard at work on getting the model converted to a true FSX-compliant version. I'm happy to report that great progress has been made in the two weeks since then. As most people know, FSX uses a completely separate model for the exterior and interior. I have completed the exterior model as of Wednesday, and I'm already 25% done converting the interior model. Bill sent along an FSX-compliant gauge package the other day so that I can appropriately test things that interract with the pre-flight gauge, and we've gotten all of the bugs sorted there.
The challenge now is getting everything animated in the interior model. In FS9, we could simply animate and then name the part accordingly to the makemdl.parts.xml schema. It is a bit more complicated in FSX. The part has to not only be animated, but it also has to be tagged with the animation manager to define the animation in accordance with the modeldef.xml schema and then if the part is "clickable," it has to be tagged with the attachpoint tool as a MouseRec (Mouse Rectangle). A complicated process, yes - it takes quiet a bit of concentration to make sure no step is overlooked. That is why checklists are an essential part of my development methods. I've got a list of all parts I need to animate in the model with notes on whether the parts needs a MouseRec, etc. As thourough as I try to be, sometimes I miss things - that is why we beta test! Even though there should be little to test in the FSX version, we will still hold a thourough beta test before going public. Stay tuned for more information and hopefully some screen captures soon! Have a great weekend. 10/25/2007 Pretty cool FSX versus reality video10/24/2007 6 repaints for the PA-30 at AVSIM10/23/2007 Lots of MGS news! Let me be the first to publicly congratulate Brandon Seltz as the newest official team member for ACES as a game designer! I have known Brandon personally since I met him last spring in Redmond during the MVP Summit, and we have been great friends ever since. Through Sakson & Taylor, he worked side-by-side with Paul Lange for much of the work on FSX: Acceleration. Speaking of Flight Simulator X - Acceleration, today marks the release for this exciting add-on package. Look for it to appear on store shelves at any time! 10/18/2007 Repaints already rolling outThe Twin Comanche has been out for less than a week, and there are already several repaints of it being done. Check these out: Comanche N126MA These should be available on AVSIM soon, if not already. Be on the lookout for them! 10/17/2007 Eaglesoft Exclusive! - 16:9 2-D panel ratio in PA-30
A first with the PA-30 package, we have made available a 2-D panel that is compatible with today's newer 16:9 aspect ratio monitors. I myself do not own a 16:9 screen, so I cannot enjoy this new feature, but I'm sure many are enjoying this panel option without the odd stretching that is normally associated with 4:3 ratio 2-D panels. 10/16/2007 New video by Keith Giveans Keith Giveans of SimFlyer®, creator of the GNS 480, MX20, and PM8000 in the Twin Comanche, has just created a new video featuring Roy's N204WT. Crank up the speakers and Check it out!10/14/2007 ...But where is the paint kit?10/12/2007 Eaglesoft Twin Comanche for FS9 Now Released!
After years of development, the Twin Comanche is finally available for FS9! Features include: Aircraft Feature List
Cockpit Feature List
10/9/2007 Cut ACES some slack, will ya?I just read today's post by Sebby regarding his explanation for why shadows in the VC was not implemented as a DX9 feature set. His post is a result of the bashing the ACES team has been getting for even breathing the fact that it could have been a DX9 feature. Give these gents a break. They work awful hard to include features that people have requested and believe me, they have huge debates internally over stuff to include and what to not include. Limitations of hardware, shaders, etc. keep a lot of cool stuff from being included due to the enormous performance hit that would result. Years ago, people were hot about heat blur. Yeah, that would be a cool feature, but the performance hit that would result would have caused the sim to run with a huge performance hit. It just wasn't a feasible feature. Who knows what DX10 will allow for the future ... Sebby provides two very valid points as to why they decided to not have shadows in the VC. He could have very easily let it slide and not go into why they were not included. Kudos to him for giving the thorough technical explanation! 10/8/2007 DX10 VC shadows demonstrationSebby has just posted a quick video demonstrating the VC shadows that have been implemented as a result of DX10 enhancements. Check it out! 10/7/2007 Portland to Orcas Island in the Twinkie Nick Churchill (back from some hardware problems) has just posted new images of a short flight he did from Portland to Orcas Island in the Twin Comanche. Absolutely incredible shots! Make sure to also check out Nick's Acceleration images as well.
10/5/2007 Why FS9 first then FSX for the Twin Comanche?When we announced the Twin Comanche project at Eaglesoft, we made it clear that the first version to hit the streets will be the FS9 (FS 2004: A Century of Flight) version. An FSX version will come later, but it will take some time for that version to come. Why? The same reason that is has taken so long for many other vendors to produce FSX versions of previous FS9 aircraft. Aircraft XML has changed. Material properties have completely changed. There is a lot involved with converting it all ... and that takes time. Generally, the gauges transfer over pretty well, at least, that is what I understand from Bill. The "gotcha" for me in particular will be getting the model going as an FSX model with FSX materials. Yes, I have an exterior model going in Max that I can still salvage (a few things have changed regarding the model that should not be too hard to transfer over). I'm glad that I have not taken the time to get the VC version over into Max, as quite a bit has changed there with regards to the model since we have been finalizing the FS9 model. When it's all said and done, I'll be the bottle-neck in the process, but I have a good plan in place to be as efficient as possible. Once the FS9 version goes RTM, I'll be sure to keep posting updates as I work toward a true FSX version of the aircraft. Onward and upward! 10/4/2007 New copper paint scheme for the Twin ComancheIf you do a search on Airliners.net for N808N, you'll find the inspiration I had for doing the original red retro paint scheme. Based on Ron's encouragement, I have recreated N808N (I had to get creative with the tip tanks, as the original aircraft has none). Here are a few screen captures while I was flying around Roanoke, Virginia testing it out.
10/3/2007 FSX Acceleration and SP2 explained
Phil Taylor has elaborated extensively on details of what is covered in the DX10 and SP2 fixes that are to ship with FSX - Acceleration at the end of this month. With 30+ responses already, the discussion certainly is a lively one. He also started a thread over at AVSIM that has drawn enormous discussion (120+) on the topic. In other news...Paul Lange has let the cat out of the bag regarding design work on FS11. Now that Acceleration has gone to the presses, he can go full time on it. Good on ya, mate! 10/1/2007 Twin Comanche enters beta!
As of today, the FS9 Twin Comanche enters beta! We have assembled a crack team of testers to comb the project over thoroughly, and have already started providing some excellent feedback. Nick Churchill has been enjoying testing and posted a few stunning screen captures of his exploits here and here. I made MVP for 2008!
I am deeply honored to again be included as Game for Windows MVP for 2008 with the email I received today: Dear Owen Hewitt, Sadly, I hear that my friend Joel DeYoung did not make it this year. |
Chris "BeachAV8R" Frishmuth from 
Almost immediately upon release, there were 
|
|
