HT did some host work today on the strat system. We'll start pounding on that and getting it documented so everybody can see what's working and what's not.
We're still planning on putting out a new release this week. Ogre's been doing some more work on the terrain. We're working on some new terrain textures including the optional hi-res textures and would like to get them out in this release.
I already mentioned the new sliders that HT put in for the message screen and speed at which you move around the airfield.
We just about finished up the ballistics part of the gunnery model this weekend. There's only one more component of the ballistics model to finish. There's still work to be done on the damage side that I don't think we'll get completed before this next release. If that's the case, we'll make some quick changes to help with the short term playability in this next release. The planes are pretty fragile at the moment.
A gear and flap sound was implemented. The sounds themselves are pretty crude at this point, but it's something.
Work has been done on the ground handling of the planes. We had a few problems that lead to why some planes were almost impossible to control.
HT's been working on the bombsight. I don't know where he'll be with that by the time we release though. Gunners won't be ready for this next release so buffers are going to have to tough it out for at least another release.
The convergence problem with the Spitfire's .303s and the 109's gondolas was fixed.
The arena full consumption multiplier has scaled back a little. We still haven't finished the detailed fuel consumption model, but that will really let you extend your range by throttling back.
I got an email from Weazel that offered up for distribution a custom gunsight that he made. If anybody else has made a custom gunsight they made that they would like included in the distribution, just send it to me. I'll name the .bmp file after your handle and then people can copy it to the correct file name if they want to use it. Then they'll know who to thank for their gunsight. Full instructions on customizing your gunsights will be included in the next release in your sights directory.
We should have all the working gauges accurate on all the planes for this next release. Some gauges like the artificial horizon will still be inop.
This week we should start production on the Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden Kai, Allied codename "George". We plan to follow that with the Macchi C.205 Veltro. We wanted to start off with a broad spectrum of planes, both ubiquitous and exotic, from the U.S., Great Britain, Soviet Union, Germany, Japan, and Italy. These next two planes will let us cover that. We won't be worrying about scenario planesets very much initially. That can be filled in when we're ready for that. For now, we'll try to introduce interesting and desired planes into the arena while filling gaps. The next few planes after that would probably be the B-26 to fill the medium bomber role, the F4U for a USN plane, Fw 190 for intercepts, Typhoon for ground attack, and P-38 for a twin engine fighter. I don't know exactly how it will work out, but I'm confident that we'll be able to produce aircraft at a pretty good pace once we get settled into that part of the production.
That's about all I can think of for now. The beta's going very well. The host has been very stable. It's a very promising start that we'll be able to build on quickly.
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Doug "Pyro" Balmos
HiTech Creations
