Welcoming 2015, and a look on what has came, and what's to come
Hello fellow simmers!
2014 has went away already, and we are well into the first month of the new year. Hoping this one will bring fulfillment and joy to us all in life, and also in world of mil-sim genre.
I want to have a look what has 2014 brought us in sims and what is to come in 2015. Apologies in advance for there sure will be some that I will miss, or flat out never heard about.
Last year was quite full in developments of combat flight simulations. Among others I will quite likely fail to know about (which is a good sign, that our niche genre is now full of new developments), we have seen announcements / releases in WW I department like Ilya Muromets / Rise of Flight integration, WW II department was also quite lively with developments on IL-2 : Battle of Stalingrad and DCS : WW II modules. We have also seen the DCS venture into long neglected early jets / Korea War fighters era with Belsimtek's beautifully done DCS : F-86F35. Perhaps though, the most anticipated and celebrated was the eventual release of DCS : MiG-21Bis by Leatherneck Simulations that came in September, which marks the arrival of first DCS level supersonic fighter jet. Many new community campaigns, theaters, models and content were created for Falcon BMS 4.32, IL-2 Cliffs of Dover, DCS World, FSX & P3D and even old titles like IL-2 : 1946.
We also have seen hints of progress over other anticipated titles like Jet Thunder, 4.33 update for Falcon BMS, Combat Helo.
Last but not least, tactics / ground war titles were also active, ARMA III was updated with rotor lib for better helicopter physics, borrowing from Bohemia Interactive's Take on Helicopters for a bit more simulation like helicopter experience, and real time tactics game Men of War : Assault Squad 2 was released, albeit not with too much new content over the previous title, it still updated graphics and gameplay mechanics a bit.
It has been a full year indeed. Marking the first 3rd party (non-partner) module releases on DCS. After a long period of having same old modules, we have seen almost monthly releases of F-86, Fw-190D9, MiG-21Bis, Hawk and Bf-109K4. Flaming Cliffs aircraft have also seen improvements, and PFM flight models for both F-15C and Su-27 were released, as well as a 6DoF cockpit for Su-25T.
Some other titles which have long been in development hell like Free Falcon OSP, Combat Helo and Jet Thunder did show some activity in 2014, even in late months, like new screenshots or short videos or articles. Though, I wouldn't expect them to be just around the corner yet, most likely, they currently are not anywhere near that.
But enough of yesteryear... What about this new one?
- At the last days of 2014, developer of Seven-G F/A-18 posted on forum that he had to give break to project for half a year, but the good news is that the development is still continuing, so there is still hope on that front.
- While, as per their policy (which I kinda agree), Benchmark Sims team give no dates or confirmations or anything of sorts, lately there have been a steady increase on people reporting on forum they are beta testing the 4.33 version of Falcon BMS, so who knows, may be this year :)?
Now let's have a look at what is to come in DCS front, which is becoming perhaps the most active one these days...
- AvioDev's debut aircraft, C-101 Aviojet is just around the corner, and all going well, should see the release in a few days. C-101 purchase will include EB and CC models in same module, EB being the trainer and CC being the light attack variants. Initially EB will release, and soon an update will introduce the CC. Also, like in DCS : Hawk by VEAO, at first the module will feature SFM, and in later months PFM level flight model will be available. The C-101CC can, infact carry a good deal of armament, and may shine in both weapons training, and in COIN or "poor country airforce" type of combat missions, as well as providing a possible dissimilar dogfight challenge to current and upcoming modules like Hawk, F-86, MiG-15, L-39 and even late period prop warbirds. AvioDev seem already eager and ready to go on with additional projects, however they are not yet giving any hints as to what their next endeavour might be, and it is not certain whether it will be the Mirage F-1 that was visible on their Facebook Page for quite some time now.
- Belsimtek is going onward with MiG-15Bis, and it is (with what we know so far...) expected in first quarter of 2015. PilotMi8 from Belsimtek has also stated that more updates to UH-1, Mi-8 and indeed F-86 will be done. Long sought English manual for Mi-8 have been released in draft form in very late 2014 as well. Belsimtek's next project is so far known to be an AH-1 Cobra. While originally they were aiming for the simple AH-1G Huey Cobra, they reconsidered the choice and hints so far lead to a AH-1W, or at least AH-1F.
- Despite Coretex Designs got their forum moved to DCS Mods section from Licenced 3rd Parties section, lately they are more active and regular in sharing new screenshots from cockpit and exterior of their F/A-18E. Being easily the most ambitious of developments (at least the ones without a military contract), we will see how will it turn out. I certainly do hope to see it in my virtual hangar :).
- Eagle Dynamics themselves, have a few more modules to release from DCS : WW II project they have taken over from RRG studios. First should be the P-47D followed by the Spitfire, and Me-262 at a later date. An AI only B-17 is also in development to add to immersion and mission objectives for a WW II scenario. Normandy map and WW II ground objects are also expected to release shortly after the EDGE / DCSW 2.0, which itself is the main feature people are very eagerly waiting from ED. EDGE aside, another most anticipated title that ED currently work on is the F/A-18C Hornet, which I dearly love myself. Though, it will be some time before we get near flying it, at least it seem so from what we know so far. With the addition of payware campaigns, we are likely to see some new paid campaigns from both ED and 3rd parties.
- Leatherneck Simulations have won the hearts of many with the released of very nice and long anticipated MiG-21Bis. Granted, there still are a few things to iron out with the MiG, and team have stated that they will continue to improve it, and are providing regular updates on fixes being made, as well as relpying to community feedback regarding taking notes of them. As in the times during the wait for MiG, forums again are in anticipation as to what next module(s) will be. Latest we know of Leatherneck is that they have expanded their team to twice the size, and intenting to grow yet a bit more. The Grumman F-14 Tomcat have been heavily hinted at for quite a while now by LN staff, and while not yet officially confirmed, it is seen as good as been confirmed. What further fuels the excitement is the news that LN are currently working on 3 different aircraft projects at varying states of advance, and according to Cobra "we should not necessarily be waiting until 2016 to fly next LN aircraft".
- RAZBAM seem to work steadily together with Metal2Mesh for bringing Mirage 2000C to DCS World. Their other previously announced projects like T-2 Buckeye and F-15E seem to be currently on the backburner.
- VEAO, if all goes well, predicts to release EFM for Hawk, as well their first warbird, the P-40F during the February.Although, the Bearcat would originally have released in February, I would expect it to come at least a month or two after the P-40. Work on Eurofighter Typhoon is also ongoing, but would surely take some time. Since they have quite a few teams of artists and coders on board, and they expect to pick up the pace with their first releases, I wouldn't find it surprising to see some of classic jets like Vampire or Meteor see the light sometime perhaps mid-year. I just wish A-4 wouldn't be cancelled but... well life, and big companies, and their IP's etc etc :). VEAO has an awesome list of aircraft they intent to work on, and apparently are still adding a few there which do not yet know.
As for non officially licenced 3rd party developments, SA-342 Gazelle by Pat01 seem to keep progressing, and seem to have joined ranks of a newly forming development studio : Polychop Simulations. As well as continuing efforts on the Gazelle, Polychop are nearing the stage of starting systems and flight model coding on their BO-105 PAH1A1 after ironing out kinks on textures and 3d model. They also have shared some early renders of a 3D model for Horten Ho-229! So there sure are some new stuff to look forward to!
So, long in short, we had a full year, and another full and bright one for simulation scene seem to have begun. Hoping we all will enjoy it happily!
Best regards and happy flying to all, and thanks for reading!
2014 has went away already, and we are well into the first month of the new year. Hoping this one will bring fulfillment and joy to us all in life, and also in world of mil-sim genre.
I want to have a look what has 2014 brought us in sims and what is to come in 2015. Apologies in advance for there sure will be some that I will miss, or flat out never heard about.
Last year was quite full in developments of combat flight simulations. Among others I will quite likely fail to know about (which is a good sign, that our niche genre is now full of new developments), we have seen announcements / releases in WW I department like Ilya Muromets / Rise of Flight integration, WW II department was also quite lively with developments on IL-2 : Battle of Stalingrad and DCS : WW II modules. We have also seen the DCS venture into long neglected early jets / Korea War fighters era with Belsimtek's beautifully done DCS : F-86F35. Perhaps though, the most anticipated and celebrated was the eventual release of DCS : MiG-21Bis by Leatherneck Simulations that came in September, which marks the arrival of first DCS level supersonic fighter jet. Many new community campaigns, theaters, models and content were created for Falcon BMS 4.32, IL-2 Cliffs of Dover, DCS World, FSX & P3D and even old titles like IL-2 : 1946.
We also have seen hints of progress over other anticipated titles like Jet Thunder, 4.33 update for Falcon BMS, Combat Helo.
Last but not least, tactics / ground war titles were also active, ARMA III was updated with rotor lib for better helicopter physics, borrowing from Bohemia Interactive's Take on Helicopters for a bit more simulation like helicopter experience, and real time tactics game Men of War : Assault Squad 2 was released, albeit not with too much new content over the previous title, it still updated graphics and gameplay mechanics a bit.
It has been a full year indeed. Marking the first 3rd party (non-partner) module releases on DCS. After a long period of having same old modules, we have seen almost monthly releases of F-86, Fw-190D9, MiG-21Bis, Hawk and Bf-109K4. Flaming Cliffs aircraft have also seen improvements, and PFM flight models for both F-15C and Su-27 were released, as well as a 6DoF cockpit for Su-25T.
Some other titles which have long been in development hell like Free Falcon OSP, Combat Helo and Jet Thunder did show some activity in 2014, even in late months, like new screenshots or short videos or articles. Though, I wouldn't expect them to be just around the corner yet, most likely, they currently are not anywhere near that.
But enough of yesteryear... What about this new one?
- At the last days of 2014, developer of Seven-G F/A-18 posted on forum that he had to give break to project for half a year, but the good news is that the development is still continuing, so there is still hope on that front.
- While, as per their policy (which I kinda agree), Benchmark Sims team give no dates or confirmations or anything of sorts, lately there have been a steady increase on people reporting on forum they are beta testing the 4.33 version of Falcon BMS, so who knows, may be this year :)?
Now let's have a look at what is to come in DCS front, which is becoming perhaps the most active one these days...
- AvioDev's debut aircraft, C-101 Aviojet is just around the corner, and all going well, should see the release in a few days. C-101 purchase will include EB and CC models in same module, EB being the trainer and CC being the light attack variants. Initially EB will release, and soon an update will introduce the CC. Also, like in DCS : Hawk by VEAO, at first the module will feature SFM, and in later months PFM level flight model will be available. The C-101CC can, infact carry a good deal of armament, and may shine in both weapons training, and in COIN or "poor country airforce" type of combat missions, as well as providing a possible dissimilar dogfight challenge to current and upcoming modules like Hawk, F-86, MiG-15, L-39 and even late period prop warbirds. AvioDev seem already eager and ready to go on with additional projects, however they are not yet giving any hints as to what their next endeavour might be, and it is not certain whether it will be the Mirage F-1 that was visible on their Facebook Page for quite some time now.
- Belsimtek is going onward with MiG-15Bis, and it is (with what we know so far...) expected in first quarter of 2015. PilotMi8 from Belsimtek has also stated that more updates to UH-1, Mi-8 and indeed F-86 will be done. Long sought English manual for Mi-8 have been released in draft form in very late 2014 as well. Belsimtek's next project is so far known to be an AH-1 Cobra. While originally they were aiming for the simple AH-1G Huey Cobra, they reconsidered the choice and hints so far lead to a AH-1W, or at least AH-1F.
- Despite Coretex Designs got their forum moved to DCS Mods section from Licenced 3rd Parties section, lately they are more active and regular in sharing new screenshots from cockpit and exterior of their F/A-18E. Being easily the most ambitious of developments (at least the ones without a military contract), we will see how will it turn out. I certainly do hope to see it in my virtual hangar :).
- Eagle Dynamics themselves, have a few more modules to release from DCS : WW II project they have taken over from RRG studios. First should be the P-47D followed by the Spitfire, and Me-262 at a later date. An AI only B-17 is also in development to add to immersion and mission objectives for a WW II scenario. Normandy map and WW II ground objects are also expected to release shortly after the EDGE / DCSW 2.0, which itself is the main feature people are very eagerly waiting from ED. EDGE aside, another most anticipated title that ED currently work on is the F/A-18C Hornet, which I dearly love myself. Though, it will be some time before we get near flying it, at least it seem so from what we know so far. With the addition of payware campaigns, we are likely to see some new paid campaigns from both ED and 3rd parties.
- Leatherneck Simulations have won the hearts of many with the released of very nice and long anticipated MiG-21Bis. Granted, there still are a few things to iron out with the MiG, and team have stated that they will continue to improve it, and are providing regular updates on fixes being made, as well as relpying to community feedback regarding taking notes of them. As in the times during the wait for MiG, forums again are in anticipation as to what next module(s) will be. Latest we know of Leatherneck is that they have expanded their team to twice the size, and intenting to grow yet a bit more. The Grumman F-14 Tomcat have been heavily hinted at for quite a while now by LN staff, and while not yet officially confirmed, it is seen as good as been confirmed. What further fuels the excitement is the news that LN are currently working on 3 different aircraft projects at varying states of advance, and according to Cobra "we should not necessarily be waiting until 2016 to fly next LN aircraft".
- RAZBAM seem to work steadily together with Metal2Mesh for bringing Mirage 2000C to DCS World. Their other previously announced projects like T-2 Buckeye and F-15E seem to be currently on the backburner.
- VEAO, if all goes well, predicts to release EFM for Hawk, as well their first warbird, the P-40F during the February.Although, the Bearcat would originally have released in February, I would expect it to come at least a month or two after the P-40. Work on Eurofighter Typhoon is also ongoing, but would surely take some time. Since they have quite a few teams of artists and coders on board, and they expect to pick up the pace with their first releases, I wouldn't find it surprising to see some of classic jets like Vampire or Meteor see the light sometime perhaps mid-year. I just wish A-4 wouldn't be cancelled but... well life, and big companies, and their IP's etc etc :). VEAO has an awesome list of aircraft they intent to work on, and apparently are still adding a few there which do not yet know.
As for non officially licenced 3rd party developments, SA-342 Gazelle by Pat01 seem to keep progressing, and seem to have joined ranks of a newly forming development studio : Polychop Simulations. As well as continuing efforts on the Gazelle, Polychop are nearing the stage of starting systems and flight model coding on their BO-105 PAH1A1 after ironing out kinks on textures and 3d model. They also have shared some early renders of a 3D model for Horten Ho-229! So there sure are some new stuff to look forward to!
So, long in short, we had a full year, and another full and bright one for simulation scene seem to have begun. Hoping we all will enjoy it happily!
Best regards and happy flying to all, and thanks for reading!
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