Hello and Happy New Year everybody!
If you come here often, you might wonder why there’s still no Boeing 247D available on the store. And of course the answer is that: “she’s not perfect yet!”. As always, some new idea made it onto the feature list, which caused a big delay – but trust me, it’s worth the extra wait!
Towards the end of last year, I had the honor of being featured on the livestream of “The Flying Fabio”. After talking about the radio on the stream, I was lucky to meet Eric van der Veen and we got talking about vintage radio navigation. Long story short, I contracted him to help us develop a historically accurate 1930s/40s radio equipment for our addon!
I have A LOT to write about this particular feature, so stay tuned for a soonish-to-be-released blog post about this magnificent piece of engineering.
The delay gave us time to work on other aspects of the aircraft too. Here’s a short list of cool features already working, in no specific order:
- Awesome flight model by Pamela Brooker. Our 247 flies and handles like the real thing!
- Radium-luminescent night lighting. Beware! They will fade over time and you’ll need to “recharge” them, by turning on some cockpit lights every now and then.
- Integrated clipboard with payload manager, ground crew interface, engine start-up options, settings, reference sheets and an integrated transponder – for those of you who fly online.
- Luggage and mail bags that dynamically fill up the aircraft as it gets loaded up by your rampies.
- Each job assigned to your crew takes time and you get a real-time status update from each of them to see what they’re up to.
- Two ways to start your engines: by commanding your mechanic, or manually, by stepping outside and manually cranking over the flywheels.
- Extensive ground equipment and the option to remove panels from each engine nacelle – so you get a good look at those beautiful Wasp S1H1-Gs.
- Manual emergency gear. Use the big ratchet on the right side of the cockpit to slowly crank down your gear, if the electrical system failed.
- Realistic instrument needles – each one simulated separately with their own mass-damper-spring system.
- Realistic vibrations throughout the whole ship, due to the engines, air resistance, ground impact, etc.
- Engine smoke effects, using the new effects system.
- Anachronistic, but necessary VHF radio.
- New prop feathering buttons
- Animated linkages on the carburetors of the engine
- Individually controlled reading lights for each seat in the cabin
- Working friction locks for the engine controls (there’s limitations, for compatibility with controllers)
We’re also busy getting the sound set ready. The engines already sound amazing and we’re now up to giving all the controls and switches their unique sounds.
There are some other things I have been working on, but it’s not time yet to reveal those 😉
See you around!
– Otmar
6 Replies to “Dev Blog 15 – Why delay??”
Matt
Fantastic really looking forward to it as well as the vega 5b any update?
Otmar Nitsche[ Post Author ]
My plan for after release of the Boeing is to first update the Blériot XI and then shift focus back to the Vega!
Simon Blandford
Hi There. It looks fabulous. Can we please ensure that the option to have a copilot and maybe a few passengers / Stewardess in the canin would make a pleasant change from non eco friendly empty flights worldwide? 🙂
It would also be great to have camera views that include the Cabin as well as the cockpit. It seems that after all the detail work that is done, it is a pity not to be able to appreciate this.
Otmar Nitsche[ Post Author ]
Hi Simon!
Thanks for the suggestions! I would love to get passengers and crew on board too, but I gave up on the idea for two reasons: 1. it would be a ton of work, which would postpone the release even further and would require additional funding for licenses, which we currently don’t have. 2. It would only be a worthwhile feature if the 3d models are detailed enough.
I did some tests just making the default pilots available in the virtual cockpit and I hated it. They look good from the outside, but if you have this low-poly character sitting next to you, it’s just not good enough. That means that we would need some really high-quality characters, dressed in 1930s attire and that’s neither simple nor cheap… So ultimately, I had to scrap that idea – at least for this plane. I do have some ideas how to get it done, but it’ll have to wait for the next project. For the Boeing we all have to live with the default. I.e. Asobo pilots, visible from the outside, but with an empty cabin.
As for the camera views – yes, I’ll keep it in mind and set something up!
Simon Blandford
As a Bleriot purchaser I would appreciate that…but can we take my comments about flight crew, cabin crew and passengers into account? It really is needed to make these flights feel real.
Mark Bailey
Hi there.
I recently purchased the Boeing, and even though carefully managing the engines, I have now had fires on three flights!
My question is, do the fire extinguishers work yet? I could not put out my fires with the extinguishers.
Excellent aircraft for a remarkable price!