Fighter Ops

[Phant]

New Screenshots Up (Settembre 2007)



Bye
Phant

[Phant]

You cannot believe what a kick this was! I had an idea it was possible, but I tried not to think or say too much about it for fear of introducing the infamous jinx. But it actually worked out, and I'll never forget it.

Here's what happened.

I had wanted to meet up with Rick "Rjetster" Ladomade on this trip to LA and E For All. Some of you may remember, I was supposed to meet Rick at E3 last year, but it got cobbled up on our end, and we failed miserably.

This year, Rick wasn't going to be able to go to E For All until Sunday (and I'm not sure if he was actually able to go then), and I was leaving LA on Saturday. So, he mentioned it might be possible to get together at his "day" job, and he could take a little time, show me around, talk a little flight sims and Fighter Ops. Cool.

Yeah, but wait. Know where his day job is? Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank. On the stage where they film TV shows. He was doing a late shoot that day, meaning way into the night, but he managed to take a little time to meet with me and show me around. And, it turned out that Paul "Shatterer of Worlds" Wilson was there too. Awesome! I got to meet the guys from Fighter Ops who had gone on the excursion to Laughlin AFB and taken a ride in a T-38. With Mexican food from the previous night (yes, it turns out that story is real). Read about it here, if you haven't already.

And, a NASA test pilot was going to be there, who unfortunately I was not able to meet because I had to bug out before he got there. Man, there really is a nexus, a flight sim nexus.

How it worked was I left the E For All event Friday afternoon, having talked to Rick and gotten some excellent directions without which I probably still be driving aimlessly through the LA freeways, and drove out to the Warner Bros location . Huge location, huge. I had to have a security pass, and wasn't allowed to take a camera in, which I understood. But it was mind boggling. I couldn't believe I was there. I had never been on the set of a TV show, much less the Warner Bros lot.

Incredible stuff. I half expected Bugs Bunny or Elmer Fudd to walk around the corner at any moment. Anyways, I got my ducks in line (sorry Daffy), and bumbled onto Stage 1 and into a world I have imagined but never seen. Lights and cables and work shops and sets and props and people who knew what they were doing and where they going. I just kind of stood there for a moment, and vacantly wondered if my cell phone was set to vibrate. I could just imagine having it ring and some director looking at me and yelling "WILL SOMEBODY STOP THAT RINGING!".

Anyways, I met Rick and he was very gracious in showing me all around and introducing me to some of the people he works with. I gotta say, what nice people they were. Took a moment to shake my hand, talk with me while I stuttered and stared at all that was going on. I just have to say, Rick is one of those rare individuals who is at the same time very high energy and yet laid back and easy going. I don't know how he does it, but he does.

We ended up where Rick had his PC set up and I met Paul. Paul was busy working on his laptop, doing some airbase modeling. He showed me a little bit about he did this stuff, and holy cow. I had no idea. In mere minutes he turned out an aircraft hanger that looked darn good to me. To scale. No skin, that would have taken a little while more. But mind blowing. We talked about his hiking and photography hobbies and it integrates with Fighter Ops. For example, climb a big steep hill out a ways from the actual Area 51, set up and take some pictures. Zoom in and see what the place looks like. Watch out for the black trucks and the black helicopters...

Rick showed me some landscape screens they had just posted on the web site. The area was around Las Vegas, and it wasn't complete, but it looked darned good. And water, they had pics of in game water with the translucent stuff where you see the land or coral reefs or whatever below the water. Yikes.

We talked about Rick's and Paul's T-38 ride that I referenced above. I had to laugh, I actually thought the references to Rick's Mexican food and tequila adventures the night before were a bit of literary license (and I still wish I had written that piece, it was very well done). But it turned out it was true. Rick and Paul and gone down to Mexico with some pilots and did what pilots do. Except Paul doesn't drink, and was a little more, shall we say, cautious, with his Mexican food input. Rick, on the other hand, followed what the pilots did, and lived to regret it. Somewhat. Great story, and I'll try and fill in a little when we do the interview.

Fighter Ops, as I have learned, is about vision. What can be. Not what must be done tomorrow, or because of deadlines, or getting it out the door no matter what and going on to the next project. That ain't it. This team is dedicated to a vision of what a combat flight simulation should be. What they want it to be, and what they know the community wants it to be. Sure, they're about getting it done and done timely as can be. That is always true. But the balance is "why are we doing this?", and I say that hoping I'm not putting words in their mouths. But it's about doing the thing right. I just know it. I see it when I talk with Rick and Paul.

There is so much I can tell with words, so much I can tell you via the interview process. But there is also so much I can tell you about impressions. My gauge of personal insight and opinion. And I can tell you, Fighter Ops is committed and they are going to do their damndest to make this a reality. What will it look like on your PC and when will you see it? I don't know. But I think it's coming and when it does appear, you're going to like it. A lot.

Stay tuned for my exclusive interview with Rjetster on SimHQ coming soon..

Fonte: http://www.simhq.com/_commentary/all_039a.html

Bye
Phant

[Pacman]

Rjetster has posted the new screenshots for Area51 (will be moved to general site later)

KC-135R and ingame screenshots from our high res terrain with procedural texturing in development.
Know that the terrain will still be improved upon as this still is the basic engine.

Rjetster said that he will update the screenshots throughout the month so keep a good lookout on the viewer and the forums.

Enjoy!

Dirk

[Phant]

New Screenshots Up (Ottobre - Novembre 2007)



Bye
Phant

[Pacman]

ROFL....nice timing Phant

[Phant]

ROFL....nice timing Phant

Bye
Phant

[Phant]

Developers Diary 18-19 Up

The first screenshot below is in-game from the current build- Please not that the T-38 model shown is a very basic test model only, and not the new T-38C model (That has not been shown to date) that will be integrated into the next build, using material shaders. Terrain in the screenshot directly below is being developed for lower end cards.

The following screenshots are of our high-end terrain and sea (animated) rendering code. They are not renders or artistic impressions. The sky that is seen in these shots is not our in-game skydome (shots of the skydome have already been posted on the Area51 forums). It goes without saying that these are work in progress shots and will improve in time. In the next build, the new terrain and water rendering code will be integrated into the main codebase.

Fonte: http://www.fighterops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8014

Bye
Phant

[Mike]

bè la grafica promette alquanto bene...! in particolare il dettaglio dei terreni ...ma si sa una data almeno approssimativa? perchè sennò rischia di essere preceduto dai vari Black Shark, BoB, ecc... e perdere interesse

[Spool]

bè la grafica promette alquanto bene...! in particolare il dettaglio dei terreni

... alla faccia !!!



Hola gringos!

[Phant]

Spool:

L'uso di simboli di riconoscimento (Avatar e Firma) è riservato ai seguenti membri:

- Membri dell'Alto Comando e Stato Maggiore
- Piloti Operativi appartenenti ai Nuclei Operativi
- Aspiranti Piloti appartenenti ai Corsi Accademici regolarmente frequentanti
- Personale del Nucleo Informatico e Moderatori
- Appartenenti all'Ordine di Merito AMVI

Per tutti, escluso Alto Comando e Stato Maggiore, le restrizioni per la Firma sono le seguenti:

- Targhetta del Corso Accademico o Nucleo Operativo di Appartenenza obbligatoria
- Firma secondaria da posizionare sul lato destro della targhetta con dimensione massima di 400Lx110H
- Testo sotto la firma di lunghezza massima 6 righe + indicazione simulatore
- Obbligatoria la riga aggiuntiva che indica il/i simulatori utilizzati (Es. Simulatori: Open Falcon - IL2 Sturmovik 1946 etc...)

Bye
Phant

[Pacman]

Graci Phant

[ichnus]

Nooooooo, ma daiiiiiiii?
Gli screens sono davvero stupendi.
Ho come l'impressione che le notizie di B.S. abbiano provocato un pò di fermento anche tra gli sviluppatori di Fighter Ops.

[topo]

Giusto!
Anche la mia carta di credito è andata un pò in fermento...
ma cosa servirà  per apprezzare appieno un dettaglio così spinto?

Saluti

[Pacman]

Like any new simulation the highest detail levels will indeed need a powerful machine.

We are working in such a way though that an average machine (at release time) will be able to run FO smooth as silk at the lowest settings.

Simulations are resource hogs, no way around it.
The fact though that you can link PC's in a network and share the load will in our opinion help a lot.

So if you are buying a new machine, don't throw the "old" one away.

Dirk

[topo]

Thanks Pacman, sharing the workload seem to be an interesting feature.

Saluti