Leatherneck: F-14A/A+/B Tomcat

[Silver_Dragon 411]

Leatherneck announce F-14 Tomcat proyect to DCS: World.

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=140017

 

SWINOUJSCIE, POLAND - March 3rd 2015 - F-14A/B (A+) Tomcat coming to DCS World

 

Leatherneck Simulations, in association with The Fighter Collection and Eagle Dynamics are immensely proud to announce the development of the F-14 Tomcat for DCS World!

 

The F-14 Tomcat is a fourth-generation, twin tail, supersonic naval interceptor aircraft, developed for the United States' Navy VFX programme. 

After it's debut flight in 1970, and subsequent fleet introduction in 1974, the F-14 became the primary fleet defense and air superiority fighter for the U.S. Navy. 

The legend of the F-14 only grew after the hollywood smash-hit "Top Gun" - in which it was heavily featured.

 

Key Features of DCS: F-14A & B include:

Highly Accurate 6-DOF (Degrees of Freedom) Cockpit

Highly Accurate avionics and weapons system modelling - including the vaunted AWG-9 Radar system and AIM-54 Phoenix missiles.

AIM-54 Phoenix Simulation with a CFD based AFM

'JESTER AI' - A Proprietary AI System for fully voiced, dependable and smart RIO/WSO

Highly Accurate Flight Model - Based on Real Performance Data

Both -A and -B Model F-14's

Multiplayer Multicrew capability. Fly together as RIO and Pilot!

Animated Crew Members - Closely Integrated with JESTER AI

Highly Detailed External Model, Animations and Textures

Highly Accurate Aircraft System and Subsystem Modelling

One Free Theatre bundled with the Aircraft

Full, lengthy single-player campaign

Full Suite of Documentation, including game manual, quickstart guides, and more.

Fully voiced and interactive training missions, teaching you to fly and fight.

...and much, much more!

At Leatherneck Simulations we strongly believe in raising the bar. We have never been comfortable with adhering to the status quo.

Currently we hope to complete development and enter BETA testing on the first version of the F-14 by the end of 2015. Subject to significant change.

 

For the Development Team, the F-14 will represent the culmination of years of experience and dedication. 

Our passion is only rivaled by our ambition and we are pushing ourselves to be better than ever before. 

 

So strap in and enjoy the ride, and get ready to experience the definitive F-14 experience.

 

 

Sincerely,

Leatherneck Simulations

 

NOTE: Due to an unexpected technical error in our website & subsequent down-time due to overloading the server, this is a limited, interim announcement.

 

 

 

[Phantom88 3,282]

Wow!! If this is anything like their Mig-21 it will be incredible.

[Silver_Dragon 411]

Glowind Ammram confirm the making of a Trailer video to the F-14 module of Leatherneck.
 

https://www.facebook.com/glowingproductions?fref=photo

 

 I am pleased to announce that I'll be working with Leatherneck Simulations and creating a trailer for the upcoming DCS: F-14!

Make sure you check them out over at https://www.facebook.com/leathernecksim

 

Here is an exclusive image (work in progress) for you guys. 

 

 

[Skysurfer7 34]

F-14 done by Leatherneck fidelity & quality is going to be mindblowing :rolleyes:

 

[Phantom88 3,282]

New WIP Cockpit Shots.....

 

Sent from my iPad

[Phantom88 3,282]

Development Update from LeatherNeck.....

 

"Dear All,

First off, thank you all for your kind words of support and positive attitude to our announcement.
It is a great motivator to put in those long hours when you know you've got such a great community behind you. 
Sincere gratitude from the entire team. Also a big thank you to those of you who have gone above and beyond to spread the news of our announcement. 
While it's still relatively early in the development process, it's good to get some awareness out there right off the bat.

We've been kind of quiet lately, but not to worry; it is simply an effect of the large workload placed on each and every member of the team. 
Ambitious plans require hard work and much of our focus lies on attaining planned development sprints.

Unfortunately, a byproduct of this is that many of your questions about the F-14 have gone unanswered. I've been gathering many of these and they will be answered in the FAQ section of our new F-14 site section coming next week. 
Therein you will also find a lot of information on various features of the aircraft and our design goals for e.g. JESTER AI.

We're due for a monthly update, which will have some information about other developments and the MiG-21. 
Thus, I'll be keeping this F-14 specific update fairly short.

Art Development

We're now essentially feature complete on both exterior and interior models for the F-14, including the majority of integration work and animations. 
Thus, preparatory work for diffuse, specular and normal map texture creation has begun.

With the F-14, we're pioneering several new techniques based on the tried-and-tested industry standard sculpting and baking workflow. 
We've already put this to good use for our other unreleased, in development aircraft, but we're hoping to take it that one step further for the F-14. 
We hope we can further enhance the realism of both our exterior and interior textures and the initial results are very promising.

It's very exciting for us as artists to have the opportunity to apply years of accumulated knowledge to a project such as the F-14. We hope to capture every minutiae detail, down to the touched up lumps of paint.

Something many of you have concerns about is performance. We're taking a very pro-active stance on ensuring that performance is optimal at release this time around.
We very much wish to ensure that the F-14 will perfectly on the vast majority of systems, and approaching things more carefully from the beginning will make it easier for us to make adjustments in the future.

Attached below you can see some Work in Progress renders of the cockpit. 
Do note that these images have flaws, so take them with a few pinches of salt.


Codebase Development

Not counting the Radar and HUD (two big systems in themselves), the Tomcat contains, by our count, roughly 67 Major systems, of which 37 are related to Flight and Flight Controls. 
In addition to this, one must take into account the size and difficulty of both the JESTER AI system and the External Flight Model. Noting that the F-14 is a massively difficult undertaking is putting it mildly.

Currently, heavy focus lies on creation of the AICS (Inlet Control System), Hydraulic System and Electrical System. 
These systems, together with the Engine and grouped control systems lay the basis for the construction of the swing-wing EFM that will capture the spirit and real performance of the F-14.

There is yet a long road ahead, and many difficult tasks to complete, but we have absolutely no reservations about our capabilities nor our choice of aircraft. 


We look forward to sharing more progress with you soon.
Thank you for your support,"


Sincerely,
Leatherneck Simulations
 

[cenkcnk 24]

pics look real, oh Lord!

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Amazing modeling skills - looks awesome and I know I use modo and it is not easy - thanks for sharing

[Silver_Dragon 411]

Two new renders and little update

 

Dragging our feet a little -- we're wrapping up some new sculpted artwork and finishing touches on the F-14 product page. 

 

Thank you for your patience during the long publicly quiet period we've had over recent weeks.

 

We're not announcing any new products just yet, but will be telling you a little more about them and the technology involved. (Sorry to take the wind out of your sails there!)

 

We will be moving away from the monthly newsletter based updates and into smaller, more frequent updates as we move forward.

 

In the meanwhile;

 

 

[Silver_Dragon 411]

Leatherneck F-14 Update

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=142938

 

 

 

 

Dear All,

 

It's been another busy period for the team entire team at Leatherneck. Not only in terms of development and progressing on our current stable of projects – but also with unfolding personal events. 

Family deaths, day-job commitments and more have yielded a rather muted visible public presence. 

Progress has not been impaired in any way; and we're very excited to move into the latter half of 2015.

 

A considerable amount of the teams' focus has been on projects other than the F-14, including the MiG-21bis.

While that may sound disappointing; it must be noted that several technologies developed for one of our other aircraft can directly be drawn upon to shorten the development time of the F-14. 

Elements include e.g. HUD elements or Navigational implementations. 

We've also spent an additional chunk of time on refinement of our internal tools, in particular a Flight Modeling Visualizer. 

 

We will go into deeper depth on our other projects in an upcoming all- Leatherneck-encompassing newsletter, so for now; lets focus on the F-14.

 

 

The Art team's primary focus has been on assuring proper integration with the F-14 codebase and DCS engine. 

This is a particularly boring aspect of art asset development; albeit very necessary so as to allow the programming team to boundlessly progress. 

Examples include defining clickable areas, animations and creating 2D bitmaps that will be drawn on various indicators and screens. 

We've almost completely finished this process and thus the main focus will again shift to traditional artistry. 

 

The biggest task ahead is texturing both the interior and exterior elements of the aircraft. 

We're currently evaluating a few new sculpting-based techniques that we hope will yield incredible fidelity and texture depth.

 

 

Our working version of the aircraft is still currently based around a -B model exterior and -A model interior. 

However, work progresses on the -A exterior, starting with completion of the TF-30 engines and exhausts for the -A model tomcat. 

 

More notable adjustments of the shape and equipment to fall in line with an -A are forthcoming.

 

 

Some of our sharp-eyed community members (you know who you are!) noticed various flaws in the initial renders we posted. 

Sincere gratitude for your sharp eyes, and we've already rolled in some of these corrections. 

Examples include widening the main engine intakes and canting the main gear. 

 

As with all of our development, we adhere to a very iterative process and you should always consider anything shown to be Work in Progress.

 

Additionally, we've gone ahead and continued on sculpting our pilot and RIO models. 

We're certainly paying very close attention to ensure a high level of detailing and accuracy. 

 

We have plans for these models beyond the standard in-cockpit / external pilots you are currently used to; features that will hopefully significantly improve immersion. 

You should expect this particular model to look practically identical in-game, as most of the detail will be baked down into normal and diffuse maps. 

 

 

 

 

After completion of the Hydraulic and some Electrical systems, the programming team has shifted focus to the development of the TF-30 and F-110 engines. 

This particular task will require a significant amount of time to develop, as both engines have unique properties and a lot of interconnected dependencies that need to be recreated and tested.

 

Thus, elements of the AICS, Fuel System, Pilot Controls must all be in place before all elements of our new engine simulation can be recreated. 

We are of course fully committed to ensuring that we model as many of the various characteristics and quirks of both engines. 

 

Some of these quirks have massive impact on how you fly and fight in the aircraft, thus we must be certain that we get it completely right. 

We hope that both reliance on documentation and SMEs will allow us to achieve this level of fidelity. 

 

 

Our FM simulation is highly dependent on all of the Engine and Flight Controls being completely in place, so as to ensure that all base parameters are correct before attempting to simulate the movement of the aircraft. 

Of course, it goes without saying that every facet of the F-14's flight envelope will be modeled to the fullest extent possible. 

Unlike what some of you fear, we are not limited in any way in what we can model or simulate, including more complex factors, such as variable geometry wing surfaces.

 

Once the engine and flight controls are in place, the team will move on to creating all auxiliary control system functionality. 

This includes elements such as brakes, hooks, refueling probes, canopy jettison, and much more.

 

 

 

The F-14 Product Page is about to go live and is undergoing final tweaks.

It will contain a considerable amount of depth on various subjects, most of it however has already been covered in the forums.

 

The F-14 page is part of a wider website update which includes a new News section that will host our more frequent, unscheduled updates.

 

 

 

During and after our initial announcement, many of you had questions about various aspects of development and the planned module roadmap in general. 

I've tried to gather as many of these as possible, but feel free to write more below and I will add as many as I possibly can.

 

Q: Which particular Airframe era will you be simulating?

We're still ironing out some specifics here; but we're aiming for a mid-to late 80s' airframe for the -A, and mid 90s' for the -B. Thus, some features such as the glove vanes will be disabled, while some advancements and improvements in the aircraft will be included.

 

Q: Are you sure about those Glove Vanes?

A: We'll be, at the very least, adding a visual option. It is possible that we will simulate the aerodynamic impact of the glove vanes further down the line.

 

Q: Will you be separating the -A and -B model Tomcats in the sim?

A: Indeed! It is also possible that one model will be released some time before the other.

 

Q: How much will it cost, and will both versions be sold together?

A: Details to be disclosed at a later time; but do not expect any kind of exorbitant or non-standard pricing.

 

Q: Where can I pre-order?

A: There is currently no pre-order or pledge package available. 

It is likely that we'll be running a pre-order program at some point prior to release, however.

 

Q: Will Air-to-Ground Capability be included?

A: Yes; however the specific A2G and sensor capability that will be modeled is yet to be decided. You can note in the renders posted, that the BRU-32 bomb rack is mounted to the Phoenix pylons on the underside of the fuselage.

 

Q: Which Chin Sensor Pod will the Aircraft utilize?

A: TCS & ALQ-100 Antenna. The bullet fairing visual option will be included.

 

Q: Will Carrier Operations be included at Release?

A: We are networking together with our partners to ensure a complete package upon release, however the complex nature of the task at hand lends itself to a cautious approach in saying anything definitive.

 

Q: Will Multiplayer Multi-Crew be available at Release?

A: We hope to include this feature on release. We consider it an essential selling point of this module, and a personal dream of our own.

 

Q: What do you mean by the AIM-54 being based on a 'CFD' Simulation?

A: We will be using Computer Fluid Dynamics simulations to the fullest extent possible in order to ensure proper accuracy and fidelity of the AIM-54 Phoenix missile flight dynamics. While this particular missile is very difficult to sufficient documentation on; we are investing heavily into ensuring that our recreation of it is true to life.

 

Q: Will Night Vision be available?

A: Yes.

 

Q: What is JESTER AI, exactly?

A: It is a proprietary system that primarily simulates the RIO crew member. It will allow you to quickly and efficiently fly and fight in the F-14, while minimizing your workload. JESTER AI will be fully voiced and highly streamlined. The system will be designed to be moduler, and can thus be quickly adapted to other multi-seat aircraft in development. 

 

Q: Will Multi-Seat licensing be a thing? (RIO Only License, etc.)

A: Possibly. We do like some of the ideas brought forward; but nothing definitive as of yet. It's more likely we'll stick to just a single license.

 

Q: Will Iranian Tomcats be included?

A: Yes! We have several Iranian liveries planned. We also plan to model the older MBU-5/P mask in use by the Iranian Air Force.

 

Q: Will you include a HGU-55 helmet option?

A: Not planned at this time.

 

Q: That looks like it has way too many polygons!

A: We learned our lesson with the rocky performance of the MiG-21 on release, and are taking care to keep performance at a significantly better level. Much of the detail you see is simply normal maps baked down from high-poly sculpts; thus, they already perform very well!

 

Q: Which theatre will be included with the F-14?

A: Very oceany. Very cold. 

The F-14 Campaign will take place in this theatre.

 

Q: Why not GOOSE AI?

A: Goose is dead, man.

 

Q: Any possibility of an MP / COOP Campaign?

A: Not planned at this time; however, we do intend to support the F-14 with significant after-market content, especially taking into consideration the Straights of Hormuz theatre. It can be noted that the SP campaign can likely be easily edited to allow for more players.

 

Q: What should I do during my inevitable divorce?

A: More Fleet BARCAP.

 

Q: Will random failures and issues be modeled?

A: Yes! We have a slew of unique and new features planned here that should introduce some RPG-esque elements into your gameplay experience, should you wish it.

 

Q: Will JESTER AI be able to handle Piloting duties as well?

A: Likely to some very limited extent.

 

 

 

 

That is all for F-14 development at this point. 

During the next month you should expect to see some strong visual progress on both exterior and interior textures. 

 

We're very excited to move forward and to start seeing our vision come to life.

 

Sincerely,

 

Leatherneck Simulations

 

 

[KingGhidorah 209]

I liked "Goose is dead, man".

[scotchegg 4,159]

pics look real, oh Lord!

 

Yeah, those pics are a good example of how specular and diffuse lighting, combined with depth of field hazing, can make simple textures look so realistic.

[Phantom88 3,282]

****NEW YEAR UPDATE****

 

d Party Developer

 
 

 Dear All,

It's been a very eventful year for Leatherneck Simulations-- even though, despite our best efforts, we did not manage to launch any new products this year. 
Not only has it been eventful year, it has undoubtedly been probably one of the most challenging times that we've experienced as a developer.

Not only have we been developing three DCS modules with associated theaters and period units concurrently; but we've also significantly expanded, developed new technology 
and tools, restructured our teams and even begun preparatory planning for products beyond the 'sequel trilogy'.

Perhaps the biggest change for us has been in transitioning from a small, tight-knit and concise 4-man unit, into a 'real' business-- one that currently comprises of 9 full time individuals and many more on temporary or outsourced basis. 
This kind of growth would not have been possible without the success of the MiG-21; and for that you all have our sincere gratitude.

We'd also like to apologize for not adhering to our previous statements in that we expect a new LN module to appear this year. 
Unfortunately, delays in developing some of our critical new technologies as well as a larger than expected workload with the MiG-21 precluded this from being achievable. 
Likewise, these delays have led us to postpone our planned product reveals.
Delicious Leeks – AJS-37 & F4U-1DMiG-21bis
New Team MembersMiG-21bis Backer Rewards

As mentioned in the previous update; we've now made this issue a priority, especially considering how long it's now been since release. After considering several options; we'd like to propose the following changes to the backer tiers. While we are incredibly grateful for the support shown to the MiG-21bis project in its' infancy; we're unfortunately producing these items at a complete loss.

We're hoping to produce the following items:

We'd thus propose the following changes in the backer tier rewards. 
Please feel free to share your input on these changes and whether you would feel comfortable with the new replacements.

We're presently waiting on samples of the listed production items. 
Once we have are satisfied with the items, we will order a proper production run and begin sending you your items. 
Sincere apologies for the delay on this front.Changes between 1.2.16 and 1.5/2.0

The MiG-21 saw many overt and covert changes in the 1.5 and 2.0 updates. 
Some of these changes, coupled with the large changes in the DCS engine have resulted in a high number of new bugs and issues. 
We're working very hard to fix all of these, and you can see most of them in the public bugtracker linked above. 

We've also been very sloppy with maintaining a public change log. 
Most of the items changed or fixed are listed below, but I'd estimate that there are at least a dozen or two more items not listed. 
Here is a more comprehensive list, including the previously listed changes. Keep an eye on the bugtracker in the future for a better understanding on open or resolved issues.

 

• Replaced multiple existing inputs with toggle inputs.
• Re-Added several requested replaced inputs.
• Added 9 New Keyboard Inputs: ASP Target Size, KPP Pitch Set, RSBN/PRGM Channel Select, Radio On/Off, Radio Volume & Channel Selection
• Fixed various instances of the Radio not working.
• Fixed the Radar operating without electrical power
• Increased missile smoke visibility
• Fixed the “SPRD Appears on F6 View after use” bug
• Introduced special option for ASP pipper gameplay features.
• Improved drag chute physics, including chute use in stall/spin recovery (Animation is however still limited)
• Corrected Rudder Authority (“Rudder overpowering ailerons”)
• Added UUA Sensor animation
• Improved Over-G weapon jettison (Dynamic Weight Calculation, per-pylon/weapon limit)
• Improved regulated Afterburner throttle control
• Partially fixed visible weapons remaining on destroyed/missing wings
• Fixed A-A missile lock tone bug
• Corrected wing thickness & angle
• Various corrections on all weapon pylons
• Rebuilt frontal canopy for smooth fuselage transition
• Re-Drew rivet and panel lines on rear fuselage
• Dozens of minor 3D/2D issues
• Fixed various Cockpit graphics issues
• Corrected various ASP calculation issues (Incorrect lead, “CCIP”)
• Added 8-10 new default liveries
• New specular maps
• Sculpted rear fuselage into a new normal map
• Added new SPRD Rocket booster model and texture
• Corrected placement of SPRD Rocket booster on aircraft
• Further optimized external model and textures
• Revised gear door textures
• Corrected AoA vane animation
• Temporarily removed 'Canopy Icing' checkbox pending visual implementation
• LOD models optimized.
• Incorrect ASO texture replaced.
• Radome axis of movement fixed.
• Double cockpit in low graphic settings fixed.
• Tactical number slot holes fixed.
• Added more variations of Russian tactical numbers.
• Added Arabic tactical numbers.
• Changed material setting from mirror to aluminum.
• Landing gear’s external lights now come on only at full extension.
• Remodeled external pilot’s visor and is now transparent with specular.
• Navigation lights during the day are now bigger in “Bright” mode.
• Missing panel lines and sealant on external canopy/windscreen added.
• Missing rivets on right-side drag chute tube added.
• Missing screws on top-side wing fuel tank panels added.
• UVs for middle fuselage flipped 180 degrees to fix NMp errors.
• Liveries adjusted for UV flip.
• New normal and specular textures.
• Fixed Radar crashing in 2.0
• Corrected broken Normalmaps due to UV Flip
• Corrected broken Specular maps due to UV Flip
• Added support for NTTR map in RSBN Navigation System
• Added additional Kneeboard panels
• Fixed Kneeboard not showing map
• Increased tracer visibility
• Changed UPK pod CLSID to avoid CLSID conflict
• Fixed crashing when selecting RSBN Channel above 18
• Joystick double throttle input bug fixed
• Changed MiG-21Bis → MiG-21bis
• Fixed Training missions appearing in list
• Updated StarForce protection system to avoid future issues
• Fixed Aircraft shaking erroneously after broken tires
• Fixed wheelbrake axis causing unstoppable air leak
• Fixed booster aileron inconsistencies.

 One of the most important developments within LN this year has been the continued expansion of the team with some of the most talented individuals we can possibly find. 
We pride ourselves on being a team built upon steadfast pillars of professionalism and excellence in our chosen profession; be it in the field of programming or art.

Thus, it's with great joy and pride that we welcome Stirling Rank and Daniel Malmquist to the Leatherneck team. You're already familiar with parts of Stirling's work; in the form of the F-14 Pilot we presented earlier this year. 
We've actually already introduced Stirling in the previous mini-update, but it was fairly unceremonious. 
Daniel has also been with us for a while now; as he takes charge on the creation of the F-14's flight and physical models.

 

Hailing from Melbourne, Australia-- Stirling has skillfully avoided Scorpions, Exploding Cacti, Sharks, Crocodiles, Snakes, Arachnids, Jellyfish and other Australians to go on and become a brilliant young character and hard surface artist. 

Despite his relatively young age, Stirling has built an impressive portfolio of hard and soft surface modeling, deeply rooted in strong sculpting talents. 
While Character modeling may not be the first thing you think of when compiling your flight simulation wishlist; we couldn't be happier with the human element that Stirling brings to the table.

I think we've all seen the impressive results that well crafted, animated and engaging characters can do for immersion in titles such as Star Citizen. 
We look forward to applying Stirlings' artwork in new and innovative ways, especially with the widespread adoption of VR just around the corner!


Hailing from Ystad, in the south of Sweden, Daniel now lives in Stockholm. 
Complementing his huge interests in engineering and aviation is a Ph.D. in the fields of modeling and optimization of electromechanical systems, from the Royal Institute of Technology, arguably the leading engineering university in Sweden.

Daniels' keen interest in aviation has expressed itself in many ways; including being a licensed private pilot and the designing and developing several small unmanned 
drones during his extensive research experience. Daniel’s strong theoretical background, combined with his programming experience makes him an excellent addition to the LNS team, and for spearheading the creation of the F-14 Flight and physical models.

Besides, look at those dreamy eyes and perfect complexion. How could we have said no?

New Public Bugtracker
Website News SectionAs you may have noticed by the stickied posts; in order to better 
accommodate both current and future project update needs; we have decided to open a public bugtracker. 

This will allow us to more effectively receive bugreports from you, convey what is received and already fixed, as well as offer an insight into our post release support process. 
We also hope that the added transparency will better indicate how many changes are made that previously were not noted in changelogs.

https://leatherneck-sim.mantishub.com/ 

We'd like to urge all of you to cease reporting bugs on the Bugs sub forums (unless significant discussion is indicated) and instead help us out 
by registering a new account and reporting a bug on the bugtracker.

 A long overdue update to our website in the form of a new News section is now available. 
If you find it difficult or time consuming to follow the forums or hunt down updates from us; we'll be cross posting anything relevant to this page. 
This includes smaller announcements such as notices and warnings. 

We've been fairly quiet over the course of 2015; with a mere half a dozen major updates scattered across the year, but this is of course has only been a temporary period that is soon coming to a close. 
Thus, heavy use and far denser updates on this page are to be expected.

www.leatherneck-sim.com/news

F-14 A & B Tomcat UpdateWhoops!

No, it's not a red herring. (We're bigger fans of cod and salmon, actually).
Obviously we screwed up a little here, but hopefully you'll forgive us. 
We might as well talk briefly about these two, while we're at it.

As mentioned previously; difficulties in some of the new technology: in particular components required for an accurate simulation of these modules, unexpectedly high MiG-21 workload, as well as various illnesses have both delayed the aircraft themselves, as well as their respective announcements. 

Both of these aircraft have afforded us an opportunity to develop critical technology for the future, and also serve as a stepping stone to a larger theater of war (F4U-1D). 
Likewise, they have provided an easier path to unlock other aircraft making use of similar technology (AJS-37). It's also very important to remember that you may only catch a glimpse of the big picture with just the module names. 
We have spent considerable time and resources into making sure that the products we create have an appropriate environment, opponents and other content.

In particular, some of the advancements we have made with these two modules are as follows:
With an average development time of several years; every module we have built or will build will be very special to us. 
Thus we want to make sure that your first look, but more importantly- your first impression of our work is exactly as good as you expect of us. 

The simple but honest truth is: they're just not quite there yet. At least visually. 
If a cockpit is 95% done and but there is a big white blob instead of a HUD– we'd rather ensure that we get that done before disappointing you. 
It will be a few more weeks until we are ready.

Having learned from the mistakes we made with the MiG-21; we are committed to ensuring only the smoothest of launches. This means a feature complete aircraft, all included content (missions, campaigns, documentation) and as much internal Q&A as we can possibly squeeze in. 
We'd prefer to avoid extended and prolonged BETA periods, especially with our planned 2016 & 2017 roadmap; thus it is imperative that we can minimize the intense post-release update period.
Theatre DevelopmentSystems & FM
ArtThe Tomcat has seen considerable progress in the last few months; and even though we are behind our initial projected schedule (H2 2015) – we have very little regret as to how this flagship module is progressing. 
The majority of the year has been spent recreating the entire framework and systems base of the aircraft. 

Items such as Hydraulic, electrical, fuel and control systems are complex components of the aircraft and these items being complete, functional and relatively bug-free is a prerequisite before moving on to some of the more overt features and components. 
We've also spent considerable time implementing various supporting functionality, such as for instance numerical solvers (e.g. 4th order Range-Kutta) for second and higher order dynamics which can be used for components like e.g. actuators.

We have now also begun making progress on the VSI, HSDI and HUD components, which are some of the most visual features of the systems modeling. 
These systems directly tie into most of the other Aircraft systems, so they will not be fully complete until the very end of development.



The Flight Model has seen the most rapid progress over the last couple of months; and we've now begun assembling the physical model. 
Primary focus is currently on Primary Handling of the aircraft: in essence, we are now working to perfect the overall body and wing aerodynamics, wing sweep dynamics & logic, and primary/secondary control surfaces and their influence.

Wing sweep logic, a core component of the F-14, is also complete and implements the four modes (Auto, Manual, Bomb, and Emergency) - making use of multiple underlying sweep schedules for both primary and secondary control channels. 
The current implementation will of course allow us to calculate the effects of asymmetric wing sweep due to damage/malfunction.

In association with that, we have now also begun separating the visual animations into their respective hydraulic systems. 
We are looking for a high level of granularity in failure simulation; and wherever there is a possibility of separate failure (e.g. separate hydraulic systems) – this will be simulated on our rendition of the Aircraft. 
Electrical fuses, something frequently mentioned by the community, will be simulated to their fullest extent.




The aerodynamic speed brakes are a fairly good example of our targeted fidelity. 
Each of the three control surfaces are individually modeled, allowing us to take into account asymmetric effects from damaged/malfunctioning actuators and surfaces. 

Just the speed brakes alone use 11 (that's a lot!) different lookup tables to determine aerodynamic coefficients in the current implementation. 
This will give yield very realistic and dynamic feel.

Overall, we feel very confident in our implementation of the F-14 flight model at this stage. We will not stop short of anything but perfection.

 
The majority of the art teams' focus still lies with projects other than the F-14. 
The reason for this is that the aircraft is (still) at a level where the artwork does not in any way impair the development of systems or functionality. 
This is an important distinction to make; because it allows for the art team to focus on areas where they are most needed.

That said; we've invested a significant amount of time in the last few months into unwrapping the Cockpit. This sounds boring and terribly unsexy – and that's because it is. Thousands of objects had to be individually unwrapped and correctly placed; eventually comprising 37 cockpit textures split across the two cockpits. 
An artists' personal hell. We're glad it's over!



The next step is to begin sculpting various cockpit parts. 
Bulging and peeling paint, metal imperfections, dings, scratches, fresh and old paint blotches, cloth parts, bent glareshields, and much more need to be accurately recreated to fully immerse the player. 
Once we unveil the AJS-37 Cockpit; you will have a good indication of the quality level that we aim to achieve with all of our cockpits.

Not much has been done on the exterior in the last few months, apart from some significant accuracy improvements. 
Referencing various new drawings caused us to adjust, in particular, the vertical tail planes and the entire front fuselage and canopy areas. 
These were both very inaccurate, and required a lot of adjustments. It's an iterative process; so we expect there to be more changes as we go along.

We're quite optimistic about an F-14 materializing somewhere in the second half of 2016 – however this is, as usual, subject to change. 
We'll keep you updated, and in particular start producing more material once the more overt visual features become more prominent!

Goodbye 2015!During most of 2015; we've focused on the creation of primary map content 
for our planned theatres. This includes not only things like actual map objects (hangars, trenches, bunkers, destroyed aircraft, buildings, vegetation, and much more) but 
also various vector assets such as roads, coastlines, elevation models, bodies of water and similar items.

Learning the production pipeline for the creation of maps for DCS has taken us close to the entire year; but we are now confident in our ability to create any terrain we set our mind to for the platform. 
Perhaps most exciting, is that we've already carried out several in-game tests of already produced sections of land. It's a small, but very exciting step forwards!

In the beginning of 2016; we will be investing additional resources into the expansion of our theatre construction team. This will be in the form of more permanent employees at our offices in Swinoujscie. 
We feel that only a large investment package will be enough to maintain our project goals, especially for products slated in 2017 and beyond.
Sincerely,
Leatherneck Simulations Team

__________________
/Nicholas Dackard

Delaymeister
Leatherneck Simulations

 

 

 

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http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=157420

[flyerkg 62]

Insane!

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Some of the best modeling I have ever seen as a member of military-meshes I would know and done my share of aircraft 3d modeling its not easy - super work