Wow! Dan's Kodiak!

[Don Quixote 76]

Awesome. Bought it, downloading now.

 

Apart from the quality of the addon itself, I have to say that the pricing is very sensible. Addon prices have increased a lot in the past two years or so, or at least that's my impression - and often enough, it wasn't justified by higher quality. In this case, I'm sure that a higher price would have been justified, considering all the extras. But personally I'm much more willing to spend $33 than $40, even though the difference isn't all that huge. Kudos to Dan for keeping it at a reasonable level!

[Don Quixote 76]

Some first impressions on the Kodiak:

 

- Modelling and texturing are stunning, inside and out.

- The sounds are amazing! Definetly among the best in the business, not just for XPlane.

- A bit heavy on the framerate. I don't own any of the Carenados with the G1000, so I can't compare, but the aircraft does have a noticeable impact. Still very much flyable on my system, though.

- The slew system is great, although it needs some fine tuning.

- Quite a few bugs. Some affect the G1000 (which isn't too bad, as you can always rely on the Eyeball Mk.I) and others the plane itself (I've had some weird "stutters" which seem to move the plane a bit out of its original position and/or alter the speed).

- Last but not least, flying the Kodiak is fun - a lot of fun! I usually stay away from anything with a glass cockpit as if it carries the plague, but in the Kodiak these systems feel very much like a part of the plane and don't get in the way. Combined with the forgiving handling and the engine's enormous power, it makes for a perfect bush plane.

 

Overall, I'd say wait a little until the worst bugs are patched, but otherwise the Kodiak is highly recommended.

[Jimmy RFR 406]

Thanks for the impressions! I was wondering how you were liking it after seeing your post that you'd picked it up.

 

 

 

I usually stay away from anything with a glass cockpit as if it carries the plague, but in the Kodiak these systems feel very much like a part of the plane and don't get in the way.

 

I don't know why it is, but I absolutely did not like GA glass cockpits in FSX/P3D. I wanted to like them, but never really did in any add-on I picked up that had them. Didn't matter the developer either - for example I disliked the G1000 in Flight1's King Air as much as I disliked any G1000 in an Alabeo / Carenado product. I actually stopped along time ago buying GA add-on's with glass in FSX or P3D. I knew that I wouldn't end up using it, and for me it would be money wasted.

 

However, my thoughts have completely changed in X-Plane. Although the implementation itself can vary in usability and features, every glass equipped aircraft I've used in X-Plane has been quite enjoyable, from the VFlyteAir Cirrus, to the Alabeo DA42, to the Aerobask Victory and E1000. I'm not sure if it's the mouse interaction with the cockpit (I love being able to hold and drag my view) or if it's something to do with the apparent field of view, but I find I enjoy flying glass in GA a *lot* more than I used to.

[Don Quixote 76]

I don't know why it is, but I absolutely did not like GA glass cockpits in FSX/P3D.

[...]

However, my thoughts have completely changed in X-Plane.

 

I think you're onto something there! I completely agree, Glass cockpits in FSX and its derivatives always seem arduous to use, no matter how well the systems are done. I usually avoid even GPS of any kind for that reason. But in X-Plane it feels much easier to use these systems. One reason is possibly that the entire sim feels more fluid, even when the actual framerate is the same. And the excellent camera system also helps.

 

Back to the Kodiak, I've done some more flights with it and didn't encounter any severe bugs this time - perhaps I did something wrong the first time? In any case, I've had a lot of fun flying this thing. The amount of thought that went into the aircraft, as well as into the extras, is just stunning. I love details like being able to open the engine covers, no matter how irrelevant this might be to the actual flight sim. Also, the little electric tug is a work of genius! Once it's attached to the aircraft, you can control it with your joystick/yoke and let it drag the aircraft where you want it. Again, a small detail, but it adds a lot of immersion.

One thing I noticed was something I've missed from most X-Plane aircraft: Ground effect. Although it's supposedly present in XP, I've never encountered it to a degree where it was actually noticeable. With the Kodiak I encountered fairly pronounced ground effect (perhaps a bit too much, considering it's a high wing design?), which is a welcome additional challenge.

[Sethos 4,335]

I'm very, very close to picking this thing up. Would I be right in saying this is one of the best bush planes available for X-Plane right now, in terms of 3D modelling, flight dynamics, features etc. ?

[Don Quixote 76]

Would I be right in saying this is one of the best bush planes available for X-Plane right now, in terms of 3D modelling, flight dynamics, features etc. ?

 

Absolutely. The only other aircraft that comes close would be the Soulmade Sims DHC-2 Beaver, which is excellent in its own right (although I've almost stopped flying it due to how poorly X-Plane models friction, making taildraggers a PITA when there's anything but the lightest of crosswinds!).

[Sethos 4,335]

You sir, are a bad influence! 

 

Seriously, thank you for the replies. I decided to pick it up. Could easily see myself putting some hours into a good bush plane. Beautiful modelling. 

 

 

I question the seating arrangement though

 

[Poppet 708]

Lol Sethos.....

 

Behind your seat,  Looks like a little bearded mans face sticking out of the textures,  Sethos have you been modeling yourself into the plane   :smile:

[n4gix 4,947]

That exterior shot looks like a photo! Wow...

[danklaue 65]

 

I question the seating arrangement though

 

 

This actually seems to be a problem with one of the plugins.  Please contact me via PM with your log.txt file.  The position of the pilot is fine-tuned via plugin, so if the pilot is intersecting with the seat, something is not functioning properly... maybe a plugin conflict or something.  Have you updated to v1.1 yet? You can do so via the updater script (included in the original download).

[Sethos 4,335]

This actually seems to be a problem with one of the plugins.  Please contact me via PM with your log.txt file.  The position of the pilot is fine-tuned via plugin, so if the pilot is intersecting with the seat, something is not functioning properly... maybe a plugin conflict or something.  Have you updated to v1.1 yet? You can do so via the updater script (included in the original download).

 

It seem to have sorted itself after a full game restart. That flight was just after activating and reloading the plane, that tends to cause a few anomalies until the game is restarted, I've found

[Guest]

That exterior shot looks like a photo! Wow...

 

Thought so too at first glance! Those sticking out bushes reveiled the truth though. :wink:

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Very much am enjoying this plane...but I seem to have a pause start, pause start in forward scenery motion, with this plane..and still at 30 FPS.

 

Anybody else seeing this?

 

I'm hoping this will settle out.

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

I don't know about anybody else, but so far this plane as is, is unusable to me.  When this plane is being used, I get a stop/start, stop/start in scenery movement.

 

I go to any other plane...other 3rd P...and no such effect upon the sim. Say to yourself, one-and-two-and...and that is what is happening to the scenery animation.

 

My FPS are 30 plus...and the above is happening.

 

Does anybody else have this bug?

 

Post Edit,  I like everything about this plane...am really enjoying it, but the scenery stutter and pause (like a pulse) is wrecking my immersion. I hope there can be a fix for this. This is the only plane in my hangar that is affecting the sim so....

 

 

It seem to have sorted itself after a full game restart. That flight was just after activating and reloading the plane, that tends to cause a few anomalies until the game is restarted, I've found

Do you have smooth scenery progression?  I don't.

[danklaue 65]

You're the first one to report this type of behaviour, and I don't think I quite understand it... you're saying, the frame rate is good, but the scenery stutters?

 

Just to narrow it down, does it make a difference to disable any of the plugins during flight?  How about temporarily removing any of the plugins from the Kodiak's "plugins" folder and restarting X-Plane? (You'll lose the functionality associated with that plugin, but at least it may help narrow down what's causing it).  

 

Might also be a wonky interaction with another plugin, maybe one that's used for your scenery, or a plugin sitting in the global plugins directory (X-Plane 10>Resources>Plugins").  To get to the bottom of this, I'm afraid you'll have to do some of these mentioned experiments. Otherwise, there's no way for us to even know where to start looking, as we cannot reproduce what you're seeing on our end, nor have we heard reports from others about this behaviour.