Coming Soon: Hot Air Balloon from HPG!

[Kassu62 30]

There is no wind. You are floating in moving air mass. You can hear the wind in trees if you are flying low. The gusts are exception. The you can feel (and hear) the wind. It takes some time until the balloon is at same speed as the wind.

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Kassu62

[Gerwil 177]

9 hours ago, OneOfMany said:

I'm certainly no expert in hot air ballooning, but the two times I did, the thing that was most surprising was the lack of wind and wind noise. Of course we weren't in a typhoon, but can't say that a balloon would be my first choice of transportation if I was in one. 

Lol yeah I totally agree, you don't go ballooning in stormy weather conditions in rl. 😅

But in the sim it could be interesting.

I was merely referring because the other sounds you hear in external (drone) view you would certainly hear inside a balloon basket. Like the bird sounds over forrests, urban sounds over city's and water sounds over beaches, rivers.

Maybe they can make large invisible windows in the model to all sides which are always open, or something like that, dunno.

[Gerwil 177]

double post

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Gerwil

[Cpt_Piett 4,744]

Perhaps there's already an answer to this, but how does it work in terms of getting from A to B? Are there a number of "flights" to choose from or can you go anywhere? Could I "hover" over a city for example? I'm obviously no hot air balloon expert, lol. 

[dobee51 348]

6 hours ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Perhaps there's already an answer to this, but how does it work in terms of getting from A to B? Are there a number of "flights" to choose from or can you go anywhere? Could I "hover" over a city for example? I'm obviously no hot air balloon expert, lol. 

• HPG Hot Air Balloon can be set to follow a MSFS flight plan or current wind conditions

[HPG 403]

HPG Hot Air Balloon can be set to follow a MSFS flight plan or current wind conditions. 

There is a 3rd option not mentioned here, but you can also go into the weather settings, set a direction and speed and use that to manually steer yourself.

[cmorg 124]

Anyone got it yet? As someone who spent their high school and college summers as a chase/crew chief for hot air balloon ride companies in Albuquerque and coming back and doing it for Fiesta every fall during those years, I cannot wait to try this out in VR. I just hope they've simulated the post flight breakfast burritos, mimosas, and the Irish balloonists prayer.

Edited October 7, 2022 by cmorg

[MarcG 3,021]

I'd be particularly interested in VR reviews of this product please, sounds like the of thing to show off to the wife & kids!

[prowler5150 3]

3 hours ago, MarcG said:

I'd be particularly interested in VR reviews of this product please, sounds like the of thing to show off to the wife & kids!

Shh - we're not in the VR subforum. 😉

I'm wondering how pilot positioning works in VR.  Can you operate the balloon while standing up and move around your play space like other VR games?

[Wothan 173]

15 minutes ago, prowler5150 said:

Shh - we're not in the VR subforum. 😉

I'm wondering how pilot positioning works in VR.  Can you operate the balloon while standing up and move around your play space like other VR games?

I guess You can still translate left/right, forward/aft and up/down, just like in any other "cockpit".

Just got it, but only tested it in pancake mode.

Will try in VR later this afternoon with my Meta Quest 2.

[Gerwil 177]

I took the plunge and bought it. For just 15$ I am very satisfied, works very nice in VR also. Asobo still has to do something about the sound so that the sound from outside can be heard unchanged in the model when desired. The substitute of HPG can handle it sort of, but the noises are clearly less and, for example, FSLTL sounds are just faintly audible. I can move freely through the basket with my Xbox controller and stay neatly within the model boundaries. Pax was in the way, so the first thing I did after my first flight was to remove the passenger model attachments, I prefer to fly solo 🙂

Would be nice if HPG, just like with the fireworks, makes buttons in the EFB settings to switch the pax off.

I like it, though not something I would fly daily because it takes a lot of patience to get from A to B.

 

[Puddin 70]

5 hours ago, MarcG said:

I'd be particularly interested in VR reviews of this product please, sounds like the of thing to show off to the wife & kids!

Just had my first flight and this is therapy for me in VR, after a long stretch at work .

Flying over the French Alps listening to some French darlings from the inbuilt radio.. chilled.

Subtle wind noise at 20  knots wind, frequent topping up on the burners which do sound realistic.. The view point in VR is atop of the mans shoulder, but if you pan you become detached from the neck. This with the Hotas, turning  with the HMD al l where it should be !

 I tried with companion balloons too, all look the part but in the evening light the slave balloons had no burners activating to see, I believe.

Again for me HPG along with their H145 you get ingenuity along with quality. 

£14 for the experience to see the world at leisure, bargain.

Edited October 7, 2022 by Puddin
amendment

[Gerwil 177]

Anyone know where to find the Hype Operations Center? It didn't come with the package, it's not on their website and Google also didn't reveil it.

[dobee51 348]

2 hours ago, Gerwil said:

Anyone know where to find the Hype Operations Center? It didn't come with the package, it's not on their website and Google also didn't reveil it.

Click on the Download link in your email, and you will be taken to a page with the Balloon on the left, and the Operations center on the right. It's an executable; after you run it you'll have an entry in your Start menu under Hype Performance Group.

[Gerwil 177]

1 hour ago, dobee51 said:

Click on the Download link in your email, and you will be taken to a page with the Balloon on the left, and the Operations center on the right.

Thanks, got it! Didn't notice it the first time.