11.08.2017
Today we present you a small report on the progress of our Battle of Kuban project. At the moment, work is almost completed on the improved flight models and work on the map of Kuban is also in the final stage. The Hs -29 B-2 ground attack plane will be finished in a couple of weeks. Its flight model and cockpit textures are being finalized and we will be able to present it to you soon. Work on the new shadow technology has been completed and settings for the increased quality has been added to the GUI. We’ve added an even sharper setting recently that allows the cockpit shadows to be even more detailed than what we showed you earlier. Also, the visibility distance of the shadows has been increased to twice as far. Depending on the FOV, the shadow rendering range at the highest setting will exceed the existing one by several times. Of course, this setting is quite demanding on the hardware and is not recommended for VR rendering where performance is paramount, but on high-end video cards and regular screens the FPS is high enough. For less powerful video cards there will be 4 more levels to adjust the shadow quality. You can choose the balance of image quality and performance that’s best for you.
28.07.2017
As you of course remember, one of the key new features of Battle of Kuban is the new gameplay mode - Career. In this mode, you'll build your character, a military pilot. His career will develop day by day in the chosen theatre of war. Each morning (except the days with non-flying weather), the plan for the day is set and the outcome of an each sortie influences your squadron (the pilots can be wounded, lost, the aircraft can be damaged, etc.). The player character will participate in some of the sorties, while the results of other ones will be generated automatically based on the overall frontline situation, how experienced the AI pilots are and which aircraft with what armament they have, weather conditions and so on.
21.07.2017
In this Dev. Diary we'd like to share with you many never before seen screenshots of the Kuban map as it nears completion. It's simply awesome and sets a new standard for Sturmovik map making. We hope you enjoy them. And progress continues as we continue to work on and testing and implementing the FM changes and new shadow technology mentioned earlier. The screens below show our old shadow technology for now.
14.07.2017
We have a couple new shots for you based on this week results - boats and ships on the Kuban map. The work on the flight model improvements continues and is now at its final stage - we're teaching the AI how to control the aircraft with the new FM and implementing mouse controls for it (as you may already know, both the AI and our mouse controls in our project use the real thing, full FM, not a simplified one).
06.07.2017
We're happy to announce that we just released the update 2.011. The main addition of this version is, of course, the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VB Collector Plane. They were sent to USSR via the lend-lease program and took part in the Battle of Kuban. The aircraft is quite interesting and unusual, our engineer who worked on its flight model wrote a detailed article about it earlier: Dev Blog 162. We can also add that this plane highlights the pros of our flight model. Spitfire is neutrally stable along the pitch axis. Piloting this plane is quite different to piloting classic, statically stable aircraft. This is especially noticeable during intensive maneuvering when instead of moving the flight stick backward and keeping it this way during the maneuver the quick double movement backward and then forward is required so the aircraft will begin the maneuver and stay in it. This effect is especially noticeable during a landing when the landing flaps are extended. It should be noted that these peculiarities don't cause a discomfort, they just make the piloting more interesting and give you the feel of control when you understand what is happening. To summarize, this aircraft should have a significant advantage in a low altitude and slower dogfight thanks to its very low wing loading and high power reserve at low speeds.