Saturday, August 14, 2010

F-35A - patch to version 1.1 almost ready


In the past few days I've been working on a patch for the F-35A. It is almost ready and will be deployed to SimMarket as soon as possible. As many files are affected, I am unsure if it is better to release a patch or a full installation. In any case, customers should be able to download the new files by accessing their customer account.
The patch will include (but will not be limited to) the following features/fixes:

- New wing vapor effects (embedded in the mdl, will not affect third party a/b effects or the light system). The effect shows when pulling more than 4.5 Gs. Wing vapor effects were not meant to be included in the initial release. I've been experimenting with them for a while on older build, using Team KBT effects. The placeholder effect was included in the main release for a mistake - and in fact it was a copy of the Team KBT's effect - my most humble apologies to the authors.

- New "whiskers" effects (embedded in the mdl, as the vapor) nearby the air intake (as seen on some real F-35 pictures. This effect shows when the AoA is in excess of 25 degrees.

- New weapon configuration with two external fuel tanks and two Jdams (the "unusual" shape of the tanks should be the actual one - according to the information I have)

- Fixed main wheel texture mismatch

- Minor graphics glitch in the FUEL page

- Minor optimization to the MFD rendering resolution (should help lower-end systems)

- Minor optimization in the visual model visibility conditions (should provide minimal frame rate increase)

- Alternate .cfg with wrong contact points but no micro-oscillations of the cockpit

- Fixes miscellaneous typos in the aircraft.cfg

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Bought the plane today and like it alot.I noticed through trail and error that the micro-oscillations disappears completely if you remove all weight from the hardpoints except the pilot and leave all tanks except the ones in the wings empty. Maybe it is rather a weight-distribution then a contactpoint-problem.

ScimmiaSpaziale said...

Thanks, good tip.

I may well be, as I've centered almost all weight to insist in the center of weight of the empty plane.... so that the handling/balance is independent on the load (as it should be for such aircraft).
The physics engine may have issues with this. I'll try moving the load points slightly.

Unknown said...

I have tested it a little bit further und compared the aircraft.cfg with others I have. In most tricycle-jetplanes the Center of Gravity seems to be around 1 to 3 feet in front of the rear undercarrige. So I set the CoG and the position of the tanks and loadpoints to an point 2 feet in front of the rear undercarrige. The plane now handles perfectly on the ground. No micro-oscillations whatsoever. Unfortunate it goes quickly out of control if give some rudder while flying. Guess I stick with the original values for now.

ScimmiaSpaziale said...

Thanks for the info, Martin.

I've experimented several solutions to the problem... the only one that seems to work is to move the landing gear contact points. I'll inlcude this .cfg in the next update (along with the current one).

Unknown said...

I put the Empty-CoG, all tanks and weight-points to -36,5 feet. In combination with your AI-airfile the plane now flies and taxies perfectly. The handling during rotation and touchdown are actually better then in the original version. I keep it that way now until I find out why it goes out of control when I use whose values with the normal Airfile.