AH-64 Pack

[Jester_Darrak 10]

*Cheers Myke* Oh my god, it's getting better every day. But still the question remains why BI did not implement leaning in aircraft from the beginning on... But who cares, it is possible and doesn't look awkward.

To stay on topic:

Awesome work, NodUnit. Everytime I see new pictures of progress my jaw falls down onto my toes. Keep it up!

[[frl]myke 14]

Hehe...does anyone remember a certain thread where people were moaning that de-pboing is essential to learn since addonmakers are too elitist to share knowledge even on request? Eat this. :D

[spektre76 10]

Excellent work, can't wait to get some air time in the bird.

[nodunit 397]

Slow start to the morning yields pointless screwing around, in this case modelling MFD pages to get a representation of what it very likely might look like ingame. Can't image link it though due to using the highest quality and size of the image. Those of you familiar with Franze previous Apache's in OFP will be familiar with the damage display, now with more systems.

blah blah blah. http://s229.photobucket.com/albums/ee200/NodUnit/Model%20work/AH-64D/Work%20In%20Progress/?action=view&current=v1-2.jpg

Huge thanks to the team at Combat Helo for some data on the up front display (the screen with yellow text).

While the UFD shares some information with the SYStem page it carries data such as callsigns, radio frequency (which could be something mission based I guess), local time indicated by L 00:00:00, mission time- M 00:000:00.

There are always several "on the go" warnings that are too important to be left out of notice such as a fire in the engines, elevating pylons locking in a position and more.. it's likely it will change somewhat later down the road.

The WPN (weapon) page covers the M230/GUN, Hellfire missiles/MSL, stingers (if there)/ATA and hydra's/RKT. This page will monitor precisely the amount of ammo and countermeasures you have, as well as the firemodes and range be it manual or auto. While this is covered by the HUD, we're working to incorporate as much data into the cockpit for immersion sake.

Edited December 23, 2010 by NodUnit

[Cyteless 10]

Hawt damn. That looks great. You're turning Arma 2 into a flight sim! :p

[nodunit 397]

That is mostly the goal :) however there will probably be a simplified version for those that want a version of this but with the same stats and abilities as the default apache.

[kremator 1065]

This is simply stunning work NodUnit. Really looking forward to this release.

Well done so far !

[Macadam Cow 1]

Damn, I'm speechless, there's not enough superlatives in the dictionnary to describe those babies.

I've been waiting for something like that since Longbow 2 and the simple idea you might add the enhancement [GLT]Mike is working on is just beyond my wildest dreams.

One day I'll find a way to properly thank the addon makers for the thousand of hours of pure fun they gave me. I'm just trully in love with this whole concept of community, releasing new content for free.

This is so rare in our world - not community made addons - the simple fact of working hundreds of hours and not expecting a cent in return but just for offering fun to other people living thousand of Km away.

Keep up the good work guys !

[twisted 128]

Hawt damn. That looks great. You're turning Arma 2 into a flight sim! :p

truly incredible looking work!

[nodunit 397]

Like I said I cannot take all the credit, all of these text bits and things you see would be animated by Franze rather than myself, I just build the bird he brings it to lif, making all of those systems you see work on it.

Also while we will do what we can we can't match LB2 sadly, one of the biggest hinderances being render to texture, if we had that it would be a great milestone but fortunately there is a team working to develop a game with the same spirit.

The sim would focus on the longbow just about entirerly so the engine would be tailored to it's specific needs. including-

Advanced physics for flight model

Render to texture for MFD's and TEDAC display

ability to pilot aircraft from CPG and Pilot seats

3D clickable cockpit

50x50km map with varied terrain

6dof and more.

If you have yet to see Combat Helo or check it out I highly recommend it, here are just some pages of their progress and a flight video.

http://combathelo.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PigZ8zde4FA/S6Ku2Gh-y6I/AAAAAAAAAbM/7tqB1hi2Giw/s1600-h/terrain_preview_01.jpg

http://combathelo.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ILqIQDaio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLvCX9XXZSE

And don't talk about graphics, this just means it'll be kinder on your system

[avengerzx 10]

Those Military Flight Simulators are just done to

Advanced physics for flight model

Render to texture for MFD's and TEDAC display

ability to pilot aircraft from CPG and Pilot seats

3D clickable cockpit

50x50km map with varied terrain

6dof and more.

just like those DCS Series (Blackshark and A-10C)

Just way awesomeness

[Macadam Cow 1]

NodUnit, about Combat Helo you forgot the rotor cam :D

I will definitely get my hands on this game, like you said there's nothing closer to LB2

IMHO the graphics are fine, the cockpit is so well made you don't need much more for the immersion

The only think I don't like so far is the fact you're only a "ghost cam", no legs, no arm, nothing. It looks like there's never any pilot or copilot in the chopper...

Edited December 25, 2010 by Macadam Cow

[nodunit 397]

Ah yes rotor cam..I was thinking on adding that image but it was too late and I wound up forgetting about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCkT1q55YQg It's actually a nice effect early on..now we just need the tail rotor camera :D

The ghost cam is one of those necessity's if you think about it..in real life we can simply move our body in any way at a moments notice but in games we are restricted by controls and animations

The lesser of two evils, on the one hand you have an empty fully functional and moving cockpit and on the other you have a cockpit with a pilot whose body has to be properly animated to the cyclic and collective.

And in the CPG's case the hand grips which could result in some blocking of click points, not to mention you factor in the fact that they would still not be twisting knobs or pressing the buttons with fingers.

Gameplay vs mechanics, you wouldn't want to be in the thick of battle and unable to press something to change your weapon because your arm was blocking your path ;)

Personally if I were to go with a cockpit in which you could interact with, I'd go with a pilotless cockpit.

So I'm curious on the public's opinion of it this, in realism vs gameplay innovation.

Say we made every page for the MFD's weapons cycle as you change weapon. On the realism hand you would have to press a button to change the weapon, then another to change burst mode and manual range or auto range. The trade off is a great sense realism BUT at the price of time and practice.

On the other hand of game play speed you could use the traditional F key to change weapon and fire modes and pages up and down for range/auto.

The MFD's would also display the corresponding changes as you cycle weapon, weapon types and fire modes. The trade off is a quick and simple method of speed and game flow at the cost of what could be a more immersive experience and sense of accomplishment.

So of the two evils, what would you guys prefer..mind you this is all hypothetical but don't let that stand in the way of an answer :)

Edited December 25, 2010 by NodUnit

[abs 2]

I would keep it the way it is. IRL, if you had to, you could rest your hand on the console to switch between multiple views with the press of a few buttons...you can't possibly animate that, so it would be a huge time waster in game.

Abs

[nodunit 397]

Ah nothing is a waste of time if it helps with immersion :) for example Franze has made displays or things thereoff before that swap some images around as well as a test in the Su-17 whereupon an action causes a switch to flip up and down.

Edited December 25, 2010 by NodUnit

[Macadam Cow 1]

Personally if I were to go with a cockpit in which you could interact with, I'd go with a pilotless cockpit.

Completly agree with you but the way I see it :

You're the pilot, you're a ghost cam, if you look above your "dashboard" you can see your copilot.

Then you switch to the copilot, his body disappear and you become a ghost cam, if you look back you can see the pilot.

I'm also wondering about the 3rd person view. I guess the game has a MP, would be weird to see 2 empty apaches flying side by side. Might be a detail for some but for me it would be a serious hit in the immersion.

Not sure if it's really clear, basically only the body of the other pilot is visible, not yours and in 3rd person view, both pilots are visible.

So of the two evils, what would you guys prefer..mind you this is all hypothetical but don't let that stand in the way of an answer :)

Would it be possible to have both ? I think you'll have about 50/50 % of answer saying "yeah go for realism" while the other half would say "yeah go for gameplay". So maybe 2 versions could make everyone happy.

If I had to choose one of them I'd say go for immersion ! I spent about 90% of my SP time ingame flying choppers or plane so I'm all for anything that could bring the immersion higher :)

Franze has made displays or things thereoff before that swap some images around as well as a test in the Su-17 whereupon an action causes a switch to flip up and down.

You mean in real time ? You really see the switch go up and down ????

Wooooaaahhh :omg:

Keep up the good work and merry christmas

Edited December 25, 2010 by Macadam Cow

[franze 196]

Actually on a technical basis, the "ghost pilot" could/would be a toggle option, so you could turn it on or off depending on what you want. The only effect is to the player in the character as everyone outside of him/her would see them normally. The downside is that when you turn on the character, things could look odd with cockpit objects clipping through him/her.

[nodunit 397]

Well the post is made and topic bumped..so now I gotta provide something for a reason.. good news is that the problem has apparently been solved. And now I'm making a backup of the model on external drive just for precaution.

will have a picture of D apache pilot panel mind you it's still WIP.

Edited January 3, 2011 by NodUnit

[m1n1d0u 29]

arf bad news ! oki fix this probleme asap =D

[nodunit 397]

So here is the picture, problem is I pulled a DOH and forgot to resize the rendering options so it's far larger than the forum would allow...so sorry but here is another clicky.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee200/NodUnit/Model%20work/AH-64D/Work%20In%20Progress/Dcpit.jpg

Contrast to the OA one is rather interesting, both the same helicopter but so little in common.

http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2010/06/arma-ii-operation-arrowhead-review/0.jpg

I'm starting to think 8 sides for the knobs on the instrument panel just isn't going to cut it.

Edited January 3, 2011 by NodUnit

[Lt Gunner 10]

I have an idea, but it might be too much work. Just an idea, so dont kill me for making a suggestion if its not possible or just simply too much work.

What if you modeled in the legs and body so that if someone were to look around the cockpit as the pilot or gunner, they would see their legs and body.

modeling in an arm attached to the cyclic would be a pain in the ass, but somewhat simple for overall animations, and that would be a really awesome effect.

For the opposite arm/hand you could create an arm graphic kinda like the eyepeice overlay for the AH64 in the mando missile pack. I'm not sure what any of that is called. Have the arm and hand image appear from the botom left of the screen and slide in to where the mouse is, and an extended finger tip would cover where the mouse cursor is. That way it would look somewhat like the guy is taking his hand off the collective and reaching forward to press whatever button or flip a switch. I would say it would just be a static image, that would slide around, with the finger tip attached to the cursor position. It might be a little wierd, but it would at least give the impression that someone is actually in the cockpit pressing the buttons.

[johncage 30]

It kind of breaks immersion when you realize you're piloting a state of the art helicopter and you have no legs, arms or torso.

[franze 196]

I have an idea, but it might be too much work. Just an idea, so dont kill me for making a suggestion if its not possible or just simply too much work.

What if you modeled in the legs and body so that if someone were to look around the cockpit as the pilot or gunner, they would see their legs and body.

modeling in an arm attached to the cyclic would be a pain in the ass, but somewhat simple for overall animations, and that would be a really awesome effect.

For the opposite arm/hand you could create an arm graphic kinda like the eyepeice overlay for the AH64 in the mando missile pack. I'm not sure what any of that is called. Have the arm and hand image appear from the botom left of the screen and slide in to where the mouse is, and an extended finger tip would cover where the mouse cursor is. That way it would look somewhat like the guy is taking his hand off the collective and reaching forward to press whatever button or flip a switch. I would say it would just be a static image, that would slide around, with the finger tip attached to the cursor position. It might be a little wierd, but it would at least give the impression that someone is actually in the cockpit pressing the buttons.

The problem is that there's a big disconnect between the character model and the aircraft model. Characters can only be animated via rtm files, no way around it. That means that there's a real big synchronization issue because you'd have to find some way to animate the character for every little motion of the controls - this makes for massive resources just to have the animations working (has to be done via playmove). The additional downside is that if you're moving the cyclic but also the rudder, your rtm file would have to either do one then the other or it'd have to be a combined animation. If someone is willing to make all the necessary rtm files then great - otherwise it's too much work to justify.

If we could control character bones in the same manner that we control vehicle bones, then it'd be easy to make it work; unfortunately we haven't had that capability since FP.

Simple motions such as moving forward to flip a switch would be easy enough to do given the static action involved.

[Lt Gunner 10]

I meant to actually model the legs body and the one arm as part of the aircraft, then animate it as you would animate the joystick moving around... if thats possible. then have the other arm as an image on the screen...

[abs 2]

I meant to actually model the legs body and the one arm as part of the aircraft, then animate it as you would animate the joystick moving around... if thats possible. then have the other arm as an image on the screen...

What if you came in wearing something other than a flight suit?

Abs