AH-64 Pack

[franze 196]

Usually true, but Ed Macy's account of the Apache rescue attempt using the British AH Mk1 does mention the Royal Marines strapped to the sides of his Apache firing their weapons.

No doubt it's possible IRL, if only to throw some lead out; however, the primary purpose of this function is to get downed aircraft crew out of harm's way in an emergency. While you can use it as a general transport kind of thing, the risk to the personnel riding on the sides is a bit excessive when better options are available.

[nodunit 397]

If your bussy making paint schemes.. please at the RNAF demo paint scheme ;)

I have been looking at this topic for a long time now. But never responded. So i want to say keep up the good work. I love the detail you put in it. And i admire the time you put in this also.. even without HAWK paint scheme for the Dutch Apache ;)

http://www.patchdesign.nl/apache_demoteam_design.html This one for sure is on my to do list, infact it influenced some of the UV mapping early on so that I could get the engine covers and nacelles just right http://images3.jetphotos.net/img/2/2/7/9/18884_1306781972.jpg

Also if anyone is curious on the maneuvers they pull off here is a list http://www.apachedemoteam.nl/pages/the-show.php

[VXR 9]

http://www.patchdesign.nl/apache_demoteam_design.html This one for sure is on my to do list, infact it influenced some of the UV mapping early on so that I could get the engine covers and nacelles just right http://images3.jetphotos.net/img/2/2/7/9/18884_1306781972.jpg

Also if anyone is curious on the maneuvers they pull off here is a list http://www.apachedemoteam.nl/pages/the-show.php

Be sure not to forget their special helmetpaintings too ;) had a chat with one of the guys, think they will like seeing their air display helicopter in Arma. :D

[franze 196]

Nodunit informed me that he would not be back until next week, which means I am the ultimate power in this thread now!

Ok, so in a nutshell we've been piecing together the AH-64A/D slowly, but things are starting to get fairly fleshed out and we're seeing some pretty big leaps. The cockpit is far from done, but the groundwork is being put in place to get a lot of the systems we've wanted since FP involved. Naturally we can't get 100% accuracy since a lot of functionality - especially from the AH-64D - cannot be done in a practical way, and some things are simply too complex for a game.

The key system that I suspect most players will be using is the TSD or Tactical Situation Display. The TSD represents a top-down view of the battlefield as described by the sensors on the aircraft and fellow aircraft (more on this later). It's used for both navigation and attack, tracking waypoints and units. At the moment it only tracks units, but further development will add a navigation capability (if you've used our Su-17/22M4 you're probably familiar with it). This is the only working display we have at the moment, probably soon to be followed by the FCR page. The TSD was implemented so we'd have a better idea of what we were targeting with the TADS/FCR at long range. Targets are represented by type on the TSD with a symbol and the currently selected target has a bracket around it.

The AH-64D, when equipped with the Longbow radar, gets a big boost in what it can see and how far it can see on the battlefield. Most of you will probably demand an FCR on your aircraft after having used it - it makes that much of a difference. The FCR enables you acquire targets at 8km+ and kill them in combination with the AGM-114L missile. It also has an aerial scanning mode so you can see those fast movers before they get a chance to hose you. This doesn't make the no-radar AH-64D useless however; it can use the AGM-114L missile as well, but is restricted in how it can use it. The SAL AGM-114K is typically the more direct option and it's no slouch either. The SAL missiles have an advantage (or disadvantage, depending on your point of view) of repeat fire - you fire a missile every so many seconds, then as each target is hit you successively target your next target until you have no more targets left. The disadvantage is of course, you have to keep your target constantly tracked and within the constraints of the missile; a second or two off and your missile may be unable to acquire the target. RF missiles are the only true fire and forget option here.

The primary sensor systems available, TADS and FCR, are used to add target information to a global database accessible by all AH-64Ds. Targets detected with either system are represented in the TSD (though you only see targets within the currently set TSD limits) and classified according to type. TADS naturally works only within visual limits compared to the FCR working within restrictions of LOS and RFI/EMI. Once added to the database, they remain there until detected as destroyed (it's worth noting that the AH-64A lacks this database feature).

The system that's gotten the most love over the past few days has been the IHADSS, which will probably be the most important display of all. It has pertinent information relating to aircraft systems and data as well as weapon systems. This system is only just starting, but we're hoping to have several modes available through it to assist with both fighting and flying. IHADSS works in conjunction with the PNVS to provide a day/night capable sighting system for pilotage. For those curious, YES the pilot can pan the PNVS turret around and see through it (heads down/sight key).

We've also been refining the armament system, big time with rockets. The AH-64 series basically separates rockets into zones, specifically 5 zones spread across the 4 stations. Zones A and B are on the #1 and #4 stations, Zones C and D are on the #2 and #3 stations, and Zone E is spread across all four stations. Difficult to explain without a diagram which I'm not going to make now, but suffice to say we have it done that way. Basically enables you to load various rocket warheads into the same pod, although it must be the same for the pod on the opposite pylon. Different HELLFIRE types can by loaded onto the same rack, so if you want a mix of SAL and RF, or a mix of various warheads, that can be achieved now. Planned AGM-114 types are the A, C, K, L, M, and N. Rocket types are currently the M151, M229, M261, and M255.

Of course, saying something isn't quite the same as showing something, so here's a little show and tell.

A few from our tester, Hellcat:

A few by yours truly:

Rest are just a tad too large to hotlink, so here's a few more.

IHADSS1 - Not much to talk about on this one, you can figure out what most of it means. "LOS INVALID" means that the aircraft doesn't have a good firing solution on the current target.

IHADSS/TSD - AGM-114 actioned in LOBL mode with a target acquired via TADS. You can see the TSD page on the right MPD. Please ignore the TSD range on the IHADSS!

IHADSS-RKT - Rockets actioned, Zone B. MPSM warheads. Note the I beam which denotes pylon elevation.

Armament 1 - Weapon screen, no weapons.

Armament 2 - Weapon screen, fully loaded.

Finally, some hi-rez shots from Hellcat (1920x1080):

AH-64D NR - 1

AH-64D NR - 2

AH-64D NR - 3

AH-64D NR - 4

AH-64D NR - 5

AH-64D NR - 6

AH-64D NR - 7

AH-64D NR - 8

Enjoy!

Edited September 4, 2011 by Franze
Forgot some pics

[Fox '09 14]

man that looks great in game. I look forward to more progress, this is an amazing project.

[ei8ght 11]

just awesome :eek::eek:

thank you both for this beautiful baby:D

[_S2_ 10]

stunning

[kremator 1065]

Looks absolutely fantastic! Keep up the good work guys!

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Oh gawd, can't wait to see it when the paintjob is done. :D

/gfx whore

[DaveP 66]

Nice one! Hearing the different variants of Hellfire available, will there be an option for mission makers to limit the ordnance the helicopter can fit for a mission (or at a specific FARP, even)? I can't see people choosing the A type when there's Hellfire II on offer

Edited September 4, 2011 by DaveP

[b00ce 160]

Sweet Jesus. That looks amazing! I can't wait to fly this puppy!

[Coffeecat 10]

to be honest, on the first pics i thought, why another Apache, we allready have 2. but this...wow. looking far more accurate, great work:eek:

[kremator 1065]

Sod the paintwork. ......functionality is king!

[franze 196]

Nice one! Hearing the different variants of Hellfire available, will there be an option for mission makers to limit the ordnance the helicopter can fit for a mission (or at a specific FARP, even)? I can't see people choosing the A type when there's Hellfire II on offer

Yes, we plan to add a similar weapon restriction system to the one we put on the Su-17/22. However, the wide variety of missiles available is mostly to span across all AH-64 variants; the AH-64A might need to be restricted to AGM-114A for a pre-1990 scenario and so on.

[JuiceMouse 10]

As I have been with all stages of this dev, I'm quite impressed. Franze and Nod, you guys are doing a great job, my only complaint is that I cant fly this thing yet!

As the IHADSS is the current focus, are there any plans for overlay of video from the tads/pnvs? Is that even possible? I suppose my desire for a DCS-level of fidelity is pretty lofty.

As usual, if you have any questions regarding the system or the verbage seen in the symbology, just ask.

[franze 196]

As I have been with all stages of this dev, I'm quite impressed. Franze and Nod, you guys are doing a great job, my only complaint is that I cant fly this thing yet!

As the IHADSS is the current focus, are there any plans for overlay of video from the tads/pnvs? Is that even possible? I suppose my desire for a DCS-level of fidelity is pretty lofty.

As usual, if you have any questions regarding the system or the verbage seen in the symbology, just ask.

Hey - drop us a line when you get a chance, we will probably have plenty of questions that will need to be worked out over the coming months.

For ArmA2 we can't have video overlay - the best we can do is the optics view through PNVS which isn't really quite the same thing. If we rebuilt for TKOH we might have that option though.

[nodunit 397]

Sod the paintwork. ......functionality is king!

Oh there will be plenty of functionality..overwhelmingly so you might say. Wink.

Lets just say that AH-64A and AH-64D will have far more differences than appearance and the fact that all gauges are shown at all times versus MPD pages...Wink.

Edited September 7, 2011 by NodUnit

[kremator 1065]

Amen to that :)

[vrcraptor 11]

Any updates on this project, I am looking forward to getting to know the new bird when ready!... :)

[nodunit 397]

Mmmm...nope nothing for public anyway, normally I'd jump at the idea of showing any update I can but at this point I'd rather wait for whole parts to be done as to not spoil it but I will say this, we remain ever diligent in pursuit to remove the HUD and place full reliance on cockpit instruments..everything.

Saddly we had to axe the interaction idea, during testing we tried methods by Myke and Nou (thanks guys). When sitting still it works great, we were able to mess with a startup but when motion comes in then things get tricky. Franze tried widening the effect area so that simply focusing on the MPD would allow the action but that ran into issues later on in a more intense mission name said points going all over the place and being very difficult to track.

I'll ask Franze what is more in the final stages that could be shown, maybe he'll let me show the weapon system..it is...quite different and actually does vary between A, D and NR.

Edited October 14, 2011 by NodUnit

[jumpinghubert 49]

pls give us a beta after this long year :)

[purepassion 22]

Speaking about interactive buttons: How about using this concept only for external interactions such as opening hatches etc, so the player has the ability to make use of this function and the action menu is not cluttered with "open front hatch" "open rear hatch" etc.

The problem you presented would be non existing in this idea

Edited October 15, 2011 by PurePassion

[Gedis 0]

nod, franze, you better hurry to release this indian before S-300s come along, because then it would have to be grounded if a single battery was on the map... :p

hehe, just keep us updated guys ;)

[franze 196]

Good thing the S-300 can't see well in the NOE environment. :p

There's not a whole lot to talk about in terms of visual updates; I've been building some support stuff for the planned campaigns plus working on scripting and Nodunit has been working on the cockpit.

[nodunit 397]

Speaking about interactive buttons: How about using this concept only for external interactions such as opening hatches etc, so the player has the ability to make use of this function and the action menu is not cluttered with "open front hatch" "open rear hatch" etc.

The problem you presented would be non existing in this idea

An interesting idea but a prop such as that is saddly not intended for a functioning model mostly due to there being mostly no point. It is being used for gunner and pilot door however and if nothing else there is thought of trying for a start up.

Get back in your cage Franze.