Arma 2 AV-8B Harrier II Port

[corporal_lib[br] 396]

Hey Chairborne, I´ve noticed the HUD symbology hasn´t changed (it´s still the BIS with broken alt/spd/heading indicators)... have you scrapped the idea of using the Buzzard symbology or planning to use Geraldobolso´s HMD/HUD symbology?

With the proper head allignment now we can use the HIDRA rockets effectively and the bone errors removed is a plus, thanks ;)

cheers!

[Chairborne 2594]

No it hasn't been scrapped, i decided to save it for a future release as i'm wrapping up the Su-25.

[corporal_lib[br] 396]

Nice, for the SU-25 HUD are you going to use the Nephron HUD or the proper russian HUD like Teacup´s Su22M4 or Sudden´s Su-25 have?

cheers!

[Crielaard 435]

Nice update. PM me if you want help with the HUD.

I noticed the Model is about 20% too big though, compared to the 'men' in arma.

Look at this picture and compare it to how it looks in Arma

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/BAE-McDonell-Douglas_AV8B_edit5.jpg (321 kB)

Edited October 6, 2014 by 87th_Neptune

[Chairborne 2594]

;2789600']Nice' date=' for the SU-25 HUD are you going to use the Nephron HUD or the proper russian HUD like Teacup´s Su22M4 or Sudden´s Su-25 have?

cheers![/quote']

None of the above, it's an edited version of the original one from A2, when it's released you'll know who is the mastermind behind it. ;)

Nice update. PM me if you want help with the HUD.

I noticed the Model is about 20% too big though, compared to the 'men' in arma.

Look at this picture and compare it to how it looks in Arma

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/BAE-McDonell-Douglas_AV8B_edit5.jpg (321 kB)

You noticed wrong, the model is scaled correctly compared to real life data. ;D

Maybe it's the pilot proxy cheating you into thinking the scale is not correct, but if you open the sample model in object builder you can see by youself the measures are allright.

[Guest]

Thanks for sending us the release and sorry for the delay :cool:

Release frontpaged on the Armaholic homepage.

AV-8B Harrier II v0.2

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[kazimierz 2]

I have a couple of skins available for this particular BiS aircraft. It would be great if you could include one, as the default BIS ones are pretty damn bad.

See the screenshot from ArmA II:

Furthermore; I have a few suggestions. Apart from a UAV/F-18/PINS style camera system, there are some minor thing you should tweak;

First of all, the VTOL system is the default BiS one from ArmA II. That has far too little power to do proper VTOL manoeuvring; in fact it keeps sinking to the ground.

Second, the formation lights are extremely bright. They should only be visible in a formation, not from 10 miles. The aircraft seems to miss the normal navigation, strobe and beacon light.

Finally, the landing light is blue - instead of the regular white light.

[Chairborne 2594]

I have a couple of skins available for this particular BiS aircraft. It would be great if you could include one, as the default BIS ones are pretty damn bad.

Did you make these by youself?

I remember there used to be a couple RAF skins from A2 but i don't want to take them without the author's consent.

Furthermore; I have a few suggestions. Apart from a UAV/F-18/PINS style camera system, there are some minor thing you should tweak;

First of all, the VTOL system is the default BiS one from ArmA II. That has far too little power to do proper VTOL manoeuvring; in fact it keeps sinking to the ground.

Second, the formation lights are extremely bright. They should only be visible in a formation, not from 10 miles. The aircraft seems to miss the normal navigation, strobe and beacon light.

Finally, the landing light is blue - instead of the regular white light.

In order:

- I like the idea but i'd really prefer to use some standardized solution, that is to say something implemented by AGM or directly by BIS without resorting to scripting of my own.

- Both the harrier and F35 cannot take off vertically with combat payload, so that is not going to be changed because it works the way it's supposed to.

- I'll see if that can be fixed. Do you have any info on how the lights you mention are supposed to work or where they're located on the Harrier?

[kazimierz 2]

Did you make these by youself?

I remember there used to be a couple RAF skins from A2 but i don't want to take them without the author's consent.

Well buddy, you are in luck. I can basically make you any skin for the Harrier - as I took a lot of time and redrew the ENTIRE BiS texture. It was a lot of effort, but that means I can now easily add new paint jobs. I basically worked on 4 RAF versions that were in use. The grey one, such as in the screenshots, a grey/olive camo version of the '80's. See image below. A green drab version of the '90 and a commemoration version. All within the No.4 Sqn lineage.

Commemorative tail. (similar)

Green olive.

Commemorative Grey/Olive Camo..

In order:

- I like the idea but i'd really prefer to use some standardized solution, that is to say something implemented by AGM or directly by BIS without resorting to scripting of my own.

- Both the harrier and F35 cannot take off vertically with combat payload, so that is not going to be changed because it works the way it's supposed to.

- I'll see if that can be fixed. Do you have any info on how the lights you mention are supposed to work or where they're located on the Harrier?

I understand. I leave the decisions with you on the technical field. The ISTARS/GPS bomb capability is very important if the add-on is to be usable for the multi-player community. But that's something I am not familiar with, other than as a user. On the user side, I would again advise to increase VTOL capability -I know the bird is not able to work like that with a full load, but becomes unplayable without it (you basically lose the control of your descent with the auto-hover on, as you cannot climb straight and are too slow for forward flight -a dangerous situation)

I would like to cooperate with you to release a well-working mod. What kind of textures would you be looking for?

Let me know!

Kaz

Edited November 3, 2014 by Kazimierz

[Chairborne 2594]

If you disable autohovering the jet resumes normal flight even if you're descending.

If you have some skins send them over and i'll see what i can do, i'm a bit tied up with other mods and stuff but i want to update this as well and i hate working with textures lol.

[kazimierz 2]

http://i.imgur.com/N1UBhso.jpg (176 kB)

http://i.imgur.com/qwttKJc.jpg (269 kB)

[Chairborne 2594]

I'm definitely going to add this in the next release...!

[Kansiov 14]

Awesome! We're another step closer to a Falklands mission :p

[kazimierz 2]

I'm definitely going to add this in the next release...!

Well, make room for a couple of skins then. I have at least 3 RAF skins and currently working on two USMC VMA-211 version's (one two-tone (dark), and one three tone camo).

On the technical side I would suggest you expand the amount of loadouts available. A GPS targeting system is, as I said earlier, a welcome addition (a must potentially.) A system that has a laser designator such as the hellcat would be nice, but perhaps hard to mod. If those issues are addressed, the Harrier can be a truly powerful platform.

Perhaps help from other members might be a solution. Airplane wise, it would be great to see something like suspension finally in the plane. But that is possibly hard to do due to the BiS model.

It would be cool if the lightning would be as close to reality as possible: formation lights, navigation lights (red/green/white), a (white) landing light on the forward gear, strobe lights, and two beacons (top and bottom). Check flickr for reference material. This is probably a simple thing to do.

[Chairborne 2594]

Suspensions and collision lights should be the easier part model-wise.

I'm still going to need some reference for all the collision and strobe lights, if you can link me a gallery that would help since google doesn't give much.

Also, i've been having this idea for some time now to do a semi-proper Harrier Gr.7/9, but aside from the additional pylons and no gatling i couldn't notice any difference between them and the US variants.

If you can give me some information and pictures i think it should be reasonably easy to make them.

[serjames 357]

looking good !

Excited to see some british kit as ever !!

[kazimierz 2]

Suspensions and collision lights should be the easier part model-wise.

I'm still going to need some reference for all the collision and strobe lights, if you can link me a gallery that would help since google doesn't give much.

Also, i've been having this idea for some time now to do a semi-proper Harrier Gr.7/9, but aside from the additional pylons and no gatling i couldn't notice any difference between them and the US variants.

If you can give me some information and pictures i think it should be reasonably easy to make them.

He mate,

Done some research. The BiS model is basically poor, it lacks detail and some of the elements of the plane are just out of place (such as the nose section). That doesn't mean we can't have a nice texture though. Maybe we can even edit the sound file for the plane to make it feel right. Check this video.

Things like wheels and lightning are small things that probably make quite a difference.

Check these photo's for the positions of those lights.

Night Time Harrier. Pay attention to the downside (red) beacon light. That is visibile in this picture as well. The upper beacon light (red plastic) is visible in this picture, though unlit. For lit beacons, see this photo.This frontal photo shows the position of the (green/red) navigation lights on the wingtips and the central landing light on the nose gear.

Oh, and on the model; check this for comparison. The skin is in progress

Edited November 6, 2014 by Kazimierz

[kazimierz 2]

WIP:

Edited November 10, 2014 by Kazimierz

[Chairborne 2594]

Wow, can't wait to be done with the hind and get back to the harrier!

The new USMC skin is pretty badass.

[Defunkt 431]

http://i.imgur.com/9c0bXGr.jpg (211 kB)

Wow! Hot.

[kazimierz 2]

New hot from development;

To do. Finishing the textures; that means inlets, gunpod, gear-bay, weathering etc.

The issue remains that the textures are mirrored on the other side.

I need advice on the RVMAT -as the BIS textures still shine through..

EDIT; I know basically know how to edit ALL the textures. It's going to be a bit more work though. Any advice on the amount of specular shine I need in SMDI?

Edited November 10, 2014 by Kazimierz

[2ndLt Schneider-Wiss 11]

amazing work gents eagerly looking forward to the new skins

[kazimierz 2]

Will be nice to see a formation like this soon;

https://31.media.tumblr.com/d2ab3c62a07d032e6cfc4d1f226e2253/tumblr_ne2fek6S6k1r04vbeo1_1280.jpg (259 kB)

[Chairborne 2594]

The problem with materials shining too much is fixable as far as i could test.

I used RVMAT data directly from A3 planes, however the AS textures are slightly different from the ones A2 used.

You can see the final result with my Su-25, that uses materials and textures on par with A3, and soon on the Hind as well.

That is to say, i know how to fix it, i just haven't had time to do that yet...

[kazimierz 2]

I have figured out at least how to edit the AS textures. I'm currently also working on the NOHQ as well to make the model more detailed, without going over modelling itself. I think this can become on of my best texturing jobs so far -and I can basically edit in ANY of the variants of the Harrier (as I redrew all the BIS textures by hand).

There are however some things I would like to see implemented, but that comes down to your editing skills Chairborne!

- Landing Gear revision; the landing gear and how it is implemented is probably what annoys me the most about the default BiS Harrier model. As can be seen in one of the pictures (Real vs. ArmA) I posted before, there are several things off. 1) The most obvious is the way the airframe sits on it's gear in real-life; it is slightly leaning back. The nose gear strut in real life is rather higher than in the BiS model; probably due to the center of weight of the plane is mostly centered on the main gear wheels. This should be easy to change. 2) Secondly, the model does not have a working suspension modelled in. That would make the plane feel and look more realistic, although I am aware of the limitations of ArmA fixed-wing physics (e.g. the suspension compressing before really landing). 3) Third, the angle that the nose-wheel steers could be increased, as in reality, the airplane is able to almost turn around its own wingspan.

- Model details; the aircraft is good on a basic level, though some parts seem to be a rush job of BiS. Considering the AV-8B+, which the BiS model is representing, the most obvious mistake is the nose-cone, that was added to the AV-8B to house the APG-65 radar. It is rather slender and long; while in reality - it's a rather stub, fatty looking object. A second concern is that in the BiS model, the pilot is barely able to see over the sides of the canopy (in the external model), where in reality the driver almost sits on top of the airframe in his bubble canopy. Another lacking detail in the BiS model is the lack of an airbrake, a very prominent feature of the real life aircraft. Finally, the animations such as entering and exiting the aircraft are absent. Including these would add polishing to the add-on, making it complete and detailed.

- Aircraft lightning; As said, the work on the model by Chairborne to include proper navigation lights is already a big improvement over the regular BiS model. However, some things are still missing. 1) The red-green-white navigation lights should be included. 2) Likewise, the plane still needs two red beacon lights and 3) flashing white strobes. 4) The landing light also needs adjustment to a more realistic white/amber version. It would be extremely nice if the landing gear light comes on slowly and dims slowly when shut down, such as is the case with the high-intensity landing light in reality. In real-life, the plane is equipped with a secondary landing/taxi light, that is used to illuminate at a steep angle when taxiing and hovering. That requires an extra function though.

- Targeting system; in order to be able to use the aircraft in accurate bombing, the plane needs a precision bombing system. The John Spartan & Saul F/A-18E Hornet is a good example of such a system. A ISTARs systems such as the F/A-18F has would be a plus, but the ability to solo drop ordinance on a position with e.g. GPS coordinates/laser designation is a primary necessity. If we want the add-on to be any good for multiplayer scenarios that require precision strike capability, we need to get this sorted. Perhaps cooperation/support by John Spartan would be possible. I am not aware if the BiS heritage of the model prohibits such modifications.

- Service menu; again, the benchmark modification by John Spartan & Saul serves as inspiration. The service menu that they have included in their mod is so intuitive and functional that I always wonder why a paid company such as BiS didn't come up with this concept. It would be great for the Harrier to have such an option. Especially since I am able to include a variety of high-quality textures for this addon. Furthermore, it would make it possible to select various loadouts for the airplane, without going through the pain of editing a mission.

- Sounds; the sound included in the BiS model is very generic, whilst the Harrier's Rolls Royce Pegasus engine has a very distinctive audio footprint. I think the immersive level could be increased dramatically if we overhaul the sound system. For example, revamping sounds such as idle speed, hovering and fast forward flight and adding details such as canopy sound, gear movement etc. The youtube video posted above is exemplary; compare that footage to the airplane in ArmA III.

Kaz