SITREP 27-09-2019

[Polychop Simulations]

Dear community,

 

One of the many requests we’ve received is to be more transparent and keep you updated on what we’re working on. A valid request and this will be the first step in achieving exactly that. We’ll try to give you an insight of what is going on by posting sitreps like these at a frequent rate. This one will be rather short because it has only been three days since we’ve changed the company strategy in developing both the new yet unannounced module and the Gazelle in parallel.

 

Code

 

The past few days we’ve been setting up the new programmer who will be working solely on the Gazelle. This involves transferring data to him, getting him access to the encrypted files, setting up the SDK and authorizing him for access to the trunk build. The latter will give him the ability to start sending updates to be implemented in the public builds. The next few days will be spent on learning him the tricks of the trade.

 

Art

 

On the art front, work on a full PBR update has been started earlier but has now picked up momentum due to the mentioned shift in priorities. The plan is to do a complete makeover of the internal (cockpit) and external textures to adhere to the new Physically Based Rendering technique implemented in DCS 2.5. Even though the new art will have significantly less impact on the gameplay side of things compared to the planned code changes, the Gazelle would look less out of place in DCS world and readability of the cockpit gauges and text should be improved, especially in VR.

 

We hope to bring you a new sitrep in the next few weeks where we will go in to more detail on the progress we’re making.

 

Because our earlier statement might have been burried in an active thread on these forums, we'll post it here as well:

 

Dear community,

 

In the light of recent events, in particular the bug report document posted here, we’d like to make a statement.

 

We understand your concerns, the Gazelle hasn’t been supported as much as we’d have liked to for quite a while. Some bugs have been known for a long period of time but have not been addressed as of yet. Polychop has shifted it’s priorities and limited assets towards developing a new module. The idea has always been that the new module, with it’s more advanced flightmodel and other features we know you as a community would like to see, would pave the way for a number of much needed updates to the Gazelle. In hindsight we can all agree that this strategy did not work out for the best as simply too much time passed in which the Gazelle didn’t get the attention it deserves.

 

The Gazelle as a module has deteriorated during this period of time even though some updates were released that did not get mentioned in the changelog. Some issues have been there from the beginning while others were introduced by many of the core engine updates of DCS, which we should have adapted to. The core engine is a constant work in progress, ED has been doing a great job in enhancing it and making it an ever more feature rich environment. The code of a module heavily relies on the core engine, when certain parts of the engine code are changed it might interfere with the module. A certain synergy between Polychop and ED is needed in order to be able to adapt to any core engine changes. Communication between Polychop and ED on the matter of these code incompatibility issues could be more streamlined and we’re determined to put more effort in to that.

 

Your message is clear though and it made us reconsider our priorities. As stated before, our intentions were to learn from the flaws in the Gazelle and build the new module from scratch, then implement and adapt the new code for the Gazelle module. Now we will focus on finding ways to develop both the Gazelle and the new module in parallel. This means we have to expand as a company as right now Polychop has only one coder, a graphics artist and an intern. Your voice has been heard and we’re already in negotiations with a very promising coder who will focus solely on the Gazelle. With the above in mind we will try our best to bring you the updates you requested as soon as possible.

 

We realize that actions speak louder than words and that we will have a lot to prove and improve.

One of the things we’d like to change is the way we interact with the community. Asking of you to start with a clean slate might be too much at this point but know that our intentions are to be more receptive to your suggestions and feedback. This means items that were previously non-negotiable will now be up for discussion and possible implementation again. To set an example we will be implementing the changes to the Mistral missile.

 

We have a long way to go and we know this statement won’t take away your skepticism. We’ve always had the intention to bring the Gazelle to a higher level. Making us reconsider our strategy might get it there at a faster pace. We thank you for that.

[TomCatGoad]

Appreciate the update.

[Mr_sukebe]

Thumbs up!

[sc_neo]

Cheers! Great initiative, i am looking forward to your next sitrep.

[rrohde]

:thumbup:

[Harlikwin]

:thumbup:

 

Always good to get updates.

[xvii-Dietrich]

Thanks for the update.

[33-DFTC]

Hello Polychop,

 

Would you consider creating the exact same topic but locked as ED has done for the Hornet and Viper ? It will be much easier to follow your progress and stay up to date without scrolling through pages of comments. Thank you for keeping us informed and coming back sooner to the Gazelle.

[Polychop Simulations]

Hello Polychop,

 

Would you consider creating the exact same topic but locked as ED has done for the Hornet and Viper ? It will be much easier to follow your progress and stay up to date without scrolling through pages of comments. Thank you for keeping us informed and coming back sooner to the Gazelle.

 

Hi 33-DFTC,

 

Good idea, we'll arrange a locked sticky with the admins of this board.

[33-DFTC]

Thank you !

[Polychop Simulations]

As requested, you'll now find a locked sticky thread where we will keep you informed on our progress right here.

[sc_neo]

Very nice first report in the stickied thread :) And how very german indeed...with clear and proper titles for each section! Those upcoming updates and enhancements are very much appreciated, thanks.

 

 

BTW: what is current state of the multicrew feature? I have not flown the Gezalle in multicrew in over a year so i have no hirsthand uptodate experience. Last thing i remember i read here on the forums Sven said that this was not in good shape due to some DCS changes or so, but i might recall that incorrectly. Is the multicrew code based on EDs code for the L-39, or is it PCs own coding?

Edited September 30, 2019 by sc_neo

[Shadow KT]

Good news.

 

Glad to finally see progress regarding this topic. Next step is to see it in action. Looking forward. Keep it up!

[Polychop Simulations]

Very nice first report in the stickied thread :) And how very german indeed...with clear and proper titles for each section! Those upcoming updates and enhancements are very much appreciated, thanks.

 

 

BTW: what is current state of the multicrew feature? I have not flown the Gezalle in multicrew in over a year so i have no hirsthand uptodate experience. Last thing i remember i read here on the forums Sven said that this was not in good shape due to some DCS changes or so, but i might recall that incorrectly. Is the multicrew code based on EDs code for the L-39, or is it PCs own coding?

 

Good question, the multicrew functionality is personally one of my favorite features. We have found out that latency is a very big factor in the way it works now. The fact that you share the very same buttons and switches between the WSO and the pilot is something that isn’t handled very well at the moment. Truth be told we hope ED will some day come up with a solution for multicrew on the Mi-8 and Huey as they face the same problems. That’s not to say we won’t be looking in to optimizations on our side. We’ve got different reports, for some people it works rather well, for others it does not. It all comes down to the latency or ping.

 

Thanks for your kind words on the situation report but yours truly is in fact Dutch ;)

[sc_neo]

I wonder, the multicrew works good in the L-39. So the difference that seperates that aircraft and the Gazelle as well as Mi-8 and Huey is that the L-39 in fact has two distinct cockpits where the pilot cannot click on the exact same buttons as the instructor in the backseat, albeit some buttons share the same functionality?

[swatstar98]

Well, the L39 is not exactly the best example of working multicrew, if you go to the bug subforum you can see there is a lot of problem with desync, which is indeed the gazelle problem.

[Shadow KT]

Getting Off-topic, but wouldn't a good solution for multi crew be to separate controls ? Pilot operates his stuff, WSO his own, and people are not touching over each other

[swatstar98]

You are still seeing what each other is doing, and you SHARE systems like RWR. Without saying each model has its separated systems.

[WolfhoundCH]

Yep in my experience, the main issue is desync, very often the copilot doesn't even see the rotor moving..

 

We also still got issues for the copilot slewing camera controls sideways.. I had to use the rudder to align with that tank :D

[Bagpipe]

looking forward to the finished and polished product. will be buying once its ready as already have huey and mi8

[Count von Altibar]

Great to see these sitrep updates, looking forward to improvements to one of my most favourite DCS modules. Thanks Polychop

[MirabelleBenou]

Very nice those SitRep ! Glad to see that the beast still get some love / work :)

Thanks !

[Rogue Trooper]

Great news.

Looking forward to the update of this superb machine!