Polychop Christmas Update 2021

[Polychop Simulations]

Dear DCS Community,  
 
First of all, with the end of the year fast approaching, we want to wish you and your close ones a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Our thoughts are with the people worldwide who are away from their families keeping us safe or fighting for our freedom and won’t be spending Christmas with their loved ones. 

Looking back  
 
Christmas and the end of the year is often a time of reflection and looking back on what has happened in the past year. For Polychop Simulations, ever since the second half of 2020 a lot has changed when it comes to productivity in the coding department slowing down considerably for a good while. The reason for this has been a serious medical condition affecting one of our team members. With Polychop Simulations being a very small team (2 people work on the OH-58D), this has had a severe effect on the production cycle of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior module for DCS World. 
 
While production never stopped on the art and assets department, the coding side of things has only started to catch up during the past six months and has not yet reached the momentum it had prior to to the last half of 2020. This has to do with a lengthy recovery process.  
 
That said, development of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior module is making great progress with the affected team member working as hard as his current situation allows him to. During the past year we’ve decided to dial down the amount of footage, screenshots, streams and general communication to essentially stop the hype train that was befitting our initial release schedule but not the uncertain situation we found ourselves in at some point. Another reason for this has been to minimize the amount of comments that were, although understandable to some degree, hurtful towards the development team as we could not disclose the reasons behind the delay out of courtesy to the affected member and his family. We will resume updating the community with progress reports when we think the time is right for it, which is hopefully very soon.  
 
Not all bad news though, 2021 has brought us a brand new coder who has been working on improvements the DCS SA-342 Gazelle module direly needs, essentially making sure the Gazelle’s systems are functioning as they should and fixing bugs so that when the time comes for implementing the new flight model, the Gazelle will be up to the expected standards. 

 

The future  
 
Coding for the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior has resumed and we’re still working hard to perfect the flight model in cooperation with our very dedicated SME’s. Not only to have all values match the documentation but also to capture the actual feeling of flying the Kiowa Warrior as close as we can. In the meantime, a number of new features have been added due to popular request. These features are currently in a testing phase and are expected to but not guaranteed to make it in to the release. They include the option to add and remove the doors, Mast Mounted Sight and the Rapid Deployment Gear essentially completing the package that is the OH-58D in its most common variants. 
 
Besides the gradual updates on many of its systems the Gazelle will also receive a number of cosmetic upgrades such as the ability to remove the doors on the SA-342L and adding the iconic dipole antennas used by the UK armed forces. We’re also looking in to an AI gunner for the minigun version of the Gazelle. An option to remove the hardpoints on the Gazelle is already in testing. 
 
As has been said before, the flight model overhaul for the Gazelle will come after the release of the Kiowa Warrior module and sadly suffers from its delay. All in all, we hope and expect 2022 to be a much more productive year with the release of the Kiowa and the long awaited updates to the Gazelle.  

 

 
Kiowa release date 
 
 Now the million dollar question; when will the Kiowa be released? Simply put, when it’s done. The Kiowa will be released as system complete, no early access. All systems needed for completing its intended tasks and mission will be functioning as they should. Some quality of life updates and non-essential features might be added later on after release. Things the community has requested certainly spark our interest but should not delay the release date. With the recent past showing us that many factors can influence the development cycle, we won’t be predicting any release windows any more. 
 
Thanks 

Closing off, we’d like to express our gratitude to the people at Eagle Dynamics, for the patience, help and support over the years as well as Bell for providing us with the opportunity and all the support we could ever wish for. We’d also like to thank our OH-58D KW SME’s like Barundus, Roughneck 19, Josh A. and all the others who have stuck with us from day one, selflessly dedicating their time to help us create the most accurate representation of the iconic OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter we possibly can. Last but not least we’d like to thank the community not only for sticking with us, the countless interesting discussions on our Discord but also for providing feedback that will lead to much needed improvements. 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2021 by Polychop Simulations

[evanf117]

why no early access?, i wish to know what lead to this decision
(if its behind an NDA or you just dont want to tell then dont worry), also great work, cant wait

[QuiGon]

Thanks a lot for this dev update! It's great to hear from you guys again
I hope this stops all the annoying rumors that are circling within the DCS community!

I wish all the best for your coder and the rest of the team! Take all the time you need!
I will be patentily looking forward to get my hands on the Kiowa

Edited December 9, 2021 by QuiGon

[Wychmaster]

Thanks for the update. Best wishes, stay healthy and keep on going  .  Looking forward to get the Kiowa whenever it is ready. 

[PapaFlo]

Thank you for the update. 

[blitzattack]

Really hoping for this module and can`t wait to get it !

Carry on bro ! 

Please always remember the concern from the community is based on our love and passion, maybe during your dark days we show some unfriendly .

So sorry for that , just remember the community is always with you 

 

[Phantom88]

Happy Holiday's to You All.And Good Health in The New Year!!!

 

[Charly_Owl]

6 hours ago, Polychop Simulations said:

The Kiowa will be released as system complete, no early access.

Does that mean with multicrew implemented as well?

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

Thanks for the update, and good luck with the recovery process! 

[Avimimus]

Does the plan to remove the hardpoints mean we'll be able to civilianise the Gazelle? The version with the best forward view (and no anti-tank avionics) is the one with the minigun - so if we can remove the minigun it'll create an excellent multi-purpose helicopter.

[Avalanche110]

On 12/9/2021 at 10:28 PM, Polychop Simulations said:

We’re also looking in to an AI gunner for the minigun version of the Gazelle.

This would be a Great addition. Thanks for the update Polychop.

[YoYo]

Fingers crossed and pls to check, during the test, tha model in VR mode also. 

[IcedVenom]

You guys really need to unlock camera from minigun and do it properly. If you guys do that I'll buy the Gazelle.

[Eldur]

Thanks for the open and honest update. I was, as many, wondering what happened since there were no updates in a while, but this explains it all. Being in a medical condition pretty much sucks (I know that much too well...) and all I can do is wish all the best for that team member. Meanwhile I'll wait patiently for the module as well as the Gazelle FM update. We'll be getting there. Take your time to make things right and don't let things bring you down. Keep on rockin'!

[Rogue Trooper]

It is good to hear that we are still alive with the OH-58D and Gazelle.

It would be fantastic to get both of these light weight attack choppers into DCS proper and fully modelled!

I am looking forward to a future of diverse Polychops choppers.... and hopefully an Eurocopter is in there somewhere.

Merry Christmas Polychops and a happy new year!

 

[swatstar98]

Merry christmas guys!

 

[Rogue Trooper]

Yes Merry Christmas All.

[zaelu]

"

• Gun binding issue solved (now you have a new binding "Minigun Fire")"
   

Where is the minigun fire control from patch notes? Computer with the lua file for it crashed?

Edited December 24, 2021 by zaelu

[kotor633]

Hi,

Yeah, that's a good question ... 

[Xefan]

Good news, and glad to hear your staff are okay and things are back on track, but the mast mounted sight not being guaranteed is a bit worrying. This is a key component of the OH-58 as it is also where the laser designator sits and being able to lase targets for other aircraft like the upcoming AH-64, or for Hellfires launched by the OH-58 itself is a fairly fundamental purpose of the OH-58.

The MMS is really required for this aircraft to meet it's potential in DCS as a scout/forward operator that can work well with other aircraft, so I hope you're able to keep it in as it feels a bit pointless otherwise.

[AKA_Clutter]

Best wishes for the coder and all the team.  I was hoping for an Early Access, but with the comments that I've seen around that< i completely understand why not.  Ofcourse, I'm one of those people that play Star Citizen (ALPHA at best), so what can I say.

[xfirf]

Do you guys have an update regarding the Gazelle updates?

[nighthawk06]

Thanks for the update! Happy new year and all the best to your team.

I'm looking forward to the Kiowa release but am being patient :)

[jumphigh]

You're one year too late...

[nighthawk06]

This is true However the Kiowa is featured in the 2023 and beyond vid so I'm still holding the faith