Popular Post myHelljumper Posted June 8, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted June 8, 2022 (edited) South Atlantic Map early access release note Hello fellow rotary and fixed wing aircraft enthusiasts. With the imminent early access release of the South Atlantic map, we, the team, wanted to give everyone a heads-up about what you can expect from the initial early access release so you can make an informed purchase. We believe it’s important to be open and transparent regarding the current state of the project in early access and to share our goals moving towards full release and beyond. Scope of the map Since it would be our very first terrain module, the initial scope of the map was to represent the Falklands/Malvinas islands at the time of the Falklands conflict to have an interesting but small scale map for the team to work on. We soon realized it would be very restrictive for current aircraft in DCS to limit the map to what was available in 1982. For example the 80’s era runway at Mount Pleasant is too short to land an F16 on but we do hope to add era-specific options for the map in future for those who wish to create historically accurate scenarios. After listening to the community, the team decided to also include part of the South American content, to greatly increase the possibilities offered by the map. This scale change increased our workload by a factor of 75, which resulted in the map releasing in 2022 instead of 2020. We hope that you will agree that this decision was for the best. Including part of the South American continent really pushes the bounds of DCS maps in terms of size as this map will be the biggest yet with 3.1 Million km² total size. Technology In order to make this map as realistic as possible we decided at the early stages of the project to use satellite imagery as a base for the ground textures, providing the user with the most realistic depiction of that part of the world that we possibly could. This has provided the unique challenge of having to hand “clean” every part of the landmass to remove clouds, buildings, seasonal stitching and discoloration. This single task has taken thousands of man hours to accomplish and we’re still working on it through early access. For all Airfields and cities we have used the highest custom texture technology available within DCS currently, which is known as splatmap technology and makes use of high quality custom designed textures. In order for the map to look good at low altitude, the team needs to work on improving the mesh and textures by hand as well as adding objects like rocks, debris, additional trees and bushes. This work is very time consuming which, combined with the size of the map means we do ask for a little patience while we work on this throughout early access. Current state of the map Over the past few months we have concentrated mostly on the Falklands/Malvinas islands by, for example, refining the technology for cliff generation. We still have more work to do on the mainland, while the major cities are pretty much done with regards to placement like Rio Gallegos, Rio Grande, Ushuaia and a few others, there is still more work to be done. As you can imagine the map is absolutely massive. At this stage of the project the team feel that the map is good enough to be enjoyed by the public under EA. However, due to the fact that the mainland low altitude level of detail is still not up to the high standard we aim, more work will be done to it in a steady and timely manner during EA. The current size of the map is around 70 GB, if we had taken the decision to render all land masses using the highest quality textures, the map would have been around 250 GB. So there is a happy balance to be had with size compared to texture quality for the areas between the populated airfields, towns and cities. The team will be moving their focus from the Falkland/Malvinas Islands over to the mainland to address the issues and enhance the areas mentioned above. Assets pack Due to the requirement for further testing, we are not able to ship the assets pack with the map at this current time. The full assets pack which includes the ships will be pushed by ED at the next update. Our original thought was to delay the initial release of the map so that the assets could be included, however we feel that these are not the main focus of the map but are an enhancement. In addition to this we have decided to allow the first wave of the assets to be included into the core game, so this means everyone will get them for free whether they purchase the map or not. Conclusion We hope this early access release note has given everyone in the community enough information to make a well informed purchase and has explained the scope of our project. We are really proud of the work that has been done so far, everyone on the team has worked incredibly hard on this and we are committed to go as far as possible with the current software and hardware limitations to bring you the best depiction we can of this beautiful part of the world to enjoy in DCS. Edited June 8, 2022 by myHelljumper 58 29 Helljumper - M2000C Guru Helljumper's Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK3rTjezLUxPbWHvJJ3W2fA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malakhit Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 6 minutes ago, myHelljumper said: In addition to this we have decided to allow the first wave of the assets to be included into the core game, so this means everyone will get them for free whether they purchase the map or not. This is fantastic news, and very unexpected - thanks for this. Looking forward to checking out the results of your hard work later today. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westr Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Sounds really good 1 RYZEN 7 3700X Running at 4.35 GHz NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti 32gb DDR4 RAM @3200 MHz Oculus CV1 NvME 970 EVO TM Warthog Stick & Throttle plus 11" extension. VKB T-Rudder MKIV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoYo Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Cant wait, where is the BUY button? 5 Webmaster of http://www.yoyosims.pl Win 10 64, i9-13900 KF, RTX 4090 24Gb OC, RAM 64Gb Corsair Vengeance LED OC@3600MHz,, 3xSSD+3xSSD M.2 NVMe, Predator XB271HU res.2560x1440 27'' G-sync, Sound Blaster Z + 5.1, TiR5, [MSFS, P3Dv5, DCS, RoF, Condor2, IL-2 CoD/BoX] VR fly only: Meta Quest Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunfreak Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Give me, give me a south Atlantic map now. 2 i7 13700k @5.2ghz, GTX 3090, 64Gig ram 4800mhz DDR5, M2 drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcoscosta Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Ok, sounds good, but why my credit card was not used yet? 1 Computer: Potato Modules: FC3 | M2000C | A/V8B | Viggen | F-5E | F-14B | F-16C | F/A-18 | A-10C | Supercarrier :mad::mad: | UH-1 | MI-8 | Gazelle | KA-50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainstay Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 1 hour ago, myHelljumper said: The current size of the map is around 70 GB, if we had taken the decision to render all land masses using the highest quality textures, the map would have been around 250 GB. So there is a happy balance to be had with size compared to texture quality for the areas between the populated airfields, towns and cities. Would it be possible to release it in two versions? The 70gb version and the 250gb version? I have space for the big one. Would be nice to give the option for both. 11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_sukebe Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Just now, Mainstay said: Would it be possible to release it in two versions? The 70gb version and the 250gb version? I have space for the big one. Would be nice to give the option for both. An interesting option. That's the kind of suggestion that would result in me buying a new NVME drive. Not that I'd mind. 3 System: 9700, 64GB DDR4, 2070S, NVME2, Rift S, Jetseat, Thrustmaster F18 grip, VPC T50 stick base and throttle, CH Throttle, MFG crosswinds, custom button box, Logitech G502 and Marble mouse. Server: i5 2500@3.9Ghz, 1080, 24GB DDR3, SSD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hannibal Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 (edited) DCS BTR-80 and DCS Orcinus orca..when? lol DCS SA a first day buy for me Edited June 8, 2022 by hannibal 1 find me on steam! username: Hannibal_A101A http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197969447179 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallsignLord Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 For the Malvinas Falklands!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxonefoxtwo Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 MINDBLOWING. What kind of a release date are we looking at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunfreak Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Just now, foxonefoxtwo said: MINDBLOWING. What kind of a release date are we looking at? Today 1 i7 13700k @5.2ghz, GTX 3090, 64Gig ram 4800mhz DDR5, M2 drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malakhit Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Just now, foxonefoxtwo said: MINDBLOWING. What kind of a release date are we looking at? For the South Atlantic map? Today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxonefoxtwo Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Just now, Gunfreak said: Today WHAT THE......Where do I buy!!!!!!!!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandre Costa Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 what time is the release? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunfreak Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 4 minutes ago, foxonefoxtwo said: WHAT THE......Where do I buy!!!!!!!!!!! I assume it comes with the open beta patch which comes in the evening in Europe. 1 i7 13700k @5.2ghz, GTX 3090, 64Gig ram 4800mhz DDR5, M2 drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkk01 Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 OB is downloading RN 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimp Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 (edited) It's free? Edit: Nevermind Edited June 8, 2022 by pimp i9 9900k @5.1GHz NZXT Kraken |Asus ROG Strix Z390 E-Gaming | Samsung NVMe m.2 970 Evo 1TB | LPX 64GB DDR4 3200MHz EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra | Reverb G1 | HOTAS Warthog | Saitek Flight Pedals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eisprinzessin Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Hm, updated game, ~4.5 Gigs, but no map. Specs: 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12900K 3.20 GHz, RAM 128 GB, Win11 Home, RTX3080Ti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unlikely_spider Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Just now, Eisprinzessin said: Hm, updated game, ~4.5 Gigs, but no map. Did you buy it? 2 Modules: Wright Flyer, Spruce Goose, Voyager 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bell_rj Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 (edited) You can buy here and download it now - I'm downloading right now. DCS patch is also released. Don't forget to download the terrain module separately, after you loaded the game. https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/shop/terrains/south_atlantic_terrain/ Edited June 8, 2022 by bell_rj 1 PC specs: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eisprinzessin Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 (edited) Ähm, i would love to. But nothing in the shop. @: now its here. Thanks Edited June 8, 2022 by Eisprinzessin 1 Specs: 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12900K 3.20 GHz, RAM 128 GB, Win11 Home, RTX3080Ti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wju Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 (edited) downloading already... Edited June 8, 2022 by wju 2 i7-7820X@4.5Ghz; GPU 3080Ti, 64GB RAM, HP Reverb G2; VKB Ultimate stick; VIRPIL Throttle; Slaw Pedals; custom AX&BTN BOX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quax Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Same problem here. I bought the map, downloaded the update but cannot download the map. It is not even listed in the module page of DCS although I have a valid license in my DCS profile... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick33 Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Just now, Quax said: Same problem here. I bought the map, downloaded the update but cannot download the map. It is not even listed in the module page of DCS although I have a valid license in my DCS profile... When you say module page are you looking in the module manager (top left icon when you start DCS)? 1 AMD 5800X3D · MSI 4080 · Asus ROG Strix B550 Gaming · HP Reverb Pro · 1Tb M.2 NVMe, 32Gb Corsair Vengence 3600MHz DDR4 · Windows 11 · Thrustmaster TPR Pedals · VIRPIL T-50CM3 Base, Alpha Prime R. VIRPIL VPC Rotor TCS Base. JetSeat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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