What did I think of Kiowa? It needs to improve in some areas!

[ThorBrasil]

I gave Polychop a vote of confidence for the first time and I regret about 30% of the purchase of pre-ordering. The Kiowa flight model is very fun to fly and I really liked that. The sounds seem very low. I don't know if it was recorded from the real aircraft like the modern modules. This aircraft should be sold with early access because of the points below.

Things that need to improve A LOT.

1 - External textures seem to be in low resolution.

2 - External model very low in polygon count. It looks like the modules released about 8 years ago in DCS. It doesn't have the same level of detail as the modern modules.

3 - The animation of the ammunition when firing the .50 doesn't exist. The ammunition doesn't move in the ammunition belt and it doesn't empty when all the ammunition in the .50 is used up.

4 - There is no damage model like the Mi-8, Huey, Apache among others. You can see in the video that the aircraft is indestructible.

If all these things were resolved before release the module would be worth full price.

 

 

Edited June 7 by ThorBrasil

[ricktoberfest]

18 minutes ago, ThorBrasil said:

I gave Polychop a vote of confidence for the first time and I regret about 30% of the purchase of pre-ordering. The Kiowa flight model is very fun to fly and I really liked that. The sounds seem very low. I don't know if it was recorded from the real aircraft like the modern modules. This aircraft should be sold with early access because of the points below.

Things that need to improve A LOT.

1 - External textures seem to be in low resolution.

2 - External model very low in polygon count. It looks like the modules released about 8 years ago in DCS. It doesn't have the same level of detail as the modern modules.

3 - The animation of the ammunition when firing the .50 doesn't exist. The ammunition doesn't move in the ammunition belt and it doesn't empty when all the ammunition in the .50 is used up.

4 - There is no damage model like the Mi-8, Huey, Apache among others. You can see in the video that the aircraft is indestructible.

If all these things were resolved before release the module would be worth full price.

 

 

So aside from the damage model all your gripes are visual?  That sounds like a good release to me. 

[ThorBrasil]

21 minutes ago, ricktoberfest said:

So aside from the damage model all your gripes are visual?  That sounds like a good release to me. 

Understand! The Kiowa, with these problems I mentioned, makes it already outdated graphically. If this weren't a problem, ED wouldn't be updating all of its modules to current standards. Even the BO-105 had to be remade because of this. The same thing happened to the A-1H from Crosstail Studios. In the future, new modules will be released and, whether we like it or not, the graphics will be a weight on the scale. There's also the issue of AI, which I won't even comment on because everything has already been said in the other topics. I'm sure this can all be fixed, but what really bothered me was that this aircraft didn't deserve the full price. It's simply early access masquerading as "full".

[Moxica]

I was also surprised over the mediocre graphics on the metal switches. Also on the weird contrasts. Very 2013
Not even close to the level we've gotten used to in other modules.
And also the .50 sampled loop sound.
Polychop does not have the best sound guys.
But today I celebrate.
Later I'll complain. ..or not.

Edited June 5 by Moxica

[YoYo]

I saw the video, unfortunately, it doesn't look good like for "no EA" status. In case of zero bullets, it should not still show bullets on the tape on external view / from the cockpit. Textures are also not today's standard, they look more like 1024x1024 pxt (or less?) and that's the maximum (do you have High lvl for textures in the DCS settings(?), not to mention DM. 

Btw. textures could be ok (can you check the resolution?), but it could be a problem of 3D shape of model - texel density?

Edited June 5 by YoYo

[Mainstay]

Are these textures real? If so then im flabbergasted..... im a sucker for eyecandy and this is a big no no for me.

[ThorBrasil]

  

7 minutes ago, YoYo said:

I saw the video, unfortunately, it doesn't look good like for "no EA" status. In case of zero bullets, it should not still show bullets on the tape on external view / from the cockpit. Textures are also not today's standard, they look more like 1024x1024 pxt (or less?) and that's the maximum (do you have High lvl for textures in the DCS settings(?), not to mention DM. 

Btw. textures could be ok (can you check the resolution?), but it could be a problem of 3D shape of model - texel density?

 

 

My settings in DCS. I use a 3080 12GB, Ryzen 7 3800X and 32GB of RAM.

3 minutes ago, Mainstay said:

Are these textures real? If so then im flabbergasted..... im a sucker for eyecandy and this is a big no no for me.

Yes! That's what the textures look like. They look low-res, but the Kiowa is a lot of fun to fly.

Edited June 5 by ThorBrasil

[Mainstay]

2 minutes ago, ThorBrasil said:

Yes! That's what the textures look like. They look low-res, but the Kiowa is a lot of fun to fly.

Okay thnx for the headsup. I want the full package so ill skip this one.

[YoYo]

I have A.I. model - no any sound of AI? I can not hear anything ...

[ThorBrasil]

2 minutes ago, YoYo said:

I have A.I. model - no any sound of AI? I can not hear anything ...

It's a bug. In the full module there is sound, but the sounds seem a little low. In my video the sounds are at the maximum preset.

[Alpiinoo]

Definitely I agree with you. Compared to current modules, the sounds and model quality are generally below... Espically hellfire launch sound.

[ThorBrasil]

14 minutes ago, YoYo said:

I have A.I. model - no any sound of AI? I can not hear anything ...

 

11 minutes ago, Alpiinoo said:

Definitely I agree with you. Compared to current modules, the sounds and model quality are generally below... Espically hellfire launch sound.

Look at the sounds. With the module installed, the AI now has sound.

I saw comments on Discord that the Kiowa can't hover with 100% fuel and 4xhellfire, but apparently it's possible and very easy. I don't know if it's like that in real life, but here's the video proving it.

 

 

[Alpiinoo]

5 minutes ago, ThorBrasil said:

 

Look at the sounds. With the module installed, the AI now has sound.

I saw comments on Discord that the Kiowa can't hover with 100% fuel and 4xhellfire, but apparently it's possible and very easy. I don't know if it's like that in real life, but here's the video proving it.

 

 

Thanks for detailed video.

[Braunn]

Yeah, I'm not paying $70 for that. 

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

My initial impressions:

- Mind you this is from the Caucasus Free Flight IA mission: I only flew around for a bit then landed again - 

 

1. Very fun and easy to fly;
2. The 'feeling' of flight is great: small helo with excellent visibility all around and it felt great to 'sit' in the cockpit;
2. Sound volume is too low compared to other modules, especially given the lack of doors. It would be great if this could be adjusted to match the sound level of the UH-1 with open doors - as far as this comparison holds true comparing the real aircraft;
3. There are some clipping issues with the pilot models: the pilot's left thumb clips through the throttle, and the copilot's right wrist doesn't fully render. It looks like it's made of paper and twisted 180 degrees around the longitudinal axis (sorry for the poor analogy but this is what it looked like to me);
4. I agree with previous posters about the texture quality. We have been spoiled really (especially recently) so while there's nothing wrong with the textures per se, comparatively they are lower quality than other recent releases (this is something I already noticed from watching Casmo's videos and now confirmed for myself);
5. The framerate was quite a bit lower than with other modules. For proper testing I'd need to place a hotstart aircraft on an empty map - which I will do later - but I only got 33-35 fps on that IA free flight mission, which is much lower than I'd expect. On initial release the Phantom gave me 45 fps for example in IA missions.


*edit*
To expand on point (5) above, I made a quick hotstart mission (empty map with runway start) with various modules for quick comparison (circumstances are exactly the same for every aircraft):
Kiowa - 32 fps
Apache - 38 fps
Hind - 35 fps
Gazelle - 38 fps
And for comparison, F-4 Phantom - 43 fps

Edited June 5 by Raven (Elysian Angel)

[ThorBrasil]

5 minutes ago, Braunn said:

Yeah, I'm not paying $70 for that. 

I made these videos not to tarnish the Kiowa's image, but to show what people are buying. If it were an early access version, I would understand all these problems, but for a "full" version, I felt cheated. It doesn't even have a damage model. I remember the videos of the people who did an "early access" version saying that it didn't represent the final version, but in the end we received the same product as they did. Despite everything, I'm enjoying flying it, even though I find it extremely easy to fly. I even wonder if all the physics are implemented or just a simplified flight model. One thing is for sure. I will never buy another product from Polychop. It's the first and the last.

[Ebphoto]

I have only flown it for a little while and I have noticed a few of the items mentioned in your post as well. The very first thing I noticed right off was it sounds like a weed whacker outside! I have never heard a helicopter sound like this before and I’ve been around helos for a very long time! I think the Gazelle sounds very good and was thinking the Kiowa would sound similar since they’re both from Polychop but nope. It just sounds off to me. Even if you compare it to actual real Kiowa video footage. The blade slap sounds okay but overall the sound is off. The only thing I can compare it to is a weak whacker. I also noticed the gun ammo not being animated but  wasn’t too concerned about it. The 50 cal sounds good though! These are pretty easy things to fix though and I’m sure they’ll address them. I’ll have to spend some more time with it before I can comment on the other items though. I just haven’t been able to fly much today.

[BSS_Sniper]

I’m truly amazed there are people still complaining about minor things that we all know polychop will update and fix. 

1 minute ago, Ebphoto said:

I have only flown it for a little while and I have noticed a few of the items mentioned in your post as well. The very first thing I noticed right off was it sounds like a weed whacker outside! I have never heard a helicopter sound like this before and I’ve been around helos for a very long time! I think the Gazelle sounds very good and was thinking the Kiowa would sound similar since they’re both from Polychop but nope. It just sounds off to me. Even if you compare it to actual real Kiowa video footage. The blade slap sounds okay but overall the sound is off. The only thing I can compare it to is a weak whacker. I also noticed the gun ammo not being animated but  wasn’t too concerned about it. The 50 cal sounds good though! These are pretty easy things to fix though and I’m sure they’ll address them. I’ll have to spend some more time with it before I can comment on the other items though. I just haven’t been able to fly much today.

It sounds like a Kiowa and I’ve been around them

4 minutes ago, ThorBrasil said:

I made these videos not to tarnish the Kiowa's image, but to show what people are buying. If it were an early access version, I would understand all these problems, but for a "full" version, I felt cheated. It doesn't even have a damage model. I remember the videos of the people who did an "early access" version saying that it didn't represent the final version, but in the end we received the same product as they did. Despite everything, I'm enjoying flying it, even though I find it extremely easy to fly. I even wonder if all the physics are implemented or just a simplified flight model. One thing is for sure. I will never buy another product from Polychop. It's the first and the last.

Cool story…

[ThorBrasil]

2 minutes ago, BSS_Sniper said:

I’m truly amazed there are people still complaining about minor things that we all know polychop will update and fix. 

Where did you see it written that they will fix it? If you have the link please post it here. Thanks!

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

4 minutes ago, ThorBrasil said:

I even wonder if all the physics are implemented or just a simplified flight model.

I'm eager to hear a pilot with RL experience comment on that. While it's certainly easy to fly, it felt like a helicopter. I have no idea how good the SCAS is in the real Kiowa, but my flight was so smooth I had to double-check if the mission had wind and turbulence - which it had.
I am no real pilot but the difference with the old Gazelle is night and day - in a good way. So PolyChop certainly improved quite a bit in that area, and as far as I understand they have cooperation from Bell so I'd expect the FM to be at least decently accurate.

At least we know Casmo gave the module his seal of approval and he felt very sincere to me, especially since he expressed scepticism at first before he got his hands on the module. 

[Alpiinoo]

I can't say anything about flight dynamics because I'm not a pilot and helicopters are not in my field of interest (at least as much as airplanes). However, I can say with a clear conscience that it is not good visually details than other modules.

Edit: Also, I haven't buy the module yet.  the visual model scared me

Edited June 5 by Alpiinoo

[ECTAE]

45 minutes ago, Braunn said:

Yeah, I'm not paying $70 for that. 

Amen!

Paid $60 for the phantom and 55 for the Apache. 70 bucks for that 3d model is a slap in the face. Also, only thing was a worth a buy for me was the drone thingy....Not usable btw. You can only see video feed.

 

Edited June 5 by ECTAE

[Ebphoto]

51 minutes ago, BSS_Sniper said:

I’m truly amazed there are people still complaining about minor things that we all know polychop will update and fix. 

It sounds like a Kiowa and I’ve been around them

Cool story…

FYI, I’m not complaining just stating what I have noticed. I’m sure Polychop will look into what people are saying about it. I mean they totally overhauled the Gazelle and it’s a pretty awesome module right now!

[Robi Hobby]

I waited so long and when I saw the different Videos, I thought that the Kiowa would have the 3D Model Level of the Apache. I see so many modeling errors and even the Pilots' faces look scared. It breaks my heart and unfortunately I can't buy the Module as it is. I'll look at the CH-47 first and give the Team time to improve things on the Kiowa. 

[Moxica]

Not terrible, not great.
$70 gets rude.