September News letter
Pre-purchase DCS: Bf 109 K-4 Kurfürst!
The Fighter Collection and Eagle Dynamics are happy to announce that DCS: Bf 109 K-4 Kurfürst is now available as a pre-purchase from the DCS E-Shop. The pre-purchase provides both a 20% discount off the retail price and access to the Open Beta coming later this year.
Like previous DCS World titles, DCS: Bf 109 K-4 Kurfürst features a painstakingly reproduced model of the aircraft, including the external model, fully interactive cockpit, mechanical systems, and a Professional Flight Model (PFM). Along the lines of our DCS: P-51D Mustang and DCS: Fw 190 D-9 Dora titles, DCS: Bf 109K-4 Kurfürst places you behind the controls of a powerful, propeller-driven, piston engine combat aircraft. Designed long before "fly-by-wire" technology was available to assist the pilot in flight control or smart bombs and beyond visual range missiles were developed to engage targets with precision from afar, the Kurfürst is a personal and exhilarating challenge to master. Powerful and deadly, the last production model of the only single-engined German fighter to see service throughout World War II, the Kurfürst provides an exhilarating combat experience to its drivers, and a worthy challenge to all fans of DCS: P-51D Mustang.
Key Features of the DCS: Bf 109 K-4 Kurfürst:
Unmatched flight physics that allow you to truly feel what it's like to fly this legend.
Highly detailed, six-degrees-of-freedom (6 DOF) cockpit.
Interact with cockpit controls with your mouse.
Accurate Bf 109 K-4 model, squadron markings, and weapons.
Detailed modelling the Bf 109 K-4 instruments, weapons, engine, radios, fuel, and electrical systems.
Fly along with fellow DCS: Fw 190 D-9 Doras as you battle DCS: P-51D Mustangs in single and multiplayer games
Sabre and Dora Update
............... and yet not a word the the MI-8 manual that we have been waiting on for a YEAR
Over the past month we released two pre-purchase modules, with access to Open Betas, for DCS World: DCS: F-86F Sabre and DCS: Fw 190 D-9 Dora. We are carefully reading your feedback and we and Belsimtek (Sabre Team) are busy improving the projects. This includes not only bug fixes, but also new content such as interactive training missions and campaigns. This is not to say that work is not continuing on other previously released projects. For example: Work on the manual for the DCS: Mi-8MTV2 and tuning of the F-15C professional flight model continues, also various adjustments and bug fixes are in work.
DCS World War II: Europe 1944 Update
If you have not done so already, you can view our current listing of rewards here:
http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=2112208&postcount=1
For backers, you can use the updated Backer Page to select your aircraft of choice based on your contribution level.
http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=128080
In addition to the release of DCS: Fw 190 D-9 Dora, the team is also plugging away on the next aircraft for the series: DCS: Bf 109 K-4 Kurfürst. This is being done internally by Eagle Dynamics to the same exacting standards of the Dora. The pre-purchase with 20% discount is now available and we plan to make the Open Beta available in the October – November time frame.Other warbirds in work for this project include both the P-47D and Spitfire. These will be welcome additions to the growing stable of Second World War aircraft as we flesh out this era of air combat.
The other major element of DCS World War II: Europe 1944 is of course the new Normandy map. The team is currently working on a new combat theater map to support DCS: F/A-18C Hornet, but once complete, will be returning to this map. At that time, we should be able to start sharing images of the new era map, complete with period ground units.
DCS: L-39C and L-39ZA Albatros Coming to DCS World
Another new aircraft coming to DCS World later in 2014 will be the venerable L-39 jet trainer, developed by Eagle Dynamics. We will first release the L-39C variant and then later the L-39ZA variant. This aircraft has acted as the primary jet trainer for many countries around the world for several decades. In addition to its training role, the L-39 can also be loaded with ordnance and act as a light attack aircraft.
We also plan for this module to include multiplayer front seat / back seat capability. We believe that this feature will add a new dimension of gameplay for this aircraft and several others like the UH-1H, Mi-8MTV2, Hawk, and C-101.
Stay tuned for more details!
Su-27 for DCS World
As we did for the F-15C, we will be updating the Su-27 for DCS World to include a Professional level flight model. Development of this updated Flanker is well underway and will be free as part of Flaming Cliffs 3. We will also sell the Su-27 for DCS World as a separate download later in 2014.
DCS: MiG-15Bis Coming to DCS World
As a perfect bookshelf match to the F-86F Sabre, Belsimtek in cooperation with Eagle Dynamics are developing the MiG-15Bis for DCS World! As with the Sabre, the MiG-15Bis will be a fully detailed module with Professional Flight Model (PFM), mouse-interactive cockpit, and detailed cockpit systems.
Combined with new maps, the battle of Sabre's vs. MiGs will be an amazing experience and further help us achieve our goal of providing an air combat experience spanning several decades.
MiG-21Bis, Hawk and C-101 Coming Soon to DCS
A couple of years ago, we started the initial steps of allowing qualified third parties to develop and sell modules for DCS World. The fruits of this effort are almost ripe and have taken the form of the MiG-21Bis (Leatherneck Simulations), Hawk (VAEO Simulations), and the C-101 (AvioDev). All three projects are making great progress and are either in or close to the Eagle Dynamics testing phase. We see these as just the tip of the iceberg for future partner projects.
Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) Map
^ Years in the "making"
Work continues on the NTTR map. The primary objective is to adapt the various map assets to work within DCS World. Once this effort is complete and DCS World 2.0 is available, we plan to release this map soon afterwards.
DCS World 2.0 Coming in 2014
The next iteration of DCS World (formerly 1.3.0) is currently in internal testing and will be available as a free download later in 2014. All DCS modules will be fully compatible with DCS World 2.0. As with DCS World 1.0, 2.0 will also include the FREE TF-51D and Su-25T. New features of DCS World 2.0, but subject to change, include:
DirectX 11 support
Improved game performance
New and improved lighting
Improved effects
New water animations
Improved shadows
Unified GUI that eliminates the need for separate GUI and simulation .exe while also speeding up mission load times. Later, this will also allow us to integrate simulation elements into the Encyclopaedia and Mission Editor
^ a "feature" that just about every other game for the last decade has had
Ability to access new maps that will be sold as separate modules
New grass and clutter
New clouds
Ability to create dedicated server
^ a "feature" that just about every other game for the last decade has had
Skeleton animations
Depth of field support
Improved Oculus VR support
Some of these features may not be included in the initial DCS World 2 release.
DCS: F/A-18C Hornet Update
Perhaps the most eagerly awaited DCS module, the Hornet, is indeed in progress... it really does exist! More so than any other of our past and current projects though, the Hornet requires a massive amount of work, not just the creating of the art assets and programming of the cockpit functions, but also a great deal of research, design documentation, building of supersonic aircraft flight dynamics (F-15C with BST and Su-27 have been helping to create this technology), acquiring source data, and creating several new technologies like air-to-surface radar.
In addition to the actual aircraft, there are other elements that need to be created such as an improved Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, much better carrier operations, and a new combat theater map tailored to this aircraft.
We hear you and realize that many of you are very anxious and looking forward to hearing more about this project. As we get closer to an early beta, we will be discussing this more.
Here are some very early images of the cockpit
Sincerely,
The Eagle Dynamics Team
