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This tutorial will cover all the steps of the aircraft creation except the game’s parameters configuration.
To avoid being an extensive tutorial, this will be a quick overview without addressing with detail any area.

Because of this, this tutorial is more suited for someone that already knows the basic 3d modeling knowledge and desire to learn what is the production pipeline in making an aircraft
If anyone whishes, feel free to request and more detailed tutorial for any particular step.

You can find this image in here
En.wikipedia.org

First we start by creating the box that will hold the reference image.

As the shape of the aircraft we want to model helps, we can start by creating a cylinder with roughly the same diameter of the aircraft

After converting to an editable poly we mold the vertices to conform the shape of the aircraft.

To make the canopy, we create another cylinder.

Adjust the new cylinder to match the silhouette of the canopy

After that, we blend it with the main fuselage, by using cuts, deleting and creating new faces.

Then we create the dorsal bump as a separate model, se start off with a box and use chamfer to make it smoother

As for the intakes, it is another separate model, that starts as half of a cylinder and then reshaped as an editable poly.

For the tail, again we start as a box and the reshape accordantly to the reference image.

To have the proper volume we may want to add more subdivisions and some extrudes for the upper part of the tail.

Using extrudes and cuts we shape it to resemble the desired profile.

Making as a separate model, we add another cylinder with collapsed vertices to form the tip of the cone.

Shape the model to blend with the cone and form a ramp in the hidden part of the intake.

Merge the two models

Create the inside details with cuts and extrudes.

Now going to the engine, use again extrudes and bevels to shape it.

Continue until it reaches the desired shape

Now we go back to the tail and detach the moving parts, reshape them and attach them again.

We make the horizontal surface of the tail with a box and using chamfers.

The wing is made as a separate model, again by shaping a box.

After the wing is finished we blend it with the intake and the main fuselage.

To make the control surfaces we must detach the desired faces, refine them and attach them again

Then we move to the cockpit creating, first we start by temporarily detaching the canopy and fill the empty hole.

After the cockpit volume is done we detach it from the main model we attach back the canopy and weld were the vertices were separated.

Then we add a pilot chair using only a simple volumes without much detail.

Then it is time to add the small sensors and little details.

For the speed brake, we start by using the cut and defining the shape in the fuselage. After it is done, detach it and add Shell in the modifier list in order to have volume.

Using cuts and extrudes, make the inside compartment of the speed brake.

For the gun, we use two cylinders, one will be blended with the fuselage, as for the green one, it will be used as a Boolean subtraction.

After applying the Boolean, don’t forget to clean the surface as it leaves unwanted vertices.

We can make the surfaces details on the fuselage by using cuts and extrudes.

Don’t bother in making the details in the other side because in the end we will apply the “symmetry” modifier

We better not forget the ventral fin, achieved by shaping simple box.

Then we added the final details of the hinges in the brakes.

And finally the landing hook, that is a combination of reshaped boxes and cylinders.

But the very last step is the creation of the weapon pylons. To model them, you may want to make them as separate files with their own reference images and then merge with the aircraft file.

We start the mapping by deleting the other half of the model. Then we apply UVW Mapping with a box projection.

Organize each part in a simple an ordered way

After every part is properly mapped duplicate the model and in that copy mirror the mapping and merge with the original

Then packed it as tightly as possible inside of the square. (note in this mapping it was left a wide portion of unused area to give space for the Doppelrumpf variant)

After the uv map and light cook is rendered, combine both in a single texture. The light map is added as an overlay above a 50% grey flat color.

Then we draw the panel lines using the pencil in 1 pixel in back color. For this make use the most reference images you can.

The final touch in the panel lines, add the effect of outer glow in back an 30% opacity and in multiply blend.

Then we add the default colors, these are the color that will not change regardless of the camo skin we make (for example, the engine nozzle).

After that we can finally make our skins.

To finish the texture, don’t forget to add the layer for the destroyed effect. Add something like black stains and crashes in a multiply blend mode.

Then apply it to the model. (actually you should apply the texture as soon as possible to be better aware when creating the panel lines and skins.)

Make a simple rough shape to be used as the collision model

Add the main bone in the position (0,0,0). (be sure the model is also in that position as well)

Add the bones for the control surfaces, and make them children of the main bone.

Animate the bones.

Skin the weight of each bone in the model.

Confirm and readjust the animations.

(This is for ogre max only)

Configure and define the animations, always exclude the bones you don’t need in each animation

Select the model and the collision and export as selected.

Add it to the game and play.

This report contains the changes of the 0.2230 update.

This time, for experimentation, the way this update was uploaded was a little different, the game patch was made available to update before releasing the report.
The next updates will probably follow this trend, so keep your heads up; you may never know that a new update is already available.

Also, after the lengthy update that was the stealth mechanic and f-117 family, it is time for the development to shift back again to the editor. The editor is very important, because it will be used later in the creation of the new campaign.
Because of that, while in this phase, the upcoming updates will consist more in quick to produce variants and addition of small scale mechanics.

That will start with this update; as it adds some new units, a new mechanic for missions and fixes several bugs.

But let’s begin with the aircrafts first:

The su-30MKI, if I recall correctly, I believe it actually one of the fist variants to be requested, that request was not forgotten and here it is.

The Su-30MKI is not as super maneuverable as the su-37, but still very agile none the less and it includes up to date electronics.

Another unit is a new version of the new MiG-21, the Mig-21S.
Actually this version is older than any other variant currently available in the MiG -21 family.
The interest part of this family is that while in some other units it was added the first versions and gradually added more superior versions, with the mig-21 will be added in the reverse order and gradually reach the first version.

The MiG-21S with an agile aircraft, it was weaker avionics only allows it to be reliable only as a fighter.

Note: at the moment the loadout of the MiG-21S is not accurate, it uses some weapons like the r-60 that was only made compatible with later variants.

The last aircraft, a slightly different variant, the CL-282, directly derived from the F-104, but this aircraft is actually the birth of the U-2 family.

The CL-282 is a dedicated high altitude recon unit and the fuselage already resembles the U-2A.

The main interest of adding the CL-282 was to be used in future scripted missions, but because this aircraft is completely unarmed, it may not be that much fun to play with.

In actual gameplay perspective, for now, there isn’t any use for recon units. Some special ability could be added is a special function in the future, but for now there is no clear idea how it will work.
If anyone as any suggestions how it may work and for what it may be used, feel free to suggest like always.
Other possibility is to give stats buff of ground units when a recon unit is present in the area.

But this was all the units added for now, for those who were waiting for the F-16XL, it was not forgotten, but it wasn’t completed in time for this update.

One issue that has been fixed with this update, was the weapons bay texture. Although the textures were effectively in the game folder in the last update, it lacked the update to the material template to make use of them, but with this update everything has been fixed and now work properly.

As for the AI there was some small improvements, it was slightly tweaked the collision avoidance and from now on the AI use some special functions, namely the overdrive mode and NF-104A’s boost.

It is a simple mechanic that consist in allowing the configuration the change of specific values of the unit the that deals damage and the unit that receives damage.
This will help make more varied and interesting mutators and arcade-like missions. With this options is possible to make mission where killing a specific type of target will resupply ammo, while other gives more time or a timed mission.

Later, this mechanic will also used to update some the existing battle scenarios and to create more challenges.

• Bloody overdrive, developed from the suggestion on the forums, the overdrive ability is the same as the original. But in this mutator, the Sp Fuel is charged as you make kills and deal damage. The sp fuel will not restart if to initial values if you are shot down.

Whether you use this mutator or the original, be prepared from here on to fight AI players that can also use this mode it effectively, so no longer you are the only one with this ability.

• Vampire mode- this was actually one of the first mutators to has been suggested and ones I was more interest in adding from the start. In this mutator, the Ho drains overtime, and it is recharged by the same amount of damage you deal, so you have to keep fighting if you want to stay alive.

This is a good mutator for the survival mode

• Resupply with kills- this is for players how usual waste all their ammo in the skirmish battle, this way they don’t have to force be destroyed to resupply ammo.

• Guns fight- other mutator that has been planed from the start, this combined the directional damage that was added in the last update, makes matches quite engaging

In the last update, while it was announced, it was missed the inclusion of more awards, but this time they are available with this update and it was added even more.
But this is not the end, it will be added much more awards in the future, probably with every update will be added a few of them.

So if anyone have any ideas for more awards feel free to suggest in the forums.

Also, as mentioned in the beginning of the report, this update is already available, so you can try it right away.

• Added Gain/ give mechanic
• Added the ability of AI use special functions
• Fixed various bugs and issues

• Added SU-30MKI
• Added MiG-21S
• Added CL-282
• Added more mutators
• Added more awards

Stay tuned, more reports will follow.

This report contains the changes of the 0.2220 update.

The long awaited update is finally here, this report will introduce a new family of aircraft has been previewed in an earlier report, but most importantly, it adds the much requested stealth system.

But first let’s begin the F-117 family.
This particular family was really fun to develop, especially because it changes so drastically in each iteration, as you’ll see below.
Also something to note, following the earlier tradition, when a new family is added, it was always developed at the same time all variants important, but the addition of these aircraft was done gradually in multiple updates, but this time all of these aircraft will be added this single update.

Starting with this particular aircraft, it was one of the first concepts in which would be born future F-117.
This design was originally unnamed, but because it was created to be tested in an RCS computation program called ECHO1 it will adopt that name for itself.

The ECHO was one the first tangible experiment in stealth aircraft and the absolute first beginnings of the F-117 series. The airframe produced after exhaustive computer simulations was grotesque to say the least, but it was the first step in producing the highly successful Nighthawk. The simple, faceted design offers inherent stealth capability, that when coupled with RAM coating; render the ECHO invisible to radar.

Weapon systems and basic electronics have been added to this design, but are characteristically limited by the accommodations required to achieve stealth capability.
Due to being a small aircraft the Echo can only carry two missiles and as it only has a few moving surfaces it is not very nimble fighter.

[CONCEPT]

This strange shaped aircraft is named “Hopeless Diamond” experimental ‘black’ prototype was the progenitor of a long line of development and experimental aircraft that eventually led to the highly successful F-117 Nighthawk strike aircraft.

The Hopeless Diamond already bears a superficial resemblance to the Nighthawk, though it has a much more simplistic shape and lacks vertical control surfaces. The design of the Hopeless Diamond allows the majority of radar waves to be reflected away at odd angles, slightly raising the surrounding area with more interference, but otherwise remaining largely “invisible.” The airframe has been coated with the first experimental Radar Absorbent Material (RAM) coating, and has a radar cross-section smaller than a large bird when viewed head-on by radar when combined with its unusual shape.

The Hopeless Diamond is a stealthy but low-performance surgical strike aircraft, carrying little ordinance and lacking maneuverability- however, its stealth and low visibility allows the pilot to carefully plan out his attack to use his weapons to their full potential.
Because of the lack of vertical stabilizer it cannot yaw and it has a high tendency to slip, but thanks to that same lack of stabilizer it is stealthier than ECHO.

[CONCEPT]

This version is the immediate evolution; while it still remains as the Hopeless Diamond this is the intermediate configuration.
The overall shape has been changed to the extremities resemble more like wings at the cost of adding more faces and potential increasing the radar signature.

The Hopeless Diamond (intermediate configuration) has a somewhat improved mobility compared to its predecessor, making it easier to deploy surprise attacks to other units, but is still is a pain to maneuver.

[CONCEPT]

Evolving from the intermediate configuration, the Near Have Blue adds actual wings and an inverted V stabilizer, making it far more combat capable than any other previous version.

In this iteration, the Near Have Blue already starts to resemble the mass produced version of the F-117.
The changes in this version make it a more satisfactory fighter and a viable choice if the pilot is willing to accept this machine’s limitations

[CONCEPT]

Now the more familiar HAVE BLUE, this is the first version, the 1001, this version has an instrumentation boom and spin recovery chute that hampers the sheath effectiveness

The HAVE BLUE is experimental prototype were the next development in the Nighthawk series. With two aircraft produced to explore characteristics of the Nighthawk airframe, the HAVE BLUE aircraft were smaller than the production Nighthawks and had inward-canted vertical control surfaces in addition to being smaller than subsequently developed aircraft. The 1001 Variant was the original model and was used to experiment with flight characteristics of the novel shape of the Nighthawk.
The HAVE BLUE is quite bigger in comparison with the Near Have Blue, but still not big enough to store extra weapons aside from the missiles.

[PROTOTYPE]

The HAVE BLUE 1002 Variant was a subsequent development used to experiment with radar returns of the aircraft and was coated in Radar Absorbent Material and removes any extra equipment o maximize the stealth capabilities of this unit.

HAVE BLUE 1002 is fully capable of carrying out attack missions, but is again limited by the small weaponry capacity of the Nighthawk series, relying on stealth to perform quick, surgical releases into strategic enemy positions to inflict the most damage.

[PROTOTYPE]

The Senior Trend is the final experimental version of the Nighthawk, the Senior Trend aircraft is almost visually identical to the production F-117A, and has full provision for weapons carriage and all flight and 1st generation electronics installed.

The Senior Trend was lengthened from the HAVE BLUE series, while the nose was shortened to improve visibility. In addition, the vertical tail surfaces were positioned outwards after a study showed that inward canted fins actually increased radar returns.
The Senior Trend can be distinguished from The F-117A because of the smaller Vertical stabilizers.
This variant can carry special weapons although it only has two weapon bays, this is because it is only loaded with only one missile and leaves the other bay door for the special weapon.

[PROTOTYPE]

This version, is the true F-117A and recreate the actual version without fictional sub weapons or the ability to store missiles.

The F-117 “Nighthawk” has the distinction of being the first true stealth aircraft, using its distinctive and iconic faceted design to scatter radar waves away from its body and render itself virtually invisible to detection systems, with a cross-section equivalent to that of a large bird. Combat-proven in several conflicts, the aircraft is actually a strike aircraft, despite its “Fighter” designation. Severe limitations to aerodynamic performance and weapons capability have been made to accommodate the stealth features- the Nighthawk is slow in terms of both speed and turning because of its airframe and non-afterburning engines, and carries a very reduced amount of weaponry in internal bays.

[MASS PRODUCED]

The only fictional unit in this list, made to fit the more usual gameplay style, this is variant, the F-117SD (that sands for self defense), is almost identical to the F-117A but adds more weapons bays to fit the AIM-9L missiles.

The F-117SD, as mentioned above is visually also specs wise is almost identical to the F-117A but with increased ordinance.
The decision to make this fictional variant was to address the interested players that want an truly accurate F-117 while also fulfilling the desire others that preferred a dogfight capable F-117.

[FICTIONAL]

By showing the underside of both F-117A and F-117SD it is possible to notice the addition of two more bay doors that store the AIM-9L missiles in the latter variant.

The F-117B is the two seater trainer version of the F-117. This variant is directly derived from the SD version, so it is more combat capable than the original

Although this variant and the concept did not have any official name, it was labeled as the B variant because that letter usually is applied in the two seater trainer versions.
The F-117B sacrifices some fuel capacity in exchange for a second trainer’s seat, but otherwise retains full combat capability.

[CONCEPT]

This is the F-117C (sometimes also referred as F-117B) is an all-around improvement in the F-117A (and F-117SD) with the addition of some Air-to-Air capabilities.

The F-117C was an evolved version with redesigned air intakes, newer avionics, better engines, and a clear-glass cockpit.
This variant is also derived from the SD variant, meaning it has the same weapons bay layout.

(Note: For this unit and other late evolutions it was attempted to recreate them as accurate as possible, however they still have some degree of speculation as all the material gathered is most of the times inconsistent)

[CONCEPT]

The F-117N is the Navalised version of the F-117 and is capable of takeoff and landing in carriers.

The F-117N is a proposed carrier-borne version of the Nighthawk, the “Seahawk” boasts carrier-strengthened landing gear, radically redesigned wings and arrestor hook, as well as a new semi-corrosion resistant paint surface. Hardpoints have been added under the aircraft, adding combat load but removing stealth capabilities if necessarily. Additionally, the engines have been replaced by newer models, and the canopy has been modified to increase visibility.

[CONCEPT]

The A/F-117X was a late-life variant of the Seahawk that added air-to-air capability as well as an advanced electronics suite. Performance has been upgraded by recycling engines used in the F/A-18E, and overall combat rating has improved greatly.

The A/F-117X is the final evolution of the F-117 family, it is capable of outrun and outmaneuver any other previous variant. While it still a strike aircraft, the weapons selection a capabilities makes and an interesting fighter.
Also this is the only F-117 variant that has TVC engines and afterburner. Other noticeable characteristic is that this version has the wings filled with flaps, allowing it to move at slower speeds than any other version.

[CONCEPT]

This is a fictional missile derived from the real AIM-9P, this missile was made to be able to fold inside the small stealth aircrafts like the Echo and hopeless diamond.
Specs wise, is identical to the AIM-9P except it takes only bit longer to start maneuver due to the unfolding fins.

As the addition F-117 and inevitable inclusion would be the weapons bays.
Until now it wasn’t possible to fully recreate weapon storage inside the aircrafts’ weapons bay or connect weapons to the model animation bone.
With this ability also opens wide range of crazy possibilities that may be addressed by some future fictional unit.

During the implementation of the weapons bays, it appeared an expectable problem, if the player gives the order to fire the missile, this makes the doors to open and fire the missile as soon as it is possible.
But if it was given multiple fire request, this would make all the missiles fire all the same time. Although this is may not be serious problem, but it would force to overwrite the desired fire rate the player had in mind.

To fix this, it added as cached input for weapons fire. Now, if you double tap to fire both missiles, the game will remember the fire interval and it will execute that same interval as soon the doors finish opening.

Also in this update the Su-47 and Su-74 have been upgrade to use the weapons bay, but not every weapon in their selection is stored inside.
Here is a game screenshot of the Su-47 using the weapon bays:

Note for modders, the weapons bay was added in a way that preserves compatibility to all previous made costume textures.
This addition also means that in the future can be applied more emphasis in the addition of bomber type aircrafts.

Still associated to the weapons bays, although at first glance this may seem unrelated, with this addition it is also now possible to add weapons on the variable sweep wings, as this required the weapons and weapons pylons to be attached to the bones of the unit mesh.

Finally the biggest addition of this update is undoubted the stealth mechanic.
This system is quite complex but at the same time very simple to use, but the best part is that it largely expands the tactical possibilities in every mission.

To help the player be aware when it’s out of the vision of event radars it is displayer in the hud “UNDETECTED” just below the speed indicator.

This how the stealth mechanic works:

• For detecting units there will be two ways, by radar waves and heat, the attacking unit just needs to successfully detect in one of those two. So if a unit is has very low radar visibility but normal thermal visibility, that stealthiness can be easily nullified against a unit equipped with an IRST (although the heat detection systems are usually far more limited in range).

• Other important point is distance, even if a unit is undetectable in the radar at distance, the closer it gets the more sensible to lower values that radar also becomes. This also means the opposite, larger units like bombers can be detector at far greater distance than normal fighters.

• The attacker detection capabilities are not 360 degrees, both systems have limited field of vision, so the units have to look at the direction they may expect to be the enemies.

• The visibility values are dependent of the orientation of the defender unit, this means is far easier to detect by heat an aircraft if looking from behind.

• External loadout affects the unit visibility.

• Weapons bay open and landing gears deployed (when implemented) will affect the visibility values.

• The preserve the same gameplay feel that has been until now, by default there will be a threshold of visibility values, if the aircraft has values higher that that it will be show on the global radar as usual. This threshold can be deactivated or changed if need in any mission.

(These bullets are the same as the previous report, an in detail description of how the stealth works will be featured only later to avoid making this report even more extensive than already is).
Note: some campaign missions and AI have been slightly tweaked to make better use of the stealth mechanic

Awards have been added for quite some time, but until now it was available in a few quantities.

That collection has been expanded with the addition several dozens of new awards.
Also, there are now awards exclusive for campaigns, battle scenarios and skirmish.
This new awards will take in consideration the game and all the data can be easily modified, while some are the usual for this kind of games, others explore that fact, so have fun figuring out how these conditions can be more easily fulfilled.

A small addition but it will have a greater effect in the future, battle scenario modes now saves the mission data, meaning it can save your best records in the survival mode and Doppelganger Battle.
This is to prepare the battles scene mode for future missions that will use this record save to make the player more interested in challenging himself

This Directional Damage Mechanic was more an afterthought for this update, but with a fairly simple system made this update even more sizable and interesting.
Although localized damage is still a possible implementation in the future, this new mechanic is somewhat similar and still adds another layer of strategy in battles.

The idea is quite simple; every unit has different resistance values to damage depending of the direction of the impact/explosion.

For aircrafts aiming toward the front of the aircraft is the most effective place, as a result, in a dogfight, fighting head-to-head is now more rewarding but also much more dangerous.

As for tanks, the front of the unit is the one that has more armor and the top is the weak spot, as it usually is where the armor is thinner.

As for Destroyers and boats in general, the bottom is the weak point. But it is important to note that for now there are no torpedoes or other projectiles capable of inflicting damage directly from above, so it is very unlikely for them to be hit their weak spot.
But as tip for the players, shooting the hull will still deal more damage than any other place.

These are the usual values for this type of units, although it is possible to define unique values to a specific unit.
Custom units without theses values will have 100% damage in all directions.

While it is not anything exceptional it was still added some new mutators in this update that change the gameplay rules.

No Directional Damage – The damage is always the same, regardless the direction of the impact.
Joust Battle – Only head-on attacks deal damage.
No Stealth – removes the Stealth mechanic, and detections is processed the same way as it did before this update
Blind spots – removes the out of focus detection, meaning the units are only capable of detecting units in front of their field of vision

I hope you all enjoy this new update and looking forward to hear your opinion about these latest additions, you will also have plenty of new units to try out and if you are interested, there is much more awards to attain.

Note: (this is important) there is some testing and tweaking left to be done, so this update will only be uploaded in a few days, it is almost certain that this update will take bit more time than usual to be available. I thank you for your patience in advance.

• Added Stealth Mechanic
• Added Directional Damage Mechanic
• Added Weapons Bay system
• Added Battle Scene Saved data
• Improved Award System
• Fixed various bugs and issues

• Added ECHO
• Added Hopeless Diamond
• Added Hopeless Diamond (intermediate configuration)
• Added Near Have Blue
• Added Have Blue HB1001
• Added Have Blue HB1002
• Added Senior Trend
• Added F-117A
• Added F-117SD
• Added F-117B
• Added F-117C
• Added F-117N
• Added A/F-117X
• Added AIM-9PS Missile
• Added More Awards
• Added More Mutators

Stay tuned, more reports will follow.

This tutorial is part of a series of tutorials that will portrait every step from the creation to the implementation of the FAB-500-M62 bomb in the game.

In the previous tutorial we done the all the modeling, now it is time to move to the mapping

As mentioned in the first part, this tutorial will explain in detail the whole process to help even the most inexperienced modelers.

After the modeling is completed, select the bomb model and in the “Modifier List” choose “UVW Map”

Then, select The “Box” and write the same value in the 3 fields bellow, the value have to roughly encapsulate the entire model.
The reason of this value being the same in the three fields is to avoid having mapping distortion latter on.

After configuration the “UVW Map” go to the “Modifier List” chose the “Unwrap UVW”.

Then click in the “Edit” button.

After clicking in “edit” it automatically opens a new window. This is the “edit UVWs” window and it will be used organize the model’s UV mapping.
As you can see, at this moment there is a group of lines clustered in a way that resembles the model. Our next step is to organize all these surfaces in a clean and easy way place the bomb texture in them..

First, let’s break this cluster of lines in order to be able to see what surface they represent.
One of the ways is to move them as faces. To choose that control, click in the right mouse button and select “Face”.

Then select some surfaces. (The selection was made in the “Edit UVWs” window, but the same selection can also be done in the Viewports)

After selecting a group of faces, click again in the right mouse button and then clink in “break”, this breaks the connection of the selected faces with others , this way we can move the surface without dragging and distorting other faces.

Then move the selected group of faces to an empty space.

After moving, click again in the right mouse button and chose the “Edge” control.

Now, it is time to start organizing this part of the model.
As the body of the bomb is a cylindrical shape, what we want to do, is to select a lateral face and start unwrapping along the surface.
For that select one of the vertical edges in the borders. (By default, the green lines mean they have a broken connection)

After selecting that edge, click again in the right button and select “Stitch selected”.

As you noticed some faces moved and become attached to that edge.

Continue doing the same until the last edge of the strip is the one that connect to the starting edge.
(you will notice this when the starting edge turn blue after selecting the last edge)

Now, select some of the horizontal edges above and “stitch selected” to attach the faces that belong to the tail of the bomb.

Let’s ignore the body of the bomb for just a moment, now, move out of the way the tip of the bomb that came along when we moved that initial group of faces to an empty space.

Now onto the body again, let’s select “vertices” control after clicking the right mouse button.

Now select one of the vertices of the perfectly vertical edge.

Copy the value of the first field (while it says U, it represents the usual X position)

Select all vertices of that border, including the one we copied the value.

Then paste the value in the same field, as you may noticed that line has become completely strait.

Do the same to all other vertical array of vertices.

Now let’s focus again in the fuse of the bomb that we moved to other place before.

The first make all lines completely vertical by the method of copy paste the U position, then “stitch selected” all green lines unit the last lines can only be stitched together.

Let’s move out of the way the planar fin, for now we don’t want to do anything with it.

Select one of the faces.
In this image, you can see that some faces are on top of each other, it is best that we organize it in a way that we can perceive what we are doing.

To do that, click in the right mouse button and chose “Brake” while keeping that face selected

Move that face to an empty position

Perform the “Stitch selected” routine as usual

Now we have a complete strip (as you can see the end in red can only be connected to the end in blue, so we don’t what to do that or those faces will become distorted.)

Now, there are some faces left in that cluster, they belong to the other side if the cylindrical fin. To arrange them with the others, select the top horizontal edge from the organized strip and make “stitch selected”.

Continue with the “stitch selected” until all the faces are positioned.

Now it is time to make those vertical lines perfectly strait, use the usual copy/paste of the U values.

With that done, the UV mapping is almost complete. (notice that we didn’t do anything to the planar fin.)

To complete the process, right click in the “Unwrap UVW” just below the “Modifier List” and chose “Collapse all”

Now select the “Element” selection control and click in the planar fin.

Then select the “UVW Mapping” in the “Modifier list” but this time keep the mapping to “Planar” and set the same values as before.

Then use “collapse all” in the “UVW Mapping”

After the collapse chose “Unwrap UVW”.

The planar fin is placed in the center, notice how it only has white lines, that is because it doesn’t have any broken face, we will keep that way for this weapon because it will have the same texture detail in both faces

And finally, the last step of the UV mapping is to fit everything in that blue lined square.
For that, let’s start by rotating counter clockwise the body of the bomb and move it to inside of the square.

After moving and rotating all the surfaces, they are now packed as tightly as possible, however they still go beyond the blue borders of the square.

In order to fit, we have to scale down, that scaling can be done by selecting the “Freeform Mode”, then left mouse click and hold in the upper right point of the freeform square and while holding also press the keyboard “ctrl” key and then move the mouse to shirk the size until it fits inside.

With that done, we have the UV mapping complete, the only action that needs to be done more is saving that mapping to an image file so it could be used in the texture creation.
To do that, open the “Tools” and then click on “Render UVW Template”.

A new window appears, for a bomb weapon an image size of 245×256 pixies is more than enough. Then click in the “Render UVW Template” button.

A new window appears with the desired texture. Save it on your desired folder but as a “png” file.

As Uv mapping is done, the next step is the light mapping.
The light mapping is a step that saves how the model is illuminated in a specific lighting condition
This step is purely optional, but with just a few clicks it can help making the textures a lot more interesting, so it is highly recommended.

If you still have the “Unwarp UVW” active there click in it and then “Collapse All”

Then select the planar fin and click in “Detach” button.

Be sure it doesn’t be detached as a clone and then click in ok.

Now rotate 45 degrees to the desirable position. In that place, hold the “shift” keyboard and rotate again, but this time 90 degrees.
After releasing the mouse key it will open a new window about the clone creation, create it as a “Copy”.
Repeat the process two more times to have in total four planar fins.

Then select the bomb again and click in “attach” button and apply to just one planar fin.

With that done, go back to the “Create” tab and select all bomb related objects (do not select the plane with the reference image)

Click in the right mouse button and chose “Hide Unselected”.

In the “Create” tab, chose the “Lights” button below and plane a “Skylight” in the perspective viewport.

Now select the bomb model again.

Right click and go to the “Object Properties” and disable the “See-through” option

Then open the material editor by pressing “M” and chose and unused material

Apply that material to the bomb.

Now with just the bomb model selected (with only one planar fin attached) open the render to texture window by pressing the “0” key.
Then click in the “Add” button.

In the new window that opens choose “LightingMap” and then click in “Add Elements”

Set the same image size as the “Render UVW Template” (that was 256×256 pixies) and then click in “Render”

The PC will start rendering the image (and may take a while). After it is done, it will appear in a new image, save that image in the desired folder as a “png”

And this concludes the UV mapping and light mapping; the next part will be showing the texture creation.

Due to the simplicity of the bomb weapons, this tutorial is the best way to start of anyone interested in making new content from scratch.

Note: This will be a quite long tutorial, because it will try to illustrate every step in the weapon making.

Future modeling tutorials may not be detailed as this one, so that mean this tutorial is one is really the best for complete beginners

The bomb that will be done is the: FAB-500-M62
Is a simple unguided drop bomb with a 500kg explosive warhead.

This weapon was already added to the in the report 034:

Here is how it will look like in the game by the end of this tutorial:

When making a real weapon, sometimes can be hard to find good references, for example like weapon information or pictures.

For pictures, is always best to use and orthographic view from the sides, but whenever that is not possible use the image with the least perspective distortion.
Like this:

This image that will be used as reference that can be found in here:
Airwar.ru

If you have this kind of picture, then for modeling you only need to know more the exact length of the bomb.

The first step is to crop the image. It needs to be exact on the length since it will be the dimension that will be used for measuring.

Then the next step is opening the 3d max

Then create a planar object to be applied the image, the size of the plane must be exact to the desired size.
So while we know the length of the bomb is 2,425m, we don’t know that will be the width for the image.
But because it is scaled proportionally, if we know 332 pixels means 2,425m, then 151 pixeis will be ~1,103m

After creating the plane with the desired size, the next step is to apply the reference image, for that press M to open the material editor.

Then we select any of those balls and click in the small square next to the diffuse and chose “Bitmap”

After that it will open a window to find the desired texture. After selecting it, the texture name will be displayed in the highlighted zone, what button call also be used to select the texture.

To apply the texture to the plane click on the third button counting the left in the array that is placed just below the spheres. The one that says “Assign material to selection”.

In case the texture does not appear displayed in the viewport, activate the button in the same array that is a cube with blue checker that says “Show map in Viewport”

After applying the texture, the reference image is not properly orientated. To fix it, go to the “Modify” tab and open the combo box “Modifier List” and select the “UVW Xform”

Just apply a 90 degree rotation so the front of the bomb be faced to the positive Y.

Now that the reference map is placed, the next phase is to model the actual bomb

Start of by creating a cylinder and try to roughly match the volume of the bomb and then add a few height divisions.

Now convert that cylinder to an “editable poly”, to do that click right button of the mouse with the model selected.

After converting it to a “editable poly”, right click again and open the “Object Properties”.

Activate “See-though” option and press ok.

Now the model is somewhat transparent, making it to see the reference image behind it

Go to the “modify” and select “vertices” selection. Is time to adjust the vertices to the exact shape of the bomb

For this there are multiple approaches and the method to reach de desired shape largely depends of the intended result.

Anyone should use the method they most see fit. For the sake of explaining a simple way for the most inexperienced it was selected this one.

Fist select a horizontal array of vertices (viewed from the top view), then select the scale button.

Then scale uniformly to match the shape of the bomb. Repeat the process to all other array of vertices. Also move them up or down if needed.

In case you require to add more sub divisions, a way to add them for this type of model is selecting the “edge” button.

Activate the button “Window/Crossing” that makes only selected the elements that fit inside the selection rectangle.

Select a horizontal line near the tip

Right mouse button, and select the small button left of the “Chamfer”

Add the desired amount and then press ok.

To make the tip of the bomb, create another cylinder, this time it doesn’t need so many sides and no additional height segments.

Convert it to “Editable Poly”

Scale the tip as you did before to the bomb vertices.

Remove the back face because it won’t be seen by selecting the “Face” button, make a selection over it and then press “delete” on the keyboard.

Then select again the bomb model a click in the “Attach” button followed by clicking in the tip model.

Now it is time to make the stabilizing fins. Click in the “box” button in the create tab.

Create a thin box that roughly matches the shape of the stabilizing fin of the bomb.

Then convert it o editable poly and make it “see-through”.

With the vertices select button active click in the “slice-plane”.

Click the button “Select and rotate” and “angle snap toggle”

Adjust the angle of the slice plane to make horizontal divisions (viewed from the top view)

Click the “Slice” button to apply that division.

Do the same above and turn off the “slice plane” and start moving the verities to fit the shape

Use the scale to thin it ever further in the outside tips

Then go to the “Hierarchy” tab and select “affect pivot only”

Click in “center to object”.

Change the Z position to 0.

Then the copy the X and Y positions of the bomb to the fin.

Rotate 45 degrees and now you’ll see something important. We made the fin to the exact shape of the reference image, however in the reference image the fins are in an angle, so we have to add additional size to really match the size in the same angle.

For that we need to move the vertices a little bit to the left, you may need to check several times to see if the shape is correct.

Now we found the correct size. As you see in the same angle the fin matches exactly the reference image.

Now move back to the original angle.

Next is to create the cylindrical fin around the end tip. Create a tube as thin as possible with the same sides as the bomb shape was initially created.

Now convert to an editable poly and select the 2 vertices of the front end of the fins for each side.

Having the vertices selected click in the collapse button.

Notice the shape is now a bit strange.

To fix this select the “element” button and select the whole mesh.

Then click in the auto smooth button.

No select back the bomb model and “attach” the cylindrical fin.

And this is all what we need to model for now, the next part of the tutorial will be explaining the UV Mapping

This report contains the changes of the 0.2195 update.

This time, as the title says, this report is an extra, as the next update which it will feature the weapon bays and stealth mechanics is still in development, to avoid creating a big gap in time without any update, it was launched this little upgrade.
This update is mostly composed of small bug fixes, which the two most relevant ones are the problem with the cockpit skin with the F-16C and the unacceptable behavior of the sub units shooting the parent units in the skirmish mode.

This extra furthermore enables the glow map texture for units and also greatly improves the special function flexibility.
So with this improvement, the NF-104A has been tweaked and J-35 MOD LV 4 now loses mobility when the canards are retracted.

The update also includes two additional units.

Originally, it was supposedly be just this, but then an old suggestion for the special functions has been remembered. By combining the glow maps with the improved special function, something similar to that suggestion could be achieved.
And with that, it was born the idea of an Overdrive special function:

The Overdrive is a mutator for skirmish mode that overwrites every unit’s special function to allow a special mode that grants personal stats boost for a limited time.
However, (this is important!) this mode does not gives more protection, nor it ignores stress damage as they are still applied as it would normally, so if you are not careful with your plane and use this mode to the limit, you will have a wrecked plane by the end of it.

Here is a screen shot of the Su-47 in Overdrive mode:

Something to also take note, AI units for now doesn’t use special functions, so as everyone might expect, this mutator gives the player and extraordinary upper hand against every other units.
But about this mutator, much more could have been said, but I will leave to you to explore it and enjoy.

In this extra report, it will be used the opportunity to give a small preview of the upcoming stealth system.
Here are the most important and already confirmed ideas of how it will work:

• For detecting units there will be two ways, by radar waves and heat, the attacking unit just needs to successfully detect in one of those two. So if a unit is has very low radar visibility but normal thermal visibility, that stealthiness can be easily nullified against a unit equipped with an IRST (although the heat detection systems are usually far more limited in range).
• Other important point is distance, even if a unit is undetectable in the radar at distance, the closer it gets the more sensible to lower values that radar also becomes. This also means the opposite, larger units like bombers can be detector at far greater distance than normal fighters.
• The attacker detection capabilities are not 360 degrees, both systems have limited field of vision, so the units have to look at the direction they may expect to be the enemies.
• The visibility values are dependent of the orientation of the defender unit, this means is far easier to detect by heat an aircraft if looking from behind.
• External loadout affects the unit visibility.
• Weapons bay open and landing gears deployed (when implemented) will affect the visibility values.
• The preserve the same gameplay feel that has been until now, by default there will be a threshold of visibility values, if the aircraft has values higher that that it will be show on the global radar as usual. This threshold can be deactivated or changed if need in any mission.

And finally, as mentioned in the beginning, this update also includes two additional units already shown in older reports:

First one is the Jaguar Prototype

And second is the F-104G-CCV

• Improved Special function ability.
• Fixed various bugs and issues

• Added F-104G-CCV
• Added Jaguar Prototype
• Added Overdrive Mutator

Stay tuned, more reports will follow.

This report contains the changes of the 0.2190 update.

Just for contextualizing, these last updates hare been more compact because the mission editor currently is being developed in parallel production.
Being that said, let’s start off with the main topic:

While the mission editor is not yet completed, the skirmish is the game mode that has being given more attention at the moment.
In each update is constantly being improved and refined, although it already offers everything that need to offer there are still a handful of great ideas lurking around in the forum, both as game modes and mutators, so there is still plenty to improve/add in this game mode.

This continuing the expansion of the flexibility of the mutators, it has been added the possibility to add additional units.
Exploring this newly added possibility, what could be created as a mutator is something that adds units that disrupt or limit the formal flow of battle.

Several ideas came to mind, but ultimately was chosen the creation of this unit:

An Ion Cannon.

The EOS-02 MRISA cannon is a orbital Scalar Accelerator cannon that operates using a enlarged and up-powered version of the same concept used in the aircraft-mounted L1WAC.
(Note: if you look at the description of this unit you can see more complete background information.)

With this unit it was created the “Ion Rain” mutator

Here a screen show of the EOS-02 in use:

This ion cannon should be considered as low performance and suited to targeted a single unit, rather than being a weapon that deliver destruction to a wide range.
While the mutator have 7 units in space they are more disruptive than actually effective.

(Also this is just small Ion cannon, a bigger, more powerful and more intimidating version will surely be added in the future)

Moving on with the additions, has it was mentioned in the past report, due to a frequent request of the F-16XL, it was decided to finally add it in the game.
But instead of adding directly the exact variant in question, is being added instead the whole evolution that led to that unit  and it will move on to beyond

So this time it was added the F-16 SCAMP v.2.

The F-16 SCAMP II is the next stage in the development of the F-16XL production line, and is a stepping stone between the sharply swept delta of the original SCAMP and the contoured lines of the XL. The wingspan has again been increased, trading more mobility for further increased stability, range and weapons carriage.

An interesting point of this variant is that it contains three all-moving parts in the tips that control pitch, roll and even yaw.

Like before, here is a size comparison be have a better idea of the scale of this variant:

As you may notice, the first version is exceptionally long, but this version falls back to a more compact size as the original.

Another unit that has been added in this update is somewhat different from the usual.
It was requested as sort off a joke unit, but also to add another element to the Su-47 family:

And here is the story behind this unit:
“Produced from a mistake on the production line in an aircraft development facility, a mistake which led to over 200 SU-47 Berkuts having their wings installed backwards, led to the testing and rather limited deployment of the SU-74 Tukreb. Not wanting to fall behind on quote, the factory cleared these mis-installed Sukhois for active deployment to various customers throughout the world. The factory was promptly threatened by various air forces throughout the world after they received the shipment, however further testing of the mistake aircraft saved the firm from destruction by tomahawk  cruise missile. In field tests the “Tukreb”, as nicknamed by the first pilots due to lack of other reporting name, was at least on par with the standard SU-47 and was allowed onto the battlefield in limited numbers.”

While the Su-74 is just a fictional unit in a what-if scenario it is still regarded as combat capable like any other unit, with a performance corresponding to alterations and be balanced gameplay-wise.

Regarding fictional variants, there have been some suggestions in the forum, that have been taken in to account, but just to be aware, real variants will always have more priority.

Also here are other additions/change that you will find in this update:

There have been added new gameplay sounds and improvement of the existing ones.
Something that may interest modders is the newly added possibility to set distinct hud sounds for each unit.
In this version you already will hear that some aircrafts have different warning sounds.

Other addition, due to the feedback in the forums is the inclusion of an achievement system in the profile, (for now they won’t be called accolades to avoid confusion).
The challenges that are included in this update are most basic, also as it uses the already existing profile data is very likely that anyone with a significant playtime has most of the awards already conquered.
This system built to be easily expanded and it will be in the future, so expect the addition of much more awards in the near future. (Also if you have any idea for a new challenge feel free to suggest it)

The last addition is the new menu music, this music is composed by José Pavli and it will serve as a preview of his work as he will be responsible for composing the soundtrack of the next campaign that is expected to be released shortly after the mission editor is completed .

And finally preview of the next report, can anyone guess what it is?
(With this you all are aware what will be the next gameplay mechanics to be introduced in the next update)

• Added award system
• Added Unit specific sounds
• Added units addition in mutators
• Fixed various bugs and issues

• Added F-16 SCAMP v2
• Added Su-74
• Added EOS-02
• Added Ion Rain Mutator
• Added new sounds

Stay tuned, more reports will follow.

This report contains the changes of the 0.2180 update.

Just to warn in advance, this report is more like filler, so it won’t bring anything ground braking.
Most of the development made since the last report was in the mission editor, but that has been done until now was the inner systems, so until it reaches the user interface, there’s really nothing interesting to show.

But to not postpone the updates until the editor is completed it will be released small updates with some additional units and any necessary bug fix.

For this update it was initially planned to add the f-16XL, but on second thought, instead of directly add that variant it would be more interesting to add the whole development line that led to that unit.

So with that in mind, we start off with this unit:

The F-16 SCAMP.

Under a project called Supersonic Cruise and Manoeuvering Program (SCAMP) it was developed cranked-arrow delta wing shape, this was the birth of the design of the F-16XL

The F-16 SCAMP is a concept for technology demonstrator variant of the F-16 with a heavily modified wing shape.
His appearance is so big departure from the original, that when viewed from above no longer resemblance the original version.

Also note, this version lacks in speed brakes, as a result it loses speed a lot more slowly than any other fighters. (the loss of speed is achieved by lowering the engine output)

Something interesting to mention about the F-16 SCAMP, is it size, as it is probably the biggest version of the F-16 family:

As you can see the F-16 SCAMP is a big, almost as big as the F-15 U+.

This is the only version of the F-16XL development to add for now; more will be added in the next reports.

To match the variant above it was added another delta wing, the MiG-21I Analog.

Based in the MiG-21S (a variant not yet available in the game), the MiG-21I Analog changes the wings design and removes the tail.

The MiG21I /1 analog started as an experimental plate to test the delta wing concept for the Tu-144.
This design proved to be successful in providing the aircraft with more maneuverability and lift

Because of this design was so successful, the design was improved and it was made another prototype:

Very similar to the other previous version, however the Mig-21I/2 has a more oval wings design.

This version changed the role of some moving parts and it has improved stability and maneuverability.

Regarding to the Mig-21, the surprising aspect of this is that the game until now only had two variants, but this family as loads of them.
Considering this, it is very likely that more versions will be made available in the upcoming updates.

Moving on to other aircrafts, they are not delta wing, but in this update it was also added some of those that were already shown in the previous reports:

F-104S-ASA_M :

Jaguar A:

Jaguar GR3:

It was added this weapon as well:

The FAB-500-M62 is an unguided 500Kg drop bomb.

This weapon was made specifically for a tutorial that will be available later. This tutorial will show the step-by-step from the weapon creation to the implementation in the game.

Just a simple addition that is more for fun than anything else, while expanding player profile data to allow future achievement-like conditions, it was added a rank to all individual data.
It safe to say if anyone reaches an ACE rank is because is probably he really is one.

This one is one addition that has been requested for quite some time.
Is allowing to specify a different number of main weapons, until now for aircrafts the game always forced to have two projectiles of the may weapon.

For now there isn’t any unit the uses this new “ability”, but it is already one planned to be added very soon.

For anyone interested in adding this to their custom aircraft add this line:

And then add the respective lines:

MainWeapPos#_HP= Vector3
MainWeapPos#_HPnoMesh = bool
MainWeapPos#= Vector3
MainWeapDir#= Vector3
MainWeapRoll#= Real

• Added profile ranks
• Added flexible number of main weapons
• Fixed various bugs and issues

• Added F-16 SCAMP
• Added MiG-21I/1
• Added MiG-21I/2
• Added FAB-500-M62

Stay tuned, more reports will follow.

This report contains the changes of the 0.2170 update.

It has been more than a week since the last report. At first this update was expected to be a short break from the editor development.
But by addressing most of the players’ request for improvements and fixes, this update expanded way beyond that was intended.
Some improvements are almost little details, so they don’t really worth being mentioned here.
In general, is fair to say that the HUD and Skirmish had some improvements. (The HUD in a lesser extent, it still needs to be added the option to resize it)

Because a report is uninteresting if it only contains bug fixes and improvements, it was added as well a significant quantity of new content and features:

These following weapons are the ones that remained to be added for the previously added Jaguars.

The Exocet AM39 is a very long-range anti-shipping missile based on the older Nord 30. The missile’s engine and guidance software is capable of powering it for up to seventy kilometers in adverse weather conditions at very high speeds, at often a meter or so above the sea. Generally guided with the mother aircraft’s radar until it is extremely close to the target, the missile’s extremely low flight profile and high speed approach make it very hard to hit with close-in defenses. Coupled with a low-power but hardened tungsten-tipped warhead for maximum penetration, the missile is unique in that it does not usually execute a terminal ‘pop-up’ and expose itself momentarily to weapon fire, but instead drops and hits the ship just below the water-line, relying on its inherent design to retain a high-speed moments before impact.

The BLG-66 Belouga is a cluster bomb that uses three different submunition types for different purposes. In the case of the Belouga bomb these submunitions are known as grenades, rather than the more usual name of bomblet.
The use of three types of submunitions, makes it effective against almost all types of ground units.

BGL-400
The BLG series are a group of modification packages developed for use in general-purpose bombs to convert them to guided bomb units..The BLG-400 is a package that is attached to 400-kilogram bombs to establish laser guidance from the mother aircraft’s laser designation pod or from friendly ground forces equipped with laser equipment.

BGL-1000
The BLG series are a group of modification packages developed for use in general-purpose bombs to convert them to guided bomb units. The BLG-1000 is a package that is attached to heavy 1000-kilogram bombs to establish laser guidance from the mother aircraft’s laser designation pod or from friendly ground forces equipped with laser equipment.

And for the last, a weapon made specifically if the instagib mutator:

The L1WAC-8 (Linear One-Way Accelerator Cannon) is an experimental slow-decay particle rifle, the L1WAC, or Linear One-Way-Accelerator Cannon is a heavy-duty mag-glove powered by a set of four high-power magnets that can energize a field of positively-charged Boron particles into creating a split-second burst of extreme electromagnetic and infra-red power, firing it using directed electromagnetic fields and turning the energy into something akin to a extremely-fast shell from a cannon. This power shell instantly submits whatever it touches to a zero-point energy stasis field and generally results in the complete obliteration of whatever the power shell hits.

This weapon can generate impressive light shows.

During the development of the instagib weapon, it was initially thought that would be more faithful to the concept if it behaved and aimed like a rocket.
While it idea worked marvels against ground type units, against air units, was almost impossible to hit a target especially at long ranges.
So to make it more fun, this weapon was changed to be more missile-like allowing the computer help with the aim support. While is still far to have a 100% kill ratio it is very deadly when used properly.

Also regarding the instagib weapon, after seeing this, I’m sure that some of you are interested in adding a laser type weapon to a normal unit or a fictional super weapon.
Both instagib and laser may have a visual similar appearance, but the laser type of weapon acts very differently, so for now, the game still doesn’t support that kind of weapon.
But don’t worry; I expect that it should not take long for us to see a laser weapon in the game.

This is something that was in mind to add for quite a while.
If I recall correctly, Midsummer asked for accolades support.
While there are not available to be used in the desura Api, can be added an similar system for the game only.
But for that to work at full extent, the game must be first able to record the player personal stats.

In this update it was added the code to save aircrafts individual profile stats.

For now, the only stats that are visible are the number if sorties and kills displayed in the aircraft selection in the battle scenario mode.
It was added as well a rank system of such data, it will go from F to ACE (F-E-D-C-B-A-S-SS-SSS-ACE).
While the game will never require having the highest rank in all units, there will achievements related to these ranks.

Later the same will be added for individual battle scenarios and mutators.

And finally as the last content, something that has been requested.
As you may know, every request by any player is truly considered and if possible, added as soon the schedule allows it, but in this case to show appreciation to all the great custom skins that John_Silver have already provided, his request has taken priority.

The Su-30.

The Su-30 is an evolution Su-27P, but instead being derived from the same frame, it was used the Combat trainer Su-27UB airframe.
This version is the first iteration of the Su-30 family, so unlike the following versions that are Multirole, this unit is a Heavy interceptor fighter.

Inspired by the Su-30’s Tactical data link that grants the aircraft a role of a mini-AWACS , the addition of this unit served the perfect opportunity to add the Buff/Debuff surround units system.

Here is the normal situation with four MiG-29s with their default radar range:

And here is with the presence of a Su-30:

With the Buff/Debuff surround units system in effect, the MiG-29 units have boosted radar and lock range.

(Note: While this was added to mimic in some way the Tactical data link, in reality a Tactical data link is used to share information and not to boost capabilities. Furthermore, in the game all units in the target category area allowed to receive this boost, while in reality, only specific units are compatible with this data sharing)

In future this will be expanded to be used by awacs units, air control towers, radar domes, fire control vehicles and others. This new system will add an additional layer of strategy in the overall gameplay.
This is another mechanic to consider in the battlefield, for example, when invading an air base, the defending units are likely to have boosted radar range so the player may be aware that it can best to destroy support units that boost capabilities.

When squads became available in the game, boosting units from the same squad will have priority, because this effect may be only applied to a limited number of units. (One Su-30 only boost four units)

In alternative, this system can be used to affect surrounding enemy units in a negative way; this will likely be used by units such as EA-6B Prowler or EA-18G Growler

Thanks again to MyHatismyFriend for the descriptions.

• Added Buff/Debuff surround units system
• Added individual units’ profile saved data
• Fixed various bugs and issues

• Added Su-30
• Added Exocet AM39
• Added BLG-66 Belouga
• Added BGL-400
• Added BGL-1000
• Added L1WAC-8
• Added instagib mutator

Stay tuned, more reports will follow.

This report contains the changes of the 0.2160 update.

This update continues in expanding the functionalities of the editor.
With this new release is already possible to add new units, but the biggest step this time is the option to change the environment.

Here are some shots while playing around with it:

At the moment, the map editor is only partially done, offering only the most basic functions, and even in these require further upgrades and more control in the future.
But at it stands now, is enough for his intended propose and the development of this map editor will stay on hold for now.
This is because the map editor to be truly complete requires an extensive set of features and by adding all at once could stagger for several weeks the overall development of the game.

This was already foreseen and it was planed form the start that these last update would not develop fully the map editor.

The reason for this development was to be an intermediary step for the mission editor, this one the true goal and to be developed fully in the next updates.

With this break in the map editor, it will offer the opportunity to hear the players’ opinion about the editor and what could be improved.

Moving on with the report, the Special function option expanded has been improved and integrated in another aircraft.
As it was mentioned when it was added, the j 35 mod has the special function to retract the small canard wings to be able to fire, but the time there was no special function option, so the aircraft was unequipped of his sub weapons.

With this update, this unit was revised and now can fold the canards to be able to fire.
A shot of the mod 4 retracting the wings.
Not that this special function is not yet completed, it has the animations and can only fire after canards collected, but it doesn’t affect the aircraft performance.

As for content additions, it was added more mutators:
Hp Regen- all units regenerate hp with time
Volatile units- all units create a huge blast when destroyed that damage surrounding units
Hyper mode- higher rate of fire and more ammo
SafeMissiles – all missiles/rockets self destruct after running out of fuel
FuelBombs mode- All units have fuel mode active and self destruct after running out of fuel.

With this pack, most of the suggestions that have been made have already been addressed. There are still a couple of nice ideas remaining, but if anyone has other idea for a mutator feel free to suggest, in alternative, you can find the mutator template in the respective folder and you can try to make your own mutator by yourself.

Another mutator that has been added in this update, but this one just for the fun.
I don’t recall who suggest it, neither when or where.
I don’t also know if the one that suggestion was serious or was just joking, but just to show how every suggestion here is treated seriously, here it is:

Someone asked eggplanes, and here they are:

Now going back to more serious topics, the skirmish mode had several improvements and bug fixes, especial the arena boundaries and respawn zone.

It was also added the “Last Team standing”, it is similar to the last man standing but with teams. At the moment, the player can’t be spectator an watch the fight while is out so, while it is team based mode, the match is immediately lost if the player loses all lives.

Added also the option to configure the number of AI units in each team.

And still referring to the skirmish mode, it was fixed an AI bug that somehow passed unnoticed until now, sometimes after respawn the AI units become in a more passive behavior. After this update, the Ai units will immediately recover and take actions right after respawning.

And finally, has it was requested, it was added the option to restore to default controls in the control options.

• Improved Map editor
• Improved Special Function mode
• Fixed several bugs in Skirmish

• Added More Mutators
• Added Last Team Standing game mode

Stay tuned, more reports will follow.