With the release of the Saab 340A now out of the way, this forum is closed to any future new posts and replies. Instead, please use the newly designated support forum!

Cheers!

I know many of you have been patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for the Saab 340A release. It's been a few days since our last update, so here's a new one for you...

First and foremost, get ready! We are 48 hours or less from release. It could be in one hour, it could be in five, it could be in 48. This means as soon as our installers are compiled, tested, uploaded, and the product page is ready to go, the product will be online.

We have finished creating all manuals and fixing bugs found along the way. The documentation for this product is very comprehensive, as it should be. The systems manual is 200+ pages of reading material for you to learn and understand how the Saab 340A works both in sim an in the real world. Of course, if you're not the person to want to read and you just want to get in and fly, the auto start feature on this aircraft was made just for you, so don't feel left out!

Here's a few highlights to expect with this product:

Liveries

The Saab 340A comes with 32 liveries spread across three variants. These liveries are included with your Saab 340A purchase at no additional charge. 

The list of liveries is as follows...

Passenger Variant

• Air New Zealand Link
• Continental Connection
• Crossair
• Delta Connection
• Estonian - Hockey Bird Livery
• Flybe Logan Air
• Fuerza Aerea Argentinea
• Japan Air Lines
• Kenya Airways
• Leading Edge Simulations House Livery
• NextJet
• Nokair
• Northwest Airlink
• Northwest Airlink - Route Map Livery
• Pacific Coastal
• PenAir
• Private/Corporate Livery
• REX
• REX - City of Wagga Wagga Livery
• REX - Shark Diving Livery
• Saab House Factory Colors
• Silver
• Skyways
• Trans World Express
• United Express (Tulip)
• US Airways Express

Cargo Variant

• Adria Cargo
• Aloha Air Cargo
• Bridges
• DHL

AEW Variant

• Swedish Air Force
• Royal Thai Air Force

3D Sound Engine

We've touched on this a bit before, but I'll elaborate a bit more now. The Saab 340A comes with a brand new sound engine called soundXtreme. It was built to do what we wanted and how we wanted rather than having to rely on third party solutions or default sounds. The sound engine allows for sound files to play from certain places in 3D space, recognizes where the sound should be directed, and whether the sound being played is for interior or exterior. This is a very light description of this sound engine (it's very advanced), but there's no need to get too technical in this post over it. I'll say this: It rocks!

The actual sounds came from a real Saab 340A. We partnered with Turbine Sound Studios on an all-new HD pack (not their currently released MSFS offering) for the interior and exterior engine sounds. The prop, turbine, and every other sound are separated from one another so that our sound engine has full control of every aspect of each sound. You guys will pick up on this right way as you move your condition levers around the various ranges...it's chilling how good it sounds!

The internal cockpit warning and cabin sounds came from our own real recordings in a Saab 340A. Each sound you hear will be authentic to the aircraft!

All in all, the aircraft comes with more than 130 unique samples of sound.

Installation

The Saab 340A installation program will take a departure from our traditional installers and fetch only the files you really want. We do this for a variety of reasons, with the first being the fact that some of you will not want every variant or livery we have made. Within the installer you will be able to select which variants (passenger variant mandatory) and liveries you want installed. Based on your selection, the installer will fetch the appropriate files and install them for you.

During the install process we also analyze your system to provide you the best experience in sim. You'll be asked what video card you have, and based on this selection we will auto-install the necessary texture sizes for your video card. Rest assured, we have gone through great lengths to make sure the aircraft textures look good, so let the installer do it's thing and be truthful in your selection of hardware.

The size of install will vary depending on selections of hardware and liveries, but the max install (all options selected) will run at about a 1.4GB download and just about 1.9GB installed.

Livery Manager

We will be including a livery manager program. In short, this program will allow you to install liveries you previously did not install in the installation process without having to go through the entire install process again. This is pretty self explanatory from here, so no need to further elaborate.

Documentation

Documentation will include the following manuals: Introduction and settings, Charts, Company Manual (Systems), Quick/Autostart Manual, and a flight tutorial.

Okay, so that's where we stand right now. Hopefully this little update is well received and gets you prepared for what's to come and what to expect.

We'll be seeing you soon! 

Some important discussions came about late last night through private discussion channels about certain, popular flight situations for a large portion of our customer base. There were some valid points made for this particular argument which has made us consider adding a few more features in order to accommodate these people. This is a very last minute, yet important decision that was not originally planned for.

Hello, Captains,

Welcome to what we feel is going to be a very exciting week (defined as our own 7 day period starting now)! Why? Well, release time is upon us! The Saab 340A is on final approach and will be ready for you to fly very soon!

The last three years of work is about to be unleashed in this new product for X-Plane 10, and we're confident you will agree it to be a game changer. There have been some awesome aircraft released over the years, and this has provoked us to raise the bar during development. We've raised our own bar over here time and time again to strive for better than we already are or ever were.

The Saab 340A will be a study level sim. You can read the AOM from the real aircraft and step into this product and know just what to do; just what to see! We realize some folks are not interested in overly complex simulations, and trust me, we've worked hard to consider you as well. We'll announce more about that shortly! I realize some of you just like to "get in and go," and that's just fine! That said, this product will REALLY cater even more-so to the folks that love a true-to-life simulation experience. Our real world Saab 340 beta test team has been not only a tremendous help, but also good affirmation that we've been doing this right for the last three years; that we have something really special on our hands!

So, what will these upcoming days hold? Well, here's what I can tell you:

1. We are currently wrapping up documentation and working on some last minute systems logic/animations (smaller stuff).

2. Our beta team has been provided their fourth release today, which incorporated a ton of bug fixes (thanks team!) and additions. While the team is busy putting the changes and additions through their paces, we are implementing any fixes or concerns that come up almost right away.

3. A lot of you have asked for a video. Truth be told, our plate has been really, really full with work here. Some of us have pulled up to 30 hour work days without sleep. That said, we will not let you down and more on that will be released in time.  Video has been released!

4. We are busy testing new download servers just deployed in preparation for release day.

5. Everyone constantly asks about a release date. We actually have a hard date set for this launch already. We will not be releasing this info right now. Last minute things can change, but I thought giving you a time range (I did say a week ) would be more than satisfactory. The ONLY way something will change at this point is if something really, really "bad" happens to the extent we cannot release the product. The chances of this occurring are very slim.


What can you do?...

We've worked tirelessly on this add-on for all these years. We're confident in what a success it will be (just hearing the initial reactions from those involved in the beta make us smile), but you can never have too much publicity. You guys are sometimes our best marketers by spreading the word and sharing your excitement, so please, from today on, if you see something you like with screenshots, announcements, or any other info that will come out this week, share it! If you participate in other forums, that's a great starting point as well. Your excitement fuels OUR motivation!

Lastly, thanks to everyone who has followed us on this multi year journey. Our job is almost done, but yours has just begun! Get those checklists out!

Enjoy what's to come this week...It's going to be busy with information!


-------------------------------------------------
Missed the screenshots?

Haven't seen screenshots/previews or want to look at them again? Check them out below!

Expansive Menu System Preview - September 8th, 2013 
Saab 340A Promo Video - September 6th, 2013
Airborne Early Warning Variant - September 6th, 2013
Weather Conditions - September 4th, 2013
Cockpit and Cabin - September 4th, 2013
Kenya Airways - September 1st, 2013
Silver Airways - June 24th, 2013
REX - June 24th, 2013
Aloha Air Cargo Variant - April 2nd, 2013
NextJet and Cockpit - February 15th, 2013
Cockpit Photo - January 28th, 2013
...and many more!

Enjoy!

Highly suggest you select at least 720p!

It has been a very long time since we've let info out on this product. Time has gone by, and in that time X-Plane 10 has been released, the product was put on a temporary hold, and we carried on with products like the DC-3 that so many of you are enjoying (thanks to all of you for making that product a success!).

Over the course of the last few months the Saab 340 was picked back up and we have been working hard in the background to complete it. The team involved is working very hard to ensure this product a good one, and based on what we have produced so far, I have no doubt this product is going to be a hit!

The length in time may seem disheartening to some, but in reality it is a blessing. As days go forward, so to do our skills and abilities. Quality bars are raised, and as such it forces us to do and make better. The Saab is no exception to this rule, and because of this a lot of 3D modeling and texturing has been entirely re-worked on this aircraft! For this project, time has been a GOOD thing.

Many people are likely curious as to what we have coming down the pipeline in terms of systems functionality, and we are quite confident this will not disappoint! The Saab is aimed to be at the top tier of systems and visual simulation. With this said, we have also upgraded displays to be drawn by our own OpenGL, and additional systems have been added/adjusted according to the manuals we continuously study (as well as the numerous cross-referencing with our lead pilot in this project)!

For the moment, I just want to briefly preview what we have re-worked with the 3D and textures on the Saab 340. More will come your way when it comes to systems programming as well, but for now we just want all of you to know that this project has heavy life in it, and it will without doubt make it to your computers in a timely fashion. We don't think you will be disappointed!

Enjoy!

(HINT: Click on images to see full size!)

I just wanted to give you a new progress update. As you know we announced release week by Tuesday earlier this week and we are now four days into a delay. This is not without good reason, though I understand frustration is likely felt by some whom are excited about the impending release.

We were very, very close to hitting the "up for sale" button last week, but a number of very last minute, 11th hour issues popped up. These include:

1. An executive decision by us to re-work the manuals a bit. This is a very complex product in simulation and deserves a well put together systems manual. We have been very happy with the revisions thus far, and are moving as quickly as possible around the clock to get this done.

2. A sound issue was discovered in certain circumstances on Windows hardware. We just completed the fix for this today.

3. In a very last minute move, we made the decision to add a new menu item which will be announced soon, but it's a very handy one and pretty darn cool! We think you all will really enjoy this one when announced. We finished most of the coding on this feature through the night tonight and are currently testing it.

4. A flight tutorial is currently being created. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

We have worked extremely hard since we made the initial "week" announcement and tried every best, honest effort to meet our timeline. These last minute decisions and unexpected items in-between have added to that initial timeline, but I assure you we are not far off from release. The extra time taken will ensure the product you receive is more than well rounded compared to any others. We'll be sure of that!

We wanted to get some new previews out to at least satisfy the wait, but it's been really hard to squeeze time in for play this week with the work we are trying to pull off in a short period of time. In the meantime, I hope this update gives enough insight to hold you over for a bit.

We really apologize for the delay. I assure you it will have been worth the wait!

Thanks for your patience, understanding, and for reading!

Work continues and we're still working feverishly over here. We've concluded our testing on our latest feature implemented, and I wanted to show that to you here!

Recently there was some internal discussion about how the Saab 340A lacks RNAV capability. It is, after-all, an old school aircraft by design, and primarily requires VOR/NDB type flying. The aircraft itself comes standard with two radios for VOR 1 and VOR 2 tracking which makes the autopilot as well as the aircraft interactive and fun to fly. Aside from general complexity in the simulation of this aircraft, the navigation aspect alone will really brush up your skills as a pilot in general. It's really a lot of fun to surf the skies and have something to do all the time!

But, RNAV is becoming ever so popular and dominant in places like Europe (all over the world really), where a lot of radio frequency waypoints (like VOR) no longer exist. Instead, they rely on FIXs and that is something the Saab 340A is not capable of out of the box. In the USA it's a bit easier because VORs still exist, and any type of FIX can generally (usually) be associated to some form of radial on a VOR. All this said, to solve the RNAV issue we made the executive decision to create our own GPS in X-Plane. We are calling this a Mini-GPS, and it is accessible in the tool tray just like all of our other menus seen in our last topic covering this type of information. The Mini-GPS will work only with FIXs, as the aircraft itself can already handle radio frequency waypoints like VORs. 

The Mini-GPS window will give you three options when first opened. The first, is to set the initial position that the GPS will track from. For convenience we have a button to set it to your current aircraft position. The second and third inputs are for FIXs. We allow you up to two waypoints for convenience, and as you cross a FIX in flight, the second FIX you entered will move to the 'Active' position. This will make flying things like SIDs and STARs a lot more attractive to a lot of you. Additionally, the menu allows you to select checkboxes for what data you'd like to display on screen. This includes your active waypoint, a deviation bar (just like you'd find on a real GPS), and your 'Next' waypoint if entered. It looks like this:

In the below screenshot, I have just taken off from KIAH and am on my way to the 'ZORLU' FIX. You can see the data in the upper left displays what heading from my current position this FIX is located at, and how far I am from the FIX based on my current position. This data constantly updates as I fly! You'll also note the deviation bar in the middle of the screen. The small diamond constantly updates, tracks, and displays the proper information for me to know when I am on the correct flight path between the two waypoints I have entered (in this case my position on the runway at KIAH and the FIX 'ZORLU').

Click image to see full size.

So this is just a quick run down of our latest feature implemented. I believe this will be attractive for a lot of you who fly online and follow SIDs and STARs. It solves a problem in our virtual world for an aircraft that typically does not have RNAV capability, and still makes the flying fun just like VOR to VOR flying would be.

Thanks for reading! We'll have more updates shortly as we progress to release!

This is just a quick status report on where we stand. Tomorrow will mark our one week window of release week information. We are making every effort to meet that time, though unexpected items (small or big) can get in the way and delay that only slightly, if at all.

We have released Release Candidate 1.0 to our test team and they are putting the installer and programming through the paces. At this point it's important to ensure we have squashed the bugs they report from beta to beta (so far so good). We will continue to get feedback from them and fix as necessary.

This is also our quality control check time. We are verifying that the package contains all it needs to, and none of what it shouldn't. We go through every texture, variant, and livery. We're also fine tuning a few animations we didn't quite like and had better ideas for, but that's nothing big or delay worthy.

The big one right now is the manual. We are still in the phase of compiling the final layout and content aside from what we have had already during this time. Releasing a product like this without a good quality manual renders this product almost useless for the majority of folks, so it's important we get this one done.

I don't know exactly when we'll get this out the door (tonight, tomorrow morning, whatever) other than to say when we say it's "done!" It's very, very, very close, and it's exciting for all of us to say the least!

So, this is just a little status report. We're still here, working around the clock, and ready for a vacation.

Talk soon!

Caution: Images contain razor sharp custom programmed EFIS display.

And, the following images show where each button on this menu will take you to...

Overhead

Pilot VFR

CoPilot VFR

MCP

Pilot IFR

Ctr Panel

CoPilot IFR

L Side Pnl

TQ (Throttle Quadrant)

R Side Pnl

Radios

Continuing on with the next tool tray icon, we have a picture of a truck. This icon will open the Ground Support Equipment window. There are a number of visible features on the exterior of the aircraft that correlate directly to this menu. When you first load up the aircraft, the engines will be shut down and all of the 'Remove Before Flight' flags will be in place on the aircraft just like you'd find them in real life. Additionally, there are safety cones, chocks, and the ground power unit (GPU) selectable from this menu. It's pretty straightforward, but here's what it looks like...

The next item in the tool tray available to you has the text that says "Saab TQ". This icon when clicked will open a very helpful menu which I think you pilots will use quite frequently and find very handy! This is actually a virtual window which shows a render of the throttle quadrant and the location of all the throttle and condition levers. Yellow represents where your levers are currently placed, while red represents a limit when in the air (flight idle). As you move your levers up and down, the yellow lines will animate on the fly and display a percentage value (also very important to know so you don't burn up your engines). When in the air, no matter how far down you move your throttle levers with your hardware, the red line will limit your throttle position from actually going below that point. This is a lock mechanism which is also present in the real aircraft. As soon as the plane touches down, you can then move below this red line and into the various positions (like reverse). A very handy feature, for sure!

Moving along, the next available icon in the tool tray depicts charts. This is another really great feature on this aircraft! We allow you to create or download your own charts from the internet and place them in a folder. The charts will then be available to you in the Chart Selector window, where you can select the checkbox next to the chart you want, and it will actually place that specific chart into the chart clip on the yoke! Below shows a selection for Newark (KEWR). Note...in the below image there's an alignment issue with the selection vs. text, and it's just due to some code editing but I wanted to show you anyhow!

Next up we have an icon of a speaker. If you haven't figured this one out by now, this is a menu for our 3D sound engine preferences (called soundXtreme). The Saab 340A has some amazing sound features included to really give you a great experience! Quite literally, we were provided the access to get EVERY aural sound from the cockpit, hydraulic pump sounds, interior and exterior engine sounds, button and dial sounds, stair sounds, flaps, wipers, recirc fans, you name it! I'll be sure to dedicate some time to further explain this, but I really can't stress enough how much the sounds in this product enhance it to a whole new level! The menu options for this window allow you to customize what sounds you would like to hear at what volume levels...

The next item and icon selectable looks like a "play" button. For those of you who are short on time, or just want to get up and go (hey, the babies diaper needs changing, or sometimes you just need to use the loo), we haven't forgot about you! We realize the Saab 340A is a complex simulation with a lot going on and requires some reading if you really want to know how to do everything properly. However, some of you do not like that. We know this, and we want to include you in on this product too! As such, we have created an Auto-Start window for you. This window will quite literally move switches, monitor systems, and do the dirty work for you until all the important systems and engines are up and running so that the only thing you have to do is essentially move your condition and throttle levers forward to roll down the runway! For those of you who just like to watch and learn, we have made a Auto-Start interval input where you can tell the Saab how quickly you want it to flip switches during the startup sequence. This is great to slow down if you want to just get a feel for how things work!

The following images depict a typical Auto-Start sequence...

Last but certainly not least we have the User Preferences icon. This icon opens a window to allow user selection of certain data to be popped up on screen depending on an action taking place. This is REALLY handy for people who map these specific items to hardware, as the knobs (such as heading) are situated in the center pedestal. As virtual pilots, we don't have the luxury that real world pilots do to use our hands in one spot and our eyes targeted on another, so this helps heaps! I have two images to show you for this. The first image depicts the actual window that launches when the icon is clicked from the tool tray...

And the following image depicts what happens if I select the 'Heading Selection Pop-Up' option, and then adjust my actual heading knob. You'll see in the upper left corner of the screen a real-time view of my current heading selection will come up until I have discontinued adjusting my heading. Really handy!

A final word!....

In addition to all that has been mentioned above, night flying can be tricky due to dark conditions and these windows being bright blue. But, fear not! We have taken this into account for you, and during dark hours these windows will auto-dim so that you're not blinded. Think of it like a GPS when driving down the road. The GPS has a day and night mode, and we have the same here!

So, that's a walk through of our rather expansive menu system for this product. We've tried to think of many scenarios that would initially be bothersome and implement them into easy to use interfaces instead! I hope you've enjoyed learning a little more about the Saab 340A, and that this helps you get a little more acquainted with the experience you're about to have!

Cheers, and Blue Skies!

Rolling on with the news that we have reached release week, here are some more shots showing off the interior of the aircraft!...

A quick shot showing off some of the normal mapping, remove before flight flags, chocks, and 3D props. The chocks and flags can be removed through a menu system we will be showing you soon! Also note the cabin interior through the window.

Some cockpit shots! This is just after startup, and the CRT screens are just heating up enough to turn on. The system is going through alignment as the system powers up. In general, CRT screens take some time to warm up before you even see anything fade in on the screen, and we have modeled this as well!

Below you'll note the AHRS system has aligned and the CRTs are now displaying proper navigational data. The process takes some time for the system to calibrate, just like in real life!

Just showing off some close up switches. This panel contains your throttle quadrant, radios, and some very important autopilot functionality.

More panel shots...

Cabin at night. The cabin features a functional cabin lighting panel just in front of the flight attendant jumpseat. Window shades adjust, overhead and side panel cabin lighting is functional, flight attendant call buttons work, and even the seat reading lights illuminate the seats below them when turned on!

Showing off the night lit panel. Note the CRT screens casting off light!

Today we're here to show you a third variant included with the Saab package at no extra charge! As a reminder, we've already announced in the past the passenger and cargo variants, and today we are announcing the Airborne Early Warning (AEW) variant!

There's not a whole lot to say on this one other than it's a fun addition that caters to a few people not interested in passenger or cargo flights!

Enjoy!

Today we're pleased to announce that earlier this week the Saab 340A had entered the beta testing stage! This means that a selected group of testers have been given copies of the aircraft for a more widespread testing phase of the final product, and to work out any bugs they may find. Our team consists of multiple Saab 340 pilots in the real world, as well as some well respected individuals in the community with technical expertise.

For all of us on the team, this signifies a huge milestone! The Saab has been in development for over three years, and has gone through many phases of development, but with it comes an extremely complex, fun, study worthy aircraft!

More importantly, this means there is light at the end of the tunnel!

...are you ready?

Some quotes from our beta testers.

One of the bigger questions we get in e-mail and sometimes in forums is if the Saab 340A has rain effects. The answer to this question is 'Yes!', but it goes a bit deeper than that.

In stormy conditions where precipitation is present, you can visually watch the drops of rain land on the window and "splat". It's a pretty looking effect for sure, and the overall effect took quite a while to get right. There are many instances that will effect what the rain will look like given conditions. A picture in idle rainy conditions is below...

Cold, snowy weather will also yield a dangerous situation. As snow falls, or conditions are kept cold without heat, the windows will ice up. De-icing is not instant and will take time, just as you would expect in real life!

Just a small explanation and preview, but I hope this has been informative and fun none-the-less!

Testing continues to progress well and we have been pleased with the results up to this point. As of now we are on track for our internal release date, and we'll have more info on this soon!

Here's a quick preview of another livery you can expect to be available in the Saab 340A package. This one is Kenya Airways, and is done by Leen de Jager!

Want to see past previews? Click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here!

Enjoy!

Today we're showing off another quick set of previews for the Saab 340A, and along with it we are announcing something we feel is quite exciting!

In addition to all the liveries you have previously seen (and the more that you will see) created by Theo, we are extremely excited to announce that Leen de Jager has been secretly working on liveries for this aircraft as well! For those of you that don't know (if you've been living on the moon), Leen is a very talented artist who has provided the community with many free, quality liveries in the past. You can see some of his work here.

The following Silver Airways livery is one that Leen produced for us (my personal favorite). In the coming days we'll continue to show more of his work!

The scenery in the screenshots is the amazing Wilmington 2.0.

Enjoy!

Want to see past previews? Click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here!

It's time we post another progress shot batch, so we hope you enjoy these!

The Saab 340A project is really coming along nicely. The 3D, texturing, and programming of this product is stunning, and again, we can't re-iterate enough how excited we are to get this out to you!

You'll note a few fun things in these screenshots, including the 3D prop at all angles (X-Plane traditionally renders this as flat from the side) thanks to some programming, as well as the various systems at different stages of flight. We've even thrown in a shot to give a glimpse of the ground vehicles, cones, etc. that will ship with this product.

As usual, this is all work in progress and some things are prone to change or improvement as we work towards the end of the production phase.

Want to see past previews? Click here, here, here, here, and here!

Enjoy!

Today we're announcing a new variant of the Saab 340A: Cargo!

This variant will be included free of charge with the base package for all Saab 340A customers! It includes the cargo interior as well as a few liveries. We have a few more surprises in store on this project too, so stay tuned there!

Programming on this product for all the systems has come to an end. We have been internally beta testing the Saab, and will soon move onto sounds once some final items are put in place with the Gizmo core. At that point we'll be expanding our beta to a few Saab 340 pilots (real world), after which it's release time.

All this said, we still have a lot to show you ahead, and we're really excited about it! 

Enjoy the Cargo variant previews!

This would then be a study sim ... and to help along with the process and to come to grips with it for myself, I think a knowledge base repository would be a good thing!

I'll start with what I've found ...

https://sites.google.com/site/sf340com/ - good source of info but deals mainly with the 340B

You'll also find a link from the above to which seems quite useful.

Hi, Folks,

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I announce we have folded up the Saab 340A project. There have been many uphill battles in development with this project, especially in the programming side. While we did get 90% of the way there in our development, that last 10% often times amounts to the biggest hurdles in these kind of products.

Leading Edge Simulations' team will be taking a small break away from any kind of development over the next couple weeks. We believe there is a larger market for slightly more simplistic simulations that take less programming and better 3D/eye candy. As such, we will soon announce the next two projects that have already been underway once the guys at Leading Edge Simulations get back from their break.

We thank everyone who has been patient throughout the development process of the Saab, and for sticking around for news as long as you have. Your words of encouragement are not missed!

As always, these are work in progress previews.

Cheers!

Click here to watch the video!

Enjoy, all!