Pete_SMS

I am moving closer to releasing the Beaver each day and I know that it has been a long time in development, but there are several things in the game here. The Beaver is my first add-on aircraft and therefore, there was a lot to find out and learn and this took quite some time. I started development primarily for XP9, because XP10 was not mature enough at this point, but the situation changed during development. Even the 3D aircraft and textures looked pretty good, I was not completely happy with it. A few months ago, I decided to start from scratch and to go for higher resolution textures etc. Sometimes, it is better to do it like that, especially if you keep an eye on the future and your development pipeline, which will be primarily XP10 for me. Probably XP10 only. Beside all that, the most amazing thing happened in my life, which is becoming a dad. As a lot of you know, this is a complete life changer, with respect to time available and other things. However, I don’t regret having much less time for development at all, because spending time with my daughter and family is much more valuable than anything else in the world. However, all this doesn’t mean that development stopped or that the release of the Beaver will not happen. Not at all! Work on the flight model, coding etc. is making good progress. There was a high speed stall on the 3D model and textures, but the Beaver recovered again. I guess I will be able to provide some news pretty soon. So please don’t expect a release within the next weeks, but some time this year is VERY realistic.

Thanks for the nice response! Here are a few more shots of the new cabin. Hope you enjoy ...

After a bit of silence, I would like to post an update. The Beaver went through an upgrade with respect to the 3D model and the textures. Now everything is sharp and crisp Here comes a picture of the new cockpit. As you can see, I removed the GPS as the cockpit looks much better without it. However, the AP stayed, because it could be handy for all kind of things. More pictures will follow soon. The cabin was also re-done and currently we are working on the glass textures. After that the exterior model will follow with some nice crisp and detailed textures. The control yoke was hidden on the picture above, via a clickspot. This way you will be able to access the switches more easily. I hope you like it and stay tuned for more updates very soon!

Thanks a lot guys, I am enjoying every minute of it and soon I will be on parental leave. 4 weeks 24/7 with my little angel. @Rhydian: You wife is right, your life will change completely, but in the best way it can be! Enjoy every minute of it! No need to fear anything... @bc: Sleep? What is that? Be assured that I still have a good amount of time for the Beaver and it will be finished for sure, no worries and also not in the too distant future. @Simon: Pink livery. Yeah, maybe. You sound like you know what you are talking about...hehehe

Thanks Ryan and Andy! A little girl.

Hello, Yes it has been a little quiet, but that doesn't mean there is no progress. As for new pictures, not within the next two weeks as the Beaver is getting a facelift. I decided to upgrade the textures and the quality, so it will look even more realistic. I am sure you will like it. I am planning ahead for the future, and sometimes it is good going back to the drawing board, in order to have an easy and efficient workflow for the future. Nice picture by the way. Looks really great! Still won't talk about a release date and still have to ask you to be patient. It will be worth it, but sometimes wonderful things get in the way of development. For example becoming a daddy.

Wow, that looks great bc. Wish I could participate with my Beaver. Well, the time will come for sure. Is it possible to fly it at a later date on your own, or would I need to participate in "real time"? Pete

Noooo, not released yet. I wanna have all the fun myself Thanks for the feedback and frame rates are more than OK. This is not a framerate heavy model and I try to keep it that way.

Another update for the Beaver. Animations and manipulators are progressing nicely without any problems so far, and I replaced the digital display radios with analog radios. That looks so much better in the Beaver. So, here you go...

Glad that it is working for you now. 2.65 and the new export script work great together! I haven't had any issues with the script so far and it is very easy and convenient to work with. So, you still have problems deleting keyframes? If you need help with respect to the script, let me know and I try to help. Looking forward to your finished B-29 project.

Hey there, this is looking great so far! What is your problem with the export script for Blender 2.56 and later. I use 2.65 and the sript works fine for me. Maybe I can help you figuring out what is going wrong on your side. Why do you think it is broken?

Thanks for the nice feedback guys. Much appreciated. One more for the weekend ...

Checking out the amphibious Beaver in the Bella Bella area ...

Since you asked for it, here are a few new shots of the amphibious Beaver flying close to Juneau, Alaska. Hope you like what you see ...

Dear Jean-Francois, Thank you very much for your interest and nice comments. We kind of have the same background. I was a hardcore Falcon 4 user for many years in the past and also use DCS, but only to fly around in a realistic P-51D. The A-10C is amazing with high fidelity, but I am lacking time to really get involved there as well. A few years ago, I fell in love with bush flying and also developed an interest in add-on development. Guess that came naturally, because I am a real world pilot and professional simulation/aerospace engineer. At that time, I was still using FS2004/FSX (started using it with Flight Simulator II), but Microsoft shut down the Aces studio and I thought, like so many others, that FSX will be dead as a development platform soon. As you know that is very far from reality and developers are still pushing the boundaries every day, delivering amazing products and it will stay like that for some years to come, I am sure. However, I chose X-Plane as my development platform and I will stay with it, because it has LOTS of potential. It is like a huge sandbox with many possibilities and opportunities, even it drives me crazy sometimes. Air Combat is challenging and demanding and I like it in a simulator, but I agree with you that flying a bush plane in the Rockies, Alaska or in the valleys of BC is just amazing and creates even more fun, if you do it in a realistic way using real weather. As for the release date, I can just repeat what I said in the past. I will only give a release date if I am sure that I can make it. I don’t want to disappoint anybody. There are too many factors involved which can change the release date. This is my first real add-on and I have to find out dev things from time to time, which takes time, and also real life gets in the way often as a part time developer with a full time day job. However, I can assure you that Beaver development is moving forward nicely. I hope to have the cockpit fully animated by the end of this week and also the flight model is in beta, being tested and evaluated by the test team and it is behaving great so far. The beta team consists of people with a strong technical background, people with a strong background in bush flying and real world pilots with flying experience in the Beaver and other similar aircraft types. We at SoulMade Simulations want to create the ultimate experience for a specific aircraft and the initial/first aircraft release will just be the beginning. So not one aircraft after another. There will be more to come for the Beaver and in general, but I can’t talk about it right now, because these things have never been done for X-Plane and I guess also not for FSX. However, that info will only be revealed after successful prototyping and when implementation is on its way, ready to be shown off. First things first, though. So I ask you and all the others waiting for the Beaver, please be patient with me …

Here comes a cockpit shot of the Beaver in XP10. Lighting looks good so far and 3D really comes alive now. This cockpit is still using modern radios with digital dispays on the co-pilot panel, but they will be replaced with older style radios soon. Fits much better to the cockpit. Hope you like the picture....

Really looking forward to this Piper Cub Adrian. Awesome job so far!

Good one Ryan, that was indeed a bug in the texture. That will get fixed of course! The Beaver flight model moved out of alpha state into beta state. However, the alpha model was behaving more than satisfactory already, so it could have been beta already, but now its time to put on more cream. While the flight model will be checked out in detail by the beta team, I will continue with cockpit animations, manipulators and systems code, so the whole Beaver can move into beta state. Having lots of fun!

No Norseman, I am sorry... Ice particle effect. Interesting idea for the future.

Because the Beaver is THE ultimate bush plane and my absolute favorite when it comes to this type of flying. I love it, and this is what drives me during development. I couldn't just do an aircraft I can't releate to. There are only very few aircraft I would like to develop for X-Plane and all of them are a little older and have some history.

The Beaver flight model is really close to beta now, to be ripped apart by experts, virtual bush pilots and real world Beaver pilots. I hope it won't be too bad and I am sure it's not. Things are looking very good so far. The flight model for the Beaver is very tricky, and if you just go and use the flight manual and the numbers in it, you haven't done your homework. Sometimes things are a little different in the real aircraft and I am sure there will be comments from virtual pilots like "Yes, but the manual says it should be ..." Yes, the manual does, but not the living and breathing Beaver and she is my reference and so are comments and inputs from pilots flying her. The modernized Beaver 3D models are in a frozen state and so are the textures. A real Beaver sound recording session took place and animations and manipulators are on its way too. However, I won't talk about a release yet. I don't rush anything and this baby will be around for a long time, also after the release. My goal is not to develop aircraft after aircraft. My goal is to create the ultimate experience for the user for a certain aircraft and there are so many things besides releasing the aircraft itself. A release will be announced by me and then you know that it is around the corner.

The Beaver is warming up for a morning flight. Any idea where I am?

Nope!

If that question was for me, yes I did. :-)

Thanks Ryan! I know... I would just need to remove the little window in the back and do some changes to the vertical tail.