Goran_M

It will have a full 3D cockpit but there will most likely NOT be a virtual cabin. If I do a cabin, it will be limited to the upper deck only. I don't see the reason to make an entire 3d cabin. Not to mention it will obliterate the poly count. There will be 2D pop up panels of the Flight Engineers panel to make life easier. Goran

I thought I wouldn't beat around the bush with the title and just name it for what it is. I've started making the 747-200. Now I'm truly in the deep end. This is a huge undertaking by me and my little boutique of a team and often I think I'm in over my head. And I'm not the only one. Why the 747-200? I have spent 8 years learning about it. In FS9 AND the real thing. The -200 has a lot of memories for me and I have a lot of info on it (more than I need, actually). I worked with a developer who made a payware version for FS9 and I have repeatedly tried to convince him to make one for X Plane. All to no avail. So I decided to tackle this project. This project IN NO WAY hampers development of the Saab 340B. I will most likely develop the 340B as an upgrade to the 340A so work on that will be very fast. But this beast? This will be a labor of love. I have no idea when this will be ready. I am in talks with a programmer from the MSFS world who is considerring making the INS for me. Nose Gear The detail will be extensive. Theo's worst nightmare when it comes to texturing. The N1 fans will have proper rotation. Not a blur. It's tricky but I know how it can be done. Almost imagine it flying overhead. Looks big, even from the front. :-\ Detailed Main Gear Again, this will be a big one and I'm going to go all out with what's available to me. So far, what you can see above, has taken me about 4-5 days to model. Exterior is the easy part. The panels...let's just say my eyes still haven't recovered from seeing the panels. As always, comments and feedback are always welcome. Forgot to mention. The wingbox is a nightmare. That'll come later. Goran

We all make mistakes, Rafael. What's important is that you learn from them! Goran

Things are moving forward on the Saab 340A. Texturing and animating will take about 3 weeks total from today so HOPEFULLY, it will be ready before Christmas. In the meantime, while Theo textures it, I have decided to take a break from Saab stuff for about a week (I plan on making the 340B and possibly the WT and 2000. However, I have started collecting information and photos on another project I was planning. And I decided to plunge into Blender and start modelling it. I don't really want to say too much about it yet until it's further along and I have something juicy to show. This means I may have to cease working on the Bonanza, at least for now, because I really want to do this other project. More on this new project in the coming week or 2. Goran

Price is still TBA. I'll be able to give a definite price range in about 2 weeks. Goran

We're working in what I would call, a "patient rush". I'm predicting it will be out before Christmas. If there are no problems between now and then, all should be good. Goran

Not yet. But one is being worked on. Goran

Just downloaded it and it's AWESOME. It's ALMOST the same as 2.49. Very slick interface. Goran

Modelling is finally FINISHED! Everything fits, is scaled, attached, etc... Not to mention some extra detail I threw in. Tomorrow, it starts getting textured with Saab house colours. (This took me a whole night to finish. Went to sleep at 930am) I'm hoping to have it out 1 week before Christmas at the latest. Goran

Some parts of the gear look out of scale. Suspension hinge looks a bit too small. See if you can scale up and adjust. Goran

Another year? I hope not! Believe me, no one wants this bird released more than me. Basic and advanced? I've actually thought about that before and I'm in 2 minds about it. I'll see what happens. Fly it around a bit and see how I go. XLUA, from what I've heard, is supposed to push the programming along faster than what is normally possible. I'll make some kind of announcement in the coming weeks. Goran

Everything Hawker 4000 related has been put on hold until programming gets started. Modelling is about 98% finished. Just 1 or 2 little things that need to be adjusted and attached. Programming is something that is taking some time to get together. I have found a programmer but I originally planned on releasing a very basic simulation of the aircraft, using only default gauges and default FMC. But as I got more and more involved with it, I realized it would do this aircraft an injustice to dumb it down. There really isn't anything more to show in the way of screenshots. As I said, everything, including texturing, has been put on hold. I want to get a really nice looking texture applied with a nice background. Something resembling a showcase of the aircraft. There will also be a video made of the aircraft in the sim. By the way, thanks for the comments on the sig. But credit for that goes to Ola Haldor. He was messing around a bit with his renderring program and sent that over. Talented guy! Goran

We all have our own tastes in a lot of different things. The aim of the website, imho, is to be simple yet to stand out in a subtle way. And it has achieved that. I wouldn't go so far as to call it "Ugly". Purple? Check your monitors contrast settings or your temperature settings. Goran

Another little update. I finished the object model over the last weekend but it had too many polys. I'm a sucker for detail. What can I say. Anyway, so far I've reduced the poly count from 260 000 down to about 160 000. I only started working on the flight model last week and it's going slowly, but still progressing. I made the basic stuff so I can get it in the air in x plane. Today, I got back to Blender modelling and I'm hoping to have it finished by this weekend. 2-3 weeks for texturing and another 10 days to 2 weeks for animating. While Theo textures it, I'll finish up the flight model then get the animations and datarefs put in. Then it'll be done and available. Goran

You got too much 3D. ;D Less 3D and painted on buttons and knobs will get you that Best of... trophy.

Last I heard from Peter, over 1 million How many is too much? Too bad Peter's aircrafts don't have 3D pits... True. It's like saying "how long is a ball of string". More polygons usually means more detail. It all comes down to efficient modeling. Goran

Last I heard from Peter, over 1 million

Of course.

I'll see what I can do.

From what I have seen in the AOM, the performance is slightly different. Handling is different. Also, some systems are different. The 340A navigates using VOR and NDB stations and has 1 autopilot panel. Later models have 2 autopilot panels, a GPS, FMS and extra status display on the panel. This, however, will be custom work and will be worked on after the 340A is released. I'm not sure if I'm going to do a 340WT but I will definitely do a Saab 2000. That is a damn sexy plane. Glass displays and much bigger. I almost forgot to mention. The person helping me with information about this project, has about 1600 hours in a 340A/B/WT and he will be testing it AND helping me write a tutorial on how to operate it. Goran

Just a little update for now. No renders yet. I've been busy rigging the cockpit for the animating. I've set aside my whole week this coming week for finishing the modeling and animating. Theo will take about 3 weeks to UV map and texture it. So hopefully, if no problems pop up, the Saab 340A variant will be ready by end of November/early December. It will only be available with the default Saab livery at first with further liveries made available as the weeks go by. Goran

Thanks Maxime Everything but the programming is done. And the programming will be done using xlua which is yet to be released. So hopefully sometime around December-February. Goran

From now on, I will work on projects at night. No distractions, no phone calls, everything is quiet. Anyway, the cockpit. Work in progress! A few things need to be aligned and placed. Just the overhead storage bins in the cabin are left to model as well as a few miscellaneous items in the cockpit then I start UV mapping and animating.

My Saab 340 that I'm making is a 2 x 1 configuration. ;D

I had a similar problem once or twice. I got an error message saying "LIB part deleted" or something to that effect. Deleted a large chunk of my Bonanza. Goran