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Wings Need to be Improved

3,000 merasmusthewizard  5.6 years ago

Over the past few updates, we’ve gotten adjustable fuselages, improved intakes, more weapons, etc., and that’s good.

But you know what’s barely changed since SP’s inception? Wings.

Other than the addition of structural wings and structural panels, I can’t think of any significant advances with wings in SP’s history. They’ve stayed the same since day one, and they need an overhaul.

Here’s some areas where wings can improve:

1- Added adjustablity. The player should have the option to adjust the wing’s thickness at the root and the tip as well as its shape. In their current form, wings are disproportionately thin when used in larger builds.

2- More control surfaces. Right now, without xml modding, you only have elevators, rudders, and ailerons. While flaps are possible with XML modding, they generally aren’t realistic nor do they seem to affect aircraft performance in the way that real flaps do. What we need is more control surfaces and more realism. Basic flaps and slats are a must. Variations in control surfaces (Fowler flaps, slotted flaps, plain flaps, split flaps, Krueger flaps, split ailerons) would be even better.

3- More realistic appearance. With default SP tools, you can make even simple builds look like the real thing. Isn’t it about time wings caught up with the rest of SP? The current blocky shape wings have just doesn’t fit with a lot of builds anymore. Even a generic oval-ish or airfoil profile would be a vast improvement.

4- Better connection points. One reason this is needed is because of a phenomenon called Aeroelastic Flutter. This affects planes in both SP and in real life. In real life, flutter is often solved by stiffening up the structure. In SP you don’t have this option, making larger builds challenging and delta wings near impossible. Realistically, wings are firmly connected to their aircraft along their entire width, unlike SP where all you get is one flimsy connection point.

5- More realistic physics. Things like dihedral and wing sweep should have an effect on how SP aircraft perform, like they do in real life. Many SP builds do not behave like their real life counterparts for this reason.

In short, amid all the advances SP has made, it seems like wings have been forgotten and left behind. It’s easy to take something so essential for granted but there is a lot of room for improvement.

TL;DR We really need better wings.

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    I think more airfoils would be good. STOL high-camber and supercritical wings might be interesting. @Treadmill103

    5.6 years ago
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    17.3k TehDuck

    This game isn't getting anymore updates after sr2 it's already a old game I've been playing for 4 years

    5.6 years ago
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    2,355 PvPSky

    @merasmusthewizard

    5.6 years ago
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    2,355 PvPSky

    A Deltawing is easy to build! You can add control surfaces and change them to pitch so a Deltawing is easy to build. I’m building on one right now. 😃

    5.6 years ago
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    Old parts have always been kept functional. They could implement new wings separately from the existing ones. @randomusername

    5.6 years ago
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    1,611 xiaofootball

    I agree. In fact, it may be better if the devs are to implement a separate, "Advanced Wing", part with features you proposed. This way, old builds made with current wings won't break, and we get to tinker with more advanced features.

    5.6 years ago
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    Just build wings with fuselage blocks

    +1 5.6 years ago
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    Nah there needs to be a difference between perfect and average players but yes everyone needs a better physics model but whatever

    5.6 years ago
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    2,355 PvPSky

    And it would be cool if IOS Users like me could resize things and change the Rate of Fire and the Spray of Weapons without any Mods.

    5.6 years ago
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    2,355 PvPSky

    What would also be nice is being able to change the Power of Jet Engines and that all the round big Engines could stick onto Fuselages in front of them, like the 2x2 Engine and adjustable height and width.

    5.6 years ago
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    And also more airports like this one on the smaller islands around the main ones

    5.6 years ago
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    11.3k LiamW

    I totally agree. While an airfoil shaped wing would have higher polygons, it would be a lot less than using separate fuselage blocks

    +1 5.6 years ago
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    29.8k ChiChiWerx

    You can fix the flutter issue by using a structural wing, then XML it to enable control surfaces...but, you’re correct, you shouldn’t have to XML to do any of those things and they should also be available to iOS users. I don’t think all of these ideas will be incorporated into SP, but at least some of the easier things ought to be.

    5.6 years ago
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    I agee. Wings are absolutely horrible. Worst of all, they ain’t changing for SR2. :(

    +2 5.6 years ago
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    With everything else that’s been improved in SP, why should it be that hard? @WaffleCakes

    +2 5.6 years ago
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    19.6k WaffleCakes

    Well technically,what mainly pro makers use are fuselage blocks. You can adjust the size and all that stuff,but combining them and making complex creations like flaps and slats can get hard.

    +1 5.6 years ago