Baaj!

Welcome back to the SPW!

Important Real-World news:

A tragic plane crash occurred in Texas, USA yesterday, claiming the lives of ten people. Two flight crew and eight passengers were aboard the Beechcraft Super King Air 350 when it veered into a hangar right after takeoff. Everyone onboard was killed and two planes were damaged inside the privately-owned hangar. The NTSB is launching and investigation, but nothing is known for certain yet. This accident could not have come at a worse time for aviation, just a few months after the Boeing 737 debacle.

SimplePlanes News:

• SimplePlanes and SimpleRockets2 are 60 and 20% off respectively! If you already own SimplePlanes (first of all what are you doing here?), you can get SR2 for an additional discount. Very good time to try out Jundroo’s newest work.
• The silver users are getting too powerful and must be stopped. In seriousness though, you don’t need platinum rank to make a good plane, but it does help as we’ll see.
• Several RP nation’s have been temporarily or permanently disbanded due to their leaders quitting RP, including Maelström and Relaria. This is actually a good thing, because not only does it make the former owners happy, it frees up the map for the huge influx of new users. (including yours truly)

Meme of the Week:

By Theflyingtrex

Now let’s take a look at the three highest rated planes of this week.

#3

belugasub’s “D-8 Light Fighter 1944”

Looks:
If a de Havilland Mosquito and a Supermarine Spitfire got together, their baby would look something like this plane. It looks intimidating and sleek at the same time while managing to stay realistic to the era. The landing gears fold perfectly into the fuselage, and I think the lack of rear landing gear actually looks near. It’s also got several alternate color schemes, which you can download through unlisted posts (they look great as well). What really makes this thing shine is the detailed cockpit. Beluga said he didn’t like making cockpits, but it sure doesn’t show in this incredible looking plane.

Performance:
I literally cannot think of a single complaint against this plane’s flight. The quick takeoff is justified since it is a fictional plane, and the combination of speed and agility is perfectly balanced. It’s also armed to the gills, with two sink-gear guns behind the engine and one on each wing. I could definitely see this plane being outfitted with rockets, bombs, or even a parasite craft, making it an extremely versatile model.

Overall, this has got to be one of the best fictional WWII planes I’ve ever seen, if not the best. I love the shape and detailing, and the performance does not disappoint. Excellent work all the way around.

10/10

#2

toxicgamer88’s “Mirage 2000 5 331st Squadron”

Looks:
In a game so over saturated with jet fighters, I don’t usually get excited over the way one looks. That was not the case with this plane: it looks spectacular. The camouflaging is done quite well, and the engines look very realistic. Sonic boom effect is very well done.

Performance:
The takeoff was way too fast and featured a very hard veer to the right, but once I got in the air it stabilized. Maneuverability is an issue however: it’s pretty sluggish on the pitch and roll. There’s a lot of controls to remember, and it was approaching real-aircraft levels of complex to figure out what to press for supersonic flight. And maybe I’m missing something, but I find it odd that this plane only has a gun and no other weapons. I think some of what happened with my flight might have been user error, but when you design plane you’ve got to count on that. I’m not saying it was bad, but it could’ve been a lot better.

Overall, this is a great looking plane, just not such a great flier. The silvers have risen, but obviously not high enough.

4/10

#1:

Dllama4’s “M-18 Dromader (3 Year Special)”

Looks:
I need to start the review by saying that Dllama’s idea here is to have an old-style crop duster plane. Personally, I think it’s kind of a hideous design, but he nailed that design nonetheless. There’s also great detail all around, especially on the wings and their fertilizer lines.

Performance:
Again, for a crophopper, it’s great. It manages to remain stable even while going extremely slow, and it’s actually pretty agile. The fact that you can press group 1 and simulate dropping fertilizer really makes the entire plane.

Overall, while it may be a low-end plane, Dllama really did a great job in simulating the entire experience, from the flight style down to the dusting itself.

8/10

Interview with mikoyanster:

Today we bring you an interview with mikoyanster, a platinum user with over 200k points. He has built a wide variety of creations, including several mods and maps. Miko gave some awesome answers, so I highly recommend any new builders read the entire thing.

”You’ve uploaded many different types of creations, from tanks to planes to helicopters and cars. What would you say is the hardest to build and why?”

I think the most difficult are the vehicles (cars). Especially in order to achieve rounded, smooth and aerodynamic shapes. It could also be the tanks. These vehicles have many functions and details, for example the design of weapons, the aim system, the interior of the vehicles. I think everything depends on the level of detail with which the object is built. For example, it is also difficult to create the aircraft cabin and all its instruments.

You also have designed some awesome maps, including Total Naval War and Tank Test Map. Walk us through the process of how you create a map, from the initial inspiration down to the actual designing and rendering.

I like that question. The truth is that I am still learning many things. The process begins by choosing the context of the map. For example modern war, tank-oriented, desert, naval, historical, reproducing real places, training, etc. Once we know what kind of map we want, the creation of the project begins with the Unity editor, the terrains are edited, the orography, looking for a good balance between quality, size and frames per second. Once the mountains, valleys, plains, rivers and other geographical features have been defined, we continue with the process of painting the land. I usually do it in two ways, first applying the textures by hand, or, secondly, using a tool called Terrain Toolkit, which automates the process according to strata.
Another important step is the textures. In the first maps, I used quality textures, but very simple ones that did not always faithfully reproduce real terrain. Later I learned that I could use Google Earth images, and in fact the aspect it provides is much more realistic.
When the terrain and textures are ready, the next step is to add infrastructures, buildings, bridges, airports, etc. I discovered that it was possible to import prefabricated models, available in Sketchup with a number of polygons less than 200 in each object.
Recently I added a new phase in which I add the flight plan, the missions, the enemies, the convoys, tanks and routes of the vehicles, in order to get an experience, the closest thing to a DCS simulator. Each mission is thought and worked for hours to get the effect, the surprise and the level of difficulty that I want. This is something that can be checked in my latest mod and I hope that soon can also be tested in the following releases.
But as I said, I have not stopped investigating and adding new things to each project. For example, I now try to figure out how to make enemy planes fly on predefined routes and have a more realistic behavior.
It is a difficult task with the tools we have and the limited knowledge of cSharp programming, but together and with the help of the developers, I imagine that in a future SimplePlanes will solve all these problems.

Your most upvoted build is the Aston Martin Glowing. How do you personally feel about this build?

It is true, it seems that is the most liked. This coincided with a thematic challenge about James Bond, by the way, I am a fan of his films. The fact is that this challenge was not very successful participation, so it occurred to create a flying car of our favorite spy. I do not know if it's my second car in the whole game. I did not have much development experience, but I've noticed that there are many players who love cars, so I tried to do my best. I think it's a very fun car that allows you to become a Bond for a day. However, there are other creations with which I am more satisfied ... For example the Republic F-105 Thunderchief, because it represents the beginning of a new line of aircraft that are in production and try to reproduce real aircraft with greater fidelity.

What sort of advice would you give to a new player, in regards to both building and interacting on the site?

First, say that SimplePlanes is the ultimate game of aircraft construction. It is a game that requires time, patience, perseverance. But once you learn the dynamics and observe the construction methods, it becomes a vice. I remember when I built my first aircraft that could barely stay in the air. However, based on testing, observation and competition with the aircraft of other players, you can master the agility, maneuverability and flight characteristics of the planes in the physics of SimplePlanes. SimplePlanes is also a game of personal improvement.
And so on ... SimplePlanes is an almost infinite game, which only has the limit that the player puts on it. In addition, luckily, developers try to improve it to the best of their ability, so there is always something new to do. Therefore, my advice is to participate, have a good time, build what you want, share your creations and participate in the challenges that are appearing. So play to have fun, improve yourself and help other players in your possibilities.

Thanks again to mikoyanster for making this such an interesting interview. If you have any suggestions for our next guest, please leave a comment.

That’s all for this week’s edition of the SimplePlanes Weekly. Happy flying!

-The Awsomur