10.03.2017
We have new results for you after another development week. Today Dev Diary won't have much text because, as a popular saying goes, 'a picture is worth a thousand words'. Mountain valleys and rivers technology is almost finished and the result it gives is on par with some pure tech demos out there. This is what happens when the technology (represented by our graphics programmer) and art (our mapping department) meet. Such harmony between different teams or individuals is something any development studio tries to achieve.
03.03.2017
Today is an important day for the project - we start VR alpha test. It will take 1-2 weeks, then we'll finalize the functionality, perform the beta testing run and then, hopefully, we will be able to release the update with Open VR support before the end of March.
28.02.2017
We've moved one step closer to Battle of Kuban release and present you the new version 2.008 today. It brings new content for BoK while other improvements are prepared for all owners of the game, as usual. The main addition is the new aircraft - He 111 H-16 and Fw 190 A-5 - which Battle of Kuban owners can fly right now (all others can see them in multiplayer or assign them to AI in singleplayer).
We also added a new modification for existing La-5 fighter - you asked us about it many times. M-82F engine, which went into production in early 1943, can work in boosted mode without a time limit.
Our community members also contributed to this update. Juri_JS and Coconut created new Battle of Moscow scenarios while talented skin maker Qi created historically accurate skins for Fw 190 A-5. We would like to thank those enthusiasts, you can admire their work as soon as your game install updates to 2.008.
16.02.2017
Another productive week has passed. We achieved a good progress in implementing VR devices support via Open VR API - HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Both devices work in our sim already - visuals work, their parameters are being adjusted and possible performance optimizations are being researched. We used a certain approach to interact with existing user interface in VR environment conveniently. We'll start beta testing of the VR sub-system in the nearest future and it's planned to make Open VR support available to public in March.
At the same time, He-111 H-16 and Fw 190 A-5 development is almost finished and we'll start their beta testing this weekend (they will be released in 2-3 weeks). As we mentioned in our previous Dev Diaries, these planes turned out to be quite interesting. Meanwhile, the next Battle of Kuban planes are entering the development phase - today we can show you our first WIP screenshots of the A-20B bomber. This aircraft is going to be the most expensive in production for us, but it should also be among the most interesting planes.
10.02.2017
While engineer and artist teams work on Battle of Kuban aircraft, our dedicated map department is making the landscape of the new theater of war. As we mentioned earlier, we use Rise of Flight tech as a start, but we spent a lot of resources to make it up to the task. We improved the mountains rendering in the first place, since mountains and foothills occupy 22 thousands square km of the total 120 thousands square km and the mountain coast is 350 km long. Theoretically we could create this landscape using existing technologies, but it would take unrealistic amount of time and we didn't have so many resources to do it the old-fashioned way. Therefore, we spent some time creating the procedural texturing system for mountaneous terrain. Surely, the modern tech requires not only applying the textures, but also choosing correct materials to make the landscape as natural looking as possible, getting rid of unnaturaly straight lines and borders.