A few bits of news that I haven’t had a chance to report on over the course of the week including news from PMDG on their DC-6, new Mirage aircraft images by RAZBAM for their DCS: South Atlantic project, weapon analysis with Eagle Dynamics NineLine and legal controversy for Flightsim.to. Check it all out!
PMDG teases their DC-6 for MSFS
PMDG recently changed their Facebook cover photo to this image above of their DC-6 product that’s currently a work in progress. They then followed it up with an announcement of a new YouTube tutorial series to help virtual pilots get up to speed on the classic airliner.
The aircraft hasn’t been released yet but PMDG reports that they expect a release sometime in June.
Mirage’s from RAZBAM
The first DCS World module by RAZBAM was their M-2000C. It was an early entrant into the world of third party modules and has been a fan favourite of many. Unsurprisingly, with the Mirage being used by Argentina during the Falklands War, RAZBAM is at work on 3D models for the aircraft. An interesting animated GIF appears to show the 3D model work in progress appearing over a real photo of an Argentina Mirage V.
At one point, RAZBAM had intended to develop a Mirage IIICJ for DCS World but that seems to have fallen off the radar. At this point this may just be an AI aircraft to add to their asset pack for DCS: South America. Or it may be a flyable in the future as well.
DCS .50cal analysis with NineLine
Eagle Dynamics Community Manager NineLine has a YouTube channel (I had no idea) and has recently been doing a series of videos focused on analysis of tracks that players have sent to him. In this video, he analyzes a P-51 pilot attacking a Fw190A-8.
The interesting part is the debug screen that is up on the screen while the .50cals impact with the aircraft. As with other sims, there are complaints that the .50cals don’t hit hard enough in DCS World and this video helps show what each burst of bullets has done to the target aircraft. It’s very interesting!
Captain Sim threatens legal action against Flightsim.to
Flight sim developer Captain Sim, well known for a series of P3D aircraft products, is threatening legal action against Flightsim.to over user created liveries for their new 777-200ER aircraft. Flightsim.to has become a key site in the Microsoft Flight Simulator community with thousands of user created liveries, mods, airports and more.
This isn’t the only controversy that Captain Sim has attracted in recent time. The same aircraft they are threatening Flightsim.to over has also attracted a lot of negative attention as well with many reviewers and purchasers accusing the developer of taking a lazy way of developing the aircraft by making use of the default 747’s avionics. Some have reported that the aircraft information displays show the four engines of the 747 instead of the two on the 777.
A thread on the official forums is filled with comments on the issues with the aircraft.
Stormbirds 
Looks like CaptainSim is taking the low road and looking to alienate customers. Too bad, I enjoyed their products in the past. Their C-130 and F-104 were excellent.
But saying all liveries are their property… yeah, right.
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Thanks for the heads up on 9L’s channel! Will check that out 🙂
The Captain Sim thing, if true/accurate, means they’re bad people, plain and simple.
As I see it, it’s the same thing as a car manufacturer requiring you to get your oil changed at their dealerships, or more on point, only THEY can custom paint your car, and only after they’ve deigned to approve it.
Bad business move, and if it goes as it seems, i’ll never buy a product of theirs.
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Yeah it’s not caused a lot of people to look at them favourable. I’ve just read that they have retracted their legal challenge but I suspect the damage has been done. How they didn’t see how damaging it could be to their reputation beforehand… is anyone’s guess.
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YEP!
Captain Sim did it to me. I was planning on updating some of my 30 or so liveries (FSX/P3D) for their MSFS product launch. Ya know, like in my time off where I could be doing other things, on my own dime (PS subscription), and all for free-90-free. Then I get a IM from a buddy on Steam with news of this nonsense. I contacted them and they promptly removed my liveries.
E.g. – http://i.imgur.com/wDA3OMX.png
However, other creator content remains, at least as of now, and it doesn’t look like they have any intention of doing the right thing and respecting the hard work people put into livery creation, let alone their flagrant CC/IP infringement and the potential legal ramifications associated with it. This shit has me so fuckin’ heated!
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That’s awful. Definitely not the right way to connect with fans and the community. Livery makers add tons of value for these companies essentially for free – we all benefit in the end.
They appear to be going back on this but the whole thing has definitely soured me on ever checking out their aircraft in any serious way. It’s a shame.
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