A lot has been going on in the last several days in the world. This latest DCS World Weekend News update brought with it a statement from Eagle Dynamics co-founder Nick Grey on what’s happening from the Eagle Dynamics perspective. It also comes with some more typical sim news with details about an F/A-18C update, a status update on the AH-64D, and a news about added simulation details for ships. Let’s dig into it.

Ukraine situation and DCS

I know many of you out there are watching from afar and some of you are living through this new war in Ukraine. It’s been very difficult to watch. Keeping Stormbirds.blog’s focus on flight sim news doesn’t meant that I want in any way to diminish the gravity of the situation.

All of you come here to read about the latest flight sim news. Sim news does sometimes cross over into the real world. In this latest update from Eagle Dynamics we’ve heard a message from Eagle Dynamics co-founder Nick Grey.

Here’s what he had to say:

The situation in Ukraine has shocked us all. Our employees and third parties worldwide are devastated by the news that is unfolding. I have been traveling to Central and Eastern Europe since 1986 and have more friends in this region than anywhere else. 

Our hearts reach out to all our partners and friends, safe in the knowledge that our team here in the Swiss HQ as well as in the UK, US, Germany and Canada are working to ensure stability and continuity. We hope that you, our trusted community, will stand firm and join us in praying for peace in the region for the good of all.

Rest assured, we continue to work as usual and guarantee that the AH-64D will deliver to Early Access in the nearest future. We are also pleased to confirm progress on the new DCS: F/A-18C Hornet pilot. As planned, we will be providing you with new pilot models for most aircraft types and nationalities and look forward to the implementation as soon as possible. 

Nick Grey, Eagle Dynamics Co-Founder

That statement has been followed up with a second statement about sharing misleading DCS World videos. I’ve already seen one shared that purported to show air combat between jets in the skies over Ukraine. The video was convincing enough although regular DCS World community members would spot some of the telltale signs. Here’s part of that statement.

With the exceptional technical progress made in hardware and software, it is difficult to tell the difference between DCS and real-world footage. This is wonderful for you and for the industry in general. However, in the light of the current situation unfolding in Ukraine, it is paramount to avoid generating images which could be misconstrued and potentially put lives in danger. Therefore may we beg you to be sensible and avoid using DCS to create videos of this nature.

The Eagle Dynamics team

Sim news

There is more normal sim news coming to us as well spread across a variety of products. The first is a 3D model update for the pilot model in the F/A-18C. The pilot model looks to be getting a visual fidelity upgrade in keeping with some of the other projects recently. ED is looking for feedback from people who know.

For the AH-64D, the word is that this will see an “imminent release.” Initial damage model is now complete, and the report is that they are improving multiplayer sync, frame rate performance, and TADS functionality.

Also, posted 4-days ago but not yet reported here, Matt Wagner’s Rockets II video covers even more details about rockets on the AH-64D.

Another area receiving some attention are naval units. Smoke effects from engine exhaust and impact damage are being improved. Roll and sway effects in windy conditions are also being worked on along with some damage model effects on certain ships (not specified). This is to improve the effect of what happens when they are hit by an AGM-88 HARM.

A broader update to ship damage model is also being worked on over the long term. This part has me excited as there are some ships that seem to eat certain missiles, like the AGM-84 Harpoon, with hardly any damage. I’m sure that will be improved when this is complete.

Finally, to close it out, Eagle Dynamics has updated their list of community links with sites and communities that support DCS World. That list includes content creators, Discord servers, and news sites. I’m extremely grateful to see Stormbirds.blog get a top billing on there – thank you!

And of course you can read all of this and more over on the DCS World Weekend News update.