A big update from Jason Williams, Executive Producer for the Combat Pilot series, has just come out today with a look at a wide variety of subjects. Here’s some of the things that you may want to know!
Wildcat, Zeke, Midway and more
This holiday season update for Combat Pilot comes full of in development efforts by the newest combat flight simulator on the block.
This update really does cover the range of items that they are currently working on. There’s work on buildings and supporting infrastructure at Midway, work on the 5 in. / 51 Cal. Gun, on the A6M2 Zero/Zeke’s landing gear, on the F4F Wildcat, and more!
Though Midway itself was never invaded, it was attacked from the air on a number of occasions and also served as the launch point for several attacks during the pivotal battle. Here’s part of what Jason had to say about their efforts to model the island.
One of our goals is to make a faithful recreation of the infrastructure and defenses found on Midway during the battle. In our opinion, other games and simulators haven’t portrayed Midway very accurately over the years so we hope to change that and set a new standard. Midway went through several stages of growth, abandonment, and decay before, during and after WWII, so depicting her as it looked in June 1942 is a challenge. Detailed maps and quality images are surprisingly rare. We’ve been able to dig up some good references though with help from the community. Which we greatly appreciate.
Jason Williams
Progress on the carriers
There’s also some development shots of one of the key parts of the Combat Pilot experience – the aircraft carriers. The latest images show us efforts being done to model CV-6 USS Enterprise. Enterprise was one of the three Yorktown class carriers that fought at Midway and being partial to the Enterprise myself I’m pleased to see it in progress! Also in progress is the 5 in. / 38 Cal. Gun for the Enterprise.
First flights
We also have another very early look at Combat Pilot taking shape and form with a screenshot featuring the A6M Zero on an early test flight. This was surely a pivotal moment for the development team as getting the aircraft to fly at all is a big step.
As you can see, there’s not much to look at yet, but big kudos to our engineering team for getting the Zeke airborne so fast. Remember, when compared to other sims on the market, we are just a newborn so a long way to go still. However, we have made strong progress in 2023 and we hope to show you something a bit more impressive in Q1 of 2024.
Jason Williams
This being a still early in progress shot means that there isn’t too much to see yet but it is more symbolic than anything of a nascent team starting to get their art and their technology working together.
Jason also reports that basic damage model design, multiplayer support, and increased controller support are all being researched.
I encourage you to read the full development report right over here. Best wishes to the Combat Pilot team as they enter into 2024 with hopefully a bit of spring in their step.
Stormbirds 
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