The developers at Polychop have provided a end of year developer update talking about the Kiowa, Gazelle and giving us a glimpse of the behind the scenes activity on both of these DCS World helicopter projects. Plus we also got a new video showing off a unique feature never before seen in DCS World. Let’s go!

Kiowa update

The story of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior for DCS World has been a bit of a long one. On more than a few occasions it appeared that the project was reaching fruition and then things became suddenly quiet. Fortunately, despite any rumours or speculation to the contrary, things have been moving forward behind the scenes.

In this end of year update, the update acknowledges the bumpy ride that the project has been on but there is good news to report. The update tells us that their new coders have now fully taken over (from the previous coder who unfortunately had some serious health issues) and have rewritten a lot of code to move the project towards completion.

Systems have been worked on and artwork has been touched up. The project has now even been submitted to Eagle Dynamics and it has even reportedly passed ED’s flight model tests. Good news indeed!

The update reports that it will “soon” be time to “lift the veil and break the radio silence surrounding the development of the OH-58D Kiowa…” After a couple of false starts, bumps in the road, and challenges behind the scenes, it sure sounds like Polychop are almost there with this project. But we’ve been here before too so time will most certainly tell.

We’ve also seen a new video come up and this one shows off a new VR feature where the pilot can grab the M4 carbine, point and fire it at targets out the side of the helicopter. In the video you can see the effort bringing a technical truck to a halt. Have a look!

Gazelle update

This year was the year that Polychop released a significant update to the DCS: SA-342 Gazelle. This helicopter has been a bit controversial in its earlier implementation, however, a significantly revised flight model seems to have satisfied some or even many of its critics.

The good news is that Polychop’s revamped team have plans for the project that involve further updates that will include further tweaks to the flight model as well as work on the AI gunners, a graphical facelift, and an English cockpit.

Read the full update on Polychop’s Facebook!