The A-4E-C is one of DCS World’s longest running freeware projects and one that has cemented itself as part of the simulator’s fabric being supported on multiple servers and with its own array of livery artists and missions developed for it. While other freeware projects exist and many have picked up in pace and attention more recently, the A-4 freeware project is now celebrating a substantial 10-year anniversary.

Celebrations warranted

In a post made on the r/Hoggit group on Reddit and on the group’s Discord server, a brief history of the project through the last 10-years celebrates what was and what is still to come.

The A-4E community project has certainly changed a lot over the years. Some of the highlights include the addition of its own EFM (external flight model), visual updates and changes, bug fixes, and keeping up with the ongoing changes in the DCS World platform. Servers like Enigma’s Cold War Server (now Heatblur Cold War Server) helped popularize the aircraft as it fit in so well with theme. The developers share some credit too with aiming to make a serious freeware project that could be used in a competitive environment.

The team aren’t done yet either! A new cockpit model and exterior model are in the works with their development now supported by more modern photogrammetry which ensures accuracy not just to the overall look but to the scaling as well – critical in VR.

Some work in progress images show the initial stages of what that looks like on the inside.

A short video shows some of the efforts to improve texture work as well.

Similar efforts are underway for the exterior model which should bring the A-4 up to more modern standards. Meanwhile, the team appears to be looking into how best to handle the many different external variations among the A-4E models.

Adding to the challenge of producing something screenshot-worthy is deciding how to approach a new feature: selecting variant external elements. Implementing this requires deciding on the best possible method of providing different nosecones, the presence of the avionics hump, the shape of the refueling probe and engine, and details on the aircraft’s tail. The amount of work involved is daunting, and it’s important to figure out how best to do something, before doing the actual work of modeling all those variant elements. We also need to ensure it’s easy to produce liveries that can span the different aircraft configurations.

Challenges aside, the DCS community A-4E project is one for the flight simulation history books cementing itself up there with other long standing and ambitious freeware projects (the Zibo 737 project for X-Plane and FlyByWire A32nx and A38X projects for MSFS come immediately to mind).

Read the historical overview here and learn more about the project (and download it to fly) here.