Heatblur Simulations F-14 A/B

[Phantom88]

BOOM.....***Update**
https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=196159

Scan, Lock, Fire!
Heatblur F-14 Radar & Weapons Development Update


Dear All,

The entire Heatblur team is very hard at work on both the F-14, Viggen and other new projects. While we’ve tried to keep you up to date with smaller updates over the past few months; now may be a good time to give you a better overview of some of the systems development on the F-14!

Much of the focus currently lies with high level, core elements of the F-14 that made it such a valuable replacement for many aircraft in the Navy and probably the most formidable and diverse fighter aircraft of its time. Much effort is currently being spent on our recreation of the Hughes Airborne Weapons Group 9 (or AWG-9), it’s various modes of operation and weapons, as well as continuing the development on JESTER AI, our AI RIO pilot companion!

[strykerpsg]

Outstanding addition to the virtual stables. To say I spent much of a year immersed in Jane's Fleet Defender would be an understatement. Now that the kids are grown and retired into my next job, look so forward to this as well.

So many up and coming greatness.....now finish them! Please....

[Phantom88]

BombCat LANTRIN

[Odie]

This will get me into DCS world with both of my flat feet!

[Phantom88]

***Mini TomCat Febuary update***.

"Dear All,

Since our last update just before Christmas; the team has been focusing on hitting several major milestones in the F-14 project. These are actually some of the last major milestones to be completed prior to early access release, and they primarily involve the completion of the new, rebuilt art assets, and their integration into the existing codebase and aircraft.

While our main development branch is still occuring on the “chromecat” - we’re now very close to completing our work on several major visual areas of the aircraft and merging these together. While this feels like it has been a long journey; we'll be clocking in at just under a year to build the most detailed rendition of an F-14 Tomcat ever created (and perhaps, any digital aircraft ever!)

This has required the full attention of all of our artist resources and has come at great cost - but there is nothing quite like a Tomcat, and we need to make sure that we do the best job that we can.

This process is not yet complete and will still take some time, but we’re very excited to show off what we’ve been working on and are pushing ourselves to the brink to get it done. Once this is complete, we can finally begin to record in-depth gameplay videos from the F-14. You should expect with great certainty for these to start dropping sometime in March. There is a ton to cover!

Late last month we’ve also announced the inclusion of LANTIRN into our F-14, making the Tomcat a formidable Bombcat. You will be able to use a full gamut of guided bombs to strike targets. Somewhat contrary to it’s initial role in the fleet, the F-14 is actually a very potent ground attack airplane, and flying strike packages in a coop scenario is incredibly fun. The Tomcat has plenty of range, and can carry a large payload, while remaining combat effective. No doubt, it will be one of the most capable aircraft in DCS on launch. We’ve always been committed to ensuring that our products are packed with value - and the LANTIRN being a part of the DCS F-14 is a move in the right direction for that to be the case.

We've also continued working very closely with our SMEs (F-14A, B and D pilots) to tweak the final elements of our flight modeling and control systems. Every time we iterate over a new build with our SMEs, we get closer to achieving satisfaction with both our SMEs and maintaining consistency with our data. We really can't understate how satisfied we are with what we've achieved with the F-14 flight model.

Multiplayer is a big focus for the F-14, and for the Tomcat and other future products, we've written custom networking code to ensure that the multiplayer experience is consistent and smooth. Flying and fighting in the F-14 together is incredibly fun and rewarding.
Multiplayer is not only important for the aircraft itself, but also for all of our included content. The F-14 will eventually receive two free, full campaigns - one for the F-14A and one for the F-14B, of which one the -B campaign is currently deep in production. We'll be adapting both of these campaigns to work in Co-operative - something which no doubt will be a ton of fun.

Concurrently, we’ve been organizing our future roadmap and plans. While our main focus during 2018 will be the full completion of the Viggen and polishing the F-14, we’ll be ramping up production on our future product roadmap as well. Jester AI, Navy assets, and other advanced, in-house technologies will be integral to ensuring that Heatblur products will be one of a kind moving forwards.

Fret not over the lull in updates - in this particular moment - silence is golden.

As always, thank you for the support!

Heatblur"

[strykerpsg]

Rumor has it the 19th of February is going to be a nice surprise..please be either early release or release.....please....

Thanks for the update Phantom. Now, if you can confirm or deny the rumor...I might be inclined to buy you a tank of gas for that beautiful hot rod of yours...

[Phantom88]

Haha...Thank You Matt,Your post is the first I've heard of this Would be great for sure!!! I think Heatblur are going to do a add campaign similar to what's happening now with the Hornet....that is short informative videos explaining systems and The Aircrafts characteristics,Heatblur are "Notorious " for teasing the DCS Community so you really need to take everything they say lightly.

Anyway a Pre-Purchase could be coming very soon(ish) ??? Haha....Ill keep my eyes peeled on all the forums if I hear any "Scuttlebut" I'll be sure to post here.
Cheers Matt!