Chipmunk released

[falcon409]

Flat files? Mine looks curved...see above.

What is he referring to?

[Bomber_12th]

A few more screenshots for the night.

[Bomber_12th]

[TuFun]

[dhasdell]

I love it. As far as I am concerned it's up there with A2A, and a lot cheaper.

[Dumonceau]

I love it. As far as I am concerned it's up there with A2A, and a lot cheaper.

I concur! A wonderful model of a classic trainer that was sorely missed in FSX.

Brilliant job JF!

Dumonceau

[TuFun]

Pilot passed out!




Back seat...

[stiz]

Before i start .. i just want to say that this isnt ment a dig at AH or JF, its not a "dUdE your planz RUBBISH LOLZZZ!!" post at all. Its ment as constructive criticism, and yes, i know full well the work that goes into making planes after having done some myself. I do however, feel the need to air this so hopefully either baz and the AH team or JF take note of it. Again, this isnt ment as anything other than comments that might help make future planes from AH/JF better. So with that out of the way ...

I do feel a little ripped off and i'm really glad i didnt pay full price for these, specially as its marketed as:

"Special textures on wing surfaces for a realistic ‘stretched, doped linen’ appearance"
"Nine military and civilian HD liveries"
"Every detail for all the switches, knobs and levers of the real aircraft is authentically reproduced"

The textures are a bit special, in that they dont look realistic and are most certainly not HD, i know you have to hype a product when selling it but there is a point when it turns into false advertisement. Also not EVERY switch, knob and lever works, so that bit isnt true either.

So a run down

mesh = fine, perhaps even top notch. I can only think of a few little things (which are little) that might be improved on, which i'll explain later.
sounds = fine, wind is prolly a little loud for my tastes, but having never flown in a chippie i dont know if it really is that loud or not
flight dynamics = again, they feel "right", seems to take off a little quickly, but again, as i've never flown in a chippie i dont if it does that or not.
textures = now this is where i get a bit frustrated. Heres why, sorry if i sound a bit blunt, but to cut down on length i'm keeping it short, and to the point.

Heres some pictues, with issues highlighted:



You should spend some time getting some new pilot figures, they look odd to say the least, and have some very funky mesh around the shoulders



Noticeable lines along the wing root and fuse. Without looking at wireframes i'm not sure if its a mesh issue or texture issue, but its obvious, very obvious at some angles.



shadow when there shouldnt be a shadow, nothing to cast one!



no chippie in the world that i've seen has had weathering that even comes close to resembling that look

--sniped due to image limit--

[stiz]

--part 2--



2 niggles in this one, the mesh could use a few more polys (red highlight) and the tip doesnt follow the stick (green highlight), which looks a bit odd when in game



again, dodgy weathering, unless a plane has been sat outside of a museum it will never get vertical streaks along the line of the airflow.



the cockpit is generaly low rez all around and is a shame as it makes the actually well modeled cockpit mesh look poor. Theres plenty of references available, if you cant spend the time in google i'd be happy to send over a load.



weathering where there shouldnt be any again, also the step pads should line up

--sniped due to image limit--

[stiz]

--part 3--



these bit flash horribly when flying about



few things with this one, shadow from non existing parts, handle cant make its mind up what colour it wants to be. Dodgy textures along both the canopy run (which isnt flat or that wide and is hollow btw) and along the join



dodgy weathering again, suggest you look more closely at real chipmunks

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...9-8-37-150.jpg

I know this is more an FSX clipping issue, but it does detract from it a bit, maybe push it towards the glass a bit more to avoid it?



texture clipping, present on all versions

--sniped due to image limit--

[stiz]

--part 4--





Having no glass in the VC, whilst providing a clear view, makes it look odd, and leads to a few issue, the first is that the labals in the bubbly canopy seem to be floating in mid air, the 2nd is when you look back and can see the budlges still have the glass applied, which, like the labels, makes them look like their just floating there



oopsie little hole in the mesh! Bubble top canopy version.



I do have to wonder if you looked at photos of this scheme. Suggest you do, theres a fair few errors present.

As i said at the start, this sounds harsh, but it is intended to help by pointing out issues that could be improved, i've wanted to say something about AHs texturing for a while but kept quite in the hopes they'd improve, but they havnt really. The mesh of the models are really nice and its a shame to see, dare i say it, rather shoddy, texture work on them.

Bazzar, I do think most of it could be improved by better mapping of your models, theres really no good reason for having both sides of the fuse, and both sides of the tail, all on different textures. It would prolly make your job far easier if you just unwraped everything onto a 4096 texture sheet. That would also have the added bonus of making your planes easier to repaint. More repaints = more intrest = more potential sales.

Anyway, i really do hope this is taken in the proper way, it would be really nice to see AH back the forefront of models again like the old days.

[Martyn]

Hi Stiz. Thanks for the comprehensive feedback. It might be worth sending it directly to our support team via e-mail (support@justflight.com) due to its length? They can then get back to you more easily too, as we don't want to turn SOH into a JF support forum

[T6flyer]

Hi Stiz. Thanks for the comprehensive feedback. It might be worth sending it directly to our support team via e-mail (support@justflight.com) due to its length? They can then get back to you more easily too, as we don't want to turn SOH into a JF support forum

I'm helping them out there!

And I've flown Chipmunks with that kind of weathering on the leading edge. Flying is getting very expensive these days and not all airframes are pristine. As long as the metal and fabric is within limits then she is good to go. The leading edge of that wing takes a lot of punishment especially in UK skies.

Cheers,

Martin

[stiz]

I'm helping them out there!

And I've flown Chipmunks with that kind of weathering on the leading edge. Flying is getting very expensive these days and not all airframes are pristine. As long as the metal and fabric is within limits then she is good to go. The leading edge of that wing takes a lot of punishment especially in UK skies.

Cheers,

Martin

can you prove it with a picture? if so i'll shut up about it, however i have NEVER seen a chippie (or any plane for that matter) with a wing that bad, either in photos or real life. There was (and is) no way the RAF would ever let a plane get in that state, and the current flyable ones in those colours are pristine, so its also incorrect in that regard.

[delta_lima]

can you prove it with a picture?

Calls BS on a current real-world warbird pilot almost twice his age ... LOL.

Pretty thorough feedback though - hope the JF team can do something with it. The holes in the mesh are a good catch and would be definitely nice to see fixed.

Noticed the wing skin / ribbing was smoothed out a fair bit - that looks really good now.

Thanks to all for the screens - might pick up next week.

cheers,

DL

[YoYo]

again, dodgy weathering, unless a plane has been sat outside of a museum it will never get vertical streaks along the line of the airflow.

? LOL.

Don't joke stiz, or You never touched a real plane....? Few examples:

Jets - http://dimitrijeostojic.com/blog/wp-...0godina_06.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...908431_JPG.jpg
http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviatio.../3/1206333.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...hern_Watch.jpg
http://tapety.joe.pl/tapeta/wojskowe...otniskowcu.jpg
Props- http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nV0MBgnf5t...a+02-04-10.jpg
http://galeria.aviateam.pl/photos/2012-05-03/7866.jpg
http://galeria.aviateam.pl/photos/2012-04-22/7758.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HpM4u_j3At...84/s1600/X.JPG
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...m_PICT0069.JPG

and as a gift for You wings with dirty lines from the top till the end:
http://www.recreationalpilots.com.au...unk_VH-BSV.jpg
http://s25.postimg.org/4r5j34bu7/Nowy_3.jpg

So no comments...

In some part (like shadows non existing parts, meshes ect) You have right but I cant agree with criticizm (near whole) like this. For me it looks like idea only for idea to do this.
I'm think too than it isnt polite than the one developer (are You author of Avro "Anson" Aircraft Factory line from A2A - Im right? Did You forget about Service pack? P3Dv2 lights problems, gap around the turret ect?) did a post like this to other developer. It's a kind of ethics and cooperation I suppose.
AH never was a top class of Dev in Sim Market like f.ex. PMDG, VRS ect - thats true, but If You buy Ford Focus dont expect quality of Rolls-Royce Motor Car. Yes, that's true too and You seen it before: the price, this explains a lot. It wasnt a project with budget of 100.000$.
As I remember JF has a very good Support with guarantee of cash back. You can use it if this "cheap" model does not meet your expectations. Did You test Area51 models? No? Try it!

[henrystreet]

For me it looks like idea only for idea to do this. I'm think too than it isnt polite than one developer (are You author of Avro Anson Aircraft Factory line from A2A - Im right?) did a post like this to other developer. It's a kind of ethics and cooperation I suppose.

For sure, this.

[Dumonceau]

Anyway, i really do hope this is taken in the proper way, it would be really nice to see AH back the forefront of models again like the old days.

I'm sorry, but after bashing a model and the dev at great length with full details on a public forum, saying that you "hope this is taken in the proper way" is just not on.

The polite and constructive way to handle this would be to take this to JF support. What is being done here seems to be deliberate damaging of the dev and model.

This is of course just my humble opinion spoken out of a sense of justice.

Dumonceau

[griphos]

While some of the stuff in Part 3 and 4 seem reasonably in need of some attention, you start off with what can only be characterized as nit-picking with a microscope. Really? Fussing about the pilots? And the "weathering"?

I've long wanted a FSX native Chipmunk, having always loved the airplane itself, and having tried the various freeware versions (which only left me hungry for something with a bit more detail). The price seems right on this one, and it is Father's Day this weekend, after all....

[dhazelgrove]

Time for one of these, I think.

I've bought the Chipmunk. I like it. That's all.

Dave

[henrystreet]

that's a BIG pill....

[dhasdell]

I agree with the above. Unless you are deliberately trying to damage a competitor the place for much of this carping is in a courteous PM or email, not in public.

[Tim-HH]

Come on guys, stiz is a customer and as such he has all rights to express his opinions about the product. Everything that helps to improve the quality of a product should be appreciated. And that's what Martyn did in his usual friendly and professional manner. Case closed, I would say.

Your personal attacks against stiz are absolutely inappropriate.

Greetings
Tim

[henrystreet]

An opinion is "there are several things about the texturing that seem wrong to me. I regret the purchase."

[griphos]

What personal attacks?