Docjonel

Wow, so much quality work in such a short time. Things are progressing nicely and although there's a very long way to go yet, I'm excited by the progress made so far. Thanks for this update!

Wow, impressed by the amount of progress your new team has made in a short period of time. When texturing and lighting is finalized these models will look great in-game. Also super excited to see the progress of your capital ships in the future! Thanks for the DD- so much to look forward to!

Was at the American Heritage Museum recently, a truly amazing world class facility in the middle of rural Massachusetts, and took photos of the SBD-5 they have on display there. It was recovered from Lake Michigan 50 years after ditching in 1944 and still has much of the original paint job. Although this is a later model Dauntless, I'm sure it has many features that are unchanged from the SBD-3's that saw action at The Battle of Midway. They also have a P-40B, the only surviving airworthy American fighter from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Their P-40B was in a hangar undergoing repairs at Wheeler Field on December 7, 1941. The museum is primarily dedicated to armor and their collection is world class including a German Panther, T-34's, various M4 Shermans, Stuart and Lee light tanks and much more. They even have a rare Panzer 1A on display in addition to a Soviet T-54, T-72, M1A1 Abrams and an Iraqi Scud missile (I can't imagine how they got that into Massachusetts). Well worth a stop if you are ever remotely nearby: https://www.americanheritagemuseum.org/

Yay, it's a good day- DD! Thank you Jason. My understanding, which may be incorrect, is that one of the flaws of some early war American torpedoes was they would not detonate if they struck dead on at a 90 degree perpendicular angle to their target but were more likely to explode if they hit at a glancing angle due to a flaw in the detonator. Am I correct in that belief and could that characteristic be modelled?

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. Appreciate it!

True. Enterprise was probably the most decorated ship with the most action to have survived the war. If you had to save only one, she would have been my pick.

So sad that after all its service and sacrifice, that the USS Enterprise was scrapped after the war. Growing up in northern New Jersey I did not realize that the only substantial part of the Enterprise still existing was on display at a park in the next town less than a mile away from my house. The name plate off her stern is located near the little league fields and public library in Rivervale, New Jersey: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.008213,-74.0095091,3a,15y,22.73h,88.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1suDLcG2eoEB67cMcbI6KK0g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu

I'm as excited about the ships as I am about the planes. And I'll be able to entertain myself for many hours just practicing carrier takeoffs and landings while unintentionally causing as much destruction as if I was flying combat missions!

Are you going to be doing the Pacific Theater next? Sorry! Old habit left over from the IL-2 forums! So glad to see your people getting into the actual modeling process. You have an enormous amount of work ahead of you all but it will be worth it. Thanks for the first of many updates.

Yes, I was so surprised to learn that Paul Allen had created this amazing museum but left it financially unprepared for his passing. So glad that someone stepped in to save it, but was surprised such a rescue was necessary.

Good AI is one of the most requested features by those of us who mostly fly single player, but seemingly the most difficult feature to deliver. I would appreciate it if the developers could post sometime on the difficulties involved in delivering good AI. Just having a fully functional wing man and a flight that doesn't suddenly bug out for home with no warning would be a plus in any flight sim. Us non-programmers do not have a good understanding of the difficulties involved in delivering this feature and just what is and is not possible or a reasonable expectation on the end users part.

Same here. I live in Connecticut and have some up close photos taken at the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, Mass. of the landing gear and wing folding mechanisms of a TBM Avenger and a later war FM-2 Wildcat which should not be that much different than the original model. They have also acquired a Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless and have a P-40B on display that actually survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, being in a maintenance hanger at Wheeler Field during the attack: https://www.americanheritagemuseum.org/aircrafts/curtiss-p-40b-tomahawk/ If reference photos would be of help, I'd be happy to travel back to this amazing facility to take any photos you need. https://www.americanheritagemuseum.org/

Pearl Harbor would require extensive modelling of Oahu, a densely populated area with many airfields and structures. That's a pretty big job. I think the plan to offer us the epic Battle of Midway out of the box is a good starting point that could be achieved in a more prompt timeline and offer us a better play balance in terms of choosing what side and what plane you want to fly. Midway Island could be modelled much faster than Oahu. Also, you basically would have only the P-40 to fly at Pearl on the American side and that's not even a naval carrier plane. I think Midway, Wake, eventually Guadalcanal are the logical starting points to both get the sim out in a reasonable timeline and attract the largest audience. But that's just like my opinion, man.

Yes, you would clearly be outmatched and yes I completely agree that it is not the place to start. I think that Midway is an excellent choice for the first scenario. So I may be a voice of one, but I still eagerly look forward to someday being George Welch on December 7th, 1941.

At some point in the future of this sim, I would love to be George Welch in Oahu on December 7th, 1941...