A Letter From Eagle Dynamics
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  1. #1

    A Letter From Eagle Dynamics

    ***FROM DCS FB PAGE***
    "
    A letter from Eagle Dynamics - 28 November 2017 Dear valued DCS World customers,
    Over the past several months, we have read your concerns and frustrations regarding aspects of the growth of DCS World. In particular, the length of time that it has taken to create the unified DCS World version (DCS World 2.5) and our DCS World War II developments. We’d like to talk to you about both of these to help foster a clear picture of where we were, where we are now, and where we plan to be.
    First of all, thank you all for your support and being with us for the past 27 years and sharing our vision of what we believe the flight simulation genre can ultimately achieve. From the very beginning, when Eagle Dynamics was established in 1991, our main priority was the creation of highly realistic flight simulations. At that time, there were just seven of us when we released our first project: Su-27 Flanker 1.0 in 1995. Over the past 27(!) years, we’ve come a long way from a simple computer game, to a professional-level combat environment simulator. Today, we have about 80 internal programmers, artists, managers, testers and producers. Additionally, we have 18 partners and 3rd party developers that are participating in our internal projects, as well as developing their own modules for DCS World. During our entire history, we have remained loyal to our initial dream of making the most realistic combat aviation simulations. Starting from one simple, Standard Flight Model (SFM) Su-27, we took our next step in 2003 with seven aircraft for Lock On: Modern Air Combat (LOMAC). Following LOMAC, we created our first Advance Flight Model (AFM) for the Su-25T in 2005. Next came our first Professional Flight Model (PFM) for the Ka-50 Black Shark and the A-10C Warthog in 2008 and 2009. For an aircraft like the A-10C, it usually takes about three years of hard work to develop a PFM.
    In parallel to development of the software for these aircraft, getting the required permissions/license agreements (aircraft manufactures and government) can often be a big obstacle and time-consuming process. For both the Ka-50 Black Shark and A-10C Warthog, we spent two years of great effort to get such permissions! More recently, and with great difficulties, we finally signed the necessary agreements to allow the sale of our upcoming DCS: F/A-18C Hornet. The team has been working very hard on this project and we are at the point now where we are talking much more about it with regular updates. After a long period of developing needed technologies (flight model and radar), research, design (data on late-LOT F/A-18C), and legal matters, we are nearing the point in which we will be able to provide the Early Access version of the Hornet. Right behind the Hornet, we have other modern, combat fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft ready for development within the Eagle Dynamics internal studio. Our talented 3rd parties are also working hard on other great aircraft like the AV-8B Night Attack S/VTOL, F-14 Tomcat, FC-17, F-4E Phantom II, Mi-24P Hind, Bo-105, and others. Naturally, all 3rd party projects are only made possible with very active, hands-on, technical support and creation of APIs from Eagle Dynamics. So, please be assured that we have not given up our initial dream! Modern, combat aviation is alive and well in DCS World and will continue to be. This is our bread and butter.
    One of the biggest factors in creating a great flight simulation is the graphics engine. This is also probably the most technically complicated. During our 27 years history, we have internally developed five generations of graphics engines. This is a massive effort for such a small company, whereas many other companies use “off the shelf” graphic engine solutions. We have evaluated other engines (MSFS, OSG, etc.), but we always returned to our own internal solutions because only they provided the capability and quality we demand for a modern, combat aviation simulation. The biggest needs has been the ability to render an environment that looks and performs great from 1 meter to 50,000 meters. This is where we believe our graphics engine is quite unique and powerful.
    Graphics cards are developing so rapidly that many companies are not capable of keeping their technology current with new hardware. After eight years of intense work, we recently developed a very stable version of our graphics engine that is based on DX11, Deferred Shading technology, and Physical Based Rendering (PBR). We are also developing our engine to take advantage of the Vulcan API to further improve game performance. Having a great looking game is moot if it does not perform well. It’s important to understand that a graphics engine is not only a Scene Renderer, but the terrain creation tool technology is equally important. This is the main reason why we could not merge DCS 1.5 Caucasus and 2.1 Terrains for such a long and regretful time. To do this, we first need to convert all the terrains, missions, training, and campaigns that were developed over many years for Caucasus map to an absolutely new terrain data structure and adjust all applied programs. We’ve put a massive amount of work into this effort and it is almost complete. We plan to release DCS World 2.5 in the coming weeks!
    Now, let’s talk a little about DCS World War II and why it does not delay our modern day combat aircraft and why it’s a valuable aspect of DCS World for us and you.
    • The Fighter Collection (TFC), Eagle Dynamic’s principle partner, has one of the largest, private collections of World War II aircraft. TFC has been requesting World War II aircraft for a long time, so we cannot ignore our partner. We and TFC agree that WWII combat aviation is a very interesting flight simulation genre, especially for customers that enjoy history and massive dogfights. TFC has supported this direction from the very beginning.
    • World War II aircraft attract new customers that may have not otherwise been familiar with DCS World. Many DCS World War II pilots move to our jet aircraft that are within the integral DCS World. So, our World War II aircraft provide a good advertising environment for the DCS World concept as a whole.
    • Many of our new programmers and artists are responsible DCS World War II. They are separate from our main project (like the F/A-18C) developers, and they are not involved with the modern aircraft development efforts. Otherwise, it would not be practical/efficient to develop aircraft like the F/A-18C with staff split between projects. Also, DCS World War II is a great “school” for new programmers before they take on extremely complicated Modern Air Combat projects.
    • We could deliver modern, complicated aircraft faster than we and our 3rd parties are already doing, but growing a business needs more and more revenue to grow the team and make better products. We were very surprised to find that the investment vs. generated revenue has been excellent for the World War II aircraft. In fact, the P-51D Mustang has twice the cost effectiveness of the A-10C Warthog.
    As you can see, DCS’s World War II series doesn’t compete with modern aircraft projects for development resources. In fact, it supports it! The same is true with the L-39 and Yak-52 projects. These two projects were also sought by government institutions, but we were also able to negotiate their release to you.
    We very much hope this all makes sense for you and sheds some light on these matters.
    We are reaching an important milestone of DCS World with the release of DCS World 2.5. This combined with an exciting list of new aircraft, new maps, and great new mission content, is furthering our dream from 1991. Thank you for being part of the journey with us!
    Sincerely,
    Eagle Dynamics Development Team"

    Patrick

  2. #2
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    Very informative and reassuring. Thanks for posting this, Phantom88!

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Stickshaker View Post
    Very informative and reassuring. Thanks for posting this, Phantom88!
    You're Welcome Sir

    Patrick

  4. #4
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    …and how nice to see that WWII aircraft are so important for DCS. I was a bit afraid that that was the financially endangered side of the sim, while WWII is the most important era for me.

  5. #5
    Yea......Really looking forward to The P-47.....Finally an American Radial!!

    Patrick

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    Yesss! And the Me-262!

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    Virtual Lawn Dart O'Donovan's Avatar
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    SERIOUSLY?????

    Let me break this down into plain English.

    Dear WWII Simmer,


    We're producing content slowly because we're using the game to train new employees. When they get good enough, we take them off the project and put them on our modern sim. Hope you like paying for second rate work. By the way, we're never going to complete the project as promised on the Kickstarter page, because we're using the money we make off you to pay for more work to be done on our modern sim. The money you spend on DCS WWII will NEVER benefit you at all. Thanks for being our cash cow.




    Signed,



    Eagle Dynamics


    I knew it was bad, but this is an outrage. I will never give them a single dollar of my money, even if I have to play 20 year old sims. But wait, I can speak with my wallet and purchase the IL-2 series instead. I don't have to play their game at all, ever. Fine by me.



    -Irish
    O'Donovan aka "Irish"

    odonovan1 on World War II Online - ODonovan on Star Citizen - Formerly @Power Play on City of Heroes

  8. #8
    Thank You for your Wonderful Contribution Irish,Happy Holiday's and mind the Christmas Cheer!!!

    Patrick

  9. #9
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    Irish, this kind of venting personal frustrations does not help the sim community at all. You accuse a developer in a respectless way, suggesting bad faith. That is serious. Developers have been know to quit the genre because of this kind of harassment. Make your point in a polite, factual way, or don’t make it at all.
    Frankly, I am not interested in your, or anyone else’s, personal frustrations being shouted around on a public forum. That’s what partners or best friends are for.

  10. #10
    Virtual Lawn Dart O'Donovan's Avatar
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    On December 16th, Stickshaker said:

    > Irish, this kind of venting personal frustrations does not help the sim community at all.

    So what DOES help the sim community, people being taken advantage of and cheated out of promised Kickstarter rewards? ...a company selling content which was supposed to be free? ...that same company taking money from the DCS WWII project and using it for a different game (modern jet sim)?

    > You accuse a developer in a respectless way, suggesting bad faith. That is serious.

    I accuse them of nothing. They clearly state it in their own letter. They ADMIT having money from DCS WWII which they are redirecting to their modern sim. It's already well established there are many Kickstarter backers who received less than they were promised. They are selling their "free" Normandy map for $45. Just what am I accusing them of, the truth?

    > Developers have been know to quit the genre because of this kind of harassment.

    Really? One guy makes a post in a forum and an entire company is going to pack up and go away. Are you serious?

    > Make your point in a polite, factual way, or don’t make it at all.


    Oh, I was being polite. I am very mellow, compared to how I could get, especially if I had backed the game and gotten less than I was promised. My post is also ENTIRELY factual. Point out ONE thing I said that wasn't true.

    > Frankly, I am not interested in your, or anyone else’s, personal frustrations being shouted around on a public forum.

    Then don't read it. Stick your head in the sand and ignore the facts. ED is not some sort of white knight that stepped in to finish the game. They were a major partner and had more than sufficient resources to complete the game as promised.

    > That’s what partners or best friends are for.


    I have NO idea what that's supposed to mean.


    I stick by everything I said. I'm very sorry if this upsets some people and ruins their rose-colored view of Eagle Dynamics. The truth hurts, sometimes.



    -Irish

    @Phantom88: I know, right? Leave it to me to pee in the egg nog.
    O'Donovan aka "Irish"

    odonovan1 on World War II Online - ODonovan on Star Citizen - Formerly @Power Play on City of Heroes

  11. #11
    Member IanHenry's Avatar
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    Irish,
    I'm beginning to get the impression that something has upset you!


    Ian

  12. #12
    Irish,

    I too have some issues with DCS, but not just DCS, other developers too, such as Roberts Space Sim, Razbam and a few others, that promised me an item and all I got was a partial serving, if you will. Some items from developers I have paid great money too, both to support their continued work, but also in hopes of a fantastic end result. I too, have most every module and terrain available, including the Normandy terrain and accompanying planes and assets. They look absolutely gorgeous!

    What I eventually tired of was the hateful vitriol that was a constant on SimHq, from childish arguing, point-counter point and un-moderated postings of such. It got to the point, that I no longer subscribe or post. All I wanted to hear what is happening, good, bad or otherwise. When I found this forum, it is just that, informational. It is a refreshing change of pace. I respect your opinion, but personally, I don't want to hear it here either. I would highly recommend posting at SimHq, you will have plenty of people to spar with. The people here are not putting their heads in the sand, as you put it, just not much for the dramatic.

    I empathize your plight, but please don't make this forum a hotbed of bitterness. Have a great holiday and I hope you are able to resolve your issues with DCS and ED. I have long ago come to accept what will come forth from them, but they also have some great developers, including Razbam, which I personally swore off buying again but if they indeed stick with DCS, I too can forgive them and fly a great plane.
    ....my other Stryker is a 2019 Challenger Hellcat Redeye.....

    Matt

  13. #13
    No one was " Cheated " out of any Kickstarter rewards,If you pledged a certain $ amount, you were given Normandy Map,Assets Pack and one or all 6 WWII aircraft.4 aircraft have been released and P-47 and Me-262 are being worked on.
    I was a original Kickstarter backer when Luthier was in charge,and I have received everything promised for... FREE

    Patrick

  14. #14
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    I have no further additions to what I said earlier, and I agree with the posts by Phantom88, Strykerpsg and IanHenry.

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