December 5th, 2019
Interview - Polychop Simulations
Tell us about Polychop Simulations... how did it get started, and what did the members of the team do before Polychop Simulations?
In 2013 we joined a team called Coretex and worked together on a F18E Super Hornet project that was planned for DCS World. Patrick was working on the project as lead coder, Oliver and Sven worked as 3d artist on the project among other people, but the Coretex team was not governed by and of us 3, so we were not in charge of the future of Coretex.
At that time we all worked on DCS World projects in our free time and there were no plans to create Polychop Simulations by then. Patrick was working as a teacher, Oliver was working for Airbus and Sven worked for Playstation. The Coretex team at some point after that did fall apart and we made the call to proceed with a own company and a project of our interest that we believed would be of some interest for the DCS World community.
The Gazelle was already in the works when we worked on the Coretex team but it was more a test project of Patrick back then and Sven did help him on 3d parts of the helicopter and Oliver was working on new textures for the aircraft. Today the Polychop Simulation core team involves Patrick and Sven, plus a new coder Alex and a community Manager Daan. Oliver has left the company in 2017.
In 2019 the development process is somewhat different in DCS with the Early Access model of development, versus how it was in the golden age of combat flight simulations in the 90s. I know being an old timer from the 90s flight sims that back then you got what was released in the box, and if you were lucky maybe a patch, but that's it. What do you see as developers as the pros and cons of the Early Access development process for a DCS module?
The early access method is sometimes needed to create the income for a dev team to cover the development costs. Especially to start-up teams this can be very important. Spending a lot of time and resources on development without having any income would require a developer to get a bank loan which is not that easy to come by and involves quite some financial risks.
We understand early access is a way of coping with this and Eagle Dynamics Nick Grey recently explained why they use this method. It not only pays for the further development of the modules but also the core engine improvements. That said, for the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior module we currently do not plan on an early access release. The module will only be released when it is feature complete. With the acceptance to bug fixes after the release.
In 2013 we joined a team called Coretex and worked together on a F18E Super Hornet project that was planned for DCS World. Patrick was working on the project as lead coder, Oliver and Sven worked as 3d artist on the project among other people, but the Coretex team was not governed by and of us 3, so we were not in charge of the future of Coretex.
At that time we all worked on DCS World projects in our free time and there were no plans to create Polychop Simulations by then. Patrick was working as a teacher, Oliver was working for Airbus and Sven worked for Playstation. The Coretex team at some point after that did fall apart and we made the call to proceed with a own company and a project of our interest that we believed would be of some interest for the DCS World community.
The Gazelle was already in the works when we worked on the Coretex team but it was more a test project of Patrick back then and Sven did help him on 3d parts of the helicopter and Oliver was working on new textures for the aircraft. Today the Polychop Simulation core team involves Patrick and Sven, plus a new coder Alex and a community Manager Daan. Oliver has left the company in 2017.
In 2019 the development process is somewhat different in DCS with the Early Access model of development, versus how it was in the golden age of combat flight simulations in the 90s. I know being an old timer from the 90s flight sims that back then you got what was released in the box, and if you were lucky maybe a patch, but that's it. What do you see as developers as the pros and cons of the Early Access development process for a DCS module?
The early access method is sometimes needed to create the income for a dev team to cover the development costs. Especially to start-up teams this can be very important. Spending a lot of time and resources on development without having any income would require a developer to get a bank loan which is not that easy to come by and involves quite some financial risks.
We understand early access is a way of coping with this and Eagle Dynamics Nick Grey recently explained why they use this method. It not only pays for the further development of the modules but also the core engine improvements. That said, for the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior module we currently do not plan on an early access release. The module will only be released when it is feature complete. With the acceptance to bug fixes after the release.
The DCS community has had some issues with the lack of updates for the SA-342 Gazelle module. Recently you guys made a post with some updates for it. What else do we have yet to come for the Gazelle at this point?
The community has done a great job at reporting bugs, issues and features they’d like to see implemented. With a recent change in strategy when it comes to supporting the Gazelle in parallel to the development of the Kiowa and adding two staff members who will work solely on these Gazelle updates, the issues reported by the community will be looked in to and fixed if needed. The biggest goal we’ve set is to create a new flight model from scratch.
The new flight model is something that will take a lot of time to code but we will be releasing patches with bugfixes in the meantime. Besides the bug fixing and flight model one has to understand that Eagle Dynamics is working hard to improve the DCS World core engine which means that the engine gets updated at a rapid pace. To keep the Gazelle module working as intended, we have to keep up with all the engine changes as more often than not, an update to the core engine renders one or more systems of the module inoperable. An example of this is the fact that Eagle Dynamics changed the way sounds were played, this required us to completely rewrite the sound code of the module from scratch. Keeping the module compatible is extremely time consuming and is one of the main focus points of the dedicated Gazelle team.
The community has done a great job at reporting bugs, issues and features they’d like to see implemented. With a recent change in strategy when it comes to supporting the Gazelle in parallel to the development of the Kiowa and adding two staff members who will work solely on these Gazelle updates, the issues reported by the community will be looked in to and fixed if needed. The biggest goal we’ve set is to create a new flight model from scratch.
The new flight model is something that will take a lot of time to code but we will be releasing patches with bugfixes in the meantime. Besides the bug fixing and flight model one has to understand that Eagle Dynamics is working hard to improve the DCS World core engine which means that the engine gets updated at a rapid pace. To keep the Gazelle module working as intended, we have to keep up with all the engine changes as more often than not, an update to the core engine renders one or more systems of the module inoperable. An example of this is the fact that Eagle Dynamics changed the way sounds were played, this required us to completely rewrite the sound code of the module from scratch. Keeping the module compatible is extremely time consuming and is one of the main focus points of the dedicated Gazelle team.
What type of mission is the Mini-Gun variant of the SA-342 used for, and what's your favorite variant of the Gazelle included within the module, and why?
The minigun variant of the Gazelle in real life is used for special-operations. The minigun will shred any infantry and soft target with ease. The original plan for this bonus version was to create a Gazelle with a sniper team onboard but no matter how cool that sounds, there was actually very little use for it in DCS world where infantry is only very limitedly modeled. With the minigun variant you are at least more effective against soft targets and the use is only limited to the mission creators imagination. Raiding an insurgent camp or attacking a convoy? It’s up to you to decide what to do in DCS World and a big plus on the minigun variant is the great visibility you get without Viviane monitor and doors.
Why is there such a lack of Instant Action, and Mission missions within the module for the Gazelle, I almost feel like that's a missed opportunity for you as the developers to have created some specific missions that really could have highlighted the capabilities of your module?
When the Gazelle was released there was only one map available in DCS World, the Caucasus map. We hired an external mission creator to create a number of instant action missions, training missions and quite an extensive campaign. Creating missions for DCS world is easy, creating good ones however is something else. That is why we hired the external mission creator who did an excellent job at it.
A little later the Nevada map entered early access and we’ve recreated the training missions to work on that map as well. No missions were ever created by us to cater to the Persian Gulf and Normandy map, they came out years after the initial release of the Gazelle and we believe DCS World to be a sandbox flight sim where everyone can create their own missions and share them with ease. If you don’t feel like creating your own, just download countless of missions created by others.
The minigun variant of the Gazelle in real life is used for special-operations. The minigun will shred any infantry and soft target with ease. The original plan for this bonus version was to create a Gazelle with a sniper team onboard but no matter how cool that sounds, there was actually very little use for it in DCS world where infantry is only very limitedly modeled. With the minigun variant you are at least more effective against soft targets and the use is only limited to the mission creators imagination. Raiding an insurgent camp or attacking a convoy? It’s up to you to decide what to do in DCS World and a big plus on the minigun variant is the great visibility you get without Viviane monitor and doors.
Why is there such a lack of Instant Action, and Mission missions within the module for the Gazelle, I almost feel like that's a missed opportunity for you as the developers to have created some specific missions that really could have highlighted the capabilities of your module?
When the Gazelle was released there was only one map available in DCS World, the Caucasus map. We hired an external mission creator to create a number of instant action missions, training missions and quite an extensive campaign. Creating missions for DCS world is easy, creating good ones however is something else. That is why we hired the external mission creator who did an excellent job at it.
A little later the Nevada map entered early access and we’ve recreated the training missions to work on that map as well. No missions were ever created by us to cater to the Persian Gulf and Normandy map, they came out years after the initial release of the Gazelle and we believe DCS World to be a sandbox flight sim where everyone can create their own missions and share them with ease. If you don’t feel like creating your own, just download countless of missions created by others.
To give us some deeper insight into the development process, can you explain how you go about creating a flight model for a helicopter in general, what factors are involved, and what makes it more difficult, or not, over say a fixed-wing aircraft?
Creating a helicopter flightmodel or a helicopter in general first starts with research and learning. What does that mean? First of all you have to understand how a helicopter flies and what physics are involved to have the rotor actually fly in all states of its possible flight envelope, which starts at ground behaviors and end at more complex “acrobatic” or combat maneuvers. The next level of creating such an aircraft, is to find the people, the actual pilots that will support you and are interested in the project.
Why? Well the best source you can have, in our opinion, are the pilots. We have made very exclusive experiences with the pilots that we call SMEs, but they are more, they are part of the Polychop family and probably the most important resource for our projects. After having done the research and understand what it takes to have a helicopter fly, you can start the coding, which starts in DCS World from scratch, if you have not ever done anything in DCS World.
The main difference between a helicopter and a plane is that an aircraft basically only knows one direction of movement in a 3 dimensional area of space. A helicopter has 4 directions and also a fixed point, if we want to agree on the hover as such. So you have to understand what the helicopter and especially the rotors, main and tail, are doing in that envelope of flight, plus you have to also understand what each blade of the rotor does. That concludes to the factor that we state, that a helicopter is very likely 10 times more complex than a fixed wing in terms of the aerodynamic coding and requires a lot of knowledge, which also implies that you do not just code a helicopter on a Sunday evening after dinner.
Which is harder to create and model... the flight model, or avionics and weapons systems, and why?
There are differences in the 3 mentioned areas that make it unique for themselves. The flightmodel we already discussed a bit at the prior question, which is why I am not repeating the process here again. The avionics and weapon systems are somewhat similar, cause you have the weapon systems most likely integrated into the avionics. Here it is a bit easier, or lest say different, in terms of the coding. You have to have a good documentation or information from SMEs to actually understand what the systems do as end result and how the systems are operated.
So the easier part here is, that you do have more straight forward processes compared to flight model, which is very fluent as such. When you create weapons themselves like for example a Hellfire missile or even a bvr missile, you then have to create an object itself with its own aerodynamic factors again and its own flight profiles that actually interact with the avionics. In general we say the hardest about a helicopter to be coded is the flight model, which is probably the reason why there are few people in the world that actually do take on the challenge to do so.
Does Polychop Simulatons have a desire to develop a fixed-wing aircraft module, if so what?
Polychop has its hands full with the development of the OH-58D and the renewed support of the Gazelle module. No future plans other than personal wishes by individual members of the team exist. We strongly believe we have to finish what we’ve started and if we’ve learned anything from the past it is that we shouldn’t move on to a new project too fast, especially with an ever changing engine as its base.
There has recently been a video pop up of a Kiowa Warrior that's said to be in development by Polychop, what can you tell us about that?
We have recently announced the development of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior module for DCS World. The development has been going on for a little more than two years already and is shaping up real nice. The development of this module is done in very close collaboration with some members of the Kiowa community and Bell helicopters which has granted us a license. Not just the constant testing and input from the mentioned Kiowa community members but also the lessons we’ve learned from the past are what makes us confident we get it right.
When it comes to the flight model, we’ve opted to write the code for this from scratch and in a way more advanced manner than the Gazelle. All physical factors and behaviors of the helicopter are already implemented at this stage for both, the main rotor and tail rotor.
Weapon systems in the module include, but are not limited to, the M3P machinegun, Hydra rockets, Hellfire missiles, the FIM-92 Stinger and the ability to drop smoke grenades from the cockpit.
The radios will be simulated as close as possible to the real deal, including the navigation tools used on this very aircraft.
The iconic MMS (Mast Mounted Sight) is also modelled with all its features. This includes laser ranging, laser designating, TV and infrared cameras. The Kiowa will be able to designate targets not only for its own weapon systems and those of other Kiowa’s but also for any other aircraft capable of delivering laser guided weapons.
We plan to include an extensive damage model that includes not only battle damage but also specific damages done by overstressing the airframe.
Creating a helicopter flightmodel or a helicopter in general first starts with research and learning. What does that mean? First of all you have to understand how a helicopter flies and what physics are involved to have the rotor actually fly in all states of its possible flight envelope, which starts at ground behaviors and end at more complex “acrobatic” or combat maneuvers. The next level of creating such an aircraft, is to find the people, the actual pilots that will support you and are interested in the project.
Why? Well the best source you can have, in our opinion, are the pilots. We have made very exclusive experiences with the pilots that we call SMEs, but they are more, they are part of the Polychop family and probably the most important resource for our projects. After having done the research and understand what it takes to have a helicopter fly, you can start the coding, which starts in DCS World from scratch, if you have not ever done anything in DCS World.
The main difference between a helicopter and a plane is that an aircraft basically only knows one direction of movement in a 3 dimensional area of space. A helicopter has 4 directions and also a fixed point, if we want to agree on the hover as such. So you have to understand what the helicopter and especially the rotors, main and tail, are doing in that envelope of flight, plus you have to also understand what each blade of the rotor does. That concludes to the factor that we state, that a helicopter is very likely 10 times more complex than a fixed wing in terms of the aerodynamic coding and requires a lot of knowledge, which also implies that you do not just code a helicopter on a Sunday evening after dinner.
Which is harder to create and model... the flight model, or avionics and weapons systems, and why?
There are differences in the 3 mentioned areas that make it unique for themselves. The flightmodel we already discussed a bit at the prior question, which is why I am not repeating the process here again. The avionics and weapon systems are somewhat similar, cause you have the weapon systems most likely integrated into the avionics. Here it is a bit easier, or lest say different, in terms of the coding. You have to have a good documentation or information from SMEs to actually understand what the systems do as end result and how the systems are operated.
So the easier part here is, that you do have more straight forward processes compared to flight model, which is very fluent as such. When you create weapons themselves like for example a Hellfire missile or even a bvr missile, you then have to create an object itself with its own aerodynamic factors again and its own flight profiles that actually interact with the avionics. In general we say the hardest about a helicopter to be coded is the flight model, which is probably the reason why there are few people in the world that actually do take on the challenge to do so.
Does Polychop Simulatons have a desire to develop a fixed-wing aircraft module, if so what?
Polychop has its hands full with the development of the OH-58D and the renewed support of the Gazelle module. No future plans other than personal wishes by individual members of the team exist. We strongly believe we have to finish what we’ve started and if we’ve learned anything from the past it is that we shouldn’t move on to a new project too fast, especially with an ever changing engine as its base.
There has recently been a video pop up of a Kiowa Warrior that's said to be in development by Polychop, what can you tell us about that?
We have recently announced the development of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior module for DCS World. The development has been going on for a little more than two years already and is shaping up real nice. The development of this module is done in very close collaboration with some members of the Kiowa community and Bell helicopters which has granted us a license. Not just the constant testing and input from the mentioned Kiowa community members but also the lessons we’ve learned from the past are what makes us confident we get it right.
When it comes to the flight model, we’ve opted to write the code for this from scratch and in a way more advanced manner than the Gazelle. All physical factors and behaviors of the helicopter are already implemented at this stage for both, the main rotor and tail rotor.
Weapon systems in the module include, but are not limited to, the M3P machinegun, Hydra rockets, Hellfire missiles, the FIM-92 Stinger and the ability to drop smoke grenades from the cockpit.
The radios will be simulated as close as possible to the real deal, including the navigation tools used on this very aircraft.
The iconic MMS (Mast Mounted Sight) is also modelled with all its features. This includes laser ranging, laser designating, TV and infrared cameras. The Kiowa will be able to designate targets not only for its own weapon systems and those of other Kiowa’s but also for any other aircraft capable of delivering laser guided weapons.
We plan to include an extensive damage model that includes not only battle damage but also specific damages done by overstressing the airframe.
Polychop Simulations
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