RoR 0.28 is flying

The much awaited 0.28 is ready for download.
It includes a flyable Antonov 12. The flight physics I used are state of the art in flight simulation (better than Microsoft Flight Simulator, and almost similar to X-Plane, which I highly recommend).

• Flying forces (lift, drag and moment) are computed for each wing segments according to actual airfoil characteristics measured in wind tunnels. The interaction of these forces and the aircraft frame determine the aircraft trajectory and attitude. There are no cheating, no cooking, only decentralized aerodynamics!
  
• Prop wash (the effect of accelerated air behind props on wings) is taken into account.
• Induced drag accross full wingspans is taken into account.
• Accurate simulation of variable pitch, constant speed turboprops.
  

There are still more aerodynamic features to add and enhance (like accurate fuselage drag), but this is a good start.

From the readme:

main commands are indicated on the dashboard.
Engine start/stop: click on the "ON" buttons
PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN: throtle
R: Toggle reverse thrust (there is a bug that makes reverse disengagement difficult)
UP/DOWN, LEFT/RIGHT: control aircraft (available only in keyboard only mode)
Z/X: control rudder
1: Flaps up (1 notch)
2: Flaps down (1 notch)
I: reinitialize airplane position
B: brakes
P: parking brakes
F1/F2: close/open cargo bay
O: secure cargo

Operation of the airplane: see any good flying manual.
Flaps should be put a bit down for takeoff and even more on landings.
The plane has a weird behaviour at low power settings, so be prepared, and do not fully retard throtles until on the ground.
The key for successfull landings is stabilized approaches. The key for successfull landings is stabilized approaches.
Cargo loading: only the Tatra can fit in the cargo hold. It must be parked at the back of the hold and secured there (O).
Do not park the truck at the front end of the hold or you'll have a wrong center of gravity and crash at the end of the runway.

Beware: the game will crash if you select the Airplane in the "Rig a Deal" shop.

The terrain is a bit small for this plane, so be prepared to turn a lot around. The hard stuff is to land properly. The key for successfull landings is stabilized approaches. So align with the runway far enough, and avoid banzaï-style landings. The simulation is accurate (read: hard), the plane is a bit underpowered (I suspect due to an excessive computed fuse drag), so be cautious: this is always a good suggestion when flying!

Also, the airplane hits a bit hard the performances, so I hope it will be okay for most of you. I'll try to optimize. You may also expect a program crash when crashing the plane too hard. What did you expect? ;-)

Also in this release, a superb Volvo FL6 from Aimee Walton, some bug fixes, but no progress on the editor.

Enjoy, and good flight!

Aircraft preview video

Today I uploaded a preview video of the new aircraft. It's almost finished, I have just to add more cockpit instruments.



If you can't see the video here, try this link.

Happy Birthday!

One year ago, I decided to make my freetime game/physics experiment (codename "Tracks") public. I gave it a nice name, opened this blog, and uploaded version 0.11, the first public release.

One year later and 16(!) releases later, Rigs of Rods is still an revolutionnary experiment, and it gains traction every month! (RoR is now downloaded about 8000 times per version!)
Now, new horizons opens with the addition of flight physics to RoR, promising another unique experience of flexible physics as never seen in the mainstream "game industry".

To celebrate the first anniversary of the public release of RoR, here is a screenshot of the very first truss ever simulated with the physics engine. It was somewhere around late march 2005.



Cheers, and thanks to all the fans!