Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Flaming Cliffs 3 - Eagle Dynamics Puts Whole Portfolio Under the Same Roof

For around $40.00 you can now get the beta version of the survey combat flight simulator Flaming Cliffs 3.

All things considered, very little in Flaming Cliffs 3 is  significantly different from Flaming Cliffs 2. In an official forum post, Eagle Dynamics producer Matt Wagner explains that the release it's aimed at bridging the gap between the Flaming Cliffs and DCS Warthog/Black Shark communities. So Flaming Cliffs 3 now runs inside the unified simulation engine DCS World.







From Eagle Dynamics' web page, new features in Flaming Cliffs 3:

  • A DCS World module that is compatible with DCS titles.
  • New 6 degrees of freedom (6DOF) cockpit and model for the F-15C.
  • New F-15C campaign and single missions.
  • Improved cockpit art for Russian aircraft.
  • Improved landing dynamics.
  • Improved flight dynamics for air-to-air missiles.
  • Updated and improved HUDs and other cockpit systems.
  • Resource Manager that adds logistics control to missions.
  • Expanded theatre of operations map into eastern Georgia.
  • Countless other improvements in the areas of the mission editor, special effects, new models, improved terrain detail and AI.

The 6DoF cockpit of the F-15 C is breath taking, even during low G turns.
Another screenshot of the F-15 C cockpit, just for another angle. With the new textures and the increased degrees of freedom, that MFD on the left -stuck in the same page all the time- really hurts. 
You don't need a boarding pass when you are armed with AIM-120s ...


The flyable Russian naval fighter Su-33. Likely flying with many lines of code written for Flanker 2.5?
A very forgiving landing on the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. The improved landing dynamics of Flaming Cliffs 3 still feel arcadish.
Cheers,

3 comments:

smith said...

Welcome back! Nice coverage. I too bought FC3 to fit into DCS - I love the vanilla SU-25, but wish the beta included more missions!

chrisol said...

I was looking forward to this as a slightly lighter way into the DCS world, but then noticed no clickable cockpits... and now no dynamic MDFs. Doesn't sound like it's going to do it for me - I'll either wait for a full deal I can get more enthusiastic about, or give Falcon BMS another go.

JC said...

Hi Smith and thanks!
To be sincere, I never touch those missions ... Are more missions planned for the full release?

Hi chrisol. I was not expecting nothing revolutionary but rather a more meaty upgrade in flight models ... I upgraded just to have one consolidated installation and a bigger map. I need those planes for the stories in the blog. :)