What ever happened to the release of 4.1 proper? Or the second beta?

The first beta turned out to be riddled with bugs and performance problems – some discovered by me in the weeks following the upload, some duly reported by users. I planned to put out a second beta that took care of most of these bugs, but the issues with flight performance were very troubling and I decided to postpone the second beta while working on the FDE. There is, after all, no point in uploading another version which still does not fly properly.

This is basically the problem: A lot of the engine parameters were totally wrong in 3.x and 4.0 due to my misunderstanding a crucial part of the SDK documentation. To compensate for the erroneous engine params I had been tweaking the aerodynamics to a point where the curves were completely off the chart. I have spent the last month reworking this, starting from scratch and actually following instructions this time. The result is a completely new FDE which gives a more or less correct engine thrust at all altitudes. The next step is to rework the lift/drag parameters to also get the correct airspeed and angle of attack, which is what I am working on right now.

Apart from this I have added a lot more 3D details in the VC and made some changes to the sometimes quirky radios and nav systems. When I eventually upload the next version I will try to include a detailed change list. No promises as to when this will be though, I really want to get the FDE right first.

Stay tuned, /Tom

The URL to our website has changed to simulations.bookmark.se to match our recent namechange. The old URL will redirect to this address.

If you have bookmarked links to individual pages or files on this website (bad idea) you will have to update them. If you have trouble accessing some things on the site, try flushing the cache in your browser.

The updated Flight Manual for the FSX version of Draken has now been officially released. A link to the online manual can be found in the top menu, and a printable pdf version (100 pages, 7.5 MB) can be downloaded from the Downloads page.

The new edition covers both versions 4.0 and 4.1 (to be released) and the previous edition can no longer be downloaded.

The online manual has been tested with Firefox (recommended), Chrome and IE9, but as always there may be problems with some browsers. If you have problems accessing the online version, or find any errors in the content, please let me know.

The 3d objects in the scenery that is installed with Draken have never been supposed to be authentic, as I never had a clear idea of what these now-defunct navaids really looked like. In version 4.1 they have been replaced with objects that look a little more like the real thing. You can update your existing scenery for 4.0 or 4.1b1 by replacing the “Barbro” scenery folder with the one in this zip file. Remember to make a backup of the old scenery, just in case.

Download Barbro scenery 4.1b2

The Flight Manual for version 4.0 has some errors and missing bits and should have been updated long ago. The changes in 4.1b are of course also not covered by the current edition. The problem is that the documentation was created in a proprietary content management system that belonged to a company I no longer work for, and I do not have access to those tools anymore.

So, updating the manual at this point means taking the raw XML files, writing my own XSLT transformations and formatting objects, and parsing the lot through a free formatter like Apache FOP. For those of you who have not yet fallen asleep, this is basically a tedious process including a lot of manual codewriting to get the final result to at least resemble something printable.

Boring as that may sound, I have started doing exactly that. My first step was to write some XSL stylesheets to be able to present the XML content online while updating it.

This documentation is still a work in progress and is updated daily at this point. A printable PDF version will probably follow once the 4.1 version of Draken is released.

Stay tuned /Tom

LINK: Online Flight Manual – Draken 4.1

Welcome back to the updated website! Did some much overdue housekeeping today while taking a break from the project. The site design is now cleaner, faster, and uses a responsive theme that looks great on your mobile as well as on your desktop screen.

Stay tuned! /Tom

The first public beta version of Draken 4.1 can now be downloaded using the link at the bottom of this post. Reading the following information before downloading will probably save both you and me a lot of pain, so please do.

• Please read the End User License Agreement (EULA) that is included in the installer, and make sure you understand it before completing installation. By installing the software, you are bound by the agreement. The EULA can also be found here.
• The installer will overwrite any previously installed files relating to Draken in the Effects, Gauges, Sounds and Additional Scenery folders of FSX. If you have made any modifications to these files on your computer, please remember to make backups. To revert to a previous version, just run the installer for that version again.
• The Flight Manual has not yet been updated to reflect the latest changes. However, it is still compulsory reading before asking me any questions of the “how to start the engine” kind.
• The navaids in the included scenery (Barbro) are not always at their precise locations, although they are perfectly usable for navigation. They will be corrected in the final release.
• A brief list of the changes made between 4.0 and 4.1b1 can be found in a previous post. There have been additional changes since then, and I will try to update the change list as soon as possible.
• Feedback should preferably be sent to me using the contact form but if you already have the address you can also just email me the usual way.

Download link:    [wpdm_file id=2]

Compiling and test driving before releasing the 4.1 beta. As always, problems that were not there during development have a tendency to surface when you are preparing a release. So, some minor fixes left to do before I put 4.1b1 up for download.

Added the missing radar hand control to the cockpit model today. It was not planned for 4.1 but I added it anyway, just for the hell of it. Not really useful as there is no radar targeting yet, but at least the handle is there, replacing the rather ugly 2D gauge.

The beta will be released this weekend. No kidding!

/Tom

A pre-release of version 4.1 of Draken for FSX will be available shortly. Here is a list of some of the changes made in this update:

Flight dynamics

• Fuel consumption reduced – was almost twice of real TFSC
• Improved engine response in lower throttle range
• Lift and drag parameters corrected
• Indicated speed calculation corrected – see previous posts
• Fuel tank volumes corrected
• Empty weight and MTOW corrected

Model and textures

• Added missing details in LODs 20-150
• Added LOD5 (untextured flats)
• Remapped nose decals (larger size decals now possible in repaints)
• Added 3D version of engine panel in VC
• Added missing circuit breakers in VC
• Added deicing emergency cutoff valve in VC
• Reflective and refractive textures fixed (mirrors, switches, glass,etc.)
• Lots of cosmetic changes to objects and textures

Systems and gauges

• Afterburner functions rewritten from scratch
• Drag chute function changed – added reset from panel
• RAT function completely rewritten – now controlled by rpm, not throttle
• MTR function changed – now reduces throttle in 2% steps
• Cabin Pressure Difference gauge completely rewritten
• Autopilot override function now triggers warning light
• Automatic switch between Altitude Hold and Attitude Hold in transsonic fixed
• Wheel brakes are now anti-lock as default
• Missing and erroneous tool tips fixed
• Lots of minor adjustments and cosmetic changes

Notes

Some of the problems that appear in multiplayer were addressed in this update, but not all of them. At the moment I only have one computer that can run FSX, so I have not been able to test MP locally. Most multiplayer issues will be solved in version 5.0.

If you have done repaints they may have to be modified to work with version 4.1 as there is some remapping of the exterior.