For some reason wheelsup_cavu's post on the previous thread did not show up when I originally perused it before starting this thread, so he was first to alert our community to this big news.

For some reason wheelsup_cavu's post on the previous thread did not show up when I originally perused it before starting this thread, so he was first to alert our community to this big news.

DD 01:
(Posted July 25, 2023)

Dear Pilots,

Welcome to our very first Developer Diary for Combat Pilot! We hope this will be the first of many to come as we continue to build our initial prototype and get ready to take flight.

Today we want to share some images of our early work which includes the legendary Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 0 Model 21 flown by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Allies assigned it the code name Zeke, but most remember it as simply the Zero. To Japanese pilots it was known as the Rei-sen. The A6M was extremely successful in the early months of the Pacific War and was superior to its American and Allied opponents like the F4F Wildcat and F2A Buffalo. It was built in large numbers throughout the war and several different variants were produced. The A6M2 Model 21 saw action in all the important early Pacific battles such as Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea and Midway and the A6M in all it's various forms continued to see service throughout the war. The Zero has become possibly the most recognizable icon of the Pacific War.

We are building a flyable A6M2 to be featured in Combat Pilot and as you can see work is progressing and its beginning to take its very famous shape. It’s a long way from completion still, but you can be assured we will keep you informed of its progress. We also plan to have a Japanese aircraft carrier ready for her to operate from when our prototype is ready. ard tasks like building models requires research and finding the right artist to make what you need. And until you establish some standards it’s a little bit like stumbling around in the dark. When it comes to art and 3D assets we are starting to find our groove and you can see that in the pics I’ve chosen below. We hope you like them and it’s an example of where we are headed stylistically.

Read the rest of Developer Diary-01 at the Combat-Pilot forums.

DD 02:
(Posted August 28, 2023)

Dear Pilots,

Welcome to our second Developer Diary for Combat Pilot! Today we are showing off a very famous U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps fighter – the pugnacious F4F-4!

The Wildcat as it was called was the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ front-line fighter when war broke out. Like the Zero it fought in all the major early war battles and helped blunt the Japanese juggernaut during the first critical year of the war. The Wildcat was outclassed by the A6M in just about every way and losses were high. Several F4F pilots earned the Medal of Honor for their bravery while flying her and even though outperformed, many pilots became aces in the F4F series. American pilots had to invent new tactics to compete with the Zero including the famous “Thach Weave” that focused on teamwork to down A6Ms.

Read the rest of Developer Diary-02 at the Combat-Pilot forums.

DD 03:
(Posted November 02, 2023)

Dear Pilots,

Our work on Combat Pilot continues and we have completed our first official 6 months as a team and results are positive. The hardest part of creating something out of nothing is creating a strong foundation for where we want go. You have to walk before you can fly, but when tangible progress is made it's very satisfying to see. Right now, that work is focused on physics, flight-modeling, research (technical and historical), and 3D assets. But even somewhat straightforward tasks like building models requires research and finding the right artist to make what you need. And until you establish some standards it’s a little bit like stumbling around in the dark. When it comes to art and 3D assets we are starting to find our groove and you can see that in the pics I’ve chosen below. We hope you like them and it’s an example of where we are headed stylistically.

Read the rest of Developer Diary-03 at the Combat-Pilot forums.

DD 04:
(Posted November 30, 2023)

Dear Pilots,

The holiday season is now in full swing and we want to wish everyone in the Combat Pilot community a Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas! We hope that 2023 ends on a peaceful and prosperous note for everyone and 2024 brings great things to you and yours.

Progress on our initial prototype inches forward week by week and as usual we’d like to share some more images and news with you. Since our last DD we’ve seen progress on buildings for Midway, our aircraft carriers, and our airplanes. Let’s see what this week has in store.

Midway Atoll Infrastructure

Midway is often referred to as an island, but it’s really an atoll, consisting of two main islands (Sand and Eastern) and a coral reef system with a lagoon in the center. Several Pacific battles took place on atolls during the war which makes for some unique and exotic scenery, but a horrendous amount of blood was shed for their control. Battles on atolls such as Wake, Makin, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, and Tarawa come to mind. Midway was spared an amphibious assault due to the US naval victory out at sea, but it was attacked by air and took some serious damage.

One of our goals is to make a faithful recreation of the infrastructure and defenses found on Midway during the battle. In our opinion, other games and simulators haven’t portrayed Midway very accurately over the years so we hope to change that and set a new standard. Midway went through several stages of growth, abandonment, and decay before, during and after WWII, so depicting her as it looked in June 1942 is a challenge. Detailed maps and quality images are surprisingly rare. We’ve been able to dig up some good references though with help from the community. Which we greatly appreciate.

Midway was not only a naval base and military airfield, but it was also a civilian seaplane base for Pan-Am’s clipper service to the Far East. Additionally, Midway was an outpost servicing underwater telegraph cables. Therefore, not all infrastructure on Midway was military in nature. Here are a few images of buildings that Carl has created for Midway so far. They will be textured soon and really come to life.

Read the rest of Developer Diary-04 at the Combat-Pilot forums.

DD 05:
(Posted December 27, 2023)

Dear Pilots,

Welcome to the last Developer Diary of our inaugural year. What a first year it has been! We’ve managed to form a team, set initial goals, build assets, establish a community, setup lines of communication, get a plane flying in the engine and lay the technical ground work for our playable prototype. We have a long road ahead, but we’re on the road or perhaps I should say that we’re taxing towards takeoff? That’s probably a better analogy.

This developer diary highlights more progress with building important assets that we’ll need and it marks a turning point in our internal and external operations that we’ll speak more about after the turn of the new year. We’re planning some new initiatives that we think you’ll be interested in along with pursuing additional development partnerships that can aid us in our journey. So stay tuned.

Now on to the fun stuff!

Read the rest of Developer Diary-05 at the Combat-Pilot forums.

As this has nothing to do with the GB series, all posts about Combat Pilot needs it's own thread... Jason left GB months ago.

This is a "Combat Pilot" thread

When I made that post there wasn't a dedicated Combat Pilot thread... now there is and this thread was moved into it.