Facelift
The upcoming update for the SA-342 Gazelle will introduce new features, fixes, quality of life improvements as well as a facelift to the external models and textures. We’re gradually replacing the original liveries that stem from the release back in 2016 with highly detailed renditions that make full use of physically based rendering techniques (PBR), many of which are included in this update.The SA-342 Gazelle minigun variant not only received an update on the M134 and gunner models, it now features the first iteration of our gunner AI capable of making short work of any soft target it can get within its sights.
Community Contributors
Over the past few months Polychop Simulations has been working closely together with a number of very dedicated and exceptionally skilled community members who have shown an interest in contributing to the module by putting in their time, effort and expertise resulting in what is essentially a graphical overhaul for the SA-342 Gazelle as well as an extensive set of kneeboard pages and documentation on the all new French liveries that can be found in the module’s Doc folder, or more continently, attached to this post.
Input system overhaul
With the upcoming update of the Gazelle we have overhauled the inputs system. This means that it is likely that you will have to rebind all of your controls for the Gazelle module. The inputs for the Gazelle are now split into separate categories for the three positions – Pilot, Copilot and Gunner (the latter for the Minigun variant only). The inputs system works differently depending on whether you are flying with other players in your aircraft (“multicrew”). When in “multicrew” mode, each player will only have access to the inputs according to their position. However, when flying the Gazelle in a singleplayer mission, or flying on a multiplayer server but without other players in the aircraft, the player will have access to multiple input categories depending on the position they are in. In short, this allows a single player Pilot to also use the Copilot inputs, and vice versa. The priority (in the event of two inputs being bound to the same switch) is determined by the currently occupied position. For example, if you have the ‘Fire Laser’ input from the Copilot bound to “Button 1”, and the “Force Trim” from the Pilot inputs also bound to “Button 1”, then pressing “Button 1” will action different behaviours depending on whether you are sitting in the Pilot or Copilot seat. However if you bind them to different buttons, you can use both from either seat. The available inputs are as follows:
- Pilot position – access to Pilot and Copilot inputs (Pilot priority)
- Copilot position – access to Copilot and Pilot inputs (Copilot priority)
- Gunner position – access to Gunner and Pilot inputs (Gunner priority)
Please note that we expect further disruption to the inputs system as we continue to bring improvements and add various missing inputs to the Gazelle. We thank you for your patience and understanding. The future While we have come to a point at which it is now all hands on deck for the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior module’s final stretch, Polychop is determined to keep updating the SA-342 Gazelle module on all levels including but not limited to major features such as an English (Empirial units) cockpit, a George like AI pilot/gunner and the transition to the new rotor blur system seen in more recent rotary wing modules. We’d like to be transparent on the fact that the aforementioned final stretch of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior module development will have a certain impact on the development of new features for the SA-342 Gazelle for the next few updates.
