Alpha Sea Venom Out Now!!
Moderators: Guru's, The Ministry
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Trev Clark
- The Ministry
- Posts: 2822
- Joined: 26 Jun 2004, 08:54
- Location: Runway 26 at RAF Tangmere....most Mondays!
Alpha Sea Venom Out Now!!
ATB Trev
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Trev Clark
- The Ministry
- Posts: 2822
- Joined: 26 Jun 2004, 08:54
- Location: Runway 26 at RAF Tangmere....most Mondays!
Temptation got the better of me Dave :redface: , downloading as I type!
The fact that the developer (who thought I was a 'nitpicker') has heeded my comments and given the crew non-US style flying helmets, as I asked for, has swayed me! Perhaps that will continue, as the Canberra and Vampire do look odd without properly attired crew. I changed the Vampire crew myself, but as yet cannot modify the Canberra crew
The fact that the developer (who thought I was a 'nitpicker') has heeded my comments and given the crew non-US style flying helmets, as I asked for, has swayed me! Perhaps that will continue, as the Canberra and Vampire do look odd without properly attired crew. I changed the Vampire crew myself, but as yet cannot modify the Canberra crew
ATB Trev
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Quixoticish
- Concorde
- Posts: 1124
- Joined: 15 Oct 2005, 15:16
- Location: York
I can't comment on the actual shape of the model compared to the real life thing as I don't have a very extensive knowledge of the Vampire/Venom family, however the model feels worth the money a little bit more than the Vampire. Sadly actually now that this is out I doubt I'll fly the Vampire, it almost seems as if it's made it obsolete. The sound set is the same which isn't so great, (sounds a bit too much like a kettle on the stove rather than a jet engine), but I can swap that out for something with a little bit more "rip and tear" in it so that's not a big issue. There are a few nice touches I notice straight away. The 2d panel is of a good high quality and the VC refresh rate on the gauges is miles better than the Vampire, it's almost perfectly smooth. Incidentally Eric Marciano's new "Radar 2.0" gauge maps perfectly onto the round radar (I assume they are radar) holes on the observers side. I've actually just fired off an e-mail to Eric and received a very nice reply and he's going to explain how to get a "square" radar gauge to fit into the round hole without clipping all over the rest of the 2d panel bitmap as well. Another nice touch is the ability to fold down the sighting glass in the VC if required, just a shame this couldn't be carried across to the 2d panel for some continuity.
I normally hate vapour effects apart from wingtip vapour however this has a fantastic effect coming off the forward fuselage when you pile on the G's, you'll have to see it to understand why I like it so much. It's well placed but is fantastically smooth and doesn't suddenly spring into existence.
The flight dynamics are very different to the Vampire, this feels much less nippy but far more stable. You can pull right back on the stick with little indication of a stall. Elevator response seems appropriate, i.e you can't flip it into a 9G plus turn at 300 knots like some aircraft. I know nothing about the real aircraft handling wise but I'm sure a bit of research will pull something up, and for an obsessive tinkerer like myself this feels much better as a "baseline" for me to tweak to my own satisfaction. I hated the Vampire flight dynamics, but these are a fairly decent set. (That's to my untrained sensibilities, I have no real world flying experience so take that with a pinch of salt).
Exterior textures are of a higher quality than the Vampire, and unlike the Vampire the colour swatches they used seem to be correct (I hated the shade of blue on the Admirals Barge, it was completely wrong in the previous package). Some good panel line detailing, dirt where there should be, nice shine, all in all it's quite good.
All weights and fuel tanks are laid out in the aircraft.cfg so you can remove them as you see fit for flight, rather than having to add them to the aircraft.cfg yourself as with the Vampire.
All in all it's a real cut above it's older brother and I'm suitably impressed. It just feels a much more solid, worthwhile package. Until now my only use for the Vampire was to whizz around in FSX due to a lack of models, now I'm sure it'll probably be retired (or more likely I'll try and upgrade it with modified gauges, effects and FDE from the Sea Venom) as I feel I've spent my £15 on something I'll actually fly from time to time rather than something that will gather dust or only be flown through a lack of options.
I always feel like I'm taking a gamble when I buy an Alphasim release. With other payware you pretty much know what you are getting based on the developer before you buy but with Alphasim it's a lottery, a few bad aircraft and general inconsistency have put me off in the past so I'm always a bit nervous until I've flown my new purchase a bit
This one is a keeper in my opinion though.
I normally hate vapour effects apart from wingtip vapour however this has a fantastic effect coming off the forward fuselage when you pile on the G's, you'll have to see it to understand why I like it so much. It's well placed but is fantastically smooth and doesn't suddenly spring into existence.
The flight dynamics are very different to the Vampire, this feels much less nippy but far more stable. You can pull right back on the stick with little indication of a stall. Elevator response seems appropriate, i.e you can't flip it into a 9G plus turn at 300 knots like some aircraft. I know nothing about the real aircraft handling wise but I'm sure a bit of research will pull something up, and for an obsessive tinkerer like myself this feels much better as a "baseline" for me to tweak to my own satisfaction. I hated the Vampire flight dynamics, but these are a fairly decent set. (That's to my untrained sensibilities, I have no real world flying experience so take that with a pinch of salt).
Exterior textures are of a higher quality than the Vampire, and unlike the Vampire the colour swatches they used seem to be correct (I hated the shade of blue on the Admirals Barge, it was completely wrong in the previous package). Some good panel line detailing, dirt where there should be, nice shine, all in all it's quite good.
All weights and fuel tanks are laid out in the aircraft.cfg so you can remove them as you see fit for flight, rather than having to add them to the aircraft.cfg yourself as with the Vampire.
All in all it's a real cut above it's older brother and I'm suitably impressed. It just feels a much more solid, worthwhile package. Until now my only use for the Vampire was to whizz around in FSX due to a lack of models, now I'm sure it'll probably be retired (or more likely I'll try and upgrade it with modified gauges, effects and FDE from the Sea Venom) as I feel I've spent my £15 on something I'll actually fly from time to time rather than something that will gather dust or only be flown through a lack of options.
I always feel like I'm taking a gamble when I buy an Alphasim release. With other payware you pretty much know what you are getting based on the developer before you buy but with Alphasim it's a lottery, a few bad aircraft and general inconsistency have put me off in the past so I'm always a bit nervous until I've flown my new purchase a bit
This one is a keeper in my opinion though.-
Quixoticish
- Concorde
- Posts: 1124
- Joined: 15 Oct 2005, 15:16
- Location: York
Elevator trim is a bit too responsive to accurately trim things out, but that can be fixed in a moment or two. I also thing it's a shade too fast, even with external tanks and/or stores it seems to be a little bit on the zippy side (almost 600 knots in level flight with near enough full tanks). Again that can be tweaked. I haven't had a chance to test range yet but fuel burn seems suitably fast at max throttle so I imagine it will be fairly on the numbers. Eyepoint is a little low in the VC for my liking, just needs moving up a few inches. Again, I've no idea if it's realistic but it's what suits me best. I don't think it bleeds enough airpseed in a high G turn either. But all of these things are easily tweakable.
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Quixoticish
- Concorde
- Posts: 1124
- Joined: 15 Oct 2005, 15:16
- Location: York
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DaveB
- The Ministry
- Posts: 30457
- Joined: 17 Jun 2004, 20:46
- Location: Pelsall, West Mids, UK
- Contact:
Excellent report Chris and totally (IMHO) unbiased which is what we like to see 
Having experienced the Vampire.. I agree with all your comments (especially the vile blue of the Admirals barge)
Ben was able to outrun me in a C1K (most embarrassing!) but he was able to keep me visual due to the smoke I kicked out 
The view out of these things is plain horrid in real life mate so I hope this isn't too well replicated in the model!! :roll: I think I feel a buying opportunity coming on
ATB
DaveB :tab:
Having experienced the Vampire.. I agree with all your comments (especially the vile blue of the Admirals barge)
Ben was able to outrun me in a C1K (most embarrassing!) but he was able to keep me visual due to the smoke I kicked out The view out of these things is plain horrid in real life mate so I hope this isn't too well replicated in the model!! :roll: I think I feel a buying opportunity coming on
ATB
DaveB :tab:
Old sailors never die.. they just smell that way!
that's really tempting. From the screenshots it looks like the same 3rd party developer as the Cutlass - a plane I flew for so many hours and really got my money out of.
The venom is a great looker, especially in paint.
Just a question to owners of the new Sea Venom, in the panel foler is the VC panel bitmap also present next to the 2D bitmap? I love it when they're like that as they're super easy to modify. Second question in the panel.cfg how many Vcockpit sections are there? If just one it means maximum gauge refresh rate which is always tempting and just yearns for modification!
The venom is a great looker, especially in paint.
Just a question to owners of the new Sea Venom, in the panel foler is the VC panel bitmap also present next to the 2D bitmap? I love it when they're like that as they're super easy to modify. Second question in the panel.cfg how many Vcockpit sections are there? If just one it means maximum gauge refresh rate which is always tempting and just yearns for modification!