News Archive's

Release of Version 2.5

General

  • Major graphic engine upgrade from VirtualGeo 7 to VirtualGeo 9, allowing better performances, stability and opening the way for further new graphical features.

    The new environment service may give different altitudes than before, given the fact that it now exploits more accurately and faithfully the elevation from the terrain data.

  • The default Raster layer now comes with an additional and more detailed satellite map covering France and parts of Europe.
  • Tactical data can now be added, edited and remove in Player mode, including during the Play.

    Note: changes made in Player mode cannot be saved or brought in Designer mode. Tactical data created in Designer mode cannot be deleted in Player mode.

  • Airplanes can be given pre-determined Air-to-air combat behaviors via manual orders in Player mode, or via Visual programming behaviors:
    • HEAD / HOT
    • FLANCK / CRANK
    • DRAG / BUMP
    • BEAM / NOTCH

Tactical view

  • Major improvements to the Range-Bearing tool (Bearing-Range Altitude Aspect):
    • can be drawn between 2 platforms, but now also between 2 fixed geographical positions or between a platform and a geographical position.
    • displays the Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) of a platform to a given destination;
    • can be called with the F7 shortcut (F7 shortcut can be customized in ./Resources/techConf.xml); and Escape to cancel;
    • can be drawn in a series of segments linked together by holding the Ctrl key while drawing;

      The ETA of each segment is cumulated. Right-click to terminate the operation.

    • can be drawn and remove in Player mode as well;
    • each information displayed in the BRAA label can be displayed or hidden individually in the Settings, as well as their physical unit’s display.
  • Adding a “Tooltips” layer in the Layer Manager, allowing to show/hide tooltips attached to platforms.

User Interfaces

  • Adding a button in Player mode to make a platform completely Stealth (undetectable by any sensor).
  • Adding a button allowing to shutdown (or restart) all sensors and IFF interrogator instantly.
  • Adding a window in Player mode to edit a platform cinematic before actually adding it to the scenario. This allows to initialize a new platform during a live scenario with a specific speed, altitude and heading. This window can be disabled in the Settings.
  • The default layout can be restored at any moment with the “Restore default layout” button, even after an un-saved modification. And it doesn’t erase the “Saved” layout anymore.
  • The automatic incrementation in the naming of the platforms created in the scenario can be customized with specific prefix, number of digits and starting index.
  • Improving tabulation (with the Tab key) between properties (ex: between geographical properties).

Platform architect

  • Adding new sensor models: simple active and passive sonar models for the underwater domain.
  • Adding a new “Integrated Air Defense System” model in Architect mode. This model allows to give a platform capability to coordinate firing of several platforms under its control. The model will choose the closest shooter with available ammunitions and manage the ammunitions of all platforms under its control. This will simulate the behavior of an IADS.
  • Allowing to create a L22 unit for TactX2-Main, via a “L22 Terminal” proxy model.
  • Improving several platforms’ default models and values for better realism, clarity and performances.
  • Reordering the properties of Detectors to facilitate their configuration.

Visual Programming

  • Adding a new behavior “Wait on location” for vehicles that are able to travel at zero speed, to move and stop at a given location.
  • Missiles are now allowed to “Follow a platform”.

Interoperability

  • Adding an option to stop emitting the PDU Entity State of a destroyed platform. Instead, with this option, DirectCGF will emit a final PDU Entity State with Appearance = 1.

Bug fixing

  • Correctly hiding labels whe the “Platforms” layer of the Layer Manager is hidden.
  • Removing the obsolete “Navy” behaviors.
  • Fixing a crash occurring when using the “geographical position” of a track’s property generated by a “trigger on detection” and linked to a “create platform” behavior on this position.
  • Fixing the Airport tooltip displaying properties that were not applicable to Static platforms.
  • Sensors embarked on missiles fired by airplanes no longer share their detections with the shooter: they are handled as two different actors, as they should be.