VHI F-16 update in the pipeline

I was flying the Avocet around the Nautilus continent a few weeks ago, thinking about the new plane I’m working on, when it occurred to me that I hadn’t flown the F-16 in awhile. So I landed at the airfield in Dido, got it out, and took it for a flight.

In 2007, the F-16 was a slightly smoother border crosser than it was on that day. Maybe this is because of the exponential growth curve the grid is on, maybe it’s because of the data centers in multiple locations, maybe it’s because the software itself isn’t quite as fast. (A combination of all of these factors, I should think.) After going through a few spazzy sim handoffs, I started to miss having the option of X-Guard. And so I resolved to do two things.

1. The Nav-Tac HUD, being a scripted attachment, is part of the load that has to be moved over the sim border. I decided to overhaul the way the multifunction display works and make a few other tweaks, the upshot of which is that the HUD is now about ten scripts lighter. The work took several days and I’m happy to report that it resulted in a handoff savings of at least a second on a regular basis. The new Nav-Tac HUD is now available from the auto-update system. All you have to do is attach your old one and you’ll be offered the new one.
2. Originally, I was going to finish the new airplane and then backport VVDE 4.5 plus VICE combat extensions to the F-16. I’ve decided to just upgrade the F-16 to version 4.5 and give it VICE combat now, leaving the new airplane for later. At the time of writing, the 4.5 upgrade on my prototype model is complete and I’m retrofitting the old Terra Combat System code to work with VICE. (VICE actually includes TCS support, so F-16 owners will still be able to engage in combat with TCS-equipped vehicles. I’ve heard that older versions of TCS don’t work with newer versions, but hopefully newer versions can just be dropped in to older planes.)

Barring unforseen difficulties, I expect to have an updated F-16 in the autoupdate system within a week or two.