The Devil is in the details

#devblog

Sharing, ranting, showing-off :)

Mar 7, 2022

In the past months, even I wasn’t sharing much - loads of things have happened.

Electric system

Been working on this for a while and am still not 100% complete. The systems in the Turbolet are pretty simple - but the interconnections and the circuit breakers make it quite complex. But I’m on the right track with that.

I realised I needed to take a break. I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself with this task and started to be a “job” instead of having fun developing.

Sounds

Sounds are quite important. With great sound, you can just be there. Your senses tell you, you’re in the cockpit, sitting on an old seat, hearing the cracking and squeaking… :) In the past weeks, we just finished with the sounds. Engine and other cockpit sounds are event-driven in FMOD - so I can control them from code - what/when happens, at a specific location. It really elevates the immersion. There are still things to fine-tune, but that’s something I rather come back when most of the other things are done.

The Devil is in the details

I love how the cockpit looks and feels now: used, old, dirty - therefore a nice place to just sit and look around, especially in VR :) But something was still missing, it still felt sterile. So I started working on adding more details. Details that you don’t notice at first or even second sight.

Basically, I did the same as before: though a lot about how a specific part of the cockpit would be used, where the wearing should be, where is more dust and dirt and where are the parts that are quite clean - cause of the frequent usage.

I wanted to start with a “small and simple” part, so I chose the clock, magnetic compass and thermometer. It was a good candidate as it has a switch, the clock as an “instrument”-like thing, the not so old magnetic compass, some parts which were used quite often - so every type of material that I’d need for an upgrade for other parts in the cockpit.

Here’s the final result. I still see how and where I could improve, but there’s a point I have to stop. That point is here and now. Otherwise, I never get to release :)