SL Group for Aviation Roleplayers: SLHPA (helicopter pilots of SL)

SLHPA isn't a new group, I've had it for a year or two now, so following some real life family and family business stuff, I've dramatically increasing my SL presence and I'm able to fly again (Thanks to SLGo by OnLive).

I'll be promoting this and other groups as much as possible. What can I say? I'm an event planner. Plus SL brings out my inner-tomboy-ish heart (it's a good thing I have two sons - who are fully immersed in Minecraft - I'm sure many of you can relate).

From the Group description

SLHPA = Second Life Helicopter Pilots Association
A group for helicopter aficionados, builders, and pilots.

At SLHPA, we LOVE helicopters!

Look for announcements about new releases from our favorite builders, great flying venues, dangerous areas. We'll even announce VICE air combat and adventurous roleplay.

Just search for SLHPA (helicopter pilots of SL)

Roletags

Fire Chopper Pilot
Helicopter Pilot
MedEvac Pilot
SAR Chopper Pilot (SAR = Search and Rescue)
TV NEWS Pilot

Oh! And speaking of TV NEWS.

ATTENTION HELICOPTER BUILDERS! Please create a TV NEWS Helicopter for us pilot/aviation photographers in SL. The Jet Ranger would be perfect for this, just add a TV NEW Texture and mount a camera or two. Thank you!

DOR / RCAF event

WW2 Sanctuary Combat Roleplay Sims in Danger.... Vickster Kuhn Comments

Vickster Kuhn commented on my post WW2 Sanctuary Combat Roleplay Sims in Danger.... PART 2

"Tough times I guess.

Anyone involved with our SL flying group, the RCAF, will know that we've been struggling to keep our own home base in Caledon going.

The Sanctuary sims are quite unique in SL, and they represent the fruition of many residents' work.

It's a showcase for SL aviation and the development of the the VICE combat system, and the playground of the most active and well known flying groups in Second Life.
A favorite of newbies and veterans alike, Sanctuary has been my home and home to several squadrons to which I belong.

I've been working as an admin there in exchange for a base for my own squadron, JG 132, the Richtofen squadron.

Things in SL happen pretty quickly, and just when you think you can count on something as a given you turn your head and it's gone.

Sanctuary will always be one of my most favorite places. I've been flying for most of my SL career, but Sanctuary is where I got to employ all I've learned from some of the best aviators in SL, including Niki Wilder and MeganAnn Mills, Zoe Connolly, Noel Oh, Cody007 Skytower, Bradyn Halcali and Whitewolf Mumfuzz.

It's heartbreaking to see something like this come to an end, and I'll always wonder what I could have done to help make it work.

It's my hope that there will be something in the future to fill the vacuum that will surely be created by the loss of Sanctuary.

There is still time to play there, and if you're into it you won't regret going. Search for Fallout, Bastogne, or Rangoon, which is the Legends of WW2 sim, and the only one of the three likely to be around next month.

Tell 'em Vickster sent you!"

[Aether Inglewood destroys a V2 Rocket. London is safe!]

WW2 Sims in Danger.... - Royal Caledon Air Force (RCAF)

WW2 Sims in Danger.... - Royal Caledon Air Force (RCAF)

Yesterday, I learned from an Admin at WW2 Sanctuary that 2 of the 3 sims (Bastogne and Fallout) are up for sale by Saffron Giano. The Seller and Admins are looking for a Buyer willing to preserve the status quo of the sims.

If you would be interested in such an undertaking, please contact Saffron Giano. The cost is approx. 300 USD per month for each sim.

Sadly, without a buyer, the 2 sims will be gone after June 30th. So if you enjoy those sims, play there while you can.

WW2 Sims in Danger.... - Royal Caledon Air Force (RCAF)

Operation Crossbow

These are just a few ideas I'm mulling over while I work on a WW2 Machinima based in a SecondLife combat sim ;)

Background Links:

Operation Crossbow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Operation Lusty - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Operation Paperclip - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tumansky Heavy Industries Blog: A Report from Sundays AAA Dogfight at Aeronautica

A report from Karl Reisman (thanks for the email Karl)....

Tumansky Heavy Industries Blog: A Report from Sundays AAA Dogfight at Aeronautica

Text and Photos below by Mifune Thibaud:

Wrapup of AAA's first combat event - Success!
Thank you to everyone who came and participated, moderators/instructors and visitors!

[11-30-08]
Our first event was a big success! We had a respectable turnout of pilots, many of whom stayed all the wayfrom 12:00 - 2:30 SLT! (the event was only intended to be 1hr long, but everyone got very involved in the battles)

For this event we organized team based combat, using VICE. We split the pilots up into two teams, [AAA] for the pilots that would fly out from Aeronautica, and [URI] for those that would fly from the Undinian Rebel Island. We had a best 3 out of 5 competition where our pilots engaged in 3vs3 and 4vs4 combat. Scarlet Flak's URI wound up winning the event that day, but the AAA pilots put up a hell of a fight, with the event going all the way to 5 rounds. It was a good day and everyone had a lot fun.

We will be having another event next week, and we will try something new to keep things fresh. If you missed out on the event today, try to make it to the next event and invite some people!

Our events are always free, and they are not just combat related. Come join us
-Mifune Thibaud



Click the link for more photos and text...

Tumansky Heavy Industries Blog: A Report from Sundays AAA Dogfight at Aeronautica

Mifune Thibaud's response to my VICE vs TCS post

The following is a comment from Mifune Thibaud in response to my TCS vs VICE (conclusions from recent engagements) post of October 19th.

I'm happy to present his thoughtful response and wish to make very clear to him and my readers that I am very supportive of VICE as a combat system. I believe it's the best and most dynamic system in Second Life. I will continue to use it personally and with others who also enjoy a more realistic inworld battle experience.

VICE combat will continue to be scheduled for my aviation groups, although less often than our TCS dogfight furballs that most of our more casual pilots are accustomed.

Mifune writes....

"VICE is a more realistic, free combat system that uses real bullets and gives builders many many options in the way they engage in combat (numerous types of units: infantry, air, sea, land, various armors, weapons, and bombs) and the freedom to choose the way their scripted object reacts to damage, being destroyed, etc...multitudes of possibilities in configuring it. It is vastly different from TCS and CCC which are sensor based combat systems, with a single type of damage model, limited to virtually only planes, and have an instant-hit cone/area of 23.5 x 23.5 @ 80m. TCS/CCC are better suited for very casual SL users and for sims that have 'no build'. VICE includes TCS/CCC compatibility for those areas.

The scripter's level of knowledge for thorough implementation and installation only requires that the scripter know how link messages (sending and receiving) work. We even include many working examples of various vehicles and weapons for people to dissect and learn from.

We are constantly updating the system and improving documentation to make it easier and in understandable in layman's terms. We are available and online to give advice and support on how to implement certain functions.

I don't want to sound like an elitist, but people who are selling scripted objects should obligate themselves to understand, to an extent, how the scripts in their very own products work. VICE doesnt use any new technology for configuration and installation, it simply uses link messages.

Zoe, I personally feel that this blog post might be giving the wrong impression to your readers; from the title "VICE vs TCS" and statements and wording such as "frustration", "issues", and "difficulty" it makes it seem like VICE is a flawed system, where it really is not. TCS and CCC have not been updated since late 2006, support and configurability...very limited.

VICE is a combat system that we are developing for free. It expands and pushes SL's technological boundaries, and we are hoping will change people's perceptions of what is possible in SL. It is freeing combat from being exclusive to only planes, only boats, or only infantry, and allowing all of these units to intermingle.

This kind of technology and technological advancement in SL should be promoted, especially by bloggers who are heavily involved in the SL community...builders and scripters should be encouraged to push their own limits and understanding of things in SL. Rather than encouraging them to be content with the status quo, with no explanation of what exactly the issues were, or seeking to clear up any misconceptions and educate people on an issue, open discussion and suggestions should be made and questions asked to see how it can be made to fit for your group.

With that said, I do believe RCAF would be better off staying with TCS, as one of the users mentioned that the majority of RCAF members are very casual users, and making things "easier to hit" is actually a plus, since most of their time is spent doing RP and not combat.

If anyone has questions about VICE, feel free to IM me inworld."

-Mifune Thibaud

TCS vs VICE (conclusions from recent engagements)

I schedule regular weekend air combat for pilots of the Extropia Defense Force and Royal Caledon Air Force. For several months we've tried both TCS and VICE Combat systems in a few sims.

We gave VICE Combat System a shot in our weekend dogfights, but next week (October 25th and 26th) we'll return to TCS as our primary combat system.

Individual pilots can always enjoy a 1-on-1 dogfight using VICE combat system, but our regular weekend air combat furball will use TCS.

A few thoughts....

As stated in the original RCAF mission statement on the CaledonWiki, EDF and RCAF as groups are all about flying and having fun. The EDF sister-group follows the same course as RCAF. Official motto: Altitude with Attitude. Unofficial motto: FSFP (Flying, Shooting, Fencing, Partying).

Recently, I've noticed a decline in participation among my regular pilots after using VICE. I understand their frustrations with VICE and will respond accordingly.

I've heard frustrations from builders on converting their aircraft to VICE. It takes alot of tweaking to make it all work. I greatly admire builders and scripters and respect their expertise and opinions.

As I stated before, individual pilots can always enjoy a 1-on-1 dogfight using VICE combat system if they require a more realistic air combat experience, but our regular weekend EDF/RCAF official air combat furball will use TCS.

Virtual Aviation Week in Review for Sept 14th - 20th

If you have SL aviation links for next weeks Virtual Aviation Week in Review, please let me know via email [zoeconnolly (at) gmail (dot) com.

Now on to the most recent SL Aviation links....

This weekends scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat was on Saturday the 20th of September at 9:00 AM SL time (VICE Cargo Ship vs VICE Aircraft), followed by another dogfight on Sunday the 21st of September at 9 AM SL time (VICE Dogfight Furball). Special Note: We tested VICE all weekend.

New Free VICE Combat aircraft from Cornelius Fanshaw.

SL Aircraft release from Tumansky Heavy Industries.

How to Texture Like a Pro Part II, using the F4U Corsair as an example.

Caine Beresford's Curtiss R3C video....



djelbows's Jet Engine in Secondlife....



My video "Come Fly With Me"....



SL Aviation photograph of the week by Josh Noonan.

Next weekends scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat will be Saturday the 27th of September at 9:00 AM SL time, followed by another dogfight on Sunday the 28th of September at 9 AM SL time. Combat System and Location to be announced later in the week.

Air Combat for Weekend of September 20th and 21st

This weekends scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat will be on Saturday the 20th of September at 9:00 AM SL time, followed by another dogfight on Sunday the 21st of September at 9 AM SL time. Special Note: We're testing VICE all weekend. So Practice Practice Practice! Join the dogfight furball in the Extropia sims of Skies of Tomorrow, Dirac Sea, and Future Current. Meet us at Skies Of Tomorrow...

Free VICE Combat System items available

Our man in the EDF/RCAF labs - Cornelius Fanshaw - has added a new vendor to the Connolly Aerodrome Quonset Hut.

In addition to the free items from VICE's own Creem Pye, you'll find Cornelius' updated vendor that includes 3 free TCS/CCC/VICE capable aircraft as well as a free VICE Target Cargo Ship for your bombing pleasure.

The 3 aircraft are the Sopwith Camel, Fokker DR1, and a whimsical Steam Flyer for steampunk-ish places in SL.

Cornelius is also working on VICE versions of Tiny Airplanes. Watch for those in the near future.

This weekends scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat will be on Saturday the 20th of September at 9:00 AM SL time, followed by another dogfight on Sunday the 21st of September at 9 AM SL time. Special Note: We're testing VICE all weekend. So Practice Practice Practice! Our dogfight location will be announced later in the week....

Virtual Aviation Week in Review Aug 31 - Sept 6

If you have SL aviation links for next weeks Virtual Aviation Week in Review, please let me know via email [zoeconnolly (at) gmail (dot) com.

Now on to the most recent SL Aviation links....

Our most recent scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat was on Saturday the 6th of September at 9:00 AM SL time, followed by another dogfight on Sunday the 7th of September at 9 AM SL time. Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia

Josh Noonan is working on an SL version of Charles Lindbergh's airplane.





A Spur-of-the-Moment VICE Combat Dogfight Contest.

SL Aviation Pioneer Cubey Terra celebrates 5 years in Second Life.

Bancos Milestone will soon release his SL version of the de Havilland Beaver Seaplane. Below is a look at a RL version and a Flight Sim version....





Next weekends scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat on Saturday the 13th of September at 9:00 AM SL time, followed by another dogfight on Sunday the 14th of September at 9 AM SL time. Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia. Watch for notices about VICE only combat in the near future. We'll mix it up by alternately using TCS on some days and VICE on others. VICE = Vehicle and Infantry Combat Environment

BSG47 - VICE Combat Training

SLAMCentralStudios wrote: "BSG47 recently moved on to a physics-based combat system called VICE, which left the majority of pilots completely in the dark as to how to fight.

This video was created from an IN-CHARACTER standpoint to rationalize and explain the changes, and teach old and new pilots alike how to adjust...."



Thanks to Hamlet Au for the tip on this video.