The original Fighter Duel is a high-performance dogfight simulator where you can fly one of sixteen classic World War II warbirds against up to eight enemy. It is connectable, which is its design goal, to allow you to fly against friends via network or kali.

FDhas been renowned for a very sophisticated flight model which makes flight quite challenging. To date Fighter Duel has used the standard fixed view system familiar to the Warbirds and Air Warrior crowd. Terrain was decent and unobtrusive, and aircraft detailing has been quite high, relative to the high frame rate on a fairly basic system. But times they are a changing! Fighter Duel 2 has been in the works for quite some time. Not long ago we updated our interview with new screen shots, and now we have some updated information as well. To read the original interview go to FD2 Interview with Matt Shaw

Csim: Flight modelling in the original Fighter Duel was very good. I understand that the new models include new physics elements like drag effects, ground effect etc. Tell us about the new modelling.

Jim: We're adding some effects that weren't in our flight model before - such as ground effects, more sophisticated drag effects, turbosupercharger modeling, air temperature modeling, etc. We feel all these effects add a richness to the experience that makes the aircraft feel and behave like a real machine in a particular environment.

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For example, if you enter an uncoordinated turn in FD2, you'll bleed off airspeed faster than if you had made a coordinated turn. We're dynamically calculating the drag of the aircraft based on the yaw to the direction of flight as it turns. Another example is turbosupercharger modeling - we've gone to great lengths it properly compensate for the presense or absense of this device in certain aircraft.

The FD aerodynamic engine, which has been in development since 1989, is a force flight model, so it's natural that we add improvements to keep it cutting edge. We've made it very sophisticated over the years -it's been in 6 previous products so far- and it's one of the things that makes FD so much fun to fly. The physics in it are very rich, and if you take the time to learn the flight characteristics of a particular aircraft and how they interact with the physics modeling, you'll be rewarded with a better kill record.

In one sense, the aerodynamic engine of FD2 *is* the game. It's you mastering the physics. Without a sophisticated flight engine, it doesn't matter how many missions you have or weapon systems you control, you might as well be playing PacMan.

Csim: Obviously models are unique for each aircraft. What sources are you using for the data?

Jim: We have a *very* extensive library of aviation literature, including everything from the pilot's handbooks on certain aircraft to unpublished performance data and videos. In certain instances when we've needed data that we couldn't find in published form, we've gone to Garber, NASM, or Planes of Fame in Chino and actually taken measurements and photographs. For example, the instrument panels in FD2 are based on high resolution photographs we've taken of authentic instrument panels. Csim: FDII is moving beyond the original ballistics model with particle systems modelling and even muzzle velocity differences. Why is this important?

Jim: It's important to model ballistics as accurately as possible because there are many factors that determine the probability of a kill other than simple gun lethality. That's why we model aspects like gun convergence, rate of fire, drag, and muzzle velocity. For instance, in an aircraft with mixed armament of guns and cannon, the different muzzle velocities will cause some of the armament stream to drop farther in a given distance. This is one of the reasons why the U.S. system of 6-.50 caliber was so effective against other fighters- all the guns had the same muzzle velocity and high rate of fire.

Rate of fire is important because even though an individual gun might be putting out 10 rounds a second at 2800 feet/sec., it still means that you have a separation of 280 feet between individual bullets. The higher the rate of fire, the less the separation, and the more effective the weapon against fast-moving targets. We've tried to model these characteristics as much as possible on a home PC that also has to run a lot of other CPU-intensive code.

Csim: What aircraft will we fly?

Matt: There will be more than 25 WWII aircraft to fly including multi-engine, jets and experimental types. Aircraft 3D models are completely new, high-resolution models with hi-res artwork.

In addition to all the aircraft in the original FD, the following are some of the new aircraft that will appear in FD2:

• Me 163 Komet
• Me 262 (jet)
• J7W1 Shinden
• P38 L Lightning
• Tempest V
• P-47 D Thunderbolt
• Brewster Buffalo
• FW190A8
• P51D
• Hawker Hurricane
• Mosquito
• Me109e

Csim: What areas in FD2 will be ground breaking? Some of the new WW2 era simulations are sporting aircraft design options. Was this something you would ever consider for Fighter Duel?

Matt: We have considered offering options to reconfigure the wing shape and whatnot, but that isn't what FD2 is all about. Its about flying and support of actual WWII fighters. One design option we are going to allow is that individuals may customize the art on their aircraft. When I create for instance my own Corsair, it now appears as a F4U4D Corsair - Matt, effectively a new plane. These files may be sent to others in multi-player and the art can be triggered to be put into use if they fly against you.

Csim: What level of detail will we see in the terrain and ground objects?

Matt: We had basically no land in Duel 1. In Duel 2 we have heavy emphasis on land as well as ground attack options. We try to push the level of detail as possible with the current hardware. All of our 3D models are extremely high in the polygon count. So high that others in the industry think I'm lying when I state the poly count. We are able to push a lot of polys in the scene via careful code optimization and intelligent culling of the polys actually visible as well using lots of LOD (level of detail) switching via distance.

Csim: What level of detailing will we see in avionics? For example, will prop pitch be adjustable in the appropriate aircraft?

Matt: Our philosophy has been to make the planes warmed up and ready for action. We have extensive support for force feedback joysticks and throttle/stick systems. I have considered allowing prop pitch control as the equations are in the flight model, but haven't really seen where it would be useful. We do allow complete feathering of an engine that is damaged say in a B-25 or P38 which would be useful.

FD2 is a WIN95/NT Native Application and will support up to 800x600 in 16 bit color under 3dfx...