Sim155 Ltd. has announced that Combat Air Patrol 2 (CAP2) will launch today via Steam Early Access at (6pm GMT/12:00 PM Eastern USA). Check out what veteran programmer Ed Scio at Sim155 had to say about today’s release:

Well, this is early access launch day so I thought it’d be good to explain what to expect over the coming days, weeks and months. I have to admit its been a scramble to get ready for the launch though without a deadline I’d probably never get around to releasing CAP2. I’m looking forward to getting feedback, both good and bad. Bear in mind this is an Early Access title. For instance, the main strategic feature of CAP2, the dynamic campaign, is approximately 75% complete. There are lots of minor items on my release list which won’t make the 6pm (UK) release build so expect a stream of updates over the next few days. All elements will likely evolve with your feedback.

After the initial flurry of updates this week, we’ll run a general beta build for those of you who want to try new features/bug fixes as soon as they are available. Based on feedback we’ll then transition them to the main build. There may be several beta builds per week so only subscribe to those if you are OK with that. I’ll be primarily using this blog to keep you up to date with development.

Here are our main areas of upcoming development:

• Dynamic Campaign. We’ll be improving the dynamic campaign by adding more targets, enemy capabilities such as mine laying, offensive capabilities such as integrating Tomahawk strikes into a mission package.
• VR. Its been difficult to hold off starting on this, especially with all the recent buzz around the official launches but we managed to show some restraint. We’ve got the Rift kit, Vive is on the way so we should start on this next week. We’ll create a VR build which anyone can opt into. Initial builds will be a simple implementation followed by UI upgrades.
• Multiplayer. As described in previous posts.
• Rendering. Expect to see graphical improvements such as SSAO, DOF, self shadowing terrain, shadow casting vegetation.
• Carrier. We’ll create a fully populated deck and also have animated lifts, defenses and radars.
• Aircraft. Expect graphical updates to the AV8B cockpit together with increased control functionality.
• In Flight refueling. We have the animated refuel probe in game already, just waiting for drogue logic/physics implemented.
• Scenery. A high priority feature to be added is OSM (Open Street Map) data for accurate road and building generation.
• 3D Models. In addition to generated OSM scenery models we’ll be adding custom models not adequately described in OSM,
• Map Areas. We plan to add Yuma and well known training areas such as the ‘Mach Loop’ and the ‘Jedi Transition’.
• Satellite Imagery. We’ll begin sourcing satellite imagery to apply to the terrain.
• 32/64 bit build. We have both builds running now though as they are functionally identical only the 32bit is published. We’ll make the 64bit build available together with larger terrain cache sizes.

You can follow the development of Combat Air Patrol 2 on Facebook. Find out more about Combat Air Patrol 2 at the games official website.