Instant gratification, I suppose. With what Heatblur has shown thus far, I’m not sure why there’s any reason to doubt them, and given typical modern software release dates, I’m also not sure why everyone instantly assumed that winter = December.
The F-14 will come, sooner rather than later and I’m pretty sure within the next 4 months.
Honestly, and I’m not being sarcastic here, waiting for these modules is in many ways more fun than actually playing them. Hell, its one of the reasons I get on here every morning and check for new updates. It feels like forever ago when they were teasing the f18 at E3 or which ever convention it was. Waiting for and watching the update videos for the hornet kept me entertained for many months. Now I don’t even care to fly it that much.
From the standpoint of someone trying to get a free “product” released, no one is harder on crunches/due dates than the team itself. When you miss a target because of some arbitrary reason like a bug that just popped up or the artist’s hard drive bit the dust, it raises a level of frustration that goes beyond what the audience feels like when a date comes and goes. I suspect that Heatblur really wanted to make it this December for early access, but they also don’t want to deliver something that has a critical problem the moment everyone gets their grubby paws on it. It’s pretty damned embarrassing to release something and then find out something big has absolutely ruined how it works, giving you a black eye in more ways than one. Throw money into this issue and now instead of enjoying your short vacation over xmas, you’re at the computer trying to chase down code or correct some art asset. Not fun.
Given what has been said by Heatblur today, I strongly believe that we can now relax a bit and look forward to next month and plan accordingly.
I don’t go on the ED forums very often. I just read back through a few pages of Comments on there regarding the f14.
@nicholas.dackard I really feel for you. You shouldn’t have to put up with that nonsense.
That was borderline painful reading.
Keep up the good work. With the excellent air show videos and 4 ship showcase videos you can see its going to be a quality product.
I can wait. It will be worth every minute waited and every penny spent.
My gods… Sometimes I really hate people…
Uhmmm actually… People in forums.
corected it for you
DCS: F-14 Development Update - Mom’s Spaghetti
https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=3720140#post3720140
In more exciting news; this week we’ll be distributing the first outside PR builds to some of our community’s content creators!
Quick! @BeachAV8R! Initiate operation nepotism!
OMG!
Just look at those bubbles in the helmet tape! 
Now I don’t have to worry about taping my helmet, anymore…
That level of detail is insane!
It’s bordering on OCD. You can see the marks on the his neck where the collar is chafing. DCS: Moisturizer confirmed!
I think I just had an involuntary movement under my belt. Just gorgeous. Begs the question, will the Kitty get me out of face hugging?
With each picture I get more concerned about the performance on PCs that aren’t the most recent generation.
Just imagine a full carrier deck of Tomcats…
*Edit Sorry,Just saw Ghost815 post above
Wow, these shots are simply STUNNING!
@komemiute looks like they are very actively imagining that, and taking special measures to optimize for that scenario.
From the link @Ghost0815 posted above:
Optimization: With the F-14; we’ll be introducing some novel ways to improve DCS performance with many Tomcats on screen.
This should help alleviate some of the performance impact of decks full of Tomcats.(emphasis by @Freak) We’re also introducing new ways to try and reduce performance overhead in a complex dual cockpit through the use of lod proxies.Generally, the F-14 will be heavier in a 1:1 comparison to other aircraft due to its complexity, but it will win in other key areas- which we think will balance the scale.
We will be doing detailed benchmarks on DCS performance with the Tomcat and presenting our results soon.
Wowza! Supa-cool!
Now if only it was a better plane… Like… Uhmmm… 
Ah! Yes! I can see it! 
I am guessing our beloved side-by-side striker will benefit from this technology development at Heatblur too.
Decks full of F-111B…
EDIT: oops I meant Intruders
Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely in the clear
Then some bug appears
Unexpectedly
Just a little code
Small to say the least
Just when it was licked
Thought you had the fix
Software’s not released
