Why485
@why485.bsky.social
Former modder turned gamedev. This is not a very serious account. Do not follow me here for gamedev hot takes or progressposting.
The Mi-8 in DCS has ruined helicopters for me. I don't know how it can be topped. It's so hard to make a video game helicopter satisfying to fly when the Mi-8 exists.
February 2, 2026 at 10:54 PM
The Mi-8 in DCS has ruined helicopters for me. I don't know how it can be topped. It's so hard to make a video game helicopter satisfying to fly when the Mi-8 exists.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Bless whoever is maintaining the old Battlefield 1942 modding SDK website. Battlefield modding was so well documented and it's a wonderful miracle that this information is still available.
E.g. the Engine Type page:
bfmods.com/mdt/scriptin...
E.g. the Engine Type page:
bfmods.com/mdt/scriptin...
January 31, 2026 at 6:09 PM
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Bless whoever is maintaining the old Battlefield 1942 modding SDK website. Battlefield modding was so well documented and it's a wonderful miracle that this information is still available.
E.g. the Engine Type page:
bfmods.com/mdt/scriptin...
E.g. the Engine Type page:
bfmods.com/mdt/scriptin...
There's a good chance I think, that there is a power curve baked into all the engines in BF1942, and that's where the apparent dip in engine thrust is coming from when the helicopters hit the top of their engine RPMs and are flying at full speed.
January 31, 2026 at 6:05 PM
There's a good chance I think, that there is a power curve baked into all the engines in BF1942, and that's where the apparent dip in engine thrust is coming from when the helicopters hit the top of their engine RPMs and are flying at full speed.
DICE was big into car stuff, their game previous to BF1942 was a rally game, and they made a few car games before and after BF1942. Their config files for how the BF1942 cars are defined are all more detailed than you'd think with things like differentials, gears, and all that.
January 31, 2026 at 6:05 PM
DICE was big into car stuff, their game previous to BF1942 was a rally game, and they made a few car games before and after BF1942. Their config files for how the BF1942 cars are defined are all more detailed than you'd think with things like differentials, gears, and all that.
I think I know what's giving the DC helicopters their comfortable slight nose down flight profile and top speed. The engine seems to generate more thrust at liftoff than at speed, and at speed, it's delivering maybe like 70% of the engine power. You know what that sounds like? One of these:
January 31, 2026 at 6:05 PM
I think I know what's giving the DC helicopters their comfortable slight nose down flight profile and top speed. The engine seems to generate more thrust at liftoff than at speed, and at speed, it's delivering maybe like 70% of the engine power. You know what that sounds like? One of these:
I enabled the "debug rotors" so you can see what the real physics rotors are doing on the helicopter and how they work and deflect to turn.
January 30, 2026 at 11:23 PM
I enabled the "debug rotors" so you can see what the real physics rotors are doing on the helicopter and how they work and deflect to turn.
So, here's how the Apache in DC works: There are three propellers, all of them are above the center of mass. One forward, one aft. These rotate based on pitch/yaw/roll input. On yaw input, the fore and aft tilt in opposite directions. A wing at the rear stabilizes it in forward flight.
January 30, 2026 at 6:23 AM
So, here's how the Apache in DC works: There are three propellers, all of them are above the center of mass. One forward, one aft. These rotate based on pitch/yaw/roll input. On yaw input, the fore and aft tilt in opposite directions. A wing at the rear stabilizes it in forward flight.
So I remember that everybody saying that the Desert Combat helicopters from Battlefield 1942 were very unique and the best ever. I don't remember much about them, but I do remember back in the day digging through their code and being very confused by how weird their setup is.
January 30, 2026 at 6:23 AM
So I remember that everybody saying that the Desert Combat helicopters from Battlefield 1942 were very unique and the best ever. I don't remember much about them, but I do remember back in the day digging through their code and being very confused by how weird their setup is.
Talking about this with some other people, and a very interesting point was brought up: Demos might be better for discovery than selling you the game. Even if it's a game that I probably would buy, but never hear about it, then there's no way I could ever buy it!
January 28, 2026 at 3:50 AM
Talking about this with some other people, and a very interesting point was brought up: Demos might be better for discovery than selling you the game. Even if it's a game that I probably would buy, but never hear about it, then there's no way I could ever buy it!
We'll be getting an answer once and for all by July.
January 28, 2026 at 3:04 AM
We'll be getting an answer once and for all by July.
Yeah this much more accurately captures what I was trying to say. From left to right in order of increasingly positive outcome for the game and its demo.
January 27, 2026 at 3:54 AM
Yeah this much more accurately captures what I was trying to say. From left to right in order of increasingly positive outcome for the game and its demo.
Roadcraft's demo has me thinking again about the efficacy of demos. There's been several instances I can think of off the top of my head of games that I bought because I played the demo. So maybe demos are good actually? With my trusty spreadsheet, I do have the data to find out!
January 27, 2026 at 2:17 AM
Roadcraft's demo has me thinking again about the efficacy of demos. There's been several instances I can think of off the top of my head of games that I bought because I played the demo. So maybe demos are good actually? With my trusty spreadsheet, I do have the data to find out!
Tried Overload First Strike, basically a Descent 1 mod for Overload. I played the first 8 levels, but I'm very curious about the later ones. The layouts are mostly unchanged, but the visuals dramatically different, so I sometimes get lost. Not used to graphical fidelity like this for Descent levels.
January 25, 2026 at 5:45 AM
Tried Overload First Strike, basically a Descent 1 mod for Overload. I played the first 8 levels, but I'm very curious about the later ones. The layouts are mostly unchanged, but the visuals dramatically different, so I sometimes get lost. Not used to graphical fidelity like this for Descent levels.
She is retired 😔
x.com/nemupanart/s...
x.com/nemupanart/s...
January 24, 2026 at 7:06 AM
She is retired 😔
x.com/nemupanart/s...
x.com/nemupanart/s...
Thought I would check up on the 64GB of DDR5 I bought last year.
January 22, 2026 at 2:29 AM
Thought I would check up on the 64GB of DDR5 I bought last year.
For reference, this was the case I bought for my personal PC. It's okay. I bought it mostly because I had very specific 3.5"/2.5" HDD/SSD requirements and this met them while being cheap. Unfortunately it's not as elegant as I hoped, because they use magic wireless hard drives in the manual 😂
January 20, 2026 at 10:39 PM
For reference, this was the case I bought for my personal PC. It's okay. I bought it mostly because I had very specific 3.5"/2.5" HDD/SSD requirements and this met them while being cheap. Unfortunately it's not as elegant as I hoped, because they use magic wireless hard drives in the manual 😂
I went with a budget Fractal case for mine, but honestly I do regret not getting the North. Looks amazing in person. I recently built a mini-PC half out of mostly spare parts with the Fractal Terra and what a joy it was to build. A nice case was a much bigger difference than I thought it would be.
January 20, 2026 at 10:39 PM
I went with a budget Fractal case for mine, but honestly I do regret not getting the North. Looks amazing in person. I recently built a mini-PC half out of mostly spare parts with the Fractal Terra and what a joy it was to build. A nice case was a much bigger difference than I thought it would be.
Working on SA-2 stuff and came across this photo by Hrair Sarkissian.
January 19, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Working on SA-2 stuff and came across this photo by Hrair Sarkissian.
One of my favorite features of the S060 is the door.
January 18, 2026 at 11:39 PM
One of my favorite features of the S060 is the door.
One of the most vivid memories I have of the PS2, which coincided with early LCD monitors starting to proliferate, is seeing the PS2 demo kiosks and being both marvelled at how smooth they looked, but also turned off by how blurry and smeared all the visuals these games had.
January 18, 2026 at 9:26 PM
One of the most vivid memories I have of the PS2, which coincided with early LCD monitors starting to proliferate, is seeing the PS2 demo kiosks and being both marvelled at how smooth they looked, but also turned off by how blurry and smeared all the visuals these games had.
Looks like Katherine is making her game debut! I recall seeing her name a couple times in old Endless Monday art so I went digging and with hindsight, she actually appeared semi-frequently pre-Dreams and Deadlines. It's all pretty early art, but I love seeing this stuff! More in the alt-text.
January 15, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Looks like Katherine is making her game debut! I recall seeing her name a couple times in old Endless Monday art so I went digging and with hindsight, she actually appeared semi-frequently pre-Dreams and Deadlines. It's all pretty early art, but I love seeing this stuff! More in the alt-text.
Look at how MOTIVATED Penny is!
January 15, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Look at how MOTIVATED Penny is!