Summer Surprises: iniBuilds Airliner Aircraft Development Update July 2024

[iniBuilds]

Hello all,

Thank you all for your amazing support over the past few weeks, and time to wrap it up with our aircraft development update as of July 2024! 



X-Plane 11/12 - A300-600R(F) & BelugaST

I wanted to firstly kick this off by saying we do genuinely appreciate the support thus far; and apologize for the time taken for the updates.

We wanted to release these this week, but due to the XP12 changes, there is an FMOD memory leak issue that is still pending as part of what we wanted to update. The team need to re-work the way in which things behave in the package and then we need to re-test. I hope in the next couple of weeks these will be released (and then the products will go back on sale). 

I wanted to also mention our view going forward. We are reducing the price of these products to 19.99 GBP once they go back on sale, and will do our best to fix game breaking bugs, but won't be adding new features, or attending to minor grievances that are present in the product.

We had a good conversation with Thomson Meeks at LR a few weeks ago, and at this time whilst there is no plan to develop further products for X-Plane, the door is always open and things were left on a good note. 

We want to thank our X-Plane community who allowed us to grow and develop to who we are today. 

iniBuilds A300-600R Airliner for Microsoft Flight Simulator 

We wanted to thank so many of you who reached out to us commending us on the v1.1.2 update, and how much you enjoy it! Its fantastic to hear all of you with performance improvements, with a more stable product and the large feature improvements. If you missed our post on this, I highly recommend you take a look here.

So what's next?

• We will continue updating and improving the product as feedback is submitted (especially any urgent bugs reported in v1.1.2).
• Aviaworx.com reached out about a remote FMS option that a lot of you requested, and we will be working with them to ensure the product is compatible 
• The iniBuilds A300-600R Airliner will be updated free of charge for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. 
• Work progresses for the Epic Mod expansion pack. However, we do expect the timeline to slide a little and this expansion pack will be present in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Those of you who wish to use Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020; this expansion pack will not be compatible for you to use. 

iniBuilds A350 Airliner for Microsoft Flight Simulator 

We hope you all enjoyed the mini teaser we showcased at the end of the developer stream on Monday! Today is finally the day we can reveal the full teaser showcase, and demonstrate some of the 3D art focused details, along with some answers to the top FAQ on the project. 

As we progress throughout the development cycle, we will provide dedicated updates on each area of the aircraft either via video showcases or a forum update, so be sure to follow us on social media or join our Discord to be aware of the latest updates on this project!

So let's jump right in... 🥳

3D Art Focus: Maintenance 

As we showcased with the Airbus A300-600R airliner, we have fully modelled engine interiors, that will have cowlings that can be opened, for you to do a visual inspection as you manage the maintenance of your aircraft. These will all form part of the maintenance options and other abnormal situations, that will have to be managed via the EFB. (Examples of some of those features: brake wear indicators, fueling panel, openable APU cowling, openable engine cowlings, APU Mechanic, visible tire wear, RAT, reactive windshield rain).



3D Art Focus:  Immersive Details & Dynamic Wear & Tear

We have decided to also take things to the next level when it comes to our approach of the weathering of the aircraft. With an aircraft such as an A350 some folks might want to fly a newer aircraft, compared to those who wish to fly a battered 8 year old long haul A350 😄 As a result, as we did with the A300-600R Airliner with dynamic tire wear ( which will also be featured on the A350), we will be introducing dynamic weathering on the actual aircraft. Essentially the more you fly, the more worn your aircraft will visually look. Here is an example of a segment of the wing that we would consider to be at a  'Mild' weathering level. Its going to be visually stunning when we can showcase this in more detail in a few months, but it will add to the immersion as you take the aircraft on an ultimate long haul journey.... Paint will start to peel away from rivets, painted screws will slowly be replaced by unpainted replacements. Sealant around access panels will become more pronounced as its replaced with each opening. Dynamic oil and dirt streaks will appear around areas where leaks are most prevalent. Dirt and grime on flaps and other control surfaces will appear where rubbing against fixed surfaces occur... 

As you can see above from the 'Mild' weathering level on the wing, an extremely insane level of care, detail and attention has been given to the aircraft, all in our efforts to make this the most immersive, ultimate airliner experience available. These details transcend into other areas of the exterior model that you can see in some of the images below. Even down to the naming of each panel as you can see on the pylon below... 

Moving to the interior, the focus on detail, accuracy and authenticity continues. 



The cockpit is coming to life as the team work hard on the systems (note ECAM systems logic is WIP in the above image), with everything from simple screws to a main texture perfectly curated and applied to the model. The use of PBR and detail materials is present on every single element on this cockpit using newly learned techniques to save a lot of memory (performance) but retaining the level of detail to the maximum level. 



The main focus for the teaser released today is to demonstrate the visually stunning model that we have created, and as mentioned we will cover areas such as systems, EFB, and some brand new features not seen before in an iniBuilds aircraft, over the next few months.

Realism & Data 
Before we move to the teaser, and the FAQ I wanted to address an area that many of you have asked multiple times.. due to the apparent lack of data on the project, how are we able to promise an authentic, immersive experience.
 

• The A350 is over a decade old now and quite a bit of data can be found for core systems and overall functionality. We had some missing spots when it came to the data we needed to bring the A350 into MSFS so we regularly rent a full motion A350 simulator for multiple hours which allow us to fully capture these details and fill in any missing information. For aerodynamic data we have a base data package and the simulator allowed us to verify this data.
• To further complement this data point, we have a collection of dedicated A350 experts (approximately 12) ranging from engineers, pilots and others that serve as a critical but complementary source of information when there is any confusion from the information we have. 

Rest assured, this product will not only be visually appealing but to the highest level of detail, far exceeding anything else we have produced thus far. 🔥

Frequently Asked Questions on the project thus far 

We have received many questions on the project, and therefore we have decided to create a dedicated FAQ section as of today addressing some areas from variants, to features etc. We highly recommend you monitor this as this will be updated over time. 

You can find this here: https://forum.inibuilds.com/topic/23573-inibuilds-a350-airliner-in-development-faq/

Teaser 
To finally wrap up, the first iniBuilds A350 Airliner Teaser for Microsoft Flight Simulator! We hope you have enjoyed the iniBuilds Summer Surprises 2024, and thank you again for all your support! ❤️

 

[ND50073]

Hello, ini! May I ask if you can take into account the impact of rainwater on the engine?

[Iulian]

Hello ini! I‘d love to know if the “Autobrake Off” sound is gonna be added to the A350 when you’re disarming brakes. Cheers guys 👍

[thommy24dd]

hello and thank you for keeping us updated and for your wonderful work on the planes for XP12 and MSFS.

Is there any comeback planed for the A310-300 for XP12?

[nicolas 101]

whats about xp12 fmcpro intergration ? thx

[kunal]

P3d? 😅