At a time when 3D games are taking flight with the advent of 3dfx and directDraw , flight sims are taking on a whole new look and feel with the help of product addons. Not since StratFalcon have I seen products that add so much more value to the boxed version of military flight sims.

The products are showcased on GTT's web site at: [url]http://www.gttweb.com.[/url] At this point in time they break down into two categories: camouflage or skin changing utilities, and mission parameter customization. In this article, we meet Eric Joiner, co-founder of Game Tool Technologies. We will also take a sneak peek at what just a few of his programs look like and what the results are.

Janes F15E with Su27 Aggressor cammo skins selected with the F15 camo Commander

CSIM: In your words, who is GTT and where does GTT see itself in the flight sim communtiy and where does it plan to be in the next couple of years?

GTT: GTT consists of myself and Terry Goldman as founding partners some 3 years ago, along with Mark Hermonat who joined us at the partner level last year. We are augmented by a growing number of associate developers who share in our development work across a number of platforms including MacIntosh PC and the internet. We are a company whose business is the development of flight sim addons and contract development where warranted. We work exclusively under NDA agreements with a number of major development houses.

There is a niche that exists for a company such as ours thats really very special. Gamers want EVERYTHING in their sims. Most developers try hard to put those features in. However, the game publisher eventually wishes to covert the product from code to cash...and draws a line in the sand as to when the game must be released...inevitably that leaves features or possible features "on the cutting room floor". Our job is add those features back either in the after market, or as contractors to developers. The short answer is we're a speciality development house. We fit right in the middle between the end user and the developer and hopefully add value to both ends.

CSIM: Can you bring to light from your unique perspective how big GTT sees the market place is for flight simmer, and of that what percentage is actively engaged in internet multiplayer gamming? ( I guess that begs the question, is flight sims the most marketable?)

Online gaming is increasingly interesting as its now a pretty much "required" feature for a sim...especially a combat sim. I think this segment will grow and grow. The feature that I think has the most potential is in combined arms stuff, dating back to the old electronic battlefield concept. Cooperative play cant be underestimated. If you like Longbow2, try that with a buddy on a FS/BS basis...awesome. Thats the future IMHO.

GSC's Hornet Korea with Blue Angels scheme selected with the FA-18 Camo Commander

CSIM: Changing the focus onto your product offerings. I see basically two genres: aircraft skin facelift software (aka Camo Commanders) and mission editors (aka Dynamic Mission Designers). Would you care to discuss why GTT chose these areas to focus on and what other projects are in the oven? Will GTT expand into other sims genres or game aspects?

GTT: I feel pretty certain you'll see us in other sim markets in coming months. Land and civilian sims very probably. We add value where we find the need, which in the case of Hornet, was in adding to the vast fleet of actual hornet squadrons that exist as well as the international air forces. the Internet is an international community. If you're Swiss, its certainly more fun to fly a Swiss Air Force F-18 than an American one!

People enjoy having control over their environment in a game. Our tools allow players to customize their missions and their aircraft. that personalizes the experience and extends the playable life of games, which is why developers tend to embrace our stuff. Its the cutting room stuff added back to the reel. Heck a lot of what we do comes directly from the good ideas of the community though.

GTT's Air Combat Designer for FA18 Korea

GTT: The previous question leads me to this next question, that being, where does the line exist between copyright infringement and legitimate addons? I guess the reason I ask is that everyone seems to have his/her own definition of what is shareware, freeware, addons, patches, and freedom of information via internet. Briefly of course.

GTT: This is really very simple. We ask permission and we work under NDA's. Developers know us. We go to E3, we make appointments and we develop relationships. Really its just business 101. We ask permission. Most developers will be delighted to help if they know what your doing and it helps sell their game.

CSIM: Ive had good experiences with the Hornet Cammo Commander and the free skins. This kind of customization is ideal for online squadrons or even the lone wolves. Would you briefly explain how this technology is accomplished?

GTT: For Hornet Korea, we've done custom camo skins for a number of online squadrons. How the actual editing is done is based on use of the 3dfx SDK and then some memory management algorithims that make sure that the texture memory used by the new skins matches that of the originals. For hornet, thats a technical exercise. For F-15, which uses different methods, its much easier. There are many very cool freeware versions on line now at various places. Thats just editing the proper PCX file in your favorite paint program. (Still harder than it sounds...you have to have a healthy artistic talent.)

CSIM: The one drawback I see to the custom Cammo schemes, is that with Hornet and F15 if you change your plane's skins, you've done it for all the similar aircraft. This one feature keeps this evolution in flight sim technology from exploding, IMHO. It kills the idea of squadron's seeing each other's cammos while in cooperative or not so cooperative engagements. Being the leader in the cammo business, do you think flight sim developers have the ability to make planes uniquely addressable? It may mean more data structure and size, but I would gladly trade that for this benefit. What are your views, and probably the developer's views on this?

GTT: Well, first we agree with you that it would be AWESOME to have your own PERSONAL camo skin for your aircraft only. Unfortunately its important to remember that the use of texture memory comes into play here. In the Case of hornet, GSC envisioned GRAY airplanes...so thats what you have...everywhere. They saved on texture memory and used it elsewhere. I think this is more a limit of Voodoo 1 than anything else. As we get to larger and larger ram availability for 3D effects, this feature will certainly appear. I wouldnt be surprised to see this in one form or another, in the next 12 months.

CSIM: Jane's F15E lacks in having cooperative multiplayer internet support. Currently you can only fly free for all in multiplayer. Some have tried various incantations of editing the dogfight.mmp file with various success enabling cooperative engagements with AI fighters. This is another area I'd be interested in an addon. Is this a possibility for GTT?

GTT: We're working on some things for F-15 now. Thats an area we are definitely looking at (you are INTO MP arent you!? .. :) Matter of fact, I'll give you a little freeware app called LOADMASTER we just did that allows modification of the multiplayer host loadouts. We did this in very short order for convenience based on the needs of the MP F-15 community. Feel free to distribute free with this article if you like! (Click HERE to download.)

CSIM: GTT's site also has a mention of a LongBow2 utilities. What is in the works there, and what are the other flight simulations being considered in the near future?

GTT: We're working on a couple of things. Both very complex mission builder utilities. One should be done in early fall, with the second one, which will be hugely powerful, being done later. Jane's have been highly cooperative in this effort. Andy Hollis and his team are really super folks who appreciate the niche we fill.

CSIM: Thank you Eric, and by the way, whats your flight sim call sign?

GTT: Cougar.

As you can see, GTT has a wealth of quality programs that enhance the exterior aircraft looks and enable you to customize aspects for both solo and multiplayer missions. To write this article, I carefully went through each program. Of all the features available, there was only one minor problem, I couldn't become a Flanker in multiplayer even though the ADF DMD program selections allowed that as a choice. That's an excellent quality ratio in my book. But be fore warned, read the README.TXT files before and after installation. They will help you as they did me to have flawless installs.

To finish up, it is my hope that game developers will allow for individual camos so that competing virtual squadrons can see each others colors, instead of the present situation where everyone has the same skins. Perhaps emails from the user community can help sway the developers to incorporate this added functionality.

Till next time, Check Six.

AV8R