Strapping in 2022

Happy new year, everyone!

Looking Back - A Year of Hardship

2021 Review: Half-a-Star, and I'm being generous. Would not recommend.

Across most industries, it's been a year of constant delays and unforeseen challenges... but I feel sometimes you don't have a choice to keep your chin up and keep going forward. (Insert a nonsensical/inspirational story narrated by Ted Lasso here) 

It's not all doom and gloom, though. I feel 2021 brought us a few good things, like the Hind and the Mosquito modules for DCS. While they largely slipped under the radar, I think they are both great technical accomplishments when it comes to pushing ever further the limits of what is feasible within a flight sim. I've had stupid amounts of fun working on those guides, digging into old scanned pdfs, feeling like a nerdier version of Indiana Jones looking for flight sim treasure. The Hornet, Viper, Mirage and Harrier also got a lot of love this year, which is a breath of fresh air in a world where abandoning projects in a state of limbo has become more common.

Overall, I was surprised to realize that the "Chuck's Guides" library has expanded beyond 10,000 pages. The documents are also becoming more popular every month, as shown when the userbase brought Mudspike to its knees and forced me to step things up to provide a more reliable distribution solution. It's safe to say that none of these improvements would have been possible without your help! I am very thankful for all the support, and I hope I never take it for granted.

Here is a brief list of what I worked on throughout the year:

• UH-1 Huey Guide Rework (Early January 2021)
• Spitfire Guide Rework (Late January 2021)
• P-51D Mustang Guide Rework (February 2021)
• F/A-18C Hornet Guide Updates (March, May, and August 2021) 
• Mirage 2000C Sensors & Weapons Update (May and December 2021)
• MiG-21 Guide Rework (Early June 2021)
• Harrier Guide 2.7 Update (Late June 2021)
• Mi-24P Hind Guide Release (August 2021)
• DH.98 Mosquito Guide Release (Early November 2021)
• F-14B Tomcat Guide LANTIRN Update (Late November 2021)

Looking Forward - A Year of Variables

The DCS 2022 and Beyond video has once again shown us a glimpse of the future. With the upcoming Afghanistan, (alleged) Phantom, and Apache... I think DCS still has tons of new things to offer in the oven. However, with the unpredictable nature of release dates, I haven't made a roadmap set in stone for 2022 yet. We'll have to wait and see, as the saying goes.

Aerges' Mirage F1 is yet another very exciting project I hope to write about in the near future. My inner Frenchie has always wanted a 1960's Mirage III, but the F1 is the next best thing. I have a feeling this jet is going to blow people's minds, especially in the Cold War servers.

The Apache Guide is also going to be a huge undertaking. With all these complex and heavily integrated systems, I'm not going to rush this one just to milk internet popularity points; you guys deserve the good stuff. Oh, and before anyone asks... the Viper Guide will FINALLY receive a big update. I've postponed this task long enough; it's time to jump into the belly of the beast. For the rest... stay tuned! I have a surprise in the bag, but... better not spoil it yet.