A Flight Sim developer's perspective [X-Crafts]

Developer working on some code. [Courtesy pixabay.com]

Now, if you're an avid simmer like me, you've probably wondered at one point who creates the aircraft you fly, how they are accurately modelled to match the real world aircraft and the teams working behind the scenes, putting in tremendous amounts of time and effort to ensure that you have an excellent final product you can buy and use in your sim.

I was able to get in touch with Marko, the brains behind X-crafts which specializes in creating addon aircraft, specifically the Embraer's for X-plane and MSFS (Microsoft Flight Simulator) and he was gracious enough to allow me to share this brief interview he had with Dominic regarding his X-crafts project.

Various Embraer aircraft developed by X-Crafts

The entire interview is courtesy of Marko and Dominic, and you can check out and support his work here at HOME | X-Crafts

Enjoy!

Marko, could I begin by asking you about how you got into flight simulation and the story behind X-Crafts beginnings?

Hi Dom, thanks for having me!

First off, let me introduce myself to readers who are unfamiliar with both myself and X-Crafts. I’m Marko Mamula and I'm the founder of X-Crafts. I’m half Czech, half Serbian, and born in Italy. However, I am currently based in London, UK.

Since my family lives all over Europe, I spent a lot of time on airplanes ever since I was a little kid, and I was always fascinated by them. When I was a teenager, I got an iPod Touch and I downloaded this cool-looking app called X-Plane. Soon after that, I got myself the desktop version (X-Plane 9) and I became immersed in the flight sim world. It didn’t take long before I started making custom liveries and I was shocked that people downloaded and used them. I loved that I could contribute to the community.

After some time, I became curious about making an entire airplane, not only liveries, so I started learning about Plane Maker, 3D modeling, and all the other tools needed to create an aircraft. Back then the resources were really scarce, but thanks to Dan Klaue’s tutorials and a lot of questions on the forums, I was slowly becoming obsessed with making airplanes for X-Plane. At this point, I was still about 18 years old, and I had no idea that my obsession and hobby would turn into a career. Now at 28, I couldn’t be happier to do this for a living.

What made you decide to concentrate on regional jets?

I guess it was the fact that I mostly flew on regional jets in real life during those family visits. The funny thing is that Embraers were not that common in Europe back then, and I only flew on an Embraer for the first time about 3 years after I started selling the E195 v1.0!

After spending hundreds of hours modelling and researching something, seeing it then for the first time in real life was a surreal experience. I remember approaching the door and hugging the fuselage, which must have been a hilarious sight for the passengers boarding behind me!

Embraer E-175 at parked at a gate

Marko, do you have real-world pilots flight test your products prior to release?

Yes, we have many and they have really pushed us to create something a lot better than we initially planned, which I am really grateful for!

What was the most enjoyable model you have worked on?

We’ve only ever worked on Embraers, so there hasn’t been that much variety. First on the E-Jets, then the ERJs and now back to the E-Jets and I always loved every second of working on any of them. Although I have to say that I have now modelled the E-Jets three times over, and I really do not want to model them again. That is why I really wanted to make sure this time the models are as accurate as they possibly can be. You can see the difference between the old and new modelling here.

Very accurate and high-quality modelling of the interior and exterior parts of the aircraft

Do you have any plans for an additional aircraft line, such as the Phenom or Praetor light business jets?

Not at the moment. I can share that the next big thing after the E-Jets Family release will be ERJ Family 2.0, where we will add all the new and fancy features from the E-Jets Family also to the ERJs, and make sure that we can update the systems and flight model to our new standard of the E-Jets and X-Plane 12. But there is no timeframe for that yet.

How many people make up the X-Crafts team and what are their roles?

There are five developers that have been working on the E-Jets family, and I am really lucky to be surrounded by such talented people!

Steve Wilson is the Software developer who has been with X-Crafts ever since 2015. He is responsible for the FMS, systems and Autopilot customization, updater automation and DRM management. And if you ever happen to need any technical support with any of our products, Steve will most likely be the one who will take great care of any issue you might have!

All the sounds for all our products have been created by Todd Fleck. For the E-Jets Family, Todd has rebuilt his original E-Jets FMOD from the ground up to get a truly immersive audio experience for the new E-Jets Family. Our real-world pilots have really praised his work so far, which is great because this is really something only real pilots can judge.

Then we have the talented Amy Parent, who joined us for the E-Jets project. She is responsible for the new Nav Map, EFB and Settings menu.

Cameron Garner, a well-known X-Plane veteran, and a moderator at X-Plane.org, is responsible for the flight models. He has really tried to match the real performance and flight characteristics of the E-Jets as closely as possible. These have all been tested and approved by our team of real-world pilots!

Then there is a large number (over 20) of real world pilots who help up get things right and who provide direct feedback to us.

We are also collaborating with a couple of very talented livery painters that are creating over forty liveries that will be ready on release. Let’s not forget all our beta testers who tirelessly test our products and who make us aware of any shortcomings.

And finally, I am responsible for all the 3D work - interior and exterior modelling, texturing, animations, lighting etc. I also created all the avionics and manipulators, plus being the project manager at X-Crafts.

Very accurate and high-quality livery matching real world aircraft

Marko, one of the things I have always loved about X-Plane is its wonderful community. What do you think makes it so special?

I feel that on other platforms or even in gaming in general, people feel disconnected from the developers and they either like a product or hate it and thrash it, but they don't think at all about why things are a certain way and that by giving feedback, they can get a better product. This kind of approach doesn't help anyone.

From my point of view, I'd say that the majority of people who talk to us are supportive, respectful, and understanding. In turn, we are trying to be as transparent about our development as possible, and I think that it is this mutual understanding between the customers and developers that holds this community together. We are really grateful to the users for their candid feedback, and for being patient when waiting for updates. We are always doing our best to improve our products and our services, and being supported by such a strong community, motivates us even more.

Lastly Marko, what would you like people to know most about you and the team at X-Crafts?

In short, I don’t want us to be the “fast-food chain” and create as many products as possible and neglect their quality. Instead, I would really like X-Crafts to evolve into the “fine-dining restaurant” that only has a few items on the menu, and in turn, we will be able to dedicate all our love and energy to giving our customers an amazing experience.

We want to be approachable, just like the chef who goes out of the kitchen to greet the customers and chat with them. We want the customers to know us personally and know that they can always talk to us, suggest improvements or ask for help.

Many thanks to Marko and Dominic for this interview.

Remember to check out the X-Crafts page for more info: HOME | X-Crafts