Here's some preview renders of the M134 turret/door gunner for the Chinook. Hat's off to Manu, the designer, who also went ahead and included an ammo box and shell casings tunnel which I hadn't even thought of ːsteamhappyː

They also produced a rear mount although I don't think the M134 was ever mounted in the rear (happy to be corrected). In HG:DEX an M134 tail gunner will be an option though because "why not!"

Both the M60 and M134 will also be available on the Lynx and Gazelle as door gunners (at the expense of interior cargo) as well as on the Hind temporarily till I get a suitable alternative gun made. ːsteamsunnyː

This will also allow me to build and prototype the turret system without having to produce the Chinook first. I will probably take a look at the door gunners in the next few days to give the game some meaningful content while I continue to work on the new Sector System.

The other thing I will be exploring is how you will control the gunners and my current favourite option is to have the gunners only active when the doors of the helicopter are open. Closing the doors of the helicopter will move the gunners inside preventing them from firing. This has two benefits...

1. You don't need any extra controls
2. Moving the gunners inside the helicopter will protect them from taking damage as they will be fully modelled components that can be killed

Feedback on that system is very welcome. Alternatively you could have specific gunners on/off controls but I feel this is just adding complexity for no real gain.

Anyway, on to the images...