I was mere minutes away from sending out the very first alpha build of SquawkBox to a number of testers when my hard drive crashed. Weird noises starting coming out of the drive and then it was kaput. While I do have some backups, this is still a setback. Once I get this sorted out, the alpha will go out in earnest.

The SquawkBox 3 bug database is now up and running. Feel free to browse the bugs that are currently being worked on. Click on "Bugs" above.

I want to tip my hat to Steve Atkinson who has tirelessly worked to get the VIP3 model set ready for SquawkBox 3's alpha release. There are currently 759 planes in the set and Steve has painstakingly documented the correct aircraft equipment codes and airline codes for each one of them.

This is helping to get SquawkBox out faster. As soon as I get the current multiplayer bugs worked out, I will be sending out the alpha. I'm not sure how long this will take, but I'm working hard on it.

Thanks Steve!

The VIP3 model set is currently the only model set that I have ready for a bundled release with SquawkBox 3.

I am also in discussions with the developers of the CSL model set to get their model set in SquawkBox 3.

It is getting very late in development to include another model set, but I am open to offers. If you have a good broad collection of plane models and textures that you would be willing to bundle with SquawkBox 3, let me know. The only large, public collection that I know of would be those developed for Project AI. If anyone from that project is reading this and there is interest, please contact me.