Just bumping this question in case it gets lost:


I'd like to ask if SoW will feature bailing out in first-person perspective?

The current style of Il-2 and previous sims is for the "camera" to jump to an external perspective - right at the moment of greatest immersion. It tends to destroy the atmosphere more than a bit. As I'm planning on getting shot down a lot, it's something very important to me! :)

+1 Feathered_IV

Guess it had to be done like that in Il-2 because the exterior of the cockpit was not modeled. In SoW:BoB 6DOF will be possible and the exterior will be modeled.
But still I see a problem. How will the view change from the cockpit exterior to the show the plane exterior?

I know. It's a tricky one. Maybe your view auto-pans to the side as it switches between views? One for Oleg I reckon. ;)

Another +1, as I too expect to be shot down a lot.

Another +1

Although I don't plan on being shot down a lot ;) It would be cool to pause the game and jump to a view of your enemy, first person, jumping out. Great for fiming and/or screenshots. :grin:

I have to say that their are certain aspects of "BoB SoW" game play that I'm (dreaming of) anticipating with great joy...

One of the first "off-line" missions I will write for myself is a "last minute" scramble against a German raid on an airfield... I'm really looking forward to having the "AI" radar inform me of the size and direction of the attack, and I'm going to be as giddy as a schoolgirl the first time I fly "out of the sun" and the "AI" doesn't see me. I'm fantasizing of flying threw a huge formation of bombers and fighters as I watch them all react differently to the attack...AND I'm going to flip-out-with-joy the first time I come up from behind and below an enemy "AI" fighter and he doesn't start jinking at 300 meters.

+1

I'm also looking forward to landing, taxing up to a rearm and refuel point, at an airbase with some activity, takeing off again within the time limit of my choosing, and attacking the same bomber group that's returning from their target area. Also AI that follows my commands no matter how stupid my orders are, ;)

The best campaign mode for me would be one thats not a series of missions but a continues historical campaign that only stops when I stop the game, fast forward. or rewind. I don't want to control the battle from the point of view of Air Commodore. Just the ability to fly exclusively for a certain squadron with all stats recorded and/or jump into any aircraft thats available or flying at the time I restart the game.

Actually this is a good question for OM. Are you considering making a continues historical campaign that runs for months? This is one reason I really enjoy the Warclouds server. The action is continuous 24/7 wether I'm there or not, but off-line you can pause it, fast forward, rewind, or restart.

~Salute~
Chivas

Oleg Hello! is it possible to visually show the angle of the propeller? I refer to the possibility of altering the propeller pitch and see it in real time like some MsFS aircrafts.

New update is here
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthr...9316#post49316

Yes it is. To see it well will be possible when the propeller isn't rotating. I rotation to see it hard, but possible, because we have fair "blur" disk of the propeller when rotating.

technically in engine it is possible, but I don't think we will have work time for such "small" features before we will release the sim.

1. Will ask my guys to do not forget it
2. Will
3. question is done too early (as many others from other guys)
4. These turrerts that has two positions for fire and the speedy flight will work as it should. It is done with actual time animations.
5. will but on close distances.
6. Way more complex than in Il-2. As for the rescue.. we plan special aircraft for that in missions. Boats - maybe, maybe not. To wait boat will be too hard so great time... Not too interesting for the gameplay.
7. Weak points will be. But not the ammo belts of MGs of ships ;)
9. I think no. Becasue at first we are doing flight sim, then we are thinking what is most important to develope for ther other things that have their own sequence of importance.

Craters and other burning stuff
 

Hello Oleg!

1) I understand the team is working on 3D craters and this is wonderful! I suppose the crater holes will be commensurate with the bomb power...
My question is will you attempt to color the crater object in function of the type of soil? A crater in limestone country has a very different appearance from a crater in rock or swamp country (OK there are holes, but in some case they will be almost pure white, others will be brownish, sandish or blackish or simply waterfilled after a short while)?...
I think this would be part of the immersion feeling!
Can we also expect to see them last during a campaign for instance, and to have the ones which have been repaired (on runways or taxiways, for instance) still showing? This may be close in concept to the dynamic wearing on the aircraft themselves...

2) When looking at very recent FPS shooters like Crysis, Far Cry 2 or even Il2 BoP one can see that large strides have been made toward better representation of flames, fumes/smoke and explosions...I am almost sure you said it before but was unable to find it again: will SoW also show this kind of progress, about ground explosions (burning/exploding fuel, bombs, buildings or vehicles behave very differently, and sometimes mix several types of features, together or sequentially) and air combat damage (fuel, oil, ammo and glycol)?

3) you may have guessed that this a subject I cherish particularly: will SoW show the german/french/belgian bases, airfields and forward fields with the same attention to detail as for the english side of things? I ask this because the variety of the locations, building types and geographical implementations is very high (much higher than on english side), and it is sometimes very difficult to find info about them (except if you have proper access to many target photos of the times, but even this is not always sufficient)...

Thanks a lot for all the dreams I have because of your team's and your work!

JV

Besides the rescue mission and the birds, that I asked before a few pages, I have one more question:

Will there be some way to secure offline missions'/campaigns' results, so as to make them comparable? What I mean is: I play x-campaign and someone else plays same campaign:
Is there some way to get authentic results/stats so that we are able to compare them?

Such feature would give a boost to the offline gaming imo.

What you wrote in "Oleg's Ready Room":
Cool! Maybe you can/will also model
- wear of engine due to excessive use of 100% or even higher throttle and
- a higher probability of fault inflight due to such behaviour of pilot?

Online, I keep on wondering that nearly everybody flies 90% or higher throttle all the time, which I think is highly unrealistic.

Also, parameters like airframe stability which can be weakened due to excessive flight speeds i.e. in dives, hard landings etc pp :idea:

PS: Similar could be done inflight for guns: Jamming due to
- too long bursts
- firing at too high G

Hello !

Thanks for this new update ; I hope you may answer these questions which have been lost in the last 10 pages :

Thanks by advance and keep up the good work !

Good question Yogi, I want to know that too...

Hello Oleg

If you decide to make the campaigns short individual missions, could you make it possible for the user to make one continuous mission covering a full day of the Battle of Britain. Where the user or program enters the, times of raids, number, type of aircraft, and target in a historical or otherwise format. Then let the RAF AI determine response to these raids from Radar and other sources. This could make full use of the rearm and refuel option.

~Salute~
Chivas

+1

I like this idea.

Three questions:

1) Will it be possible to set a train on fire or destroy some of the cargo without the train stopping (like in real life)? Will locomotive boilers be appropriately durable? Will it be possible for the 3rd party to make the train player controllable?

2) Will the AI be open at all to editing/modding?

3) Will the weathering effect on aircraft be applied to terrain at some point? It would be neat to see slight variations in textures between missions (eg. in a mission after it rains some spring textures would be used)

Thanks, as always I am stunned

thanks for the update

Beautiful Craftsmanship
 

Those new pictures are quite beautiful.

How would you describe the graphics scale? Would you say something like Blazing Angels, 1946, or somewhere in between?

Looks like SOW will be "as real as can be".

Will Aircraft panels be blown off in combat? (Example: Top Cowling, Engine Cover left/right side...)

I can already imagine those train car doors flying high upon explosion :)

GF

Thanks for the update. Those soft shadows look amazing! :cool:

The weathering looks great. Is it still planned to add other layers, too, like oilstreaks, remains of the exhaust on the fuselage or wings?

One thing that I found very amazing in B17-TheMightyEighth was the effect a damaged engine had on the wings and elevators. Oil-leakes 'painted' the parts behind the leak black and a fire destroyed the skin. Considering the detail, I guess we see something similar in BoB? :grin:

Oleg,

Do you have a "hopeful" release date? :grin:

Hi Oleg

I`m playing il2 since the first Demo and still enjoying 46 and my question is, can we have something like a "alarm2 button for the multicrew bomber?!

Will it be possible to belly land on wingtanks?! for example the F-84 was able to land on the wingtanks, ok it`s a korea war era plane but would be interesting to have this feature in another way. Example bombs, when they are still on the wing they arend armed so it is not so hard to land with bombs in the bay like in il2

thanks for making Bob!!!

Hello Oleg :)
 

It may be WAY to early for a question like this, but I figured, what the hey;

Do you guys have plans to have a Collectors Edition at the release of BoB full of goodies? Maybe in a Tin or Wood box with a map, or maybe a Making-Of DVD.

I'm pretty sure everyone who is an IL2 Fan would pay the extra for one. I know I would at least.

Keep up the great work team!

Hello Oleg. Before I asked my question I just wanted to say that this is like the good ol' days :) . I am very glad that are posting regularly again. I speak for many people when I say that we have missed "seeing" you around.

Can airplanes get a flat tire? Are tires part of the damage model? I was just thinking about that and wondering what would happen if your tire was damaged from gunfire and you tried to make a landing.

A couple more questions if I may. :)

1) Refering to your answer on my question no. 7. I guess we won't be able to sink ships with a lucky shot like Japanese sunk Arizona, but - will armour piercing bombs have a different impact of ships than normal high explosive ones?

2) After seeing that spitfire new and weared screenshots. Together with fuel and rearm / repair options - will we see patched bullet holles as well? :)

3) During online play, on dogfight servers - will server be able to filter (limit) markings which you can put on your aircraft, depending on the team you're flying? So we don't see luftwaffe or italian markings on Spitfires and RAF markings on Heinkels, 109s and so on...

4) Since paying attention to so many details like weathering and effects on the plane - will it be possible to put confirmed kill markings on your plane during campaign (something like player controled option - if you want it you can have it painted on your plane, if not then you can choose not to)? Or even kills during online play, which will show up after every 'refly'?

Thank you for your answers so far.

This was posted not long ago...the current answer is probably still the same...

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=3814

SOW Suggestions
 

I realize SOW will be a very comprehensive simulation, based on the work you have shown thus far.

Here are a few thoughts. Fell free to comment on them.

1) Body Movements on g-force (front/deceleration, back/acceleration, left/on right rudder, right/on left rudder), and
severe movement on violent maneuvers.
2) Canopy blur when inside/exiting clouds (from H20 vapor).
3) Creaking sound from bending aluminum wings, and Rivet popping sound from severe bending of aluminum wings.
4) Place a "carrot" (Visual Que.) in the upper right hand corner when the gun camera is on.
5) Blood spatter in cockpit/canopy when wounded.
6) Red/Black Out Tunnel Vision via telescope view (round - closing in).
7) Tracer Smoke/Trailing Smoke for 50 and 30 cals.
8) Skid bouncing. (Tight turning can cause a smooth bouncing similar to the bouncing effect in 1946 when flying through a cloud. Wings fluctuate on skid bouncing, and the wings are near stalling).

GF

ps: 1c is a highly successful company.
Check this out.
http://v8.1c.ru/eng/about_1c/

Thanks Proton
 

Thanks Proton...
But like everyone else here, I was asking Oleg a question.....Even if it is only to confirm what you believe to be accurate.

I know Oleg is inundated with questions here, but I feel my question is as valid as yours are and I'm simply hoping to hear from Oleg on it.

Thanks again

Hello, Oleg

This might seem like an odd question. When an aircraft is leaking oil or fuel will there be a decal for it in the first person perspective (like in IL2) or will it be dynamicly squirting on the window.(thought that would be kinda cool :rolleyes:)

Best Regards to you and your team

Nobody commented on the validity of your question. Despite your repeated thanks, your reply here comes across as very unfriendly to somebody who just provided you with a link to a thread you might not have seen.

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthr...=2039&page=116

If you looked few pages back or checked that link that has been provided - you would have seen that Oleg has replied to your question and wouldn't ask it twice. ;)

Sorry Dude... I was just trying to help. :)

You should read the last few pages of this thread you might have some fun and learn something (even if its not as exciting as having Oleg answer your question...)

I'd like to know if debris will damage your plane. Be it small debris from an enemy plane that's been shot at (as downed Hartmann a few times) or (more important for me) explosions in the water. Currently we can fly through those water spouts, which is very unrealistic. It was a US tactic in the PTO to fire shells into the water to catch the low-flying suicide pilots. Debris from explosions on land would be cool too, but I guess there's less of it.

Nope, you were right...I simply missed that post, and stand corrected. Closing sarcasm not necessary, but noted.

Thanks for the link back Thor, and my apologies to everyone for taking up important thread space with previously answered questions.

A few questions:

1. SoW will use OpenAL. Am I correct?
2. Any chances for Linux Dedicated server? I think there is demand for it.
3. Is DeviceLink continued/expanded? Maybe there will be possible to make queries about other objects (planes, vehicles and etc.) or even change their waypoints at runtime? That would be good base for online wars. Some kind of access control is required also (i.e.: only server should get that information and not clients).
4. Will SoW has different switch for skin and squadron insignia download? Skins are always painful for online because of traffic they require, however squadron insignias are relatively small and is good compromise between customization and stutter free play.
5. In IL2 we have oil on windshield effect, however we get it only from our own aircraft. Will it be possible to get oil, which leaked from other aircraft, on your windscreen in SoW? Same about effects of debris... will there be such ones?
6. Will there be some difficulty setting, which would hide all HUD messages like "Engine Overheat", "Fuel leak" and etc.?
7. I know that visual icing effects are hard to model, however will there be any icing at all? I am thinking about frozen guns, maybe some ice in carburetor and etc. By the way, will some guns jam because of shots at high Gs?

Can you tell us more of any movie making tools that will be in SoW?

Will there be a free roaming camera so that we can get the perfect angle? In IL2 we have to rely on lots of static cameras and hope one is in the right place. Sometimes we don't even have static cameras if we are filming an online game.

This is probebly impossible, but if there was any way to rewind a track it would reduce significantly the amount of time to make a movie?

If you need any help on movie demo's, just ask :)

Thanks.

I don't know how accurately it's modeled, but I get downed regularly right now in IL2:46 by water spouts resulting from bomb explosions.

I've been taken down many times from water spouts, ground exposions, and aircraft explosions.

as I understand it, explosions can damage you, but not debris resulting from said explosions. Or at least, not me online. Are you guys saying that 1-2 seconds after the explosion has happened, you can fly through the remaining water still in the air, and that will damage you?

That would be very, very cool, but it is certainly contrary to what I've experienced. I fly through those water spouts (particularly from a bandit crashing in front of me) with impunity.

Individual debris is probably not programmed for fps reasons, so it may be just a radius calculation, with damage dependent on your proximity to the exposion. In the case of IL-2 it seems you have to be very close.

when the whole plane explodes, yes, but planes were brought down by less. Just debris thrown out by damage, not the fuel combusting. You can see those black specs of debris when MGs hit the enemy. That should cause damage, in theory.

Fingers crossed :)

BTW, do you or don't you take damage from water spouts? Not the explosion causing it, mind, but the water itself.

Again I doubt wether the physics of water splashes, explosive shrapnel or debris specs are modeled to cause damage. Its probably more a proximity thing, but I've been wrong before.

It happens and its happened again (you'll be happy to know). ;)

Go into the conf.ini and set:
arcademode = 1

Then drop a few bombs or fire a few cannon rounds into aircraft ("debris/shrapnel" progresses instantaneously along a linear path - but random trajectories and various ranges and number of fragments are modeled depending on the weapon)

Thanks for clearing that up, Avimimus. I should have remembered seeing things like that in the arcade mode.

I've just read that there will be no start up procedure in SoW for simple online play reasons. I think it's a a pity not to have at least a simplified one if switched on in the difficulty selection panel.

I could imagine that it may be limited to three operations like opening tank feed valve, pumping and ignition (magnets will be switched automatically for instance).

No hope that some sort of this may be introduced?

^^ I agree

A simplified start up procedure with magnetos, fuel cocks, fuel pump, and startup button can add a real immersive element to the sim. Especially in scramble situations where you are about to be attacked, and in your hurry(Panic), you haven't hit the fuel pump enough to get the engine to start.

Yep, it's too bad :(

I must say that I'm a bit split about possible startup procedures, and I tend to agree more and more with a statement by Oleg some time ago that it may be a bit interesting the first time, then it just gets annoying. Pressing a button sequence will after the first few times be something you do automatically - or script into a button on your keyboard if you have that functionality... Like I've done with the landing gear "click-click-click..." 16 times procedure for the I-16 ;)

"Automatically" tapping a sequence actually lowers the immersion in a way for me at least, as I have to focus more on the keyboard which brings me back to the fact that I'm tapping a modern device for computer input and not cranking a greasy fuel switch. The joystick is easier to "forget" or "accept" for me... That's just my opinion, and I respect that others feel different about it. I'm just a bit worried that to many servers will enable the "full startup sequence" if it's available...

I agree I never used the start up procedure in BOB WOV until I mapped it to my Hotas system. Then it became very immersive, atleast for me. I never use the keyboard unless I absolutely have too.

Hello Oleg,

Question: I noticed one of the train cars has a "straw texture" on the floor of it, does that mean you will be including livestock cargo in the train cars? (horses, cattle,...)

...and if you shoot the cars they escape! :?

First of all it means that it is a cattle carrier. You just shouldn't read too much into it.

Hey, do you mean you don't think any livestock will be included? Really I'm just asking if there will be cows in the cattle car, any thoughts?

Janes WWII Fighters had 3D deer running all over the place when you got down low, which was cool. And the pidgens in Rowans Flying Corps Gold that were spooked from the trees as you took off were fairly special.

Things like that add to the imersion. Like the waving grass that we were told about in SOW. It makes you forget that your on the computer!

You'd be amazed, knowing what kind of things can sit on trains...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WXDh4F0gdc

:):):)
And I thought it was cool landing the Harriers on buildings in Janes Marine Fighters!!!!! (The sim that made me buy a throttle quadrant (Sill in limited use!))

I can see myself buying a Helio sim in the near future!

When is it going to be released?
:):):)

For me too, that's why the clickable virtual cockpit was invented. A very immerse and natural way to operate all the switches you maybe use just once or twice during a mission. I prefer to only map really important functions to my stick that I have to access quickly during critical situations.

But having to use the keyboard for all actions is still better than having no complex or more complex start up procedures and similar things at all. I hope some companies that now only work for MSFS will start making 3rd party, "as real as it gets" add ons for SOW series as well.

That would naturally be the best solution like you say. I guess that the problem is the additional coding that has to be done... If choosing between better AI och clickable buttons, I have to vote AI. It would be nice If they thought about it while coding though - so the door is not closed for adding it later on...

Yeah, I guess with such a small team Oleg could never finish BOB within a foreseeable timeframe if they implement each desirable feature.

Oleg said that all switches in the VC are prepared to be animated, even for functions that will initially not be simulated. So maybe there is hope for future SOW titles if parts of the cockpit can already be linked to commands.

Now imagine what cockpit builders could do with that ...:cool:

Quite frankly I'd rather have an immersive and rewarding offline campaign á la Red Baron II, but that's just me. :mrgreen:

No. ;)

me too..

Me three.

me four :-P

No need for me using keyboard for clickable start up , moving mouse with
pointing arrow over switches by clicking mouse to trigger all start up procedure with mouse is fair enough , pretty quick and not as much bothering at all .
Typing assigned keys on keyboard would certainly kill my immersion :cool:

I wouldn't put it that way. Think about building a panel with the switches, then you'd be glad to be able to map the functions to keys. ;)

For most people even a generic panel is a huge investment, not to mention a complete cockpit mock up where every switch and lever sits on the right place.

And why should a clickable VC prevent anybody from mapping any function he desires to the keyboard or other externals? You can still play any flightsim just with the keyboard alone despite probably all simmers have at least a joystick.

I am not a computer nerd but I think a cockpit that is programmed as a graphical map or with funktions triggered by pressing a key is something complete different. So I don't see how one could map keys for a panel that is programmed as purely clickable.
I know the clickable panel from Battle of Britain Wings of Victory.

I didn't like it that much because the mouse is very imprecise and it takes some time to move it from A to B and back to C. While in reality you'll be much quicker with your hands (or with keys). Imagine doing this while in flight. You'll take your hand off the stick for quite a while whereas in reality is was much less time used to press a button.

And you have to make mouse movements rather slow because otherwise you would overstear with the mouse and you would spend even more times in regulating the mouse cursor position.

Furthermore you have to press a key to toggle the cockpit clicking function on because the mouse is needed in other modes to. It would be quite tedious to click on the in game map and to actuate a switch through it.

But above all it can be very difficult to click the right button if they are very close and the mapping wasn't that well done. This was the case sometimes in Battle of Britain Wings of Victory ...

No, I really think that key pressing is much more convenient and realistic. If you want to build a cockpit or not.

Btw I do believe that building a cockpit may be not that expensive as one might guess if you stick to simple solutions and not first class materials. Plywood can do btw. Why not detach the keys of an old keybord and wire it accordingly?

I think that Oleg does not realize, how many of us would enjoy a full start-up when we are off line...on-line too, for that matter:grin: It would also attract many of the FS croud, who would probably fly and enjoy non combat roles, with the FM, co-pilot, weather, SU-26 etc.:-P

Exactly!!! +1 :grin:

Still...the specific knowledge involved would exceed that of what MOST virtual pilots know. A few might really enjoy the complex startup procedure but that has to be weighed against an already lengthy development period for each plane. I know what you're getting at for sure but I think the benefit doesn't add up to nearly enough.

+1
I wonder how many people would want to wait around, while the ground crew of their 109 hand crank up the inertial starter, and then have to wait while the crew take their step ladder away, while they are being vulched?

Just starting up a WWII era fighter is a team effort, and this can't really be effectively simulated with the scope of a sim like these.

I enjoy the more or less simple start up procedure of a switching on the magneto, turning on the fuel cocks, pumping the fuel, and starting the engine. Especially if you have too pump the fuel a certain number of times for the engine to start. Its interesting how many times I fail to give it enough pumps when I'm in a hurry to get airborne. Hearing the engine cough a few times almost start and fail, pump a few more times, start button, more caughing and finally it bursts to life with a roar.

IMO complex engine start-up procedures is one of those "game-play" features that looks good on a box...and I'm sure that their are a few on-line servers and (or) a few off-line mission builders that will either insist on this procedure or will make it a required step for online participation...but I think that after the novelty wares off MOST people will basically skip this "immersion detail"...

I think that Olegs time (at this point) is best spent working on AI behavior and/or optimizing CPU usage...

I think that fully clip-able cockpits could (should) be a featured detail of a 3rd party aeroplane builder. Something like "Wings of Power" for the "SoW BoB" series...

Only one panel? You can not seriously fly a sim like this with a generic panel. Think of all the panels you could build this winter while waiting... They must naturally be hot pluggable if you switch plane during an online session. Think of it... "Hey kids - stop disturbing daddy and where the heck have you hidden my E4 panel? I'm going to start the mission and i will NOT do that with the E3 panel I have plugged in right now!" Sweet :)

If you find some chinese factory that can build your panels I would be mighty interested!

/Mazex

LMAO...so true.

I have to admit the option would be kinda cool, but definitely not a deal-breaker for me. While immersion and vicarious experiences are the driving reasons I fly these things, I don't really need the complexity of true startup procedures...nor the misfires and mechanical failures.

$5.00
 

I'll bet you all $5.00 you'd still buy the game if it spawned on the airstrip already running. :grin:

Hmmmmmm

Here's an idea then.............
as the AAA are going to be "mannable" how about having real time ground crew to start engines, sit on wings to help pilots taxi, change tyres clean pit wind shields............
OOhhh............
How about I have a phone in my cottage in SoW letting me know there's impending doom lurking in the skies over the channel..............Brrrriinnggg............"That you Pinkie ???" Yessss..........."Look smart old boy, Jerries decide to ruin tiffin this afternoon, there's a bit of a bee hive on the way with taters for us by the look of it"...... quaff quaff quaff .......

Ooooh and then I hop in in my AC Royal and whizz through the glorious country lanes to the nearest airstrip.................blah blah blah

I think 1c should just keep to the format that works best, click able pits is just not right for this style of sim, maybe a 777 plodding along at 40,000ft sure but trying to click switches in fighter planes ..........hmmmm ..................keyboard for me please any time......
As for start up procedures..lol..........what about cruise, attack and landing procedures ???? You're going to make pilots balance fuel turn valves set throttles use correct pitch and landing plates ? You might fool yourself that throwing some switches to start your plane adds immersion but it will soon stop at the first sight of the enemy and panic takes over :)



Edit> Speelling

That's what makes the idea of a combined procedures and combat flight sim so attractive for me. Imagine you forget to arm your weapons before engaging, select another fuel tank before you jettison the drop tanks or you end in a fireball because you forgot to depressurize your fuel tank.


That's exactly what I hope for. I think we all agree that it is impossible for Oleg to model countless planes in full detail.


The two things might be completely different, but they are not mutually exclusive. FSX has clickable VCs and you can still map each function to the keyboard, hotas and more fanciful devices.

Actually, I do think that tasks for the mechanics are not a pilot's ones. But I do want to be driving the plane as a pilot would as far as possible and reasonable.

I do understand though that this might be beyond the possibilities for Oleg considering his limited crew ressources. I'd be fine with 3rd party work as long as quality is asured :D

Clickable cockpits are really not priority I think. Good idea to let this be done by external parties.

On the other hand, the complex engine-menegement must be a feature of the next series IMHO. Reason:

Partly automized cockpits (example: the 190's Kommandogerät) gave pilots a huge advantage over i.e. complex machines like the i.e. P-38, because the could concentrate on their main job: The fight. This is still totally neglected in todays combat flight sims (aka IL-2).

I want to be a "Head mechanic" at an airfield during the "BoB"...

I want to be able to manage repairs and swap engines...I want to set work schedule's and fill out requisition forms...

I want to play out the "ground crew" role...

Sample Mission
 

Oleg,

I'd like to ask a couple of questions that pop-up when describing a typical historical offline mission.
Some time ago I read about a precision bombing attack in 1944 by Mosquitos on a building in The Hague (where I live) where the Germans kept records of resistance fighters and many other documents. I was wondering if and how such a mission could be created for SoW (I know that the Mosquito will not be in the initial game, this is just an example!).

The target they had to destroy was a big white house. They probably had lots of recon photos for preparation.

Q1: Is it possible to include a couple of recon photos in the mission screen? They are a must have for a mission like this (I think this is already on the feature list)

There were three pairs of Mossies taking off from England and following waypoints to the Dutch coast. The aircraft flew very low and fast to avoid radar.

Q2: In IL2 the AI don't like to fly very low, they will usually pop-up when maneuvering. Will this be fixed in SoW?
Q3: Will there be radar? (Yes, I believe this has been confirmed already)

The Mossies flew over land, around Rotterdam to avoid the heavy FLAK there. They must have surprised quite a lot of enemy positions and vehicles before their presence was on radio.

Q4: Is it possible to surprise AI gunners? Can we set the alert status based on scripting?

The aircraft then turned back to The Hague, slowed down and set up for their attack run. Apparently, any enemy fighters were too late to intervene.

Q5: Is it possible to redirect (or have them take-off) aircraft to a certain waypoint based on a radar detection event?
Q6: Is it possible to place aircraft/vehicles at random positions within a given range? This would mean you could fly this kind of mission a couple of times. Perhaps it's a good idea to have an option to make the alert status of crews also random?

According to several sources the first Mossie tossed two bombs through the front door, blowing up the building. Other mossies threw incendiary bombs to burn the documents.

Q7: How will the damage model of individual buidling be? Is it possible to partly bring down a structure?
Q8: Is it possible to score points by destroying a static object? In IL2 you usually have to place a couple of vehicles as "bait" and to score points :)

Here is a great photo taken during the raid: http://www.strijdbewijs.nl/top/o/kl02.jpg

Q9: Will it be possible to take photos during a mission and review them during debriefing?

The Mossies then headed back to sea where a group of Spitfires provided air cover.

Q10: Will Ground control warn you if they see enemy aircraft on radar behind you?
Q11: Will the time accelaration or "skip time" function be available in SoW? I wouldn't mind fast forwarding when flying over an empty sea :)

Thanks for listening!

Oleg,

I have a question regarding online play in SoW.

I help to run a couple of dogfight servers, one of which is an axis-vs-allied setup. This leads to many instances (when server admins are not present) of players overpopulating the team with the most powerful plane on it. This lack of team balance ruins the careful gameplay balance we as DF map-makers try to put in our scenarios.

Currently programs like IL-2:SC can do a sort of team-balancing, but rather than moving people from team to team it just kicks you from the game if you join the team with too many players.

Will SoW include a server-side option for "auto-balancing' teams, like so many other online games have? Even a very basic form of team auto-balancing would be very welcome by many-a-pilot I think, and certainly by me!

I have dozens of other questions, but this is the one that I am most curious about. I won't waste your time with other questions, as I want to leave you some time for making the new sim (which is looking better and better with each update!) Thanks for your efforts to make yourself available to your 'fans'. I cannot think of another game developer who is so hands-on with his public. I, for one, truly appreciate it.

Paxton (aka Lodestone)

I'm a little curious to hear what Oleg has to say about a few of these questions...but I have a feeling that most of these will fall into the "the code is in their/too early to see" category (LOL).

Forced side-balancing should be an option for server admins, but not intrinsic to or with a pre-determined %. To be able to say that one side or the other can't exceed 10% advantage or something like that would be o.k. with me. I realize there are many times a squad may come to a server and want to all fly together thus making one side a bit more populated than the other, but things often have a tendency to balance out after a few minutes.

The only time I've ever really had an issue is when singles or pairs join and simply load up in "their favorite" aircraft on the team that already outnumbers the other by 2:1. Another option could be, If the numbers are seriously out of balance and the new pilots still want to join the side with the numerical advantage, they should have to fly the ragged, "pool" aircraft in a bomber role or the one with the supercharger that doesn't work.

All good ideas Thunderbolt, especially that of giving the new joiners on an over-manned team the old, dilapidated airplanes.

I'm not looking for a systems that starts shuffling people from team to team when they are out by just a couple of players. But I have, for instance, gone into our server and found the teams lopsided to the point of 30vs8, when the map is designed for the sides to be close to equal. I agree that much of the time the teams even themselves out pretty well, due to the high degree of sportsmanship most players have. But even a fair-minded player might fly around for 30 minutes not even noticing his team has a 2-1 advantage. The sky is big after all, even with 50 planes in it. Some kind of scalable team-balance system would help a lot in these instances.

I understand the wish for a forced balancing. But how should this work?

As an entrant to a server you are automatically switched to the outnumbered side or is it done when you are already flying and some on the other team leave and then I find myself in another plane on the other side?

What about 11:10 ratio (or 23:22 or 13:14, or ...)

What about 35:40? (that's no real outnumbering imho)

Could you force people to play on Russion side more in order to simulate the large numbers of Soviet planes on eastern front?

What I fear is that people will leave mostly if they cannot play on the side they like. We for instance are an RAF squadron and want to play on allied side. If we occasionally jump into blue crates it is because we want to.

Awesome set of questions, superbly illustrated - has anyone asked before could we specify each plane's load within a flight? as in the mossie example above (meaning in single player campaign mode)

Oleg. I was wondering if there could be anti submarine missions?

FYI- You can do some neat stuff offline with the FMB. I created a scenario with an F4F and 2 Avengers taking off a CVE and nailing a uboat! Sometimes the uboat flak shoots down a plane or two. Usually the uboat is torpedoed.

Just a quick quesion. We've been told that a computer capable of playing IL2 on High graphics settings today will probably play SOW of reduced settings.

My question is will SOW on low setting look as good as IL2 on High settings?

I cannot speak for Oleg of course :) but he has said, for instance, that in SoW there are only fully modeled 3-D trees. He has also said there are many more LOD's for planes than in IL-2. So even right there that is an improvement over IL-2. I think Skoshi that the answer to this is yes..SoW will look as good on low settings as IL-2 on highest settings. Maybe not texture-wise, but definitely in model detail. My own guess is that lowest settings for SoW will look better than 'perfect' IL-2 even in textures. Or at least here's hoping :)

What bothers me a little is that Oleg wrote that he'll fixe medium quality for online play if I understood well. I understand that through fixing this everyone should get the same chances even with a low end computer. On the other hand you'll just get medium quality if you play together with some friends with same high end computers.

I think quality should be set by the host/server. Most servers will choose quality that will fit most of their audience anyhow (after a try and error period of course to find good settings) in order to get their house full of players. But it leaves everyone to decide if he uses better quality when flying in a coop for instance ...

up to now all cockpits for SoW are as in IL2 empty. I'd like to know if there'll be for SoW no longer ghost planes but some with manned cockpits where you can see the pilot's hand on the stick and the legs as in so many other simulations. This is really important to get a first person impression and with today's technic this is already very realistic looking.