Don't forget the flapping wings, aircraft have no flapping wings that are constantly being processed as when birds fly.

Again, I think if birds are in the package they should be switchable.

There are just so many things that would be more exceptional within the SOW.

Ah! Remember that birds are very small compared to aircraft with many features. :-P

Thank you for chatting with me. :)

"Although if we have time I might post something entirely unexpected here mid-week" - Luthier (last week).

I've got my fingers crossed!!

Birds are not eye candy, they are danger. :grin: Look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSqT-w-Zecc . Would be good to have something like this in SoW (no one is saying, that you need that blood on windshield).

Birds
 

Birds would add overhead for little additional realism, in all my time flying I have never seen a bird from an aircraft (except on the ground) They are so small and generally stay very close to the ground.
In real life its hard enough to see another aircraft let alone birds. It makes sense to have only seagulls because of their size.

Yes there is.
If you right click - open in new window - you get the full res. Zoom in on the shots and it is obvious to see.

No there isn't. :)

The birds in that video look really good. I'd love to see something like that in SoW.

I'd just like to see SoW.

Seriously, aren't a lot of us losing sight of the bigger picture? A next gen combat flight simulator with realistic flight models, modd/expandability and a good campaign?

I have to assume some of the requests, such as falling leaves and different bird types, are taking the piss. If you want to pay for fripperies such as these in an addon, fine. But if details like this are causing release delays, I wouldn't want to be an investor in 1C.

With birds and the mocking deer (seriously, they look at you and smile) in X-Plane, there is a bit of a performance hit. And they are a little too common as I took three bird strikes in 10 flights which is statistically REALLY bad luck lol.

I wouldn't want the performance hit that comes with tracking bird's positions and then the graphical representation of flapping wings. I guess it would be cool to be able to switch birds on though.

Also, as good as X-Plane's flight model is, it isn't perfect. Better than any combat sim I have played for sure, but not perfect. Graphics for X-Plane 9 would be TERRIBLY disappointing to what the folks are expecting with SoW. Lakes with sharp corners, no real ground detail, randomized buildings in cities, etc.. Of course, X-Plane covers the whole world (and Mars lol) while SoW will have MUCH smaller maps.

Having said all of that, the only thing that X-Plane is really missing is combat. The flight model is so good that I could live with the graphics if they incorporated a good combat sim. The good news with all of that for companies like 1C is that the owner of X-Plane has no interest, apparently, in producing a combat sim.

So if you want a really good flight sim with a tremendous flight model, check out X-Plane. If you want a really good combat sim...like I do...well, here we are waiting anxiously for SoW. While I enjoy and have learned a lot from flight sims, there is nothing like a good air combat sim :).

I guess my prejudice toward gameplay, damage models, and flight models over graphics comes from my interest in flight sims.

Maybe Laminar and 1C should merge just to make me happy? lol

Splitter