Been thinking a bit about how one might make multi-crew aircraft more interesting. Especially with regards to the roles crew members should play. AI Flight Engineers should tell you when an engine is overheating. A navigator should man a turret if a gunner is killed or wounded. All crew should be given some awareness of the outside world and be able to report on it. Below is how I hope a mission in SoW might play out:
Inter-Service Communication & Crew Management and in SoW...
You are flying the latest mission in your Blenheim bomber's single-player dgen campaign.
It is September 1940.
You are with 53 Sqn based at Detling. You mission brief is to patrol a section of occupied coast on a line from Ostend to Zeebrugge, and on up to Middleburg.
On the Met screen (a handy innovation for SoW) you can see that there is expected to be 8/10th cloud all the way. Not bad, you tell yourself. Your orders are to return however if cloud cover is insufficient. 53 Squadron has taken a beating in the last few weeks. The Blenheims stand little chance against determined fighter attack, and on this mission you will be flying alone.
A look at the Nav-screen (another first for SoW) it shows the Navigator's suggested course for the patrol. Looks okay, but you move the return waypoint near Middleburg a little further West.
No need to tempt fate...
In the air, you see that the weather is much as the met boys predicted. Eight-tenths, down to about 3000ft. You cross the coast near Ramsgate, skimming in and out of the cloud base.
You key in your first instructions to the crew. This is done in a similar way to which you communicated to AI wingmen in the Il-2 series. Hitting the Tab key, you go to the Crew-All list
and select the command to instruct them to report on all Land-Sea-Air contacts. The AI crew's reaction time in searching if you choose a specific area to search (air, for example) is much faster
than all at the same time, but on this show you'll be needing a good lookout.
Far out into the Channel now. The AI navigator gives you a course correction. Steer one-one-oh. You look down at the compass. Must have wandered off a bit... You put on a bit of right rudder
and the nose of the Blenheim comes back around. "On course" says the Navigator approvingly. At almost the same moment, the wireless op/gunner suddenly calls out, "Ship to starboard!"
Where? You dip the wing and peer out through the cloud and mist. Can't see anything. The gunner's skill in identifying sea and land targets isn't the best. He is just a gunner after all, and his
experience level has been modelled appropriately. The AI navigator/bomb aimer however is more informative. "I see it" he says. "Bearing fifty" "Destroyer, one of ours!"
You look in the direction indicated. Ah, there it is. Very pretty. Still a ways off though. Might as well say hello...
Throttles forward, you sweep down with the intention of giving the Navy a damn good beat up. You are speeding towards the destroyer when suddenly the ships guns open up. A burst of AA appears to the right, and then suddenly another burst much, much closer, accompanied by the dry rattle of shrapnel. Oh, for F**k sake! You pull up and bank away from the destroyer. At the same time showing the roundels on the bottom of your wings. A few more shots, and the gunfire ceases. Ships in Sow have a likelyhood of aircraft recognition based on variables of distance, weather and angle.
Circling the destroyer at a more respectful distance, you see a light flashing from the bridge. "Ship is signalling..." reports the AI Wop/Gunner. "Message reads:
Apologies. Be advised, enemy aircraft in the vicinity..." No future in
that, you tell yourself. You hit the Tab key again and bring up the commands for your navigator, requesting a heading to target. Within moments you are back on course, climbing back up towards cloud cover. A moments consideration and you also change the crews lookout instructions. Telling them to concentrate on seeking threats from the air. Not a minute to soon either...
"Fighter, Fighter! Break right
Break right!!" calls your gunner. As you throw the bomber into a steep bank, the rear gun begins to clatter . A dark shape booms over the top of your canopy and disappears into the cloud above. "Lost him..." says the gunner. Engines screaming, clawing for height, the first wisps of cloud sweep past...
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The inclusion of crew interactions and management is similar to what we have now in the way we instruct and deploy AI wingmen in Il-2. I think it would be a great boost to the immersion in SoW if these things can be expanded and added to the single and multi player experience. Their inclusion would have great potential in adding the soul that is badly missed in the genre.
