Well, maybe it's time for another poll to showcase the real question:
Do we want realistic engine and systems management that will cause failures if we exceed the normal operating parameters? I'm not talking about random failures here and keep in mind, all of these should be options that we can turn off in the realism settings. For example, random failures and warm-up would be a nice option for single player but not so good for multi-player, no problem, just select a server that has them turned off. Now warm up in these planes is very fast, but even if it was slow there's the example of RoF, where, most people only use it for single player and the online servers turn it off.
So, this is mainly an issue of added realism with a couple extra options in the realism settings, i don't think anyone in their right mind would try to force the rest of the community to use their choice of settings if they want to fly some other way. It's just like flying in open or closed pit servers, you decide what you like and you make your choices.
The way i think about it, we could have the following realism options about it all:
Random failures: Just what the title says. I can't see this getting much use in multiplayer, but it will give some nice thrills in single player campaigns.
Wear and tear accumulates on the aircraft: Just like the previous one, this will mostly be for single player. Get a cannon shell in your wing and it might snap during a high-G maneuver in the next mission, unless your aircraf is factory overhauled or you get a new one. Stress your engine too much in consecutive missions and after a while the crew chief can't bring it up to factory specifications, again you'll need a factory overhaul or a new engine. Things like that.
Realistic engine operation and limits: Improved over what in IL2 is labeled as CEM. If you don't know what you're doing you'll be able to cause failures, regardless of what the previously mentioned random failures setting is. You could have random failures turned off and still cause your engine to seize if you have this one enabled. It's not random in this case, it's the pilot not knowing how to take care of the engine.
No more flying around with the throttle wide open for extended periods of time, especially at low altitudes where this would exceed the maximum manifold pressure limits.
No more abusing the on/off nature of overheat timers that don't take into account the damage done while in overheat, as long as you manage to stop within 5 minutes the engine condition magically reverts to that of a brand new or recently overhauled engine.
No more possible to dive at high speed for a long time with the engine at idle and the radiators full open without causing damage from shock cooling.
No more exploiting of the faulty prop pitch mechanics to run the engine above it's maximum limits, in reality when the throttle is high and you lower the RPM too much you can destroy the engine because of excessive torque (high RPM=high horsepower, low RPM=high torque).
I'm sure real pilots can provide even more feedback about what is not just simplified, but sometimes totally opposite to the way a real engine operates. These things need to go and a new engine handling model installed that more clolesy mimics real world operating constraints.
Realistic systems and engine management: This is the "flick the switches part. Do it with the keyboard or the mouse, or whichever way you want, but if it is on you'll need to flick the switches somehow (or let your imaginary copilot do some of it for you if you have the next option set to easy). Arm your guns before combat or they won't fire, turn on your gunsight, switch your fuel tanks manually, go through start-up and shut-down sequences, calibrate altimeters, correct the directional gyro drift by referencing the compass and so on.
While this mode is active gauges and instruments may show incorrent readings depending on atmospheric conditions, maneuvering state, speed, engine vibration etc. The RPM needle jitters before stabilizing when you change the prop pitch, the "whiskey" compass spins wildy round when you accelerate or maneuver violently and you have to let it settle down before taking a reading, supercharger turbines don't spool up/down instantly so you have to be gentle with the turbo levers and so on. Most of all, just like in the engine management section, you have to stay within the recommended parameters or risk causing a failure. This will open up a whole new dimension in combat, preserve the good working state of your aircraft's components for when your REALLY need to stress them to escape death.
Automatic start up and shut down: This is a toggle that will enable you to have all the realism options on, but still not do everything yourself if you don't feel like it. Think of it as the automatic start up/shut down sequence in Black Shark, where the engine doesn't magically start but your imaginary co-pilot flicks the necessary switches for you.
This way, if this is enabled you'll be able to join a server where the previous two options are active but you still won't have to do everything by yourself. You will have the option to press the start up key and you'll see the switches getting flicked on their own as the "ghost" co-pilot goes through the start up procedure.
That doesn't mean the engine will magically and perfectly start every time, nor that it will be the most efficient way to do things, or that it will bypass the ability to cause failures because of improper operation of systems. It will just be a means to bridge the gap between those who want to fly full-switch and those who want realistic servers without having to click buttons all the time, but there will be an incentive to go manual.
The incentive is that the automatic start-up will go through the full checklist, while a guy who knows his plane well and does a manual but quick and dirty start up will gain quite some time. In Black Shark, there are people who can manually start the chopper about 30 seconds faster than the automatic start-up can. This will not be so much for WWII birds because they are simpler with fewer buttons to press, but if for example i have just landed and shut my engine off and decide i need to get back up again in a hurry, i can safely skip about 3/4 of the procedure if i do it manually and i won't even need the 10-15 second warm up. The automatic start-up key won't do this though, it will go through the full start-up, so this is an incentive to watch what it does on auto so that you'll learn how to do it yourself in a hurry.
Regardless of the way to control such things in flight, i think this is the main reason you see quite a few people campaign for clickpits, because they are an interface that is generally associated with more in-depth modelling of the aircraft as a whole.
Personally, i don't care if it's a clickable cockpit, a clever system of keyboard commands or a mix between the two and a HOTAS interface. I don't care either if it will be done by Oleg's team a few months after release, or if we will have to edit xml scripts to add clickable zones ourselves.
I just want my engine and the aircraft in general to be more than "swich on engine, maneuver, shoot, repeat", because it's unrealistic for a 2010 simulator, it's gotten less and less satisfying after all these years, it bypasses a whole lot of important decisions that have an importance in matters of tactics and the ability to complete a mission that would coax players into a more realistic way of fighting and it pales in comparison to what other modern simulators can do. Clickpits or not, realistic modelling of certain subsystems is a must for a next-gen simulator.
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