I'm not interested in the idea at all.
Firstly, thanks for typing out such a long and well thought-out post. Obviously you have given this a good deal of thought.
For me though, it's not neccessary to have pre-scripted events in a simulator. I'm not at all in favour of it, simply because what makes a simulator like this fun is precisely all the random,
unscripted events. I've seen burning planes flash across my windscreen, but they were unscripted events, and all the more exciting because of it.
The thing with pre-scripted events is that it may be fun the first time around, but if you fail the mission and have to try it again, you'll know exactly what to expect, and essentially it becomes a case of trial and error, not neccessarily skill, that wins the day.
If you have to keep trying to achieve success, it quickly becomes boring and feels contrived. Pre-scripted events do work well in some games, but honestly I think they have no place in a simulator.
As to a proper story mode, again I don't think it's neccessary. I can only speak for myself, but I'd rather play a historically accurate campaign or mission, however sometimes boring it may be, rather than one that is specifically designed to make the game more exciting or movie-like.
The problem as I see it in this sense is that sooner or later fantasy is going to creep into the game. In order to make missions ever more exciting, virtual pilots will be tasked on taking on missions that never happened or never would have happened in WW2.
I bought this sim because I wanted to experience, as close as I'll ever get, to flying a combat aircraft in WW2 and experiencing what it's like to keep tabs on manifold pressure, engaging the fuel cock, opening the rads, trimming the plane and other often mundane but important tasks. It's not all about the action but the pure experience of 'flying' these great old warbirds.
Of course the air combat plays a major role, but I want the combat to feel as authentic and realistic as possible.
Pre-scripting the action or trying to make it more movie-like is going to straddle the line between simulator and arcade game, and to me games that try and achieve both often end up achieving neither. For me, it's best to play either an arcade type game or a simulator, depending on what you're looking for.
I honestly couldn't care less about a sweeping, grandiose musical score as I attack a formation of bombers...not in a simulator. I'd be too busy adjusting the convergence of my guns to care.
