It all depends on what is being simulated, IMO.
IMO, all that matters is the end result. In that sense, some CEM stuff is required, obviously, but even that can sometimes miss the forest for the trees.
The questions to ask for simulation, IMO, are:
1. Is the system complex enough that realistic variations in pilot skill are taken into account by the CEM system. Ie: someone who pays attention does better (milage, ROC, etc).
2. Does the interface result in actions in the cockpit by the virtual pilot taking the same amount of time/attention as a RL pilot?
#2 is CRITICAL, IMO. IF the click interface takes me 15 seconds to get the plane ready for a dive, and in RL it took 5, it's not simulating anything. If the keyboard shortcut or HOTAS takes me a fraction of a second to do something that should take several seconds, then THAT is wrong.
That said, since the switches are already animated, why not? Then it seems the player could create a combo of keymaps and clicks.
Take things like charging the guns, arming a bomb, etc. That's great for a interactive cockpit.
tater
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