R/r/r
Repair/Rearm/Refuel ? ahh, just get a new plane?
As you can see from my handle, I've been MMO WW2 siming along time. Back when Confirmed kill became Warbirds (Interactive Creations Inc.) and later IMagic Online, and Eidos bought up the old Confirmed Kill project. I beta tested this new CK project. The lead was a fella named Mike Gilmartin. He disclosed an idea he had for a totally new style of online game play.
You have to remember that Air Warrior (late 1980's) actually had a strategic game play aspect to it, but a poor flight model and graphics. Others that followed that improved the FM and visuals but only had dogfight mode (pure) and or capture the base ( close the airfield ).
Enter Gilmartins idea. (btw google his name to see a long list of accomplishments in computer gaming) Over the phone one evening he revealed to me his idea of a "Limited Resource Engagement" This LRE would be perfect for Aerosquadron play.
The problem with MMO WW2 gaming is direction. Players will game the game so to speak. Not given good structure, they will resort to bad styles of game play.
Back to IL2 Sturmovik for abit, I was around early on, getting Olegs ear ( which was incredibly easy back then) long before the first version went gold.
I argued for many options on a now defunct message board (dogfighter.com) against a sea of opposition. 3 realism options I finally got Oleg to agree to were: No Icons, No Icons on Mini Map, and No Padlock view allowed.
Back then Padlock view was a bad option to sticky view keys.( no track IR back then ) The main opponent to these options back then was a guy named Luthier ( who you may know ) Seems he's redeemed himself these days.
Not long after IL2 was released, ideas for enhancing styles of game play emerged, scorched earth was one I believe and mud movers another?
Just my observations over many years, as an end user, not a programmer, just lending my ideas and hoping they're heard.
When computer gaming was in its infancy, flight sims accounted for almost 1/2 of the mix of available games, but not even close today. I don't believe anything is too blame, except the structure of the game play itself, and the failure to be innovative.
Enter "Zuti's MDS" and its many accomplishments. Kanal uporabnika veqlargh81 is his youtube account name. KUV has breathed life into a neglected aspect of the industry. Something Gilmartin tried to do years ago. Girlmartins CKII never made it out of beta, never went gold, axed by Eidos presumed to be over budget and under developed to continue.
But Gilmartins ideas of an LRE were very aligned with KUV's MDS. And still, to this day, I have not seen it incorporated into IL2 as it could be IMO and this lies with what I would call, improper use of R/R/R.
Sorry for all the back story telling, but I believe its important to understand the past, to help improve the future.
I myself have been INACTIVE as far as gaming, for some time, but peruse the message boards for signs progress in this specific area. I've long lost interest, for the very reasons stated above, the lack of structured game play.
Others have engaged ideas that are again IMO a step forwards, but not in direction Gilmartin wished to implement, which if done properly might restore some of that MIX on the gaming shelves back toward FlightSims.
If any of you gentlemen would like to know more of this concept of LRE and how Zuti's MDS and R/R/R could provide a yet UNtapped mode of structured game play that would provide constant heart pounded decision making and sweating flight stick palms back into the game, let me know.
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