Community FM Efford

[*Buzzsaw*]

Salute

We all knew that CoD was going to be open to modding of both the aircraft/damage/graphics/maps models... BUT, that was supposed to have only after the tools to accomplish this were released, and those mods were only supposed to be potentially activated on non-secure servers.

It is really unfortunate that we have third parties already imposing their hacks on the game, when it is still not fully developed. If these hacks are useable on supposedly secure public servers, then it will be a disaster for the community. Even IL-2, after the mods were introduced, had a Check Runtime=2 file which made players conform their game version to that of the hosting server. If this hackers mods are useable on CoD servers, then my prediction is the community will dissolve very quickly.

I would urge the developers to do all they can to squash this development immediately, and to ensure the community can fly online with the secure knowledge the game will provide a level playing field for all participants.

[carguy_]

Interesting. I abandoned IL2 shortly after it got cracked. I`ve had no support in damning the mods. Never quite seen it perform in practice, but I couldn`t fly online when the integrity of the game got compromised.

Anybody know how it turned out for IL2 1946 from 2007 to 2011r? Was the community fractured or not? Any cheats online?

Anyways, I thought Steam covered that issue with COD...?

[t4trouble]

But il2 has very little cheats compared to most games,the vast majority would not cheat prefer to down people by your own skill and not by cheating.Age factor might have alot to do with this i think as the il2 community is rather mature i believe.

[6S.Manu]

Originally Posted by carguy_

Interesting. I abandoned IL2 shortly after it got cracked. I`ve had no support in damning the mods. Never quite seen it perform in practice, but I couldn`t fly online when the integrity of the game got compromised.

Anybody know how it turned out for IL2 1946 from 2007 to 2011r? Was the community fractured or not? Any cheats online?

Anyways, I thought Steam covered that issue with COD...?

The community has always been divided since the release of the game because of the way the virtual pilots want to play IL2. There are the lovers of simulation, the sunday pilots and so on.

So there are different IL2 communities (and there will be regardin CloD).

If the one where you fly is a serious one then there is no fear of cheating since it's difficult to find a guy having fun in this way. These guys only go to fly in servers with pilots of their kind. They don't cheat, the enemy doesn't cheat.

An example is the SEOW community: the squadrons who fly these type of campaign know each other... if there is a cheater it will be the squadron itself who'll ban him.

Infact it's almost a closed campaign and you have to be invited to fly. The average age of the pilots is very high, probably 30-35 years and the respect between the pilots is the highest.

If instead you are used to fly alone in a server full of free pilots (I mean they fly alone, in no squadron) then there is more chances to find a cheater.

It's all to you. Have you ever thought to enter in a squadron?

PS: avoiding modded IL2 you are really losing a wonderful aspect of IL2. A beautiful (graphics and sounds), realistic (you know what I mean, it's still a videogame), historic simulator.

What you say is just a very theoretical and optimistic wishful thinking.

As a high ranked politician once said: it is the one who doesn't play by the rules who will always win.

If a cheat is possible there's always one who will do it even if the majority doesn't. And one cheater is enough to ruin a flight evening and experience (and not wishful thinking) teaches us that accusations of cheating are florishing when mods (or to be precise "hacks" because that's what it is) exists which is even worse.

Experience (and not wishful thinking) teaches us that mods will lead to a split server offer and thus reducing the choice of scenarios you and I can fly on.
During my IL2 time there have been a handful of servers that weren't empty and had full real settings. 90% of all servers on hyperlobby were not full real, 75% of the remaining full real servers were always empty. This left about perhaps 5 servers that were full real and with decent player numbers to have fun. And this was during the best times of IL2 when there had been over 1000 IL2 players online on Hyperlobby. Then came the mods and modfree servers with full real and with decent player numbers dropped considerably. And each of the remaining had different mods. I dropped out of playing IL2 and so did a lot of other players because when I checked a couple of months later on HL only half of initial player numbers were found on HL.

After now one year of IL2 absence I don't know where player number is right now but I guess that it is far lower now.

Fact is the community is shrinking. And you want to divide this community further just in order to have the Spit or the 109 you dream of. Have fun with it there will be very few ppl with whom you then can fly.

[Peril]

Yes no one will ever agree on which performance test to base a build, but if this can be used to correct obvious errors it has to be a good thing.

I have been turned off IL2 in the past mainly because of the poor implementation of FM accuracy, it's not hard to pick holes but some holes were pretty big to be honest. I have a huge amount of data here that has already been sifted, picked, typos found (yes core data has errors) tested in Targetware, complained about and finally implemented. People like me with experience and the data to help do exists just in the past it's all been taboo.

As the FM Guru for Target Rabaul, this has my interest as a viable option ONCE the bugs are sorted. The only thing I seek is the ability to help if I can and a PACIFIC theatre to play in

The latter is my passion

Originally Posted by Hunin

With the release of Kegety's SFS mod that includes a dump command to extract enpacked files we are now in the position to modify CloD.
Even better (or worse ): none of the game data is decrypted.
To make this crystal clear:

Anybody with notepad can now edit the whole range of vital components, including flight models.

I sure hope steam's anti-cheat routines are as good as or better than CRT2 was back in the old engine.

However there's also a tremendous chance here.
Looking at the teething problems the game has at the moment and the very involved and admirable way Luthier responds to community requests and criticism, I ask myself wether we could take all the creative energy and extensive resources a dedicated and caring community can muster and channel them into actively helping the developement process.

With the FM files openly accessible to everyone, why not try to steer the testing and constructive criticism towards actual changes in a community made beta efford.
We know that the developement team is under tremendous pressure at the moment.
Let's get all interested hands and get them dirty for the benefit of the sim.
A Spitfire Mk I with CSP has transformed from a request to a feasible possibility for example.
Puting it into the game would both satisfy the demand of the community and lifting the workload of a frankly guite minor task of the devs.
If it adheres to the high standards it may be incorporated officialy.

I'm well aware that the release of the mod tools was not wished for or done by Maddox Games.
Either way this is a forced revelation of their hard work and I understand if the thought of an involuntary public beta process comes close to feel insulting after so many years of development.
However the state of affairs does remind me of some early statements made by Oleg about a moddable game that is customizable by the end user with an in-house quality control and the possibility of officializing community content.

My point is simple.
Everybody and their mother can and will modify the game to their liking soon.
We might as well try to benefit from it.

PS
Hoping for some clarification from the officials here.
What's the stance on this latest episode of the CloD rollercoaster?

Still it is better to discuss it here and hope that the devs will make a good decision for the sake of historical accuracy than to have these mod sects that destroy the community which is already quite limited.

[fruitbat]

Originally Posted by 6S.Manu

The community has always been divided since the release of the game because of the way the virtual pilots want to play IL2. There are the lovers of simulation, the sunday pilots and so on.

So there are different IL2 communities (and there will be regardin CloD).

If the one where you fly is a serious one then there is no fear of cheating since it's difficult to find a guy having fun in this way. These guys only go to fly in servers with pilots of their kind. They don't cheat, the enemy doesn't cheat.

An example is the SEOW community: the squadrons who fly these type of campaign know each other... if there is a cheater it will be the squadron itself who'll ban him.

Infact it's almost a closed campaign and you have to be invited to fly. The average age of the pilots is very high, probably 30-35 years and the respect between the pilots is the highest.

If instead you are used to fly alone in a server full of free pilots (I mean they fly alone, in no squadron) then there is more chances to find a cheater.

It's all to you. Have you ever thought to enter in a squadron?

PS: avoiding modded IL2 you are really losing a wonderful aspect of IL2. A beautiful (graphics and sounds), realistic (you know what I mean, it's still a videogame), historic simulator.

I am in 100% agreement with 6S.Manu.

Those who left il2 when modding appeared are the guys that lost out most in some respects.

For sure, when it first happened online was a mess, and everything was unsure, but what has transpired since has been a revolution imo.

I fly online with a squad i belong too 95% of the time, and the the idea that someone would cheat is just a non entity.

I have never personally EVER seen someone cheating, just doesn't happen in my circle, and i fly with some people that most of you that frequent the variety of il2 forums would know by name.

Thanks to Manu, i now have the chance to participate on a fantastic online SEOW, simply because he flew against/with another member of my squad, and they respect each other.

Il2, and flightsims in general are not like most other games, they're to hard or complex for most casual gamers particularly those who are younger, to play on servers that are on harder settings you have to immerse yourself with knowledge and it just doesn't attract the cheats that all the naysayers heralded.

Without doubt, the modding of il2 resulted in a great many players from playing online anymore.

Unfortunately, on nothing more than there own preconceived fears, as opposed to actual reality, more fool them.

Il2 1946 has never been as good as what it is now, with HSFX5, and the new UP coming out.

While Clod is all potential, these deliver.

I want Clod to be a success, and am fairly sure it will be, but at the moment, in its currant state, its not fit for purpose, there just to many fundamental bugs.

Planes can't even fly at the heights most of the Bob took place, because something is fucked with the mixture control.

I will just keep flying with my squad, on HSFX or UP, until Clod becomes anywhere near as good, and yet i think it will massively surpass it oneday, but its got a hell of a way to go yet.

my two cents.

[csThor]

Amusing to see the pink-tinted glasses some of you're wearing WRT the mods. To me all they managed was to fracture the community even more, apart from providing a stage for those people who strive for some internet fame and virtual shoulder clapping, and introduce the almost-religious flamefests and the mutual accusations of FM-heresy. As such they followed the trend I've seen in previous sims - modding is to the larger degree not about enhancing the gameplay value but about receiving internet adulation. Thanks, I pass ...

Originally Posted by csThor

Amusing to see the pink-tinted glasses some of you're wearing WRT the mods. To me all they managed was to fracture the community even more, apart from providing a stage for those people who strive for some internet fame and virtual shoulder clapping, and introduce the almost-religious flamefests and the mutual accusations of FM-heresy. As such they followed the trend I've seen in previous sims - modding is to the larger degree not about enhancing the gameplay value but about receiving internet adulation. Thanks, I pass ...

+1