What do you search in a combat flight sim?

[robtek]

I fly the Bf110 cruising hands free, it takes only longer to trim because of the damn reversal bug in the g940 system.

[pupo162]

Originally Posted by robtek

I fly the Bf110 cruising hands free, it takes only longer to trim because of the damn reversal bug in the g940 system.

aaahhhhh the reversal bug. i had 4 g940 thanks to that. finally settled with an x52. i have mixed feelings about the both. overall i think i like mroe the x52 thtottle, except for the lack of buttons ( it should have 1 8 way POV). im still using the g940 stick tough.

[hc_wolf]

What do you search in a combat flight sim?

Simple: Enemy!

[von Brühl]

Simulation, not just of aircraft systems, but environment.

[addman]

Accessibility, without compromising with realism. Nice thread BTW!

[Feuerfalke]

In a combat-flight-sim I primarily search for targets.

And depending on the mission-, damage- and fuel-status, I search a place to land.

[Feuerfalke]

Jokes aside:

Immersion and accessability.

Even over realism? Yes.
Example: I'd prefer propwash over grass and a thrilling sound-experience of 6 roaring Vickers over the tickticktick you might hear over the engine noise.

[ATAG_Bliss]

Total immersion from the ground and air. To be part of the war where ever it took place.

With the recent update news, it looks like they are making my dream come alive. Good times ahead.

[6S.Manu]

Since there are a lot of different opionions and tastes I would like to do an analysis of every interested guy.

I'm going to post in another thread a point system using our personal interests (0 = no interest, 1 low, 2 medium, 3 high)

I've tried to make a list of some aspects of the combat flight sim in a detailed way, but I ask your help to add something or change it if something is too much generic.

I'll add it to the list and make the changes and then I'll open the thread.

Here's the partial list:
- Accurate flight models (how any plane/engine reacts to the manouvres, wind, pressure changes, air temperature, propwash/jetwash...)

- Accurate planes' hystorical performance (correct plane's speed, climb rating...)

- Detailed pilot's 3D model/animation/customization

- Detailed crew's 3D model/animation

- Detailed planes' 3D models/animations

- Detailed ground vehicles' 3D models/animations (tanks, trucks, trains...)

- Detailed ships/boats 3D models/animations

- Detailed major military 3D models/animations (flaks, ambulances...)

- Detailed minor military 3D models/animations (bycicles, sunbed and table with chessboard/cards/tea cups...)

- Detailed civil 3D models/animations (cows, bus, civil cars...)

- Detailed cities' design (city's layout, buildings, streets, signals...)

- Detailed cities' life (lights are turned on on nights, cars are moving on the streets, drawbridges are animated...)

- Detailed airbases' design (historycal landing strips/fields, detailed taxiways, buildings's detail and position, parking ramps, real flak quantity...)

- Detailed airbases' life (mechanics are actively refuelling/repairing/rearming parked aircrafts, tank cars are moving there and back, ground entities react correctly to difficult landings with ambulances, firemen's truck, bengalas for your planes or the AI ones...)

- Detailed field life (moving cows, sheeps, whales and a T-Rex as easter egg)

- Detailed cockpit's 3D model (every level and switch are in the right place)

- Detailed cockpit's animation (every level and switch appear in their current position, on/off...)

- Clickable cockpit (you act directly on controls by keyboard or using your mouse)

- Cockpit immersion (think about being in the 109's narrow cockpit)

- Number of historycal skin versions (aces' skins, multiple squadrons skins, custom funny skins...)

- Dynamic wearing of the aircraft skin

- Number of flyable fighters

- Number of flyable bombers

- Number of flyable not fighting planes (Me108, Fieseler Storch, modern planes, german wonder machines ect...)

- Interactive vehicles (driving tanks, trucks, ambulance, gas tank...)

- Interactive flaks (FPS capability of the simulator...)

- Number of different version for the same plane (not talking about the main marks, but the different version of these like 109E1, 109E3, 109E7, 109E7Z...)

- Detailed damage models of the inflight planes

- Detailed damage models of the parked planes (not detailed as the for inflight planes, but some planes should explode, other should lose a wings or start smoking...)

- Detailed damage models of the ground vehicles (armor aspects of tanks, engine/wheels damage of trucks, explosion of the gas tanks...)

- Detailed damage models of the ships/boat (like in the IL2's mod, DM of ships are complex and flaks can be hushed...)

- Detailed damage models of the buildings/areas (factories, bridges, cumulative damage on areas as in SEOW... you have to not be able to destroy a factory using a SC50)

- Visual damage rappresention on inflight planes (broken whindshield or oil on it, holes on wings...)

- Visual damage rappresention on parked planes and ground vehicles (smoke, flames...)

- Visual damage rappresention on ships/boat (holes, flames, tilting attitude...)

- Visual damage rappresention on buildings(fire, smoke columns...)

- Visual damage rappresention on terrain (craters...)

- Realistic reaction attitude of plane's crew - airplane AI (quality of pilot, realtime fatigue, stubbornness/cowardice, use of tactics and the chances of success's reckoning...)

- Realistic reaction attitude of the vehicle's crew - vehicle AI (they move searching for cover or run far from the vehicle)

- Realistic reaction attitude of the ground crew - ground AI (flak doesn't fire because crew is scared of your firing at them)

- Detailed aircraft inflight management/maintenance (keeping an eye always on the gauges, turning on the oxigen, operating on seats belt for better visibility/acrobatic manouvre's sustenance, changing the gunsight's bulbs, anti-icer system, windshield wiper, attention to some fragile components like brakes and tires...)

- Detailed aircraft major ground management/maintenance (all based on historical loadouts, fixed by mission planner: ammo belts, weapon loadout, fuel quantity, MW50 quantity/replacing, radio's absence... plus complex engine's startup)

- Detailed aircraft minor ground management/maintenance (all the personal plane's customization: trims' settings, weapons' convergence, seat elevation, rear-view mirror, de-mist patch, lady's picture, different gauges...)

- Planes reliability / dynamic tearing (random optional events: fickle engine, freezing prop pitch mechanism, unreleased bombs/tanks, oil/fuel leaks, defective wings/wheels)

- Accurate weapon's performance/reliability (weapon's failures based on mechanical defects/G-forces sustained/damage taken/freezing/mishandling)

- Accurate communications system (radio management, switching frequencies, control tower, personal mechanic's assistance in case of failure, radio operators with a lady's voice giving infos and direction and a more interactive communication: for example you should be asking for ID of a unidentified contact in the same airspace/ground sector...)

- Communications with your bomber's crew (a of them alert you of the position of the enemy, the condition of the plane or they keep crying is wounded)

- Strongly affecting atmospheric environment (sun, clouds, haze were more important in RL than they are in IL2.. they greatly affect the fight/hunt/bombing run of the pilot bacause of visibility issue)

- Virtual pilot's fatigue/stamina management (because of G-forces, war wearing, stick forces)

- Virtual pilot's physical/mental conditions (blackout fading, nausea, freezing)

- Virtual pilot's realistic scanning/spotting/tracking target capability (partially based on the virtual pilot's average skill/experience/war wearing/flight duration, tipology of the target -> see target visiblity thread)

- Virtual pilot's max number of concurrent actions (limited by the time requested and status: so multiple wound effects, one hand/two hands on cloche toggle)

- Sound engine (of course realistic sound of the engine/weapon models, supercharger, no more that horible engine radar)

- Internal teamspeaking application or TS's mandatory plugin (like ACRE plugin for Arma2: your status/equipment heavily affects the communication capability with your teammates and adds new effects.. if you are on a wrong frequency or simply you are dead/unable to speak your teammates can't listen to your voice)

- Visual atmospheric environment (how good need to be the visual aspect of the sim's sun, clouds, haze, reflections...)

- A convincing and representative landscape.

- General visual effects (smoke, fire, tracers, explosions...)

- Dynamic weather (you know: taking off in a sunny morning ad after 30 minutes it starts raining... moving clouds, heavy wind changes, non only the mandatory wind, turbolence and gusts)

- Extreme weather conditions (rain, storm...)

- Animated nature (trees, grass, flags are influenced by wind/propwasj/jetwash)

- Map size (Are you planning to move from England to Italy? Or you are interested only in a 50x50 km square over the channel?)

- Map fidelty (like the map was taken from google maps)

- SDK e modular support (don't you like it? change it and run it on your server)

- Netcode

- Single player campaign/length/variety

- Dynamic campaign generator (both SP and MP)

- Complex script management in mission generation

- Manuals

- Server Stats

- External cockpit management (input/output of data)

- User Interface

- Heavily customizable configuration (options for everyone like the current IL2)

- Briefing and Debriefing (how the mission is posted to the pilots and reviewed at the end)

- Battle reports (claims kills, their positions and your plane/squad/material contiditions like Clostermann did, having gun cameras to remember that)

- Replay functions (to make video, movies ect)

[kendo65]

You forgot 'Hedgerows'.


Just joking. Could I suggest though that you rephrase this one:

"Map fidelty ("Ehi that's my granpa's house there!" and fidelty in buildings/bridges)".

to:

A convincing and representative landscape.

The ground and terrain is important to me, but it only has to be just good enough to be believable and represent a reasonable attempt at the country it is modelling. It doesn't need perfect fidelity in placement of buildings, depiction of architecture, etc. Maybe put that as a second option, but I don't think anyone in their right mind would think it achievable or vote for it.

Suspect that your own personal preferences may have led you to cast the landscape / terrain issue in a slightly jokey offhand manner. Not a criticism - I think this poll is a good idea, but I couldn't vote for the terrain option the way you worded it.

Thanks