Non Friday 2010-04-15 Development Update :)

[zapatista]

Originally Posted by Oleg Maddox

Hi,

probably tomorrow I'll need to be absent, so small update would be beter to post today.

Remind you, this is WIP, shown in tools.
Maybe tomorrow here will be some video as well.

Some or the animation various. Unfinished, non polished.

oleg,

thanks for the update, the pilot landing sequence looks very good and realistic (he even keeps his feet together during the landing as instructed in training )

Originally Posted by Oleg Maddox

We don't plan to make such sequence. However I don't knopw yet how to finish the scene To allow pilot to walk home..... probably not the best choice for future additions of the sim. And to swim in the direction of home beach and then walk home also probably not the best solution

oleg, please consider these suggestions on how to finish the pilot landing scene:

1) once pilot has landed in friendly territory the game player can hit "refly", but..
a) same ejected pilot name/character should not be available on "new fly" roster board at friendly airfields for several hrs/days (depending on approximate distance he landed from home base, this can be 3 choices like close, far, very far)
b) if no "refly" key hit by player, then downed pilot might get 10 or 20 min to "walk around" and be able to be "rescued" by other friendly player landing close to him (in field or on road). parachuted pilot should be able to walk/run to friendly plane that landed to help him
c) if no friendly planes comes to rescue (only really for landing in enemy territory) then pilot should be able to walk to nearest road (and from then pilot's can only walk in open fields, and on roads and railway lines maybe ?, to keep game coding more simple)
d) any friendly AI vehicle on a road (can be factor programmed with random delay) that passes the location of the pilot will trigger scenario "pilot picked up by friendly civilian in vehicle" (or friendly military convoy etc). this triggers cut scene animation sequence of pilot climbing in vehicle, fade scene, and final scene with pilot arriving back at home base (with game clock moved forward 1 hr or 1 day etc), pilot name can then be seen on flight board register at home base again and used by player.

2) above sequence should take minimal coding time to add and has advantages off:
- parachuted pilot can for now only walk/run in open fields and on roads and railway lines (which are already programmed to allow movement of AI vehicles etc, and have no "obstacles" for movement). this means you dont need to allow pilot walking in a complete "ground world". if even this is to difficult because to much time is need, allow "pilot walking" only as hidden easter egg future, so people dont "expect" it to be perfect.
- in real life BoB downed allied pilots could sit/stand and watch the air battle continuing for a little while, adds realism
- allowing parachuted pilot to walk to nearby road (or towards friendly plane landing in same field) and wait for AI friendly vehicle adds continuity in scenario and increases game world immersion for players
- if player crashes his plane on landing or takeoff (and survives it), the pilot is so close to home base he should be able to walk back to the control tower or briefing are, or walk to a fresh plane available. the immediate ground area near the home base airfield can then also be used as a "test zone" to work on pilot interaction with "ground world" (open/close doors, climb over fence, get in/out of vehicles or AA guns etc)

3) current AI ground activity (buses, cars, truck convoys moving on roads) is already coded in the game in significant detail (going by your previous posts on this topic), it should be fairly easy to add some simple categories for landed pilot to trigger "encounter" with AI road traffic for ex,
- landed in relatively empty area wait civilian AI traffic scene 1 hrs,
- landed in more busy area is 10 min,
- landed in very busy or built up area = 3 min

we dont need a pilot walking home for 2 hrs like in lockon2 right now, but some control over the pilot and some interaction with ground AI activity like vehicles/objects would be great. we also need the right time delays added to the campaign engine for the shot down pilot who bailed out, so he doesnt instantly can relocate t a friendly airbase 100's of km away and instantly have a fresh new plane, it must have a time delay added before he gets back to base, and adding in some video cut scenes can be used there

later when ground vehicle control is more developed, the control and interaction with the pilot behavior and movement can be improved/increased

edit: for german pilots landing in england, and pilots landing in sea

4) german pilots landing in england (note: german pilots landing in enemy territory probably should not initially have freedom to walk around, because more complex to create interaction with "local" AI activity ?)
- landed in relatively empty area, after a delay add video clip of off pilot capture/surrender to home guard, or farmer with pitch fork etc..
- landed in more busy area: is 10 min,
- landed in very busy or built up area = 3 min

5) for all pilots landing in the sea
- if very close to friendly coast line, 90% chance of "rescue by local fishermen" , add short video clip
- if in sea farther from land/coast, and friendly enemy ship nearby (1 km ?), ship changes course or launches small rescue craft, add cut scene pilot recue'd/captured after 30 min. when later on we get control over some small ships (as you before have mentioned wanting to add at some point, some players will enjoy doing pilot risque missions at sea when controlling sea craft)
- if no ships nearby, allow for some possibility for rescue by rescue planes for next 6/12/24 hrs (while pilot sits in small inflatable dingy, maybe even give later pilots a flare gun ?), and pilot can be restored to flying roster after several days
- add random % chance of pilot killed (lost at sea) or MIA and never appears on pilot roster again

[zapatista]

Originally Posted by erco

I like the idea of ending the sequence with the pilot sitting down and lighting up a smoke- unless, of course, an enemy plane flys by, in which case he should shake his fist at them.

Great update!

i suspect scenes with smoking cigarettes wont be added, in the same way that blood and gore is limited.

showing smoking in action games like this could be interpreted as encouraging young people to smoke

[mungee]

Amazing attention to detail - wow!

My "two pennies worth":

I think that it would be great to have the initial egress from the cockpit in the "first person" view (remember it in EAW? ... where your view rotated around the sky/horizon a bit, as you descended) - a button to open the 'chute will be brilliant!! - and a mandatory switch to "exterior view" on landing - get out of the parachute harness and as one is doing so, the scene zooms out - end of mission ... with some appropriate music!
I think that the "first person" view on the bail-out is very immersive - one can have a loud (wind) whistling noise as one opens the cockpit canopy, a "small library of different "grunts" added for the moment the parachute opens and a hard "thud and grunt" on landing!
Hehe! I guess Oleg and his team have already settled on this sequence anyway!

Keep up the brilliant work Oleg!

[zauii]

Originally Posted by zapatista

oleg,

thanks for the update, the pilot landing sequence looks very good and realistic (he even keeps his feet together during the landing as instructed in training )




oleg, please consider these suggestions on how to finish the pilot landing scene:

1) once pilot has landed in friendly territory the game player can hit "refly", but..
a) same ejected pilot name/character should not be available on "new fly" roster board at friendly airfields for several hrs/days (depending on approximate distance he landed from home base, this can be 3 choices like close, far, very far)
b) if no "refly" key hit by player, then downed pilot might get 10 or 20 min to "walk around" and be able to be "rescued" by other friendly player landing close to him (in field or on road). parachuted pilot should be able to walk/run to friendly plane that landed to help him
c) if no friendly planes comes to rescue (only really for landing in enemy territory) then pilot should be able to walk to nearest road (and from then pilot's can only walk in open fields, and on roads and railway lines maybe ?, to keep game coding more simple)
d) any friendly AI vehicle on a road (can be factor programmed with random delay) that passes the location of the pilot will trigger scenario "pilot picked up by friendly civilian in vehicle" (or friendly military convoy etc). this triggers cut scene animation sequence of pilot climbing in vehicle, fade scene, and final scene with pilot arriving back at home base (with game clock moved forward 1 hr or 1 day etc), pilot name can then be seen on flight board register at home base again and used by player.

2) above sequence should take minimal coding time to add and has advantages off:
- parachuted pilot can for now only walk/run in open fields and on roads and railway lines (which are already programmed to allow movement of AI vehicles etc, and have no "obstacles" for movement). this means you dont need to allow pilot walking in a complete "ground world". if even this is to difficult because to much time is need, allow "pilot walking" only as hidden easter egg future, so people dont "expect" it to be perfect.
- in real life BoB downed allied pilots could sit/stand and watch the air battle continuing for a little while, adds realism
- allowing parachuted pilot to walk to nearby road (or towards friendly plane landing in same field) and wait for AI friendly vehicle adds continuity in scenario and increases game world immersion for players
- if player crashes his plane on landing or takeoff (and survives it), the pilot is so close to home base he should be able to walk back to the control tower or briefing are, or walk to a fresh plane available. the immediate ground area near the home base airfield can then also be used as a "test zone" to work on pilot interaction with "ground world" (open/close doors, climb over fence, get in/out of vehicles or AA guns etc)

3) current AI ground activity (buses, cars, truck convoys moving on roads) is already coded in the game in significant detail (going by your previous posts on this topic), it should be fairly easy to add some simple categories for landed pilot to trigger "encounter" with AI road traffic for ex,
- landed in relatively empty area wait civilian AI traffic scene 1 hrs,
- landed in more busy area is 10 min,
- landed in very busy or built up area = 3 min

we dont need a pilot walking home for 2 hrs like in lockon2 right now, but some control over the pilot and some interaction with ground AI activity like vehicles/objects would be great. we also need the time delays added in for the shot down pilot who bailed out, so he doesnt instantly can relocate t a friendly airbase 100's of km away and instantly have a fresh new plane, it must have a time delay added before he gets back to base, and adding in some video cut scenes can be used there

later when ground vehicle control is more developed, the control and interaction with the pilot behavior and movement can be improved/increased

edit: for german pilots landing in england, and pilots landing in sea

4) german pilots landing in england (note: german pilots landing in enemy territory probably should not initially have freedom to walk around, because more complex to create interaction with "local" AI activity ?)
- landed in relatively empty area, after a delay add video clip of off pilot capture/surrender to home guard,
- landed in more busy area: is 10 min,
- landed in very busy or built up area = 3 min

5) for all pilots landing in the sea
- if very close to friendly coast line, 90% chance of "rescue by local fishermen" , add short video clip
- if in sea farther from land/coast, and friendly enemy ship nearby (1 km ?), ship changes course or launches small rescue craft, add cut scene pilot recue'd/captured after 30 min. when later on we get control over some small ships (as you before have mentioned wanting to add at some point, some players will enjoy doing pilot risque missions at sea when controlling sea craft)
- if no ships nearby, allow for some possibility for rescue by rescue planes for next 6/12/24 hrs (while pilot sits in small inflatable dingy, maybe even give later pilots a flare gun ?), and pilot can be restored to flying roster after several days
- add random % chance of pilot killed (lost at sea) or MIA and never appears on pilot roster again

This is a joke right, this dude can't be serious?
Oh boy you're gonna get disappointed at launch.

[johnnypfft]

After landing your parachute

1. If you land in friendly zone, you have the options to choose "Return to base" but enemy planes can still shoot you if they spotts you.

2. If you land in enemy zone, you have the options to choose "Surrender" or just wait to be captured or killed by enemy units if you're not able to walk into friendly zone? just some suggestions

[LukeFF]

I'd never thought I'd see such a verbose discussion about how to code the pilot's movements after he parachutes and lands safely. At most, show the pilot land, unbuckle the parachute from his harness, and be done with it. Anything more IMO is a waste of time and development resources.

[fireflyerz]

Ha,ha, thats the best PLF ive ever seen anyone do , I know this is still WIP but the canopy and rigging lines look very rigid ,will they have more flex and flutter in final versions? , one of the stills also hints at the pilot being draged is that also on the animated cards ?

[zapatista]

Originally Posted by fireflyerz

I know this is still WIP but the canopy and rigging lines look very rigid ,will they have more flex and flutter in final versions?

in the road vehicles that move iirc (? and aircraft ?) the tires will flex/compress and the suspension moves, so maybe they can even eventually add rope like behavior to the parachute strings instead of having them behave like sticks

[AdMan]

I resubmit my vote for letting us run the pilot around until some ungodly bastard comes along and fills us with lead

or until we hit refly

/done

[kendo65]

Originally Posted by Novotny

Must say, I've been following the recent interest in changing this flight simulator into an actual universe simulator with some interest.

I think this is a good idea - if we don't model the entire universe then navigation in nighttime bomber missions will be farcical and silly.

Oleg should model all the stars and constellations out to 40 million light years, and adjust the pilot's viewpoint based on latitude / longitude.

Anything else is a total cop-out.