Friday 2010-08-06 Dev. update and Discussions

[engarde]

and, by second visit, you're telling me pilots dont pre-flight aircraft before every flight?

they just run up and fly away as per the movies?

without EVER... let me say that again... EVER... checking their mounts?

no.

just no.

[LukeFF]

Where in the world was aircraft staring procedures a topic of this week's development update?

[engarde]

Originally Posted by LukeFF

Where in the world was aircraft staring procedures a topic of this week's development update?

it wasn't.

i thought it might offset the detail fanatics who look for anything, however minor, to criticise.

as in, no computers, it takes time to start an old warbird?

[engarde]

sadly, i thought i might be lauded for posting real world, irrefutable, actual information that might contribute to the genre.

how naive of me.

[Abbeville-Boy]

i think you just want attention so hello

[engarde]

Originally Posted by Abbeville-Boy

i think you just want attention so hello

no.

i dont.

anything worthwhile to add?

[Abbeville-Boy]

ok i really like the idea of chimney smoking and i will enjoy making a winter time mission

[engarde]

Originally Posted by Abbeville-Boy

ok i really like the idea of chimney smoking and i will enjoy making a winter time mission

haaaa hahaha smoke that chimney abbe boy.

[TheGrunch]

Originally Posted by engarde

sadly, i thought i might be lauded for posting real world, irrefutable, actual information that might contribute to the genre.

how naive of me.

It was a fair point, engarde, but you did pick two of the most complicated aircraft of the Second World War systems-wise and the videos contained a lot of lengthy explanation that an experienced pilot would not need.
For the single-engined fighters like the Spitfire, Hurricane and 109s that the game simulates we're talking more like 3-5 minutes tops. From the Pilot's Notes for the Spitfire Mk II:





The Spitfire particularly was prone to overheating on the ground - as the Pilot's Notes above state "Warming up should not be unduly prolonged, as the temperature rises quickly, and some margin must be kept in hand for taxying. If it is 150 degrees before the aircraft taxies out, it will become excessive if there is any distance to taxy downwind."

As for the Luftwaffe twins, the BR.20 and the Blenheim, of course you're right, there's a lot more mucking about to do. The thing is, most of the things you'll notice on the checklist are not things we as sim pilots need to be overly concerned about. We fly pristine aircraft that don't suffer from mechanical failures without pilot error or enemy action. Things like checking the tires for bruising and slip or checking for the correct oil pressure after engine startup are things we can take for granted, and that means that we're not really talking about "realistic startup" (which DOES take a long time), we really mean, "pressing all the authentic buttons to make stuff happen". In fact, since we're assuming that everything on the checklist before stepping into the cockpit the final time before takeoff has already being done, you can knock about half of the startup time off each of those videos anyway.

[ElAurens]

I have no problem with fully realistic proceedures as long as like every other aspect of the sim, they are scalable. For offliners it will be a very important part of their experience, so go for it.

For online, where folks have much more limited time to fly even very long, complicated missions, some compromise between the ultra complex and arcade start up proceedure will end up being used.

If an online campaign has only 3 hours to run it's mission, and you might be able to do 3 sorties in complex twins, I will virtually guarantee that the majority of players will not want to spend half that time sitting on the ramp clicking buttons.

The object is to fly and fight, not fight the game mechanics just to be able to play.

Thankfully Oleg understands this.

We should all be able to have our fun, whatever we think "fun" is.