Friday 2010-10-01 Dev. update and Discussion

[winny]

Did this forum suddenly turn into the Met office or something?

Go here and look at some clouds, then stop generalising.

[ivagiglie]

Originally Posted by philip.ed

Personally, I think that one of the main reasons why they're posted is for Oleg to read constructive criticism. This way he can gauge the opinions of some people and look into the aspects which come under question. Forum members who develop games have come on here an said exactly the same thing. It's great for the team to hear our honest opinions, as we are the market.
If everyone lied about their feelings, the sim wouldn't be as good as it is now (as many of the changed features may not have been looked into)
If Oleg didn't want the help, he wouldn't use it. Simple as that.

Exactly.

I work on software, not games, but it's the same story.
When we review customer feedback we probably spend 5% of the time on the "good" feedback (yeah, we know that's cool or at least working) and 95% on the NEGATIVE one.
Heck, we probably spend more time *getting* into the meeting room, taking seats and setting up the projector than on the positive things!

Personally I don't care about how harsh the feedback is:
I'm a professional, I'm paid to do my job so I sit down, set aside feelings and try to filter and elaborate on the good input, that is, anything that I can use when I get back to my desk to improve stuff.
Sure, there are times when you read a sentence and all you can say is "this guy's an idiot, he didn't even understand the feature!" but it still leaves you with something to think about...

What's different on a forum compared to "static" customer feedback is interactivity.
People answering back to others that made negative/bad/harsh comments are just polluting the good info, that is, again, stuff that *might* make the product better.
In this thread there are already more than 200 posts and probably only 20 or so that contain anything the team working on SoW can find useful!

One last thing and then I'll finish with this whining.
Stop talking like you were in Oleg's brain!
"I'm sure they will do it" / "It's certain they will change it"
No, you can't be sure or certain about anything and, once again you pollute the forum with nothingness.
There can be one godzillion (which is a godzilla followed by a lots of zeroes) reasons why that specific thing you are sure about in a piece of software cannot be changed with reasonable effort.

That's all, good night!

[SlipBall]

Originally Posted by philip.ed

3rd set, shot 2 and 5. It's faintly clear here

Now only you would claim to be able to see those cloud's base, are you going mad?...you would need to be at a reasonable similar altitude, not thousands of feet above, as is the view in those shots.

[Romanator21]

When we review customer feedback we probably spend 5% of the time on the "good" feedback (yeah, we know that's cool or at least working) and 95% on the NEGATIVE one.

It's one thing to offer constructive criticism (best supported with documentation/photos, etc).

It's quite another to say that the entire effort looks like some child painted it with water colors. This is where the frustration is coming in to play.

Non-meteorologists looking outside their window and commenting on the inaccuracy of clouds isn't quite constructive either, though the intentions may be good.

Lastly, the whining attitude is not exactly welcome to people who are working their asses off 13+ hours 6-7 days a week. ("We should be seeing videos at this stage, why are you still showing screen-shots, this is a boring update"). Have you noticed how many times Oleg has gotten sick this past year? I assure you it's not at all from sleeping in.

Gosh I feel like Chris Crocker when I say, all you people want is MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE!!!

[Tone71]

Originally Posted by holdenbj

Are those first set of screen shots over the Isle of Wight , south coast of UK? The southern point cliffs are a little too severe, other than that the topology/terrain is just perfect. Needs the light houses are St Catherine's and the Needles too

All things considered, I don't think it looks too bad:



Sorry for the small pic, best I could find! This is St.Catherine's on the Isle of Wight; you can just make out how steep it really is and the 'double step' up from the sea.

Originally Posted by Foo'bar

Well, when I look to that then rather not. Doesn't look like anything special. Seems like Tree with all his complains ment the CFS3 instead

I think you understand my point Foo'bar. Oleg could have waited until just before the release date and published a fantasy video like the one I posted. Instead he's chosen to show us the "real deal."

CFS3 was highly criticized after release and you could say it really hit the shelves. My copy is still on the shelf after several frustrating attempts to enjoy it. SoW will be a different story. After its release there might be a few growing pains but I believe it will another long-running playable and re-playable sim like IL-2 Sturmovik.

[Jimko]

Thank you Mr. Maddox for the update pictures and especially for your comments about the progress to date!

I have very few posts on this forum, as you can see. Usually I have had only compliments for the updates and for that I am labeled a ‘fanboy’. But, I also had only one criticism in the past, and that was agreeing with some others about the size of the Hurricane pilot. For that I am labeled a “stupid troll, ignorant terd (or was it turd), etc.

There is no winning! Either I am whining or I am groveling like a dog for approval!

But do not be discouraged. I think that some people do not even read all the previous posts in a thread and they ask for things that you have already spoken about. People are like that.

And others have a double standard. The Hurricane pilot size is not to be mentioned ‘on peril of death’, but the leaf colour, tree trunk sizes, road widths, tracer appearance, colour of the tires (just kidding) and who knows what other details, are ok to criticize…??

This is all very puzzling for someone relatively new to this forum. I think that it demonstrates the old adage “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!”. We will never agree on all points!

I, and many others, still look forward to the release of this combat flight sim.

Good luck!

[Romanator21]

For starters, cliffs erode, and sometimes rather quickly. Today's landscape isn't going to match 1940's landscape 100%.

3rd set, shot 2 and 5. It's faintly clear here

Allow me to respectfully disagree with you here and say that there is nothing out of the ordinary with these clouds, and in fact they are quite realistic as I see these types quite often. I have also flown very close to clouds (but not in them as I'm not IFR certified). Theses are already rather flat in appearance, but you shouldn't expect to see table-tops except for under certain conditions.

And others have a double standard. The Hurricane pilot size is not to be mentioned ‘on peril of death’, but the leaf colour, tree trunk sizes, road widths, tracer appearance, colour of the tires (just kidding) and who knows what other details, are ok to criticize…??

Tracer color, leaf color, etc are subjective based on our experiences and monitor calibrations. Pilot size is scaled in the 3D engine along with every other object. It's impossible to make a pilot which is shorter than you scale it to be. If it's 175cm, it's 175cm, no speculation necessary.

[bf-110]

B.R.20...Magnifico!!!!

[He111]

Excellent work! but did i see an italian fighter attacking a wimpy from behind?? .. not the best tactics, maybe an inexperienced pilot?

My $100 is burning a hole in my pocket!

He 111.