Friday 2010-10-08 Dev. update and Discussion

[jameson]

If he hasn't bailed and/or nosing into the deck, you missed! Simple really.

[rga]

Originally Posted by jameson

I'm confused about about why anyone would want little red arrows flying around the cockpit or statistics writ large in the corner. Why can't they learn to fly by instruments and learn to shoot properly, and then get situational awareness by looking out of the window? I thought this was going to be a realistic flight simulator....

Because SOW (and IL-2 as well) is, first and foremost, a game, not a simulator. A game is made to entertain people, a simulator is made to train people. The idea of a truly "WW-II simulator" is completely absurd, because WW II is already 60 years ago. Nowadays, noone needs a pilot which can fly a 60 year old WW II aircraft to its limit (because it's sometimes quite dangerous), which can use deflection shooting from 500m (because they have complicated gunsight and better, missiles for this purpose), which can turn his head quick and often enough to spot enemies (because they have radar). You won't get a job after you beat the best of the best aces in SOW online.

Many people (including you) have fun having a much realism as possible. For you, anything less than "full realistic" is just a waste of time. Because of you, many realistic features are implemented in game, which makes flying in games more or less comparable to flying in real life. You enjoy the game, the game developers do their best to make you enjoy their game and buy it. Excellent, a typical "win-win" situation.

Some people (including me) just don't have time, don't have motivation or simply aren't interested enough to "learn" the game. Sometimes, we enjoy realistic features, sometimes they irritate us: got bounced from nowhere and killed immediately, firing the whole magazine without effect... We don't want to sit 8 hours a day to "learn", we want to be Ben Affleck in our short weekend. We don't want to get shot down 10 times for each kill, we want to see enemy's wing falling off every 5 minutes. Therefore, we need "arcadish" features to make the game easier. Call us "noobie" of whatever you like, being a better gamer doesn't make you a better person. As long as we enjoy the game, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. And as we buy this game, with the same price as you, our opinions are as important as yours.

[Insuber]

TRAINING with post-flight (or, better, real time) hit statistics is more realistic than your stuff, because the GUNNERY PRACTICE was actually done like that in the combat flight schools.
PRACTICE targets were used, such as drones pulled by another plane. Try and check the memories of Brian Kingcome, for instance.
As we don't have this possibility in the game (and we don't want it either, as it would be too cumbersome), we must find something else to TRAIN our virtual pilots.


And, let me add that's not about full switch vs. Wonder Woman (yawn!), it's all about attracting more users and enrich our community. Stripping out TRAINING functions and make this game a barebone flight simulator will not help, imho. Any technical aid to TRAINING will reduce the learning curve and facilitate the passage to full switch, if the gamer likes it.

(I've put in capitals the words that sometimes go unnoticed by some people).

Cheers,
Insuber

[robtek]

The "problem" is that easy gained success is worth less.
To "beat the system" (or here to master the 60 year old systems of those obsolete planes) is worth the work put into it.
There is also NO border between simulation and game, the switch is fluent, and simulation is definitively not only for training but also for entertainment.

[jameson]

Surely it takes longer to learn how all this other stuff works and then have to spend more time understanding what it's trying to tell you, than it would doing it in a realistic way. If you're too lazy/have no time(I sympathise!) to learn, I can't really help.

I hope there will be a MANDATORY training course so you will have to learn the right way to fly and shoot before you're allowed to play this 'game'. You'll only have to learn it once, like riding a bike, and then there'll be no need for statistics, arrows or whatever.

[KOM.Nausicaa]

Originally Posted by jameson

I'm confused about about why anyone would want little red arrows flying around the cockpit or statistics writ large in the corner. Why can't they learn to fly by instruments and learn to shoot properly, and then get situational awareness by looking out of the window? I thought this was going to be a realistic flight simulator....

Jameson, you can simply switch the arrows off in the options menu.

[Xilon_x]

this is italian Helmet.




italian savage sistem

[Peffi]

For training purposes, not online combat, it would be educational to see instantly where the bullets hit the target or how close you are of hitting it. There is also a limit to the situational awareness one can achieve by looking at a 24" (if even) screen. Not everyone has the Track IR or multiple screens setup. Small arrows that gives you clues of where the enemy is is therefore not cheating. They just compensate for the simple fact that you are not in the real airplane where you can twist your head in any direction you want and that your periferal vision (close to 180 degrees in real life) is very limited when looking at a screen, or even three screens. SOW BOB should be made so as many as possible will enjoy it. If it's a game or a sim should be up to the player / pilot. We have also only seen pictures of SOW BOB. Sound and most importantly how realistic the airplanes fly is yet to be known. If the AI pilots have their googles on or not is of miniscule importance to me.

[IceFire]

Originally Posted by jameson

Surely it takes longer to learn how all this other stuff works and then have to spend more time understanding what it's trying to tell you, than it would doing it in a realistic way. If you're too lazy/have no time(I sympathise!) to learn, I can't really help.

I hope there will be a MANDATORY training course so you will have to learn the right way to fly and shoot before you're allowed to play this 'game'. You'll only have to learn it once, like riding a bike, and then there'll be no need for statistics, arrows or whatever.

Sure some folks will want to go through this and learn how to do everything. Some people on here want to spend several minutes starting up the Merlin engine, activing fuel switches, checking the mags, and other start up related items. But not everyone. Many would like to start the engine and get going. Both are perfectly acceptable.

Not everyone is the same or wants the same thing out of the product. So statistics and arrows pointing objects out will appeal to some people and not others. That is why there are options... not everyone has to play in exactly the same sandbox. To do so would narrow the level of interest sigificantly...

Fortunately Oleg's always been about the options.

Originally Posted by jameson

Surely it takes longer to learn how all this other stuff works and then have to spend more time understanding what it's trying to tell you, than it would doing it in a realistic way. If you're too lazy/have no time(I sympathise!) to learn, I can't really help.

I hope there will be a MANDATORY training course so you will have to learn the right way to fly and shoot before you're allowed to play this 'game'. You'll only have to learn it once, like riding a bike, and then there'll be no need for statistics, arrows or whatever.

If you were in charge of SOW then Oleg and company would be on the side of the road asking for spare change.

This is a GAME that needs to make money. You're not going to see the RAF out at your local games store asking for 40 copies so they can train their pilots to fly Hurricanes and Spitfires. That's why there are adjustable realism features.

The type of people here on these forums represent only about 1% of the demographic that will buy this game. (they also represent about 3% of the autistic community) This game needs to be first and foremost, FUN! If it's not fun then they don't make money, and there is no further development on the game or the series. All these options can be turned off or on. If we didn't have external views for example, then every screenshot that Oleg posts every Friday would be another cockpit cap.

Grow up a little and realize that not everything is "your way" or "no way".