4.13 development update discussion and feedback

[ElAurens]

Actually if you could have multiple respawn times for an AI flight would be very cool.

Place one AI flight with it's waypoints and then have multiple spawn times for it. Be a cool way to create waves of bombers, for example.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by ElAurens

It should be quite obvious with the drop off in power, rise in temps as shown on the gauges ( you do look at your gauges don't you? ), and the terrible grinding clanking noises eminating from your power plant.

Yes, it's generally obvious when a single-engined plane is in trouble. For multi-engined planes, not so much.

A HUD message indicating problems with the engine would be helpful for people flying without the cockpit, people with small/single monitors and/or without Track-IR or equivalent technology to quickly check the gauges.

It would also be helpful for people flying an unfamiliar plane or a plane where the gauges are in a foreign language or in an obscure location. (Wait, you don't know exactly where the oil pressure gauge is on the Avia B.534 and you don't speak Czech? Obviously, you're not hard-core enough! )

In any case, a HUD message indicating a problem with an engine would be realistic for planes with a co-pilot and/or flight engineer, assuming that the HUD serves as a substitute for the intercomm system.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by ElAurens

Actually if you could have multiple respawn times for an AI flight would be very cool.

+1. It would save mission builders a lot of work. Create one formation of bombers (or whatever), set it to respawn n number of times every X minutes and you've simply and quickly created an otherwise very time-consuming mission.

Allowing random factors when spawning or respawning AI planes would also be helpful. For example, you could create a bomber stream by having planes spawn around a fixed point at slightly different altitudes and coordinates, traveling at slightly different speeds, but all following the same course and waypoints.

For even more fun, you could have random types of planes or even random altitudes or vectors!

Basic respawn would just require a setting for the number of formations to be spawned and a timer to set the intervals between spawning times.

Randomized respawn would require parameters for the mission builder to set randomness in respawn time, altitude, longitude, latitude, course, airspeed and waypoints.

Totally random respawn would require parameters for the mission builder to set plane lists, loadouts and pilot skill.

Of course, much of this functionality exists in Uberdemon's UQMG ( http://uberdemon.net/index2.html), but it would be cool to see it incorporated into the FMB or even the QMB.

[gauderio]

Please make these changes to pollute less the game screen

ORIGINAL GAME SCREEN



NEW GAME SCREEN

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by gauderio

Please make these changes to pollute less the game screen

Moving the HUD messages so they don't "cover the sky" and interfere with spatial awareness would be a good idea. Either they could be moved to the lower right hand corner like in the drawing above, or they could be made to disappear when the pilot's view isn't focused straight ahead (realistic, since the pilot can't see his controls when he's looking to his right or left).

[Derda508]

That´s a really good idea!

[pencon]

What I think would be really cool is actual people manning the guns on the ground , and being able to strafe the crap out of them as they shoot back at me .And destructible environments - buildings etc I know that will probably never happen though sigh .....

[Treetop64]

Originally Posted by gauderio

Please make these changes to pollute less the game screen

Agree 100%. Also a much smaller font, or at least user-configurable font sizes, would be very much appreciated.

[IceFire]

Originally Posted by pencon

What I think would be really cool is actual people manning the guns on the ground , and being able to strafe the crap out of them as they shoot back at me .And destructible environments - buildings etc I know that will probably never happen though sigh .....

There is a stationary M2 .50cal (both AA and field mount) and MG 42 available for ground mounted machine guns. They do shoot at aircraft if they come into their field of view.

Buildings are already destructible although its a fairly simple setup. Destructible environments such as geometry changes to the ground is probably not possible given the current game engine. It was programmed in the late 1990s remember.

[Feathered_IV]

Originally Posted by Treetop64

Agree 100%. Also a much smaller font, or at least user-configurable font sizes, would be very much appreciated.

Definitely. The fonts are still optimised for low resolution monitors of nearly fifteen years ago.