Those were exciting times. I know that many of us here were thinking that things would be the same here once this forum opened up, but Oleg has learned from experience on this. Many harcore simmers and WW2 aviation gurus were really dishing out a lot of grief. Oleg is just going to wait until things are mostly finished to show us what he's got. I wish it weren't so, but it is. Let's face it, Oleg and team are working hard and don't need to hear that the rivets on the Spitfire aren't exact, not in the Alpha stage, and that's exactly what happened before.

I think what you say here has alot of truth to it...I think that the mod community also added to his disapointment. So many names that he was familar with over the years. He look's at them now, thinking that they are a better cook than him.

Better cook? Hardly. The modders are modding his work with absolutely no restraints on time, money, or peoples average computers of a few years ago. When SOW is released it will make the modders work on IL-2 look prehistoric. Soon after SOW is release the modders will be given even better tools to once again improve on his work.

Don't get me wrong I respect alot of the work done by the modders. BUT It does worry me that SOW will lose a few sales initially because of the work done by the modders. Our hobby can't afford any lose of sales. If we lose another developer we will have nothing to look forward to other than mods made on a prehistoric game engine.

I can't see anyone who's so into their WWII combat flight sim's, that they would goto the trouble of downloading and installing the mods, not wanting to go out and buy SOW.

Of course there will be people who's computers won't handle SOW, (Just as my PC at the time could'nt handle IL2 when it first came out) but eventually they will get a rig that will be able to use it and they will be one of the on going sales later on that keep the income stream flowing. I recon that even people who are openly bagging Oleg and Co at the moment, will be going out and buying the sim in secret and then turning up on the forum under a different name. (Hmm! sound like a good poll to me?)

I know it hasn't worked in the past, but, hopefully Oleg will come across a balanced copy protection scheme that will make pirating the game too much trouble and purchacing the game the easy option (without being to much of a imposition on us honest folk). And if as oleg says, modding and map making tools are made available then it might be more benifical for the moders to work with the system than outside it?

Maybe with a long term plan where updates and expansion packs are released over the life of the sim there is something he can do so people need a valid copy of the sim to keep up to date? It will be interesting to see how things turn out

When SOW is released I will stop playing IL2/1946.

Mods or not, there is no way that the current engine will be able to compete with the new one.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is clueless, or a hopeless fanboy of aircraft types that won't be in the initial SOW:BoB release.

The current mods are just OK, and even with the beginnings of a QC program in the mod community that is taking place now, it will be too little, too late, once SOW hits the shelves.

Just my opinion, but I've been around the sim long enough to have a fairly clear picture of what will pan out towards the end of this year.

My only question is, Spitfire or Defiant?

:lol:

I had a theory that Oleg's "news black-out" was, in part, do to the modding scene... I believed that Oleg was trying to keep a few surprises under wraps in an effort to preserve the uniqueness of "SOW" upon its release. What do you think?

Me too... but you'll find me in a E3. :)

You could well be right, i really hope so.

That would be a life-or-death question then... ;0

I think I'm going to try the Hurricane too.. but nothing gives me more pleasure (speaking about VGs) than downing a Spitfire...

I'm waiting this too:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-Brita...732640&sr=1-19