Excellent news all around.
As for the "renegade pilots" bit, it could either mean pilots from occupied countries in RAF service, or simply AI wingmen that could be either inexperienced and incompetent or blatantly disobedient.
Repeat please!
I mostly fly axis but
a) there's no fw-190 yet and
b) the goodies in the package are very tempting either way
so i'll probably go for the collector's edition.
Also, i like the idea someone posted about making a download available with the installation files, so people who are waiting for their physical disc to arrive in the mail can start playing right away.
For example you could create an account on the title's dedicated website, input your order number from the webshop you bought it from and it would unlock a download option on your account. This would be good for us since we could start flying right away (depending on your internet speed and the server load on their end, you could have the game as early as late evening on the day of release), but also good for them since it would boost sales during the early days when titles are selling for full price.
It would also be an extra incentive to get the collector's edition, while otherwise some people who live in somewhat out of reach places might be put off by the long delivery times and opt for a download version instead.
Overall, excellent news and exciting times ahead, plus a special cheer for including the new multiplayer mode without skimping on the the offline content/campaigns. Like someone mentioned before, even if some fictional missions make an appearance (like the screenshot from igrommir with the damsel in distress), it will only serve to highlight the customizability (is that even a word? lol) and potential of the mission editor.
I would say i can't wait for March but i'm generally a patient guy, so i usually don't get all anxious and excited when there's still a month or more on the deadline clock. In that sesne, what i really can't wait for is this week's Friday updates.
Now that the cat's out of the bag, i suspect we could be seeing a demonstration of some of the special features that we all know are going to be included, but don't know much else about. Graphics are already awesome (CoD on reduced detail and no filters looks as good as modded IL2 on full detail to me, imagine what's going to happen with CoD cranked up to full) and a video of selected sequences will be enough to showcase the sounds too.
Dynamic weather, AI complexity, in-game briefings, the built-in support for 3rd party content/community mods without compromising online gameplay, systems and engine management, radio communications and vectoring by ground radar controllers, etc, that's stuff we all know have been planned features for a very long time but don't know how exactly will work in the sim.
EDIT:
Quote:
Originally Posted by d0o0m
clickable cockpit?
|
It's been confirmed as a control option at an earlier date. There have also been screeenshots in the development updates showing tooltips on various buttons and levers, much like it works in FSX. That doesn't mean we'll have to click buttons in combat with the mouse though. I guess we will be able to map whatever we want to keyboard, stick or HOTAS and/or click on them in the cockpits, whichever way we like. In that case, i'll keep guns, gear, flaps, engine controls, etc mapped to my keyboard and stick like i have them in IL2, then use the mouse for secondary controls that are not time critical or only get used once or twice during the course of the flight (rotating the compass marker to a new heading, choosing a fuel tank or turning on the landing light switch for example).
I guess this goes hand in hand with the new view system that's been talked about and recently we saw a screenshot of. Oleg Maddox said there will be two view systems, one similar to IL2 and a new one. There was one pic in a recent update showing a pop-up camera menu, so i guess this is it.
That would be cool for movie makers. Instead of cycling through the cameras you just right click and select the aircraft you want to view, then probably save the track again with the view transitions you want and finally (this last one was also a confirmed feature in one update), export it directly to video format without having to use external video capture software.