Friday 2010-06-17 Dev. update and Discussion Thread

[AndyJWest]

Originally Posted by GOA_Potenz

we'll be able to see sunk ships and planes under water???

I think one of the screenshots of ships that Oleg posted showed some evidence of the hull being visible below the waterline.

The Channel isn't exactly transparent though, so you shouldn't be able to see far into it. Anything more than few feet or so down would probably be invisible. This depends a great deal on lighting conditions too.

[Blackdog_kt]

Originally Posted by Skoshi Tiger

Why not have so that the stripped down version can only be a crew positions within an aircraft that has the full install version of the sim.

I know anyone crewing for me more than once would value their virtual lives enough to go out and buy the full version. Seriously! I'm that bad!!!!!!

cheers!

Yes, that would work too. We could get our FPS friends to join in as gunners

Originally Posted by JVM

Hello! Keep in mind the Bf 108 was never used as a trainer...it is far too fragile and complex for that....This was a liaison/courier and personal aircraft.

The fact is we do not have (yet) an equivalent of the Tiger Moth on the German side. This would be either a Fw-44 or a Bucker Jungmann (there were many others but those ones being several still airworthy are easily accessible for proper reproduction).
There was a request by Luthier years ago to define which German trainer would be made if time would allow...I am not sure time is allowing because I did not hear of it anymore!

Another issue is that training on the German side happened in Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia...not in France on the front line...so we would not have a proper representation of a German training base.

JV

Interesting, i didn't know the Bf108 was so fragile. I know about the other trainers you mentioned, but maybe we could be cutting some slack until there is a proper representation.

You're definitely right about the training not being done on the frontline. However, in the same vein as before, if we wanted to sidestep that issue we could suggest a smaller map (for example, the smaller DF maps in IL2 like Ardeness) that would roughly represent a scaled down portion of Germany around a major training base.

In my opinion at least, it would be worth it if it meant getting more people in contact with SoW.

Now, as for what Sasqon says, just like most of my other suggestions i don't expect such a feature (a "buddy training" installation) to be in on release day, not by a long shot. However, if time permits and they liked it they could do it sometime in the future.

It's true that most of us here will have no use for such a feature since we'll be getting the sim anyway and thus, it's not a first priority request. I'm sure that even the developers would rather work on something that will be used by the majority of the "confirmed" buyers at this stage, than spend time on coding what is essentially a marketing tool for the less interested part of the gamer community (ie, we can't be sure if the sales generated will be enough to justify the work at this stage).
It's just a nice way to generate free advertising so that Oleg's team benefits in the short term from increased sales and we benefit long term by keeping them in the business, something to think about for the future once the important parts are done

Again, thanks to the developers for the awesome updates and the community for the intelligent exchange of ideas and information.

[major_setback]

Originally Posted by GOA_Potenz

But now in il2 and RoF when you land in the shore or low water your planes or ship dissapear under a texture. so having under water modelled we can land on a sea shore and see the part of the plane under water.

...and submarines!!!


As you sit in your dinghy you can watch your plane slowly slipping into the murky waters of the channel...
...and watch transparent waves break the shore.

[Abbeville-Boy]

fantastic update!
i feel the time is very near, to fly north

[Richie]

I have a question. When the pilots bail over the channel will they have rubber rafts to float in or working life jackets. I notice in IL-2 that none of the German pilots ever had life jackets that worked, neither did the English or Russian pilots only American and Japanese.

[addman]

Here are a few questions that aren't related to what type of grass will be present or what brand of cigarettes that the pilots will be smoking whilst waiting for the perfectly modeled air alarm to go off. Please bare (?) in mind that I haven't read every single SoW article/interview allthough I have followed the Il-2 series since Oleg and team did updates on that non-ubi forum back in 2000. I'm not the slightest bit worried about DM and physics, Oleg & Co, you've got it nailed for sure. I'd like to focus on the game part of the sim, namely the campaigns. For me -personally- a textbox repeating the same dull, generic missions (realistic as dull missions may be) are real immersion breakers no matter how realistic everything else is.

1. Will there be some kind of RPG elements (no, not leveling up or anything like that), like fatigue, injuries, morale for your pilot(s)?

2. Can you re-arm/fuel during missions?

3. Will you be able to fly the same plane from mission to mission, absorbing damage, get killmarks, repair etc?

4. Is there any form of strategic elements incorporated, like if I bomb a certain factory it won't be able to continue production.

I have a feeling that these questions won't be answered because most of above mentioned features won't be in the final product. It's not a deal breaker but for me realism is just as important as having fun

[zapatista]

Originally Posted by addman

Here are a few questions that aren't related to what type of grass will be present or what brand of cigarettes that the pilots will be smoking whilst waiting for the perfectly modeled air alarm to go off. Please bare (?) in mind that I haven't read every single SoW article/interview allthough I have followed the Il-2 series since Oleg and team did updates on that non-ubi forum back in 2000.

1. Will there be some kind of RPG elements (no, not leveling up or anything like that), like fatigue, injuries, morale for your pilot(s)?

2. Can you re-arm/fuel during missions?

3. Will you be able to fly the same plane from mission to mission, absorbing damage, get killmarks, repair etc?

4. Is there any form of strategic elements incorporated, like if I bomb a certain factory it won't be able to continue production.

I have a feeling that these questions won't be answered because most of above mentioned features won't be in the final product. It's not a deal breaker but for me realism is just as important as having fun

some of those things oleg has commented on in the past, iirc ....

Originally Posted by addman

1. Will there be some kind of RPG elements (no, not leveling up or anything like that), like fatigue, injuries, morale for your pilot(s)?

pilot fatigue, and pilot "experience" will be modeled (one squad will have pilots of different skill level for ex)

Originally Posted by addman

2. Can you re-arm/fuel during missions?

yes, after repeated requests over the years this has now been implemented. hopefully also this will include some minor repairs to (no specific info on that yet afaik)

Originally Posted by addman

3. Will you be able to fly the same plane from mission to mission, absorbing damage, get killmarks, repair etc?

yes, same aircraft can be used, and it will get "weathered" and worn in the process (partic engine wear and external airplane cosmetic weathering afaik), so if you treat your engine badly in some flights it can have effects later (not sure if this will be "repaired" if your aircraft stays on the ground, but for quick refueling and rearming flights this does come into it).

re killmarks, oleg mentioned "working on it" but i think there was some minor issues to be resolved, might not be implemented by game release time. might also have been to complex to implement right now for some specific technical reason.

Originally Posted by addman

4. Is there any form of strategic elements incorporated, like if I bomb a certain factory it won't be able to continue production.

there might be, oleg has been asked repeated questions on that same topic. for ex, if bombing roads and bridges leading to an airbase or forward troops, will it affect their fighting ability after a while ? or if you keep bombing the fuel supply and repair hangers of an airfield does it prevent that airfield from being active in resupplying aircraft that land there ? no certain answer yet.... but...

from olegs mixed and guarded answers about this he obviously is thinking in that direction (again maybe not fully implemented by release time ?). for ex he has already stated that the AA installations in BoB work by integrating various sub-components, like spot lights, radar towers, and the AA gun itself (and even using different munition types, with munition boxes emptying when firing). if you destroy one element of the whole installation, for ex a spot light it makes the AA gun less efficient, and if you destroy the radar device the AA gun will only fire on visible targets but not anymore as part of a coordinated AA screens etc

i am just going by general memory on this, hopefully oleg or saqson can comment more specifically on how it will work

i fully agree that some of those elements are some of the most interesting developments, and it is what will get people hooked in a big way since their individual actions can have specific effects. (but not enough to affect the outcome of the war in a dynamic campaign server, according to oleg)