Friday 2010-09-10 Dev. update and Discussions

[Blackdog_kt]

This is really one of the best updates in a long time. Long shadows? Moving windmill blades? In my flight sims? I get the feeling this engine will be heavily licensed by other developers, there is that much detail near the ground and a solid "world building" background, especially with the care taken in modelling not just realistic atmospheric and time-of-day conditions, but also having them interact with the way the graphics are displayed.

The pieces might not all be in place (in some cases i think the pieces are taken out, reworked and put back in) but the rate of progress reminds me of a steam engine...it starts slowly but when it builds up speed, good luck trying to stop it

As for the features requested during the course of the past few months:

Originally Posted by Dutch_851

Every week, I add the latest screenshots to a slideshow and every week I see old screenshots with stuff in them that people complain are missing from the new ones. Or Hurri pilots with mask and helmet on which no-one complained about and are the same size as last week's picture which caused huge debate. There was a great picture of a shot-up Spit sitting in a yellow field.
It really is worth going through the 'links to updates' list to refresh your memory.
How it looks running.......?
I'm just jealous of the blokes who see it every day and get paid for the privilege...........!

I more or less agree. I was recently linking the updates to a friend of mine, he used to be a Falcon4 flier back in the day and i'm trying to get him back into flight simming.

Since he's not registered on this forum i linked him foobar's excellent update blog and while doing so, i started going through past updates myself. There were so many things that have already been shown and yet, i didn't remember seeing them. And yes, most of what people ask for has been displayed at one point or another in previous updates.

It might not be a case of "take a look at our awesome yellow ochre, dry grass", but the screenshots are there, it's just that they don't advertise the features too much yet. Some things are subtle but they are definitely there and to be honest, i kind of like it when i re-examine the update screenshots and spot things that i missed during the first viewing. It's nice hunting to spot features just like in this update, where people have spotted the windmill rotation and it was confirmed.

The positive feeling i get from it is that if i'm surprised with this title by watching still pictures, imagine how surprised i'll be when i get to watch everything in motion for the first time. My biggest hope is that i won't only be surprised...i want to actually get scared the first few times. I won't go straight to the QMB to see explosions and fireballs and listen to the sounds because i wouldn't want to spoil it. Instead, i'd get the longest campaign option possible and set right into the mood of things...

Imagine that you create a pilot and enter a carreer, the game asks you "do you want to fly the flight school missions?" and you click yes. After some flights in the Tiger Moth you get posted to a conversion unit a bit further north to avoid combat while learning to use your new fighter.

You've gotten to grips with the basic interface of the sim, you've configured your controls and graphics to your liking and you are gradually but steadily getting pulled into this virtual world with every extra flight you make.

Before you realize it you feel like you're actually there. You know, it's a fine summer day and you're cruising along on a training familiarization flight in your Hurricane, courtesy of the operational training unit you've been assigned to. You haven't even seen combat in the new sim, heck, you don't even know how a machine gun sounds in SoW. Just soaking in the sun, taking in the sights and enjoying the reassuring, throaty rumble of a few hundred horses under your Merlin's cowling...a complete upgrade in terms of excitement compared to the puny Gupsy Major powering the Tiger Moth.
As you turn around to your next waypoint, your tail faces the sun and you revell in how real and believable the change in lighting angles is diplayed with your instrument panel turning from a darkened, shady one to a bright one, basking in the sunlight.

In fact, you're so immersed that you can almost feel the warmth of the sun and smell the exhaust fumes entering the cockpit from your partially opened canopy. After all, it's such a nice weather out there with nice cumulus clouds formed by the thermals rising from the plowed fields that you really don't want to slide the canopy shut and spoil the visibility. You're just enjoying yourself cruising along the countryside, in fact you're so relaxed that even though you notice it with your peripheral vision, it fails to actually register on your brain, the ominous shadow that gradually superimposes itself on your instument panel...it's a twin engined plane.

You think to yourself "bah, they can't be that far north, after all it's still a game and games are predictable". Then, in the split seconds it takes to marvel at the way the shadow interacts with your cockpit interior and while you leisurely decide to give a bit of bank and turn your neck around to check six just in case, you hear the sound of gunfire whizzing by, see the tracers and feel a couple of loud thumbs. You almost jump out of your seat, endangering the welfare and continued operation of the connecting wires and consequently your entire headphones/TrackIR/Trackclip assembly, but nevertheless satisfied that this simulator is capable of smacking some fearful respect and surprise back into the soul of a person who's been into flight sims for the past 18 years. Nursing your crippled bird back to base seems impossible even after damaging your attacker and forcing him to disengage, so it looks like it's time to set it down in a nearby farm and enjoy the hospitality of the local population. Looks like a nice chance to sneak a few pints of beer to relieve the tension.

After bringing up the "end mission" dialogue and exiting to the menu, you are still so immersed that your mind fills in the missing parts...the phone call back to base, sending a car to pick you up and driving you to the debriefing tent. Taking a look at the debriefing screen you identify your solitary menace that almost cut down your carreer of virtual acedom before its prime...a Me110 that probably got lost and separated from its flight during a long range freijagd mission. Seems like you got your first probable, as a sound spotting station further to the south reported a 110 crashing near the coast. Alas, it will be a week or so before accurate confirmation and even then you might not get full credit, but at least you survived and you are thankful for that. You are even more thankful for the fact that the sim managed to make you feel like a rookie, rediscovering the joy of it all

[furbs]

nice post mate...lets hope we can do all that and more

[Afdn]

sorry for my boldness
the skin of the Spit and the Skin of the Bf 109, there is much difference in quality
thanks and sorry

[ATAG_Dutch]

Blimey Blackdog, you can write a long post.
But you said it in not quite a nutshell.
The beer would have to be in a can unfortunately, unless you take your laptop to the pub.

[Blackdog_kt]

Originally Posted by furbs

nice post mate...lets hope we can do all that and more

Well, thank you

Originally Posted by Dutch_851

Blimey Blackdog, you can write a long post.
But you said it in not quite a nutshell.
The beer would have to be in a can unfortunately, unless you take your laptop to the pub.

Heh, i agree. I just get carried away when i'm enthusiastic i guess.

Maybe i should take up writing after-action reports when the sim is released, that way i could vent without cluttering up the entire forum. In fact, i'd be more than happy to contribute a piece about as long as my previous post to be used in the promotion of the simulator/as an introduction in the manual/on the back of the DVD box or whatever else promotional, but to do that i would actually need to get my hands on something like an early demo...yes, i know, "don't push your luck"

However i'm sure there are others who can do just as well or better than me and that gives me an idea (since i'm all ideas that end up being done by others ). Maybe we could have a fan-fiction writing contest here in the forum when the time of release draws near. We could vote the best entry and the piece would be used in some form of official promotion for the simulator with the author getting credited on the DVD Box or in the manual, or maybe he would get an autographed copy of the simulator. It would definitely be a more creative use of our typing than splitting hairs over non-final screenshots or going at each other's throats all day long

Back on the topic at hand, did i already say this was probably the best update in terms of pieces-finally-coming-together? I don't know if they will make the October intended release date, but i'm 90% confident we'll finally see SoW on the shelves within the next 3-4 months, maybe even earlier

[Sutts]

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

Well, thank you



Heh, i agree. I just get carried away when i'm enthusiastic i guess.

Maybe i should take up writing after-action reports when the sim is released, that way i could vent without cluttering up the entire forum. In fact, i'd be more than happy to contribute a piece about as long as my previous post to be used in the promotion of the simulator/as an introduction in the manual/on the back of the DVD box or whatever else promotional, but to do that i would actually need to get my hands on something like an early demo...yes, i know, "don't push your luck"

However i'm sure there are others who can do just as well or better than me and that gives me an idea (since i'm all ideas that end up being done by others ). Maybe we could have a fan-fiction writing contest here in the forum when the time of release draws near. We could vote the best entry and the piece would be used in some form of official promotion for the simulator with the author getting credited on the DVD Box or in the manual, or maybe he would get an autographed copy of the simulator. It would definitely be a more creative use of our typing than splitting hairs over non-final screenshots or going at each other's throats all day long

Back on the topic at hand, did i already say this was probably the best update in terms of pieces-finally-coming-together? I don't know if they will make the October intended release date, but i'm 90% confident we'll finally see SoW on the shelves within the next 3-4 months, maybe even earlier

Nice post Blackdog.

I was just thinking the other day what effect truly realistic weather conditions, huge clouds, fog, ice etc. could have on our simulator experience.

I live in an area of the UK where many a fighter and bomber came to a sudden end flying into high ground at night or in bad weather.

Just imagine if SoW allows us to replicate the sheer terror of flying into a bad weather front in failing light while returning to base - without the aid of an electronic map...

I can imagine the tension now....you're not entirely sure of your position and visibility is decreasing rapidly. Before you know it you're flying on instruments alone. You gently let down through the cloud but still no sight of the ground. Then the buffeting starts as you approach a storm front, or the icing begins to creep across the canopy. You panic a little and decide to turn 180 degrees and get out of this desperate situation.

But you've lost your bearings now and are pretty much lost. Need to find somewhere to land soon - fuel is running low. I could go on but I'm sure you get the point. Flying into a vast ground hugging cloud system could be a truly scary experience in an area with high ground threats. I think that would certainly get the heart pumping.

I'm really hoping immense cloud systems and low visibility scenarios are part of SoW. The ability to disable the moving map would be great too - much temptation to cheat in such dodgy situations.

[Splitter]

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

Well, thank you



Heh, i agree. I just get carried away when i'm enthusiastic i guess.

Maybe i should take up writing after-action reports when the sim is released, that way i could vent without cluttering up the entire forum. In fact, i'd be more than happy to contribute a piece about as long as my previous post to be used in the promotion of the simulator/as an introduction in the manual/on the back of the DVD box or whatever else promotional, but to do that i would actually need to get my hands on something like an early demo...yes, i know, "don't push your luck"

However i'm sure there are others who can do just as well or better than me and that gives me an idea (since i'm all ideas that end up being done by others ). Maybe we could have a fan-fiction writing contest here in the forum when the time of release draws near. We could vote the best entry and the piece would be used in some form of official promotion for the simulator with the author getting credited on the DVD Box or in the manual, or maybe he would get an autographed copy of the simulator. It would definitely be a more creative use of our typing than splitting hairs over non-final screenshots or going at each other's throats all day long

Back on the topic at hand, did i already say this was probably the best update in terms of pieces-finally-coming-together? I don't know if they will make the October intended release date, but i'm 90% confident we'll finally see SoW on the shelves within the next 3-4 months, maybe even earlier

Off topic:

I would LOVE to read after action reports from members when they fly a particularly interesting mission. Most missions aren't that memorable, but then you get those few that stick in your mind. Maybe strange things happen, or the fight is memorable, or you are forced to nurse a heavily damaged plane back to base. Sometimes all three (those are the BEST!).

Splitter