Friday 2011-02-04 Dev. update and Discussion

[klem]

Originally Posted by luthier

...........
Our engine model is insanely compelx. I dare say it's the most complex engine model in any game of any genre by far. There's multiple points of interest for every piston, every cylinder, every hose, every exhaust, etc. The guy who wrote it can build an internal combustion engine from scratch in his garage. Working on engines is a huge hobby of his.
So rest assured that cooling, overheating, combat damage, or normal operation of our engines is as precise and as detailed as you'll ever see in any game in the next several years.

Luthier, have you seen the new A2A Simulations Spitfire? It's for FSX so I don't think you'll mind me mentioning it here?

It has the full start up procedure including mixture, prop, loading start cartridges, Air tank, oxygen management, etc and a real need to manage rpm, boost and radiator to avoid engine overheat/coolant loss and wear.

Does the CoD Spitfire go to anywhere near that level? (and if so it can presumably be dumbed down if not wanted).

If the engine management is that critical it is going to make air combat a whole new ball-game (and presumably for all the other aircraft).

Originally Posted by klem

Luthier, have you seen the new A2A Simulations Spitfire? It's for FSX so I don't think you'll mind me mentioning it here?

It has the full start up procedure including mixture, prop, loading start cartridges, Air tank, oxygen management, etc and a real need to manage rpm, boost and radiator to avoid engine overheat/coolant loss and wear.

Does the CoD Spitfire go to anywhere near that level? (and if so it can presumably be dumbed down if not wanted).

If the engine management is that critical it is going to make air combat a whole new ball-game (and presumably for all the other aircraft).

Cool...Can you fire different kind of ammo with it ?

Thanks !

[House M.D.]

Bets update so far!
Keep it coming Ilya!

[klem]

Originally Posted by kalimba

Cool...Can you fire different kind of ammo with it ?

Thanks !

No, it (A2A) is a pure flight simulation although some of the guys were talking about some kind of combat pack that can be found somewhere. But that's not I want it for, I have IL-2 and CoD for that. I just like to know what was really involved in flying a Spit and they seem to go a long way towards that. I made a 2 hr simulated 'fighter sweep' from Duxford to Manston/Calais/Abbeville/St Gatien/Goodwood(Westhampnett) and back to Duxford. Once settled in the cruise it was easy to keep the revs and temps where I wanted them but you have to take care between taxying and cruising and then down again. And if we get 1:1 maps there are going to be a few numb bums in CoD

Originally Posted by klem

No, it (A2A) is a pure flight simulation although some of the guys were talking about some kind of combat pack that can be found somewhere. But that's not I want it for, I have IL-2 and CoD for that. I just like to know what was really involved in flying a Spit and they seem to go a long way towards that. I made a 2 hr simulated 'fighter sweep' from Duxford to Manston/Calais/Abbeville/St Gatien/Goodwood(Westhampnett) and back to Duxford. Once settled in the cruise it was easy to keep the revs and temps where I wanted them but you have to take care between taxying and cruising and then down again. And if we get 1:1 maps there are going to be a few numb bums in CoD

So it is more like a perfect complement for COD for a dedicated Spit fan !

Salute !

[Zorin]

I got a few questions myself.

1. Regarding the Bf-108. As you concieved it as a AI only plane so far, is its internal model inferior to a flyable plane?
2. If that should not be the case and I would pay someone to build the cockpit to your standards, how long would it take you guys to get it implemented? I believe that is a crucial questions for all third party developers who want to have their work approved and implemented by you.
3. Can you estimate the number of planes that will be missing from CoD when it reaches IL-2s current stage? Are we realisitically looking at 1/3 of the number of flyables or even less?
4. On the Bf109 screens you posted, the markings are not part of the weathering process. Is that about to change in the future?
5. Oleg mentioned some time ago that the organisation of ground units, vehicles columns etc, is entirely up to the mission designer. For example, being able to recreate a typical "leichte Panzerkompanie c" and saving it as a preset for future missions. Is this still the case for CoD on release?

[luthier]

Originally Posted by klem

Luthier, have you seen the new A2A Simulations Spitfire? It's for FSX so I don't think you'll mind me mentioning it here?

It has the full start up procedure including mixture, prop, loading start cartridges, Air tank, oxygen management, etc and a real need to manage rpm, boost and radiator to avoid engine overheat/coolant loss and wear.

Does the CoD Spitfire go to anywhere near that level? (and if so it can presumably be dumbed down if not wanted).

We always held the opinion that complex start-up procedures are a waste of our time.

Everyone else does them as gimmicks. What you see is just a simple sequence of "press button A to press button B to press button C to press button D to enable pressing Start Engine." They don't model the individual systems involved. Neither do we, and we don't want to pretend that we do. We don't do gimmicks.

All the hotspots in our cockpit work. All the controls are animated. You can set fuel cock levers and work the priming pump and flick the magnetos and all. Do that if you like, or don't. We feel that most people will only try that once, if at all.

The systems we do model are crucial however. Watching the gauges and controlling mixture, prop pitch and radiator is essential. Our office is obviously filled with Il-2 online veterans, and for a while we could only play online with Complex Engine Management disabled completely. We could barely fly the Spitfire, and the 109 not at all. We fly with CEM on now, but we still to this day fly with Overheating disabled because damn it is hard!

[luthier]

Also, will you please stop asking about weathering on the 109? It's always been there. I just like them new and shiny.

the wind won't change the direction? hm

So the windsocks will only go up and down and we won't have to wait until the wind is in the right direction on start ups. Was actually looking forward to that.

I'm hoping to see that feature some time after release.

P.S This is definately the perfect dev update. Thank you for your effort.

[NSU]

oh i love it, we can assign the callsignal
a good point for the user missions