Oleg's Russian Interview Translated

[Feuerfalke]

Originally Posted by Skarphol

The thing that Oleg said in December that he hoped to have the SoW:BOB site up and running around the end of December is another weird mismatch between what he says and what we see.

Most of all this wondering going on stems from Olegs own statements. And I really don't think he is trying to confuse us on purpose! No other game-developer has treated his customers as nicely as Oleg has done with the IL-2 series! So all these confuseing signals are making me really puzzled.

Skarphol

Well, that's where Oleg is in a lose-lose-lose situation.

- If he says nothing about release-dates and estimations, especially in this forum SoW is declared as vapour-ware, Oleg is flamed for lack of information and threads demanding information fill the board.
- If he posts his estimates, he "puzzles" people, because they take his estimates for dates written in stone and personal promises. But nobody ever did such a tremendous project, nobody had such variables as third-party modellers, texturers and researchers, as well as other dev-teams joining his own.
- If he'd post a date he could surely hold, a LOT of people would get pretty p*ssed. Lets take the interview for example. He said that IL2 took 4 years to develop, SoW so far only 2 as a dedicated project and with the setting of making it a standalone game. Realistically considering the complexity of IL2 and SoW, a secure estimate would be 2011-2013.
Who here would not be disappointed, if this was posted, even if Oleg knew it would be released much earlier than that?

[Chivas]

Originally Posted by Feuerfalke

Well, that's where Oleg is in a lose-lose-lose situation.

- If he says nothing about release-dates and estimations, especially in this forum SoW is declared as vapour-ware, Oleg is flamed for lack of information and threads demanding information fill the board.
- If he posts his estimates, he "puzzles" people, because they take his estimates for dates written in stone and personal promises. But nobody ever did such a tremendous project, nobody had such variables as third-party modellers, texturers and researchers, as well as other dev-teams joining his own.
- If he'd post a date he could surely hold, a LOT of people would get pretty p*ssed. Lets take the interview for example. He said that IL2 took 4 years to develop, SoW so far only 2 as a dedicated project and with the setting of making it a standalone game. Realistically considering the complexity of IL2 and SoW, a secure estimate would be 2011-2013.
Who here would not be disappointed, if this was posted, even if Oleg knew it would be released much earlier than that?

+1

[msalama]

Thanks for the translation, very nice to see Oleg shedding some much-needed light on this project! This however caught my attention:

Some number of developers internationally that worked with MSFS, and probably a large part of them too, will convert to our side.

I see a problem here. The man has stated many times that they won't model interactive AC subsystems and/or cockpits for their own planes, and that's all well and good of course. But do they make them implementable for 3rd party developers? Because this definitely doesn't happen if they don't...

PS. Hiya guys, long time no see BTW. Still think the enemy has über planes and you p0rked?

[Skarphol]

Hi Feuerfalke and Chivas, I think you are very right about what you say in your post.
But what still makes me wonder is the lack of logic in what Oleg actually says.

Like the thing with the SOW:BOB-site. If he at the beginning of December really thought the page would be up by end of December, then he has been greatly misinformed by the team that developes that site. Or (more possibly) someone at the publisher has stopped the launch of it. But obviously, Oleg was not informed aboout this in the beginning of December.

And what about updates on this page? He says in october 2007: "I hope once per 2-3 weeks or so .... and more close to beta - each week like in old good time with IL-2"
I think it is fair to say that his hopes has not come to fruitition. We may or may not be close to beta yet, (60% finished doesn't sound like beta to me) but he is obviously giving us far less information than he planned to, or hoped for.

These, and other messages given during the years gives the impression that he doesn't have the control of the progress he should have. One thing is that creating a sim like this takes a whole lot of time (the timeconsumption is probably difficult to estimate), but Oleg seems to be at one stage of development one month, and then at a completely different stage the next month.

As I said, I don't think he is trying to confuse on purpose, but to me this is really weird.

And for release date; he hasn't given a hint for many years, so if he now says that he is 60% finished then that can be understood as a release around 2011. Time will tell.

Skarphol

[II/JG54_Emil]

Well the least thing we know now is that the project is not dead!

That´s happy news.

[Feuerfalke]

Originally Posted by Skarphol

Hi Feuerfalke and Chivas, I think you are very right about what you say in your post.
But what still makes me wonder is the lack of logic in what Oleg actually says.

Like the thing with the SOW:BOB-site. If he at the beginning of December really thought the page would be up by end of December, then he has been greatly misinformed by the team that developes that site. Or (more possibly) someone at the publisher has stopped the launch of it. But obviously, Oleg was not informed aboout this in the beginning of December.

And what about updates on this page? He says in october 2007: "I hope once per 2-3 weeks or so .... and more close to beta - each week like in old good time with IL-2"
I think it is fair to say that his hopes has not come to fruitition. We may or may not be close to beta yet, (60% finished doesn't sound like beta to me) but he is obviously giving us far less information than he planned to, or hoped for.

These, and other messages given during the years gives the impression that he doesn't have the control of the progress he should have. One thing is that creating a sim like this takes a whole lot of time (the timeconsumption is probably difficult to estimate), but Oleg seems to be at one stage of development one month, and then at a completely different stage the next month.

As I said, I don't think he is trying to confuse on purpose, but to me this is really weird.

And for release date; he hasn't given a hint for many years, so if he now says that he is 60% finished then that can be understood as a release around 2011. Time will tell.

Skarphol

I don't see what logic is refering to with the statements you posted?

People demand something and Oleg gives the best guess he can offer given the momentary status and going of the project. That has nothing to do with logic, continuity, wisdom or lack of project management.

That is called life, you know, the thing what happens to you while you are busy making other plans



Besides that, the "60%"-thing is a great example of how even an actual statement based on facts is turned into rubbish and estimates again. 60% of work done does not equal 60% of the project done or 60% of the time used, the project needs to be finished.


So, you obviously can understand everything the way you want it: Guesses as facts, facts as guesses. Taking your initial point about Olegs logic: What is the readers logic in interpreting so many facts in so little statements? Just wait and see.

[mazex]

Originally Posted by Feuerfalke

I don't see what logic is refering to with the statements you posted?

People demand something and Oleg gives the best guess he can offer given the momentary status and going of the project. That has nothing to do with logic, continuity, wisdom or lack of project management.

That is called life, you know, the thing what happens to you while you are busy making other plans

Well, in my opinion this is a medium sized IT-project, and as such it should not be that hard to estimate a budget frame for it. I've seen a few game projects from rather close distance and they have been using the same methodology as "real" IT projects. They have also been successful in meeting their deadlines even though they have had larger scope than SoW...

When you miss your release date with 3 years in a fast moving world like this, you should be very happy to have your funding left...

[Skarphol]

Originally Posted by Feuerfalke

So, you obviously can understand everything the way you want it: Guesses as facts, facts as guesses. Taking your initial point about Olegs logic: What is the readers logic in interpreting so many facts in so little statements? Just wait and see.

Well, my guesses are as bad as anyones, I know, but I consider it a fact that Oleg in the beginning of December wrote that he hoped to have the SoW-site up and running by the end of December. Thus far, the site is not up. And I consider it a fact that he in October 2007 stated that he hoped to come up with regular updates in 2-3 weeks intervals, and he hasn't.

Both of those statements were "hopes" not promises. Personally, I hope to be a millionare within 2 weeks, but that is unlikely to happen. Maybe Olegs hopes are as far fetched as mine. Honestly, I really don't think so.

Skarphol

[Chivas]

Lifes not that simple. Just as Oleg finishes giving a statement on the forums.... I can see someone coming into his office and saying. " The Website developer just called and they won't be able to start for a few more months, and by the way, the weather code we thought we had a handle on, well its all f*"ked up, and Ivan the weatherman quit. "