TBF Avenger and other planes

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by IceFire

I believe there is now some legal precedent set as a result of the EA/Battlefield 4 lawsuit involving the AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter but I'm not sure.

Not surprisingly, the case was settled out of court and the terms of the settlement are undisclosed. No defense contractor wants an unfavorable legal precedent on the books, since it would gut their ability to launch future lawsuits against video game manufacturers.

http://kotaku.com/5874076/ea-invokes...licopter-maker

But, in the years after the NG Consent Decree, the U.S. Supreme Court has made some rulings that could be taken to be favorable to game manufacturer's rights to "free speech."

In particular, they have the right to use the unnamed images of real people without paying royalties:

http://kotaku.com/5838921/ea-has-a-f...rs-judge-rules


Of course, that changes NOTHING with regards to IL2, for the reasons that Icefire mentioned.

There's also the possibility that the Warthunder programmers quietly paid royalties to NG and other defense contractors, precisely to prevent a lawsuit. Different game, different companies, different legal environment.

[Janosch]

War Thunder can do whatever they want, because it's not a game, but a screensaver.

btw, I'm glad that Ilyushin or Messerschmitt never sued.

[ElAurens]

It took two very talented and devoted guys years to make the B 24 we will have in 46. That's right, I said years.

Making the B17 or B29 flyable is a LOT more than just pasting in a few of the common bits from the B24 model. For starters you have to model the interior of every manned station, and the 17 and 29 look nothing like each other, or the 24.

Also the 29 would present other issues as it is really almost from another era of design. The remotely controlled turrets alone would be quite a programming feat I would think.

And none of this gets into building credible flight and damage models for these large, complex airframes.

Just something to think about.

Oh, and about the whole NG thing, you must remember that War Thunder is not an air combat game, it is a very sophisticated money making machine, that preys on it's players desires to buy their way to success, so they have LOTS of money to spend on royalty payments to the large aircraft manufacturing corporations.

[IceFire]

I still don't think they have paid any money to license the aircraft. It's just a matter of there have been resistance and precedent set in a few instances now so the lawyers are out looking for money elsewhere these days.

[gaunt1]

Why dont forget those damned NG planes? There are tons of far more interesting aircrafts in WW2 that would also deserve to be included as flyable: Do-217, Me-410, Spitfire XIV, Typhoon, Tu-2, Su-2, B6N, D4Y to name a few...

[ElAurens]

Because the US and the Fleet Air Arm operated the TBF/TBM, and the US has no viable torpedo bomber that is player flyable. These aircraft were widely deployed in the Pacific, and the Atlantic, and really are necessary for any kind of campaign that involves carrier operations.

Having the TBF/TBM and the Curtiss Helldiver BTW, would flesh out the compliment for the USN.

And true, we need more Japanese attack aircraft as flyable as well.

[majorfailure]

Originally Posted by ElAurens

Because the US and the Fleet Air Arm operated the TBF/TBM, and the US has no viable torpedo bomber that is player flyable. These aircraft were widely deployed in the Pacific, and the Atlantic, and really are necessary for any kind of campaign that involves carrier operations.

Having the TBF/TBM and the Curtiss Helldiver BTW, would flesh out the compliment for the USN.

And true, we need more Japanese attack aircraft as flyable as well.

As sad as it is not to have Avengers, I think a Helldiver would make a fairly suitable replacement as it has similar capabilities - looks aside. And late war Japanese strike/torpedo aircraft would be a welcome addition, too - as the early war D3A/B5N really are totally obsolete by at least 1944.

[IceFire]

At this point having the SB2C and the B6N or D3Y flyable would probably round out the carrier aircraft fairly well. The TBF/TBM is super important and the key aircraft in the carrier strike wing but it will have to be what it is.

Honestly as time passes IL-2 1946 is slowly fading out. In a few years I hope that the new IL-2 series will catch up to the Pacific and start to have the kinds of features the we enjoy in IL-2 1946... and we can leave this legal stuff in the past. But we'll see. There's a lot of ground to cover between now and then so I suppose the Pacific portion in particular will be key for some time to come.

[Furio]

I believe in game US Navy is well represented. Avengers are present, even if AI only, and just a single plane is missing: the Helldiver. With the SB2C, all relevant types would be available, and any carrier deck would be faithfully reproduced for any Pacific battle, from Pearl Harbour to VJ Day. I know, there should be Vindicators up to Midway, but their role was marginal, and I think we can live without them.

About Japanese attack plane, any late war type would be useful mostly as AI. Realistic missions against USN carriers would be almost, or totally suicidal, not particularly attractive for a campaign or career.