Author Topic: Alright, the CON's over..can we get some news? (Read 4553 times)

Edbert · « **Reply #30 on:** September 27, 2004, 09:29:24 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Cooley
Shaw was there? is he a subscriber?
Ive read his book a couple times, and spend alot of time revisiting chapter 4, nice work! if you read these boards.

S!

Bob has been at every convention Dale/Doug have done that I can recall, but I am pretty sure he does not play. How much fun can this game be if you have 4,000+ hours in F4s and F14s?

I picked his book up from the prize table (me and Llama got 1st choice) even though there were much more expensive toys there. I knew I could get him to autograph it for me, he wrote a real nice blurb for me too.

~~Robert "Mouse" Shaw~~

Flossy · « **Reply #31 on:** September 27, 2004, 09:50:56 AM »

No pics? Whatever makes you think that? Just because nobody has quite got around to posting any yet doesn't mean we won't be, or have anything to hide! I can assure you, we haven't.... and I will post mine once I have tidied them up, captioned and posted to my website.

GRUNHERZ · « **Reply #32 on:** September 27, 2004, 09:51:43 AM »

What are you con people hiding flossy?

SlapShot · « **Reply #33 on:** September 27, 2004, 09:52:48 AM »

Q & A ...

First thing discussed was Tour of Duty. A lot of the things discussed and thoughts that HT and Pyro have for ToD are what Pyro deemed as "Proof of Concept" ... they have alot of good ideas, but no one has ever done this beofre, so no one really knows what will happen, until it happens.

Points to note :

- Your character is "career" based. Your overall success as a "pilot" will be measured by "mission" success. You can shoot down 10 enemy, and if the "mission" fails, so do you. There was talk of "individual" success, so in the above scenario you might get a medal, despite the mission being a failure.

- Mission slots will be first filled by AI and as people join the missions, they will replace the AI slots. Pyro envisions that the bomber streams will be mostly AI, due to the sheer number of bombers that will be needed. His example is the 8th Air Force leaving the UK to bomb Berlin ... lots and lots of bombers needed in the mission as was needed in RL.

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Deathstars ... never gonna happen ... HT said there could be a possibilty of having 1 gunner per bomber in a formation, but he does not have any intentions of allow 1 gunner per gun per each plane.

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Dive bombing "bombers". HT put out a request/challenge to disprove the fact that these heavies couldn't really do it. If someone comes up with the goods, chances are he will make a change.

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ENY Limiter ... it's gonna be around for while so get use to it and stop the whining. HT believes that it is working and is still open for more tuning, but is very happy with the parameters and the results thereof for the moment.

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Hordes and Capture ... there is a possibility that towns will be moved farther from the airfields. The intention is to stop the "quick-lifter-short-run-to-kill-the-troops" from being so effective. The thought here is that in order to effect a capture, many planes need to be brought to knock down the "quick-lifter-short-run-to-kill-the-troops" types.

If the town is moved out farther (like around 6 to 12 miles), those who are going for the capture will have to send out interceptors to fight off the "quick-lifter-short-run-to-kill-the-troops" pilots. Imagine fighting instead of vulching ?!?!? OH THE HORROR !!!!

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New planes and GVs. No real discussion as to specific planes that are on the drawng board. Icer and I had a private discussion with Pyro on Thursday night, and I have a strong feeling that we will be seeing a new variant of the P-38 soon ... either the J or the H if my memory is correct ... we had a lot of coronas during this discussion.

Oh !!! ... the new tank ... Pyro's hint ... Ki-84 / B-24 ... both ended in 4 ... so will the new tank !!!

Pyro wants to put out new planes as fast as he and the art team can put them together, but he also knows that the current plane set (all chitload of 'em) have to be re-worked and in some cases, done completely from scratch. He has a balancing act to perform here and I think that he and Nate and Super will pull it off and not disappoint.

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Thats all I can remember at the moment ... hope it helps.

Westy · « **Reply #34 on:** September 27, 2004, 10:07:48 AM »

"...so will the new tank !!!"

THE PANZER 4!!!

no.

er, wait??

IT's the T-34!!!

um, perhaps not.

the M4!!!????

Oh for crying out loud!!!!!

It could be any of the tanks people having been asking for

(lol. And thanks for the post Slapshot!)

jaxxo · « **Reply #35 on:** September 27, 2004, 10:14:52 AM »

Ahh the trends of no news/everything is coming/just be patient/2 week blah blah blah....stale.

Pyro · « **Reply #36 on:** September 27, 2004, 10:21:53 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by SlapShot

Dive bombing "bombers". HT put out a request/challenge to disprove the fact that these heavies couldn't really do it. If someone comes up with the goods, chances are he will make a change.

Hmm, I don't recall that. I must have been on a bathroom break. I did mean to address this when we were talking about bombers, but got sidetracked. Anyway, I am actually clamping down on a few issues related to this. One is tightening up structural limits and the other is tightening up control forces. I am convinced that I am too loose on both of these things when it comes to the heavies.

SlapShot · « **Reply #37 on:** September 27, 2004, 10:24:20 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Westy
"...so will the new tank !!!"

THE PANZER 4!!!

no.

er, wait??

IT's the T-34!!!

um, perhaps not.

the M4!!!????

Oh for crying out loud!!!!!

It could be any of the tanks people having been asking for

(lol. And thanks for the post Slapshot!)

Good guess ... its one of those for sure.

I know what the new tank is ... Icer and I didn't buy all those corona's for nothing ...

beet1e · « **Reply #38 on:** September 27, 2004, 10:47:51 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by SlapShot
- Your character is "career" based. Your overall success as a "pilot" will be measured by "mission" success. You can shoot down 10 enemy, and if the "mission" fails, so do you. There was talk of "individual" success, so in the above scenario you might get a medal, despite the mission being a failure.

Hiya Slapshot! I read your entire post, which provided a good synopsis. I like the TOD concept, and whilst no-one can argue that duelling prowess is not important, I tend to think of it as just a few jigsaw pieces in the entire picture, and not the picture itself. I think anything that encourages teamwork, at the same time discouraging hording is worth a second look.

Woody Allen once said "Having sex is like playing bridge. If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand." The converse is also true. If you have organisation/teamwork/partnership, the individuals forming that team don't necessarily have to be hotshots to make a huge impact. Roll on TOD!

Grimm · « **Reply #39 on:** September 27, 2004, 11:23:06 AM »

I thought Id bring this over since this thread seems to be the one that is taking off.

Some Highlights that I remember

1) There was alot of discussion on the concepts for TOD. It seems like it will be very different from what we have now and is not really geared to pull folks out of the MA but attract some new types of players. It will be career oriented gameplay.

2) The Bombsite was discussed and its affects on new players, the change from High Alt bombers to low alt bombers ect.. a possible change to the curent system might be looked at.

3) Development updates (patchs) were disscussed and HTC is working hard to try to get back to more regular and frequent updates and plane additions.

4) Deathstars were talked about. HT reaffirmed that they probably never happen. He agree they are fun, but from a technical outlook they didnt appear to be practical, thus squashing any hope for Mass RJO Deathstar attacks. He did say he might consider making each plane able to carry a single gunner, but it would need further looking into.

5) 45 Caliber Rounds for our Pistols when in the Cute or Man Icon on the ground. He said he wants to this, but just hasnt gotten around to it yet.

Alot of time was spent on TOD and how things might work.

2bighorn · « **Reply #40 on:** September 27, 2004, 12:38:27 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by SlapShot
...Pyro wants to put out new planes as fast as he and the art team can put them together, but he also knows that the current plane set (all chitload of 'em) have to be re-worked and in some cases, done completely from scratch. He has a balancing act to perform here and I think that he and Nate and Super will pull it off and not disappoint.

How will that work? Let's say they need just a week for each, with 70+ ACs and GVs, it'll take year and a half at least to redo all.

Add to it new ACs and ToD... Maybe HTC needs to hire more people...

Edbert · « **Reply #41 on:** September 27, 2004, 12:43:18 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by 2bighorn
How will that work? Let's say they need just a week for each, with 70+ ACs and GVs, it'll take year and a half at least to redo all.

Add to it new ACs and ToD... Maybe HTC needs to hire more people...

The subject of outsourcing WAS brought up in the Q&A, Dale basically said they cannot afford it. Dale did mention the name of a 3d modeling program that they are trying to port the 3d models to. It is a cheap product that can import/export with, this would allow the community to donate their time/expertise much like they have been doing with the skins already.

I think that is a MUCH better idea. I can think of no groups of people who know more about these aircraft than this community. And we ALL have an interest in seeing the improvements get implemented without affecting the cash-flow at HTC.

Dux · « **Reply #42 on:** September 27, 2004, 12:46:48 PM »

Just as a clarification to what Edbert just brought up... the 3D editor will only be good for making stationary scenery objects.

Maybe someday planes and vehicles could be possible...

Guppy35 · « **Reply #43 on:** September 27, 2004, 12:51:11 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Pyro
Hmm, I don't recall that. I must have been on a bathroom break. I did mean to address this when we were talking about bombers, but got sidetracked. Anyway, I am actually clamping down on a few issues related to this. One is tightening up structural limits and the other is tightening up control forces. I am convinced that I am too loose on both of these things when it comes to the heavies.

A dive bombing B24

Actually the only known documented case of a fully loaded B24 pulling out of a flat spin, December 26, 1943. 380th BG pilot Harold Mulhollen had reflexively yanked the controls hard on his 24 to avoid a collision and ended up in the flat spin headed for the ocean near Sakar Island in the Southwest Pacific..

When they got back the damage included the outer 8 feet of panels of both wings were buckled and the trailing edges of both elevators had been bent down 1.5 inches at the center. The fabric of the elevators had significant rips an many rivits were popped all over the tail assembly. It was impossible to determine the internal damage and the aircraft was scrapped for spare parts.

Dan/Slack

2bighorn · « **Reply #44 on:** September 27, 2004, 01:02:11 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Edbert MOL
...I think that is a MUCH better idea. I can think of no groups of people who know more about these aircraft than this community. And we ALL have an interest in seeing the improvements get implemented without affecting the cash-flow at HTC.

Indeed. It's a proven concept and would rapidly accelerate re-modeling and addition of new models.