More like, Rolling on the floor in laughter, thinking people do not really think much about the consequences of what they ask for.
Step 1.
Do you wish planes to die more quickly or less quickly, or the same.
Step 2.
Do you wish to be at more of a disadvantage with 1 bullet hit so fights will tend to be, who ever lands the first bullet wins.
Step 3.
How will any damage model change, change the tactics used in the game.
HiTech
1 .The same. There is nothing wrong with the 'death rate' of an aircraft currently modeled.
2. No.
3. It depends both for the flying pilot and the aggressor. If you make the damage model too realistic, it could change how the game is played - players may just bail if a damaged aircraft is too hard to fly or let it thunder in. Damage model has to have a purpose in the game - in my opinion, from a tactical purpose, if I'm attacking a bomber, if the damage model lets me set it on fire, I'll just leave it alone knowing it'll blow up shortly. If the damage model will reduce the impact of the damage (making it harder to shoot down) so they can 'attempt' to land, it may increase immersion but upset pilots looking for kills. It also depends on the 'game model' you're attempting to replicate - more simulation or more gameplay. The balance has to be where it makes sense for a game like Aces High.
It's COOL that I can blow half a wing off a fighter - but how realistic that a pilot can land a plane with half a wing? The more complex time you spend on the damage model, you have to ask what value is it bringing to fighting tactics and what impact its going to have on how players engage one another. The more systems you can simulate damaging an aircraft, reduce the fly-ability of an aircraft, needs to be balanced against players who don't really care how the damage replicates in the sim, but whether or not they can destroy the enemy fighter/bomber/vehicle/ship.
In today's complex gaming industry, more complex physics allows greater damage modelling. If HTC went towards a more realistic and engaging damage model, but put the effort into the looks rather than the 'physical impact' of the damage, I think is a better approach. You appease the realists with the view, and reduce the complexity of the impact so that it's unplayable.
