Question for HTC: New Fighter Poll

[Squire]

P-63 does not belong in AH imho. It served only in the last few weeks of the war in August 1945 vs Japan and much of that time after the August 15th surrender date. It scored one kill. Aces High should be about the planes that actually did something worthy of mentioning not "6 were delivered and they flew 4 sorties and saw a B-29 before they landed and the pilot was taken into custody by the MPs" or "the were aboard a dock ready for shipment when the war ended" or "they were test flown 3 times over Berlin according to one drunken aviator who also swore he saw a UFO over Berlin on VE Day".

A-26, P-61, Yak-3, Me 410, Beaufighter, Ki-100, they all actually fought in the war in some credible number. By all means add them.

[moot]

The only reason the final in the last vote was the B-29 vs the Me410 is because the B-29 sucked off so much of the "American, <bleep> yeah!" votes that the A-26 narrowly failed to make the final.

Yep

[Greebo]

hey Greebo, just curious...Assuming they have the data they need, how many man hours do you think it take to develop a new plane? 300? 600? 1200?  and is there a big difference between a single engine fighter and a large bomber? Or does the actual shape make more of a difference for example would a Moonbat with all those crazy contoured compound curves take longer to produce than a B-29?

I don't know how many hours it takes for Waffle or Superfly to produce the 3D shape of a new ride. I would hazard a guess it takes them up to a month for the basic exterior shape. This includes animating all the control surfaces and gear. This is enough to give a skinner like me something to skin. If it is an aircraft they then have to do the cockpit including animating all the controls. Later they have to do the damaged parts/bullet hole bits. Also there is the low level of detail 3D shapes and skins, these are low poly count versions of the shape that are viewed from further away.

The flight modelling/damage modelling and testing is I believe done by Pyro. I've no idea how long that takes.

It takes me about 3-4 weeks to skin a new ride, the same again for a cockpit. I've never worked out what that is in hours. I usually do 1-2 hours each morning before going to work plus whenever else i feel like it, so maybe 50 hours.

A bomber is a more complex shape and needs extra 3D, animation and skinning work for the gunners and bomb aimer's positions and bomb bay so it takes longer to do than a fighter. GVs now have no interior art to do so take much less time overall.

[DREDIOCK]

I meant to say Fw190D-11 or D-13.

Fw190D-9 is, of course, a core late war German fighter and entirely appropriate to a WWII sim.


IronDog,

You need to read up on the Yak-3.  It had VASTLY more combat time than the P-63.

Hint:  Germans issued combat directives about Yak-3s.  Kinda silent about P-63s though.  Why?  because they were fighting Yak-3s and not P-63s.

Ahhh ok

Thats ok We have enough 190 variants already

[ozrocker]

I find it hilarious...

The poll is pretty much pointless to ask what we want to have next... We're just gunna end up getting them anyways... Ki-43 - Yak3 - ME 410 - they're more than likely been in the works already and HTC just wanted to make you feel like they want your opinion!

Its like a mother telling their kids before xmas what they already got for them - then asking - oh what do you want first

Obviously written by a Johnny come lately, votes do matter

Just like in other polls though, some of the planes that folks "need"
will wind up as "Hangar Queens". Of course the first 2-3 days, everyone will fly them.
Then they'll collect dust, only to be used in SEA.

                                                                                                                           Oz

[Vinkman]

They don't.  Most people playing this game aren't grognards.  Look at the comments that crop up occasionally on the board.  I recall a recent one by a prolific poster saying he didn't know the Japanese had any fighter other than the Zero until he started playing Aces High.  How can somebody like that make an informed choice when a list with a bunch of number letter combinations appear asking him to choose one?  What he'll likely do is pick something he has a clue as to what it is so he can get on with his evening in Aces High.  If it is a "P-xx", "A-xx" or "B-xx" he, most likely being American, is 1) more likely to actually know what it is and 2) failing that to have an idea of what it probably is simply based on the number.  E.g. a B-29 will likely be a later, more advanced bomber than the B-24 he plays with in the game whereas what the heck is a G.55, Ki-43, Me410 or Beaufighter?  Sure, they might be surprised at what they get if they voted the P-61 in, but they had a fair guess that it was a later, more potent fighter than a P-51.

This is not to insult those guys, not everybody is a hobbiest like some of us.  Nor is it to say that the stuff they would vote for are the wrong things.  It is to say that sometimes it is good to mix it up even if the powers that be have to rig the polls to do so.

I'm sensing a flashback to when I started playing and posting and made a comment like "no one knows what an Oscar is."   So I will reply to this point and remake my point from back then.  You see everything from an historic perspective because you are a history buff. But most people see it from a fame perspective. They want to fly planes they have heard people talk about, and planes they are familiar with, and have already developed a connection to. Maybe their dad talked aboutit, maybe they watched a movie or a show that featured that plane, maybe they went to an airshow ans sow one, or had a uncle that flew one, maybe they built the Revelle model of it when they were young.   My point then as it is now, the Zero is famous, the Oscar isn't. What makes something famous is not always clear, but it's always irrelevant. The fact that it is famous means it has a built in following of people which is perfect to a game developer for two reasons. 1) it attracts people to the game. 2) it satisfies people that are already here and want it.

Just because people want a plane that is famous, does not mean that choice is invalid. The game will benefit more from having planes most people want to fly, than from having a bunch of hangars queens that make the history buffs feel good about filling out the historical record.

Your knowlege on plane subjects is always appreciated. Maybe you could be less snobby about it.     

[Brooke]

only to be used in SEA.

                                                                                                                           Oz

A lot of people fly in special events, and some folks play AH mainly for the special events.

[ImADot]

I'm not a big history buff. I don't know jack about all the different planes. I like to fly and fight. I voted "Don't know...don't care". Whatever we get is what we get. I'm sure I'll fly one now and then, but I [like most others] have a small number of planes that I fly on a regular basis. So for me, there are plenty of "hangar queens". Why is everyone still arguing about a poll and what/why/when will we get "the plane"?

[moot]

Because we do know and care.

[Wmaker]

Welp...

Aces High CM in Training

...and...

I'm not a big history buff. I don't know jack about all the different planes. I like to fly and fight. I voted "Don't know...don't care".

...certainly go well together.

 

[Wiley]

When I'm looking at the polls, I'm sort of torn between filling holes in the scenario planesets and wanting something that will give a slightly different experience when flying it.

Most of the planes in the poll aren't really going to offer gameplay that is substantially different from other planes in the set.  Like somebody said about the Beau, take up a mossie 6 with drop tanks, full fuel, and fly around at 75% throttle, you're pretty much replicating the authentic Beaufighter experience.  True, but it was still a fairly significant plane in the war, and IMO deserves to be represented ingame.

The meteor would be 262-lite.  Basically a fast-ish BnZ brick in the hands of all but the best in it.  Nothing much exciting there either in the MAs or scenarios, unless they figure out a system for having buzzbombs in game that isn't lame.  I doublt that'll happen, so I don't believe it's a good fit.

The Ki-43 would be a neat plane to have as a ton of them were produced in the war and it would be good for scenarios., but it would be effectively useless in the MA.

Of everything that was in the forum poll, the one plane that I would probably have flown a fair bit in the MA is the J2M3.  Twistier than a typhoon or tempest, good climb rate, 4x20mm, faster than the N1K.  That's something we don't have, and I feel it would be a good and fun plane to fly in the MA.  Not particularly necessary for scenarios, but it would add something to late war pacific stuff.  It unfortunately didn't make the cut for the ingame poll, so the point is moot.

I've got a faint glimmer of hope because the forum poll didn't have many people looking at the Meteor, but we'll just have to see what the ingame poll says after today.

Wmaker-  What does one have to do with the other?  It doesn't take a bounty of historic knowledge to help run stuff.  Design is a different thing altogether.  Just as an example, would I need to know what happened at Midway to run a Friday KOTH?  There are plenty of things for CMs to do other than design historic scenarios.

Wiley.

[moot]

balls

[Karnak]

One thing that might set the Ki-43 apart from the others is that we would likely get two or three different versions of it.  A Ki-43-III, while light on firepower, would still be pretty usable in the MA due to its handling.

[Wmaker]

Wmaker-  What does one have to do with the other?  It doesn't take a bounty of historic knowledge to help run stuff.  Design is a different thing altogether.  Just as an example, would I need to know what happened at Midway to run a Friday KOTH?  There are plenty of things for CMs to do other than design historic scenarios.

Welp...

Definately sounds like a promising future for the AH Special Events! 

[Vinkman]

Welp...

Definately sounds like a promising future for the AH Special Events! 

Have you volunteered?