Combat Pilot

[CptTrips]

Not really a competitor of AH, at least for years to come.

This is really an interesting interview of a industry insider who produced the IL2 GB series and is now stepping out on his own.  Some interesting insights into this game genre.

Oh and AH gets a brief mention.  I was amazed.

[Nefarious]

I was going to post Enigma's video on why IL-2 is dead or suffocating in the vote thread because I felt it was relevant to the conversation.

Enigma has mentioned AH in his videos, I actually followed him because of something you posted here.

[CptTrips]

I was going to post Enigma's video on why IL-2 is dead or suffocating in the vote thread because I felt it was relevant to the conversation.

Enigma has mentioned AH in his videos, I actually followed him because of something you posted here.

You could get away with that.  I decided not to. 

But yes, that one is very interesting too.  And now realizing that this was the producer of the GB series and is now gone, now the lost direction and sense lack of progress and communication in the IL2 world suddenly makes sense.


Enigma made some interesting points about why it matters. 

[DmonSlyr]

There is some good potential here. Looks like he has a team and some initial funding. I'm a little bit hard pressed it will only be Pacific as you only have a limited plane set and a lot of fighting over blue, but there is a wide variety of action to be had. You gotta start somewhere. Unfortunate that online wouldn't happen for a while, but his understanding of how challenging and early on this is seems realistic. Flight model and feel of the planes would be my biggest strategy given they'll likely already have solid graphics. Anything too arcady will get shot down. Also didn't hear how they would introduce the years of the war throughout the game given different plane model advances.

It's strange to me that they didn't actually talk about AH more. It's almost like they wanted to avoid saying Aces High, which is frustrating. I doubt they probably played it much. To me, has the overall best idea of Pacific fighting, given all the aspects it has and what you can do with it. Carrier battles against land bases are some of the most fun to be had. If they made it feel like that Midway movie in a sense with big battles for islands. It could really be engaging. I hope it's realistic where you can push buttons on the dash and really feel the plane and its strength and weaknesses, much like what I like with AH in that regard. I do hope that they can make it as realistic as possible, but not too complicated for noobs to get in the air and fight.

[CptTrips]

It's almost like they wanted to avoid saying Aces High, which is frustrating.

I don't think it was like that.  What there was to say in this context was said.  It was noted to be a game example that still sticks to the monolithic subscription model.  That was it's relevance.

In reality though, it's not really a significant market player anymore, right?  I mean if we are being honest, and not just fan bois.  It is a rounding error in the market share.  That it was mentioned at all should be considered a hat-tip to it's storied past.

And 99.9999% of their audience would not even know what they were talking about if they did.  Enigma was probably in 8th grade when I was playing in the AH beta.  Heck, he might have been one of the squeakers we haven't heard since 2010.   I'd love to know if he had ever had a subscription.

If the conversation was to have relevance, it had to be couched in terms of sims the audience would know and could mentally compare.

But that said, there is many a slip between cup and lip.  5 years before they have the SP version, longer for anything MP.  So no, I don't see it as a reasonable threat to AH in what's left of what looks like the remainder of it's life span.  Do we really think AH will still be here in 8 years from now?  I hope so, but I wouldn't put money on it. 

They are laying the ground work for a new franchise like IL2 that might span another 20 years.  so they are playing a long game. It's not a threat in time scale worth worrying about, but it was an interesting conversation with a guy who has a proven track record of producing successful flight sims.  That's not an easy feat so this guy's insights are probably worth listening to.

I think they are very smart to choose 3rd party engine.  It will be a lot easier for them to find talent and therefore less expensive.  There are a boat load of experienced Unreal Engine developers out there.  That makes them cheaper and faster to bring on board.  And why not leave the graphics and optimization to a company who's sole existence to to perfect that.  Meanwhile they can concentrate on value-added content not the base plumbing.

[whiteman]

The fact that it’s Pacific only actually has my attention. I’ve had enough of the eastern European front and it and the western front are both well represented already. Why add more of that? It’s got a long way to go, but I hope it doesn’t fall into the category of DCS complicated. I want to get up, fight, drop bombs and RTB. I don’t wanna push buttons for the sake of pushing buttons for 10 minutes on the runway.

[CptTrips]

The fact that it’s Pacific only actually has my attention. I’ve had enough of the eastern European front and it and the western front are both well represented already. Why add more of that? It’s got a long way to go, but I hope it doesn’t fall into the category of DCS complicated. I want to get up, fight, drop bombs and RTB. I don’t wanna push buttons for the sake of pushing buttons for 10 minutes on the runway.

Well in the interview they said it was intended to be high fidelity and specifically referenced DCS.  I would expect it to be closer to DCS than AH in that regard.  But even in DCS everything can be bound so macros and voice attack profiles can simplify.  And even a cold start you can do auto start.  It just takes longer to get rolling but in DCS it's up the the mission maker if he wants to allow hot-starts ready to roll so it's not really a problem.

I used to hate that stuff but now actually I like it.  It takes a mind shift.  Instead of dabbling in a lot of planes you pick fewer and go really deep.  Kinda reminds me of the old days buying Falcon 3.0 or Tornado or SU-27 Flanker. 

I mean something like an Apache is just plain complicated.  That is just how it is going to be unless you War Thunder dumb it down. 

There is a certain satisfaction in really learning the details of the machine, it really puts you more in the historical seat so you know what the pilots had to do to fly those things.  They are not inventing new buttons, those are the buttons on the actual plane.  So to me it has become interesting learning how things actually worked.  To say you don't want the actual cockpit of the historical plane is only one step away from wanting a dumbed down flight model because it's too hard.

But I get it.  That was my opinion to at one time.  I've just developed more of an appreciation of the level of detail and simulation.  But it means I have a pile of other modules I've barely touched because I am spending a year learning the Apache. 

I do agree on hot-starts and multiplayer.  I'll do cold starts in single player but I think MP is best with hot starts.  Once up, I don't mind dealing with the actual cockpit but I use a lot of voice attack.  I haven't found the DCS warbirds that overly complicated.  I doubt it would be a deal-breaker for you.  I mean a lot of you guys fetishize of WWII planes and their engines and their performance so I think once you get used to it you would like the actual cockpits.

Hey, you got 5 years to worry about it. 

[AKIron]

Battles over land and sea always sparked my imagination.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN1mNNRqu0A

[CptTrips]

Battles over land and sea always sparked my imagination.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN1mNNRqu0A

Didn't play that one, but wore this one out (Midi music is so awesome.  I miss that.  It makes me instantly smile.  Sounds like good times.)...

[CptTrips]

The thing that concerns me is the distances. 

How long were the attack flights in Midway?  How close did the carriers ever really get?

[Brooke]

Oh and AH gets a brief mention.  I was amazed.

Where in vid is that?  I didn't see it.

[Animl-AW]

Where in vid is that?  I didn't see it.

Not worth the bother. It wasn’t positive (shocking I know). “It didn’t catch my attention”  He put effort into avoiding its mention.  I wonder why the oldest sim still running was intensionally ignored. Doesn’t surprise me only a negative view was posted. Bait and switch.

He’s going the DCS/IL-2 combo path of glitter you could only see in a still photo. Don’t count on a melee type arena.(prolly why AH was down played). You know how that works. More graphics less players in one server, less fun. Its a narrow minded pacific only concept. All eye candy. It will be more of another drone game they now call AI. You’ll need a monster machine.

That said, I love being wrong.

[AKIron]

Didn't play that one, but wore this one out (Midi music is so awesome.  I miss that.  It makes me instantly smile.  Sounds like good times.)...

Dynamix and Microprose were the kings of the air back then. The games were fun. The simulations now are much closer to reality which frustrates many due to real life learning curves.

[AKIron]

Another great one from 1988. Low on realism but high on fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDb2_yJhW2A

The F-16 Falcon series beginning in glorious CGA was the first real attempt at a realistic combat sim on the pc imo. Read recently that Microprose reacquired the license. Will be interesting to see what they do with it.

[CptTrips]

Where in vid is that?  I didn't see it.

It was very brief.  It was in the business model section. They were listing different sims and they monetization models.  He mentioned AH as the example of the classic subscription model.

I was just surprised he knew of it.