Well, i agree with you in a sense but i also disagree. No, i'm not crazy
What i mean is that every update so far had something to offer, this one was a "read between the lines affair".
I think it's mostly about the implications...
"Here we have the most well-known, English speaking(=with an international impact) TV station in Russia showing a short video of our upcoming title...something we wouldn't probably do if we weren't absolutely sure that we'll succeed."
This is the message of this update and while the actual content didn't satisfy me, the message did very much
What i would like to see at some point is what is open to speculation between community members. We pretty much knew the graphics, FM and DM would be the best thing possible for the available PC technology, anyone who has flown IL2 and has a little faith in the developer team probably didn't need to be told that.
What don't we know and people speculate about?
Sounds: Doppler effect, "sound cone", etc
AI: How "smart" are they? Are they good wingmen and difficult opponents? Can they feel fear? Will they take stupid risks? Will they have a certain element of randomization in their routines to make them feel more human?
The dynamic campaign and the world around you: Are there random triggers? Will we be able to find "traffic" (=targets and trouble) outside the mission route? Will the game world feel alive? Promotions/Squadron and pilot management? Transfers?
The new multiplayer mode: Maybe a mix of coop and DF, a persistent online campaign where players decide what to bomb/defend and have their ability to fight and win influenced by that? If i bomb the airfield's fuel dumps you face a fuel shortage, if i strafe the trains/convoys that bring it in you can't replenish it and so on.
Ability to respawn and/or take over the planes of AI flights for such online campaigns? Not a big deal now, but maybe in the future. Nobody will fly 6 hours to Berlin, but if you could send a formation of AIs and timed it right, you could join the game and take over the planes a little before their bomb run, then "exit" them and go fly something else while they return to base?
The new mission builder: I'm sure there are others more qualified than me to comment on this, but what first comes to mind is giving an example of the available triggers and mission types.
Aircraft operation complexity: Will there be operating limits to follow/system modelling that are improved over what is available in IL2 as an extra difficulty/realism setting? Will the systems realistically breakdown if you exceed the normal parameters for too long?
If not, will it be supported by the engine so that a later add-on can enable it, or the comunity can help you make it?
How will this be controlled (keyboard,HOTAS, clickable cockpits, pop-up menus like the radio menu, all of the above methods so that we can choose what we like best?). There have been 2-3 threads with polls about that in the last week.
An example of how easily you can mod/customize SoW with the help of your officially supported tools: Making a new custom map? How hard is it to replace a cockpit texture with another one? What about skins?
Can we add interface options by ourselves in a way that it will not interfere with anti-cheat measures online? For example, making a switch clickable or tuning the DF antenna with the mousewheel/HOTAS slider,
or assigning a keyboard/HOTAS command directly to a switch of a particular aircraft and not a generic function in the keybinding screen, so that it's aircraft specific and only works for that aircraft? For example, in a real FW190 pushing the stick forward unlocks the tailwheel, pulling it back locks the tailwheel but i don't want this to be a global setting, just something that happens only on the FW190.
What about separate control profiles (joystick response curves, button assignments)? For example, i set up the controls and save them as "BF109.ini", then click a checkbox "make settings default for..." and a drop-down menu opens, i select "BF109" and click ok. Then, i make a copy of the file, rename it to "SpitMKI.ini", edit 4-5 things that are different and make it default for the Spitfire. Things like that.
Finally, can we edit a text based file (.ini,.xml, things like that) to make things like that ourselves and save you the trouble? Help us help you make the simulator even better
This is all too much for now, i know, but i also know you guys have the vision, the talent and the skill to do a big part of it. Probably not immediately, but as time goes by and SoW improves i bet we'll see a lot of new, exciting and most of all, cleverly implemented things. Don't take this like i'm sticking a knife at your throat, but more like i'm throwing out various ideas in case you might like something or use it as a stepping stone for another, better idea of your own
A 5-10 minute video showing turning on the engine , climbing to 5000ft, getting a kill and then receiving damage and landing in a field would answer a load of those questions in a very short amount of time. I wouldn't even care if the propellers were missing from the animation and the terrain and tracer effects were placeholders, but i would be very interested to have the system messages we see in some of your screenshots scrolling by at the same time, it would give a big indication of what's modelled within the airplane.
In any case, this is a mix of my personal "wishlist" with what i've seen other people eager to know. I'm sure that as the pieces fall into place we'll see more and more. Keep up the good work
