[nearmiss]

I think it's a good thing. Probably not stoppable.

I would suggest Oleg get on the bandwagon and find some way to make some money off it.

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I'm not unhappy with IL2 Sturmovik 1946. This sim is still state of the art in most respects, compared to other CFS.

The AI performance needs work, the FMB needs work (new tools) i.e, triggers, events, event areas, etc.

Maps,maps and more maps are needed.

The sound Mod Mondo mentioned. Well, I can tell you it may be full real sounds... but most of the planes sound like the bearings are going out on the motor (from inside the cockpit). LOL

Oleg would be smart to workaround this and maybe even join in the processes to some extent. Why, because he still holds the core code and can make things happen more his way than we realize. This may just be the kind of thing Oleg needed for his great old sim all along. Oleg has already pretty well written it off, as I understand. I could be wrong, but he is putting all his eggs in the BOB basket.

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I have an opinion:

Oleg is making a mistake trying to make a complete sim about a few months of air combat over a miniscule part of the war. I've done the Rowan's BOB and now the BOB II WOV with all the add ins. He will have to really do some fabulous work to duplicate or exceed the AI performance for OFFLINE play in the Shockwave BOB II.

Oleg may turn this few months of air combat(the BOB) into some kind of glorious, graphic masterpiece. I don't see that much interest being there for a dedicated sim to this one period of history, in this one place. The landscapes are flat, uninteresting mesh and terrains. The few aircraft that were flown in the BOB were shooting their .303's, very Boring....

I enjoy the IL2 because I can fly those weak weapon aircraft, and then I can jump into an aircraft with some real firepower and whup some tail.

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MSFT shot their foot. They had a great CFS that people loved, CFS2. The CFS3 was a state of the art graphics improvement and for the most part it was a nightmare for users. As a result, MSFT has just walked away from the CFS games.

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Oleg should take the IL2 Sturmovik 1946 and improve the sim, maybe with some hard work and dedication. Find a way to connect with this new influx of influence from devs... who have found a way.

What people are really saying is they don't want IL2 to go away, and the message couldn't be clearer or louder.

The AAA site is very new and already has over 6,000 members. Think about that, does someone have to get smacked up side the head to realize there is enormous interest in an improved IL2. The BOB may not be anywhere near what someone thinks it will be.

People enjoy the IL2 because it covers the war all over the world to a large extent. I personally, like the early conflict on the Eastern Front and the early conflict in the Pacific War. Everyone has their own little niche, but with the BOB it is going force everyone to the one little niche (BOB), that is of little or no interest to a lot of people.

Oleg must make a way to keep the IL2 intact even if he takes the old IL2 and moves it into a newer software engine. Let us continue to fly 8 poly current aircraft and incrementally add in the 16 poly aircraft.

This is a marketers dream. The users of Il2 are still out there clamouring for more and more.

The sim is a hit, what the hell else could you want.

You might think those are strong words, but someone needs to get the message.