I'm all for (optional) added complexity to engine procedures but haven't played a sim with clickable cockpits so I'm not sure how realistic/viable that is. Based on my experience with IL2 though, I propose another option to those wanting more realism without Oleg having to build VCs for all planes.
I haven't played IL2 for a few years now but when I did, I spent days getting the keys on the Saitek joystick, throttle and the keyboard just right. But even with all that effort I found that I could only remember the most often used commands. Around then, I discovered a program which allowed me to use voice commands for various functions.
What a huge difference that made. I didn't have to memorise which keys did what and could focus on flying instead. I still got shot down just as frequently but at least now I could hold down a trigger on the Saitek and say things like "gear down" and "flaps up" without having to remember what I mapped those to. Especially gratifying was watching wingmen react to my spoken commands and having vectors to home base transmitted over the radio in response to my question "where's home?" in Lomac. By the time I finished configuring all the voice commands, the only things left on the stick were the fire buttons and not much else.
When I'm flying in real life, I follow checklists for different stages of flight and pre/post flight and I speak aloud each item as I perform it. Voice activated commands in IL2 would be very realistic in this sense even without actually performing the action. An avatar responding to spoken commands would probably be as close as possible to real life without building a simpit.
|