What do you think it is that Luthier thinks will have Competitors squirming?

[Blackdog_kt]

Originally Posted by Bonkin

Working in software development I have some idea of the complexities of managing software projects and the issues involved - and I've got to say I think Blackdog may have something here. I feel something big is coming. I say this because some of the fixes the community has been pressing for (i.e. SLI, better AI, gunsight bugs etc) seem to me to be the trivia jobs... but when we do get an update what do we get? A new German minelayer and some trains, i.e. stuff to the community that is not that important right now. Thing is... maybe this stuff is all going to be important? Clearly the team are working on things other than just the fixes that are required.

Just my thoughts... but longer term I'm seeing a much larger online battlefield with not just aircraft being player controllable. Maybe the MG strategy has been all along to get more involvement from 3rd party developers to make this all happen... hence the release of the SDKs? Not sure what the business model is though.

Finally, someone who understands. It's not that AA or sounds or flickering shadows are not important, they very much are. I just have a feeling they are trivial compared to the general scope of the sim and the reason i feel that way is because of the hints that have already been dropped in terms of existing features.

Why would a server want to limit the player's ability to spawn aircraft of his choice or switch teams? Why would they go to all the trouble of pretty much letting the user interface with the sim with computer language code, to the point of controlling not only gameplay aspects but the interface as well?

If people have no imagination all they see is a jaggy aerial mast that's bugging them for months. If they do, they see an online war where you choose your affiliation and unit at the start and are limited to flying that for its duration, within a dynamic strategic and tactical environment.

There's way too many stuff like that to enumerate one by one. What about the in-game map tools preview? I can plot down waypoints mid-flight for crying out loud or while warming up, how long until i can have them apply to the rest of my AI spawned squad (we can spawn more than one aircraft already), then my buddies spawn into those aircraft and are presented with a nice flight plan ready to fly a mission?

I think performance fixes are pretty much in their final stages, graphics and sounds are about to also be finalized, so i'm expecting the following two steps to occur next:

1) Rework any FMs that need tweaking and debug all the existing aircraft (Ju88 gyrocompass, radial engines CEM, streamlined control logic for all aircraft controls). At this point the sim is pretty much considered a complete product.

2) Release of the SDK and moving towards that goal of an expansive, dynamic battlefield, where the player's action have a more lasting impact on the environment than simply winning a single DF map or coop mission.

I think that 6 months down the road, some people are going to be frantically trying to split the remaining 250 gallons of fuel in the airfield's reserve among them because a bunch of Heinkels blew up their fuel dump and now their Spitfires are sitting on the tarmac waiting for the AI truck convoy to arrive, while simultaneously begging for the Hurricane squadron stationed on the nearest field to throw up a bit of CAP for those fuel trucks.

And when we get to such a stage, i'll be all the more glad that they decided to put their focus on these things and bite off more than they could initially chew, even if it meant putting the most commonplace features on the back burner for a while and having to endure the ire of the community.

I didn't want CoD to be an old girlfriend with a new lipstick, i wanted it to be a new one and i didn't mind at all that her clothes were shabby and she wore no make up when i first met her. All the complaints about how could they miss what is considered a given for a modern day game are just that, having a drop dead gorgeous girl winking at you across the bar and not making a move because if she's wearing snickers and baggy jeans instead of high heels and lipstick then she's not good enough for mister snappy well-dressed