SOW Multiple sorties?

[Flyby]

Originally Posted by Rama

Quite wrong...
Just compare HL standard attendance last year and now...

Mods generate a lot of activity on forums... but as expected, online greatly suffered from the variety of choice. Today, with the mods, there's not ONE possible game install, but myriads... so most of the onliners are restricted to squad play (groups with same or alike install...)
... just like we forecasted before the mods fashion...

mods like the sound mods or the TrackIR mod make for incompatibility issues in online play, and so restrict participation to those who have them? Are there any mods that are compatible with the stock installation?
Flyby out

[Flyby]

actually I really just want to know if any mod is compatible with a stock install, or does any mod require a seperate game install folder?

[LEXX]

Rama::

Quite wrong...
Just compare HL standard attendance last year and now...

Mods generate a lot of activity on forums... but as expected, online greatly suffered from the variety of choice. Today, with the mods, there's not ONE possible game install, but myriads... so most of the onliners are restricted to squad play (groups with same or alike install...)
... just like we forecasted before the mods fashion...

Fantastic news, which I also forcasted in hopes this would happen. Squads are the way to prevent "cheating" without helplessly depending on the developer crippling the sim for the Offline players who pay for "free" online gameplay.

...unless you go Pay-To-Play.

...or Oleg focuses first on the Offline players who, if they are kept interested in the sim, can provide funding for "free" and "cheat free" private and anonymous public server gameplay which is what I hope Oleg does in the future, and I already know you agree (rather than pay monthly fees to ubi).

The only problem is Newbies who try online before joining a private squad (or not desiring to). Sadly, the anonymous public server segment had the last 7 years to join the Offline players and private server Online players in their requesting Oleg for *official* modding ability which might have been able to prevent any current "issues" with Hyperlobby, instead of the hack modding of today. But the vocal self-appointed anonymous public server "leadership" refused to offer support. Opportunity lost. Maybe its not too late for BoB And Beyond

[Surace]

Stress less, im sure SoW will be just as friendly to both on and offline players just as il-2 is.

If the forums are anything to go by, BOTH communities form a significant proportion of the game. To ignore either would be like cutting your already niche market in half.

Pay to play only becomes an issue when the company is running the game servers, it really has no place in this discussion.

Personally i think the single most important aspect in keeping a game running for a long time is community. Nothing will keep me coming back to a game 2 years after playing it like a good bunch of people waiting to greet you when you log in. Simple in-game tools like friends lists, integrated VOIP and squads can give this aspect a big boost.

[Rama]

Originally Posted by LEXX

Rama::
Fantastic news, which I also forcasted in hopes this would happen.

For YOU... not for me and lot's of others.
For me it was the end of IL2 (I did play exclusivelly online).
I haven't flown virtually since February (hopefully, I have other hobbies, and RoF did take a lot of my time too)

Squads are the way to prevent "cheating" without helplessly depending on the developer

This is an old and dated conception of online play.
When you tested online wars (with thousands of participants), missions and campaigns restricted to your squad attendance becomes tasteless.

and I already know you agree (rather than pay monthly fees to ubi).

No you don't know....
I'm not a-priori against Pay-to-play if the online war system is interesting enough

.../... the Offline players and private server Online players in their requesting Oleg for *official* modding ability which might have been able to prevent any current "issues" with Hyperlobby.../...

Instead of *requesting*, they should have *participated* to *official* modding.... which was not only a possible way, but a way used by many players, including myself (I have worked on some of the late maps, Norway, Burma, Online Italia, Bessarabia, Desert map).
... but well... history is written... we can't change the past...

I agree that the doors to "Official" modding could have been more open, better indicated and better documented... but still they were open...

Even if I didn't participated to the "after-hack" mod fashion, I went from time to time reading the mod forums (by curiosity)... and what I've seen (which I also forecasted), is that modders don't want *official* modding, they don't want common rules and quality control.... they want to be *free* to do whatever they like (including modifying FM and DM).
Yes, many of them to have talent and put a lot of efforts in they work... efforts that they would most probably have not done in if there was a quality check sanction (not that they would not be able to reach the quality standards... but the only fear not to be able to reach them would stop them to just try).

With SoW:BoB, it will reach the same way.... whatever the official modding capabilities.
Modders (some of them at least) will be unsatisfied, will ask for more opening of the modding capabilities, will rand on forums that the game miss that and that and that FM, DM, etc... could be better (which is allways true... but doesn't justify to change them in a big modding mess).
And some day along SoW game life, one will hack the code... modders will find with the hack the freedom they allways hoped for.... and online play will die...
So if pay-to-play is the only way to escape this fate.... I'm all for it...

[Flyby]

This thread about "multiple sorties" is so hijacked now that I barely recognize it. Even I strayed by asking about mods. What the hell mods have to do with multiple sorties is not something I'm even interersted in. If Oleg has a pathway for official mods for SOW I'll be interested in those. I'm not really interersted in having multiple installs and exe switchers. I'll assume sound mods screw things up similar to other mods porking an original install for online play purposes. Just means I'd have to decide: mods, or pure Oleg.
Now back to our program about multiple sorties. Someone please start a seperate thread about this modding issue, please.
thanks you,
Flyby out

[LEXX]

99 Done!

Time to refuel and/or rearm...?

Configurable refit times could allow each Offline player or server, for all players on that server, to set refuel and rearm times anywhere between zero (instant refuel) to historical averages if known, or assumed if not known. Obviously there would be no upper limit to the configurable time if there is no data for this.

Is this Correct Thinking?

[Flyby]

I think configurable refit times might run into a problem if, for example, a Spit returns and refuels while a 109 is still rtb to refit. The Spit would have an unnaturally quicker turn-around time because it already has the benefit of fighting over it's homeland whereas the Emile has to cross the channel first. How best to make ithistorically fair?
Flyby out

[Baco]

Well regarding On line focus or not, not paying atebntion to on line play is like having a cable company withoout HD. Yes most people won´t use it, but if you dont have it, you will never be able to compete.

Toaday even consoles ofer on line gaming and it is the reason they are making money.
Soon everything will be on line, Phones allready are, radios , TV will follow in the near future.. and you propose that an enterteinment developer can afford to ignore on line play? Ludircrous at best. specially if SoW series are intended to last for as long as Il-2...

Now regarding MODs, with out them the HL numbers would be close to 0...
On line wars work perfectlly, and the onlly serious one is doing fine, (I mean ADW).. every other war died becouse of the players not the cheating.. you don´t need moded cheats to "game the game"...

I think Oleg is doing the right thing making SOW an on line engine that of course can be run off line too. On line is the future, wether we like it or not.

[Flyby]

I think we all know that the future of online whatever is secure. People want to be brought together for whatever (sinister) purposes. My purpose/dream is to ambush the unsuspecting troll flying along all fat, dumb and happy. I prefer to do it in a WW2 combat flight sim (but I've been enthralled by air modern combat sims too).
My whole issue in this thread has to do with (pretty much ***cough-soley-cough***) with discussing how multiple sorties might be played out in SoW-BoB. For my personal perference online combat is a given. I do respect anyone who prefers offline play. In these hard economic times offline play may be what the budget calls for.
But we're all friends here. Right? So which one glides better after it runs out of fuel: the Emil, or the Spit_Mk1? Whoops! gotta go pee!
Flyby out!!