Battle of Malta or Mediterranean - why not?

Richie · #1 01-22-2012, 06:12 AM

What it looks like they are doing is the most logical. Progressing threw the war years with the sim as it happened in real life. They started with The Battle of Britain because they needed a popular jumping off point I suppose.

Battle Of Britain 1940
Russia 1941-44?
The Mediterranean - North Africa 1941-43
The Western Air War Over Europe 1942-45

#2 01-22-2012, 06:43 AM

That line of progression makes sense since you have some overlapping of aircraft that you can either straight-up reuse for the next addition or slightly tweak to get the period appropriate model. The problem is that the Eastern front will probably be a low point for sales outside of Russia, and the Med/N. Africa isn't the most popular theater either. Cheaper to make the game and sequels this way, but limited returns.

I'd like to see what their marketing dept had to say about that path and the reasoning behind it. (assuming it happens in that order)

Richie · #3 01-22-2012, 07:03 AM

The Mediterranean theater might be a little more popular in the UK Australia and Canada. Germany may go for it too. Hans-Joachim Marseille and F4s

#4 01-22-2012, 07:59 AM

The problem is that it's a mostly forgotten theater in a war where Hollywood has told them which battles are important. (Stalingrade, Battle of Britain, Iwo Jima, and naturally D-Day. You, your friends, and the people who frequent these forums probably think it would be awesome to play, but we represent a very small portion of a very small niche market.

Gamer->PC Gamer->Flight Simmer->WWII Enthusiast->Med/N. Africa.

There's a reason why you don't see many N. Africa or Eastern front movies in theaters, because the studios have done the research and they rank pretty low in the interest category. I'd love to bust some Hurricanes over the desert in my F-4, but I'd be surprised if I wasn't in the minority when it came to that over a 1944-45 European campaign.

Richie · #5 01-22-2012, 08:43 AM

Yes I would much rather have The Mediterranean - North Africa than 1944-45 Western Air War Over Europe mainly because of the great fighter mach ups. There's usually a lot of brawling on those North Africa maps in IL-2...when there's people around.

The late Western Air War will have the beloved P-51 D so you'll get lots of lust for that in America. Somehow for me though this arena isn't as much fun as being in an F4 in the desert.