It's like building a Lamborghini and then using it to cart old people around the Walmart isles.

Amen to that.

And the old people "What is it you want for Pete's sake? Ok can you point at it? No that's my finger" only speak Russian

Clouds are certain death I'm not going near them again

Ming

[quote=Chipwich I've got some Citabria and Decathlon time and like you very much enjoy getting to know these old kites and their eccentricities. I fly on my PC, because the real thing costs so damn much, so I didn't mind spending about a third of an hour of C172SP time for the experience so far.

Last night I made the mistake of wondering into a cloud flying the single plane patrol scenario, and man talk about using your partial panel skills! Where are the primary six when you need them the most?
[/quote]

I share your perspective in regards to costs. I was a Mac user and bought this rig specifically to augment my PPL training in terms of flight planning and cross country navigation. While FSX was great for all that, it has some flaws that build bad habits and I've become very critical of the limitations of flight models in simulators. I think I got my money's worth but the pilot using simulators needs to maintain critical vigil and be conscious of not only what is realistic, but what is not.

I haven't started my instrument training yet but bought the IP Trainer software and started reading through the textbook just a while back. I was cocky about Instrument Flight until ROF put me in the clouds. Without the attitude indicator I quickly realized the importance of being proficient with secondary instrumentation. I ended up staring at the compass to hold the nose straight and straining my ears to gauge the speed in order to control pitch. From the results I'd say I've still got some way to go!

We need a rolling pencil on the dash like B17

Ming

Thanks Jason, I should have listened to your pamphlet the first time and am glad to realize that not only is there a workaround for the UAC disabling for install, but that I can turn mine back on.

I am even more glad you are patrolling the board because it tells me that someone is paying attention on the development end. In my career, I've learned that too many people crucify those who step in to fix mistakes that have already been made so I wish you the best of luck and give your team and colleagues the benefit of the doubt for now. I am invested in your efforts and therefore hope you have success.

The majority of your IFR training will be conducted partial panel. And bone up on your mag compass errors, as you'll have a zillion simulated vacuum failures and your HI will be history.

Enjoy!

OK, didn't know it installs Adobe and MS stuff too. I never install the Adobe reader because it is bloatware and already have installed Foxit to read .pdf files. What's the MS installer? Directx? That shouldn't have any issue if UAC is on.

Scarf going straight up when upside down would be a good visual clue too.

I agree with some of the assessments of the original post.

This game has some good points and some bad ones. But on the whole, I think the people who have called this game an incomplete "beta type" release hit the nail on the head.

The airplane graphics are good-- I especially like the detail attention paid to the aircraft. The flight models seem decent enough and, from what I've read, jive pretty well with historical accounts. Take off feels a little heavy to me, but that's not a big fault and might be a personal feel and control sort of preference. The cockpit movements and workload are nice-- you really have to work all the different aircraft systems. I think this, along with airplane graphics, are the best-done features of the game, since you have to work everything in the cockpit, right down to Spad radiator shutters. The cockpit instruments work well and look nice enough. The loading gun animation is pretty cool too.

The ground textures are alright. From high up they work well enough. Down low they aren't all that fantastic. I think they're okay on the whole.

The landscapes seem very sterile and barren to me-- you'll see many open fields that are huge, but with no dwellings or buildings or anything on them. Towns do pop up and they look nice enough, but the landscape feels sterile on the whole to me. I think more needs to be added to it. The comment about AI, I think, is pretty accurate-- they need some balancing work.

The interface and menus need some serious work. I've found a number of menu dead-ends where you can't get into the game. As they say in Maine, "yah can't get thayah frum heyah". If you don't have an aircraft bought/loaded you shouldn't be able to click on it and then get sucked into a dead end menu where the only route is to go all the way back from whence you came. That's annoying. The external config business is a real pain too-- I'd like a quick config access in the game.

The biggest killer is the price to aircraft ratio at this point. You pay full freight for a game that could aptly be called "Spad vs. D.VII Tournament". I think considering the bugs so far, and the price paid for admission, that at least the next couple planes should be free downloads rather than for-pay items. We're effectively paying them to act as de facto beta testers.

That said, I think once the game gets some work done it will be great, and a worthy addition to the long line of quality WW1 sims. I think this is one of those games with a ton of potential that is still in the very early stages. I've seen some people selling the game away already-- I guess it depends on your system and what you're looking for. I personally think that's a mistake because I'd be willing to bet the $40 or whatever that this game could really be a contender with more work. I will only reiterate though that for-pay add-on aircraft besides just 2 single seaters should be seriously reconsidered by the developers. I think that for what you pay initially, you should at least get a handful of aircraft to start with instead of just 2. Now if beyond a handful you want to charge, fine. I'm keeping this game and will fly it more frequently once more planes come into play. I like the game, but I regard it as an early beta type of thing that needs work. I would advise not giving up on it though.

Very good insights, Sir Mike. I was particularly struck by the following:



This started me wondering exactly how the ROF business model would work in the long term. The game shipped with two flyable aircraft. Now, I'm no WWI aviation fanatic but I can name off the top of my head at least 20 other aircraft that would be needed for just a reasonably complete late war planeset (Fokker DR 1, Nieuport 28, Nieuport 17, Albatros (several models), SE 5, Camel, Snipe, Dolphin, Bristol, Pfalz, Spad XI, Fokker D-8, DH 4, DH 9, Gotha, Handley Page, Halberstadt, Rumpler, Breguet, Caudron).

Let's say that each additional plane is priced at $2 (which, based on postings here, most people would seem to consider a reasonable price). The total cost for a game with a complete planeset for someone who bought the initial game is $89.

Now, is someone who is thinking about buying the game further down the line when these planes are all introduced really going to want to pay $89 up front for a flight sim? If, however, the total cost is discounted for a later purchaser, how is this going to sit with the original purchaser who has in fact shelled out $89 over time, in addition to buying a game that is very much "a work in progress" (to put it politely) in order to support its further development?

I realize that IL2 went through something of the same process with its series of additional releases, but WW2 seems easier to parse into different pieces (Europe vs. North Africa vs. Pacific, etc).

I don't pretend to know the answer to this question, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out. NeoQ has certainly bitten off quite a bit, with a brand new DRM scheme and a brand new business model.

You've got to remember that you are only paying for aircraft that you want to fly yourself otherwise they will be added to your game for free. I know I only ever flew a handful of all the planes in IL2 of which I bought all the expansions. In those monetary terms I'd have preferred the Neoqb business model.

At this stage we don't know when these addons will be released or how many. Even if it was two planes for $10 every month. Hell, I can afford that for something that I'm putting so many hours into.

It pays I think not to think of it as the total amount of money you have spent but break it down into smaller pieces vs the enjoyment it brings. That's how I justify my drinking