Nah. Dynamic campaign is literally everything. Once you live and breathe Falcon BMS's online dynamic campaign over a real living month, there's no going back. What's the point in flying pre-generated missions that you can memorize, ever again? I don't see any. The visceral thrill of flying in a Falcon theater where you must be on your toes at all time is amazing.
While I agree with you there, there is still some value of scripted, repeatable missions --- training.
Once you've got a good level of skill and want to fly with the "training wheels" off, that's when a DC comes in. Sure, scripted missions can still work if it has enough randomness and triggers scripted in, but that's really too much work for something that can come "automatically" with a DC.
I am wondering how truly dynamic the campaign in Falcon 4 is. Surely after a few runs you will know what each typical scenario will be? Say you have to bomb a bridge. You'll know which few locations the bridges will spawn at? The areas where the air defense may spawn? The same canned voice overs with nothing unique for a unique mission?
I'm wondering because I've never played it.
You have the ENTIRE Korea map. You play as a fighter pilot for the South Korean side. There's about 20 airbases to choose from in South Korea. Let's say you fly the same campaign 20 times, each time from a different airbase. Do you really think you'll be bombing the same bridge 20x over? Do you really think you'll be flying over the same air defenses? In one campaign run, the AI aircraft might manage to take out a bunch of SAM radars and open up a clear corridor into enemy territory. In another campaign run, it might be YOUR FLIGHT that is tasked to take out those SAM radars. In another campaign run, the AI flight may be jumped by an enemy flight and fail to tak eout the SAM radars.
To be fair, some people who've been playing for ages have a general idea of how a campaign would play out.... just have a read of the latest posts in the Falcon sub-forum here. However, even with that knowledge, you'll still be flying different flights even if it is for the same goal. For instance, in one campaign run, you may be flying as the STRIKE package of a multi-flight group. You can save the campaign before you fly that mission, then fly the mission again, but this time as SEAD package. Fly the mission again but this time as the ESCORT flight.
Take those concepts and realize that the standard Korean map has three campaigns. Then there are other maps each with at least one or two campaigns each.... Better yet, give Falcon a try.
but if you add the combined arms and multi-role modules it will be far beyond what Microprose ever envisioned when it finally happens.
Can we stop living in the far future please? Have you seen the state of Combined Arms? How many multi-role modules do we have now? How long do you think before "it" finally happens?
And you can not fly the F/A-18 anything in BMS. You are simply using the same Block whatever F-16 with a different skin and slightly modified flight models. So saying that you can fly other air frames inside BMS is a really nonsense talking point.
Hahahahahahahahaha.... I dare you to go to the BMS forums and make this point again and see how long you last. The avionics may be tweaked/modded F-16, sure, but explain to me how the F/A-18 in BMS is an "F-16 with a different skin"?
But the graphics are very outdated, the terrain is very 2D and the ground units look like paper dolls.
Yeah, we really don't play BMS because of the graphics.... most of the time, we're too busy maintaining SA and blowing stuff up while trying to keep ourselves from getting blown up. You know, proper COMBAT stuff...
BMS is only a mod that is installed alongside the original EXE
Wrong. Anyone who has installed BMS 4.33 will know why this is wrong.
BMS is still very glitchy in MP, or at least it was the last time I played it, because it still uses from what I understand the same but updated network coding. I saw the same problems with clients disconnecting and blowing up just like the original F4 was the last time I tried it.
Ah yes. The glitchy MP code only allows 32+ players in a virtual squadron's open flight night. The glitchy MP code also means things like Falcon Online cannot possibly be success stories. Your statement above just shows that you KNOW NOTHING about MP in Falcon BMS.
Yes I have. I loaded it back awhile ago to just see what all the buzz was about. It's still the same flat boring graphics that it was years ago.
**cough!**Israel Theatre**cough!**
**cough!**Polak Tiles**cough!**
Sorry, you were saying something about flat boring graphics? You may be confusing a COMBAT flight simulator and a pretty wallpaper generator featuring combat aircraft....
I agree that the realism is excellent though but it's still the same Falcon 4.0 that I remember. Red Viper, Open Falcon, Free Falcon, BMS, these are all just different iterations of the same idea and some of the same people from what I understand. It's a mod for F4 that adds some features and does some tweaking to what code they can but you still have to use the original disc to install it. Nothing is being done to the core part of the sim so it still has most of the same bugs that it always did. So don't make it out to be some sort of "latest and greatest" simulation thingy.
Hahahahaha!!! And DCS is just basically Flanker 2.0 or LOMAC. What kind of messed up logic are you trying here?
Full 6DoF clickable cockpit? Yeah, nothing has been done to the code. Buddy lasing? Sure, yeah, it's still F4.
As for having to use the original disc, again, you're doing a great impression of Jon Snow here...
Please do state some of the bugs "that always existed" that the appropriate bug spray may be applied.
Fly it if you like, that's your choice. But I know for a fact that when the F/A-18C comes out for DCS, a huge number of people from BMS will abandon it for DCS World.
That remains to be seen. Some people will try out the F/A-18C, sure. As to how many will stay after the initial honeymoon period is over, well, that remains to be seen. Again, can we please stop living in the far future?
A lot of people I knew from years ago went to F4 when Janes died out because they were craving the multi role. And they'll jump on carrier ops when it's out and leave BMS in the dust. And I personally have absolutely no desire to go back to that.
See, the thing is, what use is carrier ops in the current sterile world of DCS? Sure, it'll be fun doing carrier traps in modern graphics. Sure, it'll be great learning the F/A-18's systems.... but without a living theatre to play in... what happens when you want the training wheels to come off?
Don't get me wrong... I'm one of those that will most likely be re-installing DCS the moment I can fly the F-14 or the F-18 and I know I will be having fun with those airframes. I'm quite confident that unless ED has been pranking us for the last 5+ years, BMS has nothing to worry about with "being left in the dust." Simply put, even with just one aircraft in BMS and outdated graphics, DCS has a LOT of catching up to do.
Unless you like pretty wallpaper screenshots, then DCS wins hands down.