Very good historical synopsis k5054!

I also like what Buzzsaw, Neal, and tagTaken2 had to say about battlefield immersion (wanting it to be alive with troops and activity). It almost sounds as if we're talking about two different things here at the same time, one coming from our formed mindset of what we expect to encounter while performing our duties as a WWI pilot in a game, and at the same time hoping to be impressed into feeling we're experiencing WWI combat, through immersive environmental effects and greater simulation depth. Of course the more we know about an historical subject, the more we'll probably be expecting from a simulation of it, so how are we to be impressed when we already have heightened expectations? Perhaps the answer to immersion comes from expecting both the old and the new (at the same time).

What we probably yearn for in historical combat flight sims, is a need to pay homage to the time period, by encountering the things that add authenticity to our experience, and reinforce our prior expectations. At the same time, we want to enjoy new levels of immersion that temporarily allow us to suspend our own personal levels of disbelief (formed by our knowledgeable expectations). Therefore, I personally expect more authenticity and period-specific technology to be drawn into any new flight sim that revisits an earlier era (thru richer mission/campaign tasking, and believable FM/DM/AI activity), while hoping to see (feel) new levels of immersion from evermore exacting terrain, environmental effects, and object modeling. With all this being said, I also know my expectations will increase after I've enjoyed these satisfying experiences, so hopefully new game elements in the form of new weapons and mission/campaign content can be added, to satisfy that ever-increasing need to remain impressed!

Suggestions:

Missions/Campaigns need more history included in them to be engaging.....at least for me (generic generation doesn't always satisfy my expectations).

Immersion needs variety and room for continuous growth, by allowing (enabling) add-on content.