Thanks for the pre-view.

It'll be interesting to see what lessons they have learnt from the development of RoF. The mission editor doesn't seem to be one of them though. Although I haven't even looked at the editor myself (fine one to start chucking stones) I've heard grumblings about it's complexity and shortcomings which, if ArmA III is a useful benchmark, might have some truth behind it.

I hope they've also taken a good long hard look at the method of constructing the FM's. While it might be one of ROF's great strengths, it's complex inflexibility also seems to be a bit of an Achilles heal. That said, with more original, accurate and complex information available by builders, pilots and testers who had a better understanding of what they were doing, then the base model should be far smoother with less gaps to be filled in. Also on the same subject, the combat environment is in some respects more forgiving than WW1 in that aircraft separate quicker, out of effective guns range, and turning takes longer, also allowing for better separation before a shot can be taken.

As an idle thought, and it was mentioned in the pre-view, I wonder if it actually wouldn't be a good idea to have a generic FM or two, with some basic variability in number inputs/outputs. I only reason I say this is because there are some aircraft that might be useful to include but wouldn't necessarily be good sellers. One such aircraft that has already reared it's head on the forums is the Ju 52, given it's role in resupply for the trapped Germans probably an important addition but never the less probably not a great money maker for 777. It might also open up content creation to third parties, one of the big draws of the original IL2. Of course they would only be AI flown, unless demand was sufficient that 777 saw a market for including an AFM and cockpit. It just seems to be to be rather restrictive to only include content that might be good sellers and also, given the complexity and time required for the proper FM's, very limiting. Hopefully 777 can streamline this aspect of the development cycle as regular updates and fresh content on a regular basis gives a sim 'wings' so to speak and stops it going stale.

I am however looking forward to flying with the enhanced Digital Nature engine and more complex DM.