To Polovski

Thanks for the help with the AVI's. I was finally able to view them. I suspect the problem was a corrupted file in the first attempt to download the avi's.

Although the FM and DM feels reasonable, my main problem with it realism-wise
is (a) the powerup system (which is unavoidable unfortunately - even in campaign
mode you get "engine boost" and "shield" bonuses, etc. just by doing well in combat sometimes)
and (b) the often rather unrealistic combat balancing which seems to pit you and your wingmen
against vast hordes of dim-witted enemies, rather than a more equally-matched battle against
enemies with better flying and shooting skills.
Hopefully it will get better later on, but I found in the first mission, the enemy Eindeckers were such bad shots that
they were no threat even when outnumbered 4 to 1. If they got on your tail they would seem to shoot randomly in your general direction and very rarely hit you. (The flak guns around the town/bridge area were MUCH more dangerous, as were, strangely, the rear gunners of the recon aircraft earlier on in the mission).

I noticed a Felixstowe F.2 flying boat in one of those screenshots - definitely my favourite WW1 multi-engine
aircraft, it would be interesting to create missions for if WoW modding/mission creating ever gets off the ground! The
Hansa-Brandenburg seaplane fighter (its main nemesis) is also modelled. Not sure if there are any U-boats in the game - patrolling for these was one of the Felixstowe's main duties AFAIK.

From the look of the shots, it looks like there is allot of up to date graphics being used. It's visually amazing.

Maybe the company would be interested in providing a developer's toolkit if they see that it will bolster sales for their product.

That way, one can play the original game on Xbox with your kids and then play a modified standard on one's PC catering more to our interests in producing a higher fidelity simulation.

I am torn though wondering how this arcady sim reflects upon the events of the past. Still, if it gets young people interested in the WW1 era and choosing to seek out more information about it that can't be a bad thing. Many of us found flying sims a catalyst to learning more about the people and times.

The irony being that they could potentially release an add-on much like FCJ to their own product to cater more to the realism crowd.

If it has the same attention to detail as Mafia, I may have to grab a copy. That is still one of the best crafted games I have ever played on my PC. The game’s race sequence alone is a sim in itself.

Xeidos2 wrote:

“I also find it very interesting to watch people making plans on how to hack into WoW and start finding ways to make their own mods for it, even before it gets released here in the States. Kinda shows where their priorities are at.”

I think it shows that our priorities are to try to get ourselves a new up to date WW1 sim by any means necessary. When KOE comes out, I’ll still get it. Still, beggars can’t be choosers and we don’t have allot of options currently at our disposal. It would be nice to fly something WW1 that feels up to date graphically.

Are there still plans for an interview of Aspect by SimHQ? There are still matters of clarifying what there lies in store for the future.

For an arcade game, it looks like the developers paid a great attention to detail. This leaves me wondering what their original intentions were creating it and how they might have changed down the line.

The market for WW1 games isn’t exactly bursting at the seams and it's nice to see something from the era again being sold. I wish it had come out wihout the goofy arcade stuff but if it can be changed, there is a great deal of potential.

At least now it shows what can be done with graphic visuals without it coming from Maddox Games for once.

S!

This is blowing my mind

I just pre ordered mine from J&R for only about $18 + shipping.

The developer of the .dta extractor for Mafia has knndly replied, and reports;

Hi!

After a brief look at the rw_data.dll I don't think there is any way the
MafiaDataXtractor would work with this game. The dll has changed quite a
lot since then as you would expect from an engine that is constantly
used and improved. However it is quite possible that the file format
hasn't changed that much since then, but as I don't own the game I can
only speculate about that. I think with some extra work and further
reverse engineering it should be possible for someone to extract the
files using the new dll.
You might want to have a look at this:
http://www.kamalook.de/Mafia/DTA.html. This page contains pretty much
all I know about Mafias DTA files.

Regards,
Malte Thiesen AKA MassaSnygga

I wonder if there's anything for H&D2 which is a bit more recent. Hopefully someone with the right skills can look at this?

BTW WoW's SPAD looks like it has 3 Vickers and a Lewis on the top plane - ugh!

Had another short blast this evening playing team deathmatch online - this is addictive! But this time I gave up on the virtual cockpit and played in external mode, at least I took SOME names this time!

Hey folks, shouldn't we be interested that there's a new WWI flying game on the market that exudes quality, apparently plays well on medium performance PCs at least, and perhaps offers a hope for future development and/or expansion?

Let me offer a quote here drawn from another WWI game forum:

I do not recommend a boycott of any kind. It won't help us at Aspect. It won't affect the decision makers at TakeTwo/The Gathering. If getting a copy of Wings of War (card game or xbox/pc) gives you a chance to have some fun with your son, do so with my blessings. Just set aside some money so that you can also play our project A when it comes out as well . KOE revised should follow a few months after that.

Also from here on SimHQ:

It makes me sad when I read how excited people are getting over the fact that the magazine on the Lewis gun rotates. We had that in KOE a year ago. Now when we bring KOE out in a few months people will say, "Oh yeah, that's just like what they have in WoW"

First I'm pleased that the Lewis gun's magazine pan rotates in WoW, because this is not only historically accurate but also quantitatively immersive. Still (as RSColonel and Hentzau have already mentioned above), Wings of Honor and FS-WWI had this weapon animation years ago, so whom ever brings touches like these back to the mainstream matters little, as long as future sims recognize that such features do have significance for some of us!

Now in the greater scope of things I want to again highlight Xeidos2's words here:

Now when we bring KOE out in a few months people will say.............

John, I'm awaiting "Project A" to arrive in the not too distant future, and will buy it just to give Aspect the sale, but when you say you'll be bringing out KOE (revised) in a few months, then I will have to temper the ole "suspension of disbelief" and ask you to qualify your comments more here.

A few months is still Q4-04............are you saying that KOE (revised) is still on target for this Christmas sales seasons?

If so, I'll hold off buying WoW and wait for Aspect's new WWI sim instead!

WoW is a bargin based game is it not? I thought it was coming in at around $20. That is cheap enough to be able to afford it and a copy of KOE later on. I would love to have them both. There would be no more whining about the lack of a good WW1 flight sim! As far as modding, I am no modder. I can barely navigate around Windows. I just play what is available and the versions I like the most.

Also, I don't always prefer modded versions. I played the stock RB3D for many hours before putting in much time with any mods. They were just too hard for one thing and for another, they droped my frame rates into the toilet. So, what I played mostly was the stock RB3D with Rens terrain mods coupled with modded airplane skins. Also, I used Garps flamer patch. That was my favorite mod of all!

FCJ is a great looking mod but my comp wouldn't handle it very well at all. Plus for me, Kess has the difficulty cranked up pretty high. Hells Angles ran much better so I usually played that when I was up for a more challenging sim than the stock game.


So I guess my point is that not all sim pilots fly modded games. I never play the mods to the exclusion of the stock game. I mean in regards to the FM, DM, and Campaign. RB3Ds stock FM and DM on high difficulty was good enough for me most of the time. Sometimes I would fly FCJ or Hells Angels for some extra challenge, but I always came back to the stock game.

I said a few months simply because I don't think it's going to take us a year to finish project A and then have the first stage of KOE revised and ready for release. But it might be long enough that you should probably indulge yourself with a copy of WoW.

I'd be tempted to buy a copy myself if it weren't for two things. 1) I've been on a starvation budget since Destineer started messing around with not paying us (March 2004) so I have no money to spare for anything. And 2) If their contract was anything like ours, less than fifty percent of what comes in from sales of WoW will go to the developer. The rest will go to line the pockets of TakeTwo and The Gathering execs.

So I'd recommend that no one hold off getting WoW because they're waiting for KOE. Just don't forget about us and write us off.

KOE is on my shopping list and I haven't even seen a demo yet so don't worry X we will buy it

As I posted on the SWWISA forums,

"Yes it's damn fun, it grows on you. At first the arcade stuff puts you off, but once you realise you can shed most of it, it's amazing. Turn off all the arcade aids, setup 4v4 multiplayer bot match (you and AI). Try to stick to cockpit for some of the dogfight, use mouse look (or trackIR) and it's really great fun. Occasionally cheat and press R for the "radar" to give you an idea wtf is going on

Oh you might need to do some campaign to get the DRI which is so well done, rolls like a pig but turns on a sixpence. You can also get a 99.sav which gives you access to all planes and campaigns if you are desperate

Only slight oddity (mentioned before by someone) is the Eindeckers having AILERONS and no wing warping BAAH. Pity when there are so many well done craft in there.


I have done some more movies and screenshots in this mode (great fun making them) and I'll upload them hopefully tomorrow.

Even in total arcade mode it is fun for a blast can't lose really for such a low price, very slick game worth every penny/cent.

Looks pretty like any of the new console games.

I have no use for it.

Better than any console game . I'd really be missing out if I didn't play . Can't wait to get it and KOE ,Pacific War ,Call of Duty . Whatever . Don't care for console games . I leave them to my nephews . So I will be playing this game.

Yeah, what's with that, strut-mounted MGs?

Bought WoW last week for $29 Australian, only to find depite the box being marked PC-CDROM, there was a DVD-ROM in the box. Took it back, all the others at the shop were similarly wrongly packaged, so have to wait for more stock.

It was also sold out in a couple of Sydney Australia shops i tried, so maybe selling well here?

Xeidos - not to worry mate, from what i have seen of KoE, I'll be a cert to be buying it when it's out too!

smith

Your loss - for £20 UK or $20 US, don't you think it's worth a look. It doesn't look "pretty" - it looks damn realistic.
Go, try it - be a Philistine for once
I dare you - I double dare you

That's the arcade side of it the "bonuses" if you fly in the multiplayer type game with AI you can turn off the visual bonuses so you can't see them anyway (although you can occasionally pick one up when flying low by mistake )

More pictures
http://www.polovski.co.uk/WoW

More AVi's hmmm thought I'd posted this already?

http://www.polovski.co.uk/WoW/WoW_campaign_start.avi
-shows a bit of the mission brief when starting campaign
(3.5MB)

http://www.polovski.co.uk/WoW/WoW_models.avi
- run through of all the models via "hanger" menu"
30MB

This is large...multiplayer dogfight versus AI with most arcade stuff turned off..
http://www.polovski.co.uk/WoW/WoW_1_1.avi
59MB


If I go over my bandwidth limit bye bye AVI's

(EDIT 28/08/04: Ok I made some of these smaller now to hold off the bandwidth usage a little)

Hey Polo thanks for the videos. They are very entertaining and revealing!

Speaking of consoles anyone tried out the xbox version? I was wondering if it supports wide screen and progressive scan.

Polovski - thanks for the new pics and avi's. You've been busy mate! Great looks. Cheers!

I haven't kept up apparently... Is KOE dead or not? Thanks CJ

Huh? Wossat? 99.sav? Is that an in-joke or have you found a way of unlocking all the planes? Do tell!

Looking at the .sav files in a Hex Editor (know nothing about that but it sounds kinda smart, no?) the first three in my case have some gibberish in them, the rest of them it's just obelisks all the way. OK I can get the DH2 or Eindecker but I AM desperate to get the others in SP.