Ok, I'll bold "Brisfit." Is that better, oh snarky one?

How to distinguish between paid and unpaid with regard to RoF.

The game has evolved considerably in the last year, not least of which is the campaign. None of this had to be paid for unless you wanted to contribute, so some, a lot, or even most have contributed to the further development and doubtless it wouldn't have happened without that financial support, but then it's entirely possibly that people have received all the updates with very little financial input at all.

In the past most of the base game development updates would have been that have happened in RoF would have been passed off as a new improved game with the implication that if you wanted to continue flying the sim then you had jolly well better cough up.

Maybe, RoF should have warranted an honorable mention at the very least, but then it's not as if I'm biased, honest !!!!!!

Yeah, the RoF Career Beta was a great update, if that was a category in this "awards" thingy... Then again, maybe the fact that it is self-proclaimed "beta" had something to do with it being snubbed? Who the he!! knows, but in the end, do we really ___ care? I mean, I don't watch the oscars or any of that hype.

We'll all keep trumpeting from on high the virtues of RoF to all who will listen! Let's just keep our community focused meanwhile...
Ok, I had a few on the train home...

Good grief, YOU COULD AFFORD THE TRAIN

What in hell is Benchmark Sim's 4.32 and if it is so good what is the plane set?

When I clicked the Best of 2011 link I never even thought of RoF. The possibility in retrospect only crossed my mind when i saw this thread. SimHQ have done a great deal to promote and encourage this sim, something I am sure Jason is thankful for despite his mild protest on page 1. Rise of Flight has continued to improve almost monthly since 2009. But that gradual march is hard to quantify. Hint: a CHANNEL MAP or ALPS MAP is very easy to quantify and I am sure would win some consideration in 2012 so long as the sim continues to be outstanding.

The BMS update was a deserved win. It took a 13 year old sim and gave it a rebirth. It didn't just bring it up to DirectX 9. It also added features to and removed glaring mistakes from the F16. Somehow they did it for free.

What really impresses me there is the devotion to technical accuracy (the graphical improvements were a bonus). I love RoF, but it is falling behind at bit in that category. Hopefully 2012 will be better.

Just to broaden this a bit:

Has 777 or Jason given any further hints as to what could lie in store for this sim or game engine in 2012?
I seem to recall they had some big news to announce before Christmas and were looking for beta testers. Not sure if it was the hand guns and streamers?

And I do remember some tantalising pics of what looked like pacific scenery?

Anyway, here's hoping. I love the Rise of Flight engine, business model and commitment to historical accuracy. Love to see them make a push into the WWII theatre this year.

Do you know the Falcon 4.0 series? It's basically an F-16 sim made 10 years ago that's been modded and modded and modded like nobody's business. FF, OF, Red VIper etc.

BMS 4.32 is the latest and greatest mod for it and it's brought the title into the 21st century with a very loud and convincing bang. It's second to none as far as modern combat sims go, arguably the best there is out there, and it's an ongoing project. I hear that the F/A-18 not too far away from release for it and there's definitely a dedicated effort in the community to improve the terrain, tweak various aspects of game-play and add new objects and theaters.

The plane-set is based around the F-16 obviously, the various versions of that aircraft take precedence, but there is also the Mirage 2000 and the A-10 that have been modeled in some detail and the F/A-18 in the pipeline. Other aircraft are also flyable but many of them retain the F-16 cockpit.

I'm crazy about it, don't know what the hell I'm doing half the time but it's truly a masterpiece.

I very seldom fly in circles. And why do you struggle to get sights on target ? Those open cockpits offer really good view. TIR or something similar is a must, of course.

Yo - anyone know if the call for beta testers was to test the hand guns and streamer, or something else?

http://riseofflight.com/Blogs/2011/06/24/default.aspx

Not sure if it's the Pacific, the trees look European, or they might be placeholders.

Yeah I hate to say it but same here. I love ROF but... Well, BMS 4.32 got me to fly Falcon multiplayer. I've been flying Falcon 4.0 since 1998 and nothing, no mod, not BMS 2.0, SP 2/3/4, Freefalcon, OpenFalcon--none of these got me to fly multiplayer. Now I fly Falcon online almost every night.

That's saying a lot. BMS 4.32 is the Falcon we've all been secretly dreaming about for all these years but accepted a long time ago it'd never happen... and then it did. BMS opens up so many possibilities now for Falcon it is amazing.

It still doesn't quell my urge for dogfighting though--nothing does except RoF and RoF does that best.

yeah, but the water looks rather tropical.

fingers crossed anyway ...