I have just published on YouTube the first video in my Getting Started Tutorial series of videos covering the B-17 The Mighty 8th game.
Please check it out and let me know what you think. If you appreciate the video then please "Like" it and subscribe to my channel to receive updates as I add new videos to the series over the coming weeks.
All feedback is welcome.
Thanks and Enjoy
Last edited by ikrananka; 11/01/1602:27 PM.
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#4301517 - 10/07/1602:51 PMRe: B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!
[Re: ikrananka]
I have to say that this is my all time favorite sim and/or game. Just something, for me, about the crew management, briefing, and unpredictability of the flak, all came together to really cause me to become emotionally involved.
Or, as we simmers like to say, "immersed".
Hi, I'm Larry and this my brother Dayrle, and this is my other brother Dayrle.
#4302516 - 10/11/1608:39 PMRe: B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!
[Re: ikrananka]
I hated piloting the B17 and I thought the cockpit looked terrible, but I loved everything else. Good memories of getting spooked by flak, the stress of finding the target in overcast cloud, the heartbreak of seeing a bomber go down with my personalized crew, the exhaustion after nursing a wounded bird back to base. If I remember well, the briefing and debriefing reports were all written "in character".
I did have to respectfully decline a mission to my hometown however... Can't risk causing a time paradox.
Last edited by Johan217; 10/11/1608:44 PM.
Undercarriage lever a bit sticky was it, Sir?
#4303118 - 10/14/1606:37 AMRe: B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!
[Re: ikrananka]
Loved B17 and it's sequel though both were way ahead of their time which caused criticism for people trying to play the sequel on inferior rigs. Ultimately though the fact that the developers promised multi-player with people all together in bombers attacking vs others in fighters defending and only delivered a single-player game was it's downfall.
A new developer should take this over and work it up into multi-player as it would definitely be a success if done right.
#4303644 - 10/16/1602:12 PMRe: B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!
[Re: ikrananka]
So true Georgio spent ton's of hours with the original B-17 and B-17 II TM8th (actually still play B-17 II TM8th). Personally though I can't put all the blame of what didn't happen with B-17 II TM8th on the developer Wayward Design. As I understood the sequence of events back then at the old Bombs Away site, when Microprose was purchased by Infrogames, it was Infrogames that made the decision to halt any further development of B-17 II TM8th. I suspect Infogames instructed Wayward Design to wrap it up and get it out as-is, it's the old "got to do what the boss say's even if you know it isn't right". Seemed no one wanted to be in the CFS business anymore besides the guys at 1c. While I don't like to see anyone lose their job I hope whoever made the decision on B-17 II is in a different line of work now since 1c showed them there was still money in the genre.
I also don't blame the B-17 community for the backlash that followed the announcement of no MP since there was such high hopes for this title, but I do feel the guys at Wayward were genuinely just as disappointed. At least someone at Wayward convinced someone at Infrogames to give the community the OMF editor and R&R files to help squeeze a little more from B-17 II.
Just a side note for anyone interested, if you do some digging with the OMF editor you can find the TGA files that show what the MP interface would have looked like in B-17 II had it been finished so it's kind of why I don't suspect Wayward Design was being misleading about the MP. Had Infrogames given Wayward Design maybe another year I suspect we would have had some form of working MP and probably more fleshing out with the in game visuals department. Again a little digging with the OMF editor will show some interesting things that I don't think are used in the actual game. To me B-17 II TM8th always seemed like a very workable Beta but with a ways to go.
"It's the man, not the machine" Gen Chuck Yeager
#4304079 - 10/18/1611:49 AMRe: B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!
[Re: ikrananka]
Good to hear a bit more depth to the title, though it is a pity that it seems they were pretty close to getting workable MP. As it was I had more sweaty flights home across the Channel in a smoking 3 engined B17 than anything else, the sense of immersion was second to none. I always remember doing the training missions and thinking that the Nordan bomb sight was child's play only to have the bombs all fall short by a large margin. Ok I thought maybe this actually takes some work and of course it does, but ultimately the sense of achievement to fight your way along the bombing run desperately hoping you can have enough time for the computer to give you a release cue, then to see your bombs perfectly bracket and destroy the target, then jump on the guns to drive off fighters, give first aid to crew members all while trying to navigate home is a pretty intense experience.
#4304173 - 10/18/1607:41 PMRe: B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!
[Re: ikrananka]
Good times with this sim. tip: Try a of missions as BC if you like but move i right on to the SC campaign. as SC you plan the recon, targets, routes to avoid flak and can more effectively train crew.
#4304677 - 10/20/1609:53 AMRe: B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!
[Re: ikrananka]
Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 4,010PV1
sometime mudslinger
There's more to the story, too. In 2005 GMX leased the rights to B17-2 along with Rowan's BoB, and shopped around for someone to turn both into updated and improved versions. Shockwave (now A2A) bit, and after a while realized they weren't going to get nearly the support they needed for the job, as GMX seemed to think that both titles could be done in a year, with not much funding. As it was Shockwave barely got a working BoB2 out, and had to forgo the multiplayer aspect, to get it out the door on GMX's timetable, relying heavily on the work the BDG had done with the semi-public release of the BoB1 source code in the 4 years since the BoB1 release. B17 was just not possible so it was shelved after about 6 months of preliminary work. Shockwave as far as I know never got a multiplayer coder on board thus no work was done on the multiplayer aspect of either sim.
#4308046 - 11/01/1602:27 PMRe: B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!
[Re: ikrananka]
The third video in this series is now live on YouTube. This video covers the basic controls in the game while touring each and every crew station on the B-17.
#4308047 - 11/01/1602:37 PMRe: B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!
[Re: ikrananka]
Thanks Ikrananka,I was watching it late last night but started to fall asleep (not a fault of your video I might add,it was a long day) so will finish it off today.
I forgot just how much there was to do in this game and your video series perfectly explains everything.
EV's are the Devils matchbox.
#4308309 - 11/02/1612:52 PMRe: B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!
[Re: ikrananka]
The fourth video in this series is now live on YouTube. This video focuses on Training Mission #1: Taxi and Takeoff. I give three different examples of how to taxi and takeoff with increasing difficulty.
#4311988 - 11/14/1603:12 PMRe: B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!
[Re: ikrananka]
The fifth video in this series is now live on YouTube. This video focuses on Training Mission #2: Approach and Landing. I give two different examples plus a few funny outtakes.
Last edited by ikrananka; 11/14/1603:12 PM.
#4311995 - 11/14/1603:28 PMRe: B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!
[Re: ikrananka]
I noted your reservation on using the “High” difficulty setting in the video- I agree. Setting the turbos, fuel mixtures, cowl flaps etc manually is nearly impossible. I have found it best to leave these adjustments to the AI copilot. I think there are a narrow range of settings in the engine management program that the AI considers within range. During the campaign under high difficulty settings, you can have a positive effect post target, by looking over the AI shoulder and carefully monitoring the engine manifold pressures, oil temperatures, Carb temps, CHT etc and make small changes to The RPM, throttles, intercoolers using the right mouse button to tweak engine performance. But remember that my overriding goal was to hand engine management back to the AI as soon as I finished my tweaks.
#4313525 - 11/19/1610:31 PMRe: B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!
[Re: Vox]
I finally gave up on the high difficulty setting when I saw that even with the AI managing the engines the carburetor air temperature was being kept too low (pop up text was in blue). According to the patch 2.0 notes this would have led to engine damage (low carb temp combined with high rpm). This was early in a mission, before engaging the enemy, and so was steady level flight. Any yet, even under these conditions the AI is so poor that it can lead to engine damage without any involvement from flak or enemy fighters. So, I'm going to stick with the medium difficulty setting from now on.