#4553148 - 01/22/21 11:32 AM
The History of DID’s Total Air War
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 25
Krycztij
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Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 25
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I’ve been writing an article about Total Air War’s modding community for quite some time. It’s getting longer and longer … I decided I should release what I got right now or it would never see the light of day http://krishty.com/taw/historyIt covers the old days of TAW’s release (when DID’s team would hang out on SimHQ regularly), the breakthroughs in understanding game data, source code, and (of course) the big purge here at SimHQ. I was only a kid back then, but many of you experienced it firsthand. I’d love to hear what you have to say! Also if there’s something blatantly wrong, or if someone feels misrepresented, write me here (or PM if private). Wishing you 15 minutes of sweet nostalgia!
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#4553227 - 01/22/21 04:26 PM
Re: The History of DID’s Total Air War
[Re: Krycztij]
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**DONOTDELETE**
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BANITA
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Great reading the most traumatic sentence was already at the beginning "DID’s most popular title, EF2000, debuted in 1995" Omg .... when did it go Thanks to all the people who influenced the modded versions.after this article you can see how much work it was. btw why haven't you added your awesome smoke trails for so many years?
Last edited by BANITA; 01/22/21 05:24 PM.
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#4553249 - 01/22/21 05:39 PM
Re: The History of DID’s Total Air War
[Re: ]
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 25
Krycztij
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Posts: 25
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Glad to hear! btw why haven't you added your awesome smoke trails for so many years? You mean those and those? TFXplorer is an entire new game, coded new from the ground up. We cannot port its features back to TAW. I’ll shed some light on that in the upcoming write-ups
Last edited by Krycztij; 01/22/21 05:41 PM.
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#4553254 - 01/22/21 06:03 PM
Re: The History of DID’s Total Air War
[Re: Krycztij]
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**DONOTDELETE**
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BANITA
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I haven't seen the other one, both still look fantastic I do not believe that the second one did not kill fps with such speed;)
Last edited by BANITA; 01/22/21 06:06 PM.
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#4553454 - 01/24/21 10:46 AM
Re: The History of DID’s Total Air War
[Re: Krycztij]
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Joined: May 2001
Posts: 5,462
Polak
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New York, NY
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Wishing you 15 minutes of sweet nostalgia! Hello, Friends. Indeed that was a very good time we all had with TAW. Looking forward to reading the completed TAW story.
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#4553881 - 01/27/21 11:40 PM
Re: The History of DID’s Total Air War
[Re: Krycztij]
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 12,488
MarkG
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The Bayou
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Thanks for documenting that, Krycztij. EDIT: I have about one 1 min. of multiplayer experience in my entire lifetime, testing something in TAW with Polak. This was when I lived in Florida and had cable internet.
Last edited by MarkG; 01/27/21 11:44 PM.
The rusty wire that holds the cork that keeps the anger in Gives way and suddenly it’s day again The sun is in the east Even though the day is done Two suns in the sunset, hmph Could be the human race is run
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#4555564 - 02/10/21 05:48 PM
Re: The History of DID’s Total Air War
[Re: Krycztij]
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Joined: May 2001
Posts: 5,462
Polak
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Hi MikeW
It does look like a small reunion. Time flies fast! Great to hear from you.
Anyways, TAW holds always a special place in my memory, but there is just so little time and one has to make some choices along that road of learning about or just getting to know all those gems of simulation and gaming in general. Truly wonderful pieces of great skill in making good sims and games all they were, considering how limited the computing resources there were at the time they were created.
I myself, have moved eventually to Falcon BMS and had a good opportunity and chance to contribute something there. This adventure with TAW and Falcon and other great pieces of games gave me some new perspective on how much can be accomplished if only, besides some mind, a piece of one's soul and heart is given to the game in the process of its creation.
I consider myself truly privileged to be able to ponder on all that and to see it fulfilled.
Last edited by Polak; 02/10/21 05:50 PM.
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#4580555 - 09/19/21 06:43 PM
Re: The History of DID’s Total Air War
[Re: Krycztij]
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 12,488
MarkG
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The Bayou
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mikew, I came to this conclusion only recently (during my latest absence from the board...returning for a weekend break)... - I really can make an F-19 redo. My project is currently a disjointed prototyping mess of code using 3D primitive placeholders (I don't even have external models or textures yet), but the concepts and physics are mostly working now (i.e. radar collisions, missile tracking/pursuit, simplified AI states/functions) and I know that with enough time I can make my game. But time has obviously become a real problem. I'm tired of not playing anything besides the occasional F-14FD and 1942PAW mission under DOSBox (although I still find those sims a real hoot, just not my ultimate simming experience per next item). - I'll never replicate the goodness of TAW's modern stealth gameplay in a DC (auto-generated missions in a massive persistent world). I have a whole new appreciation for *many* aspects of TAW that I never had ~15 years ago when I was really into it. And now when I play it I'm constantly wondering, "How in the hell did they do that?!" The scale of everything is MASSIVE in this game! And the AI, when fighting one-on-one to four-on-four is, all things considered (mainly age), a software engineering marvel. Despite the well-known flaws of TAW, these guys really knew what they were doing. So where does this leave me? With no real flight simming enjoyment until I get back into TAW.
The rusty wire that holds the cork that keeps the anger in Gives way and suddenly it’s day again The sun is in the east Even though the day is done Two suns in the sunset, hmph Could be the human race is run
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#4581068 - 09/25/21 01:11 PM
Re: The History of DID’s Total Air War
[Re: Krycztij]
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Joined: May 2001
Posts: 5,462
Polak
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Inspired by this thread and after reading with great interest and some dose of nostalgia History of TAW article I have dusted off TAW 2.30 mod. I must admit that despite the age that old Girl is holding amazingly proud and strong. So far it was working straight out of the box, which is considering 64bit win 10 and all kinds of new device drivers now is a great feat and amazing accomplishment all by itself.
My return is not so much to enjoy the simulation again, or relive familiar places there but rather to familiarize myself with the overall game design and pick up anything interesting related to campaign AI, UI interface, and "feel and handling" of TAW which I so fondly remember.
Right from the get-go, I can see that despite many great efforts of others and including even my personal contribution the terrain and visuals have not changed much and by today's standards this is sticking rather very visibly and obviously out.
It is not that I would personally expect anything drastically different, to contrary, I enjoy those old rudimentary graphics, but realize that the younger crowd could be perhaps not attracted here. And so naturally there may not be continuity in modding and interest in it so much anymore.
I am writing this and wondering if the port to other (perhaps more modern and up to date) simulation platform while preserving those TAW's elements of goodness might be working, or it may be better just to let Her go.
Last edited by Polak; 09/28/21 01:32 PM.
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