Please, please, please

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Yes, yes, a thousand times YES!

And Pol, you folks are more than welcome to use my Italian Front Mod, such as it is, to act as a springboard into the project if you like. Italian Front Mod WIP

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Well see how it goes - many thanks RAF_Louvert

I think what Lou said!!!

Seriously, an Italian Campaign expansion would be a marvellous addition and my top choice for a full expansion pack. The geography and scenery would be fascinating and present users with new challenges. Squadrons such as 25, 45, and 66 (to name only the single-seat squadrons) would no longer disappear from the Western front campaign, and we would get to fly alongside Barker or Barracca.

If you were to have the energy, some future dreams might include:

A collection of AI operated two seaters, allowing for some more variety in hunting. WOTR is already using AI-only machines so I imagine this must be a problem you have already solved. Of course, player operated machines would be lovely but there may not be enough market to flesh out the two-seater world (with French, German, and a few British machines).

A "rare bird" collection with some of the more interesting but relatively low-number aircraft, especially German aircraft like the Roland D VI or Pfalz D XII.

A maritime expansion with seaplanes.

A "Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" expansion with very early war / training machines, including Avro 504s, MF Longhorns and Shorthorns, Rumpler Taubes, LVG B1s, Caudron G3s, Bleriots, Voisins, etc. These could be worked into the training missions as well. Of course, I could be the only person interested…

The Italian Front would be amazing, indeed. One more thing none of the other WWI sims have.

IAn Alb c3/c5, Gunbus, Voisin, Longhorn, Rumpler, 504, FK-8 then off to Italian front would be my ideal wish list. Or at the same time.

Technically, FE2 has an Italian (and middle eastern) front but requires extensive (heavy) modding to enjoy such scenarios - not everyone's cup of tea. A "built-in" approach, as being ruminated upon by OBD, would definitely generate more interest and virtual fliers.

I have voted "yes" (no surprise there) in the poll and would largely echo the comments indicated above, particularly Lou's, Raine's, and Parachuteprone's thoughts. If an Italian front does eventually materialize in BH&H2, I think (as indicated by Raine) that some very early-war aircraft would be welcome too (e.g., Taubes and Bleriots).

By the way, if OBD officially decides on moving forward with an Italian front expansion, PM me on CombatAce and I will remove the canned mission/unofficial Italian front add-on that is a tweaked and slightly expanded version of Lou's wonderful, pioneering Italian mod. For more info. on Lou's mod and my later tweaks, see the the link available in Lou's post in this thread - for a direct link to the "version 2" variant of that mod, see this post instead.

Looking forward to future developments in BH&H2.

Cheers all,

I should jolly well say so. I'm in. Will there be flying boats/sea crates?

A hearty YES! WOFF has already cemented itself as the must have WWI aviation experience and including this would only elevate this, if that is even possible. I would personally love this even more as I have been trying to re-engineer aircraft skin templates to help in creating a number of the Italian front skins for optional use now.

I also vote yes. I think it would be a fascinating addition to the sim. I'm not 100% sure, but it seems like CFS3 already lends itself to having parts of Italy in the map, we have some great starting points pioneered by folks like Lou, and it would be really cool to transfer between Italy and the Western Front as the war progresses. Sign me up for that, please!

I vote a big Yes! It will be great to expand this game in any way possible.

I would like to see the Belgiums in the game as well. They are sorely missed from the Front and really should be considered before moving into Italy.

Whatever you guys decide I'm sure will certainly benefit this fantastic sim even more than it is already.

Of course yes, but maybe it's better to start with the Belgians - almost all planes are already in the game, basically only two-seater Farman and Hanriot HD1 are needed. What's more, Hanriot could later be used in the works on the Italian front

This 100 percent...

I also share this opinion, there are still a lot of gaps that can be filled at the western front. A lot of planes that served the western front in significant numbers are not in the game yet. Like the Farmans, Albatros c-series , Halberstadt CL to name just a few.
But don’t get me wrong, I will support every new content that we can get.

Very good point. More early/mid war two seaters on both sides are needed and flying for the Belgians is a good call too.

+1 for the Belgians and more two-seaters. You can go for looong periods where the only German two-seater you encounter is the D.F.W. It certainly was widespread, but variety is what keeps things interesting, and there are some good candidates that also were present in large numbers that it would be nice to see (Albatross C types, Salmson, FK.8, Farman F.40, L.V.G. etc). They wouldn't have to be player flyable necessarily (though a flyable Halberstadt CL.II or IV would probably be a lot of fun) but it would be nice to be able to encounter a variety of types. On the other hand, you can't have either the Belgians or the Italians without and HD-1, and I think the Farman F.40 was widely used for both, so there is some room to kill two or three birds with one stone. If you guys do the Italian Front, I'll certainly be glad to see it, but the top thing for me would be to fill out the Western Front a bit more, then transfer that content to an Italian Front. The poll asked if I would buy an Italian Front expansion. Yes, I absolutely would! Is it the top of my list for new hoped-for content from OBD? No, decidedly not. But bottom line, no new expansion for WOFF is going to be a bad thing.

I am for the Italian front Pol.

My feelings follow Gecko's discussion pretty closely. I will buy whatever expansion comes next, but Italian Front wouldn't be at the top of my wish list.

Italian Front would be a brilliant edition to WOFF.

Not only for the addition of the Austrians as the major opponents (and their fascinating range of aeroplanes), but for the huge variety of landscape and weather over which to battle. And a whole host of new aces.

Two-seaters should be a major focus on this front, as they were so prevalent and active due to the nature of the environment. And that environment should include the actions by both the Allies and Axis air arms over the Adriatic, from Pola and Trieste to Venice. Reconn, combined arms and bomber raids, intercepts; it has it all. Fascinating options for a developer.

And....... no one has done it before!

A vote for yes.

Hi Pol,
Yes - maybe RAF_Louvert could help if he's willing,

Mike

Clearly the 91% yes means.."Assolutamente sì, prepara il pagamento". ;>)

I say not 'arf!
A neglected Front in all gaming genres, not just Flight Sims!

I voted No. Personally, I would not enjoy seeing mostly the same thing, but in a different area of the map.

The patches that added so many minor and major enhancements to what is already there was much more enjoyable.

I would prefer to see more enhancements to what we already have.

I voted yes as the poll was unclear if we are sacrificing things like new aircraft to get the Italian front.
If we are giving up more aircraft then I should have voted no. There are lots of important planes still missing for the Western Front. Some would work for both fronts however.

There's no sacrifice involved (of objects I mean, not the work ;)) hence the simplified vote. It may or may not be the next thing we do, we are already making / have made some aircraft, and any we do would be in the list of needed aircraft anyway ultimately.

Then a big yes from me

Thanks

Oh, to think, I would finally be able to take Barker to Italy!!

Hi, missed the poll, but a belated yes from me.

Sorry, Wife has been in the hospital, I am retired now, hoping to get back into WOFF.

Regards,

Stache.

Welcome to the old folks club Stache!

How do you vote? I'd vote "yes".

I missed the voting window. Drat!,

Absolutely solid Yes! from me. Like Lou and others I'd be more than willing to pitch in and help with research and the like.

I've a number of Italian works on the subject, airfield maps and photos, orders of battle etc. ... and can call upon the assistance of il mio amico italiano (quasi) addomesticato for translation purposes and additional digging around the web.

Dej

I am also sorry that I missed the vote, but it appears unnecessary, as the overwhelming consensus appears to be a resounding YES!

My only concern was the absence of the Belgian's, but I now see that Mark and Mark (and other members of the WOFF team) had a hidden ace up their sleeves.

Bravo, WOFF, and thank you for your continued work on the BEST WWI simulation on the market!

Dankjewel!

Of course I had to miss the vote for what I've been dreaming of for years.
Absolute, massive yes from me!
If help is needed in translation, writing or anything related to Italian media feel free to let me know, the fact I'm Italian might help with it!

I am ashamed to admit that I haven't checked here in a bit and have missed the vote. Even in my tardiness I concur and unofficially ask that my vote be received in the unconscious minds of Dos Marks as a resounding 'YES!'

S!Blade<><

Well the scores are in, and the Belgians won. It dose fill a gap in the war, which is probably the right thing to do to complete the whole experience.
Hopefully it should not take to long to put in place. Compared to the Italian front that is.
But the Italian front sounds a *>^<ing fantastic idea to me. Maybe a bit scary and short lived in a 2 seater with little or no escorts.
But dog fighting and dive bombing Camel stile. Yes please.
Usually with the general maps on all fronts, once you are in a dog fight you could be anywhere, ground below sky above, but with ground fire and the ground itself below and all around you, sounds like an extra dimension to consider Wow.
It's got my vote.