Posted By: Damocles
Oh no ! Not another FM topic. - 02/09/15 02:20 PM
Not specifically.
I've played both RoF and BoS since they first arrived and have enjoyed both. I have also shaken my head and even complained about what I perceive to be errors in the game.
Having enjoyed RoF immensely for a couple of years I finally stopped playing because I just couldn't bring myself to accept what was being said by the developers about the FM's and the overall combat experience that I actually got. It just didn't fit with my perception of WW 1 air combat.
BoS, I will continue to play, having stopped because of the locks (laziness and being time poor rather than a fit of extreme umbridge). However, while far less concerned about FM inconsistencies in BoS, there still lurks the ever heated debates about aircraft FM's, of which I play no part.
Having spent several years wondering about the various FM's and why there always seemed to be a bit of chasm between expectations and what was provided, it recently occurred to me as to possibly why.
I have always enjoyed the feeling of flight that RoF/BoS provides, on doubt provided by it's physics engine approach to constructing flight models, more so than other flight sim titles out there. 777 have always defended their FM constructions and the ability of the lead engineer. Mistakes there obviously are and these are usually rectified in various patches, however a gap still exist between expectation and that which is provided.
What is going on ?
I think it simply boils down to the fact that the difference between many of the aircraft is very slender, when it comes to design or engineering. These differences however can have a profound impact in the game of one up manship between different manufacturers, what wins and what loses. What we end up with however, because all data is technical and not anecdotal and because of the limitations of computational power, is a very rough approximation of an individual aircraft such that we end up with a very bland set of aircraft, defined by their major structural elements, but without the subtleties that defined them.
The FM's, as suggested by 777 are on the whole correct (excepting the odd mistake) but none excel because the FM constructions just don't go deep enough to distinguish between aircraft. It is the only reason I can think of why two similar aircraft by different developers (DCS/BoS) can behave so differently. While I am less enamoured by the feeling of flight in DCS, I suspect they model the subtleties of individual aircraft far better that the characteristics of those aircraft have a better chance of showing through. In BoS we, unfortunately, end up with a bland approximation that defines nothing, which is not so much the fault of the FM engineer, but the limitations of what he has to work with.
With that said I don't see how 777 or the community can move beyond the current impasse. Either 777 start to adjust their FM's using a wider field of data (anecdotal) to fill in the gaps, as imperfect as that might be, or the community will just have to accept that the RoF/BoS game engine, as good as it is, is just too limited to define the subtleties and characteristics between these aircraft as it stands and play it for what it's worth or move on because simple tweaks here and there, using existing FM construction methods, are just not going satisfy anybody.
I've played both RoF and BoS since they first arrived and have enjoyed both. I have also shaken my head and even complained about what I perceive to be errors in the game.
Having enjoyed RoF immensely for a couple of years I finally stopped playing because I just couldn't bring myself to accept what was being said by the developers about the FM's and the overall combat experience that I actually got. It just didn't fit with my perception of WW 1 air combat.
BoS, I will continue to play, having stopped because of the locks (laziness and being time poor rather than a fit of extreme umbridge). However, while far less concerned about FM inconsistencies in BoS, there still lurks the ever heated debates about aircraft FM's, of which I play no part.
Having spent several years wondering about the various FM's and why there always seemed to be a bit of chasm between expectations and what was provided, it recently occurred to me as to possibly why.
I have always enjoyed the feeling of flight that RoF/BoS provides, on doubt provided by it's physics engine approach to constructing flight models, more so than other flight sim titles out there. 777 have always defended their FM constructions and the ability of the lead engineer. Mistakes there obviously are and these are usually rectified in various patches, however a gap still exist between expectation and that which is provided.
What is going on ?
I think it simply boils down to the fact that the difference between many of the aircraft is very slender, when it comes to design or engineering. These differences however can have a profound impact in the game of one up manship between different manufacturers, what wins and what loses. What we end up with however, because all data is technical and not anecdotal and because of the limitations of computational power, is a very rough approximation of an individual aircraft such that we end up with a very bland set of aircraft, defined by their major structural elements, but without the subtleties that defined them.
The FM's, as suggested by 777 are on the whole correct (excepting the odd mistake) but none excel because the FM constructions just don't go deep enough to distinguish between aircraft. It is the only reason I can think of why two similar aircraft by different developers (DCS/BoS) can behave so differently. While I am less enamoured by the feeling of flight in DCS, I suspect they model the subtleties of individual aircraft far better that the characteristics of those aircraft have a better chance of showing through. In BoS we, unfortunately, end up with a bland approximation that defines nothing, which is not so much the fault of the FM engineer, but the limitations of what he has to work with.
With that said I don't see how 777 or the community can move beyond the current impasse. Either 777 start to adjust their FM's using a wider field of data (anecdotal) to fill in the gaps, as imperfect as that might be, or the community will just have to accept that the RoF/BoS game engine, as good as it is, is just too limited to define the subtleties and characteristics between these aircraft as it stands and play it for what it's worth or move on because simple tweaks here and there, using existing FM construction methods, are just not going satisfy anybody.