I honestly took 'Down in Flames' as far as i could go on my own. Lived and breathed it

it for a year and a half, before life and big bills intervened. It was hugely

dissapointing to be sidetracked by the mundane. And I'm sorry if i have dissapointed

anybody who was supportive. It hurts to have let people down, which is why I haven't

popped in to explain the situation before now. I've been cowardly. And for that, I

apologise.

It would be easy to blame the tools. The first engine turned out to be a complete

non-runner after they shifted their business focus. And converting the codebase of

Torque back to RB3D usefuless was way beyond my capabilities in time and expertise.

I've met some lovely people through working on this project, and learnt

a lot about modelling, coding and the physics of flight. But i've had to

admit and concede that I couldn't pull the whole show off on my own. My

grasp of matrix maths was poor, and the biggest hurdle was overcoming

gimbal lock. I never did. So all I had was a single player 'arcade flyer'.

Some people will sneer "vapourware". Like they sneered at my oldskool graphics.

and that's fine. I understand. I've failed to deliver. But they didn't see the

40+ plane dogfights i had running. So I know my heart is in the right place.

I'm going to keep going. I read, research, and still dabble.

The project isn't officially dead. But i think it will be a

long time coming. (i live on a boat and my power comes from

batteries).

I still have a tremendous respect for the early aviators.

And anybody keeping their names alive.

Sorry I couldn't do more.

s!

ken

the CA people have kindly given "Down in Flames" a whole forum to spread out in.

i'll use this thread to keep you all posted on the project's progress, but feel free to

start new topics, and polls of your own.

I'm currently in the process of making a ww1 flight sim, and thought i'd pop in and introduce myself.

I'm happy to have found a forum where people can talk about WW1 aviation. there aren't many.

(click for bigger)

Here's the planes so far... Player Flyable

Project Homepage :- here

I've made good progress, and i'm happy with it, but the project really needs a coder.. i'm an artist by profession, and it's slow going learning coding from the ground up.

The BV engine is quite simple to program, if you have any experience, which unfortunately, i don't. Can *you* help? I'm a singleseat indie developer with no money, so unfortunately, i can't pay anything. (best to clear that up, before we start, eh?). The singleplayer game/campaign game will most likely be given away as freeware, because i find the notion of making money from WW1, a bit questionable. I'd also like to run a multiplayer server for it, though that can be bolted on when the singleplayer campaign is finished. If you're interested in helping out, please PM me..

Texturing isn't super-duper-high-res-photo-realistic.. because i wanted the game to be playable online,

and to have as many planes on screen as is possible. similarly, thats why i've used OpenGL, as opposed

to DX9/10... because i'd like as many people to play it as possible, on the widest range of machines.

cheers...

kendo353

AND THEN!! And then when you do kill it there's no flames or wild spinning out of control. You cant even kill the pilot.

Basically these birds are made of paper and wood and a few bullets in the engine and she's gone. Plus i read somewhere that they're extreamly manuverable in combat due to their light weight and slow engine so i guess that kinda makes up for the lack of armour.

Question 1: Will damage be realistic as it was for the pilots of the Great War

Question 2: Can you kill pilots in their cockpit?

Question 3: How manuverably can u fly?

takedown reporting for the first time. Just thought i'd give this game two thumbs up!!

cant wait until it's finished. Some suggestions though:

Can you simulate life at the airfield aswell? I've always found that this aspect of a WW1 era sim is always overlooked by developers. Over Flanders Fields tried to do it and half succeeded. Basically it would really be awesome if you started as your pilot and had to run to your plane, jump in like battlefield and take off. U get shot up bad and have to land back at base so u jump out and find a new plane to take off with. Possible?

It looks like a great project you've undertaken and I wish you the best of luck.

I really hope you manage to finish this - it looks and sounds like a wonderful game.

I'm an old RB3-D'er myself, and while I like realism and fancy graphics (especially a visually satisfying damage model) the most important thing is an immersive campaign.

And since RB3-D nobody has ever come close to making a really satisfying campaign-experience in a flight-sim (for me, anyway).

The point is, I think, that nobody has ever really dared to try. No flight sim has even dared trying to match the campaign of RB-3D. Falcon 4 and Rowan's BoB are not comparable as these are 'operational' campaigns, focusing on battle-planning and the big, strategic picture and do not have the personal, almost narrative career-perspective of RB3-D's campaign.

But to me, it sounds like you are out to make a campaign experience rivaling the one of RB3-D. And for that, the ambition alone, you deserve the highest praise.

Good luck!

Regards,

Norman

P.S. - I'm no coder and have no artistic talents, but if you need some input or ideas on campaign features/dynamics I'll be glad to be your sparring partner somewhere down the line.

P.P.S. - Is there anything further you could reveal about the career-mode of your sim? Scope, features (planned and wishful thinking), overall ambition...?

updated list

56k modem owners beware.

Obviously, some of them need more love.. but you can see what's in the game at a glance now.

please feel free to add suggestions for planes you would like to see added...

regards to all.

kendo

Love. when my grandmother passed away, i inherited her library.

she was a passionate historian and Somme walker. The game was

originally going to be multi-player only, and i had hoped to wrap

it up in six months... but the networking code was delayed, and

embarked on the single-player side of things. Didn't realize at

first what a gargantuan amount of data there was to incorporate

(as this is my first game), but I'm up for the challenge.

CA) What game engine are you using or did you come up with a new one?

I'm using the Beyond Virtual game engine, which was designed for FPS and racing games,

but is perfectly capable of producing other genres. (www.beyondvirtual.com). My primary

reason for choosing this engine, is that there is no art pipeline. I can model something

in Lightwave, and export it directly to the game. Similarly, I can change a texture in

photoshop, and see it's effect *instantly*. It's tremendous liberating, and speedy to

work with. It's also OpenGL, so a port to Linux or Mac, isn't out of the question.

CA) How many people are helping with it?

Smile.. there is just me. I've had some kind offers of modeling and research help,

but I'm pretty much out on my own with the scripting and coding.

CA) Where do you get your inspiration for what you want to include in the game?

Aerial photographs, books, and the internet. the web has been a fantastic tool for

gathering scraps of knowledge into a cohesive whole. The pages of SWW1SA members also

depict many early planes in flight... which are more stimulating, than a grainy B&W

photo of the plane on the ground.

CA) Where do you hope this project goes in the future?

I just want people to play it and enjoy it. if it makes them think about

the conditions that the WW1 airmen had to endure.. mission accomplished.

CA) Will there be a campain?will it be scripted or dynamic?

Yes, I'm hoping to make it like RB3D's. scripted and dynamic?

the campaigns will be open-ended, with the main challenge being... to stay alive.

there will be medals, commendations, reprimands.. all the things one would expect.

CA) Will there be a mission editor with it?

Sadly, no. that's beyond my current expertise. the game engine supports scripting,

and texture changing, so i'll try to leave as much good stuff exposed as possible.

CA) Which aircraft will be included with the release?

As many as can be squeezed in. current list here --> http://www.dogsquad.co.uk/dif/planes.htm

CA) Which terrains will be available?

Because it's been cold, grey, and wet here... I've been working on "summer", with blue skies and clouds.

It seems most fitting for the start date of the war, and the green fields and yellowed canvas feel i want

to achieve for the early days. depending on the availability of a coder who understands hex, the terrain

will either be "all of Europe", or something 100km x 100km that i can make myself. Best to say that the

terrains haven't been finalized yet. What can be said, is that the campaign regions will be the staples

of Flanders, Marne, and Verdun. Maybe even the corner of England, too (to allow the RFC to hop across the

channel realistically, and the possibility of Gotha bombing/interception).

CA) What do you think is the reason for a sudden rush of WW1 sim?

I don't know... but it's quite funny. maybe WW2 was squeezed lifeless?

whatever the reason, i see it as a good thing that the history remains in our consciousness.

CA) Ok, now the MP part of it..How many will it support in game at once and what type of missions will be available?

I'm aiming for 32 players, initially. with rotating maps, ala BF42.

texturing and modeling has been performed with multi-player in mind.

CA) What will set your sim apart from the others? Tell everyone why we should buy yours?

Mine is free. it's historically accurate, community orientated, and it doesn't suck. Sure,

it might not be as photo-realistic as Oleg Maddox or Micro$oft, but that doesn't make it

a bad game. no disrespect intended towards the other sims.

CA) Will you continue to support the game after release with patches or add-ons down the road?

Definitely. this is the culmination of a lifelong interest. as long as people are interested

in it, i will continue to support it.

CA) Do you have an idea for the system specs that will be needed to run this sim?

It's being developed on a 2.8ghz Packard Bell with 1gb memory. I have a cheezy video card

that cost me $30. but the game nips along nicely @ 1280 x 1024. I haven't tested it on my

laptop yet, but i hope to make it playable on as many machines as possible.

CA) What features are you most proud of in the game?

Flying through the rain, over the mud, with Satie (the game soundtrack) playing in the background,

it looked so beautiful it made me cry. the flight model still has a long way to go, but the planes

movement is so graceful and smooth, it's incredible (though i freely admit i'm a noob at such things).

CA) Who was your favorite WW1 pilot, and what was your favorite WW1 plane?

I don't have a favorite pilot, they were all so brave, it's impossible to choose.

Favorite plane? hmmmmmm.... some sort of pusher... DH2 ?

CA) Will a player be able to mod the game?

The engine compacts everything into a (hopefully) secure archive.

I can leave some functions and abilities exposed, which will allow

players to change their textures, and such... but that hasn't been

finalized yet. i also hope to have a plethora of sliders and options

buttons from within the game.

CA) Will there be a method to stop people from modding the planes into the famed "uber" fighters seen in RB3D and in MS-CFS MP games?

Yes. but it's by keeping everything in the secure archive.

which in turn, makes the game less moddable. It's a bit of a coin flip, really.

CA) What would you like to say to everyone following your game?

"Roll up, roll up... watch the noob fall flat on his face..." lol.

no seriously... Thank you. It's people saying they liked the look of

the prototype, which spurred me onto develop the project through to

completion.

CA) When do you think it will be ready for release and do you plan a demo?

When the game is more robust, I hope to release another prototype, so that people can comment and make

suggestions. At the current pace, I have to be realistic, and say that I'm still a year away from a full

release. i promise not to lose interest though. There is nothing sadder than a bailed out project.

Thanks for your interest.

I'd like to thank you for taking time to answer these questions and to remind everyone to be sure and check out the web site at:

http://www.dogsquad.co.uk/dif/plane.htm