New to FE

[themightysrc 5]

I tend to agree with you. I think the campaign weaknesses and being able to use the same pilot for any mission, any country sort of kills the feeling of being a single pilot enlisted in the war effort. I suppose I could create a pilot and JUST use him in a single campaign, but it doesn't have the same sense of drama or life-and-death urgency that RB3D has... or that OFF has for that matter. I'd love to see someone come up with a campaign engine/system that really pulls me in and creates a suspension of disbelief... how would it function? We should start a thread and put our heads together and do something about the situation. hmmm

 

OK then. Who's going to start the thread? I will if no one else will!

 

Here are my basic criteria for a good campaign game. I know people will disagree, and I've probably omitted bits and bobs, but we should start somewhere:

 

1. If you create a pilot, that pilot flies only for the country he's eligible for. No more Capt. Willy Coppitt RFC turning up flying DVIIs, thank you.

2. You should be able to create a pilot from any time that his country put military aircraft into the field. If that means flying missions in late 1914 that are deathly dull because there are so few enemy planes so be it. If you come across one and have no better weapon available that a revolver or a house brick, that's your look out. At least you get to fly!

3. Let's have spotter missions. How difficult would it be to have ground missions - similar to bombing missions - where you have to go to map reference (or in game terms mission point) X and then fly and take photos, or relay ground positions? Given that multiplayer games seem to have communication with other pilots (don't know, never tried them), then surely having an AI 'base' receiving instructions can't be that fecking hard, can it? (please correct me if I'm wrong)

4. Two seaters where you can take up residence in the gunner's position. Perhaps this exists already in FE, but I'm not aware of it.

5. Much improved facilities between missions - this is where RB3D really pisses all over FE's chips. Apart from change the composition of one's flight, there's really a dearth of stuff to do other than sit back and get fed the next mission. RB3D had stuff to look at, local pilots and squadrons to check out, intelligence reports and more. In other words, all the sort of atmospheric stuff that immersed players in the genre and game. And that's not even taking account of transfers to other squadrons. I've sat, teeth aching with frustration, as yet another jobsworth has repeatedly condemned me to a premature and ill-deserved death flying some crappy deathtrap when a true administrative genius would, with a kindly hand, sign that order to allow me to join Squadron/Jasta/Escadrille X to fly the 'ultimate' scout. You know how it works. Except in FE it doesn't, and it damn well should.

6. Cover all the main planes from the major countries, and allow players to partake of minor powers - Austria-Hungary, for example (who wouldn't fancy a quick whizz over the Alps in a Brandenburg scout?) - within historical time limits.

7. Multiengine bombers and zeppelins, flyable and able to bob round the various crew positions? Yes please. And their opponents, as part of longer campaigns - if that means transfers to/from mainland England, then fab.

8. The ability to get promoted to leader of a fighting unit and to choose (within reason) where to site a squadron, and to influence the type of mission flown. That can't be difficult, surely.

9. Historical online documentation, perhaps modified by time/place. For example, if it's 1916 and EI's are rampaging through the skies, you can look up basic details on them. Come 1917, you get to read rather more. Ditto stuff about the ground war, or naval war, such as it was.

10. More varied and interesting ground/base detail that actually more closely reflects the places portrayed in the game. I've never been to a WWI airfield, but I'd guess that they were rather less insipid than those seen in FE. Given that this is more or less the first view a new player to FE has of his surroundings in the campaign game, at least make it appealing.

11. Oh, nearly forgot. Decent inflight sounds for damage and stresses on aircraft. It was the second thing about RB3D that freaked me out (the first was hearing church bells from a Sopwith Pup at 3000 feet), but is immensely atmospheric.

 

There you go. That's my putative wishlist. They're all aimed at immersion in the game. As I said previously, without atmosphere and the player buying into the whole thing as a gaming world, they might as well play Gas Barbecue Simulator 2008.

 

Thoughts?

Edited June 10, 2008 by themightysrc

[godzilla1985 0]

The first WWl simulator I remembered playing was at the local arcade back in 1977, so you can imagine what that looked like

I had Rowans Dawn Patrol also and the svga gfx gave the game a great "wow" factor, but it just didn't seem to wrap me up into the game like RB1 or RB3D or any of the Sierra titles did. Don't get me wrong Dawn Patrol was a good game but it just seemed to be missing something and after a few months I just stopped playing it . Next to RB1 my favorite was A-10, I know the missions were scripted but it was pure "hawg" heaven poppin over a hill, rolling out and taking out an tank column with Hellfires, snakeyes and the gau 30 . Another favorite of mine was Tornado (Spectrum Holobyte?) that simulator was awsome as was the real Gr1.

 

Okay sorry went OT with that but i would love to see everything themightysrc and guitarclassic55 stated in a game, but I don't think it will be in FE or FE2. It will probably be OFF P3 or Knights that will have all these things. Third Wire sims are definately on the lighter side, but they do offer the ability to fly in combat lots of AC that would probably never make it into a study sim or probably any sim for that matter. I will buy OFF P3 and Knights but I will still play FE and the SF family of games, even though they are not hardcore they are fun, not a study sim but not arcade either. I know there will always be room on my HD for games like these. Sometimes after a hard day at work and the boss was being an arse, it great to just get into the air and imagine his butt in that Albatros or SPAD and I'm the one on his 6...great stress relief and won't cost me my job

[Gr.Viper 131]

They say the found a way to improve AI for P3. And to overcome the 123mph speed limit for warping.

[+Tailspin 3]

Regarding FE: Just pure speculation on my part but taking into account what TK has said and done in the past things that require extensive additions to or reworking of the basic game engine are probably not going to happen. He simply doesn't have the resources. FE wasn't built around a "Grand Campaign". Its not an RB "wanna be" like OFF. Its an air combat sim. While other areas can be and have been improved there are practical limits and wishing and hoping beyond those is probably not going to be very productive.