phant 0 Posted January 21, 2009 We are happy to announce that development of the Fighter Ops simulation has entered a new phase. Development will gather pace and you will witness a big boost in progress. More rapid progress will mean more communication with the community. Updates will be posted on the general forums, the screenshots area and the Area 51 forums. The major change in policy in this regard is that we will address the general and Area 51 forums separately. This means that Area 51 content will always remain in that section of the website and will not be reposted in the general forums after a period of time. Source: http://www.fighterops.com/forum/showpost.p...amp;postcount=1 Bye Phant Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JediMaster 451 Posted January 21, 2009 Whatever. This has to be a marketing case study. "Let's make people pay US to advertise our product to them!" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squid 21 Posted January 21, 2009 Whatever. This has to be a marketing case study. "Let's make people pay US to advertise our product to them!" +1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+streakeagle 871 Posted January 23, 2009 Hurry! Sign up fast. You don't want to miss out on the 5th year of paying for status updates on an unreleased flight sim. There must be some money in this or they wouldn't bother at all. Personally, I would rather have never heard of the product at all until it was released or very close to release. Targetware was a little different because it needed community support and for better or worse, it was finally released and continues to grow. It will be interesting to see if and when the initial sim is released and whether development will continue. While I am all for a hard core sim, I am clearly in the minority. I wonder how many people will invest in a sim with only 1 or 2 flyable aircraft that are both military trainers. Microsoft already offers the market leader in non-combat flight sims and has a huge selection of aircraft available. X-plane even permits combat now. If DCS Blackshark continues to expand their planeset, they will probably capture the hard core combat flight sim market, except for those hating/fearing Star Force copy protection. I think the market is going to be pretty tough on Fighter Ops unless it is truly revolutionary in its immersiveness and realism and quickly expands to cover the F-16, A-10, and F-15. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Dave 2,322 Posted January 23, 2009 Can you say.....vaporware? Lets take your money just to see us make something.......that might come out. No sale here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+streakeagle 871 Posted January 23, 2009 To be fair, targetware was in development forever. TK had at least a year of development updates before the Walmart release of SFP1... And even as a major fan (fan boi?) of SFP1, I consider anything prior to SP1, maybe even SP2 to be player funded beta testing. JetThunder is in a similar boat timewise... but they are asking for a dime prior to releasing a playable product. I understand why the developers of FigtherOps would create Area 51, I just don't get anyone who would subscribe to it? I have spent a lot of money buying Third Wire games... But every time I give TK money, I get something tangible back. All of TKs games may be pretty much the same core engine, but every release has new 3d models, new terrain, and/or new campaigns plus some sort of new and/or improved feature set. The download versions have obvious benefits over the original CDs like all of them being patched to the same 08.30.06 level, and some of them have hidden perks, like the download WOE which incorporates the F-104G from SFP1... so I found it worth it to me to buy all of the download versions. I am sure a lot of people feel like I have wasted my money buying all of TK's games at least twice, especially when you can mod a base SFP1 install to pretty much equal or better the later releases using free addons... but again, I got something much more than screenshots and developer comments for very low cost. I hope those who have subscribed to Area51 get some kind of discount on the final release... dollar for dollar credit would be a fair deal, but even a 50% credit would be better than nothing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squid 21 Posted January 23, 2009 (edited) why, i have always felt that, FighterOps wont go anywhere worthwhile not in time enough at least ... By the time FO would have something like the first public beta of Lomac , most probably DigitalCombatSimulation (Black shark) would have launched their F-16 module already (and an apache, and warthog too maybe) . Theres a rule in general that i have witnessed applying around, that the more flashy and loudly something promoted and quite bothered about their promotional image the less actual result you get .... Personally i like how ED and TK operate. One being some sort of corporation (even supplying A-10 simulation material for USAF?) and the other just a sole flight sim fanatic, they both do operate. FO to me has always being just another of the many F4 related more or less thin air blah blah blah apparel, blah blah blah fancy graphics signatures blah blah blah static 3dmax render blah blah blah i got old and seen anything close to a simulator yet . IF i would see anything convincing and promising rather than a flashy surface with no content i would probably pay to help speed things up and keep it alive especially since its supposed to be community welded and not corporate, just because i am romantic, but still doesn't make much sense, in the making sense ... sense. Edited January 23, 2009 by squid Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JediMaster 451 Posted January 23, 2009 I've not bought any sim twice, but I've bought every one TK has released, along with DCS, F4:AF, every Il-2 release, and so on. I don't go for MMOs or any online subscription based idea. I've never bought payware for any sim except once--Firepower for CFS3. I felt that was pretty much the unofficial CFS3 expansion pack. There are several I didn't get for various reasons, like Enemy Engaged 2 and Whirlwind over Vietnam, and I don't care about flight without combat, so I don't go for X Plane or MSFS. I will get a release from FO if it has combat (not trainers), good all around SP and MP, and is $50 or less. The rest is fluff I don't want or need. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+ST0RM 145 Posted January 23, 2009 The idea for this flight sim is commendable and quite original. I just think that the execution is wrong, along with the marketing. After the initial post here from the devs, they've not came back to answer some of the questions. Basically, Pay and you shall receive. Oh well. I'll wait until release to make up my mind. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squid 21 Posted January 23, 2009 (edited) Personally, i do like training a lot, i am finding it extremely fun and interesting. Focus on training equally as on action is, to just my personal taste, a great concept. Can't imagine though a sim that can do training but can't do combat .. Edited January 23, 2009 by squid Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gr.Viper 131 Posted January 23, 2009 Oh well. I'll wait until release to make up my mind. What if they make you pay to get a special purchase code that'll allow you to buy the FO for earthly money? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MigBuster 2,884 Posted January 23, 2009 I Expect SF3 will be out before this sim for Windows 7 lol You would think they could come up with something better than a few lines regarding policy changes! anyway will have to wait and see on this one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Zurawski 33 Posted January 23, 2009 TK and Oleg before him did something only Michael Harrison (FS:SDOE) has done for flight sims... Continue to "give" to the community that supports their product(s). Harrison gave us the OpenPlane flight-sim engine and above-expected support and tools. FS:SDOE came out eons ago, there is still a dedicated following that continues to grow this long-tooth sim... Oleg gave us the IL-2 line of simulations and with every new patch, grew the aircraft stable at a staggering rate... Now TK... Not only has he continued to provide new "content" through parasitic new games (Use of some assets from previous releases) ... But he has gone back and updated all previous releases to the current standards. Granted the all share the same lineage, but still a notable feet unto it self. Add to that a game engine that is almost as open as OpenPlane... it's no wonder TK has such a strong following. Oh, and for the record... I've purchased every game... even ones I didn't particularly need or like. Just my way of saying "Keep doing what you're doing"... (Now if we could only talk him into doing a 4th or 5th gen sim... ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JediMaster 451 Posted January 26, 2009 I hope TK does make a sim designed for more robust MP, but I do NOT want a focus on H2H. I want it designed for coop!! I think that's Il-2's greatest flaw...the MP focus was on H2H and the AI was left to fester and ooze. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gr.Viper 131 Posted January 26, 2009 AI was left to fester and ooze. I thought it was more into 'ramming you head on' thing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squid 21 Posted February 10, 2009 Lockon, DCS Nellis WIP http://simmoders.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=0...amp;topic=228.0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+streakeagle 871 Posted October 9, 2018 I went on a tangent while browsing and ended up here. I think it is fair to say Fighter Ops finally got released, but it is called DCS World: Nevada. Instead of the T-38, you have the F-5E. But if you are itching for a two-seat trainer, the L-39 does the job. There's no F-16 (yet!), but you can choose between the A-10A, A-10C, F-15C, and F/A-18C. It is amazing how much has changed and how much has stayed the same since this thread started. Third Wire no longer makes a proper PC flight sim. IL-2 is flown and for sale in three flavors: IL-2:1946, IL-2: Cliffs of Dover, and the IL-2: Battle Over series. Fighter Ops and Jet Thunder never reached public release. DCS World is pretty much the last man standing in fighter jet combat flight sims unless you count Falcon 4.0 combined with the free BMS addon. Prepar3d with TacPack deserves an honorable mention for bringing MS FSX to the brink of being a true combat flight sim and a hard core one at that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
