The Chat With Matt Today?

[tc223 0]

Anything earth shattering come out of that chat today? I missed it.

[tc223 0]

heh.. that good eh?

[tc223 0]

Found the Chat log over at the UBI forum. In the interest of being able to get there to it (hope they fix that soon). I hope Jeff won't mind if I paste it here.

 

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This is the developer chat cleaned up as nicely as possible. None of the statements have been altered in any form or fashion including grammatical errors. Hope you all enjoy.

 

Thunak Hello and welcome to today?s Lock-on chat !

 

Thunak My name is Thunak, I?m the UK Community Manager in charge of the english-speaking community.

 

Thunak Thanks for joining us. Our guest this evening is Matt ?Wags Wagner?, Lock-On?s Producer. Thanks for taking time to join us, Matt.

 

Thunak Let?s begin, then. The session wil be moderated: only Matt and I may post.

 

Thunak This is how we?ll proceed: you may send your questions only to me and I will relay them to Matt. Please do not send them directly to him, he will only answer to mine. To send me a question double-click on my nick (Thunak) on the right hand column and a new window will open in which we may chat.

 

Thunak I will post a full transcript of the chat on the official Lock-On site, http://www.lo-mac.com and on the boards ASAP.

 

Thunak Ready?

 

Ubi-Wags You bet

 

Thunak .(.AltSlayer.).: Id like to know,if it is possible, what will the patch be focused on?.

 

Ubi-Wags The first patch is focused on the features that are the most important to players, according to what we see online. Such things as radar, Win98 support, tracjIR, etc.

 

Ubi-Wags There will be at least one later patch that will focus on less important issues.

 

Ubi-Wags Working on the high priorities first

 

Thunak .(.Spitfire8.).: The problem with the joystick microsoft force feedback 2 is going to be resolved ?(noreturn to center force) sry for my english.

 

Ubi-Wags On the official site, I started a thread regarding what has already been fixed. This is list is not complete yet though.

 

Ubi-Wags Hope that answers your question

 

Thunak .(.Madmatt.).: Are there plans now or in the future to increase the fidelity of the naval and ground units? I speak of their lack of CIWS capability and limited ground fire,only BTR-70's and LVTP-7's engage with their MG's against low and slow planes..

 

Ubi-Wags The development team is very aware of the problem and are working on it as a high priority item.

 

Thunak .(.AFishA.).: question: Will there be a stand alone server for lomac?.

 

Ubi-Wags Naval systems has never been a focus of this project and thus a low priority. These systems may be addressed in a future patch though. No promises.Regarding MG fire, other vehicles do not have because they don't have enclosed/turrented mounts

 

Ubi-Wags There are no such plans at this time

 

Thunak .(.Shirazi.).: how come you dont have to land or communicate in order to complete a mission?.

 

Ubi-Wags if not, the player could quit the mission and win it regardless of a situation that would kill them if they would cheat by quiting

 

Ubi-Wags not sure what mean by "communicating"

 

Thunak .(.mattski_.).: my first quesiton is: 1. Firstly, thanks for all of your hard work Matt, it's truly a revelation and a very enjoyable game. My first question is will we see enhanced refueling and carrier operations in either the patch or addon pack? Specifcally, having to really grab the basket or boom and multiplayer carrier capability?.

 

Ubi-Wags Hi Cartrix

 

cartrix Hello - just popped in to keep up to date ;)

 

Ubi-Wags The development team worked very hard to try to get MP aerial refueling, but the precision of the internet data was simply not sufficient to make it work correctly.

 

Ubi-Wags They are still working on this and MP carrier code, but I can make no promises

 

Thunak .(.Cragger.).: Wags what was your biggest regret of a goal the project did not meet that you had planned for?.

 

Ubi-Wags dynamic campaign system

 

Thunak .(.Tuff.).: Have there been any discussions with Ross about his Campaign system being added to Lock On?.

 

Ubi-Wags this was a central goal when we started and I regret that we were not able to include such a system

 

Ubi-Wags Ross work is ongoing but is completely independant of Eagle's work

 

Thunak .(.Punisher.).: will be any SDK for LoMac?.

 

Ubi-Wags I do not believe that Eagle has such plans at this time

 

Thunak .(.twobells.).: My question: could a pause be implemented that allows you to lock in your targets etc (a sort of action-pause).

 

Ubi-Wags I don't believe that is possible, I belive that all game inputs must be made in real time

 

Thunak .(.AkSt-Babianen.).: Any possibilites for more advanced features in the mission editor? Random waypoints/flightgroups?.

 

Ubi-Wags If Eagle were to decide to do some sort of follow-on product, perhaps then. However, I don't see that happening with the base product

 

Thunak .(.twobells.).: 2nd question: what is your next project?

 

Ubi-Wags Sorry, but I cannot comment on that

 

Thunak .(.Air-Killer.).: will be able the posibility of two teams in the same mision?.

 

Ubi-Wags You can already do so by setting up aircraft in both coalitions

 

Ubi-Wags There are already several such MP missions included with the game

 

Thunak .(.Punisher.).: what was the first objective for Lomac, SP or MP games?.

 

Ubi-Wags They are equally important to us

 

Thunak .(.BigA312.).: Matt , do you still fly Jane's F/A-18 for old times sake?.

 

Ubi-Wags Sometimes, still very proud of that title. Still keep in touch with team members

 

Thunak .(.Rochee.).: Out of all the aircraft included with Lockon, which is your favorite?.

 

Ubi-Wags I probably spend most of my time in the '

 

Ubi-Wags in the Rook

 

Ubi-Wags Su-25

 

Ubi-Wags lately, a lot with the Eagle to test radar systems

 

Thunak .(.twobells.).: In your opinion why do you think the sim scene has produced so few titles in the last few years?.

 

Ubi-Wags High cost investment, small market footprint, low sales compared to other types of titles

 

Ubi-Wags High time investment too

 

Thunak .(.Iceman_AFS.).: Hi Waggs..do we have at least a small chance to get new planes like the F18,F14 ets and with the choice to sit on the 2nd seat?If not i would like to know where's the technical problem since its possible in IL2FB.

 

Ubi-Wags As a free addon, I sincerely doubt it. As an addon and stand alone, anything is possible, but that is more up to the develper than me.

 

Thunak .(.badkarma.).: will campaign co-op multiplayer be supported in the future?

 

There are no such plans at this time

 

Thunak .(.Phantomski.).: in many aspect the best sim around. Not in all, to be honest, but it has the potential to be ;) And now the question - could you please be more specific about the incoming patch (details about most important features) and the rumors F-15 will be slightly "upgraded" ? More technical, the better.

 

again, I've posted a long list on the GD forum that gives details as to what has already been addressed, including changes made to the F-15 radar.

 

Thunak .(.aphid.).: is the european version any different from the us version? will there be seperate patches?.

 

Ubi-Wags There should be no content differences aside from localization issues

 

Thunak .(.Madmatt.).: I dont want to take up too much time, and I am sure others have lots of questions, but I have also noticed some issues in the game which I have not seen reported elsewhere, as I said, since I work at another game company (i run the beta teams among other duties)I wasnt sure if i should post them to the official forums, what is the preferred method to report these issues?.

 

Ubi-Wags Yes, please report on the offical Lock On forums. We read most everything there and it really helps drive the priority levels of what and when things get fixed

 

Thunak .(.T-Bird.).: What do you think of Bobcat's cloud textures? Does this give you any ideas relating to increasing fps?.

 

Ubi-Wags He did a great job, perhaps such a change will be incorporated in a later patch, I would like to see that

 

Thunak .(.bolt.).: I would like to know how much the performance of the game is affected by the number of planes in the air, vehicles on the ground - or if the performance is mostly affected by effects, like weather, water, scenery detail etc. - or, in other words: Is any campaign mission playable with a 1,8Ghz rig, 512 RAM and Geforce2 on lowest gfx settings?.

 

Ubi-Wags Yes, number of active objects can play a big difference in FPS. As to what you define as

 

Ubi-Wags "playable" is very nebulous and varies from player to player. Also, GF2 is NOT a support card for Lock On

 

Ubi-Wags I personally think at low settings, it can be playable though

 

Thunak .(.Nasder.).: I like to create things to game, missions and such, do you know if there are any plans on releasing layered templates for Photoshop or such?.

 

Ubi-Wags That would be up to the developer and I really don't know if they plan to release such resources

 

Thunak .(.Thunak.).: .(.BigA312.).: Noticed that there is no NATO radar units available in the MB, can you share the intention of this?.

 

Ubi-Wags there are many unit types we would like to have included, but time and resources prevent us from doing all we wanted

 

Ubi-Wags There was no plan to leave out such units

 

Thunak .(.Tiss.).: hi! my question is: will the su-33 be more ground mission related? i miss more radar and optics guided air to grund missiles..

 

Ubi-Wags the real su-33 has no such AG systems, so to be realistic, the Lock On Su-33 does not have them as well

 

Thunak .(.Roskov.).: what is the bandwidth requierments for internet play? how many KB/s does each client use?.

 

Ubi-Wags Sorry, I have no idea. That would be a technical question that you could pose on the offical site. The internet MP progammer visits there and can probably give you a good answer--much better that the SWAG I'd give you

 

Thunak .(.[moose]HuBBa.).: Question: Is there or will there be a way tomap the Padlock key to a hold-down function rather than a toggle?.

 

Ubi-Wags Padlock is a toggle and will stay that way

 

Ubi-Wags As such, I don't believe so

 

Thunak Nic.).: Multiple monitor support, has Matt seen this in operation and how did it look ? what kind of hit did the gameplay take?.

 

Ubi-Wags or...

 

Ubi-Wags if you have a programmable stick, you could set up a press and release macro, that should work]

 

Ubi-Wags sorry, I have not in fact seen this, but it is my understanding that the developer included surround gaming for the latest matrox card

 

Thunak .(.Eagle.).: In Mission Editor i sometimes have the problem of planes exploding on Spawn when i set them to spawn on the Parking area?

 

Ubi-Wags sounds like you have some other objects already in that area and they are spawning on top of each other. i'd check your mission and remove active and static objects on that area of the apron

 

Thunak .(.ddocg.).: do you think lomac will be as big as iL2.

 

Ubi-Wags I sure hope so! :)

 

Ubi-Wags I think the potential is certainly there

 

Thunak mattski_.).: Someone mentioned that AI aircraft will fly toward you and engage you if they have enough fuel, even if you are hundreds of kilometres away. Apparently this scenario was seen with a ground-hugging A 10 some 200Km away from enemy aircraft and with no enemy AWACS. Have you got any thoughts on this?.

 

Ubi-Wags It depends on what mission type they are on. the different types have various radii that they will engage targets.

 

Ubi-Wags for exampe

 

Ubi-Wags an escort mission will have a narrow engagement area and an intercept can have a very large one

 

Thunak .(.Phantomski.).: Cobra and other "beyond flight envelope" maneuvers - is it really only "scripted" (aka animation), or is it starting to be real modelling incorporating perhaps slightly something from disturbed airflow ?.

 

Ubi-Wags It's my understanding that is actually a combination of the two

 

Thunak .(.Tomcat.).: will the russian plane not be able to select different payloads for coresponding hard points.

 

Ubi-Wags Russian plans, as well as all the others, can have various weapons on hardpoints. Players can use the payload editor to create their own payload layouts as well. Not sure I understand your question.

 

Thunak .(.ddocg.).: is Lomac, future technology friendly, will it be playable in whatever form say 3 years from now.

 

Ubi-Wags Given that we don't know what the technology will be three years from now, that is an impossible question to answer. However, I think that most will agree that the game has lots of hardware growth potential in regards to taking advantage of increased details levels as hardware increases in capability

 

Thunak .(.Kittenmaster.).: Hello, here is a question to Matt: Will the patch improve AI calculations, new memory managment to improve game performance?.

 

Ubi-Wags Aspects of the AI have been improved in the patch. As to that affecting game performance, I'm not sure AI has ever been a big factor in that.

 

Ubi-Wags AG and BVR AI tactics have been improved

 

Ubi-Wags The AI is much more aggressive now

 

Thunak .(.gredknap.).: Is the first patch weeks or months?.

 

Ubi-Wags weeks

 

Ubi-Wags already in beta testing now

 

Thunak .(.swataeric.).: matt after i land the aircraft, how do i know where to park the plane.

 

Ubi-Wags There is no particular spot you have to park, you just need to get it off the runway

 

Thunak I guess that?s it then. Thank you Matt for taking the time to answer our questions.

 

Ubi-Wags I usually park in one of large parking areas

 

(Now Poor overworked Thunak took a few minutes break)

 

Thunak Back

 

Ubi-Wags thunk, i can stay for about 30 more mins

 

Thunak OK

 

Thunak Here we go

 

Thunak .(.E69_Hog.).: First of all, thank you and team for all the effort. I know about third companies developing sim hardware like MDF, ejecting seats....do you consider in the future to share that kind of information needed for that hardware to work with lomac? Thanks.

 

Ubi-Wags I hope we can do so, and it fact I have put such third party hardware ventors in touch with the development team. Hopefully we'll some great results. However, please keep in mind that the team is very busy with other tasks at the moment--like the patch

 

Thunak .(.radejet.).: are they any plans of avionic system inproving.

 

Ubi-Wags several improvments have already been made to radar performance in the first patch. I imagine that this will be an ongoing process

 

Thunak .(.Nasder.).: When you land your plane, you can rearm and refuel. Do you think that repairing lighter "wounds" to your plane will be an option in the future?.

 

Ubi-Wags I doubt it. The idea is a hot-pit turn around that would not include repairing damage

 

Thunak .(.EchoPapa607.).: First, congratulations on the team for a great product. I would like to know if the team has shared ideas with the IL-2FB team regarding common problems? I personally believe that some aspects in Lockon could have been improved just by learning from the work that was done in IL-2FB..

 

Ubi-Wags Sorry, but I'm not aware of the level of interaction between the two development studios. Despite using the same publisher, they are two separate companies

 

Thunak .(.ace24.).: Is any progress being made regarding the Blue(light blue) screen problem..

 

Ubi-Wags Our initial tests of the patch have had good results with Win98, so I hope this issue may be resolved as well. i personally have not been able to test this yet

 

Thunak .(.AkSt-pilgrim.).: Could you please make it possible to add more skins instead of only being able to change the existing ones? Perhaps having a dedicated where you can put new skins without overwriting default ones?.

 

Ubi-Wags I would also suggest making sure your vid card FULLY supports DX8.1

 

Ubi-Wags I have already discussed this with the team, they'll see what they can do. No promises.

 

Ubi-Wags Going back, please remember that GF2, 8500 and all MX cards are not supported

 

Ubi-Wags All these card to NOT support DX8.1

 

Thunak .(.AkSt-pilgrim.).: Could you please make it possible to add more skins instead of only being able to change the existing ones? Perhaps having a dedicated where you can put new skins without overwriting default ones?.

 

Ubi-Wags Pleae look above, I answered this

 

Thunak .(.Shirazi.).: how come you can land at very high speeds and such hard landing is it that easy in reality aswell?.

 

(Ubi-Wags did note this is being looked into, somehow his comment got cut)

 

Thunak .(.Phantomski.).: Q8: FlightModel: it's very good, as I would expect from Flanker sequel...could you please be more specific about physics and techniques incorporated ? or could you give me contact to a person who could tell me that ? I'm sure it's party your know how, but there should be some "PR" directed info. At lest, if it's more "MSFS like" (aka mass point+tables and fine tuning) or "X-plane like" (actual airflow, shape influence, ...).

 

Ubi-Wags Strange... when I have hard landings, my gear fails and I'm skidding across the runway. Please make sure you do not have Easy Flight on

 

Ubi-Wags That goes above my head, but I suggest you post your questions of the offical site. I know that the flight programmers read those boards.

 

Thunak .(.Vang.).: Will there be a look forward view while in padlock like IL-2 and Jane's F18?.

 

Ubi-Wags already in there, KP Ins

 

Thunak .(.ddocg.).: at this early stage, how does Lomacs future look.

 

Ubi-Wags So far so good :)

 

Thunak .(.ScHiZ0.).: Realizing of course that no promises can be made as of now, do you have any guesstimate on how much work it will take to fix the track ir centering issues?.

 

Ubi-Wags Already fixed in the patch

 

Thunak .(.Roskov.).: will the patch (or any future ones) fix the MP problem where players sometimes is seens as on the ground but is infact flying around?.

 

Ubi-Wags such issues are generally a fucntion of someones connect / ping / dropped packets and not so much the game. Also, the nforce board issue has a been a problem. however patch tests have shown the the nforce problem has largely been fixed

 

Thunak .(.JZG_Hypno.).: Is the multiplayer code brand new or just imported from Flanker and adjusted?. I noticed some instability while playing,joining or taking off from a carrier, that seemed very Flanker-like. Is multiplayer code going to be revised? Also, I know that the FM is great but what about the onboard systems? (engine startup, shutdown procedures, fuel selectors etc) they seem a bit simplified. Am I wrong? Thank you.

 

Ubi-Wags The MP code and interface is all new. Like other aspects of the game, the MP will be improved with the upcoming patch and will likel evlove with the project.

 

Thunak .(.EchoPapa607.).: Do you think Lock-on will evolve into some kind of FS2K? Like using the great game engine so that people can fly more planes (perhaps from 3rd party software), helicopters and even ground based units in-game?.

 

Ubi-Wags It was never the goal to create laborious engine procedures

 

Ubi-Wags It is a great engine and I would imagine that anything could be possible, but that's not my call and I cannot speculate

 

Thunak .(.BadKarma.).: Are the Hud graphics in the aircraft accurate? I was under the impression that the F15 Hud had a different setup than is currently modeled in Lomac..

 

Ubi-Wags the F-15C HUD mode is quite accurate, check a HUD video or image of the Charlie HUD and you'll see they are almost identical. You're probably confusing the E HUD with the C HUD.

 

Thunak .(.ddocg.).: any plans for clickable pits.

 

Ubi-Wags none, we are quite happy with the current cockpit technology

 

Thunak .(.Shirazi.).: why is the hud text just enlarged to greater pixels when zoomed in rather than beeing enlarged in the "right" way?.

 

Ubi-Wags I'm not sure what you mean by the "right" way.

 

Ubi-Wags Thunak, time for me to get going I'm afriad

 

Thunak OK

 

Thunak Thank you very much for taking the time to be with us

[MadJeff 3]

Thanks, I was actually trying to get on Ubi's forums most off the day to get this, to no avail. I was unable to attend the chat this morning unfortunately...