SF2: North Atlantic

[+JonathanRL 973]

I just did a guest review of SF2: NA for a Swedish site I worked with before, and I have to say while SIM HQ brings up relevant points about the bugs, the fact is he lets almost a quarter of the review be just about them. The work standard is to mention bugs but not to this almost hilariously large extent. One would think he got an axe to grind with TK.

 

Btw, if you wonder WHY one never makes a review largely about bugs, its because most day 1 bugs are fixed whereupon the review becomes obsolete and you have to rewrite it.

Edited March 13, 2012 by JonathanRL

[+KnightWolf45 1,147]

i guess it my turn

Hi im Cocas and im a..................well............................a god...................... catextractorholic ok say it but havent extrat in since 9 of March i need i must EXTRACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(faints)

[+Stary 2,426]

SimHQ Review is online.

dick's review that is...

[+Brain32 265]

Btw, if you wonder WHY one never makes a review largely about bugs, its because most day 1 bugs are fixed whereupon the review becomes obsolete and you have to rewrite it.

 

True but also I've seen SimHQ doing exactly that and even more with "2nd opinion" reviews which is quite fair IMO

[+Stary 2,426]

true but he does review almost on day one and I'm sure day or two before patch that will fix most annoying bugs... will he then stand up and say: ummm,sorry most things have been fixed, it's ok?

 

All TK needed is such negative Pfunk's review... and yes I think it's negatively approached and written from start

[+Dave 2,319]

Oil would be proud.

 

I’m going to say something else unkind here, the Third Wire Tomcat, though it models the avionics properly, is a boring model. Normally, Third Wire has a history of trouncing third-party efforts, especially in cockpit detailing. For the first time, his community (namely the crew at The Mirage Factory) has beaten him. Yes, the Third Wire Tomcat models the AWG-9 radar suite better, but the Mirage Factory Tomcat has more detailed cockpit, a more enjoyable flight model, and it looks better.

 

Hope you read this my friend! RIP

[+daddyairplanes 9,475]

i guess it my turn

Hi im Cocas and im a..................well............................a god...................... catextractorholic ok say it but havent extrat in since 9 of March i need i must EXTRACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(faints)

its ok cocas. you can seek help from your higher power. or distract yourself with pron.

[+Stary 2,426]

or distract yourself with pron.

works for me

 

back to review, I honestly don't think it's that fair, Pfunk used to do better

[column5 62]

Don't shoot the messenger--the release is buggy. It is still a mystery why TK cut his beta testers loose...we used to spend hundreds of hours testing his games for free and I feel confident that all of the bugs seen in SF2NA at launch would have been found and reported.

 

Also, thanks to PFunk for his kind words on the Mirage Factory F-14.

[+Dave 2,319]

works for me

 

back to review, I honestly don't think it's that fair, Pfunk used to do better

 

Pfunk hit it on the head, the release was buggy as hell, HOWEVER.....Tk will fix these bugs and all will be well. He wont leave us hanging.

[Icarus999 70]

Too late, they are already whining to TK on his boards and via emails.

 

You gotta wonder about some of these guys, I mean TK posted the minimum specs and warned people ahead of time. Common sense tells you that if your rig is comming in right at the minimum spec level you are going to have to make compromises to get an acceptable frame rate.

[Icarus999 70]

Pfunk hit it on the head, the release was buggy as hell, HOWEVER.....Tk will fix these bugs and all will be well. He wont leave us hanging.

 

The review was harsh but it was truthful. Sad thing is that it could have been avoided, the last thing TK needs right now is bad press... this game needs to sell a lot of copies to make the development worth the cost.

From what I've seen it looks like he is beginning to change some stubborn old ideas...maybe he will bring the beta team back.

[+Sundowner 4,647]

I think the review is pretty fair, you've only got to look here and on the TW boards to see just how buggy the game is ,hell, we even have some of folks who only seem to buy the TW series just to find bugs , so I dont think that review alone will put too many folks off.

I must confess that even myself has been put off from buying it yet, I will eventually but not in its current state.

[+JonathanRL 973]

My review at CtrlAltElite have been published:

http://www.ctrlaltelite.se/2012/03/14/recension-strike-fighters-2-north-atlantic/

(It is in Swedish)

 

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=sv&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ctrlaltelite.se%2F2012%2F03%2F14%2Frecension-strike-fighters-2-north-atlantic%2F&act=url

Google Translate

 

Note that their rule is that I do not put the total score. I give the separate scores and the editor calculates this into the total.

Edited March 14, 2012 by JonathanRL

[+Stary 2,426]

will look into it Jonathan

 

ok, I might have been be too harsh towards Pfunk after my first reading, I admitt that

[Fubar512 1,350]

I thought PFunk's review was honest.

 

What he did not mention:

 

A: Third Wire is more of a boutique sim shop, as opposed to larger entities, such as M$, ED, or even 1C: Maddox. While this limits their budget, it also allows them much more flexibility.

 

B: SF2:NA appears to be every bit as moddable as its predecessors. That's the real strength of the series, and one that allows SF2 to be practically anything the end-user wants it to be, from a "sim-lite" with the emphasis on casual play, to a sweaty-palm sort of a survey-sim, with fairly realistic flight dynamics, that pits one against acceptably aggressive and capable AI opponents.

[+daddyairplanes 9,475]

I must confess that even myself has been put off from buying it yet, I will eventually but not in its current state.

agreed though i do have some other considerations too. i'm think of usin it to teach the kids about saving, 3-4 bucks in change til fathers day then hand em the money and "give command guidance" on a gift! could get it sooner(poss today or next pay period) but i am tryin to show the kids about things being worrth waiting for. plus hopefully all the current bugs will be out by june!

[ArturR 17]

So RWR turns on automatically on TID only when SAM launch missile to us, I wonder If there is possibility to take control on it.

[Spinners 15,984]

Regarding pfunk's review at SimHQ;

 

"It’s been a long wait. The very first Strike Fighters game emerged in 2002 and the last truly new version came out around 2007."

If he means Wings Over Israel it actually came out in 2008. Should have had someone beta test proof read the article.

 

 

"these are issues that quite simply should never have made it out the door."

I must admit it's hard to disagree with that.

 

 

However, what a shame it would be if peeps in the market for a cold war flight sim base their non-purchase of SF2:NA on this review. And regarding the unflattering comparison between the Third Wire F-14 and the MF F-14 I guess we're lucky to have two outstanding Tomcats to choose from so vive la difference!

[+Stary 2,426]

As much as I adore MF work and consider Tomcat one of maybe 10 best user-made aircraft available (RIP Oli!) I don't think making such comparision in a review was a err... professional thing. Period. I'm done with that review thing.

[+Brain32 265]

You gotta wonder about some of these guys, I mean TK posted the minimum specs and warned people ahead of time. Common sense tells you that if your rig is comming in right at the minimum spec level you are going to have to make compromises to get an acceptable frame rate.

 

Dude just because your rig costs more than my car does not mean that people should refrain from making comments about game performance which are really scarce to begin with anyway.

 

Yes we all want TK to get "good grades" and continue working on this game series but that does not mean people don't have a right to a valid opinion.

 

BTW I get 20-30fps if I max out and 30-50 if I adjust it a bit, not what many people would consider bad but I don't see the justification for such performance drop, that's all, I can't imagine what would happen if that terrain wouldn't essentially be a deserted desert...

[column5 62]

I don't think making such comparision in a review was a err... professional thing.

 

Now you have me very curious..why is it not professional?

[+Swordsman422 61]

Had an epiphany about the high speed roll-rate "bug" that we're seeing on the TW Tomcat. What if it's intentional? What if this is a model of control surface compressability? I know that the hydraulics on jets aided a lot in combating this issue, but I remember at NAS Oceana before the DFCS that you could always pick out the Tomcat guys by their huge biceps. You had to be a real gorilla to fly that jet before the digital flight controls. Then it became an aircraft that you could control at all speeds with your finger tips.

 

Anyway, I was thinking this: the MiG-17 was known to suffer from serious compressability issues at speeds higher than 350 knots because of its cable-and-pully flight controls. The thing that's always bugged me about the TW MiG-17 is that its roll rate remains the same whether its at 200 knots or 400. At 400 knots, the pilot would not be able to roll the jet at all. Later on in the Vietnam War, Phantom pilots would try to bait the MiGs into hgih-speed fights where the Phantom had better maneuvering. Also, the evasion maneuver for the F-4 against the MiG-17 was to use high-speed roll control as a way to walk away from a pursuing Fresco. The F-4 would go into afterburner, roll, pull a few degrees. The pilot would then wait for the Mig to establish it's turn at a slower roll rate and reverse, forcing the MiG to make another delaying roll.

 

If compressability is now possible in the FM, we could rewrite the MiG-17 FM to relect this change.

[+Stary 2,426]

Now you have me very curious..why is it not professional?

 

Don, you compare payware to payware, not throw in freeware, clearly to put the reviewed product in negative light for the review. That review was biased from start, hence was a bad review. Ebert he's not

[+Brain32 265]

And next, world politics!

 

We really need that goddamnedevilcatextractor

 

Edited March 14, 2012 by Brain32