The Next Skin Pack from TK.

[+SkateZilla 49]

Fresh from the man's facebook..

[Gr.Viper 131]

Because SF2 AI is known for tight formation flight.

[+Major Lee 18]

Selling "Blue Angels" skins? I wonder if he got licensing...

 

http://www.airshows.aero/?Page=News&Group=News&NewsID=79

 

http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/media/show/TrademarkMerchandise.pdf

Edited July 5, 2012 by Major Lee

[+Stary 2,427]

sometimes I completely don't understand the man's choices... but hey I'm just a casual gamer

[+SkateZilla 49]

we'll get thunderbird shots tomorrow.... you'll see.

[+Stary 2,427]

yeah because Blue Angels and Thunderbirds saw soo much combat over Vietnam and Dhimar...

[+SkateZilla 49]

Dont understand either.. complains that he cant do 90% of the stuff he wants to (adding to avionics, 3d models, terrain etc), due to time and budget.

 

but spends time painting demo team paint schemes for DLC Skin Pack. At least make it a Plane Pack, w/ Yellow Missiles and smoke pods.

 

I've been spending more and more time in DCS. Occasionally going back to SF2 for those "quickie" missions, when I dont have time to run through an entire start up sequence.

 

but no MP limits how much I play SF2 now.

Edited July 5, 2012 by SkateZilla

[+Stary 2,427]

exactly my point

[+Dave 2,322]

Streakeagle has a mod that make great formations for using skins like that. I love the way it looks....I would love to see some A-4's in that scheme too.

[+SkateZilla 49]

At this point, I'd rather him create a Decent MP Code/Game Modes (Airbase Assault, Coop, free flight), and Charge $30 for it.

 

We already pay for Mission Editor, campaign editor, and all that crap separately from the game.

 

more and more people want MP, so do it, and put it out as a DLC module. I bet the $20 MP DLC module will outsell SF2 NA.

Edited July 5, 2012 by SkateZilla

[+Stary 2,427]

Don't want to sound rude knowing that most propably The Man or DanW are monitoring this site I'll say I have that odd tendency to find myself various tasks just to push away from me the important ones...

 

not that I see similar behavioral pattern here or something, but making demo skins instead of fixing avionics60 or other bugs looks similar

[FastCargo 412]

Folks, he makes these skins because they sell.

 

Because they provide a good cost/benefit ratio (less time/money for revenue generated).

 

Because Stary, you are not a causal user. You are not the audience those skins are for.

 

Because missiles with enhanced hit percentages are not meant for hardcore simulation fanatics.

 

I thought more folks would have picked up on the fact that TK has been doing DLCs like this now for several months. If they weren't selling, making money, he would have given up on them.

 

He's still selling them, and pumping them out quickly.

 

Skin DLCs are a great money maker. Once you have the templates, throwing out a skin takes very little time. Oh, and it doesn't alter the game engine with a patch, so it satisfies those who do have modded installs because it doesn't screw them up either (as far as I know).

 

To an extent, we have become victims of TKs continued success in the TW sims.

 

The audience has grown outside of the original hardcore simmers that picked up those sorry ass Wal-Mart editions so long ago. There are more causal users now. We here are no longer the big fish in a little pond...the pond is at least a lake.

 

Don't believe me? Look at the other, non technically minded things TK has done with the sim. In game update notifications, web based installer, DLC skin packs, etc.

 

Our voices are the same...but they are becoming less and less relevant to the overall business model.

 

This is all conjecture on my part. But someone here make a compelling, logical argument that what I'm saying isn't probable.

 

FC

[+SkateZilla 49]

we've been demoted to tadpoles.

[+Stary 2,427]

fair observations FC, simply can't disagree with you

 

To an extent, we have become victims of TKs continued success in the TW sims.

and

The audience has grown outside of the original hardcore simmers that picked up those sorry ass Wal-Mart editions so long ago. There are more causal users now. We here are no longer the big fish in a little pond...the pond is at least a lake.

explains quite a bit, I know the old-timers (and I shamelessly describe myself as one) have a tad different vision on the series heading, but yes, we can't forget there's whole lot more people than don't mod, don't want to mod or don't know how to mod, and play this on laptops with integrated chipsets

but still... Blue Angels over Vietnam...

[+SkateZilla 49]

maybe i should make a smoke pod.

[Wrench 9,850]

Skin DLCs are a great money maker

 

Hence, in my personal opinion, the main reason we don't/haven't/and are exceedingly unlikely to see templates ever again from 3W.

 

but, oth, I DO like the idea of skinpak BLTs opss... DLCs (was thinking about lunch!). Wonder if it's just the Angles, or more skins.

 

haveing such things does fit into the trend i've been noticing of 'the unable/unwilling/unwanting' to learn to mod End User ™.

[+EricJ 4,246]

All my gaming is now on my laptop, which if I dusted off my desktop, spent hundreds of dollars to upgrade, wouldn't be worth it in the long run, but I run Strike Fighters fine...

 

But agreed FC, though I kinda wish there was an MP DLC, hell I'd even buy it.

 

But then again I can do better with my own skills than download a DLC, and I have so many templates...

 

But while I like the selection of DLC Tomcat skins, it's easier to open CS4 and get workin'

[FastCargo 412]

Now, just to be clear, this doesn't mean our voices have become irrelevant. But it does mean our needs for the more hardcore stuff may simply take longer to get done...or may not get done at all because there won't ever be the money for it verses the money it could make.

 

Prime example was the mission editor, the DLC/Exp2 addon that TK himself basically said didn't come close to being cost effective unlike his other DLCs.

 

And remember, TW sims still specialize in doing aircraft that no one else does (with the exceptions of the common F-16/F-15/A-10 - with a little P-51 thrown in).

 

For the more exacting among us, maybe the DCS series will be what we are looking for in the long run...if the modding scene takes off.

 

FC

[+streakeagle 871]

The point of skin packs is to provide a variety of previously unavailable but popularly requested skins.

VX-4 Black Bunny never flew in combat either, but every body wants it in either F-4 or F-14, right?

Among the first Marc Fighters skins were the Blue Angels A-4s and F-4s, which I absolutely loved.

If someone is skilled and has the templates, how much more effort is it to throw in Blue Angels skins?

I have been very lazy about trying to make hi-res Thunderbirds skins.

I am not that skilled and painting and don't have templates.

So, I would greatly appreciate an unslatted F-4E DLC with Thunderbirds skins.

Though I doubt TK would bother to provide all of the variants and crew blocks from initial factory paint to 1974.

 

So, as long as TK is doing Blue Angels skins... what about the A-4s?

 

If he has the rights to do the Thunderbirds, how about F-100C/D, F-105 (settle for a D given no B available), F-4E, and F-16?

[+EricJ 4,246]

Yeah but look how many people are doing skins versus requesting them... not a vent per se but sometimes the modding scene needs to take off a bit. But he could at least fix the Mission Editor, seems borked after June 2012. And yes he didn't consider it cost effective, but there's something like supporting your own product blah blah blah.

[+Dave 2,322]

Well I am sure DanW is doing this on his own. I doubt he can do anything to fix the avionics60.dll problem. That is something TK has to fix. Dan is doing what he knows and that is skin. So hell I think its great and thats coming from a skinners perspective.

[+SkateZilla 49]

Dan is a skinning Machine...

[+PureBlue 71]

Dan also did the IsraelME terrain and/or the textures for it right? Which is IMHO the best terrain out of TW yet.

[+streakeagle 871]

yeah because Blue Angels and Thunderbirds saw soo much combat over Vietnam and Dhimar...

 

At least the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds are real units and authentic skins.

Dhimar? Show me where it is on the map and what the actual history is.

Maybe in the SF universe, the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds were rushed into service to fight and their paint schemes were retained to intimidate the enemy.

They are so good they don't need camouflage and in fact will put on a formation show complete with colored smoke while decimating the enemy!

[+SkateZilla 49]

Dazzle them with their Formation Passes.