BirdDogg's Take on P-1 Post Patch (Long)

[BirdDogg 0]

BirdDogg’s take on Strike Fighters (Post Patch, Not a review)

 

First of all lets back up the clock to about year 2000 I believe, when TK first announced this Sim. He stated that this Sim was not going to be an Falcon 4.0, or Flanker 2.0 type but more of a Sim Light. A Sim that would introduce the aspect of Flight Sims to the beginner. Mission accomplished ? read-on.

 

Now getting beyond the 1st and 2nd release issues, and up to date with Service Pack 1. I myself, have always wonder what it was like to be in this era of Jet aircraft. Truly an era of Man and Machine. This is the era that I grew up in; building plastic Revell and Monogram models of F-4s and F-86s and A-7, and blowing them up with Firecrackers out back (laugh you did it too!), and you get my point. Now (Post Patch) with Project I feel as though I now know somewhat how a Jet Jock from the 60s felt…. …

OH-RAH!

 

Now since most of us are aware of the previous issues; there will be no reason to state them here. This Sim was meant to put plain old fun back into simming I believe it’s starting to do that! I’ve not been on the boards since the patch release because I been playing…. I repeat playing! And guess what? I’ve also been having fun. That’s the reason I do this after all.

 

Some of us have been spoiled by other Sims, I’ve seen countless references to Falcon 4, Il2, and Flanker, (not Snobing FA-18 but I ain’t seen that one mentioned). But we know those are apples and …well ya know., not comparable in all fairness, different levels altogether. I haven’t seen many people comparing it to say, USAF or Fighters Anthology, Euro-Fighter Typhoon, or Jet fighter 4/5 for that matter where P-1 should fall.

 

Why, because it’s better than most of those, and it cries out from within to be more than what it was supposed to be! TK shot him self in the foot, by making it better than Lite and yet not Hard enough. That is where the controversy lies within this Sim. Better then suspected, not quite as Hard as the crowd that's playing it

 

I didn’t have fun with the initial release because I’m a mud mover by nature, all I wanted in the first patch was more stability, and some.. some ground effects and AAA threats (got it). I stayed in this sim for 2 hours straight last night (No CTD Win 98SE) getting a real feel for it (finally), that said I like it. Is P-1 complete? … Nah, still work to be done. Can I enjoy what I purchased? Yes.. Can I reccommed that other purchase it? … Yup. Because now it does what it should have done outta the box.

 

I want to mention the Fighters Anthology series for a second (Because this is the series that best compares to Project 1 IMHO), more like US Navy Fighters-US Marine Fighters-Advanced Tactical Fighters-Nato Fighters- Fighter Anthology. I know, because I bought them all, in that order. Why? because they were awesomely fun! And the Mission Builder included gave this Series such replayability.

 

The Flight models were not that good as far as realism but the series remained entertaining even to some of the more Hardcore. I had hoped that Jane’s USAF would have re-invented the wheel by putting FA in a new graphical environment, but nah, it was what it was, and stopped there.

 

 

To Tk, Project 1 has the chance to succeed in this same way, I say this because I can now boldly use the word *Potential*. I’m not saying keep releasing a re-hash of P-1, but keep releasing addons packs and enhancements, Not Mods mind you, but features such as Mission Builders, Maps, Planes, and Units, true upgrades. This is the type of stuff some Modders will make I’m sure, but I think some of this will be better coming from the source!

 

I know some have mention they are still having issues with CTDs and Multiplay; I can’t touch on that. Yes there is still work that needs to be done but it’s far from the Drink Coaster it was.

 

So yes, mission accomplished as far as the patch and single player mode. I now look forward to seeing where we go from here.

 

Just my take folks on the long road to getting here.

thoughts?

 

BirdDogg.

[*Fast Eagle* 0]

Very well said BirdDogg, hit it right on the head there.

I agree wholeheartedly with you.

 

<S>

[Guest Ranger332]

"Now since most of us are aware of the previous issues; there will be no reason to state them here. This Sim was meant to put plain old fun back into simming I believe it’s starting to do that! I’ve not been on the boards since the patch release because I been playing…. I repeat playing! And guess what? I’ve also been having fun. That’s the reason I do this after all."

 

I to hhave been having a "blast"and building missions had never been easier .

 

Just think In the years to come as you enter and arena some rookies will look in awe at your callsign and say "he was one of the first players in this game " or "thats one of the Old Dogs" Yes this simm will be here for awhile

[Rogue 0]

Here, here! Well stated. I'm for correcting whatever may be wrong with MP, then lets have some useful add-ons. I really would like to see some sort of documentation on the ini files and/or an SDK. And a Mission Builder/Map Viewer would be the killer add-on. I'm not sure if I've the programming skills for that, but with an SDK I think I can tackle it if VB (that's Visual Basic, not someones initials) is up to the task. I don't do graphics programming, so anything I built would be a simple editor that allowed you to place objects and manipulate their properties.

 

Other than that, I too am enjoying the (insert own adjective) out of flying this sim.

[Dirtman 0]

Well done BirdDogg. Its like Strike Fighters is between the rock and the hard place. Oh yea and the reason you didn't hear F/A-18 mentioned is it worked almost from the box, only one patch. Good MP and mission editor. Still flying it.