Winder

Outstanding! I also noticed a shot showing squadron aircraft under repair. Thus, I assume that the squadron's total aircraft are also tracked, and that if you've suffered a lot of losses lately, you'll be flying short-handed for a while, even if you've got the pilots available. Again, much coolness. I remeber RB2/3D did that sort of thing and it really brought home the severity of the war

Quite so. Returning aircraft numbers and status is tracked fully.

WM

Indeed!

 

Kind of a longshot here, but I wonder, will the names of the crew members in multicrew aircraft, (observers-gunners),

be listed in the Squadron Roster as well?

 

Another thing that kind of bothered me, was the Zeppelin destruction...

I found it kind of cartoonish!

Please, I don't want to offend you, I know about the WiP state and that many effects are not final yet,

but I guess we all have seen the destruction of the Hindenburg and how the fire consumes the skin,

leaving the bare skeleton of the ship exposed...

Is there a possibility to have such kind of effect in the final product?

Yes Observers/Gunners are tracked and listed in your Pilot dossiers for your squad... each AI in your squad has his own mini dossier....claims medals Bio, number of missions, kills etc all tracked

DM (damage modelling) is not done yet nor are effects - and that is all on our list...including the zep.

Pol did mention DM and effects as still being P3.

We are very very aware of what is leftover from P3 and it will be sorted.

We will post progression vids at appropriate times

WM

In keeping with the bumpage theme. I noticed a little blurb in the video about the new squadron tracking. Are we talking about acturately recording ai squadmates that die in combat? Or perhaps tracking ai squadmates kills durring a mission? hmmmm currious.

 

Pol, what's it like to hold the carrot? I always seem to be the horse...

Both....

WM

I was always wondering, if P4 would do more than add a few more Aircraft...jazz up the scenery a bit, and have a nice soundtrack..... I wasn't expecting that!!!

Everything is being overhauled - its a new game out there.....in more ways than one.

The AI code is fully rebuilt from scratch - by Rex.

In a 10 min movie its hard to show everything we wanted and also give a good impression of what the AI are doing now in sim - Pol has done an excellent job!

But there is so much to cover that the 10 mins is not enough by a long shot.... - we will post more as we go!

WM

That's one of the weaker tracks of the score. when you hear the whole score, bear in mind it was written, produced and recorded in 6 days.

Awww Matt there are no weak tracks!!

Thanks again for some awesome music.....

WM

We will post something soon....

WM

Both of the emails that came about the same time stated that I would get an email with LICENCE INFORMATION!!!

 

So far nothing!! You have my $10 and I have a Conformation # but no download information from and email.

 

So what do we do now??

You read the above post from Pol and then you follow the link in the e-mail and download your HITR.

If you are still stuck contact us on support - we can verify your purchase and help further - but try to download it first?

HTH

WM

Where do you find " AI Skill" levels ??

 

I looked in the work shop and could not find any thing like that.

Did you buy and install HITR?

WM

I have been playing alot these last few months and have seen some bad AI air combat flying techniques.

 

During every fight some fool goes into a steep climb and hangs there while I blast him.

 

On a few missions I see an ace and hope for a good fight -- never happens.

 

The AI has to be upgraded in P4 to keep my interest.

 

Has there been any info. from the delveloper on improving AI?

 

My 2 bits worth.

Oh yes....all new AI code for P4 from take-off, thru fighting, to landing.... but...

You should be running into Aces that give you a good run - what workshop settings?

Or you have become better than them by sheer practice - always a problem....

And you should not see the hanging steep climb except for certain craft very near the ground - have you got mods installed?

Are you running HITR?

WM

Hi Guys,

We are working flat out and I have to say its looking damn good in all aspects but we have overhauled just about everthing and added so much to our requirements for P4 that it is taking longer than even we expected.

But we believe that the wait will be so very well worth it.

Have no fear we will not be rushed by these posts/requests but I can say this - our hopes of a 2011 release are probably now not realisable....and no that does not mean January 2012 either!

HTH

WM

This is a niggling issue for me with Phase 3 - a little bit of an immersion killer. Was wondering whether Phase 4 will accurately track and report how your squadron mates did on their sorties (eg. proper kills, deaths, etc)?

 

Thanks for any info.

Yes thats the plan...

WM

While I'm very happy to hear that gunners in P4 will be different, I don't expect we'll ever be completely satisfied with how gunners work. I mean, we're never satisfied with anything . But the subject is more complex than we probably give it credit for. Right now we're concerned mostly with fields of fire. OK, those get fixed, but then somebody will say that the slipstream above a given speed, or the G-forces during a maneuver, would have prevented the gunner shooting in a given direction or even at all. And what about the aerodynamic effects on the plane itself as the gunner alternately squats low and stands tall in the airstream? So then we'll have to hunt down old Viet Nam door gunners for their opinions on those subjects, and they won't agree, so the argument will go on .

 

Dont be so sure on the G forces and maneuvering effects not being implemented.....

:-)

WM

I have to disagree. P4 is going to be a great improvement over P3 in the visual department too, and it would be a shame if the two-seaters weren't up to the new standards. I'd rather wait a bit longer for properly made models than get things faster but in a less polished state. And it would be harder to make more people interested in two-seaters, if they were modelled more poorly. This is the situation in P3 for the most part, and there's no reason to not improve things in P4.

ALL 2 seaters are being overhauled....

ALL craft.

WM

Creaghorn, that is one thing that bugged me when my I was in 1915/16. That issue seemed to fade in the second half of 1916 (as do the Eindeckers themselves, of course), but I hope it's something they might be able to address in P4.

It is - the scaling of the OOB has been sorted....

WM

OFF-Stick and Rudder

 

( Or perhaps OFF - 2022)

Even I dont have that sort of staying power....I dont think....

WM

I hope something can be done to the small landing accidents that so often prove fatal in P3. It's annoying when I lose a pilot after a small bounce of the aircraft that has almost stopped moving. I can understand the occasional bad luck (maybe the pilot hit his head or something) but it shouldn't happen so often. There's something wrong with the landing code in CFS3. I prefer to use the die roll setting, so that my pilots have at least some chance of surviving crash landings.

Strange never heard of that one or experienced it unless your craft has taken damage during the mission?

Specific craft or all or some?

WM

On the subject of "Plane Packs" for someone in the know.

 

Its not just a simple matter of dropping the a plane into the Aircraft folder: would not multiple non-aircraft game files need to be included to fully integrate them into the campaign/game engine?

 

As I typed that I think I answered my own question. Guess they will have to be in expansion packs ala HitR that include multiple planes and associated game files.

 

For the Devs: Is it quite complicated to include an aircraft into the campaign structure? Lots of file changes, besides the new aircraft, needed?

As Ted says yep its a lot of work.

But our intention is not to release an aircraft or aircraft packs without them being integrated into the campaign system.

So buying a craft pack would include that functionality.

WM

I wasn't gone, I was just passed out drunk in the corner of the mess :).

Perfectly acceptable - good man!

WM

And the devs probably missed my post about QC?

 

Any work being done on that chaps?

Not missed - manager is being uprated in every department

WM

If immersion makes certain parts of your anatomy tingle, then two words from Winder's post make me absolutely giddy:

 

 

Yahoo!

 

 

 

 

And I thought those two words would go unnoticed....

WM

Ah, now I'm happy. I was thinking P4 was mostly a graphics overhaul and a few new planes. I'm overjoyed that it's got major rework of the campaign and AI. Not that P3's versions are bad--far from it--but improvements to these areas would be more meaningful to me than any number of new planes.

 

So yes, get the gameplay improvments down, then release periodic batches of new planes.

 

Bravo

Yes so much more than graphics... be sure :-)

WM

Hi Guys,

Just to add a little perspective about P4 - P4 is not about adding craft per se - it is not really an expansion of P3 its a replacement in so many ways.

It is about:

1) Updating all graphics, models, and scenery - as many parts are looking dated - and there is only so much that can be done but looking at our graphics compared to many flight sims and we are well pleased so far.

2) Overhauling the Manager systems

3) Overhauling the AI - completely - all new AI that leaves P3 looking like a err a game.

4) Overhauling the campaign system

5) Real outcomes

6) Expanded operations

7) Expanded realism and immersion

And of course sooo many things that I cannot mention right now but that will be detailed closer to release.

Phase 4 actually is not a phase..its a rework and replace and overhaul....

Having said that we are including a list of new craft to accompany the release.

Once we have OFFIV released and stable we will then look at addon craft - probably in packs including squads etc but details will be released later.

Are folks interested in 'packs' or 'expansions' or 'phases'?

WM

You guys are more and more completing your big step towards a much higher realism,

and I am very glad that OFF didn't lose it's special artistic touch through all that.

In the action scenes Strutter vs Albatros the gunner is a real human looking threat now.

The scenery is masterly done - your landscapes look so much more detailed and "crisp"

than those of "the other sim".

 

One question remaining: will P4 be mostly an improvement of the British side, or shall

we also see more French and German installations and aircraft some time soon?

Soon! and Pol is doing a great job on ALL craft - I am convinced that all who buy P4 will be blown away with the realism, no matter what side you fly for!

WM

Time always advances even though your test flights are not logged...

HTH

WM

Thanks for understanding guys but rest assured we are working flat out on this - and no that does not mean lying down!

WM

seems I must....oddly enough I can kick in OFF via the manager icon in the game folder but it'll only go to a quick combat...no pilot choice....P4 come sooon. Already bought HITR twice and should have bought the unlimited download option in the first place....sigh, live and learn...I'll buy HITR again....totally worth it!!!! thanks for the thoughts.............

Be sure to backup the HITR download file - even to DVD - then you dont have to keep repurchasing!

HTH

WM