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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/14/2017 in all areas

  1. ... about the future. The future of flight simming in general and the Dogz place within the idiom and the community. Now let's be clear, I have not started this discussion with the aim of having reached some definitive agenda or decree about how the Dogz will move forward from hereon in. Think of this as a brainstorming effort. I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts, conjectures, opinions and even crystal ball consultations on the genre flight sim and what we think the Dogz will look like in the future. The first point of discussion will be the state of the sims we currently fly (if I miss any candidates please let me know). So in that vein let's look at our primary - Il-2 1946: Il-2 is a grand old lady, with a breadth of content unrivalled by any subsequent simulator offering. And it does not skimp on depth - it strikes a fantastic balance between simming enough realism to be satisfying without becoming inaccessible or tedious. In short, it's fun. With mod support we have unparalleled access to theatres and even eras. However there are issues technically and community wise that I suspect will come to make 1946 less and less viable as our primary sim in the future. It could be argued that perhaps some of these issues already are snapping at our collective heels. 1) 32-bit Program Support - we have to acknowledge the possibility that at some point in the future, windows support for 32-bit programs will disappear - this means no more Il-2:1946! There are of course ways around these things but this is an important aspect that must be recognised. 2) Player Base - the Il-2 community is dwindling. As people dedicate more time to more modern offerings or move squads wholesale to the next big thing the community around Il-2 contracts. Those still persevering end up in ever smaller and less relevant squads or go offline only. Newer entrants to the genre will generally want the newest, best looking and higher fidelity sims, and whilst some could be brought round to the delights of 1946, they will be a minority. We could perhaps pick up some these and also target the veteran disaffected types whose squads moved on to newer things against their opinion, both of which could boost our attendance in the near term but these cannot but delay the inevitable - that being that Il-2:1946 will eventually become a anachronism of the flight sim genre. If the Dogz stay with it then it is likely our fate will be similar. Pause cos babies making noise. To be continued...
    3 points
  2. One aspect not yet addressed is the sea change in the way we purchase sims: the days where we got 100 airplanes with 10 or so flyables for £35/$50 are gone; the fidelity of 3D modelling alone demanded by the community these days - let alone the FM and DM demands - requires a quantum increase in level of skills and time invested when compared to a similar output for something along il-2 lines. Ergo, we will get less airframes per buck so to speak. This means that the modern trend is to break down game content into individually purchased modules. Whilst this is great in that people only purchase what they want it can cause issues. For example, an aircraft set written into a custom hosted coop mission might contain only flyable airframes that are further purchase modules; a member that has not purchased that or those modules is by default excluded from that event. An extreme case I grant you but when applied to maps - as the trend these days is to make additional map content payware - the issue becomes more of an issue. DCS suffers particularly in this latter regard; I suspect BoX too. CloD doesn't yet but with v5.0 on the horizon it could well enter this category. The way we deal with issues of this nature will require consideration. The infrequent paid upgrades to Il-2 presented similar issues back in the day but with a greater number arriving in shorter intervals the issues could be more profound. The last thing any of us would want to do would be to exclude, alienate or offend our squad mates by using or creating content that they cannot access on a given flight night; but at the same time having to limit the content available for use on the grounds of lowest common denominator is also creating potential for discord. Again care and thought should be given to these aspects of modern flight simming in the multiplayer squad arena.
    2 points
  3. For my 2¢, the reason I stopped flying was that I got tired of the 30+ mins between missions. Once I was dead couldn't respawn in coops. Also I love DCS and it drew me in.. DCS will never be a viable sim for this group because of it's complexity, pc requirements, and everyone won't want to focus on the same aircraft as other A10C, Huey, and other squads have. It just won't work for an old farts squad. ) Long term BOX is the only viable option. If you were flying that I'd be there now. Or if I could find a laid back DCS squad, I'd be there now. But they have too many requirements and even though I love it, I'm old.. Slow to learn.. Good luck figuring this out. I've got my eye on you. Snack Sent from my Moto Z Play using Tapatalk
    1 point
  4. I think the long term future is BoX as it is constantly being improved, coops are coming, you do not need to have all versions to fly on all maps, and carrier ops might be in beta this time next year. Clod TF 5.0 will be great but it is very slow in arriving. DCS seems to be, for me at any rate, a study dogfight sim. Great for modern stuff but limited WW2 possibilities. I know that some of us would prefer not to have to update their computers to fly with us but the cash per hour is quite inexpensive and an upgrade wouldnt hurt HSFX either
    1 point
  5. A personal thought. For me, il2 is still number one. So far.. There is still a lot to explore. Unfortunately, graphics and technology are outdated, which means we may look after a replacement sooner or later, me think. I have wondered if BOS is a worthy follower. Have not tried it yet but as far I have seen, and heard, it looks good. Personally, I like CLOD a lot but it's starting to be a bit boring to fly the same map and mission every time. Hoping for updates in a close future. If that happen, I will stick to Clod for a bit longer. As for DCS, I'm not interested, yet, as it seems more like a flight simulator than a game like IL2. Or BOS. It's no as important for me to press the correct buttons, flip the right switches and be totally devoted to the realistics, like in DCS. I want varied missions, co-ops and maps. I'm for a continuation of IL2. It seems that it may be relevant to look closer a replacement for IL2 in the foreseeable future, though.
    1 point
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