Congratulations on the release and a plea for sanity

[AndyHill]

First of all, congratulations on the release to everyone involved in the project. A few years back I was very happy to hear about the reasonable and realistic idea to release a compact game quickly and expand upon it - and it seems everything has pretty much worked out so far. Many potentially interesting projects have failed or are being held back by starting off too ambitious and reaching for the stars as the first step, but I like how the 1c/777 people have expressed their intent to first create a base and build upon it along the way.

 

I've played and studied games for a long time, so I also massively appreciate what 1c/777/You are doing with the game even though some of it is controversial. I haven't been able to play much so this post is not about the campaign - that does seem to have some controversial issues. In general, however, it is incredibly good to have actual game design in a simulator. Game design does not mean dumbing down stuff that should be hard core, it's more about bringing life and meaningfulness to something that otherwise threatens to be bland and boring. From what I've seen the campaign as it is now might be a bit basic, but considering how it has been said to be a starting point (and I've heard there are potentially interesting developments regarding third parties going on as with Rise of Flight and Pat Wilson?) I can see a lot of potential there. Anyway, it's brilliant to know that You are actually devoted to developing an immersive environment for the action.

 

As for unlocks and other controversial issues, I don't know yet. I can see what the idea behind them is, but I'm not sure they will work very well in this genre or if the implementation is good enough, but I'll have to get back to the subject later when I have more experience on it.

 

Then to the slightly less happy-happy stuff. First of all, the first part of the plea for sanity concerns everyone who participates in the discussions on this forum. Let's keep things civil. However, there are also a few very unpleasant things about the game I have to mention now that it's released.

 

1) Let's start easy, with some simple stuff. First of all, rename the "Cinematic mode" in camera settings "motion blur" and set it to off as default. Also, when people first start the campaign let them know clearly that they are in a tutorial and they can pick sides after a few quick missions.

 

On to the heavy duty stuff.

 

2)* Unlike single missions (and multiplayer?) the campaign has two locked skill settings, everything goes -arcade and total max hardcore. Due to differences in hardware and personal preferences people have a wide range of ideas on how they want to fly their simulators. You could argue forever about what is realistic and what's not, but that's precisely the reason you have to let the players choose exactly how they want to play! You absolutely do not want to be in a position where you dictate the "right answers" to a question that has none! Just to mention one thing; apparently non-automatic start procedure is not even separately selectable anywhere, only appearing when you choose the maximum level preset. I can guarantee you that this choice of seriously limiting people's ability to tailor the experience to their liking is going to hurt you in the form of bad press and reputation. If you are interested in raising review averages wherever they might appear this has to be the easiest points scored in the history of flight simulation. 

 

3) Another feature with high levels of user-unfriendliness is the locked graphics setup. Especially in a flight simulator it's unforgivable to lock the settings, since people playing them have such a wide variety of hardware from laptops to full surround cockpits and other crazy stuff. For example, 4k screens will have vastly different requirements from the now common 1080p and I'm sure flight simmers will be the early adopters of 4k (and Oculus and X and Y...) tech and your few presets will serve them poorly. Not only that, but people also have greatly varying preferences as to what looks good and what kind of performance is acceptable. I have heard that the motivation to locking the settings is to make it easier for the customer service department, which I don't actually believe will happen. However, that does not really matter, the important thing is that I as a customer (I'm one of those worst hit by this feature so I don't know if I'm speaking for many or not) am asking for the standard minimum level of service provided by every single simulator title I can remember since about two decades or so. If that makes it more difficult for customer service, you simply need to get your act together and provide the service just like everyone else, nothing more, nothing less.

 

Together these two issues will generate a lot of bad will, bad press and perhaps most importantly, bad word of mouth. BoS is already getting a reputation for "insulting people's intelligence" and being "dumbed down", the two aforementioned easily fixed issues are a major contributor to this. Please, for the sake of everyone who wants to see BoS become a huge success,

 

let people play the game the way they want to and maximize their enjoyment in the way only they know how.

 

4) The mission / campaign / skin etc. editor and multiplayer server software need to arrive rather soon. In addition to contributing to the bad will mentioned above, these are vital features for longevity - and credibility - of any flight simulator. Perhaps actually, since as mentioned earlier (and unless I'm mistaken) we are talking about progressing development step by step, building a foundation first etc., the important thing might be to 

 

communicate your plans openly and also to the English speaking community,

 

which is probably the vast majority of your client base. I'm actually convinced that you do have good plans and ideas about how to progress things and provide the community with everything they need. The development plans have been reasonable so far and it has been good to follow the progress via developer notes etc. Now that the all important first impression (everyone probably remembers the disaster that was the iCoD release) is being generated you really, really need to demonstrate your willingness to listen and further develop the game in the future. After all, you already have the absolutely perfect example of a humble beginning that grew into something really nice during the years of Rise of Flight development. Oh, BTW, don't forget that Rise of Flight needs some love and reassuring as well, you don't want its fans thinking they're forgotten.

 

 

I wrote all the above as someone who has followed and in some humble ways even participated in the gaming industry during the last couple of decades and who wants to see BoS become a fantastic artistic and financial success. The thing with criticism is that it can sound harsh, but rest assured it was not the intention - even though I do think you have done some simple, but serious mistakes after getting some very difficult things just right. I'm not yet in a position to talk about the campaign, unlocks and other complex gameplay decisions, but luckily everything I've outlined in this message is easy to fix. This is why I went with the somewhat aggressive sanity thing in the thread name - the way I see it is that you did a lot of really hard things really right, but made infuriatingly simple errors in the design. In any case, I wish you guys success, I hope you get the reward you deserve for all the hard work.

 

 

* If this is a design issue, here's an easy fix: Let people choose between the two levels so that at expert level everything except perhaps "warmed up engine" is locked and at normal level almost everything is selectable so that the user can turn off all the assists he doesn't want. XP accumulates exactly as it does now. There are better designs (if you are interested I can of course elaborate further), but this is how you could fix it in a matter of minutes. 

Edited October 23, 2014 by AndyHill

[Dakpilot]

 

 

 

* If this is a design issue, here's an easy fix: Let people choose between the two levels so that at expert level everything except perhaps "warmed up engine" is locked and at normal level almost everything is selectable so that the user can turn off all the assists he doesn't want. XP accumulates exactly as it does now. There are better designs (if you are interested I can of course elaborate further), but this is how you could fix it in a matter of minutes. 

 

That almost already exists, it has not however been communicated properly, personally for a full release the lack of manual or at least a properly formatted page on the forum is a big mistake IMHO, though it is human nature to not bother with reading the manual initially, if trying to help anyone it becomes easier when you can simply say "read chapter 2.5 for explanation to your issue"

 

Cheers Dakpilot

[Gustaf]

Concur with Andy & Dak! No user manual for a released product is no “little” thing... specially for a $100 entry fee. It goes without mentioning, it's a royal pain being forced to search the web for the most basic information... like CLOD. Hardly a way to attract new blood,

 

 

I've been pushing BOS to my squadron mates for months. But these continuing examples of mixing brilliance with stupidity - like drinking milk with grapefruit juice - are nauseating. I'll keep riding it out - no choice - but I won't be promoting BOS anymore 'till my stomach clears.

Edited October 24, 2014 by gustaf

[pilotpierre]

Watch Requiems videos and other helpful data others have submitted.

[Dakpilot]

Watch Requiems videos and other helpful data others have submitted.

 

Don't get me wrong, there is great info out there, and not too hard to find, but if this is the success that is hoped for a manual is needed, for those new people to be pointed at, all combined into one document/page/thread

 

Cheers Dakpilot

[AndyHill]

That almost already exists, it has not however been communicated properly, personally for a full release the lack of manual or at least a properly formatted page on the forum is a big mistake IMHO, though it is human nature to not bother with reading the manual initially, if trying to help anyone it becomes easier when you can simply say "read chapter 2.5 for explanation to your issue"

 

Cheers Dakpilot

Can you elaborate a bit more, how can I adjust the difficulty settings in the campaign? Or is there going to be a patch or something soonish?

[gabuzomeu]

Re difficulty: many of the simplifications can be deactivated through keypress. For example, radiator automation, mixture, rpm limitation, etc... And as well icons, hud etc...

If you assign the SAME key (ctl-A for me) to each simplification you want to deactivate, you get what you want in one keypress beginning of mission ( and keep eg external views, etc...)

[AndyHill]

Thanks, that's probably a useful tip for many. Not really a replacement for properly selectable difficulty options, though.

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 Well written AndyHill. I hope the devs take note. Reviews will not be flattering if the 2 most discussed "features" will stay as they are now. And for me personally especially the graphical settings have been sucha let down that I do not even want to start BoS just to see that abomination of graphics we currently have, and being force fed down our throats.

[Brano]

Few thoughts about successful business model.

 

1.VOICE OF CUSTOMER
 

-This is essential point to have profitable business running.Listen to what your customers Want.Avoid responses like "We

made the product how WE want it to look" You are not creating product for yourselves.You are creating it with purpose to

sell it to wide pool of customers.
-Do not alienate your core customer pool.Those are your free of charge advocates and PR managers.People who regularly visit

this official forum,people running their own dservers,are organized in long established virtual squads,running their own

websites.Those are your hubs where flightsim folks flock together,discuss and spread the word.It is not steam forum or metacritics site.

Real life parralel: It is like car manufacturer telling you "I will sell you this car,but only in black color because we like black here in our company"
Result: Customer will walk away

 

2.CUSTOMISATION
- Offer your customers freedom of choice.Put standard as basis and add customizing packages as payed addons.There is

certain percentage of customers,who are OK with standard version.And there are those,who wants more.

Real life paralell: every car manufacturer offers wide range of models,from basic simple ones to highly customizable

models.Am I OK with basis version just to get from A to B?I will buy such.Do I want leather interior with blasting sound

system and electronics everywhere?I will buy such.

- Distribute several versions of game and most importantly this: Startup version
For those either unfamiliar with product or those hasitating.Do not give them 2 planes like LaGG3 and Bf109F.Those who

prefer soviet side will feel cheated to get underdog and those prefering LW will win a plane that rules the virtual

skies.They will not be tempted to extend from this version.

- Solution: Give everyone IL2 sturmovik as startup plane.It is in your title BTW.This will not give people any

grievance,they could learn basics of flight model in the sim (as this plane is easy with rookies) and will give them also

great deal of fun pounding and blowing things down there.When they will have enough,they can decide if they like what they

see and are willing to spend more to get more of such stuff,or they will just walk away realising this is not the product

they would enjoy.With little money invested to hurt bad.

Then comes standard,premium or collectors edition with other goodies like paper printed map,manual,T-Shirt,badge for car

keys,whatever.You would be surprised how many people would buy such things.

 

3.OUTSOURCING
 

- do not do everything yourself.Outsource less important or easier to make subcomponents of your product.Keep the

core.There are so many talented modelers,programmers,skinners,missionbuilders out there.Sell licenses,distribute SDK.

Real life example: Do you really believe that car manufacturer build their cars from scratch inhouse?No.They keep core

technology and outsource/subcontract everything else to hundreds of subcontractors.They would never handle such enterprise

inhouse.

 

My 2 cents