Just thinking out loud

[=BKHZ=Furbs]

With DCS going down the full switch hardcore route and BOS not as much, one way to score in other areas well is through immersion, from what ive seen so far BOS does seem to doing well, though we have not seen the other key areas for immersion yet.

 

just me thinking out loud this morning...

 

GUI

I would try and get a period feel with background pics, video and some history on the battle, briefing screens, arming screens(maybe in 3D?) and career screens should have life to them(a bit like the screen in EAW) and not feel dry and disconnected from the user like say IL2 or CLOD, it should try and keep the immersion from when you fire up the game until you fire up the engine and the same after landing with debriefing screens.

 

Background on the aircraft your flying with period pictures and a bit the history behind them, maybe some info on famous pilots who flew them. be able to view them in full screen 3D, maybe sitting on the airfield or a hanger.

 

 

 

Career

 

You need to be connected and feel like you not just taking part in the battle, but taking part in history, for your country and your life, not just a series of single missions.

You need to care for your pilot, want to protect him and his fellow pilots in the squadron, get him through the battle while doing the best you can against the enemy.

 

 

All this depends on time and money before the release i know, its just something i was thinking about before work on a Monday morning...

Edited September 3, 2013 by Furbs

[=FI=Macca]

I agree wholeheartedly. Back in the beginning of 1990s there was an arcade game called Wings. As the player progressed in the campaign next pages of the pilots alter ego's journal were revealed, plus before each mission start the were some thoughts of the pilot shown on the screen with the music drum the era. Very immersive. Also, when the pilot got killed he had s funeral. Targets die coving missions were shown on a map and encircled with red pencil or do. Arcade game but in this aspect very nicely done. It would be something awesome to have something like that in BOS.

Edited September 3, 2013 by =FI=Macca

[=BKHZ=Furbs]

A journal, log book where if you want you can make notes would be great.

 

Another feature ive never seen, being able to make notes on the replay screen and have a debrefing screen after the replay on kills, % of hits, that sort of thing.

 

Or being able to link replays or gun cams to the pilot career, maybe in the debriefing screen next to the kills(if gun cam was on for the kill).

 

Being able to see the kills or near misses while still connected to the career then saved to the journal and logbook would be a great feature i think and something ive never seen in any other sim.

 

Guncam

 

We have all seen guncam footage, what i would love to see is this built in to the replay system, where you can view the replay through a guncam style camera and be able to save these short parts of the replay to other parts of the sim and be able to share with others.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Furbs

[6./ZG26_Emil]

A journal, log book where if you want you can make notes would be great.

 

Another feature ive never seen, being able to make notes on the replay screen and have a debrefing screen after the replay on kills, % of hits, that sort of thing.

 

Or being able to link replays or gun cams to the pilot career, maybe in the debriefing screen next to the kills(if gun cam was on for the kill).

 

Being able to see the kills or near misses while still connected to the career then saved to the journal and logbook would be a great feature i think and something ive never seen.

 

Nice ideas there, it would be nice to have built up a long career especially if it was DID and be able to go back to review the best moments.

 

Love the idea of the log book.

[Mac_Messer]

With DCS going down the full switch hardcore route and BOS not as much, one way to score in other areas well is through immersion, from what ive seen so far BOS does seem to doing well, though we have not seen the other key areas for immersion yet.

 

just me thinking out loud this morning...

 

GUI

I would try and get a period feel with background pics, video and some history on the battle, briefing screens, arming screens(maybe in 3D?) and career screens should have life to them(a bit like the screen in EAW) and not feel dry and disconnected from the user like say IL2 or CLOD, it should try and keep the immersion from when you fire up the game until you fire up the engine and the same after landing with debriefing screens.

 

Background on the aircraft your flying with period pictures and a bit the history behind them, maybe some info on famous pilots who flew them. be able to view them in full screen 3D, maybe sitting on the airfield or a hanger.

 

 

 

Career

 

You need to be connected and feel like you not just taking part in the battle, but taking part in history, for your country and your life, not just a series of single missions.

You need to care for your pilot, want to protect him and his fellow pilots in the squadron, get him through the battle while doing the best you can against the enemy.

 

 

All this depends on time and money before the release i know, its just something i was thinking about before work on a Monday morning...

For the single play more than anything I`d think it would be very enriching. Games like Wings, B-17 Flying Fortress and Gunship 2000 I played because i felt connected with the world created around the gameplay. Surely I`d play sp in BoS if it had some of those features.

 

The GUI thing is a great idea. Seen in other games multiple times. What I found is that showing different backgrounds instead of just coldhearted tables makes a big difference. For example, instead of just a screen with a map there could be a picture from first perspective showing where you as one of the pilot sit during the briefing with the noting book on your knee - there you`d have all the info plus detail, while the basic, bigger map would be higher up in front of you with the base commander pointing at the route. Only the notebook would be interactive.

 

Plus, on the different screens there could be backgrounds showing normal pilot belongings, places he frequents like the living quarters, his own locker, his buddy mechanic fixing the plane, even the empty bed of you friend who did not return from last sortie. None of this needs to be interactive, just backgrounds.

 

In Career Menu there could be basic stats, more important, your flight who is who, every pilot has a picture and most basic stats, who flies with you in briefing and who ended how in debriefing. Maybe the player could do a painting of some sort on his aircraft Guncam section I`d like very much + standard black/white editing and camera shake. That kind of stuff.

 

Finally, taking part in sorties along historical friends/foes would add to the impression of actually being there.

[HeavyCavalrySgt]

 

Guncam

 

We have all seen guncam footage, what i would love to see is this built in to the replay system, where you can view the replay through a guncam style camera and be able to save these short parts of the replay to other parts of the sim and be able to share with others.

 

I like this idea a lot - it might be fun to share video of brilliant kills this way, or see how you were killed if you could see the reciprocal video. 

 

Watching those gun camera videos, I am surprised how much ammo was spent on making sure of a kill, firing at airplanes on fire or that had just had a major explosion on board.

 

I like the logbook idea, provided that those can be preserved from past careers.  One of my complaints about ROF is the limited number of career slots, so you can't preserve the history of past careers for long.

[Skoshi_Tiger]

One of the things I thought was very cool in B17-II (The mighty 8th) was the debrief after the mission where you could see the black and white film of your bombing run and your mission was rated against the objectives.

[Vig]

I actually did keep a written log in a steno pad for my career missions while playing Red Baron II. I also included things like letters home to parents and sweethearts, trying to flesh out the pilot and make the character real to me. I did well enough that it was sometimes actually traumatic to lose that pilot! I have not kept such logs since because none of the career modes in subsequent games grabbed me like the one in RBII did.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Vig

[HeavyCavalrySgt]

One of the things I thought was very cool in B17-II (The mighty 8th) was the debrief after the mission where you could see the black and white film of your bombing run and your mission was rated against the objectives.

 

That game did an excellent job of immersion.  The intro dialog was great as well.

 

I remember getting so annoyed at the not-clearly-labelled fuel transfer valves and pumping all my gas into the damaged fuel tank instead of taking it out!  

 

Great, great game though.  It was really satisfying to see a nice bomb run come together and your port facility target reduced to a smoking ruin. 

 

I just saw my copy of The Mighty Eighth sitting here yesterday and wondered if it would still run right.  I would LOVE to see someone remake that game into B-17 III.

[BFsSmurfy]

I tried my copy on Win7 and it wouldn`t load, I remember sitting there confused as to why I couldn`t start the B17 for over half an hour when I bought it, I hadn`t moved back inside the fuselage and turned the fuel stop cock to open!!!. Great game at the time, my favourite was Janes WW2 fighters

[Allons]

 my favourite was Janes WW2 fighters

 

Yep, my very 1st online squad experience with (then) JG26.. still have the voice of the games explanations in the museum in my ears..

[Rjel]

I actually did keep a written log in a steno pad for my career missions while playing Red Baron II. I also included things like letters home to parents and sweethearts, trying to flesh out the pilot and make the character real to me. I did well enough that it was sometimes actually traumatic to lose that pilot! I have not kept such logs since because none of the career modes in subsequent games grabbed me like the one in RBII did.

 

I really like some of these ideas along with several others posted here. Even if they can't be incorporated into the sim at this time, maybe we could have a dedicated section like I've seen on a couple of other sim sites for after action reports, diaries or a simple There I Was... like I used to read.

 

Another thing in line with the gun cam idea, I've had several games in the past that incorporated video to highlight campaign events. The only drawback was obviously only so much could be included with the game at release. But BoS hooking up to a server even for offline play, the amount of WWII film available that could be used is almost endless likely guaranteeing clips at least a few of us haven't seen yet. Maybe it could be played during mission load times or to show how our mission affected the overall war in some fashion.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Rjel

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

I liked how EAW did it. Just add some extras and we have a winner

[=BKHZ=Furbs]

Yer the EAW GUI was great, very atmospheric but simple, much better than dry menus.

 

I remember a very long time ago playing a Lynx helicopter sim, the arming screen had a top down view of the Lynx and you would drag and drop the different weapons on the hard points, very cool for a sim back then.

Edited September 4, 2013 by Furbs

[II./JG27_Rich]

All sounds great 

[FlatSpinMan]

These are all great ideas and, as mentioned, would help delineate BoS from the new competition. Just think, two brand new WW2 sims!

[1./KG4_Blackwolf]

A journal, log book where if you want you can make notes would be great.

 

Another feature ive never seen, being able to make notes on the replay screen and have a debrefing screen after the replay on kills, % of hits, that sort of thing.

 

Or being able to link replays or gun cams to the pilot career, maybe in the debriefing screen next to the kills(if gun cam was on for the kill).

 

Being able to see the kills or near misses while still connected to the career then saved to the journal and logbook would be a great feature i think and something ive never seen in any other sim.

 

Guncam

 

We have all seen guncam footage, what i would love to see is this built in to the replay system, where you can view the replay through a guncam style camera and be able to save these short parts of the replay to other parts of the sim and be able to share with others.

Guncam...That was one mod I begged for from any modder that would listen to me to have in 1946...oh that would have been so cool to to fly your mission on line or off and be able to go back and see a track of what you shot after you landed or were shot down. and like the real cams only record when you pulled the trigger. That would be so cool in BOS.

[=69.GIAP=YSTREB]

With DCS going down the full switch hardcore route and BOS not as much, one way to score in other areas well is through immersion, from what ive seen so far BOS does seem to doing well, though we have not seen the other key areas for immersion yet.

 

just me thinking out loud this morning...

 

GUI

I would try and get a period feel with background pics, video and some history on the battle, briefing screens, arming screens(maybe in 3D?) and career screens should have life to them(a bit like the screen in EAW) and not feel dry and disconnected from the user like say IL2 or CLOD, it should try and keep the immersion from when you fire up the game until you fire up the engine and the same after landing with debriefing screens.

 

Background on the aircraft your flying with period pictures and a bit the history behind them, maybe some info on famous pilots who flew them. be able to view them in full screen 3D, maybe sitting on the airfield or a hanger.

 

 

 

Career

 

You need to be connected and feel like you not just taking part in the battle, but taking part in history, for your country and your life, not just a series of single missions.

You need to care for your pilot, want to protect him and his fellow pilots in the squadron, get him through the battle while doing the best you can against the enemy.

 

 

All this depends on time and money before the release i know, its just something i was thinking about before work on a Monday morning...

 

totally agreed and 3D cool with binaural sounds great but oculus it is more great

 

don't forget the real deal is about fighting, dogfighting  

Edited September 5, 2013 by =69.GIAP=Yastreb

[TJT]

I liked EAW's menues too (And I find RoF's much more immersive then IL-2 due to its similaritys to the old classic Wings) but one of my personal favourits is http://www.old-games.com/download/4361/operation-overlord

 

The 3d view of the airbase were diffrent buildings represented diffrent menu choices, like pilots mess, hangar etc.This could be done in a generic Eastern Front suitable style after the same concept.