Pat A. Wilson

[6./ZG26_McKvack]

You can use it to generate coop missions too (as long as the mechanism is the same as RoF - haven't test that yet).

Little off-topic here but can the RoF PWCG generate coop missions?

[Bearcat]

Just to give anyone not familiar a better idea of what this program can do here is a quoted post from the thread on this at SHQ from community member Bucksnort who is familiar with PWCG as it applies to RoF:

 

Here is a YouTube tutorial for PWCG done by a player.  It focuses on initializing a new campaign and does a pretty good job of showing you most of the screens within PWCG:

But yes, PWCG runs outside of RoF.  It can be launched from within RoF using the GUI referenced above or can be run as a stand alone application using Alt-Tab.  I really consider PWCG to be a separate game that uses the RoF engine for missions (PWCG is that comprehensive).  Other than flying you will spend almost all of your time within PWCG.  Pat Wilson is a professional Java programmer, but does not work in the gaming industry.  PWCG had humble beginnings, but in his spare time over the past 3 or 4 years Pat has turned PWCG into the best 3rd party application I've ever seen for any game.

Matt Milne (a professional composer with credits including scoring Star Trek TV episodes) has donated music for PWCG.  Here is one of the tracks that you will hear as you move around inside PWCG:

As Don said above, all told, PWCG has the "wow" factor of a complete separate game where you will realize "oh, yeah, I'm using the RoF engine to fly the missions."  Combined with PWCG, RoF becomes one of the best combat flight simulators of all time IMO (or maybe its the other way around)   

[Bando]

It is indeed amazing what Pat Wilson did for ROF.

Now that I read what he himself wrote, I am superthrilled that in november we'll have something that will blow away most, if not all of us.

[D_Konig]

Can. Not. Wait.

[Grancesc]

Without SP-content, and today's BOS has almost nothing to offer in this respect, a title is worthless for the largest group of flight simulation enthusiasts. I do not know, if we ever will have a WWll PWCG as we have it for ROF but the efforts of Pat Wilson could be the salvation of this simulation series for me and many like-minded.

Because these SP-activities are so important for the survival of this genre and of course for my own pleasure I have made a donation in Pat's website. I have some hope now.

[Finkeren]

Also: Since the devs are working closely with pat, please do consider making this awesome piece of software an integral part of the sim or at least make it work together with the sim in a more straightforward way.

 

I understand why you wouldn't do it with RoF, because RoF has its own in-depth career mode, which I personally quite enjoy and play more often than PWCG (mainly out of convenience). But with BoS/BoM the overlap between PWCG and the campaign mode is going to be very small indeed.

 

PWCG would deserve to be as easy to use as an in-game career mode, and currently that just isn't the case.

[J2_Trupobaw]

I'm afraid it woudn;t be simple, Finkeren. PWCG is a separate Java appliation, so it would likely have to be re-written to appear inside BoS, or BoS would have to be re-written to allow nesting Java apps... 

[LLv24_Zami]

Also: Since the devs are working closely with pat, please do consider making this awesome piece of software an integral part of the sim or at least make it work together with the sim in a more straightforward way.

 

I understand why you wouldn't do it with RoF, because RoF has its own in-depth career mode, which I personally quite enjoy and play more often than PWCG (mainly out of convenience). But with BoS/BoM the overlap between PWCG and the campaign mode is going to be very small indeed.

 

PWCG would deserve to be as easy to use as an in-game career mode, and currently that just isn't the case.

+1

 

It would be nothing but a very positive thing to have 2 different integrated campaigns. One so called `quick campaign` for those who like to get flying quickly but still like to have some kind of progress while doing it. With the progress I mean the unlocks and stuff. Then another one more traditional campaign for us who like to get a bit deeper experience. Pat has that covered. 

 

People like choises. But as Trupobaw said above, maybe it is not so easy as we think. Sadly.

[CIA_Yankee_]

People like choises. But as Trupobaw said above, maybe it is not so easy as we think. Sadly.

 

It's not. You can't just mash things together like that, I am confident that BoS uses a completely different platform from PWCG's GUI.

 

It's not going to happen, not without the devs in russia actually allocating significant resources to building the new GUI. So let's appreciate PW's work for what it is: an awesome 3rd party add-on that gives those of us who want an immersive campaign what we need.

 

I for one am very excited.

[LLv24_Zami]

I for one am very excited.

 

Me too. This is like a dream come true, we actually get career mode for BoS. Good times ahead 

Edited September 18, 2015 by Zami

[CIA_Yankee_]

Me too. This is like a dream come true, we actually get career mode for BoS. Good times ahead 

 

It's actually what I thought the devs were hoping would happen too... they didn't want to spent time building a career mode, give how everyone uses PWCG in RoF instead of the career mode they implemented.

 

Looking at it this way, I can see why the devs might think the career mode is a waste of time, and they're better off making something simpler and focusing on the stuff only they can do (engine/Fm/new theatres/whatever), and leave the career stuff to experienced modders.

 

Mind you, personally I'd have hired PW to make an officially licensed 3rd party mod in the first place, but whatever.

[KodiakJac]

Just to give anyone not familiar a better idea of what this program can do here is a quoted post from the thread on this at SHQ from community member Bucksnort who is familiar with PWCG as it applies to RoF:

 

Thanks, Bearcat.

 

Here is another excerpt of information I posted about PWCG for those who may not be familiar with it:

 

For anyone who hasn't tried PWCG but has RoF and is looking for something more, it is a must have.  If you want shorter "instant action" type missions, but with career tracking, then shorten the mission distance in Advanced Config. If you want longer more realistic missions (like me) then increase the mission distance. If you want some "no contact" missions in the mix, never knowing if or when you'll make contact with the enemy, then move the percentage chance of contact to 70 or 80% instead of 100%. If you want to change the skill level mix of the AI pilots you face, then change the random skill level generator percentages. If you aren't happy with something about the missions you are flying PWCG lets you change it. I'm guessing there are over a hundred different mission parameters you can change in Advanced Config. And of course there is a Simple Config for point and click changes that can be made in just a matter of seconds. PWCG is incredibly flexible for both beginners and advanced users.

 

In PWCG for RoF I've had missions where I'm rolling off the field with bullets kicking up dirt all around me and wingmen on fire as I take off during an attack on my field. And I've had missions where I thought I would have no contact while taking out a bridge in an R.E.8 flight, only to be hunted down after a 90 minute flight while I'm trying to set down on my field. I've flown 3 hour Gotha missions into England, sometimes not intercepted, sometimes intercepted over England, and sometimes hunted down on the way home over the channel from squadrons patrolling out of Dunkirk (you can use time acceleration to turn them into 2 hour, 1 hour, or 20 minute missions).

 

Or fly Handley Page bombers on night raids into German territory only to be intercepted by Albatros night fighters from Kest squadrons coming in at you out of the dark. Or fly for a British Home Defense squadron or a German Kest at night trying to find the Gothas or Handley Page bombers in the night sky. When the big bombers reach a major target and the search lights come on its an incredible light show (whether you're in a bomber or in a fighter hunting them). The stuff that can happen in a PWCG mission pretty much blows my mind when I really think about it. Its absolutely white knuckle. If you haven't used PWCG with RoF, you really haven't played RoF as a single player. PWCG showcases features you didn't even know existed in RoF. Oh, and you can also fly in the role of a traditional hotshot fighter pilot.

 

Edit 1: Another important feature in PWCG is the ability to set the density of ground and air units to tune the mission size to the abilities of your computer.

 

Edit 2: PWCG uses an internal system generated "dice roll" for probability percentages. For instance, when you adjust the skill level of AI pilots to say: 25% Ace, 50% Veteran, 25% Rookie that means that overall you will face 25% Aces on the average of say 100 missions. It doesn't mean that on every mission you will face 25% Aces. You could run into a squad of rookies, but on the same mission you may run into a squad with a couple of aces and two veterans. So you can control the overall big picture, but on any given mission, or any given encounter within a mission you won't know for sure who you're up against. Of course, you can skew the percentages to 0% Aces and 0% Veterans if you only want to fly against Rookies. But any reasonable spread of percentages makes things fairly unpredictable but with a slant towards the percentages you have specified.

 

 

 

 

[CIA_Yankee_]

I want.

[VBF-12_Stele]

Great news! The multiplayer coop option could be great for squad activity. Been waiting for something like this.

[DD_Arthur]

 The multiplayer coop option could be great for squad activity. 

 

 

It would be if BoS supports a coop mode.  RoF has one.  I've flown coops in RoF generated from PWCG using this utility;

 

http://riseofflight.com/forum/topic/34682-rof-single-player-coop-converter-pwcg-compatible/?hl=%2Bcoop+%2Bconverter&do=findComment&comment=508351

[dburne]

This is excellent news. As a SP only guy who has not flown BOS since the release of the campaign system it currently has, the release of a PWCG for BOS would bring me back to flying it once again. I love PWCG in ROF.

It is definitely a game changer for me.

[Tyberan]

I was late to the PWCG party in ROF but it was friggin awesome cant wait to see it in BoS

[Trooper117]

At last, some headway... thanks Pat.

[Dakpilot]

Thanks Jason for making this a reality

 

and thanks Pat for your great program and tireless support

 

Cheers Dakpilot

[Dfwtd]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[Letka_13/Arrow_]

The best news, simply astonishing - I cannot wait for this!  PWCG for BOS will surely bring a lot of new life into the sim salute to Pat!     

[Bearcat]

Maybe I am just naive but I had no doubt that this or something like it would be available eventually..

[Finkeren]

Maybe I am just naive but I had no doubt that this or something like it would be available eventually..

 

I don't think many people doubted that. It was a question of how soon and what the qualities of the program would be. While we still have no definate answers to those questions, we at least now have a general idea. The name Pat Wilson itself is a promise of certain standards of detail, depth and historicity, and the very fact that the main people involved are now talking openly about it means, that it's not that far into the future (we're talking months, not years).

[LLv24_Zami]

Guys, in case you haven`t noticed now there is official thread for PWCG under the 3rd party apps:

 

http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/18343-where-we-will-discuss-pwcg-bos/

 

Pat has written couple of progress reports already there.