What's next for IC Studios?

[onlyforbrian]

It seems BoB will soon be completed once the P51, P38 etc, are released. So I'm wondering what's next for IC Studios? Of course many of us are hoping for more collector planes such as the Hawker Hurricane. But what's the future in the big picture for IC Studios? It's a fact that companies always have to grow and expand, so what can we expect? I, for one, would love to see IC Studios expand into the  Pacific Theater with "Battle of the Pacific" where we'll see F4U Corsairs, F2A Buffalos, F3Fs,  F4Fs,  F6Fs, SBD Dauntless, TBF Avenger, A6M Zeros, Ki61s, G4M Betty...etc etc... fingers crossed. Anything on the planning board?

[Screamer]

It i'll probably be a toss up between Normandy and a pacific scenario (just Midway or Coral Sea would be a bit limited. But with a Guadalcanal campaign. It would have plenty of meat)

[onlyforbrian]

Just now, Screamer said:

It i'll probably be a toss up between Normandy and a pacific scenario (just Midway or Coral Sea would be a bit limited. But with a Guadalcanal campaign. It would have plenty of meat)

 I agree, I'd really look forward to these planes in VR.

[354thFG_Leifr]

I would happily see a smaller Normandy module released if it meant that the team had more time to collect information for the Pacific. Since it was mentioned by 1C, it's all I've wanted from them.

[Feathered_IV]

Some extra housekeeping would be good. More refinements to the AI.  Improved smoke and effects durations.  More mission types etc.  I’d happily buy it all as premium content. 

[1PL-Husar-1Esk]

Korea or some obscure Spanish Revolution.

[Herne]

for now I think all the 1c team have their hands full on BoBp. When any of them have time to start twiddling thumbs, I reckon that will be the time for them to start thinking about where they go next.

Lots of great options for sure.

[40plus]

Honestly, based on the not so quiet din of users on these forums, they really do need to try and tackle the Pacific soon. It's not a theater I'm personally interested in but it is a big deal for a large part of the community who, from what I've read, feel that they have been led along for far too long.

 

 

for me, I'd much rather see an engine update to improve object density and allow heavy bombers.

Edited July 3, 2019 by pfrances

[onlyforbrian]

9 minutes ago, Feathered_IV said:

Some extra housekeeping would be good. More refinements to the AI.  Improved smoke and effects durations.  More mission types etc.  I’d happily buy it all as premium content. 

I don't know about anyone else, but when playing single player Quick Missions, it seems to me the enemy AI spends more time running away than fighting.

[Thad]

Salutations speculators.

 

The team will have their hands full for some time correcting many of the complaints we players will have with BoBp. ?

 

There were many major battles that could be represented going towards Berlin from the east. Perhaps the Normandy invasion. Battle Of The Bulge is a well known and documented scenario. There are  so many options.  

[dun_aenghus]

I'd be happy to see a Battle Of Berlin/Seelow Heights scenario before moving on to the Pacific. Is the Battle of the Bulge not going to be represented on the Bodenplatte map?

[BlackSix]

6 minutes ago, dun_aenghus said:

Is the Battle of the Bulge not going to be represented on the Bodenplatte map?

Operation Market Garden (September 17 – 26, 1944)
Battle of Aachen (October 2 – 21, 1944)
Battle of the Scheldt (October 2 – November 8, 1944)
Operation Queen (November 16 – December 15, 1944)
Operation Watch on the Rhine (December 16 – 25, 1944)
Allied Counter-Offensive (December 26, 1944 – January 25, 1945)
Operation Bodenplatte (January 1, 1945)
Operation Veritable (February 8 – March 10, 1945)
Operation Clarion (February 22 – 23, 1945)
Operation Grenade (February 23 – March 10, 1945)
Operation Plunder (March 23 – 28, 1945)

 

The whole timeframe will be divided into 5 chapters:

Chapter 1: Fighting in Holland (September 17 – October 1, 1944)
Chapter 2: Autumn Offensive (October 2 – December 15, 1944)
Chapter 3: Battle of the Bulge (December 16 – 25, 1944)
Chapter 4: Allied Counter-Offensive (December 26, 1944 – February 7, 1945)
Chapter 5: Battle of the Rhine (February 8 – March 28, 1945) 

[Pict]

Other than updating / expanding on what has already been produced, which should be a priority, it's interesting to speculate on what might be over the horizon.

 

I'll pitch the AVG "Flying Tigers" onto the table as an add-on with reasonable potential.

 

No need to do carriers or capital ships, but still starts the Pacific off early on. Bound to appeal to many as all US services were involved, China, the RAF and lest we forget the Japanese.

[356thFS_Melonfish]

Mud movers, I love that there are some medium bombers in there but honestly i'd love to see planes with turrets and 4 engines.

i'm hopeful the b25 will be flyable, i realise there's an absolute tonne of work involved in getting it just to AI status but honestly it would be amazing to get it in a flyable state with working mannable turrets.

it'd open the doors for some utterly lovely aircraft.

 

[onlyforbrian]

13 minutes ago, Melonfish said:

Mud movers, I love that there are some medium bombers in there but honestly i'd love to see planes with turrets and 4 engines.

i'm hopeful the b25 will be flyable, i realise there's an absolute tonne of work involved in getting it just to AI status but honestly it would be amazing to get it in a flyable state with working mannable turrets.

it'd open the doors for some utterly lovely aircraft.

 

They just mentioned in the latest blog that they are working on the P51, P38, Tempest, and B25 Mitchell, so by that, I'm assuming the B25 will be flyable.

[356thFS_Melonfish]

Just now, onlyforbrian said:

They just mentioned in the latest blog that they are working on the P51, P38, Tempest, and B25 Mitchell, so by that, I'm assuming the B25 will be flyable.

They hope to get the B25 flyable one day, but it'll be AI only for BOBP according to previous blogs.

i'm just very hopeful they can dedicate the time and money required to let us fly her.

 

[=621=Samikatz]

Flying Circus Vol.2 hopefully

 

Otherwise the only things I've seen the devs mention are Midway/The Pacific in general, and at least one of the devs mentioned doing Korea

[6./ZG26_Custard]

 I think it will be Korea. We will have P-51 we have the Spit we also have Shermans and T-34's and recently released Jet tech. I think it would be a great theater with some interesting aircraft and scenarios  (MASH maybe?) 

 

I'd still prefer Burma though

 

[E4GLEyE]

Dream: PTO or a european module based on B17 B24 and Lancaster bombing

 

Reality (most likely): Korea

Edited July 3, 2019 by E4GLEyE

[Herne]

Both the PTO and Korea appeal because they have interesting new plane sets for both sides. I'm not against more variants of 109's or 190's, but it would be nice if we could have a break from them for a dev cycle or two

[=621=Samikatz]

Korea might be a nice place to demo some carrier operations, too, before tackling the Pacific proper

[=GW=seaflanker819]

I dont want korean and I really really need PTO, as I have hope it come true for so long!!!!

[SCG_Faerber]

anything from 1914 to 1945. Keep post-war to DCS.

[InProgress]

Maybe they will do Karelia, since some modders are making the map. It would be much cheaper and i guess faster. They would build career for it and add planes.

[Lusekofte]

1 hour ago, Feathered_IV said:

Some extra housekeeping would be good. More refinements to the AI.  Improved smoke and effects durations.  More mission types etc.  I’d happily buy it all as premium content. 

I want this more than PTO. 

And I want PTO very much. 

Let me add , I miss artillery spotting and more capabilities for the transportplanes. 

And improved more complex engine parameters. 

[Bullets]

1 hour ago, Feathered_IV said:

Some extra housekeeping would be good. More refinements to the AI.  Improved smoke and effects durations.  More mission types etc.  I’d happily buy it all as premium content. 

 

Honestly this is a stellar idea, there are so many little things that need cleaning up but would take a lot of time or resources. I wouldn't even mind if we had to throw a few £££ in to fund it.  IL2 great battles : House keeping edition.

[Sgt_Joch]

Korea would be my choice.

[69TD_Hajo_Garlic]

I'd like a late war eastern scenario to complete that side of things. Could give them time to house keep and I'd be down for anything after

[FTC_ChilliBalls]

Gotta say that I‘d prefer smaller one nation modules from now on, we have enough diversity on the German side to branch out a bit more. Late war Russians, Italians (G55, MC 205, etc.).

 

Also, engine and AI work. That should be a priority.

[Flashy]

1 hour ago, pfrances said:

 

for me, I'd much rather see an engine update to improve object density and allow heavy bombers.

 

This. We have been sitting with a ridiculously low object density limit for 10 years now since the first days of RoF, and it heavily restricts what we can do in both games. I understand that they need to make more content to pay the bills every month, but fixing this problem with the engine needs to be moved up to higher priority. I dont know about other mission makers, but I literally spend 90-95% of my time when making missions not on doing research, or designing the mission, or placing objects, but rather on trying to design ways to only spawn objects when there are players near, and hide them when they leave the area. Or on logic to try and "figure out" how many AI have been spawned and prevent others from spawning until those have despawned.  This has a massive cost in time spent trying to implement and then test these systems and the results are still usually not that convincing. I hate to think how many tens of thousands of man hours have been wasted by members of the communities in both RoF and BoX in designing and testing similar systems to try keep the active AI limit below 50 (some server operators on the forums have mentioned numbers as low as 30!) for MP missions. This needs to be sorted out ASAP IMO, even if it means redesigning the way AI objects work from the ground up..

[II/JG11_ATLAN_VR]

i would like pacific mostly

second b17 and b24 reichsverteidigung,but devs say not possible,

but not Korea, better Vietnam then

 

Edited July 3, 2019 by II/JG11ATLAN

[Pict]

4 minutes ago, anonymouse said:

About time we get a proper Korean War sim.

 

Off the top of my head that would have to include;

 

carrier ops USN, RN & RAN, helo's, Bell bubble, Dragonfly and early Sikorsky, Yak-9, La-9, Il-10, B-29, F9F Panther, F-80 Shooting Star, F-84 Thunderjet, Meteor, F-86 Sabre, F-51 Mustang, F4u Corsair and the Sea Fury...oh yeah, lets not forget the MiG-15 for the alley

 

Otherwise it would be less than proper. 

 

What I've just listed includes 13 aircraft, apart from the helo's, which makes it doable if we consider that BOK ran with 13 aircraft irc, (all off the top of the head here) But there is still the carrier factor and the 4 engined bomber factor to consider, again apart from the helo's.

 

It would be really something if really done right.

[Alexmarine]

Problem with Korea is that either you depict the start of the war or you have 20+ planes on blue and only the MiG-15 on red...

[BlitzPig_EL]

While I really hope for the Pacific or CBI, Finland would be cool as well.

I'd love to fly the Brewster and the Hawk 75 in this game engine.

[Lusekofte]

To be absolutely clear. By PTO I mean  1942 stock. If it went directly to okinava I am going to carry out all flightsimgear an pc and make a ceremonial fire with it

Edited July 3, 2019 by LuseKofte

[[DBS]Browning]

2 hours ago, Screamer said:

It i'll probably be a toss up between Normandy and a pacific scenario (just Midway or Coral Sea would be a bit limited. But with a Guadalcanal campaign. It would have plenty of meat)

 

I doub't it can be Normandy.

The way IL2 sells DLC means that there is a disincentive to release a pack that in in a similar theatre than previous releases, but further back in time.

Or to put it another way: fewer people will buy a FW190 A6 if they already have (or coulad alternatively buy) the FW190 A8.

 

The incentive is to release later war planes or a diffrent theatre entirely.

[sevenless]

31 minutes ago, Flashy said:

 

This. We have been sitting with a ridiculously low object density limit for 10 years now since the first days of RoF, and it heavily restricts what we can do in both games. I understand that they need to make more content to pay the bills every month, but fixing this problem with the engine needs to be moved up to higher priority. I dont know about other mission makers, but I literally spend 90-95% of my time when making missions not on doing research, or designing the mission, or placing objects, but rather on trying to design ways to only spawn objects when there are players near, and hide them when they leave the area. Or on logic to try and "figure out" how many AI have been spawned and prevent others from spawning until those have despawned.  This has a massive cost in time spent trying to implement and then test these systems and the results are still usually not that convincing. I hate to think how many tens of thousands of man hours have been wasted by members of the communities in both RoF and BoX in designing and testing similar systems to try keep the active AI limit below 50 (some server operators on the forums have mentioned numbers as low as 30!) for MP missions. This needs to be sorted out ASAP IMO, even if it means redesigning the way AI objects work from the ground up..

 

This is true and the No.1 reason I still love to fly IL-1946 in SP. Until the next incarnation (engine upgrade) of BoX is capable to handle 150+ plane scenarios with 70+ Bombers and 50+ escorts, there is no point for me to put that good old warhorse to rest. The sooner they start with it, the better or sooner or later someone else will go into that direction.

[Pict]

47 minutes ago, anonymouse said:

Planesets are always fun to debate.

 

Not if all the "United Nations" slots are taken up with US aircraft like in your proposition  

 

That really would be an issue for anyone flying anything other than US, like the Aussies for example, as you just left them out altogether, so you wouldn't earn much money down under with that  For me it's a bit like BOBP where you have the Luftwaffe on one side and the US and UK on the other jockeying for a few slots with many aircraft. I can't imagine you would suffer a Korean War package with just two US aircraft to choose from not including collector planes? What am I saying, you didn't  

 

That said it would need lots of collector planes or better still be done in say three chunks like they are doing WWI. The Korean conflict being a war in it's own right after all and not just a battle.

 

Then there's the map. As the war raged from the Chinese border all the way to the southern tip of the peninsula, when the Chinese tore the "United Nations" a new one, it would take more than one map.

Edited July 3, 2019 by Pict
Spelling, tweaking etc.

[=GW=seaflanker819]

Chinese players are much more interested in PTO I promise you，and they can produce a lot of money！PTO is NOT only for American market！Asian also love it.

Edited July 3, 2019 by 8./JG5_seaflanker819

[II/JG17_HerrMurf]

3 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

Some extra housekeeping would be good. More refinements to the AI.  Improved smoke and effects durations.  More mission types etc.  I’d happily buy it all as premium content. 

Yup!