Team Fusion Popular Post Buzzsaw Posted October 27, 2022 Team Fusion Popular Post Posted October 27, 2022 Hello All After IL-2 STURMOVIK CLIFFS OF DOVER was published, there was much disappointment in the IL-2 community about the state it was in. A multitude of bugs, issues with Flight Model accuracy, online play riddled with hackers and the delivery of much less than was expected. There was an initial attempt to fix the problems, then the hammer fell and the game was left unsupported. In this background, a group of Flight Sim enthusiasts decided to see what they could do to fix the various issues. They formed a group, which ultimately took the name Team Fusion. They volunteered their time between November 2012 and March 2017 in an effort to find and fix the problems. Unfortunately this effort was handicapped by the lack of access to the game source code. None of the team received any compensation during this period... we did the work simply because we liked the game and believed it had potential. At a certain point our efforts resulted in the modded CLIFFS being the most popular online game available. However, time marches on, and the lack of access to the source code meant progress stalled and the community dwindled. Finally after many requests, after a six month negotiation, and after the incorporation of Team Fusion Simulations Ltd, 1C and TF signed an agreement granting Team Fusion exclusive rights to develop the CLIFFS OF DOVER game engine. TF was granted access to the game source code. (not the last version unfortunately, that had been lost, we received an older version) IC would remain the Game Publisher, and would agree to pay TF a percentage of game sale revenues. TF and 1C would share any costs incurred to purchase or upgrade 3rd party software. (such as Speedtree, the Firelight FMOD sound engine, Simul trueSKY, etc.) No funds were advanced to TF for our work, we would continue to contribute our work effort on a voluntary basis until after any re-releases, (IL-2 STURMOVIK CLIFFS OF DOVER - BLITZ) or new modules, (IL-2 STURMOVIK DESERT WINGS - TOBRUK) were released that would allow income to come in. Since the original agreement, 1C Entertainment, the company which owns the CLIFFS engine has been sold to Tencent, a Hong Kong based software and games company. 1C Entertainment was re-named to Fulqrum Publishing. Since the agreement with 1C, TF members have continued to contribute, but the compensation typically received is far from being enough to allow full time committment. Although TF does have a large working membership, with a full slate of Coders/3D Artists/Sound technicians/Graphics Artists as well as Department heads, most TF members have full time jobs, and only work on CLIFFS on a part time basis. Typically members contribute between the minimum 6 hours a week and 15 hours.... i.e. what can be accomplished in the evening and weekends. Some members who are self employed and who have more flexibility contribute more hours, depending on the point in the production schedule. In the three months prior to a release, a few members are working 30-40 hours a week. The primary motivation for TF members remains our belief in the CLIFFS game engine, and our enthusiasm for the work. But the fact is, and this should be understood when production schedules are referenced... we are working with 1/4-1/3 of the manpower and man hours available to full time production companies. If you look at TF's output, then it actually begins to look pretty good considering our handicaps. Team Fusion takes a great deal of pride in our releases, as a bit of background, 90% of companies who plan to create game releases fail... we are in the 10% who succeeded in producing finished products. But obviously our sales have not been as good as we might have hoped. We don't think the sales deficit is a issue of the game's potential, it is more that the amount of work required and the lack of man hours available means we had to compromise on what we delivered in our releases. For example, the Visual Update we are currently working on was originally planned to be delivered with TOBRUK. But it was impossible to complete this in time for the general release. When the Visual Update is delivered, then TOBRUK will look as it was originally intended to. Inevitably people come and go, there is a high rate of burnout among our members... although the core remains strong. We lost a lot of people during Covid... many decided they needed to focus on family and real life instead of a hobby project. Recruiting new members is difficult... it can be a problem convincing someone they should volunteer their unpaid time for the possibility of future revenue share. Yet we persist... and we are making progress. Perhaps I am biased, (I don't objectively think so) but it is my opinion the CLIFFS engine has not really scratched the surface of its potential. With a full time development team I think it would be the best Flight Sim out there. My team agrees... which is why we are still committed. ✌️ 60 16 1 14
Recommended Posts