This sounds like music to me

[migmadmarine]

1 hour ago, FliegerAD said:

Re: Italy

 

Didn't they specifically say the urban density is a problem, and used Rome as an example during the Q&A?

But there are parts of Italy (and the western Med in general) where this is not a problem. The Golf of Venice e.g.: Italy, Slovenia, Croatia - beautiful landscape, relatively small cities, albeit a lot of them.

 

I mean, after the Stream and the Q&A I also got the impression Italy was out, yet I considering the beauty of the Italian aircraft... well, maybe that is why I want it to be possible against all rationality.

 

This might be cope, but I feel like what they said about urban density might not fully rule out Sicily, since the issue stated is density of suburbs and satellite round our of Rome. Put the north edge south of Naples you could probably get away with it... 

[CountZero]

10 minutes ago, migmadmarine said:

This might be cope, but I feel like what they said about urban density might not fully rule out Sicily, since the issue stated is density of suburbs and satellite round our of Rome. Put the north edge south of Naples you could probably get away with it... 

And what you gona do in Sicily without Malta... they said no Malta

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

3 hours ago, Eisenfaustus said:

Very interesting read indeed - that tencent is mingling more in 1cgs business then was communicated up until now is actually quite enlightening. 
 

I guess the current business model is too fair to the customer then the tech giant likes - that’s propably the main reason why GB isn‘t going to be continued and a new series will be implemented that has ingame stores and sells skins ect. 
 

Good that what we already have is so much fun because we don’t seem too get a better deal anytime soon. 

Yup, if development were to end, molders would just take over and do their thing like they've done with 1946, CLoD, and Rise of Flight.

 

A company like Tencent will never understand simmers ?. In other news, 1946 with Ultrapack 3.4 and the graphics extender with SEOW dynamic campaigns with hundreds of units is coming back online on Enigma's server.

 

[migmadmarine]

Just in short, for god's sake make some kind of new statement already 

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

1 hour ago, CountZero said:

First new thing we got from them is more 109s, i highly doubt they aim for new things or even smell close to PTO, if Jason was not alowed to do it.

You forgot the new Spit XiV which is the same as the current Spit XiV minus the canopy.

[BOO]

My only real takeaways were:

 

confirmation Tank Crew did impact on the quality of BoBP and left us with a green desert. 

 

The new guy at 1c (perhaps soon to be 10c)  eats puppies and hates GB. 
 

We have an awful lot more to thank JW for than we thought given his personal financing inputs. 

 

The new guard at 1c care nought about the IL2 legacy or what GB set out to achieve. 
 

Great Battles of Thunder/Birds of Prey 2  here we come. 

[FliegerAD]

58 minutes ago, CountZero said:

And what you gona do in Sicily without Malta... they said no Malta

 

They were referring to Malta (and others) as something they can and want to do but lack manpower as of now. This is different from the question of areas with high urban density, which are (in their opinion) impossible to display properly due to hardware and software limitations. That would be the case of Rome, Naples, and the Italian North-East with Milan and Turin.

 

Malta itself is hardly more difficult than Cologne and well possible by current standards; I have been to both. (obviously the modellers would have to cut corners, but again: if you ever have been to any of the Rhineland cities, you know they did so big time already).

 

That said, I am quite certain Malta won't be next, otherwise they would not have said we need to wait for it or do it ourselves. That seems to rule out a Battle of Sicily module. For now.

 

I for one have no idea what they will announce next. CBI, late eastern front, mid-war western front, some wild card... no idea, really.

 

 

4 minutes ago, BOO said:

The new guard at 1c care nought about the IL2 legacy or what GB set out to achieve.

 

Maybe I misunderstand you, but given the new CEO is the one of the chief producers of the original BoS - which started the whole GB thing in the first place - I am not sure I follow.

[ST_Catchov]

 

Pfft super models. Never again! I

[Leftenant_Soap]

I get a sinking feeling that whatever anticipated announcement coming from 10CentGS is, will be related to this "next-gen" product, in other words: not a new BoX module.

I really hope BoX development continues... I'm not interested in "next-gen" whatever.

[Jade_Monkey]

Can someone ( @Wardog5711? ) clarify whether the GB series is now under Tencent ownership or that's only for other titles under the old 1C umbrella?

 

 

Edit 1: Found the answer after some digging here:

 

• 1C Entertainment, a division of 1C, was sold to Tencent, a Hong Kong based software/gaming company.
• 1C Entertainment was re-named under its new ownership to Fulqrum Publishing.
• BLITZ and TOBRUK were 1C Entertainment titles, and are now owned by Fulqrum.  (also a lot of other former 1C Entertainment titles)
• Fulqrum distributes its games through Steam and other 3rd Party sites.
• 1C/777 is a separate company, formed as a joint company by 777 Games and 1C.  It publishes GREAT BATTLES.... their website used to sell BLITZ and TOBRUK too... but no longer.

 

Edit 2: To make it more confusing, IL2 battle of Stalingrad is listed under Fulqrum's games on their site, but the link to buy takes you to Steam.

https://www.fulqrumpublishing.com/games?genre=simulation&view=list

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by Jade_Monkey

[I./JG52_Woutwocampe]

9 hours ago, kendo said:

A lot of revelations in there.

 

This was interesting:

 

Can you tell us what module would you have made next for Great Battles if you were still Executive Producer?

 

I had settled on Sicily/Malta/Italy next (such a neglected theater), and then I wanted to go produce a late war Eastern Front module to cap off the GB series. Get the Yak-3, La-7 and late model P-39 in there finally.

 

Damn, exactly what I wanted to happen next for GB.

[migmadmarine]

3 hours ago, Jade_Monkey said:

Can someone ( @Wardog5711? ) clarify whether the GB series is now under Tencent ownership or that's only for other titles under the old 1C umbrella?

Yea, I'd like to hear as well, since the impression from the video q&a had been that it was the Team Fusion side of things that was acquired.... 

[Jade_Monkey]

Just now, migmadmarine said:

Yea, I'd like to hear as well, since the impression from the video q&a had been that it was the Team Fusion side of things that was acquired.... 

 

I just updated my post with some details i found

[MAJ_stug41]

Oof, very disappointed but not surprised about what went down. Lost a lot of confidence in the future of this series.

Feels like the owners just have wardog on a leash and certainly dont allow him the visibility and involvement that jason had. Do they intend to satiate and distract us with wardogs memes for as long as possible? Only ever having more questions than answers this past year.

[Gambit21]

7 hours ago, BOO said:

 

confirmation Tank Crew did impact on the quality of BoBP and left us with a green desert. 

That was painfully obvious at the time frankly. 

 

1 hour ago, stug41 said:

 

Feels like the owners just have wardog on a leash and certainly dont allow him the visibility and involvement that jason had. 

Umm…Wardog is not the producer.

 

 

[Eisenfaustus]

Jason at some time promised that in case of abandonment all features including career would continue to work offline. I‘m curious if that’s still the case…

[CountZero]

8 hours ago, FliegerAD said:

 

They were referring to Malta (and others) as something they can and want to do but lack manpower as of now. This is different from the question of areas with high urban density, which are (in their opinion) impossible to display properly due to hardware and software limitations. That would be the case of Rome, Naples, and the Italian North-East with Milan and Turin.

 

Malta itself is hardly more difficult than Cologne and well possible by current standards; I have been to both. (obviously the modellers would have to cut corners, but again: if you ever have been to any of the Rhineland cities, you know they did so big time already).

 

That said, I am quite certain Malta won't be next, otherwise they would not have said we need to wait for it or do it ourselves. That seems to rule out a Battle of Sicily module. For now.

 

I for one have no idea what they will announce next. CBI, late eastern front, mid-war western front, some wild card... no idea, really.

 

 

 

Maybe I misunderstand you, but given the new CEO is the one of the chief producers of the original BoS - which started the whole GB thing in the first place - I am not sure I follow.

what ever next front is im sure it will have one thing... more 109s ?

 

[BOO]

9 hours ago, FliegerAD said:

 

Maybe I misunderstand you, but given the new CEO is the one of the chief producers of the original BoS - which started the whole GB thing in the first place - I am not sure I follow.

I was probably too vague. I meant he doesn’t appear to be a fan of Jason and/or the direction GB took under him. Which is a shame as many of its customers were. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

That was painfully obvious at the time frankly. 

 

 

Perhaps though I always understood that the official line was that TC/FC did not impact on the main title. 

[Lusekofte]

9 hours ago, BOO said:

Great Battles of Thunder/Birds of Prey 2  here we come

In my opinion it was already going that path. 
this new owner Fulcrum for sure do not look good. They might very well turn this into a phone game

[Trooper117]

9 minutes ago, Lusekofte said:

They might very well turn this into a phone game

 

The phone rings... ''Er, hello... is that Adolf in the 109 ahead?... if so when I shoot you down, can you ring me back if you bail out ok?... toodle pip old boy''

[ACG_Bussard]

10 hours ago, Jade_Monkey said:

Can someone ( @Wardog5711? ) clarify whether the GB series is now under Tencent ownership or that's only for other titles under the old 1C umbrella?

 

 

Edit 1: Found the answer after some digging here:

 

• 1C Entertainment, a division of 1C, was sold to Tencent, a Hong Kong based software/gaming company.
• 1C Entertainment was re-named under its new ownership to Fulqrum Publishing.
• BLITZ and TOBRUK were 1C Entertainment titles, and are now owned by Fulqrum.  (also a lot of other former 1C Entertainment titles)
• Fulqrum distributes its games through Steam and other 3rd Party sites.
• 1C/777 is a separate company, formed as a joint company by 777 Games and 1C.  It publishes GREAT BATTLES.... their website used to sell BLITZ and TOBRUK too... but no longer.

 

Edit 2: To make it more confusing, IL2 battle of Stalingrad is listed under Fulqrum's games on their site, but the link to buy takes you to Steam.

https://www.fulqrumpublishing.com/games?genre=simulation&view=list

 

 

Your hint under Edit 2 is really surprising and already disturbing for me.

 

My current knowledge is that 1C-777 Ltd. is still the rights holder of the IL-2 BOS franchise:  https://il2sturmovik.com/user-agreement/ 

Accordingly, there was no change of rights holder to Tencent/Fulqrum in accordance with this EULA. 

 

Furthermore, at the end of February Jason Williams was quoted in the Stormbirds Blog that the sale of 1C Entertainment to Tencent has nothing to do with the IL-2 franchise belonging to 1C-777 Ltd.: https://stormbirds.blog/2022/02/26/il-2s-publisher-acquired-by-tencent/

 

Of course, this does not rule out the possibility of a share deal for the shares of 1C-777 Ltd. at a later date instead of an asset deal for the intellectual property of the IL-2 franchise. 

 

It would be really good if the management would clarify as soon as possible if, how and by whom the IL-2 BOS franchise will be continued and operated. Furthermore it would be important to know if an upgrade of the engine with the takeover of the existing content is planned or if a new engine will be created where existing content will not be taken over (new client/new franchise).

 

I can say from my experience in my group that the communication behavior of the management is not well received at all and has a negative effect on the motivation to continue in the meantime.

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by 2./JG3_Bussard*

[Fritz_X]

3 hours ago, 2./JG3_Bussard* said:

I can say from my experience in my group that the communication behavior of the management is not well received at all and has a negative effect on the motivation to continue in the meantime.

 

 

I agree.

 

While the latest ongoings didn't deminish the joy of flying this sim, the spare communication about where the series is heading next sure has changed my (former positive) outlook on the future of the sim and my will to spend any further money on it.

 

The last product I bought was BoN. I own all the content that was available before that, be it WW2, FC and TC. Even planes like the Ju-52, which I bought at release and didn't fly more than a full hour since then (it's a very well modeled plane, just not my cup of tea), all of them are in my digital hangar, always ready to be taken out on a spin. But mostly I bought them to support the devs so they could continue their work on the GB series. That was when we had an actual perspective where the next installment would be heading, sometimes even before the full release of its' predecessor.

 

Right now, the missing information about what's going to come next has left me feeling emotionally disconnected from the game like never before. My level of excitement is literally zero. Seeing this dev team who has been so open and responsible in their communication in all these years suddenly falling silent on certain topics, like the future of the series and the possible integration of the already established content, feels unnatural and gives me a bad feeling about what is to come. Maybe I'm just being overly pessimistic and everything will turn out great, which I'd love to happen. I really, really want to be wrong about this. But as it is now, it just feels like when your spouse says "Honey, we need to talk.": There is never anything good to follow after these words.

 

The C-47, the Stug III and the Snipe are the first items I didn't pre-order or buy immediately on release. My urge to just grab them just isn't there at the moment, due to the given situation. And please don't get me wrong, this is no petty boycott message. I'm not making threats. To nobody, and especially not to this talented dev team that gave us so much great content over the years. I'll surely buy all the available content, just maybe when it is offered with a big discount this time around. I never felt like this before, but full (preorder) price just seems to be too much with the current uncertainty.

 

After all this negativity of mine, I'd like to finish on a more positive note: Everything I wrote above is just a description about how I feel about the current situation. It is not, and I repeat, definitely not a criticism aimed at the devs. Quite a few players seem to be unhappy about the current ongoings, me obviously included. But we, the costumers, don't know what's going on behind closed doors. If I had to make an educated guess, I'd say that the devs are just as unhappy about how things have to be handled right now. As much as I like Jason and enjoyed his style of communication, he wasn't the only one who was good at it. And I think that him leaving the team suddenly turning everyone into communication-rookies is highly unlikely. There just has to be more behind it of why certain information is being hold back. They even hired a dedicated community manager with Wardog, who really comes off as a overall nice person and very fitting addition to the team. But it always feels like he himself is only fed with very tiny chunks of information to pass on to us. And as much as I like his humor, posting funny pictures only gets you this far, especially when frequently asked questions remain unanswered for quite some time.

 

In case any of you guys felt like reading all of my rambling: Thank you. And happy holidays to all of you.

Edited December 23, 2022 by Fritz_X

[JonRedcorn]

21 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Based on that and another comment in his thread that seemed telling - partnering with Team Fusion and going to PTO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That would be incredible. They'd need to hire more devs and really stomp on it. Honestly all of this is incredibly disappointing. But I had a feeling that it couldn't last forever. My biggest worry is losing access to the 400 dollars worth of content I've purchased.

Edited December 23, 2022 by Wardog5711
Replaced profanity

[DD_Arthur]

Wow. What a combination of hysteria and speed reading.

 

The GB series is NOT owned by Tencent. 1C offloaded part of it’s legacy games empire to Tencent earlier in the year.

 

It’s noticeable that they’ve hung onto the profitable parts though.

 

The idea that TFS are any sort of commercial player in any of this is laughable, ludicrous nonsense brought on by too much forum myopia.

TFS are three men and a dog that are struggling to implement advanced stuff such as trees, clouds and VR into the pig in a poke they’re wedded too.

 

Albert is CEO. Not too surprising since he’s been a producer for 1C for several years now.

As for legacies; he was one of the founders of the team that created RoF and engineered the deal that brought 1C funding in to give us BoS.

Han is now series producer.

 

The most important takeaway from all this is that the Team have increased funding in place and - with Han at the controls - is in safe hands.

[Enceladus828]

7 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

The idea that TFS are any sort of commercial player in any of this is laughable, ludicrous nonsense brought on by too much forum myopia.

TFS are three men and a dog that are struggling to implement advanced stuff such as trees, clouds and VR into the pig in a poke they’re wedded too.

The idea that you're slandering another game that will hopefully give us places and planes we've never seen properly explored before in a Community Q&A with Jason discussion in which he just lightly touched on TFS is even more laughable ?

[RoteDreizehn]

17 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

Wow. What a combination of hysteria and speed reading.

 

The GB series is NOT owned by Tencent. 1C offloaded part of it’s legacy games empire to Tencent earlier in the year.

 

It’s noticeable that they’ve hung onto the profitable parts though.

 

The idea that TFS are any sort of commercial player in any of this is laughable, ludicrous nonsense brought on by too much forum myopia.

TFS are three men and a dog that are struggling to implement advanced stuff such as trees, clouds and VR into the pig in a poke they’re wedded too.

 

Albert is CEO. Not too surprising since he’s been a producer for 1C for several years now.

As for legacies; he was one of the founders of the team that created RoF and engineered the deal that brought 1C funding in to give us BoS.

Han is now series producer.

 

The most important takeaway from all this is that the Team have increased funding in place and - with Han at the controls - is in safe hands.

 

 

>> The GB series is NOT owned by Tencent
 

not sure about that - superficial yes. there are some things which are not exactly clear. They should explain what they plan to do in the future as Fritz_X already said.
I think they owe it to us... 1C also crashes CLOD in 2011.. I never forgot this...

[Gambit21]

22 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

 

 

The most important takeaway from all this is that the Team have increased funding in place and - with Han at the controls - is in safe hands.

Aye

 

[DN308]

All of these misteries and some of the previous comments led me to think that my feelings were right.

 I’m afraid about the money I have put into this simulation that can disappear soon. 
I’m afraid that all the little things we have these days (FC snipe and objects, TC Churchill and Stug, AIs only objects) are the sold out of what is ongoing on the last to do list before stopping everything on the existing titles.

 I’m afraid that what could happen then is nothing more. Just another serie or game with nothing to do with the previous one.

My guess (pessimistic one) is that the devs lack of communication is because there’s nothing to communicate on.

 

[Rjel]

If CLoD is what people want to hang their hopes on, I wish them well. It isn't my sim of choice. I was hoping and still do hope to see further development of the GB series or whatever may follow. 

[Lusekofte]

3 minutes ago, Rjel said:

If CLoD is what people want to hang their hopes on, I wish them well. It isn't my sim of choice. I was hoping and still do hope to see further development of the GB series or whatever may follow. 

I have all my hopes on that. I have no head tracker anymore. So I can only fly it in the other house where I have. 
I will look into what come first clod vr or me buying trackir. 
I am now confident me and a group I fly with can get a fighter / bomber coop going 

we just need another group to join so we get more people. For me coop is excellent for GB. You only have to deal with ai as opponents and as fighters they behave pretty well in the start. 

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

7 hours ago, Lusekofte said:

In my opinion it was already going that path. 
this new owner Fulcrum for sure do not look good. They might very well turn this into a phone game

Could you imagine the time dilation then? ?

[LukeFF]

41 minutes ago, RoteDreizehn said:

1C also crashes CLOD in 2011.. I never forgot this...

 

Lol, that's a funny way of remembering things. 

[DD_Arthur]

45 minutes ago, RoteDreizehn said:

They should explain what they plan to do in the future as Fritz_X already said.

 

Agree completely.  We've all got used to the excellent. consistent, enthusiastic communication from Jason over the last six years or so.

We're going to have to adjust our expectations now while Han finds his feet in all this.  

To stem this absurd tide of forum angst,  the best thing for them to do would be to communicate their intentions as clearly and as quickly as possible. Simples.

 

53 minutes ago, RoteDreizehn said:

I think they owe it to us... 1C also crashes CLOD in 2011.. I never forgot this...

 

Standby for a shock but Oleg crashed CLoD.  No one else.  !C - along with UbiSoft -  funded Maddox Games Cliffs effort for seven years with a fifty-five strong team of professionals before crying enough!  They lost $millions.  I don't think 1C owe us anything.  Whats astonishing is that after the debacle of CLoD they were still prepared to put money up for continued development of combat flight sims.  

[Avimimus]

Well, now the devs have to do everything they're already planning - and everything Jason Williams wanted to get around to   - I suppose

 

  

3 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

To stem this absurd tide of forum angst,  the best thing for them to do would be to communicate their intentions as clearly and as quickly as possible. Simples.

 

It would be good to get confirmation that previously announced content (Flying Circus III, Lisunov Li-2, Drop tanks) are still planned.

 

Also some clarity regarding whether future products will be part of the same series (e.g. will existing content still be brought forward)? This is especially true given their discussion of significant reworks to systems like the damage modelling that make it sound like they are aiming towards a new generation of products. Those things could be clarified even before announcing the new module.

Edited December 23, 2022 by Avimimus

[RoteDreizehn]

1 hour ago, DD_Arthur said:

 

Agree completely.  We've all got used to the excellent. consistent, enthusiastic communication from Jason over the last six years or so.

We're going to have to adjust our expectations now while Han finds his feet in all this.  

To stem this absurd tide of forum angst,  the best thing for them to do would be to communicate their intentions as clearly and as quickly as possible. Simples.

 

 

Standby for a shock but Oleg crashed CLoD.  No one else.  !C - along with UbiSoft -  funded Maddox Games Cliffs effort for seven years with a fifty-five strong team of professionals before crying enough!  They lost $millions.  I don't think 1C owe us anything.  Whats astonishing is that after the debacle of CLoD they were still prepared to put money up for continued development of combat flight sims.  

 

>> Standby for a shock but Oleg crashed CLoD.  No one else.  !C - along with UbiSoft

i focused to the current Situation with Great Battles (... owe it to us... ) - not to the CLOD Crash at 2011 - thats history
BTW: Just for the records with CLOD:  I think there was differences between Ilya Shevchenko and 1C - Also DCS (Eagle Dynamics) had problems with Ilya Shevchenko. Oleg Maddox left the company before the official release of clod... Just my level of knowledge...

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by RoteDreizehn

[FliegerAD]

49 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

To stem this absurd tide of forum angst,  the best thing for them to do would be to communicate their intentions as clearly and as quickly as possible.

 

Indeed. And I wonder why they won't. I know they may still be checking the project viability of their next venture before announcing it, but the situation here demands some statement.

(Also, Russians celebrate Christmas in January, so it is not like they are in Holiyday mode already...)

 

9 hours ago, CountZero said:

what ever next front is im sure it will have one thing... more 109s ?

 

 

I don't mind. ?

...especially when paired with beauties like this:

 

[BlitzPig_EL]

Kinda doubt it.

[Enceladus828]

2 hours ago, Rjel said:

If CLoD is what people want to hang their hopes on, I wish them well. It isn't my sim of choice. I was hoping and still do hope to see further development of the GB series or whatever may follow. 

I don't understand what you're getting at, further development of the IL-2 GBs series has nothing to do with CloD or its next installment.

[Rjel]

8 minutes ago, Enceladus said:

I don't understand what you're getting at, further development of the IL-2 GBs series has nothing to do with CloD or its next installment.

Your comment about CLoD taking us places and bringing us A/C we've never seen before was the reason for my comment. I think we all know by now that the GB series and CLoD have nothing to do with one another. Again, my hope is GB continues and expands in one form or another even if that means overlapping CLoD maps or expansions.

[JG5_Schuck]

11 hours ago, CountZero said:

what ever next front is im sure it will have one thing... more 109s ?

 

You can never have enough 109's.......