Brief Room Episode 2: 2023 In Review, Plans For 2024, A Glimpse At The Upcoming Title

[ilmavoimat]

If it's not a stupid question, will the new project, be it Korea or WW2, be integrated into GB or running on a new game engine as a totally separate entity?

[deathmisser]

25 minutes ago, ilmavoimat said:

If it's not a stupid question, will the new project, be it Korea or WW2, be integrated into GB or running on a new game engine as a totally separate entity?

It's not a stupid question at all m8. In the video that was shown to us had some aircraft model some unfinished but very telling. 

 

The video showed us a B-29, F4U, IL-10 and a Yak 9 some say it's looks like a P model which some of these aircraft were used in pretty much at the end of the WW2. But were mainly used in the Korean war which suggest the next series would most likely be Korea.

 

Btw The Yak 9P is a Korean war exclusive which gives it a way massively. 

 

As terms of a new engine upgrade or an new game series in total we don't know the full details so it will be wrong for us to say it's X or Y. 

[Koziolek]

56 minutes ago, ilmavoimat said:

If it's not a stupid question, will the new project, be it Korea or WW2, be integrated into GB or running on a new game engine as a totally separate entity?

Considering this question has been asked already 14327 times it is not stupid. But it hasn't been answered either, so maybe it is ?

[Gambit21]

3 hours ago, deathmisser said:

 

Tbh Korea like Flying circus and GB will properly be in it own series I would imagine as there will be a heck of a lot of content to go through. 

 

FC - WW1 

GB- WW2 

(What ever they will end up calling it) - Korea and possibly some other Communist vs Capitalist war.   

I’m pretty sure we’re going to see Korea, then PTO, along with parallel Korea add-ons IF revenue from the initial Korea release allows.

Just a guess though.

[Pict]

5 hours ago, Jade_Monkey said:

 

Who wouldn't love to have this massive collection of content in one place?

 

I don't think it's practical from the devs perspective though:

- Massive download size (an existing issue mentioned by devs in the past)

- two tier standard for content (nicer planes with outdated looks and feel)

- engine complexity managing two types of rendering and tech stack. A dev's nightmare.

 

Keeping both projects under one game is shooting themselves in the foot.

 

Sounds from what you say that you wouldn't, to answer your opening question  

 

They rebuilt Flying Circus and stuffed it in to BOX, all of the BOX chapters are both stand alone and one peice compatible and they added a tank simulator on top...

 

Why then would they split away with a title like Korea?, that would probably take up a small fraction of the HD space that the 3 parts of FC take at the moment?

 

There's a lot of assuming going on about the new tech they are working on, why not a ssume that it will be backward compatible with what they have already made? This has been one of their hallmarks that keeps me here, this ability to bring older gear up to current standards, La-5 is a current example.

Edited January 1, 2024 by Pict
Anoother post was automatically merged, which I didn't want :)

[ACG_Bussard]

19 minutes ago, Gambit21 said:

I’m pretty sure we’re going to see Korea, then PTO, along with parallel Korea add-ons IF revenue from the initial Korea release allows.

 

...IF wishes were horses, beggars would ride... Just sayin´ though.

[deathmisser]

27 minutes ago, Pict said:

 

Sounds from what you say that you wouldn't, to answer your opening question  

 

They rebuilt Flying Circus and stuffed it in to BOX, all of the BOX chapters are both stand alone and one peice compatible and they added a tank simulator on top...

 

Why then would they split away with a title like Korea?, that would probably take up a small fraction of the HD space that the 3 parts of FC take at the moment?

 

There's a lot of assuming going on about the new tech they are working on, why not a ssume that it will be backward compatible with what they have already made? This has been one of their hallmarks that keeps me here, this ability to bring older gear up to current standards, La-5 is a current example.

Yea I mean not only some aircraft that will hopefully be added used in Korea but also WW2. 

Looks at the firefly ect.

 

The only reason why IL-2 GB survived this long is because of this system of plonking everything into one sim and if a person buys a module it unlocks that specific part of the game. 

 

It would be really strange to destroy the previous sim that will make the next one possible.  

Edited January 1, 2024 by deathmisser

[sevenless]

25 minutes ago, Pict said:

There's a lot of assuming going on about the new tech they are working on, why not a ssume that it will be backward compatible with what they have already made? 

 

Yep, all speculatius until they spill the beans.

[deathmisser]

54 minutes ago, sevenless said:

 

Yep, all speculatius until they spill the beans.

Well at least we know it will hopefully be in March or April I don't know what holidays they have in Easter. 

[sniperton]

Hi, I feel a bit embarrassed that I return here time to time just to feel even more embarrassed that nothing has changed since my last visit. Obscure speculations raised by vague communication.

Edited January 2, 2024 by sniperton

[Gambit21]

1 hour ago, Bussard* said:

...IF wishes were horses, beggars would ride... Just sayin´ though.

Well we can hope. We know Korea is next followed by PTO. The only wish involved is more Korea/carriers etc.

11 minutes ago, sniperton said:

Hi, I feel a bit embarrassed…

I don’t blame you after that post given what was essentially ‘announced’ without officially announcing it. Not exactly speculation.

 

 

[Guest deleted@83466]

3 minutes ago, Gambit21 said:

Well we can hope. We know Korea is next followed by PTO. The only wish involved is more Korea/carriers etc.

 

Do “we” know this, or just you?  I didn’t watch the video, I just read the Stormbirds summary.  Where is it said that they are going to do PTO?  Since we also “know” it’s Korea next, what is the point of not announcing officially.  Some of this communication just doesn’t make sense.  

[Gambit21]

1 minute ago, SeaSerpent said:

 

Do “we” know this, or just you?  I didn’t watch the video, I just read the Stormbirds summary.  Where is it said that they are going to do PTO?  Since we also “know” it’s Korea next, what is the point of not announcing officially.  Some of this communication just doesn’t make sense.  

I agree that the comms don’t make sense as far as not just announcing. They talked plenty of PTO already, including Han’s comments here on the forum that most seem to forget. Plans could change however, so in truth we don’t absolutely know that PTO is next. However the need for revenue would seem to dictate it.

 

 

[MajorMagee]

4 hours ago, JG27_Mainz said:

What game are these screenshots from?

CFS3 - Korea

[Avimimus]

On 12/31/2023 at 9:15 PM, Gambit21 said:

Most of that will be accounted for in the first module and AI I think.

 

I don't know... I could see it being six flyable, and two AI per module...? We're only getting eight Flying Circus aircraft per module afterall (and they aren't being built from scratch to a much higher level of fidelity).

[kendo]

On 1/1/2024 at 10:21 PM, Pict said:

Sounds from what you say that you wouldn't, to answer your opening question  

 

They rebuilt Flying Circus and stuffed it in to BOX, all of the BOX chapters are both stand alone and one peice compatible and they added a tank simulator on top...

 

Why then would they split away with a title like Korea?, that would probably take up a small fraction of the HD space that the 3 parts of FC take at the moment?

 

There's a lot of assuming going on about the new tech they are working on, why not a ssume that it will be backward compatible with what they have already made? This has been one of their hallmarks that keeps me here, this ability to bring older gear up to current standards, La-5 is a current example.

 

After all the twists and turns and mangled communication of the last year I'm finally clear on what is coming. It is obviously Korea next, and it is also now equally clear that this will be a new sim and not be compatible with existing Great Battles titles.

 

The clincher is in the confirmation that they will use PBR. As has been typical with their woeful recent communication they managed to confuse with previous comments on this. In one of the videos from months back they said that non-PBR elements (ie existing content) would not be compatible with a new PBR engine, and that updating all existing content would be unfeasible. But the way it was communicated gave the impression they were therefore ruling out PBR to keep previous content compatible.

 

Confirmation of PBR now makes it clear that was just another example of the poor comms of the past year.

 

Anyway, I'm pleased to know what's coming and to have a clear picture finally. Would prefer staying with WW2, but could get into Korea too. If it's done well could be really interesting.

 

It's also clear that they absolutely have to move to new technologies. PBR is essential.

 

And I hope when the official announcement comes that they finally get their comms act together. Has been challenging staying faithful this past year.

Edited January 3, 2024 by kendo

[Jade_Monkey]

3 hours ago, Pict said:

Sounds from what you say that you wouldn't, to answer your opening question  

 

They rebuilt Flying Circus and stuffed it in to BOX, all of the BOX chapters are both stand alone and one peice compatible and they added a tank simulator on top...

 

Why then would they split away with a title like Korea?, that would probably take up a small fraction of the HD space that the 3 parts of FC take at the moment?

 

There's a lot of assuming going on about the new tech they are working on, why not a ssume that it will be backward compatible with what they have already made? This has been one of their hallmarks that keeps me here, this ability to bring older gear up to current standards, La-5 is a current example.

 

 

To be clear, I would personally love it if it continues as one product, and especially if they upgrade all the GB content to the new standards.

 

I'm saying that putting myself on the devs shoes, it sounds like a terrible plan. It will make consumers happy but it will become a nightmare for devs and I think it would eventually become a massive liability for the new project. Clean slate with the benefit of inheriting the best parts of GB while implementing new solutions for the areas of improvement sounds like the best path.

 

"why not a ssume that it will be backward compatible?" If you listen to the video, their words are carefully chosen and "new project" is being used deliberately. I think it's not impossible but maybe naive to think we are getting more of the same but with better graphics.

[Gambit21]

1 hour ago, Avimimus said:

I don't know... I could see it being six flyable, and two AI per module...? We're only getting eight Flying Circus aircraft per module afterall (and they aren't being built from scratch to a much higher level of fidelity).

 

Yeah not sure which ones (out of the total released) of mixed jets and props will be flyable upon release, vs flyable later...it will be interesting to see what shakes out there.

There will likely be 2 that remain AI as you say, B-29 being one of those.

[Panzerlang]

Does PBR affect a 3D technical model and the code relating to all moving parts? Isn't PBR related only to surface textures? I'm trying to understand why the GB stuff couldn't be ported to the new engine in that case. I know they'd have a lot of work to do to bring the GB stuff up to the new engine's DM standard but that has nothing to do with PBR?

[Gambit21]

5 minutes ago, Hetzer-JG52 said:

Does PBR affect a 3D technical model and the code relating to all moving parts? Isn't PBR related only to surface textures? I'm trying to understand why the GB stuff couldn't be ported to the new engine in that case. I know they'd have a lot of work to do to bring the GB stuff up to the new engine's DM standard but that has nothing to do with PBR?

Correct, PBR is not related to 3D models, DM etc. It’s a texture/rendering thing.

[Jaegermeister]

46 minutes ago, Gambit21 said:

Yeah not sure which ones (out of the total released) of mixed jets and props will be flyable upon release, vs flyable later...it will be interesting to see what shakes out there.

There will likely be 2 that remain AI as you say, B-29 being one of those.

 

With no inside knowledge to base it on other than the screenshots from the video, I would guess a Korean War plane set would look something like this;

 

 SK                                                 NK

F-86              ~                    Mig-15

F-84              ~                    IL-10

F-51               ~                    Yak-9

F4U-4           ~                     La-11

B-26              ~                    Tu-2

 

B-29 is almost certainly AI. Other planes that might be considered are the A-1 Skyraider, F-80, Sea Fury, or Meteor.

There is not a lot more in the way of Russian aircraft that would make sense without getting into sub-variants.

 

I would also not be surprised to see a Bell H-13 or a Sikorsky H-5 as a collector plane to test new physics modeling. 

 

Don't forget in the last video they said the actual plane set was still undecided. No one has said they will stay with the evenly matched "modules" with the new project. We will just have to wait and see. Then we will see whose guesses are closest. 

 

Edited January 2, 2024 by Jaegermeister

[migmadmarine]

Would love to see some of the goofy Korean war era helicopters for sure haha

[Guest deleted@83466]

15 minutes ago, migmadmarine said:

Would love to see some of the goofy Korean war era helicopters for sure haha

Me too, but I tried flying a dcs helicopter with the throttle governor turned off, to see what it might be like flying an early helicopter, and it ain’t easy!   If you have one of those dedicated collective sticks, with the twisty throttle, like Lusekofte, it might be doable.  It would be kind of cool to have helis, but I think the developers already have enough on their plate.

[Gambit21]

4 hours ago, Jaegermeister said:

 

With no inside knowledge to base it on other than the screenshots from the video, I would guess a Korean War plane set would look something like this;

 

 SK                                                 NK

F-86              ~                    Mig-15

F-84              ~                    IL-10

F-51               ~                    Yak-9

F4U-4           ~                     La-11

B-26              ~                    Tu-2

 

B-29 is almost certainly AI. Other planes that might be considered are the A-1 Skyraider, F-80, Sea Fury, or Meteor.

There is not a lot more in the way of Russian aircraft that would make sense without getting into sub-variants.

 

I would also not be surprised to see a Bell H-13 or a Sikorsky H-5 as a collector plane to test new physics modeling. 

 

Don't forget in the last video they said the actual plane set was still undecided. No one has said they will stay with the evenly matched "modules" with the new project. We will just have to wait and see. Then we will see whose guesses are closest. 

 

I think that’s about it.

Except perhaps maybe B-29 AI instead of B-26. Also wondering about the Skyraider at some point.
 

I hadn’t considered helos just because they’re so far outside of the Devs’ wheelhouse…but who knows.  Might be a good way for them to get their feet wet in that arena.

 

 

[Panzerlang]

5 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Correct, PBR is not related to 3D models, DM etc. It’s a texture/rendering thing.

Cheers. I guess re-skinning a plane to be PBR-compliant must be a far bigger job than I assumed then.

[Gambit21]

4 minutes ago, Hetzer-JG52 said:

Cheers. I guess re-skinning a plane to be PBR-compliant must be a far bigger job than I assumed then.

Well, they’re current aircraft only use 1 texture map (external) compared to the current DCS standard of between 6 and 9 4K maps. So a single aircraft wouldn’t be much work relatively speaking. It’s just that they’d have to re-do every aircraft/unit in the sim. In the DCS engine you can have PBR and non PBR units. In the GB engine apparently not.

 

Also if re-creating textures, they might as well increase the texture real estate (say up to at least 4x4k maps vs just 1) or why bother. So it’s a job.

[QB.Gregor-]

16 hours ago, Bussard* said:

Can't wait to see what virtual pilots will do with the tunnel feature. I'm sure it will be good. ?

 

 

I can certainly live without it on the old maps, if the developers deceide to have all content under one engine under one roof.

Tunnel you say? ?

Now thats a feature to get me hyped.

 

Edited January 2, 2024 by QB.Gregor-

[ACG_Bussard]

8 hours ago, QB.Gregor- said:

Tunnel you say? ?

 

Haha, yes exactly, it's going to be great! Hidden bases, ambushes and all that. I'm sure there'll be awesome streams laugh at. Entertainment guaranteed.

Edited January 2, 2024 by LukeFF
profanity

[Pict]

16 hours ago, Jade_Monkey said:

To be clear, I would personally love it if it continues as one product, and especially if they upgrade all the GB content to the new standards.

 

I'm saying that putting myself on the devs shoes, it sounds like a terrible plan. It will make consumers happy but it will become a nightmare for devs and I think it would eventually become a massive liability for the new project. Clean slate with the benefit of inheriting the best parts of GB while implementing new solutions for the areas of improvement sounds like the best path.

 

"why not a ssume that it will be backward compatible?" If you listen to the video, their words are carefully chosen and "new project" is being used deliberately. I think it's not impossible but maybe naive to think we are getting more of the same but with better graphics.

 

Ok, so you are just loosly speculating by reading between the lines of a video presentation in Russian after it was roughly dubbed into English, then using your imagination as to how the people running the development will proceed, fair enough

 

You mentioned earlier that download size was an issue. I have a solid high speed fibre connection and it comes down flat out, but not just after a release, at that point it runns at a crawl. So even with a decent connection, I tend to leave off updading till at least the following day.

 

Anyone with a poor net connection needs first to look in the mirror for the problem. Why invest hundreds of $ in a large game that you know requires downloading and regular updates on the back of a slow net connection?

 

Even then the best solution isn't to simply throw everything in the bin and develop a new seperate title. Like I already noted, IL-2 BOX is modular, yet each module is effectively stand alone already. Therefore it would be possible to facilitate updating of each module seperately should it be required or seen as such a huge problem for many customers. This would surely demand less resources than wiping the slate and starting from scratch with a relatively little known title running 1 or 2 maps and a dozen or so aircraft, no?

 

Further to all of this, they, "the devs" have said already that "anything is possible in IL-2 BOX" and that this new tech they are working on has been tried already by the competition without much success and that they expect to succeed where others have failed.

 

These statements make anything and everything speculative in my eyes. Not to say that speculating is bad, not at all, I reckon it's good fun and a big part of being here and I like to do it myself. I'll have to wait till someone post before my next one though as this board has a nast habit of auto merging subsequent posts

[Alexmarine]

So… Came back to check on the status of Il-2 and just saw the video which basically confirmed we are going to Korea…

 

As one of the earliest Korea-lobbyists of this forum I am definitely pleased and it seems that the team is even solving the B-29 issue (a lot of naysayers were like: “Can’t have Korea without the B-29”, guess the team really wanted to have them being bashed by the MiGs )

 

Hopefully by the time it will release I’ll have back enough free time to be able to return to flight-simming ?

 

I can see additional UN carrier-borne planes being added later on with works on a carrier system to be integrated in-game (maybe even being a stepping-stone to a future in the Pacific)

 

I see some users having picked on my recommending Mr. Cleaver books on the topic, which is really good though I would also like to recommend “Red Devils Over the Yalu” by Igor Seidov for the Soviet side of the air warfare. Hopefully the game being set in the Korean War will also help raise awareness of that conflict and its implications for later historical events (and modern events too)

 

Hopefully, see you guys over MiG-Alley! (Or this forum if you need someone dropping infos related to the threatre )

 

Alex

[SYN_Vander]

On 1/1/2024 at 7:37 AM, Avimimus said:

Well, those were announced already back in 2023 ? Still, we need two-seaters that can actually be caught by the E.III, D.H.2, N.11, and Halb D.II.. The C.II was a rare and unusually fast bird, and the Strutter is also pretty high performance.

 

You are right! Forgot about that:

https://il2sturmovik.com/news/794/dev-blog-342/

 

7. The story of Flying Circus continues: plans for 2024 include additional improvements to the map and the development of seven new collectible aircraft:

• Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter
• Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter B
• Sopwith Pup
• Airco DH.2
• Albatros D.III
• Roland C.IIa
• Fokker E.III

[tattywelshie]

7 hours ago, Alexmarine said:

So… Came back to check on the status of Il-2 and just saw the video which basically confirmed we are going to Korea…

 

As one of the earliest Korea-lobbyists of this forum I am definitely pleased and it seems that the team is even solving the B-29 issue (a lot of naysayers were like: “Can’t have Korea without the B-29”, guess the team really wanted to have them being bashed by the MiGs )

 

Hopefully by the time it will release I’ll have back enough free time to be able to return to flight-simming ?

 

I can see additional UN carrier-borne planes being added later on with works on a carrier system to be integrated in-game (maybe even being a stepping-stone to a future in the Pacific)

 

I see some users having picked on my recommending Mr. Cleaver books on the topic, which is really good though I would also like to recommend “Red Devils Over the Yalu” by Igor Seidov for the Soviet side of the air warfare. Hopefully the game being set in the Korean War will also help raise awareness of that conflict and its implications for later historical events (and modern events too)

 

Hopefully, see you guys over MiG-Alley! (Or this forum if you need someone dropping infos related to the threatre )

 

Alex

Love Thomas Cleaver's book as well. I'm really excited for Korea, if anything, playing sims of a certain theatre of war sort of captivates my imagination, and is a great way of learning more about that theatre. Plus, the opportunity to fly aircraft that haven't been modelled before in a sim is something really exciting. Really hope the career mode gets a really good uplift and makes you feel a lot more like you're part of something larger, both in terms of the squadron and the wider war.

[CountZero]

7 hours ago, Pict said:

Ok, so you are just loosly speculating by reading between the lines of a video presentation in Russian after it was roughly dubbed into English, then using your imagination as to how the people running the development will proceed, fair enough

 

You mentioned earlier that download size was an issue. I have a solid high speed fibre connection and it comes down flat out, but not just after a release, at that point it runns at a crawl. So even with a decent connection, I tend to leave off updading till at least the following day.

 

Anyone with a poor net connection needs first to look in the mirror for the problem. Why invest hundreds of $ in a large game that you know requires downloading and regular updates on the back of a slow net connection?

 

Even then the best solution isn't to simply throw everything in the bin and develop a new seperate title. Like I already noted, IL-2 BOX is modular, yet each module is effectively stand alone already. Therefore it would be possible to facilitate updating of each module seperately should it be required or seen as such a huge problem for many customers. This would surely demand less resources than wiping the slate and starting from scratch with a relatively little known title running 1 or 2 maps and a dozen or so aircraft, no?

 

Further to all of this, they, "the devs" have said already that "anything is possible in IL-2 BOX" and that this new tech they are working on has been tried already by the competition without much success and that they expect to succeed where others have failed.

 

These statements make anything and everything speculative in my eyes. Not to say that speculating is bad, not at all, I reckon it's good fun and a big part of being here and I like to do it myself. I'll have to wait till someone post before my next one though as this board has a nast habit of auto merging subsequent posts

So if new project is not new game it would be in their interest to say so to avoid ppl switching to other games knowing this one will sone be in state RoF was when FC/GB was prioroty for team, this new game or not is questioned on forum for more then a year now, and them not giving clear answer makes it obvious what new project means.

[Trooper117]

Hopefully, this will be answered in the next video Q&A shortly... myself and others have been asking this from the first day that they stated they have been working on a new project. Mainly, will it be compatible with GB or not?

I honestly can't believe why this hasn't been answered yet... If it's not compatible, do they think we are all petulant teenagers who will go into a rage and refuse to buy anything else from the GB series?

There are still good things to come from the GB series, most adults here will probably continue with it as it's going to be some time before the new project is released.

Time and technology marches on, and nothing lasts forever... I'm all for going forward.

[danielprates]

What do you imagine gets released earlier, this or Combat Pilot?

 

See that is a relevant concern; who knows what wil be the state of the economy 3 years from now (and the world's for that matter). Both this (GB:K?) and Combat Pilot will be full games/modules and, logicly, expensive. Some of us will of course buy both in any case but that is bound to not be the case for everyone. 

 

Whomever releases first, may be partially depleting a customer base for the other. A race may be afoot. (Edit: with obvious consequences, as less successful games get lesser further development. I dont think both sims are different enough to warrant anyone claiming they are totally different products and most people would just buy both).

Edited January 2, 2024 by danielprates

[Jaegermeister]

Has anyone figured out what engine this is?

 

 

It's an 18 cylinder twin row radial but the Air induction doesn't look like anything I can find.

 

Nevermind... It's from the B-29.

 

[MAJ_stug41]

Looks to me like the Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone as it is mounted in the b29

[Avimimus]

56 minutes ago, Trooper117 said:

I honestly can't believe why this hasn't been answered yet... If it's not compatible, do they think we are all petulant teenagers who will go into a rage and refuse to buy anything else from the GB series?

 

There are still good things to come from the GB series, most adults here will probably continue with it as it's going to be some time before the new project is released.

Time and technology marches on, and nothing lasts forever... I'm all for going forward.

 

Honestly, yes - I don't know about what the developers expect, but I personally would expect anything. ? I mean, when the developer Q&A was announced, with its promise of answering questions, we had a thread that went on for days where people complained about the developers not answering questions (in response to them offering to answer questions)! We are creatures of emotion and rationalisation, more than rationality.

 

I also think that the feelings over development/support being stopped - I think it depends a bit on what one is interested in. If one is very excited about the new title that helps... for people like the WWI community... well, we had a gap from 1998 to 2009 in which no new sims came out, then there was a gap from 2013-2019 followed by the porting over of existing content (still not finished and looking like it won't be finished)... so the question becomes - will there be another decade gap? Will it be two decades? Will the successor have less content than Rise of Flight did (or even less content than Flying Circus)? Obviously, that isn't going to feel as good to the hardcore WWI fans.

 

 

50 minutes ago, danielprates said:

What do you imagine gets released earlier, this or Combat Pilot?

 

See that is a relevant concern; who knows what wil be the state of the economy 3 years from now (and the world's for that matter). Both this (GB:K?) and Combat Pilot will be full games/modules and, logicly, expensive. Some of us will of course buy both in any case but that is bound to not be the case for everyone. 

 

Whomever releases first, may be partially depleting a customer base for the other. A race may be afoot. (Edit: with obvious consequences, as less successful games get lesser further development. I dont think both sims are different enough to warrant anyone claiming they are totally different products and most people would just buy both).

 

I'm pretty sure Korea will come out first (especially if CP is more than a tech demo). The Great Battles series now has almost twenty years of development behind it (in terms of code base and experience), so they have less to rebuild.

 

As for sales... honestly, speaking personally, I don't think it is an issue... each product recruits more people to the genre, and they become more likely to pick up another product from another developer (e.g. after they have invested in a joystick etc.) The important thing is that all of the projects are engaging. I think the only exception might be 'study sims' where learning to fly one aircraft takes so much work there isn't time to learn more. I found with DCS that I've ended up flying the Mil Mi-24 and haven't bought the F/A-18 (for example) because one plane is enough to learn.

 

That is a great thing about the lack of start-up procedures (etc.) in a series like Great Battles... systems are modelled to a surprising depth and realism, the flight model is great, but one doesn't have to double check that one has remembered the start-up procedure correctly for each plane! ? I also don't see how some people can possibly believe that a lack of a click-able cockpit makes a simulation less 'hard-core'... as someone flying WWI aircraft a lot my reaction is 'What buttons? What is there to click?'. That said, I believe DCS overall has helped build the genre, and thus helps this series more than it competes. Of course, this is just my opinion.

P.S. When flying civil I do prefer switchology, because I tend to get bored... the adrenaline associated with possibly having someone to shoot you down just isn't there, so complex engines become better engines when flying civil. But I'm also partial to the chill meditative experience of flying gliders - especially as it still has a rush when you remember that 'all landings are dead-stick landings' 

[Luftschiff]

Good news, exciting news. Now that Combat Pilot is doing the Pacific I am more than okay with Korea, esp since France and Spain were never feasible. Gonna get the chaika and a finland map too! All very appealing stuff! 

[Trooper117]

59 minutes ago, danielprates said:

What do you imagine gets released earlier, this or Combat Pilot?

 

I don't care really... I have wanted a properly fleshed out modern take on both the Pacific and Korean war. I might be retired now, but if I can afford them both I'll buy them.

In the meantime, I have lots of other options I already own in the flight sim world I'm spoilt for choice...