posted 12-06- 06:58 PM               

Plus side: It ran o.k. on my old system. Had to turn down all the effects, switch off weather ,set detail to medium. Then it ran without serious slowdown.

Minus side: It was mig alley with props. Got shot down quickly, so I could experience the damage effects. None worth noting. Also, the hit was just a sharp BANG and that was it. I almost smiled as I bailed out, coz the pilot reache dfor a ripcord, but then it was back to the menu. No parachute etc. Smile vanished.

Flight model was o.k. but the whole thing just didn't hold together. Tried shooting bombers down, but couldn't hit a damn thing. Or at least that was how it looked.

Graphics were acceptable, looking rather like a brushed up EAW. In fact, the exterior views reminded me strongly of EAW. Not a good thing in my opinion. EAW was good in it's day, but it is now in the bargain budget ranges. Full priced software should be offering a little more.

But here we come to the real killer. This, more than anything else said 'DO NOT BUY THIS GAME'

The cockpit view. PAH!

Combat flight simulator had flat cockpits. They look good by comparison. I want to look at something that resembles a cockpit. Without that, where is the immersion. Where are the realistic gauges. Why is there that silly view that just looks FLAT. I disliked the views in Mig Alley, and this is basically the same engine.

posted 12-07- 03:27 AM               

My pilot's chute opens. In fact sometimes it doesnt open and he screams and flails his arms.

TS

posted 12-07- 04:44 AM               

The chute thing depends on how long your plane is around. If it blows up quickly, you don't see the chute. Got it to work once, after I posted, but I ouldn't see the chute itself....

The game is full of potential, but by using the Mig Alley arrangement, which was not the best, they have condemned themselves to mediocrity. The demo didn't make me want to buy the game. It convinced me it would be a mistake. No matter how good the campaign, the critical aspect of a flight sim has to be whether you can imagine yourself in the air. SDOE is great for this, with 3d cockpits and moving controls. Yes, there were lots of planes in the air. Nice. EAW has lots of planes in the air.

Can't see anything BOB has to offer that current sims don't offer. And to add insult to injury, you need a reasonably high spec to run the damn thing.

Sorry Rowan, Flying Corps Gold was fun, Mig Alley was o.k. but about as stable as the average Homicidal Maniac, and this isn't a huge leap forward.

oh yes....and I hate those german/british markings that clutter the screen edges telling you what is out of view. I couldn't turn them off and they are no bloody help either!

still, end of rant.....IL2 is still getting good reviews, Oleg seems to have an actual presence in the group of people most likely to buy his sim, and he is already making efforts to increase the number of flyable planes. And you can still run it with reasonable graphics on a lower spec PC. And it will support multi-player online with two players crewing up a 2 seater.

p.s. Did I mention BOB terrain....no....best not to! Having just finished doing some stuff for Diego on PTO, I have got used to looking at his textures. I know I'm being spoilt quality wise, but he does his for free. Someone got paid for doing BOB.

posted 12-07- 12:33 PM               

quote:

---

about as stable as the average Homicidal Maniac

---

LOL! What descriptive language!

FWIW, I did give BOB one last try. Again, in an attempt to see something of a glimmer of what some others are seeing in it. I failed. I don't get the feeling of flight. I don't like the damage effects. I don't appreciate the view system and I don't understand the mentality of sacrificing physics to allow 100 or more aircraft to be in the arena simultaneously especially when your multiplay system wont support a tenth of that.

I dig the way the carburator in the hurri (er, guess it was a spit) is simulated. Slam it around or invert it and it'll choke. That's cool. I loved seeing a flight of 109s break every-which-way when you fire into a group (yes, bunched together) of them.

Then finally, after a few tries, it hard-locked my system for the last time. I've tried around 30 demos (Hey, gotta check things out) on my system since I started it last week, only one other demo has crashed during this time. Come to think of it, I think the alpha demo performed better than this one did.

On one hand, I'm saddened. First, it's tough enough for a flight sim to make it to release today, but my outlook for the game based on the demo isn't positive. I loved Flying Corps Gold, and, as a result, have respect for Rowan as a design house, but this demo blows.

posted 12-08- 12:02 PM               

I can't really tell if this game is good or not from the demo.. IF bob is any good it will be in the dynamic campaign aspect that mig alley did so well. Hopefully it will be free of so many glitches that made mig alley unplayable out of the box.

TS

posted 12-09- 02:39 AM               

1) Have the user community create an "add on" CD with an installer that install all of the online compatible packs as part of the installation. Include SDOE control in this. Include links to ALL major SDOE websites. There are a couple more updates that would need to be in place first (like a new terrain texture for the original missions). You might even want to break it into 2 "update" CDs. One would have all of the plane related files, and the other would be missions, campaigns, and terrains.

2) Get Activision to bundle this with SDOE and design a new box, and release a Fighter Squadron "GOLD" (or some other catchy phrase) edition with this CD.

3) Submit the "updated product" to magazines for review. Ask the game magazines that include demo CD's to incude the files on the "update" CD with their demo's. This will get people to reinstall SDOE and try it again.

The combination of seeing a new box, the reviews on all of the new flyable planes, and all the additional missions and other goodies would stir up interest in SDOE again.

Are you paying attention MH?

Although the builders wouldn't see monetary gain from this, it would help fund development of a new version of SDOE (the builders could see if this could even be made contractual somehow for allowing use of their material)

posted 12-11- 05:24 AM               

It showed some pretty terrain highlights, but when I dropped low to look at the ground, it still had Mig Alley type horrible forests, and cartoon fields. There may also be aspects of the game ( like the view things) that I am not able to tune to my liking coz the read-me that came with the demo was lacking in useful details, could be it's a good game......

Heres' the snag.

Retail outlets in the UK do not, to my knowledge, allow you to return a game coz it's crap. You pay £30+ for most new releases, and if it's rubbish, unstable, or unable to run properly due to laughable 'minimum spec' data on the box, you arestuck with a turkey! I consider the purpose of a demo release is to give you a chance to test these things out. My experience of BOB is such that I won't rush out and buy it. I may pick up a bargain bin copy in 6 months time for a third of the price. Did that with Mig Alley and Flying Corps Gold. Judged as budget software, they come aout well!

As a P.S. to this, Jug Head has raised an interesting point!

SSL erleased a really fun Tank Sim, Steel Panthers, which also had an incredible following of dedicated tinkerers. Recently released, as a FREE DOWNLOAD was Steel Panthers World at War.

This was an updated version of the game, playable as a stand alone, without need for the original CD. All the update work had been done by the dedicated fan base, compiled and re-coded by volunteers. The know how existed, and people were willing to give time and effort to improving the sim...does this sound familiar to anyone?

The released version was excellent!

Now, I know there are doubtless issues of copyright etc. but is anyone actually selling SDOE anymore? Who owns the rights to the code? And who can say what happens next.

posted 12-11- 07:28 PM               

That would rock WTG.

Like I said before, a demo should show you EXACTLY what the game is like.

Unfortunatly that doesn't happen anymore.