[Stabilization] No features.

[Thisdale]

I'm just gonna throw it out there;

 

With all the stuff DCS is producing right now... New planes, New Maps, New textures, new ATC...

 

Would it be ok if perhaps, at the end of 2016, when all that good stuff is "supposed" to be release, for the DCS crew to take a solid month of vacation. Go away. Relax. Refresh. 2016 is gonna be a GREAT year for DCS.

 

After which, if perhaps it would be possible to spend a solid 6 months to Stabilize the product. No dev on new features. No new planes, no new maps, no new trees...

It's fun to have new features every now and then yes. But at the same time, its really fun for this new content to be useful. Right now, it seems like a lot of standard stuff is; or not working properly, is very unstable, or not working at all.

 

Here are a few examples of things that really need lovin':

 

Review AI capabilities.

This includes Editor Options. There is a LOT of basic stuff AIs cannot perform correctly. We always have to find hacks and ways around stuff that should be very simple and elegant to make missions. AIs get lost on a road... i mean...

 

Review Audio/Support.

We've been hearing the same placeholder "Wags-in-a-bedroom" JTAC and all those robotic ATC quotes. Perhaps its time to hire an Audio Coordinator, cast some relevant artists and record high-quality VOs for the game.

 

Optimisation

Although there are new engine rendering options, new lighting and all that. It is still extremely unoptimized. Gamers around the world went from puny pentiums to Major Watercooled QuadCored, 8gigGPU platforms. But the same odd magical "look at town, FPS drop to 5" occurs.

 

 

I have no inside knowledge of how DCS manage resources. That said, i do have knowledge of how Videogame management "should" work. And even with "perpetual production" plans, there are phases for debug/stabilization and production of assets. In this case, and the reason for this post, is that the Stabilization phase seems to always be forgotten and taken for granted.

 

Please, take a breather, step back, and look at the product.

 

Thank you for reading.

 

[Goblin]

Sounds like good advice!

I can imagine the ED crew are swamped in 2.5 development, and have been for a while if we consider the development of 2.0 and modules. When 2.5 is out, let it sit for a while, and re-visit the details...