Good News

[uhoh7]

Thank God! We need to talk about this, more than anything.

 

Disclaimer:

Although SwingKid has official "ED Tester" status, none of the opinions expressed in this message are derived from secret or "inside" information, or from studying beta versions of Black Shark. Rather, they are the result of his analysis of the already-released Lock On/Flaming Cliffs Mission Editor and file format, from extensive mission-building experience and "SkyWars2" dynamic campaign development.

 

 

 

 

 

I hate to be the party pooper, but I think this thread is getting far too optimistic.

 

I remember when Lock On's release was delayed, month after month, and people were excitedly asking, "does this mean that now with extra time, maybe they can update the Russian avionics to the Western level?"

And none of the testers were able to answer, because they were under NDA, so the hope continued to snowball in an uncontrolled way. And then finally at the time of release, everyone realized and was disappointed - the real problems were with the new Western jets, that they had taken for granted would be more correct!

 

Of course, that is how real software development works. You don't intentionally delay the release of a functional product, because you want to add more bells and whistles. You delay it because the basic, most minimum features that you absolutely need in order to release it are STILL not working.

 

Similarly, I think that the development of a new ME may potentially be more bad news than good. If ED is replacing the ME from scratch, rather than improving the existing one, then there can only be one reason: because they have no other choice.

It's not about listening to the community or adding new features - rather, the existing ME is so old and complex, that nobody can anymore fix it to work with Black Shark. The programmer who made it left the ED team many years ago.

Ross and I noticed this during Storm and SkyWars DC development when the new "fortification" building objects were added. They were not integrated well into the existing mission structure, and it was very obvious that someone tried very hard, and barely succeeded. Static objects! Imagine now trying to integrate all the new vehicles and AI planned for BS.

 

How many months has BS been in development? And this decision is coming now? And ED is not even sure that it will actually be in BS?

 

I am pessimistic. I expect the features of the existing ME to be gutted down to the bare-bones minimum that will still put helicopters into the air. No new payload features, no savable debriefings - I'll be surprised if we even still get Mission Goals.

The Lock On ME is not a module like in other sims - it is the core foundation of the whole UI. Starting it now from scratch is like saying "today, we started programming Black Shark."

 

Right now, we should be helping ED with a sad and desperate triage:

deciding which of Lock On's existing ME features contribute little to gameplay, so that we can live without them (e.g. random failures, variable AI skill levels, pilot logbook, IMHO) and which things we desperately need to save for the future, that they would otherwise be tempted not to include because we took them for granted (e.g. Mission Goals and debriefing structure).

 

IMHO, :(

 

-SK

 

 

You shoulda spoke up before....I would take BS sans new ME now if i could have it and wait for the ME---though it would be very nice.

 

Funny how a little thing like one guy writing code can mean so much down the road. Oleg had a similar issue I think. Documentation is the key I guess, and not to be taken for granted.

[GGTharos]

I think SK might be a little too pessimistic, but then again, that's because I am optimistic.

 

A new ME means new features, at least down the road. ED is interested in replacing the features in the current ME at -minimum- so we can build our missions, IMHO. There'll be more than that, again, IMHO.

[dodger42]

Even though a new mission editor would break some of the apps I have worked and am working on, it is a positive thing that ED have recognised the need to rework it.

 

Already mentioned the much needed copy and paste functionality. Please ED... at least have that covered off.

[MBot]

Wow SK, quite a pessimistic picture you draw here. While I don't agree with your general sentiments I have to say you raise some interesting points. The fact that such a feature is 'announced' such late in the development of BS is something I noticed aswell. Didn't pass the first official release day of BS about one year ago - uncommented ?

Still I think a new editor from scratch is a good thing. If your scenario comes true this might mean a slimm editor in BS, but in the long run this can only get better from what we currently have. The editor and mission possibilitys we currently have is together with the AI - wich is a closly linked subject - the major drawback LOMAC has, the single thing that holds all the excellent aspects of the sim back. LOMAC right now is a tool for sightseeing, for quick dogfights, busting some tanks or duke it out in airquake. The possibility to create realistic missions in believable envoirments is extremly limited. I am making LOMAC missions myselfe and I try realy hard to get the best possible results. Still I think even my best missions for LOMAC is a far cry from what I have expierienced in various other sims. And I am not talking about creating campaigns or improving the campaign structure, I am talking about plaine simple single missions.

 

Starting the editor from scratch is therefore the best thing that can happen to LOMAC IMO, at least in the long run. Unfortunatly it is quite late, this is something that should have happen since the Flanker 2.5 days ( the cummunity desire was certainly there ). If your assumtions are true SK, the sad part might be that old and broken code forced ED to make a new editor and not a design decision, but IF the results are the same I wont be bothered.

[Highwayman-Ed]

I gotta agree that change is a good thing here.

 

I always read these types of thread with interest, and get excited too, but I do think that we will have a good editor in the long run.

 

The thing here with the Lock On community seems to be that those of us that are still here, are a pretty loyal bunch. Sure, we're keen to see Fighter Ops and Jet Thunder released, but as of right now, Lock on is the only modern day combat sim that strikes a fair balance between all of the elements that is available, and despite the delays, it just keeps on getting better.

 

Over the years I've left Lock on and played other games, but I always keep coming back. Furthermore, despite all the flaws with the current editor, I always go back to it to try to make things work another way.

 

It's not going to be all things to all people, nothing ever is, but with all the talk of foundations being set by ED, you've gotta hope.