Madcatz launches new flight sim studio

[mintsauce]

Madcatz launches Thunderhawk Studios

 

CEO Darren Richardson: "[it will] "leverage the market share leadership and global distribution enjoyed by our flight simulation hardware products."

 

Sounds promising - remember they own Saitek. Hopefully they'll make something decent that isn't just a HAWX clone!

[cichlidfan]

Madcatz launches Thunderhawk Studios

Sounds promising - remember they own Saitek. Hopefully they'll make something decent that isn't just a HAWX clone!

 

Sounds like it has too much of a chance to be WOW with wings. Not exactly insipiring. But I would love to be wrong.:D

[SUBS17]

I hope its hard core.

[oritpro]

As long as I can loot what I kill it's all good. :)

 

Since they're building a flight sim based MMO, I would expect that it will be designed to appeal to the masses meaning arcade style flight model, avionics, and weapons systems.

[ZQuickSilverZ]

They own Saitek..... that is intresting.

 

I think it very well could be a nice online sim. I mean they would obviously want a game that would take advantage of thier hardware right? Thier gear is definitely sim oriented.

[Succellus]

So ... they own more civie stuff than combat stuff....

Will it be Hetero, homo or bixesual fligt MMO ? :D

[ZQuickSilverZ]

Succellus I know they make more civie stuff. But they did just make combat rudder pedals. Also it may be civie AND military mixed. Also take into account the name. Does Thunderhawk Studios sound civie to you?

[Wolf Rider]

Crikey...

 

I hope it won't get "mad rudder" syndrome like the thumb (mad mouse) mouse did on the X52.

 

Did they do the G940 for Logitech as well... ?

[Pyroflash]

Also don't forget their X-65F, X-52, and Cyborg flight sticks.

 

Oh, and the fact that that Logitech isn't owned by Mad Catz.

Edited June 3, 2011 by Pyroflash

[RogueRunner]

So the thing will see light of day but support afterwards will be non existent :P

[ZQuickSilverZ]

I think you guys are looking at this all wrong. If they do indeed make flight gear and are looking into making an online flight MMO then in my opinion they just opened up a whole new world of possibilities. This has never been done before. Also I am excited about the possibilites of having a civilian/military mixed server. I really do not see why you can't have casual fliers (lets call them private pilots), virtual airline pilots flying routes, and military mission flights all going on in the same server. The MMO could offer a new list of flight routes for virtual airline pilots weekly and new missions for military pilots monthly. You could limit where military is able to spawn to keep them in range of each other but it wouldn't "fence" them in. Obviously there should be a HUGE penalty for military aircraft shooting down civilian and same team aircraft.

Edited June 4, 2011 by ZQuickSilverZ

[Grimes]

This could be an interesting development. When I think "MMO" I think persistent servers, large player counts online, and a streamlined system for getting missions which can all go into making a great flight sim. On the flip side there is also typically level systems that limit what you can do early on, grinding, and will have a monthly fee or be ad/micro transaction supported.

[ZQuickSilverZ]

1.On the flip side there is also typically level systems that limit what you can do early on

 

I don't see levels. I see money earned and fuel bills. Money I guess is sort of like experience except you have to spend some of this "experience" for fuel and repairs. I don't see having to use it for new aircraft. Maybe you could use it to buy customized paint or decorate your hanger.

 

2.grinding

 

If you enjoy flying it should not be a "grind". There are alot of fun things you can do in a piper for instance you could NEVER do in an F16 and vice versa. I could see them coming out with aircraft "packs" or selling individual aircraft online.

 

3.and will have a monthly fee or be ad/micro transaction supported.

 

I rather pay to keep server access monthly and say get an aircraft every three months or so. I don't like micro transactions. And sometimes those micro's are not very micro.

Edited June 5, 2011 by ZQuickSilverZ

[Grimes]

As for XP: Its a standard part of MMO's these days as it shows a clear progression through a game that generally has no ending. However within flight sims everything is typically unlocked at the start of the game. It would be like if you had to get 100 hours in the Ka-50 before being given access to the A-10C. Now I realize that for some that might not be all that bad, but others may absolutely hate it.

 

As for grinding: It all depends on how XP and the other factors work. If you were wanting the A-10C and had no interest in the Ka-50, those 100 hours would be grinding it out. The closest comparison for a sim I can think of that has lots of grinding in it is Gran Turismo 5. In GT5 a player is usually forced to run short and repetitive races in order to get the needed XP or credits.

 

As for the money to support, a monthly payment would probably be best. I've seen way to many games that have micro transactions or are free to play be ruined by how everything is implemented. I personally like the Team Fortress 2 style of micro payments where all the items you can buy randomly drop for the player anyway. Also several items are created by the community and the creators get a pretty decent percentage of every transaction.