Darreck "Gecko6" Lisle of
the 57th Grave Dancers has written this open letter to Tim Goodlett (the
producer of Gunship!). Gecko 6 is a big fan of co-operative multi player
and here he looks at what he would like to see included in the multiplayer
aspect of upcoming sims.
Open Letter To Tim Goodlett - By Darreck "Gecko6" Lisle
It has been a while since
my last article.
Recent events within our sim community have stirred up major emotions
both good and bad. I will cover both aspects.
History:
As everyone is aware that sim developers are rethinking their stand on
hardcore flight Sims. This is supported by the following events.
1. Cancellation of Jane's A-10
2. Cancellation of Desert Fighters
3. Delays in several Sims that go on for years?
4. Release of bug filled and poorly supported Sims
5. Patches that are sent out creating more bugs then they fix
Harping on the past is not my style! I what the developers out there
to listen up with open ears and minds.
They just don't get it!
What is it we are looking for as online Virtual Pilots?
Multiplayer
l Real time target data sharing (Painting
and designation)
l Ability to coordinate multi-ship attacks on the mission planner at
full screen.
(Possibly stand alone applications for mission design)
l Fluid frame rate and solid client sync
l Sensor data sharing (Nav, targeting,
and RWR)
Real time target data sharing (Painting and designation)
This is a real peeve of mine!
I started my sim career on Jane's Longbow II. I loved playing in coop
with my close Army buddies. This was a huge leap in the right direction
for virtual pilots. Jane's almost had it right.
PFZ's (Primary Fire Zones) were a huge tool that enabled us to fight
as a team. Army doctrine is to send out gunships in teams. They are under
the command and control of a scout in an OH-58, OH-6, or even UH-1s.
There is a reason for this.A gunship is a very expensive toy for your
average pilot to go out and rambo with. I could fly in an OH-58D and
scout ahead while my guns sit in a firing position waiting for targets.
With my small silhouette and high maneuverability my bird could get into
the small cracks and crevasses that the Apache could not. With my mast
mounted sight I could peak over saddles and ridges and get eyes on the
objective. Several times I was painting the highest threat mostly SA-13s
and I would observe them launch at one of my guns moving to a new firing
position, that is when it is time to unmask and save the day. Life was
good!
Artillery was another huge step forward. The call for fire format was
pretty close and the results were not real pretty but satisfactory. It
gave the scout role one more asset to draw from. I remember many times
I would have to mark targets with a smoke rockets and send in my guns.
But the prettiest sight was when I would see my guns pop up at my 2:00
and see there launched Laser Hellfires in LOAL mode tracking my designated
targets. My guns were 3 clicks away in a safe firing position and never
saw the carnage. We really never got it to work efficiently enough so
they would fly Longbows and use radar hellfires. But that is one of those
things where you are limited by what the developers give you.
Ability to coordinate multi-ship attacks on the mission planner at
full screen.
(Possibly stand alone applications for mission design)
Once Falcon 4 was released saw the advent of our Virtual Squadron the
57th Grave Dancers. We trained and flew using real world tactics and
methods used by all the worlds best airforces.
Setting expectations for a sim to perform in such a capacity really brings
the Sims shortcomings out quickly. Bugs were discovered in droves, and
with everyone increased the frustration of our pilots. We have a great
bunch of guys, yet give anybody a tool that does not perform the task
and they will find another one to use.
Mission planning and design is a big part of being able to keep a virtual
squadron members interested and flying. Falcon had a good user interface
for there mission planner, yet it was so full of bugs that you had to
spend more time doing work-arounds in stead of mission creation. It would
on average take me at least a week to get a good mission tested and working
how I initially intended it to.
Sad to say that Jane's USAF editor is full featured and a stand-alone
application but its Achilles heal is the area of operations. Maps are
far too small and the detail is only spotted on certain parts of the
map.
To create a multi ship attach Falcon did give us the best tools. Jane's
USAF is far to dependant on having a human pilot in the bird at the time
of attack.
A mission planner should have at least;
l Custom way points and flight path layout one at a time and assign the
altitude, speed, formation, and actions.
l Assign actions once they cross certain way points (Voice, arm, snuff
radar, etc…)
l Custom flight names and ATO formats for printing and html for squadron
use.
l Minimum criteria for the attack or patrol to be combat effective. (Set
criteria that if met means abort, continue, expedite, etc…)
l Has to be Full Screen with scalable icons for zooming in!
l It would be a stand alone application that has printable mission orders
and manual
Fluid frame rate and solid client sync
We all have experienced our squadron mates as they were flying in formation,
have one warp 2-6 miles ahead or behind the formation. Early Falcon days
were notorious for this, and if you happened to be directly on someone's
six then you would both become one with the earth.
The developers have issues to work around and are limited by a small
pipe. The more info passed the worse the performance in game. I have
first hand experience with software development and the problems that
are there now. We are really screwed until everyone gets cable or DSL.
This is not a legitimate excuse for developers to not address and develop
alternatives. Supporting server software that can host multiple connections
and alleviate the net traffic is paramount. This should not be viewed
as a gift but a mandatory piece of software that could be sold as an
add-on or even a stand-alone program. How many damn Quake servers are
out there?
Sensor data sharing (Nav, targeting, and RWR)
I will revert back to my Longbow II and USAF Sims for this one. LB2 had
so much potential for this and Jane's did a half-assed job on it and
it showed. Today's AC have secure data links with each outer, JTARS,
AWACS, ground commanders, and inter service assets. Lets grow up and
start to incorporate this into our sims! I was thrilled with Jane's and
USAF. The Vietnam mission where the fire base is under attack rocked!
A forward air controller was calling in targets and marking them with
orange smoke!!!!!!
There is no reason why I cannot have a simple way to pass threat, target,
and navigational information to my team via AC systems. In LB2 I could
use my mouse to box in a cluster of targets and prioritize them. I would
then broadcast them to my teammates. This was a huge asset for me as
a scout to give target data and route info to an insertion, met life
or death to the infantry on board the transports. Damn I miss those days!
My final Plea!
Tim Goodlett !
Please make Gunship a quality product! Give us all of the capabilities
I have touched on and please! Please, give us a finished product and
don't let Hasbro do another Falcon! Tank will be a huge leap and I will
buy it just to support your work. But give me interaction with the troops
on the ground. Damn all you need is a scripted voice calling targets
and markers to start out with till we can get human players in the area.
I applaud your work and I trust your judgement.
One last note.
Tim put a COBRA and SCOUT AC in Gunship! (Oh-58D, OH-6, AH-1E, F,G) Now
if we can get a first person shooter that can connect to a flight sim
and a tank sim then we would have the best of all worlds.
