Lock On is slowly but surely vanishing from the radar

Flanker1.5 and Adamski's ladder

Oh My... (Taurion's favorite phrase).

Thanks for the flashback, Andrew!

I remain convinced that online play is a virtually insignificant factor in LOMAC's success or failure. This isn't Quake and will never have mass online appeal (or offline for that matter).

 

Yes, I know many people love online play, and I've done a bit in the past (though not since Flanker1.5 and Adamski's ladder), but the vast majority of purchasers probably never fly online.

 

I still think it's important to have good network code, because it makes great icing on the cake, but it's how this sim performs offline which should lead development, otherwise the tail's wagging the dog.

 

Andrew McP

The online community for any game speak the most and shout the loudest! But the truth is they are a very (I mean VERY )small minority of any game. No more than 5% of the people who bought IL2 play online and even less online players in LOMAC. I very much doubt that ED are that concerned with online community revenue apart from the online community are the most active in all the game forums the most, giving an illusion that games are played more online than in single player mode.

Take a look at Quake III/ it was designed for online play almost exclusively. iD addmitted they got it wrong and developed Doom III which was mainly centred around single play mode to sell it! and of course Quake 4 had a strong emphasis on single play mode. Half life is another example and so on..... :)

It's the old maxim, he who shouts the loadest....gets heard.

Btw I am not knocking the online community, its a game and one can play it any way they like. But the real truth is in market figures and how successful LOMAC is ..... is in the business statistics and we are not privy to EDs business knowledge ;)

Mizzy

I fly the vannila Su-25 and I'm hear to tell ya its no fun to even try to find a server to even offer the plane online. Much less, a real mission for it. And after 6 months with the KA-50 I'm sure it will be the same.

Hi Star,

Have you tried the VVS504 server on Hyperlobby? All missions have a significant A2G component for us Frog pilots....the VVS504 Bomber Wing exclusively fly the Su25 and 25T....all missions allow you to fly either/both and there are plenty...and I mean PLENTY of targets...unfortunately there are also plenty of fighters looking to kick us in the teeth ;)

Anyways, if you haven't, come along and have a go...I am usually on the server on Tue/Thu nights at 2000z and would be happy to fly with you...if you do come along also get on our TS server...as I hate to type and fly ;)

See you in the skies hopefully.

Well I don't know what mizzy thinks, but I would call that fugly 8 year old Dx7 graphics engined sim out of date.

 

F4:AF makes a good coffee coaster though. :icon_lol:

Some effects looks better than those in LO and what's the most important F4:FF engine has ADEQUATE hardware requirements unlike LO:mad:

Flames in LO looks better WITHOUT shaders and are couple times faster. Does it say any good about LO engine?? This is not the only one "choking, over-demanding effect" in LO.

Less important:

It is possible that ED doesn't provide clickable cockpits because this would reveal lack of many avionics functions:P

Evil why did you get banned? And you have got 100% warning?

Bleak, all I have to say.

 

 

I fly the vannila Su-25 and I'm hear to tell ya its no fun to even try to find a server to even offer the plane online. Much less, a real mission for it. And after 6 months with the KA-50 I'm sure it will be the same.

Look Harder :-)

169th Dedicated has 8 x Su25's available to fly at any time.

If someone could revive Jane's Fighters Anthology with advance flight models, avionics and today's standard of graphical detail for all aircrafts i would be the happiest simmer and it would also be the best sim in simming history LOL.

I'm quite surprised the way thing turned out - not what I expected at all, nothing I read so far changes my point of view.

I supported LO first at SimHQ, then at Lomacfiles and now Lockonfiles, I guess I posted close to a thousand screenshots of LO over the past year at SimHQ Community Hall :D ! and witnessed how this community changed over the years.

But for Lockonskins and my site all other LO English-speaking forum communities withered and died, SimHQ was the last holdout. We are lucky that there are so many Sqns still around.

When LOBS comes out, we'll see - if I know ED, we'll learn all about it on an exclusive preview at SimHQ a month or two before it goes on sale :D - then we will learn all the great features about it.

MigMadness... you would have to be one of the most sensible simmers to participate in these forums I have seen for a long time.

Rep Point inbound!

Look Harder :-)

 

169th Dedicated has 8 x Su25's available to fly at any time.

:icon_toil , yeah as targets:D

I dont' understand how LO is dying because of a dying section of a website. Lock-On forum at SmihHQ is idle- so what? Sites(forums) are born and dying every day. Big deal. Look at this place- I don't need to visit another board to get better informed about LO. I believe this place still has it's best days ahead. How can one possibly think that LO is vanishing? I just don't get it.

I remember the forum of the flanker2.com site. How long it lasted, remember? Even after the official site was closed many people kept posting there. My point is that not sites and their forums drive the sim, it's all about comunity.

Ummm, well development of Lock-on will be ending after 1.2 no matter what due to contractual and legal reasons (IIRC) and ED will be free to work on a sim where they have full control over content and functions.[/Quote]

 

Well, one good thing about this is that no missions have to be re-worked after that release (unless they patch it again).

 

Some people on this forums are looking smal picture with their "I want, I want" rants and it always disheartens me a bit.

 

Some other people see flight simming not as a game, but as their hobby and

get a bit nervous and frustrated seeing a diminishing community. Therefore

it's ok to ask for more planes/features etc to keep interest and pilot

numbers high. The tone is sometimes too sharp, but just shows how

sensible the simmer is when discussing "his" simulation (i wouldn't exclude

myself here :redface: )

 

Think big piture man. Soon (if all goes correctly), we will have a F-16CJ and MiG-29SMT with fully clickable, 3D, 6DoF pits and AFM plus a sim with the KA-50, Su-25/T and A-10 with the same features as above.

 

We will have 1.2 to keep us happy until then. :D

 

Soon? This is IMHO a very optimistic perpective. I remember the time

from an official Lockon announcement to the actual release date and the

problems in the beginning. If they'll develop a new game/graphics/sim engine

i'll gues it will take several years (wasn't there a sim called "Tank Killer"

planned before the F-16 sim?)

 

1.2 must not be the only sim to keep one happy, there will be BoB and

Lead Pursuit announced the work on an F4:AF sequel with DX9 graphics

(no details yet, so it might be a different plane than the F-16).

and let's not forget that we will hopefully see Fighter Ops and Jet Thunder before 2008...

And if that wings over Europe is not a huge improvement over WoV, I will probably pass. The FM's were terrible, and the so called "random missions" that they claim as a DC is so far from a DC it's not funny. Don't let the acolytes of SFP1 hear this, but it was too arcade for me. Fun for a quick dogfight but that's about it.

Sure there are fellas out there fighting online everyday but the "average joe" simmer plays singleplayer and prefers dynamic !

DC is not for single player only!

Needles to say but almost-real enviroment can be used in both SP and MP providing totally new experience. As I've mentioned before - for now MP gameplay in LO looks like silly Counter Strike.

Lead Pursuit announced the work on an F4:AF sequel with DX9 graphics

(no details yet, so it might be a different plane than the F-16).

Wow! Could you give a link or something which proves those plans? It is not that I don't believe you but I'm really eager to see it:)

and let's not forget that we will hopefully see Fighter Ops and Jet Thunder before 2008...

 

And if that wings over Europe is not a huge improvement over WoV, I will probably pass. The FM's were terrible, and the so called "random missions" that they claim as a DC is so far from a DC it's not funny. Don't let the acolytes of SFP1 hear this, but it was too arcade for me. Fun for a quick dogfight but that's about it.

Sorry, but we heard you and are very angry! ;)

But this is a thread about Lockon, let us keep it that way.

Wow! Could you give a link or something which proves those plans? It is not that I don't believe you but I'm really eager to see it:)

I've read it on SimHQ, but the site is down atm due to disk error.

Some reading there:

http://forums.frugalsworld.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=102291

and there:

http://forums.frugalsworld.com/vbb/showpost.php?p=1169788&postcount=55

Soon? This is IMHO a very optimistic perpective. I remember the time

from an official Lockon announcement to the actual release date and the

problems in the beginning. If they'll develop a new game/graphics/sim engine

i'll gues it will take several years (wasn't there a sim called "Tank Killer"

planned before the F-16 sim?)

 

1.2 must not be the only sim to keep one happy, there will be BoB and

Lead Pursuit announced the work on an F4:AF sequel with DX9 graphics

(no details yet, so it might be a different plane than the F-16).

Depends on what you mean by 'soon' and 'several years'.

New stuff is coming after 1.2! If you look at 1.1 and 1.2, the release cycle appears to be about a year inbetween while they stabilize new technologies etc. It's not too bad, is it?

Bubic,

It's not that I dont think DC is not worthwhile, but:

- it is a totally different type of AI logic than the one focused on by ED

Lockon, in my view, is all about physics modelling and not so much about gameplay algorithms

- there are games with very good DC, I have them on my disc and so can play DC whenever I want. Why should I look to Lockon for that?

As I see it, I like Lockon for its extreme precision. It takes hourse to make a good mission, precisely measuring radar envelopes and missile performances. indeed, the action that follows is more like in a lab than a Theatre of operations, but I like it. Of course, if ED adds DC, I wouldn't complain either.

I do not want each game to resemble one another: I play hours and hours on SFP1/WOV just for incredible fun, I play F4:AF for F-16 avionics, I play lockon mostly for Ironhands wonderfull tutorials and e.g. to fly the superb vanilla Su-25. There is simply *NO* other current sim offering that kind of AFM and damage modelling.

The Ka-50 will go even further in this. What is the problem?

Depends on what you mean by 'soon' and 'several years'.

 

New stuff is coming after 1.2! If you look at 1.1 and 1.2, the release cycle appears to be about a year inbetween while they stabilize new technologies etc. It's not too bad, is it?

I might be wrong and can't find the first discussion of the sequels

in this forum, but wasn't it said that the F-16 sim needs a new

game engine and general overhaul? So i don't see that sim in

the 1 year realease cycle.

Each release contains an 'overhaul' of something ... it started with FMs ... ;)

See the idea?

Each release contains an 'overhaul' of something ... it started with FMs ... ;)

 

See the idea?

Yeah, and that's what i'm worried about. The step from Flanker 2.51

to Lomac 1.0 took several years, IIRC.

So it's Tank Killers in 2007 and the F-16 sim in 2008.

Yeah, and that's what i'm worried about. The step from Flanker 2.51

to Lomac 1.0 took several years, IIRC.

 

So it's Tank Killers in 2007 and the F-16 sim in 2008.

I -think- that this is a fairly good guess, yes. The F-16 will also naturally have the MiG-29SMT counterpart (As envisioned, from what I have read here on the forum)

Also, 2.51->LOMAC I think there was a bit more than just programming happening, but I only have vague information on that and it's mostly speculation.

The online community for any game speak the most and shout the loudest! But the truth is they are a very (I mean VERY )small minority of any game. No more than 5% of the people who bought IL2 play online and even less online players in LOMAC. I very much doubt that ED are that concerned with online community revenue apart from the online community are the most active in all the game forums the most, giving an illusion that games are played more online than in single player mode.

 

Take a look at Quake III/ it was designed for online play almost exclusively. iD addmitted they got it wrong and developed Doom III which was mainly centred around single play mode to sell it! and of course Quake 4 had a strong emphasis on single play mode. Half life is another example and so on..... :)

 

It's the old maxim, he who shouts the loadest....gets heard.

 

Btw I am not knocking the online community, its a game and one can play it any way they like. But the real truth is in market figures and how successful LOMAC is ..... is in the business statistics and we are not privy to EDs business knowledge ;)

 

Mizzy

Just wanted to say, great post there Mizzy. Realy well said.