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http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/interviews/59338/Interview-With-DCS-A-10C-Warthog-Producer-Matt-Wagner

Interview With DCS: A-10C Warthog Producer Matt Wagner

 

Mar 03, 2011

 

 

 

Just before the launch of Eagle Dynamics' DCS: A-10C Warthog we had the opportunity to run some questions by DCS series Producer Matt Wagner begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting. He's one of the few guys left from the old days of sims, and is one of a small number of figures left that have significatly helped keep the flight sim genre alive.

 

 

VE: Hey Matt, so what can you tell us about your background? How did you find yourself in the role of a Producer over the "DCS" franchise?

MW: After resigning from the CIA as an intelligence analyst in 1998, I came onboard with the Baltimore Studio of the EA / Jane's Combat Simulations team as a designer on the F/A-18E simulation. After the studio was closed I was off to SSI (which was later absorbed by Ubisoft) to produce Flanker 2.1, IL-2 Forgotten Battles, and Lock On. After moving back east and doing some work with Break Away Ltd on some "serious games" titles, I was sent to work full time with The Fighter Collection / Eagle Dynamics to help with design and coordinate our military and game projects in the US. While at TFC/ED I've produced Flaming Cliffs 2, DCS: Black Shark, DCS: A-10C, and several military training projects.

 

VE: Have any fun or unique experiences come up as a result of producing such realistic flight simulations?

MW: Growing up the thought of being a combat pilot was always a dream of mine. However, after a high school sporting injury that was not going to happen. Doing what I do now though allows me to help create a close simulation of that, work with various combat aircraft aircrews, and many hours in the full dome simulations for aircraft like F/A-18s, F-16s, F-15s, and F-14s. Although I have yet to get some backseat time in a fighter, I'm still working on it!

 

VE: What do you think contributed most to the decline in the number of flight sims over the past ten to fifteen years? Do you think there could have been ways to prevent it, or was the decline inevitable with the rise of the Xbox generation?

MW: I believe it mostly had to do with large publishers being able to generate much higher profit margins with other game genres. As to why I think that happened: Initially, PC flight simulations were the darling of the games industry but as first person shooters and real time strategy games came into their own, they gradually started to compete with the same core audience. Particularly with an FPS, it is much easier to pick up and have a good time; whereas with most flight simulations, there can be a fair amount of study.

 

The learning curves are night and day and you certainly get more instant gratification from other genres. Whereas as FPS, RPG, and MMOGs have had their profitably sore soar over the last decade (at least the successful ones) flight simulation sales have stayed rather flat. So for the large publisher deciding where to put their development investment dollars, flight simulations have for the most part been abandoned by large publishers. Depending on your view point, this can be either a positive or negative. For us it's been a positive as it led us down the path of self-publishing and allowing us to do the simulations we want to play as gamers. There is however an upside in developing flight simulators in that they do give a return on investment. For console games, because of the vast number of titles launched, probably only about 10% recover their development costs.

 

VE: Beyond more serious sims I used to also love some of the story driven simulations that existed at one time, such as Origin's Strike Commander, Wings of Glory, and Pacific Strike. Do you think there's still room for a story and character driven flight sims? What about putting the player in charge of a mercenary group amidst conflict, where a real value it put on each missile, bomb, or bullet used?

MW: I think the console-based flight games have done a really nice job of this story-driven narrative. For us, we are trying to make the most authentic simulations possible, particularly given our investment in creating training solutions for various militaries. As such, the idea of mercenary pilots is a bit out there for us. However, we do intend to include more game play features such as inventory, air crew, and air craft management over the course of a campaign. As with DCS: Black Shark, DCS: A-10C Warthog has a very power mission editor that allows a talented mission builder to create very narrative-based storylines.

 

VE: In your opinion does the success of the flight sim genre at this point rely on the continued support of the older PC gaming generation, or do you still see growth in the sim community?

MW: Certainly the "flight simulation crowd" is on the older side of the demographics, but every day we see new, younger folks popping up on our forums. Every year sees a new generation of aviation and flight sim enthusiasts reaching maturity. Many of them wanted to take the next step in authenticity from console titles or are aviation enthusiasts. While I honestly do not see a resurgence in the popularity of realistic flight simulations (as per the 1990s), I do not see them dying away.

 

VE: As I understand it DCS: A-10C Warthog is really a consumer version of a military training simulation. Let's say the average Joe managed to get a some hands on time through the US military with one of the actual Eagle Dynamics military grade trainers. After having mastered DCS: A-10C Warthog, should our friend Joe be able to jump right in and chew up some bad guys without much direction?

MW: DCS: A-10C Warthog was an outgrowth of the A-10C Desktop Trainer we did for the Air National Guard, U.S. Air Force, and Reserves. Much of the A-10C specific avionics were brought over directly to the DCS A-10C. However, the 6 DOF cockpit, 3D model, flight dynamics, engine, hydraulic, electrical, lighting, emergency, flight control, and fuel systems are all new and much more advanced than the military version. After working on the software A-10C for a couple of years I had the opportunity to sit in the USAF full dome A-10C cockpit simulator. Based on our software, I was able to start up the aircraft, taxi, take off, navigate, kill the target, and land without a problem. I see no reason why one of our DCS: A-10C Warthog customers could not do the same.

 

VE: Have any active or former A-10 pilots contributed to the consumer version? What sort of feedback do you usually get on the feel of DCS: A-10C over flying the real thing in training or combat situations?

MW: Particularly during the development of the military version, we had several A-10C pilots help out with the consumer version. This was very valuable in helping with areas we did not model in the military version such as very accurate flight dynamics. The active and retired A-10 pilots that have flown the game have all been VERY pleased with the results.

 

VE: As DCS: A-10C gets close to wrapping up, what are you most proud of in regards to the simulation itself? Any regrets?

MW: When reviewing customer feedback and reviews we got from DCS: Black Shark, one of the common complaints was that the missions felt empty and sterile. This is natural if the player is not aware of any activity going on around them. We addressed this in DCS: A-10C Warthog by adding a new radio system. The actual three radios in the A-10C are modeled and all allied air units can now be heard over the radio (if you have your radios tuned correctly). So you will now hear other flights navigating, attacking targets, calling out spotted enemy units. You can also direct ground forces now. We are also very proud of the virtual Joint Terminal Air Controller (JTAC) unit that will talk to the player and direct them to assigned targets.

 

Like any larger projects there are features we wish we could have included but regret that we just ran out of time. However, DCS is an evolving series and I'm sure we will have the chance later to introduce some features we wanted to include in the release of DCS: A-10C Warthog like the Nellis Air Force Base and training range map.

 

VE: If you had a chance to speak to a potential customer that was on the fence about picking up DCS: A-10C, what reasons would you suggest to help inspire them to make the jump into a serious sim product again?

MW: PC flight simulations have the reputation for having very steep learning curves for those not accustomed to the genre. For DCS: A-10C we made efforts to help shallow this curve. The biggest being fully interactive training missions. Sitting in the cockpit you will have an instructor tell you what to and there will be animations in the cockpit to get your eyes in the right spot. He will then lead you step by step through each lesson. Additionally, there are a whole host of assists such as Easy Avionics, Easy Flight Dynamics, Tool Tips over each cockpit button and switch, Invulnerability, Respawn, etc.

 

VE: Sometimes it feels like the A-10 is literally one of the last remaining links to classic skill based air combat. Do you think that there's much else in the air that can compare to the feel of the A-10 Warthog?

MW: Naturally I am biased, but I really think that the A-10C is one of the most fun aircraft to fly and has a great combination of good old stick and rudder flying and 21st century avionics and weapons (target pods, JDAM, etc.).

 

VE: Will customers who purchase DCS: A-10C be able to expect ongoing support in the way of content updates or patches? What sort of support roadmap is currently planned for DCS: A-10C?

MW: We are already at work on a Nevada expansion map (home of Nellis AFB for training and Red / Green Flag exercises) and an A-10C Upgrade Pack. We'll be talking more about these in the coming months. We will also plan to release upgrades to DCS: Black Shark and Flaming Cliffs 2.

 

VE: We've heard rumors that the next DCS product will be another fixed wing aircraft. Are you able to offer any other details? Will the product be linked to another official US military simulation product, or completely stand-alone?

MW: Yes, our next DCS aircraft will indeed be a very popular U.S. fixed wing aircraft. It is too early to lift the curtain on it, but based on our customers feedback, we are confident there will be a lot of very happy flight simmers.

 

VE: Is there anything else you'd like to share with the community regarding Eagle Dynamics or the Digital Combat Simulation brand?

MW: As with DCS: Black Shark, DCS: A-10C Warthog is just one aircraft in a series. The DCS series will continue to grow with new aircraft, maps, mission editor features, game play, and technologies. As the DCS series grows, past aircraft will be upgraded to work in the improved DCS environment with other DCS aircraft. As such, the DCS simulation environment will continue to grow and evolve into the long distant future we hope.

 

 

VE Reader: How are you going about encouraging new players to get into sims, specifically DCS: A-10C Warthog?

The biggest advancement for us was to make the learning curve more shallow. Based on our experience from Black Shark, it could be pretty daunting for new players to learn a study simulation. So, we included both a fully interactive training system and a new type of manual that included both reference at the first half and practical walk-through chapters for much of the second half. As with Black Shark, we also included many difficulty options to scale the realism of game play.

 

VE Reader: What are your post release plans?

Once A-10C is out the door, the next tasks will be getting the boxed version out, working on the first upgrade (Nevada map and some other new features), working on new Software Development Kits (SDKs), and of course the next DCS aircraft.

 

VE Reader: What sort of value has Eagle Dynamics seen from running a pre-purchase open beta?

The primary purpose of the pre-purchase was to both allow customers the option to do so, but also allow them an avenue to have access to beta versions of the game. This has given us the great benefit of identifying hardware compatibility issues early. Given that we are not a large company with a QA lab, this has been a great benefit.

 

VE Reader: What sort of technical enhancements have you added to the DCS game engine e.g. DX11 shaders and multi-threading?

A-10C grows on the existing engine as used in DCS: Black Shark. However, it adds new software anti-aliasing options, High Dynamic Range (HDR), multi-threading audio support, and EDM object modeling. As the DCS series grows, new elements like DX11 and more multi-threading will be added.

 

VE Reader: Why did Eagle Dynamics choose to support x64 memory addressing?

Primary to allow great access to system RAM. With large, intense mission, this can be a big help.

 

VE Reader: Could you paint us a picture of how MP should play out?

We want the MP environment to have all the same functions as the single player environment to include data linking with other players, full radio support, and better match making through the master server. Given the nature of this simulation, we feel that the coop is where this game will shine.

 

VE Reader: What can't you do in the sim e.g. parachute out, land on an aircraft carrier?

Once you eject from the aircraft you can walk around the game world. In fact, if you come across a UAZ jeep, you can jump in and take it for a ride.

 

+100

 

СуперХорнет - просто предел мечтаний ! Он же и F и A :thumbup:

Ага, кто вам его даст?

А чем CVN-70 не устраивает? :)

Не надоело еще в каждой теме это говорить?

А я то думал что они только издатели... :)

А они ещё и производители... :):))):):):):):):

Это языковой барьер, сэр...

Явное упоминание есть. И оно было в предыдущем интервью.

 

 

 

Джим Mackonochie: кодирование уже началась на следующий самолет в серии DCS. Все, что я могу сказать, что она будет фиксированной США крыла самолета!

Под это определение, кстати, попадает и самолет братьев Райт. Нет, разве?

В плане? В сысле инфу по самолету? Так NATOPS в инете по нему есть и 000 и 200. А в плане реализации систем вооружения - вы как-то сами говорили (кто-то из ED по поводу A-10), что много упрощений. Так что почему бы и нет? Vertical Reality Simulation's - смогли же сделать и замечу очень прилично смогли. Еще был бы это самодостаточный сим, а не аддон под FSX...

Не "много упрощений", а только изменены некоторые параметры малого количества систем.

Подавляющее большинство - вполне аутентично.