Wings of Osea v2

So, I've gotten a lot better with the mission editor in the last few years and Wings of Osea is a pathetic embarrassment to me today. I'm beginning work on a new version, with the same basic premise (supporting the invasion and hunting a carrier in the Circum-Pacific War), but drastically different structure and mission design. I'm also partnering with BillytheKid on textures.

I'm looking at two options for how I design these missions, and I'd like input:

Option 1 would be one highly randomized, with one mission per US aircraft. BARCAP for the F-15C with random enemy fighter squadrons, fleet defense for the F-14B with random enemy bombers/escorts, random CAS for the A-10C, maritime strike for the F/A-18C.These would work well in both SP and MP and will be updated with the F-16C when it comes out.

Option 2 is a more narrative-heavy campaign with one aircraft and one squadron throughout the whole thing. I would need a lot of multirole flexibility for this, so it would have to be the Viper, Hornet, or Tomcat. It would definitely be good for single player, but I'm not sure how well I could adapt it to MP.

Like last time it will feature full voice acting with plenty of Ace Combat melodrama.

Damn, both options seem awesome but due to the nature of what your trying to do I can't really pick one option over the other. So I say that whichever one you decide to make I wholeheartedly support it.

I would very much prefer the second option with a more story driven campaign, personally. When I play campaigns, I usually like to have a storyline to go with them - it's what got me so in love with combat flight games after my first experience with the genre playing Ace Combat 5 when I was a kid. Dynamic campaigns can be fun, but the best campaigns are usually the ones that have a cohesive story to back up the gameplay, with randomized events/opposition to add spice to any replays.

I wouldn't care really about the type of aircraft chosen, I intend to buy all three (and I already have the Hornet), but there is something to be said for the Hornet and Tomcat being able to perform carrier operations in addition to everything else if you feel you can make use of that. Personally, I'd like to see this campaign avoid using the Hornet for the time being (it could be worked into a seperate version later on), and instead use the Tomcat or Viper. If the Viper goes through an early access period, though, I'd prefer the Tomcat.

Also, something to consider would be giving players the option to start on the ground or in the air for most missions, since an airborne start can get them into the action faster. Feel free to have a few missions where a cold-start and take-off are required though, this adds a bit of flavor to the campaign.

campaign

campaign

It's awesome to see an update coming. But for the skins... BillytheKid always do the squadron emblems in the way of "having a roundel and throw some random elements like the OADF emblem and an aircraft silhouette in" which looks quite strange that every emblem looks alike. :huh:

Meanwhile TheMrSir46 draws squadron emblems for skins too, but he got some awesome designs that can line up with the official skins. What about also send a note to him?

Well, looked up more info on the planes I mentioned, and it seems that what I feared was right - the Viper is going to be an earl-access/beta release. Right now, it seems as though the Hornet and Tomcat are the most complete aircraft out of your options.

Looking at things a bit more closely, I'd probably prefer the Hornet for this campaign; it's got a better array of weapons for hunting down and destroying the enemy carrier group. While flying the Tomcat would be cool, it doesn't seem like it has quite the right set of weapons to fill all of the roles in your brief description.

And yes, I still vastly prefer a campaign format for the telling of such a story. I have fond memories of flying for the OADF in my early teens, so I'm a bit of a sucker for a well-told fighter combat game story.

Looking forward to it!