Combat-Helo

From SIMHQ.com:

Seems the rumors are true! Richard "Flexman" Hawley has announced his new project, Longbow Combat-Helo, and SimHQ is happy to announce we will be hosting the official forums.

Officiall SIMHQ Longbow Combat-Helo Forum: http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/216/1/Longbow_Combat_Helo.html

The campaign is near real-time, there's no "between" screens. No "end mission" screen. Once your in the game, you're in it till you leave or transferred to another map (camp). You land, exit the chopper, perform other duties. Fly another sortie.

We're re-creating the style and excitment of the great sims made in the 90s made popular by Origin and Microprose. Using new technology we can turn the traditional 2D screens into 3D interactive environments. That's actually less work than having to make a whole set of between mission art, code, user interfaces and jumping between them. Making this project work has all been about doing more with less, that's been my mantra from the start and the only way I think we'll see a resurgence of combat sims that don't take years to make.

It's a question of "who has authoritah!!!!". Our vehicles have a 'hook' system for positions. The Longbow has two internal, and two external infantry hooks on the wings (oh yes). Internally flight controls are duplicated, but the aircraft will only accept input from one client, we have voice cues for "You have control/I have control" responses to indicate transfer of input authority.

We'll divide up down the various weapons and sensor commands accordingly. For example the pilot having command of the chain gun, cp/g operating AGMs. TrackIR is working great btw.

External hooks are for players to jump on if needed (if we ever add Little Birds - nudge nudge). Ever had to perform an emergency landing in your sim but stuck with nowhere to go? This is where you find out who your friends are.

This has some potential to kick ass. Love the first person aspect to it, when you're in the war, you're in it. That's great. That little tease about the little bird is cool to. I have no doubt your wait wouldn't be too long. There is a long line of rescue pilots who'd love the chance to come pick you up. :)

WOW, this will be cool!

The pictures look really neat. The video looks like a development version but still very intruiging! Looking forward to how this will shape up!

Looks awsome kind of like Arma I hope they up the detail for weapons etc..:thumbup:

Interesting. I like the approach of actually walking around instead of clicking through GUIs, but I wonder how this will work out in a simulation for mission planning, armament and stuff like that.

We're re-creating the style and excitment of the great sims made in the 90s made popular by Origin and Microprose.

I love sims that tell a story, like Wings of Glory and Strike Commander, where a world exists beyond the confines of the cockpit. Missions need more context and purpose than a wall of text presented just before the mission starts. They need a home base that oozes atmosphere, filled with characters and stories that immerse you in the world. You should personally know your wingmen and feel bad when they die. Modern sims lack the human touch, they are all avionics, physics, faceless AI and robotic missions with no heart.

The graphics level is just a little better then Longbow II, which is 13 years old I guess....

I love sims that tell a story, like Wings of Glory and Strike Commander

EDIT: I guess Longbow Combat-Helo can´t get that realistic from the Start as I thought many systems are classified and he isn´t working with any AH64D Pilots or the manufacturers together. At the moment he doesn´t even have enough reference Pictures for the Cockpit :P

I would be miles more interested in a Mi-24 /35 Sim than into this old AH64 thing. Anyone who has never ever been flying an Apache? Guess not.

The graphics level is just a little better then Longbow II, which is 13 years old I guess....

Still a WIP.

seen the dev blog BKL?

http://combathelo.blogspot.com/

Yeah I did but I´ve seen he has updated it a few hours ago.

But I still doubt he can get all the needed data for the longow. WIsh him all the best with this poject though.

Forgive me, i've been away a while, but what is this? A new game in development, or a mod for ArmA2?

Forgive me, i've been away a while, but what is this? A new game in development, or a mod for ArmA2?

It's a new IP and looking very promising at that. This is an automatic purchase for me.

Spot on. Great news, cheers. I'm browisng the forums atm actually, and it looks too good to be true.. Infantry..

Originally Posted By: ricnunes

 

1- Will this sim also model a "counter-insurgency" campaign (fighting against non-conventional forces) similar to the current Afghan or Iraq war? IMO, it would be great to see "counter-insurgency" campaigns and not only the usual conventional-war ones that we see in other combat helo sims.

 

Currently the aim is to include 5 'factions'. The US army, the Iranian army, The Taliban, Tajik forces/ANA, and civilians. The initial combat missions you fly will be against Taliban forces. They will be moving between settlements on the map forcing the civilians over to their 'side'. You will be tasked with providing CAS to your ground forces and pushing Taliban forces out of civilian areas.

 

 

Originally Posted By: ricnunes

2- Will we see lots of infantry foot soldiers in this sim? IMO, the biggest flaw in most combat helicopter sims (like Jane's Longbow 2 or EECH) is that infantry foot soldiers are almost unexistant (where it should be exactly the opposite). IMO the only helicopter sim that modeled infantry foot soldiers properly was DI's Hind.

 

This is a key aspect we are aiming for.

 

 

Originally Posted By: ricnunes

3- Like Vegas already asked, is there a general timeline to project completion?

 

It's near impossible to make any realistic estimates at this time.

 

Cheers

_________________________

The graphics level is just a little better then Longbow II, which is 13 years old I guess....

If the game has the same functionality as LB2, with a bit better graphics and works well with newer Windows system, I play it. A lot.

If the game has the same functionality as LB2, with a bit better graphics and works well with newer Windows system, I play it. A lot.

Well keep in mind this sim has only been in development since September of last year; I'm sure the graphics will come along.

:D

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/2978815/gonew/1/Welcome_to_Afghanistan_A_devel.html

Very promising. I hope they will finish it!

This looks very promising. I really like the collidable trees and the cockpit detail. Let's hope he will get it as high fidelity as possible.

This looks very promising. I really like the collidable trees and the cockpit detail. Let's hope he will get it as high fidelity as possible.

I do hope folks realise that Combat Helo is not going to be a military spec simulator, it's a worry that my idea of the game isn't going to be other peoples idea. As an indie group of only a few people (2 mostly atm) and a timeline of less than a year, to prove that we can make sims fun again doesn't require intense levels of detail. Details you're never going to look at, or are important to entertaining people and making them feel like a super-cool pilot for an hour in the evening.

I would think it would damn near impossible to create a high fidelity longbow sim. It would hopefully pick up where longbow 2 left off. Have some fun with it.

New Video WIP

Damn! Thats's bloody awesome! Providing it will have a decent flight model and better AI than in Black Shark, I think the ol' Sharky might need to make room for this.

You bite your tongue. Just kidding, the more the merrier I say.

" . . . Details you're never going to look at, or are important to entertaining people and making them feel like a super-cool pilot for an hour in the evening."

So, I'm not a super-cool pilot? Darn you ED, darn you.