Documentary?

[animaal]

I'd love to see inside the sausage factory.

 

It'd be great to see a short documentary feature (maybe 30 mins) on the production of a DCS module. It could be released some time after the module has been completed, showing what went into its production.

 

I'm very curious to see things like:

- the internal discussion (or part of the discussion) to decide to implement that particular aircraft.

- Are there visits to museums to see the real-life aircraft? What's the reaction from the team seeing it for the first time?

- Maybe hear some of the discussion with the real-life experts who flew it. It would be interesting to hear their experiences.

- what does the designer/developer/modeller's desktop look like? What does (s)he actually see during development?

- a major problem that the developer/modeler experienced and is proud of solving. E.g. something with the flight model or weapons behaviour.

- the release of the module. Is there a little celebration?

 

This might not work well for a module with complex systems, like the Hornet or Viper - they get released in early access, with continuous improvements and features over an extended period. Maybe something like the F-5 or Mig-19 would be more suitable, where they're released more or less feature complete. Then, some time after release, it would be fantastic to have a short feature made available.

 

I can see reasons why this may not be realistic. The developers have enough to be doing besides spending time explaining their work to a camera. There may be confidentiality issues with the development process. And maybe not everybody wants to be on camera. But as well as being interesting, could it be beneficial as a form of marketing?

[sirrah]

I'd love to see inside the sausage factory.

 

It'd be great to see a short documentary feature (maybe 30 mins) on the production of a DCS module. It could be released some time after the module has been completed, showing what went into its production.

 

I'm very curious to see things like:

- the internal discussion (or part of the discussion) to decide to implement that particular aircraft.

- Are there visits to museums to see the real-life aircraft? What's the reaction from the team seeing it for the first time?

- Maybe hear some of the discussion with the real-life experts who flew it. It would be interesting to hear their experiences.

- what does the designer/developer/modeller's desktop look like? What does (s)he actually see during development?

- a major problem that the developer/modeler experienced and is proud of solving. E.g. something with the flight model or weapons behaviour.

- the release of the module. Is there a little celebration?

 

This might not work well for a module with complex systems, like the Hornet or Viper - they get released in early access, with continuous improvements and features over an extended period. Maybe something like the F-5 or Mig-19 would be more suitable, where they're released more or less feature complete. Then, some time after release, it would be fantastic to have a short feature made available.

 

I can see reasons why this may not be realistic. The developers have enough to be doing besides spending time explaining their work to a camera. There may be confidentiality issues with the development process. And maybe not everybody wants to be on camera. But as well as being interesting, could it be beneficial as a form of marketing?

It would indeed consume some valuable time, but on the other hand, for some users it would probably also create better understanding/more sympathy and would trigger them to think twice before placing frustrated posts about slow development.

[Emmy]

Haven’t really checked lately but a certain armored warfare “sim” used to do a regular series of “Developer’s Diary” interviews that were quite informative, entertaining and educational about all aspects of that product’s ongoing development.

 

I agree with animaal on the point about delivery of some “A HA!” Moments.

 

Might be time to pack Glowing Amraam up with his gear and produce some “Get To Know ED” segments.