Startup Realism?

[Braindrool]

I think I should clear this up before I go further that I'm not complaining and I love the Community Preview so far, but my question (part suggestion?) is about the startup sequence. Could someone tell me if TKOH is going for the realism? Or more of a user friendly game. I admit the startup is more than most games would have, but will it be even more realistic? E.g. Hot / Cold starts, having to monitor the amps on battery start, etc? I love the game so far and have been playing the preview every day (It's addicting, isn't it?) and the flight dynamics seem great, but I think it just lacks a bit on starting it.

[nightsta1ker]

I personally would love to see more of this implemented. It was addressed at the very beginning. I am not sure if it will be more advanced in the final version, but don't be surprised if what you see is what you get.

[Braindrool]

I agree about wanting to see this ingame. Hope the Devs consider it carefully

[Randomator]

I really would love having realism in the entire thing, especially the startup sequence. Maybe kind of like the helicopter mods in FSX, they're realistic and personally I think that makes it much more entertaining.

[Braindrool]

I've never played FSX, but I saw hovercontrol has some nice mods for it. And I watched some videos of the start up. Looks very impressive. And for the people viewing this thread feel free to post, I want to see your opinions too.

[Helmut Duregger]

I never had problems with the manual startup sequence in DCS: Black Shark but I fear such a detailed simulation would require too many resources and therefore BI might not want to do that. As with other points of concern I hope BI includes a means for modders to implement it themselves. For instance, I am also not happy with the low detail of the Seattle map from what we could see so far. In relation to Arma2 maps (which are smaller but that is fine) nap of the earth flying might be as bad as in other sims (DCS, X-Plane 9), from a visual standpoint.

In short, I think they should focus on getting the flight dynamics spot on, after that they should provide an API to the modders so that we can add any instruments, helicopters and maps we like. The graphics is where the engine currently really shines, we only need a decent flight model and rope physics to get some SAR missions on. The render to texture, we already get.

Huge maps is something that other sims already provide but for helicopter flying repeating landscapes or rough textures are no fun for me. This is where they can score. Just a small artificial map with a hospital, an area covered by sea, a mountainous area, maybe a dam, but I got carried away...

[Braindrool]

Well it still is in beta, but how I see it is that it's a helicopter simulator, emphasis on simulator. I think realism should be key, and yes I think flight dynamics are a big part of it. And I'm impressed with the mapping, it's about 1/2 detail of Arma 2 graphics, but that is still quite a bit more than FSX and not sure about DCS / X-plane.

[CarlGustaffa]

As with other points of concern I hope BI includes a means for modders to implement it themselves.

Unless they make it possible to place switches and graphics on the 3D panel, we (not me, but those who know) would need full access to the model files themselves to model in these switches.

For instance, I am also not happy with the low detail of the Seattle map from what we could see so far. In relation to Arma2 maps (which are smaller but that is fine) nap of the earth flying might be as bad as in other sims (DCS, X-Plane 9), from a visual standpoint.

How is the map resolution too coarse for nap flying? Iirc it's still half resolution of OA. And why would you do nap flying in a civilian chopper sim? I live close to an airport, and I've never seen any nap flying going on. It's not risk free, and risk and civil aviation don't blend.

In short, I think they should focus on getting the flight dynamics spot on, after that they should provide an API to the modders so that we can add any instruments, helicopters and maps we like. The graphics is where the engine currently really shines, we only need a decent flight model and rope physics to get some SAR missions on. The render to texture, we already get.

Huge maps is something that other sims already provide but for helicopter flying repeating landscapes or rough textures are no fun for me. This is where they can score. Just a small artificial map with a hospital, an area covered by sea, a mountainous area, maybe a dam, but I got carried away...

I agree. Like the Seattle map? I guess the south east asia map will be less occupied with man made stuff, but provide a much larger map, probably more suitable for longer endurance runs.

[Braindrool]

I noticed something today with the 5th community preview update, they added APU shortcut to the controls layout, but the light helicopter in preview can only access battery. Perhaps we'll be able to use either in the full game?

[CarlGustaffa]

Does it have an APU? The data/commands was always there, but I couldn't get it to do something. There is a ton of really promising commands that I guess will only be applicable in the larger helicopter classes.