external view (blimp) mode: a request for devs; please give input!

[philobishay]

Dear Developers,
Enough criticism, please consider this input as an honest offer toward constructive creativity: I've read most of this forum now and watched all the videos, and the game looks amazing. It's perhaps the most graphically beautiful flight game I've ever seen. However, (and I know I speak for a significant community) this external camera (blimp) view mode looks ridiculous and has caused me to rescind my pre-order for the game. (Blazing Angels alone made me almost swear to never again play an ubi flight game). Yet, here I am, and HAWX has the potential of being one of my favorite games ever.

To solve the external camera dilemma, if I were in your shoes, I would do the following: When in this mode, limit the viewing angle to anything in the hemisphere immediately above the cockpit. In other words, limit the viewing angle to anything above the wingspread. This way, the view would emulate the actual viewing angle a real pilot would have while looking out of his cockpit. Obviously, he/she would not have the freedom to look under the plane. Neither should a gamer in this mode have the ability to look anywhere around a plane to avoid missiles.

Meanwhile, you can keep all the other features this mode offers (disabled computers, stalling, etc), just limit the view angle so it reflects a sort of "manual" mode, where the player has become in some sense responsible for his fate as an actual maverick pilot.

To anyone who reads this: Please respond with with either full-hearted support or harsh criticism of this idea. No middle ground.
Thanks devs, keep up the good work.

[philobishay]

Dear Developers,
Enough criticism, please consider this input as an honest offer toward constructive creativity: I've read most of this forum now and watched all the videos, and the game looks amazing. It's perhaps the most graphically beautiful flight game I've ever seen. However, (and I know I speak for a significant community) this external camera (blimp) view mode looks ridiculous and has caused me to rescind my pre-order for the game. (Blazing Angels alone made me almost swear to never again play an ubi flight game). Yet, here I am, and HAWX has the potential of being one of my favorite games ever.

To solve the external camera dilemma, if I were in your shoes, I would do the following: When in this mode, limit the viewing angle to anything in the hemisphere immediately above the cockpit. In other words, limit the viewing angle to anything above the wingspread. This way, the view would emulate the actual viewing angle a real pilot would have while looking out of his cockpit. Obviously, he/she would not have the freedom to look under the plane. Neither should a gamer in this mode have the ability to look anywhere around a plane to avoid missiles.

Meanwhile, you can keep all the other features this mode offers (disabled computers, stalling, etc), just limit the view angle so it reflects a sort of "manual" mode, where the player has become in some sense responsible for his fate as an actual maverick pilot.

To anyone who reads this: Please respond with with either full-hearted support or harsh criticism of this idea. No middle ground.
Thanks devs, keep up the good work.

[Mig-29]

Which camera are you referring to? The playable replay external camera, or the chase camera? I personally find that the chase camera is perfect the way it is.

I'm unsure about the other external camera though.

[philobishay]

I'm talking about "blimp" mode

[Tomcatter61]

OK, here goes.

I think the blimp cam in its current state is positively stupid. Why would you disorient the player by suddenly jumping his viewpoint out to 3 miles away? This view has no practical value, that wouldn't be better served by a different view.

What is Ubi afraid people will crash into the ground without their uber-view? Newsflash, some depth perception and an altimeter can solve that problem. This stupid-cam view seems just another way Ubi is trying to dumb down the experience. "People won't want to play if they keep crashing." Well tough titties, learn how to fly your plane or be a smoking hole in the ground - don't limit my options. Stall protection? Whatever. My stall protection is me not being a dumb-****.

philobishay, I don't think your solution fixes much. I'm not sure what you propose is possible. To do that, you'd have to have some really weird camera angle - possibly just something looking straight up and the aircraft. Maybe I'm not understanding what you meant exactly, but it doesn't sound like an improvement.

For play purposes, I only need 3 view options. First, a cockpit view. This should look as close to the real thing as possible, with gauges and a HUD specific to each aircraft. Second, a generic HUD view w/o cockpit - almost as if you're looking from the tip of the nose of your fighter. Third, a 3rd-person "chase" view. Something aft of the plane, looking forward, with generic HUD information overlaid. To allow the pilot to look around him, all of these views should have a horizontal arc of about [edit] 240-270 degrees from the forward sector, and a 70 degree arc above eye level and a 50 degree arc below for scanning the sky up or down. There's probably some pretty creative people who could model a range based on the normal movement of a person's neck.

If anyone wants a spectacular 3rd person camera, that should be for watching the mission replay after the fact, not during the mission. Add as many weird-*** camera angles to the replay video mode as you want, but don't screw with the ability of the pilot to fly and fight his jet.

[philobishay]

well the way they have it is it's not even just a camera angle... it's an entire MODE. like you're supposed to switch it on to "get you out of tough situations" I'm saying instead of letting you look all around an airplane have it so that the camera comes closer to where the cockpit is (maybe somewhere around the afterburners)and limit it's range of motion to what a pilot's neck is capable of. (about 270 degrees horizontal arc--much more than the standard view) and only up in the vertical direction (not down)

[RawKryptonite]

Why they're trying to do a modern Blazing Angels 2 is beyond me. Especially taking the worst part of the game and amplifying it. Odd camera angles and lack of game immersion taken to a new level.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/Abraxis007/Xbox/7-31-2008-31937PM-1.jpg

[Tomcatter61]

Agreed, Raw. I don't get it either.

[TRStealth]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RawKryptonite:
Why they're trying to do a modern Blazing Angels 2 is beyond me. Especially taking the worst part of the game and amplifying it. Odd camera angles and lack of game immersion taken to a new level.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/Abraxis007/Xbox/7-31-2008-31937PM-1.jpg </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

There's something else they should be copying.

http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/51/ac6overgiy4.jpg

[maxpontiac]

Those sales charts do not suprise me one bit.

Blazing Angels 2 was the worst flight game I have ever played, and I just recently got rid of it.

Intersting numbers on Over-G though. The game sold around 180,000 copies. I wouldn't mind seeing that game come to the PS3.

So, based on these graphs, one could SERIOUSLY consider the fact that if HAWX catered to BOTH ends of the spectrum, the game could be a better seller then both..

[maxpontiac]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RawKryptonite:
Why they're trying to do a modern Blazing Angels 2 is beyond me. Especially taking the worst part of the game and amplifying it. Odd camera angles and lack of game immersion taken to a new level.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y252/Abraxis007/Xbox/7-31-2008-31937PM-1.jpg </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Got to thinking, what are the comparisons between Blazing Angels 1 and 2??

[RawKryptonite]

BA1 sold more than OGF by 50,000 and 150,000 more than BA2. They didn't bring in the return business , I assume, due to the gameplay not going over very well.

Here's the link:
http://vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg1=All&game1=Blazing...WII+-+X360&weeks=114 (http://vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg1=All&game1=Blazing+Angels+2%3A+Secret+Missions+of+WWII+-+X360&reg2=All&game2=Over+G+Fighters+-+X360&reg3=All&game3=Blazing+Angels%3A+Squadrons+of+WWII+-+X360&weeks=114)

[maxpontiac]

Bro, I appreciate this....big time.

Off to my thread in the Blazing Angels forum..