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Carl and Nick are very adamant about the fact that SSI and Eagle Dynamics are listening to the wish lists of sim fans. They both openly welcome ideas and wish lists for the still embryonic Flanker: Attack (including ideas for an actual title) are not only welcomed but encouraged. They are both frequent readers, posters, and listeners- as some of the enhancements in 2.5 prove- on the Flanker forum here on Combatsim an on the official Flanker 2 Site. They listen, that is, to reasonable discourse, and opinions. Carl was quick to point out that all too often, instead of offering suggestions and helpful dialog, posts on the forums often become dogmatic and damning. Such a slash-and-burn approach helps no one, and more often than not damages the all too important lines of communication between developer and player.
In a market that is as low-margin as serious simulations are in, and where communication can help make a better bang for the development buck, these lines are more important than ever. "Hey, I love Falcon 4," says Carl, "Play it when I get a chance. But I also am very proud of Flanker. That doesn't make me instantly slam every other sim that rolls down the pike the way some of these people do. Some of the reaction to the theft and release of the Falcon source code - the cheering on and the 'Way to stick it to Hasbro' mentality is disgusting. Hasbro made a purely business decision: stealing the code was a criminal act.
Fig. 11. Mig-29k - Ready for LaunchIt's very frustrating - I don't think most of these people who are engaging in personal attacks, cheering on thieves, and flaming guys who like a sim different than their favorite see that they are damaging the very thing they purport to love. Now is the time for this community to come together and support the efforts of publishers and developers that are committed to the genre. It is going to be a very sparse time for combat simulations from the middle of 2000 through 2001."
RTBOne wag in our entourage agreed. "Some of them eat their young", he said.
Despite the jet-sim near vacuum that was E3, there truly are reasons for the pointy-nose fan to rejoice. A group of very passionate, talented people, with a proven record of excellence, are diligently working to keep that damned monkey off of our backs. And from what I've seen in the works, that particular simian is not coming back for a long, long time.
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