My Experience with BoS – No Bull****

[Chuck_Owl]

Greetings everyone,

I read a couple of topics in this forum and I decided to give you an account of my experience with Battle of Stalingrad. I will be as blunt, direct and no-nonsense as I can be.
I started flying flight sims since the early days of Il-2 1946. I fly FSX, every Il-2 title (1946 including all expansions, Cliffs of Dover and BoS), War Thunder and every module in DCS. I have flown these titles quite extensively, so I think I have a pretty good picture of what you’re signing up for.

I won’t try to convince you to buy BoS. I’m not a salesman, I suck at arguing and I honestly do not care whether you think 777 Studios are a buncha’ thieves or what not. I do not care about rumours; I care about facts. And here are the facts.

People are ♥♥♥♥ed at 1C because of the disastrous Cliffs of Dover release? I was too when this came out. But, believe it or not, a team of dedicated modders completely brought it back from the dead and it is not an uncommon sight to see 100 people flying simultaneously on the ATAG server. Overall, CloD is FPS-friendly, fun and gorgeous to look at. For me, the CloD debacle is a thing of the past. Mistakes were made and a different studio is at the helm for Battle of Stalingrad. 777 Studios is behind a WWI sim called “Rise of Flight”. You may or may not have heard of them, but their title showed that they are competent enough to create a good game that will not make your computer melt while having pretty neat graphics and decent flight models. 777 Studios repeatedly told the community that they had learned from Cliffs of Dover’s mistakes and that they intend not to make these same mistakes. I have backed BoS from Day 1, and I can say in all honesty that they are open to criticism (as long as it is constructive and not utterly clueless) and that they have been doing a surprisingly good job at keeping us (the community) in the loop regarding the development of the game.
Now, about the game itself. BoS is a flight simulator based during the Battle of Stalingrad (d’uh). The map is huge (much bigger than War Thunder maps). It’s not only the city of Stalingrad, but the whole area of operations along the Volga river. On the Russian side, you can fly the LaGG-3, the Yak-1, the Pe-2 Peshka bomber, the Il-2 Sturmovik and the La-5 (for premium edition). On the German side, you can fly the Bf.109F-4, the Bf.109G-2, the Ju-87 Stuka, the He-111 bomber and the FW.190A-3 (for premium edition). The basic game comes with 8 planes, while the 2 other extra planes can be bought separately. It is a matter of whether you really like these planes or not. They do not make matches unbalanced (they are not the Yak-9Ts of War Thunder, don’t worry). Their price is a hefty sum, so I would advise you to watch some videos of these planes in action. If it’s love at first sight, then throw your money at the screen. If it’s rather a “meh”, well just keep your money and shoot them down in flames online. People often tell me that BoS is *****ing expensive. Yes, it is. However, I suggest that you be open-minded about it. One flight sim will bring you hundreds of hours of enjoyment. You do not simply get “bored” of flight sims (unless it’s really not your cup of tea, which is always a possibility). It’s basically one giant sandbox that allows you to do anything you want. Each engagement is different. Every mission is different. Learning in flight sims has never been so rewarding. Why? Because these planes are easy to get into, but very hard to master. And in my experience, there’s always a sense of childish amazement when I learn to do stuff I had no idea I could do. You’ll find people from all walks of life, and flight sim communities are very different from traditional gaming communities. People welcome newcomers and will often help them and teach them without asking for anything in return. But enough sentimentality. Moving on.

Balance is a thing that does not exist in BoS. Aircraft are modelled after real-life design requirements and performance test data. You’re not flying on rails; you’re flying real-world physics and models. If you think you’re a great pilot in War Thunder, BoS is a very nice challenge that can humble even the greatest War Thunder pilots. You do not fly with a mouse in BoS; you use a joystick ,a TrackIR (if you have one… or you can get free headtracking options like FaceTrackNoIR), and rudder pedals (if you have some). You do not “throttle up” like in War Thunder. You actually manage your engine by controlling your oil radiator, water radiator, flaps, propeller pitch (which modifies engine RPM), your mixture and your boost pressure (which is basically controlled by your throttle). Of course, there is an easy-mode for those who do not want to bother with all that technical stuff called “Normal”. Some people are not necessarily into that kind of stuff, but learning how to fly a plane is just like learning how to drive a new car. Most of the things are similar, but there are some differences nonetheless that make each aircraft special and unique. In the complexity department, BoS allows some depth in gameplay while not making it too complicated for those who do not have time to read a 150-page-long manual a la DCS. In my opinion, BoS is a happy medium between accessibility and complexity, which is what makes a game entertaining yet keeps you coming back for more. Regarding flight models, I was not quite convinced during the early physics models with some fishy stuff going on. However, I must inform you that recent patches have fixed MOST of these issues. The result is a flight model that feels great, is historically accurate and that brings the level of immersion to a level that War Thunder will simply never reach despite all its bells and whistles. Aircraft do not spin on a dime anymore and do stall and spin quite violently if you make manoeuvers at high AoAs (Angle of Attack).

Multiplayer and Singleplayer are other obvious questions. “What am I buying, Chuck?” About single-player stuff, you’ll have it in September once the game is released. It’s basically a campaign of the air battle of Stalingrad where you accomplish various tasks during various stages of the battle. In my opinion, multiplayer’s where the fun’s at. You guys are lucky; you’re coming at the exact time where people are starting custom servers. The debugging and has been reported and experienced by early backers. The version we have at the moment is stable, and the game's quite pretty if you ask me. Lighting will make you hate the sun and you'll find yourself gazing numbly at the huge smoke columns floating over the ruins of Stalingrad. In Multiplayer, we generally have a 35-player limit on servers, but some wise voodoo computer gurus are working on testing server capability for higher player-counts (around 50-60). Nothing is set in stone, but so far things are seemingly moving forward in that regard. Now, how could I describe multiplayer? Well, I could talk to you about it for hours, but I’m more of a “Show-don’t-tell” kind of guy. Here’s a couple of in-game videos to help you guys see what you’re signing up for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANG7ZUICgDU&index=7&list=PLMZJbpYtQsUaRZMhCQl0L0oe_Vj8Lv5FD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vusvgo7f1hk&index=1&list=PLMZJbpYtQsUaRZMhCQl0L0oe_Vj8Lv5FD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOlnRYw9Dsw&index=2&list=PLMZJbpYtQsUaRZMhCQl0L0oe_Vj8Lv5FD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OKcRp5IOUk&index=3&list=PLMZJbpYtQsUaRZMhCQl0L0oe_Vj8Lv5FD

https://vimeo.com/90474183

Multiplayer stability is surprisingly good for this stage of Beta. FPS is also consistent and smooth. As you can see, the map is beautiful and the snows of Russia make for some interesting variety in comparison to other flight sims.

So, in conclusion:
At this stage of the project, BoS is not final. Most aircraft are released and their flight models are much improved over Il-2 1946 and War Thunder. Single-Player will come in September. Multiplayer servers are just starting to get interesting and more and more people are jumping in the bandwagon, which makes for some interesting match-ups. BoS was created in the optic that players want accessibility, replayability and complexity at the same time. BoS developer 777 made many changes after community feedback. Current game engine is proven, stable and 777 made it quite clear that they want to keep the game supported.
If some of you want to give BoS a shot, you’re always welcome. If you’re still sceptical, I recommend you wait for the “official reviews’. If you just want to scream “F*** THIS GAYME!”, well there’s nothing I can do for you; this type of hobby is just not for you.

[BirdCurtains]

İlk olarak Cik tarafından gönderildi:

As an Air Warrior fan, I want to preserve my long-term memories of the good'ol days and won't tarnish it by purchasing this.

oh man I used to play AW2 all day on the weekends as a kid. There hasn't been a game since.

To add to OP, he seems to be sucking it up a lot here. The game is early access. If you are a flight sim fan, yes the game is decent and a worthy successor to il2. There are issues, but they seem to be fixing everything in time. The price of aircraft is a little ludicrous. But i'm guessing the price will come down with expansion packs like the good old days which were vaugly mentioned during Q&A, but who knows if that's scrapped.

$90+ I kind of felt cheated for what I got, but I also called it long ago about the aircrafts being $20 so I cant say I was suprised, but even then I mentioned it in a jokingly worst case scenario way. $15 would at least not make me feel queezy and would put them at least competitive against a DCS flamming cliffs product. Don't mention the Dora or 51, those are gleaming examples of what WW2 simulated birds should be, and are 75% more product. Hey if we use that logic, they should be $12.50.

[Chuck_Owl]

İlk olarak White Savage tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Cik tarafından gönderildi:

As an Air Warrior fan, I want to preserve my long-term memories of the good'ol days and won't tarnish it by purchasing this.

oh man I used to play AW2 all day on the weekends as a kid. There hasn't been a game since.

To add to OP, he seems to be sucking it up a lot here. The game is early access. If you are a flight sim fan, yes the game is decent and a worthy successor to il2. There are issues, but they seem to be fixing everything in time. The price of aircraft is a little ludicrous. But i'm guessing the price will come down with expansion packs like the good old days which were vaugly mentioned during Q&A, but who knows if that's scrapped.

$90+ I kind of felt cheated for what I got, but I also called it long ago about the aircrafts being $20 so I cant say I was suprised, but even then I mentioned it in a jokingly worst case scenario way. $15 would at least not make me feel queezy and would put them at least competitive against a DCS flamming cliffs product. Don't mention the Dora or 51, those are gleaming examples of what WW2 simulated birds should be, and are 75% more product. Hey if we use that logic, they should be $12.50.

Well, I take different flight sims for what they are. BoS is not pretending to be DCS, and vice & versa.

Like I said, I fly every flight sim because I just like flying. If I want to defend the skies of Britain, I start Cliffs of Dover. If I want to fly outclassed russian aircraft, I fly BoS. If I want to jump into my Mustang and take on the finest vpilots, I fly DCS.

With games like Cliffs and Stalingrad, I get attached to the historical setting. I look at the smoking ruins of Stalingrad, the flaming harbour of Dover, and I feel like I'm there. There is no other game that can make me travel back through time in a similar fashion.

With DCS, I get attached to the aircraft itself rather than the time setting. The theater is not much to look at, but I feel like the aircraft is truly, completely mine. I know the switches, the knobs, the gauges, and I even have the operation manual! I relish in the complexity of the aircraft and the small details instead.

Like I said, different sims for different needs.

Edit: But yeah, 90 bucks is asking a LOT for what we have. But so far, I'm having fun and I don't feel "cheated" yet.

[BirdCurtains]

İlk olarak 71st_AH_Chuck tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak White Savage tarafından gönderildi:

oh man I used to play AW2 all day on the weekends as a kid. There hasn't been a game since.

To add to OP, he seems to be sucking it up a lot here. The game is early access. If you are a flight sim fan, yes the game is decent and a worthy successor to il2. There are issues, but they seem to be fixing everything in time. The price of aircraft is a little ludicrous. But i'm guessing the price will come down with expansion packs like the good old days which were vaugly mentioned during Q&A, but who knows if that's scrapped.

$90+ I kind of felt cheated for what I got, but I also called it long ago about the aircrafts being $20 so I cant say I was suprised, but even then I mentioned it in a jokingly worst case scenario way. $15 would at least not make me feel queezy and would put them at least competitive against a DCS flamming cliffs product. Don't mention the Dora or 51, those are gleaming examples of what WW2 simulated birds should be, and are 75% more product. Hey if we use that logic, they should be $12.50.

Well, I take different flight sims for what they are. BoS is not pretending to be DCS, and vice & versa.

Like I said, I fly every flight sim because I just like flying. If I want to defend the skies of Britain, I start Cliffs of Dover. If I want to fly outclassed russian aircraft, I fly BoS. If I want to jump into my Mustang and take on the finest vpilots, I fly DCS.

With games like Cliffs and Stalingrad, I get attached to the historical setting. I look at the smoking ruins of Stalingrad, the flaming harbour of Dover, and I feel like I'm there. There is no other game that can make me travel back through time in a similar fashion.

With DCS, I get attached to the aircraft itself rather than the time setting. The theater is not much to look at, but I feel like the aircraft is truly, completely mine. I know the switches, the knobs, the gauges, and I even have the operation manual! I relish in the complexity of the aircraft and the small details instead.

Like I said, different sims for different needs.

Edit: But yeah, 90 bucks is asking a LOT for what we have. But so far, I'm having fun and I don't feel "cheated" yet.

Oh yes man I agree with you, I own them all and probably always will. And I agree with you about the settings. DCS was always kind of a love hate for me, but since the dora came out Dora vs p51 online changed my opinion, hugely. DCS WW2 will be something special if it ever comes.