Some reason I think this might have been said in the past, but not 100% sure as couldn't find...but if not, looks like Microprose releasing a number of "bomber" related games, including a version for VR. Didn't appear to be any idea as to when this all might happen.
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/microprose/announcements/detail/3413191463107311953
B-17 Flying Fortress The Bloody 100th
B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th Redux
The Mighty Eighth VR
Bomber 3
This is all good stuff.
But I am kind of confused about having so many B-17 games. They seem to overlap. Why not mix it up a bit? Medium bombers? or British night bombers? or at least B-24.
Four B-17 games?
I mean, that's cool. My Grandfather flew the B-17 so it's got a special place for me, but that's a lot of concentration on one airframe.
I would think a full reboot of the Mighty 8th could cover those in one package.
Yeah...I'm not so thrilled with the announcement either and find it a bit underwhelming.
I guess a redux of the Mighty 8th could be really cool, but only if it is really updated to modern standards. It is not really clear to me exactly what the Bloody 100th is, or where it fits in in terms of content. The VR title seems to be a disappointment as it is billed as a MP only experience. I was really looking forward to the VR title, but with MP only, it seems limited and a missed opportunity. Bomber 3? Great...a port from the early 90s.
yeah, I am not expecting a whole lot, although a good bomber title (if it ends up good) is something I would enjoy. Why they decided to create so many variations is a little puzzling, especially announcing it all at the same time, just makes it hard to understand. I suspect we have quite a wait before if/when any of it actually gets released so will continue to monitor with guarded hopefulness.
I never had a chance to play any of the original B-17 games so I am more excited about these if any turn out to be solid.
What even is "Bomber 3"? (I'm not where I can check the Steam page yet.) JH says a port from the early 90s: is it more just a strategic bombing campaign game (like Eagle Day / Bombing the Reich and that other Matrix game in the same vein)? ???
I suppose the point to doing Mighty Eighth as well as Bloody 100th, rather than combining the two, is that the engine between the two will be very different so that some people will prefer the old engine and some the new. (I liked the old game a lot but it was too buggy for me to really get into it. I don't recall which one my Granduncle John flew for tho.)
Quote from: JasonPratt on October 26, 2022, 11:02:33 AM
What even is "Bomber 3"? (I'm not where I can check the Steam page yet.) JH says a port from the early 90s: is it more just a strategic bombing campaign game (like Eagle Day / Bombing the Reich and that other Matrix game in the same vein)? ???
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2142920/Bomber_3/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/2142920/Bomber_3/)
Okay, home now where I can check on it: it's an action-game with light sim (and maybe rpg) elements. Understandably for a different market with overlapping interests. O0
So if they fully remaster Mighty 8th to possibly a semi modern graphical standard, can we also have Pacific and European Air War too?
^You shut your whore mouth!!
Quote from: Gusington on October 26, 2022, 07:52:42 PM
^You shut your whore mouth!!
The tantalizing prospect too much for you in case it never happens?
Quote from: SirAndrewD on October 26, 2022, 10:00:39 PM
Quote from: Gusington on October 26, 2022, 07:52:42 PM
^You shut your whore mouth!!
The tantalizing prospect too much for you in case it never happens?
Unfortunately all the rights are held by different people so it's somewhat irrelevant legally whether they do an amazing Mighty Eighth remake or not. Could always do a spiritual successor to any of those of course. And I'll throw 1942 The Pacific Air War into the ring- still somehow the last great Pacific air combat sim even today.
It is too much for me!
Quote from: CaptainKoloth on October 27, 2022, 06:50:42 AM
Unfortunately all the rights are held by different people so it's somewhat irrelevant legally whether they do an amazing Mighty Eighth remake or not. Could always do a spiritual successor to any of those of course. And I'll throw 1942 The Pacific Air War into the ring- still somehow the last great Pacific air combat sim even today.
I keep forgetting this is basically a new company.
I haven't looked into the legalese of all of this, but they were apparently able to acquire at least enough rights to Mighty 8th to do a remaster.
Maybe they can do the same with PAW and EAW? Who owns them?
Maybe the Admiral can shed a bit of light on things here on where these new B-17 games stand and what chances we might have for some more WW2 simming not named IL 2 (No knock against IL2 and the thousands of hours I have in it).
Some page The Admiral on the white courtesy phone.
Or you could shine the searchlight with his symbol on it into the night sky.
Does every admiral get one of those?
He should.
Sadly he'll just drop in here and be coy since all this stuff is probably Above Top Secret.
Well you know... So many things might happen. The issue being in our case is that we would probably not just make a full simulation based on our current work - graphics are good enough for a wargame, might be frowned upon in 2022 for a sim proper, and obviously we did make some concessions so that we could have 200 ships & 500 aircraft shoot at each other over several days to begin with, numbers which are only remotely needed for a sim which starts & end with your mission - but as for having something inside our game that allows you to enjoy the pleasures of flight, there's nothing preventing that.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ff9QCWXUAAAFoiK?format=jpg&name=large)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ff9QDRgUoAE-4jY?format=jpg&name=large)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ff9QBbsUUAAY7gc?format=jpg&name=large)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FgAraTHUcAAOr4x?format=jpg&name=medium)
Not everyone would perhaps. But me? I'd fly that :coolsmiley:
As for the trademarks, it's the sort of quagmire I will not step in (especially considering that they aren't the same deal in Europe and in the US). But let's say that the affiliated studios at MPS work hard on what has been announced, and that's the reason why several games are announced at the same time to begin with - it should be obvious I guess that the tech is not always the same from a game to another, and nor are the team themselves - even though there is obvious useful overlap when it comes to assets (you don't have to make the cockpit of a B-17 twice). But as far as I can tell and unlike the practice of some other labels out there who come up with shiny trailers with no team actively working on said projects (sometimes ever...), we do not dwell into vaporware territory. If some of these titles were to become abandoned at some point, know they wouldn't be so before a good fight (that is, failed development, which can always happen, but development nonetheless).
Quote from: The_Admiral on October 27, 2022, 09:42:30 AM
Not everyone would perhaps. But me? I'd fly that :coolsmiley:
Nah, that looks awful for a flight sim. If I can squint and tell the difference from reality...pah!
I kid of course. In honestly I'd do just about anything to have a Pacific sim that looked like that.
Again, I won't knock IL2. It's possibly at this point the greatest sim franchise ever considering it's dominated the WW2 market at this point for what, 20 years? But I'm itching to do some WW2 simming with something beyond that label and since no one's reviving Dynamix and Lucasarts sim division then help us Micropose, you're our only hope.
Heck yeah I'd fly that!
This brings up the question of whether it would be feasible and desirable for you to license assets to other MPS dev projects, or be included as co-devs, for a 1942 Pacific Air War sim.
Quote from: SirAndrewD on October 27, 2022, 09:05:32 AM
Maybe the Admiral can shed a bit of light on things here on where these new B-17 games stand and what chances we might have for some more WW2 simming not named IL 2 (No knock against IL2 and the thousands of hours I have in it).
As for this, my understanding is that
- The 100th is B-17 III
- TM8 VR is designed so as to be the best VR & coop experience there can be, although my understanding is that it works also without VR, and without friends (but then just play the 100th)
- TM8 Redux is B-17 II remastered/updated
- Bomber 3 is a cool compatibility upgrade of a game design that is very little known, but is basically a computer stone age interactive movie experience flying B-17s (and IMHO would work very nicely on phones in 2022 but that's just me)
My main remark is that the two first are necessarily separated so as to offer the best experience of their own kind. Trying to achieve a good gameplay while packaging all together would mean concessions I wouldn't recommend as a consumer at that point - although those who have a small opinion of dev feel like they're being milked, making a game that does them all is a trap you don't recover from in the long run. It's not because a VR and a non-VR experience both run on the same computer that they can allow themselves to be designed exactly the same way (UI is its own nightmare). Doing so will cause frustration on at least one side, or more often simply both. I support this two-pronged approach.
Alright, that's a lot of B-17 stuff coming out at once, but the CEO is just very much in love with that side of the legacy, can we really blame him! :hug:
Moreover it's not just for fun - my understanding is that if you want larger outlets to cover these niche games to begin with, either you do it the Slitherine way by making sure your next wargame is named Starship Troopers or Terminator, or you muster your forces and offer a large package that they cannot ignore (or at least might be interested in covering somewhat). It's not for the mere pleasure of torturing you all, that I can assure you :)
Thanks Admiral. FWIW...I'd fly that too.
Thank you Gus :notworthy:
Although we both know you'd fly anything bearing a woman's name, wouldn't you ^-^
Blessed be the allied intelligence naming convention for Japanese aircraft :arr:
Quote from: The_Admiral on October 27, 2022, 10:12:35 AM
Although we both know you'd fly anything bearing a woman's name, wouldn't you ^-^
Hold on now. I'm the sexy one.
My boss calls me her "Camera seeking missile"
I saw the admiral first! I have moments with Kates and Vals and the like, but a good Zero...hubba hubba.
See, I told you. The searchlight works every time. O0 I wouldn't date girls with the same name as Japanese airplanes. Because they shoot you down a lot.
Quote from: Gusington on October 27, 2022, 12:14:10 PM
I saw the admiral first! I have moments with Kates and Vals and the like, but a good Zero...hubba hubba.
You know they called the Zero "Zeke"?
And?
Quote from: The_Admiral on October 27, 2022, 09:52:39 AM
- TM8 VR is designed so as to be the best VR & coop experience there can be, although my understanding is that it works also without VR, and without friends (but then just play the 100th)
This is the one I'm interested in. You could do it to an extent in IL2 46 (minus VR of course), but a proper, polished PvE experience of a daylight raid over the Reich would be very cool IMO.
In a similar vein, This VR experience "1943 Berlin Blitz" has been mentioned before hasn't it? https://store.steampowered.com/app/513490/1943_Berlin_Blitz/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/513490/1943_Berlin_Blitz/)
Saw in dev blog where they suggest B-17 Flying Fortress : The Mighty 8th Redux will be released into early access in January 2024. Again, not expecting a lot but will be hard to resist if reasonable price.
It will be a first day buy for me. The original was pretty good. For those who never played the original, here's a relatively recent youtube campaign playthrough by "Taff in Exile":
I'll be very pleasantly surprised if Redux releases in January...but I won't be holding my breath.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on January 02, 2024, 10:44:25 AMI'll be very pleasantly surprised if Redux releases in January...but I won't be holding my breath.
Think originally was expected to be released into early access in December, so maybe they have used up their delay:) they said late January so we will see...
More of "twin-engined/treetop/whaoo!" kind of guy so a B-26 sim would be my spirit animal. Still, am not going to complain about nuttin' new we get in the grand scheme of things.
B-17 Redux is definitely a day 1 purchase for me as well.
I'll get the B17 redux as well. The original was too early in my sim flight sim career, feel like I could do it way more justice now.
Rimmy Downunder did a somewhat humorous campaign for Microprose's preceding B-17 game a couple of years ago here:
He wanted to do a campaign on The Mighty 8th, too, but the game was totally broken on his system and couldn't be recorded. Thus the Redux might be a Day 1 purchase for him, too!
To be honest, I may skip Early Access for this game (meaning the Mighty 8th). The original had enough unpatchable bugs for me, I'd rather not go through being a beta tester for it again. {g}
A B-24 variant with the digitized voice of Jimmy Stewart as the pilot would be an awesome thing. Maybe put Clark Gable's voice in there as a waist gunner as well. :Party:
I suspect they set a hard release deadline to coincide with the airing of the Masters of the Air miniseries.
Early access release date confirmed to be January 24th.....two days ahead of masters of the air series:)
Couple of things, early access date is now January 23rd and just read in latest blog that they plan to release bomber 3 at the same time, although the actual steam page doesn't say it.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2142920/Bomber_3/
A scan of the Steam page shows this Bomber 3 thing to be just a port of a 25 year old game for modern OS, or am I missing something?
First look at B-17, releases tomorrow. I don't recall the old version much, this looks decent enough to keep me interested for a bit.
Ugh. I was hoping for a re-work of the gfx engine for the flight portions.
I'll give this one a miss. Looks too dated for me.
Wow. That looks horrible.
I mean, unless somebody gives me some compelling reason to pick this up...what in the world does this do that the original didn't? The graphics are barely different.
This is going to get SLAMMED.
Early access and they stated initial focus was on interior updates with external and terrain coming later...wasn't expecting a ton, will be fine for me assuming reasonable price.
As you have seen from our past dev blogs we have focused our early development on the interior of the B-17, as the majority of your decision-making within the game will happen from the interior of the Flying Fortress. So be prepared to see the exteriors of aircraft and terrain get visual updates as the early access progresses.
Press codes were supposed to be handed out last week. There has clearly been a delay. I wonder if they don't want negative reviews prior to release.
I had expected more, but it will still be a day one buy for me.
The prior version doesn't seem to work on modern operating systems very well (as Rimmy Downunder discovered not long ago), so having it work on Win 11 would be a big step forward. Hopefully the old bugs have also been worked out (not counting any new ones. {g} )
They have stated the planned changes, some exist today while others planned later in early access. Good enough for me assuming price is good, which we will know in about 5 hours when released.
The same experience remastered with the original engine upgraded to support the functionality present in DX 12. Working on the redux will give us the opportunity to look back and learn in order to push forward with future Flying Fortress titles
An Early Access From the Inside Out
During the early access release the game will continue to be updated.
Currently you can look forward to seeing:
Updated B-17 Interiors
New Crew Models
Updated Interfaces, no more comic sans in the interface
Music in menus
Updated Front end menus
Updated Airfield interiors
Aspect Ratio upgrade from 4:3 to 16:9
In progress Terrain enhancements, including being able to see further into the distance making the navigator's job a little easier
Improvements to the original Mighty 8th engine that have resulted in smoother frame rates and better performance on modern machines
We are focused on continuing to improve the game as time goes on. The planned improvements include:
Updated B-17 Exteriors
Updated Fighter Exteriors
Improved player control options
New Missions
Improvements to training missions and tutorials to better onboard new players
A New game manual
Larger Aircraft Formations
B-17 release has been delayed, they don't have a new date but hope is short. They did release price which is $14.99 then 10% release discount when it does. Also mentioned that previous owners of the game on steam will receive more of a discount since they are bundling in the old game as well, but didn't mention how much. I suspect it will still release before masters of the air premieres later this week as I am sure they want to capitalize on that event.
Bomber 3 did release and that is $9.99 and then 20% discount.
At these prices, no brainer for me.
Ok. Deep breaths taken. For $14.99, and given everything posted above, I'll get it.
That video was just really jarring.
There was a devlog about said delay, including sneak peeks at the exterior model, the price info mentioned by GR, a link to a WiP re-done manual, etc...
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2000800/announcements/detail/3964923641025307205
There was a new devlog for the VR title just today, with a video
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1325580/announcements/detail/3957042341694209036
Ok, I'm confused. Is Bomber 3 a new game? What is the difference between Bomber 3 and B17 Redux?
Quote from: Old TImer on January 23, 2024, 02:19:00 PMOk, I'm confused. Is Bomber 3 a new game? What is the difference between Bomber 3 and B17 Redux?
Totally different games. Both of them are old PC classics, but Bomber 3, I believe was released a few years prior to the original version of Redux and it does not have any flight sim elements. B-17 is a bomber "management" game while also possessing heavy sim elements where the player can pilot the aircraft and main each of the crew positions. The Redux version will be released in early access initially and is intended to improve graphics somewhat and make the game more compatible with modern hardware.
Redux out on GOG
https://www.gog.com/en/game/b17_flying_fortress_the_mighty_8th_redux?utm_content=ap_ie3t6auuwv&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&r=true
The Steam release will follow suit
Hopefully releasing on steam today, still nothing...
I bought it on GoG last night and played a bit. It's the same game, just like they said. If you liked the original, you'll like this.
Finally having mouse control of the guns is almost reason enough for me to buy it. That's a game-changer. I think I read that gamepad support might be in the works.
I have not read that TrackIR support is planned, but that would be very welcome, especially in the cockpit view.
Quote from: Toonces on January 25, 2024, 09:00:46 AMFinally having mouse control of the guns is almost reason enough for me to buy it. That's a game-changer.
+1
Support for current day screen resolutions also is good.
I am soooo hoping they fix the problem with German fighters ramming the bombers. Also with the AI lack of control of the intercoolers downing bombers on the decent to homebase.
Yep, I am not expecting huge things from this especially for the very small cost, as long as playable, better support for my screen size, and using the mouse....enough for me:)
Released on steam....