Future of Falcon BMS
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Yep I agree about graphics I find the current graphics nice.
Its not about graphics for me its about gameplay hallways has been.
Eg
Jagged alliance 1.13 that has so many cool features weapons etc but graphics and game is old.
Cataclysm DDA well graphics are very low but damn I can’t get enough of it.
Then there’s falcon BMS graphics are very nice mostly but damn u show me another flight sim any where close to it great work BMS team love it thank u I’m so looking forward to 4.33
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I’m very happy with Falcon BMS and its dynamic campaign and airports so I do wonder, what is the future of BMS?
Since the BMS team doesn’t communicate in public, all what’s left for the community is wild a** guessing - and there had been plenty already. Just an example:
https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?16553-Iff-you-could-have-one-thing-in-the-next-update-it-would-be&highlight=iffAbout kickstarter: the rights for F4 have to be purchased in the first place before launching a kickstarter campaign. There is a recent thread about that https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?19207-Crowdfund-campaign-to-buy-the-rights-to-Falcon-4&highlight=source+code … but discussions ended quickly for obvious reasons.
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About kickstarter: the rights for F4 have to be purchased in the first place before launching a kickstarter campaign. There is a recent thread about that https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?19207-Crowdfund-campaign-to-buy-the-rights-to-Falcon-4&highlight=source+code … but discussions ended quickly for obvious reasons.
I wasn’t thinking on them creating a new game with the same code but create a new game with new code, and of course new name, that would work the same that Falcon BMS does. I would support them all the way.
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I wasn’t thinking on them creating a new game with the same code but create a new game with new code, and of course new name, that would work the same that Falcon BMS does. I would support them all the way.
forget about it , we are not a commercial company thus we dont have the ressources to pay the people that currently work on BMS.
Creating a new game from scratch would imply that most of our coders quit their current job to work full time on the new code which brings us back to € topic.
BMS is a success because we dont work for beeing paid and passion is our only dirver.
Let’s keep it like that.
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I wasn’t thinking on them creating a new game with the same code but create a new game with new code, and of course new name, that would work the same that Falcon BMS does. I would support them all the way.
I guess everyone is waiting for this thread to get locked up or moved, but I thought I’d try to make a minor contribution to putting this topic to rest. I have nothing to do with BMS development, but the only reasonable conclusion is this is not going to happen. So we just have to accept that’s how it is.
First of all, as Mav-jp writes and which has been very consistent communication, the team has no interest in following this route. Actually, they say they are strongly against it. And they are the only people you would want to do it, as you would want to get the next BMS experience brought to you by people who understand and love BMS. And I think the devs have heard every possible argument why they should reconsider.
Secondly, even if they had wanted to pursue such a venture, it really is not economically feasible. The U1-U6 installer post in the announcements subforum has a bit over 7,000 views. Multiply that with what you think such a product would cost, and that is a very rough estimate of income. Even if we all paid USD 100, that would be a rough estimate of USD 700 000. A developer for one year will easily cost USD 150 000, so you are talking 4-5 devs for one year. To redesign from scratch a product to be even better than the current Falcon BMS. Even if you start making assumptions about “but this is going to be so great everyone will buy it”, it is still a tough proposition. So you would have to do stuff such as what DCS is doing (more planes, developing military versions for air forces), which increases the complexity and dilutes the focus of the sim, which means you end up with something different from the BMS philosophy.
So the devs are not going to do it, and even if they did to it on a commercial basis the project would probably crash and burn due to the economies of such a project (from what I remember from Falcon 4.0 lore, that project was not exactly a financial success). So it is not going to happen. That is my analysis as an outsider. But who has time for thinking about “BMS 2” these days, when we are all eagerly waiting for 4.33. BMS is even better than Christmas; any day could be BMS day, and you know the present is going to be good; only hard packages under the BMS tree.
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The only thing I can tell you, is that BMS are not in competition with DCS and if you fly BMS, it is not (and it will never be) for its graphics compared to other commercial simulators.
I don’t think DCS forums think of it as you do, you mention BMS and the thread is closed/locked.
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I don’t think DCS forums think of it as you do, you mention BMS and the thread is closed/locked.
Doesn’t change anything for us.
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Sims like Falcon and DCS are a niche market and will never sell as much as a Halo, BF or even Arma. Heck, even with BMS being “free”, it doesn’t surpass the user numbers of say World of *. Most people play games to escape the real world and therefore will not get into a study sim.
With regards to improvements to BMS Falcon, I’m for immersion and realistic over graphics. I would however like to see a more complete damage model with visuals and realize that it’s one hitbox and a rewrite would be a full time job in itself. Looking out over my bullet ridden wing in the DCS A-10C and seeing a trail of fuel leaking just adds that extra level of realism.
Hats off to the devs, wish I had and CS degree vs an EE so I could possibly contribute I know it ain’t easy but the passion drives.
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one of these days im going to win the lottery and buy the rights to F4, back the whole thing myself, and finally silence all the “we’ll never be as pretty as DCs” and “dcs will never be as authentic” bickering by building a badass, and beautiful, study sim.
zzzZZZZzzzz…huh?
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Doesn’t change anything for us.
I know, thats why I like this site. The mods here are pretty good.
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I know, thats why I like this site. The mods here are pretty good.
+1,
I think as time goes on, we will see improvements. 4.3.3 may not have a lot of eye candy, but in time, future improvements might yield some beautiful stuff. Since I have been here since the ERazor and SP days, the continued evolution of Falcon has been breath taking. I too wish to see more graphical improvements, but what we have now is pretty darn good! The eye candy stuff can be a lot of hype if the sim is not up for it. So, 4.3.3 I believe will have the FLARE improvements and possibly other gfx improvements, so we all will have to wait and see. Even if it doesn’t, bms is looking pretty good now and will continue to improve. All thanks to a few who simply refuse to let this sim die. THANK YOU BMS DEV’s!
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one of these days im going to win the lottery and buy the rights to F4, back the whole thing myself, and finally silence all the “we’ll never be as pretty as DCs” and “dcs will never be as authentic” bickering by building a badass, and beautiful, study sim.
zzzZZZZzzzz…huh?
I don’t think that will ever happen. Also, backing a huge task of building a code engine, then creating code for that engine will take a small army. Someone mentioned $700,000 USD for funding a project like that. Try again. Try adding another 0 to that figure. More like $7,000,000 because it would take many years to build and create with 100’s of people working on it full time. Be happy with what you have. Be thankful of what you have. That always seems to get lost every time someone mentions “lets build a new sim” come up.
btw, I’ve been there. The complexity and time consumption is enormous! Very unrealistic expectations, and too many problems with such an endevor.
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I’ve been with this “sim” since Microprose put it on the market and with every iteration since. I read these sorts of threads and cannot think of a better analogy for comparison than the US Constitution and F-4. Both were a stroke of genius that even with all their supposed flaws, have “staying power” and are unique in their respect fields. We may sense that both are no longer pertinent to “modern times” and desire to bring them into the 21st Century, but a very stern caution is advised. You start making significant changes to either, and you negatively impact the core value. It’s okay to make minor “tweaks” and that has been done in both instances, but I think we should all appreciate the “product” for what it brings to the table and not continue to compare it to similar undertakings or want it “modernized” to reflect current trends. BMS folks are to be commended as they have a sense of the “inherent strength” of this sim and are dedicated to staying loyal to the original and not being coerced into chasing some utopian concept that is in reality impossible to achieve.
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My two cents here. I’ve been a fan of Falcon 4 since '98 and all the big improvements I desire have already been made. At first it was stability: never had a crash in Bms 4.32! Then multiplayer… I could go on, my point is we all love this sim and I think we are all more than happy and thankful to all devs!
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My two cents here. I’ve been a fan of Falcon 4 since '98 and all the big improvements I desire have already been made. At first it was stability: never had a crash in Bms 4.32! Then multiplayer… I could go on, my point is we all love this sim and I think we are all more than happy and thankful to all devs!
Yep, I was one of the first to buy Falcon 4.0 when it was released (I still have the hard bound manual). Been a hell of a ride ever since. But I have been here when the modding first began (ERazor and SP). It has slowly changed into what we have now. It will continue to evolve (maybe slowly, but it will continue). Keep that passion alive devs!
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I don’t think that will ever happen. Also, backing a huge task of building a code engine, then creating code for that engine will take a small army. Someone mentioned $700,000 USD for funding a project like that. Try again. Try adding another 0 to that figure. More like $7,000,000 because it would take many years to build and create with 100’s of people working on it full time. Be happy with what you have. Be thankful of what you have. That always seems to get lost every time someone mentions “lets build a new sim” come up.
btw, I’ve been there. The complexity and time consumption is enormous! Very unrealistic expectations, and too many problems with such an endevor.
thats why i said i’d win the lottery!
but yeah, unfortunately there is just never the market, especially these days, of people with the drive for a study sim to ever make it truly profitable enough to do. labors of love, or labors of small-fry companies, are all we’re gonna get, and i AM happy with it. still, one can dream.
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thats why i said i’d win the lottery!
but yeah, unfortunately there is just never the market, especially these days, of people with the drive for a study sim to ever make it truly profitable enough to do. labors of love, or labors of small-fry companies, are all we’re gonna get, and i AM happy with it. still, one can dream.
Nothing wrong with that. But you have to admit, bms is very good now. Especially if you were like me, and watched it evolve of many years. I think 4.3.3 will surprise us all. I think all of us are going to be very happy with the effort and hard work these guys have poured in to this.
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i just read the falcon epopee for the first time….amazing work, fellas.