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MicroProse Returns with the Mighty Eighth, a 10-Player WWII B-17 Simulator

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Re: MicroProse Returns with the Mighty Eighth, a 10-Player WWII B-17 Simulator

#3
I wonder how much of a sim it will be.

Not sure I'd want to be the bombardier and have to sit for a long time only to get to stare at my screen and push a button ... once.

Granted I still like the idea, it will be interesting to see how much they gamify it and how much they do not.

Re: MicroProse Returns with the Mighty Eighth, a 10-Player WWII B-17 Simulator

#5
My first thought upon seeing the images in the article: that's not a B-17! But the microprose announcement makes it more clear that the B-24 will be added, https://www.microprose.com/games/the-mighty-eighth#

[edit] historical note: my grandfather was a tailgunner in B-24s.

Re: MicroProse Returns with the Mighty Eighth, a 10-Player WWII B-17 Simulator

#7
For anyone interested, this company is unrelated to the original Microprose from a corporate history perspective, it’s just some people who bought the name “Microprose” at an IP auction. However they have enlisted Wild Bill Stealey as some kind of advisor, so they are at least attempting to connect with the history.

(Wild Bill was one of the two founders of Microprose. The other, Sid Meier, has his own things going on.)

I’m unclear as to whether this new Microprose has rights to any of the original Microprose games, either in a “rereleasing the original” or in a “doing a remake” sense. Obviously TakeTwo has a lot of the rights — either that they bought directly or that Sid/Firaxis had and they acquired when they bought out Firaxis — which is how they can release new Civ and XCOM and Pirates. I think Sid owns Silent Service too, to pick a random example of one they haven’t done anything with, though I don’t remember for sure.

Re: MicroProse Returns with the Mighty Eighth, a 10-Player WWII B-17 Simulator

#8
post #3

I wonder how much of a sim it will be. Not sure I'd want to be the bombardier and have to sit for a long time only to get to stare at my screen and push a button ... once. Granted I still like the idea, it will be interesting to see how much they gamify it and how much they do not.

Didn't the bombardier typically also operate the chin turret in the B-17?

Re: MicroProse Returns with the Mighty Eighth, a 10-Player WWII B-17 Simulator

#9
post #3

I wonder how much of a sim it will be. Not sure I'd want to be the bombardier and have to sit for a long time only to get to stare at my screen and push a button ... once. Granted I still like the idea, it will be interesting to see how much they gamify it and how much they do not.

With VR there’s plenty of other emergent gameplay opportunities you can do. You could vomit in a barf bag, talk to crew mates, smoke a cigarette, flip through a magazine, double check your emergency parachute, etc.

Re: MicroProse Returns with the Mighty Eighth, a 10-Player WWII B-17 Simulator

#10
post #3

I wonder how much of a sim it will be. Not sure I'd want to be the bombardier and have to sit for a long time only to get to stare at my screen and push a button ... once. Granted I still like the idea, it will be interesting to see how much they gamify it and how much they do not.

In the late 80's and early 90's real time was a feature of simulations. It's what made them simulations. And as dull as flying a WWII airplane out and back sounds...Microprose's Silent Service let you operate a submarine across the Pacific in real time.

Of course, you could also speed time up if you wanted. But a "base frequency" of real time means the game play is not centered around "story mode." In simulation it means the player experiences the simulation at the same pace real world events might unfold.

The quintessential game of the period might be Microsoft's Flight Simulator. Which is only a game in the sense that the consequences of a bad day don't cost very much.

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