Do you know what Dan… I have not a lot of interest in WW1…
However, the more I see of this, the more I’m starting to like it!
the picture are good but I dont like WW1 planes
Can’t wait, more so now I’ve seen the seen the ground detail. That has to be so important in these slow flying turners. My aerial dogfighting roots lay with sims like these and taking this online will really be a joy.
Just please don’t be full of bugs.
I found this interesting inteview at UBI forums:
------pasted from here--------
This a recent interview I conducted for PC Format magazine. I hope you find it of interest.
Jay
KNIGHTS OF THE SKY
An interview with Gennadich’s Albert Zhiltsov
PC Format: What was the company’s background prior to developing Knights of the Sky?
Gennadich: The history of the company is relatively short. Most of the staff are avid gamers with more than ten years’ experience in sims like Red Baron, IL-2, Red Orchestra, American Army, Flanker and Lock-On: playing games professionally in teams and squads. We not only play games but participated in competitions and won several international contests. As members of squads, we became friends and we could not think of our lives without military games. In addition, most of us were professional software developers/artists, and in 2004, we finally decided that military games are the most interesting thing we like and know how to do.
As professional players, we know of the specific limitations of games, inaccuracy in modelling specific features of military objects and deficiencies in gameplay which we would like to avoid – so we developed software that met our needs. Our first step in game development was Air Domination War (ADR – www.adwwar.com) online server project with a dynamic campaign feature for IL-2 players: it’s well-known to many players and has gained a solid reputation throughout the gaming world. During the development of ADW, we also developed a few minor but important utilities for Il-2 gamers. The first step made sure that we were on the right track. We then found an investor for Knights of the Sky and the project for a realistic WWI flight simulator was born. Being renowned among the simulation gaming community, we attracted the attention of software developers such as Eagle Dynamics, G5, Nikita, Nival Interactive, etc, which wanted to achieve the same results as us. This only strengthened our resolve and we formed a very strong professional team.
PC Format: The marketplace is flooded with combat flight sims from WW2 to modern jet planes ala IL2/Forgotten Battles, Combat Flight Simulator 3, Wings over Europe, Lock-On, Falcon 4, etc. Do you think a WW1 sim like Knights of the Sky can attract players who are accustomed to fast planes and missiles? What can Knights of the Sky bring to the market that makes it unique?
Gennadich: Well, military aviation and tanks were first used in anger during WW1, so it was logical for us to start from the beginning. And besides, the battles of WW1 are unfairly forgotten. We hope to make Knights of the Sky not just to be an advanced technical simulation of the physical properties of airplanes, but also an educational tool that will provide the player with a historical perspective. Our main goal is to let the player dive into the rich WW1 atmosphere and say afterwards, “I was there! I have seen it with my own eyes!” We do believe that modern simulators, which are mostly designed by Russian developers, are going in the wrong direction. An aviation sim is not just about the flight and damage model – topics that are actively debated in the gaming community – but also to reveal its historical relevance in which the action takes place. We do believe that it is not enough to give a player a plane: one should also have the opportunity to become a real pilot, a warrior and soldier. This is what war games should be.
PC Format: Let’s talk about the gaming engine: did you work from Oleg Maddox’s IL-2 engine or start from scratch? What will the minimum gaming specifics be to play it?
Gennadich: We initially wanted to use the IL-2 engine in order to reduce development time and focus our attention on specific WW1 gameplay. We have very good relations with Oleg Maddox we live and work in Russia and know each other well. But we came to the conclusion that the IL-2 engine was limited as it was difficult to add specific features that we wanted in Knights of the Sky. As I mentioned earlier, we managed to attract top-notch developers, so we were able to develop our own engine that has the necessary qualities. The new engine has surpassed all expectations and we believe that it has potential to become the standard for future developments, including consoles. Concerning requirements, we promise to deliver a playable game for today’s specifications, but the pilot’s machine should have 128mb video memory and 1gb of operative memory – however, such hardware requirements are already the norm. It is also advisable that one has a joystick and TrackIR PRO, as flying with a mouse on a realistic flight model could be overwhelming. Ultimately, the player will be able to tune all the flight settings to their preference and skill level.
PC Format: What can we expect from the AI (artificial intelligence): will they be an improvement over current gaming intelligence?
Gennadich: Yes, our AI will be different and we devoted special attention to this feature. We hope to make the AI more human-like than any other flight simulator and will even try to “teach” the artificial pilots to use radical strategies. Overall, we have the technology to make bots behave extremely clever, but our investors will not let us spend too much time to bring things to perfection – still, such advanced features could surface in add-ons and sequels. So for the moment, we try to make the AI to behave like one using brains and not just their stomachs. Current sims provide structured and expectable behaviour from the bots, therefore it’s relatively easy to win in the air, but we shall change this in Knights of the Sky, making the bots to be more adaptive to the situation and be less predictable. We also want to add things that could be attributed to emotions, so it would be even harder to distinguish between human and computer pilots.
PC Pilot: Why do you think that Russian developers, who are small in comparison to Microsoft, are now beating the global American business at its own game, such as IL2 considered as superior to Combat Flight Simulator 3, for example?
Gennadich: Due to our history, Russia is a very interesting country. We may lack the business skills, but Russia has a good ground for science and engineering. The USSR had an excellent educational system, especially in technical and military sciences, perhaps at the expense of freedom and quality of life. Now Russia, after transition to the market economy, has a wealth of developers with technical programming skills, engineers with a deep knowledge in physics, control theory, etc. There is no need for military flight dynamic specialists at state enterprises, but the games industry provides an opportunity to apply their skills – it is relatively easy to find a specialist who has ten years’ experience on aerodynamics, has worked in the aviation industry and is a highly qualified C++ developer. And this specialist will be happy to develop highly fidelity flight dynamics for you. So we have excellent opportunities in Russia to develop complex games especially for simulators. Having many specialists with a deep knowledge in modelling technical processes, we could expect more simulators originating from Russia featuring proper modelling of marine or tank battles, and even complete battlefield situations.
PC Format: Let’s talk about the solo campaign for Knights of the Sky as the IL2 campaign was a linear experience. Perhaps the best solo sim was Sierra’s Red Baron 2 which had a flexible, expanding and involving world that enriched gameplay. What can Knights of the Sky bring to the solo gamer?
Gennadich: I cannot reveal all the juicy secrets and I am going to keep my lips sealed – but believe me, it shall be worth it! We have designed a new level of gameplay that has not been seen in any existing simulator – and remember, Knights of the Sky is developed my professional players. We hope to meet the high expectations of those interested in the genre, the historical correctness and flow of events, those who like to get all the details for each flight, and those who believe that pre-flight preparation is a complete waste of time. It is easy for us to build a structure of good gameplay as we are doing this for ourselves, as well as being our toughest critics. We also hope not to upset the Red Baron 2 fans as we acknowledge the greatest respect towards its developers and want to keep in line with the highest standards of the game.
PC Format: Can we expect online capabilities from Knights of the Sky?
Gennadich: Oh yeah, most definitely and this is what we’re all about. As members of Gennadich won more than ten online competitions, including world championships in China and Europe, we know exactly what is necessary for good online play. We already brought new online gaming experience for virtual pilots in ADW which is recognised by many players. Having gained positive experience and feedback, we will extend features in the direction of improving online gameplay. Hardcore simmers should be satisfied!
PC Format: Considering that WW1 biplanes did not have on-board radios, how are you going to develop communication between aircraft? What price for total realism?
Gennadich: That is a tough question. It’s true, WW1 pilots had no other means to communicate other than visual signs; they could only use manoeuvres or hand signals to express commands. We will try to implement the very basics as used in WW1 as well as to designate commands and semitransparent icons above the planes. I also wish to thank PC Format and the online community in assisting our development as well as factual matters on WW1. We promise to do our best and meet the hopes of the aviation community.
END
Thanks Hans!
Trust me Trooper WW1 flying is the best of all combat-wise dogfights last hours, machine guns hitting doped fabric don’t do much damage, luring em under bridges and around steeples. Better than Spitfires even. Almost 
At No. 19 Squadron RFC we are preparing to take delivery of our Dolphins. In about two years time when it’s a flyable but the Camel looks up for it
Flying south here into the sun. Oops
Miggles
Ah but we had the Spads:D
You speak for yourself I’m fully fit. I thought you walked a bit funny
Ming
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
And this week…
A target:D
Thanks for the heads up Dan. I’m putting you in charge of gathering info about this mate and keep feeding us this stuff, bloody brilliant isn’t it When is its ETA?
Between now and jan we are waiting for system specs:)
I cruise at 50kts in real life - I don’t want to do it in combat too! 
It’d be interesting to drop a ‘modern’ (1970s design) fibreglass soaring glider into WW1 combat sim. Quite hard to get an aerotow, perhaps, but the Puchacz can cruise at about 30:1 (I think) and could conceivably drop a 250lb payload (based on the weight of the optional instructor!). So starting at 15000ft (perhaps, vertical drop launch from a cluster of balloons??), which is what - three miles alt? - you could cruise for ninety miles at 60-70mph before running out of sky.
A shame the RAE didn’t know how to mould fibreglass in those days, or make smooth perspex canopies…
Come to think about it, these WW1 aircraft probably aren’t that far removed from our Falke motor-glider, which is powered by a slightly-modified Volkswagen car engine, made of wood, fabric and steel tube, cruises at about 70-80mph, horribly cramped cockpit, unresponsive controls, and often doesn’t have use of the engine…
I read an article by a chap who flew a replica Camel in the '70s - it was authentic except for the engine, which was a '60s radial design that was less reliable than the WW1 models. He said that the aircraft was very sluggish, by modern standards, due to low-tech control surfaces. The ailerons had simple hinges, like barn doors - in those days if you wanted more control force, simply make the aileron bigger with no regard for efficiency, balancing etc. I’ll try to dig up that article over Christmas.
I’m not overly enamoured to WW1 aviation, but I fully expect to change my mind when I see the completed project!!
This week they are working on terain that will change with the seasons.
Its looking good… (resist damn it, resist!)
You canot resist your DESTINY :roflmao:
Heading south please send radio when they’ve been invented <tucks very thin paper into tiny brass cylinder>
Miggles
Ming, head off to Biggin Hill - that’s where testing started 1916 or 1917
http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bromley/story-of-biggin-hill.htm
Of course, we’re not into telephony yet
Nice P
I am NOT joining any Morris Dancing Nine Men’s Morris heathen rituals by the way you’re on your own on this one you lot. Swoop with the bladder on a stick and the bells. Bloody weirdos don’t you have homes to go to <hands out ASBOs to a bunch of Dad’s Army volunteers>
Ming
They are back from their hols:w00t: .
A couple of night shots, still pre alpha.