Virtual Wings of War
I made a thing, just to demonstrate what could be done:
https://sites.google.com/view/wingsofwarauto/home
Press ">>" to advance to the next phase. At the moment it takes the manoeuvres from a Google spreadsheet and moves the aircraft accordingly. In the fullness of time, the idea is that two (or more) players could enter their manoeuvres and it would also track damage...
That looks good!
Certainly a worthy effort, Dom.
Go, go, go for it!
Keep up the good work!
Interesting. I will be following this one.
If you need crowdsourcing help, let us know. Personally, I'd be happy to get involved. I don't have much technical prowess, but I'd be glad to take care of tasks that will save you time, such as data entry.
Thanks for the offer killer moth. There is nothing like that to be done yet, but at some point I will need coordinates for all the manoeuvres for all decks if it is going to be expanded.
The next step will be to get firing and damage working!
Well, a perfect source is Honza's webapp: www.hoho.cz/app/wog
Another hand for crowdfundig here, sir.
Yes, that works for the straights, but I need coordinates for stalls, S bends and curves too! Not yet though, that will come later on. Just baby steps for now...
Dom, your private message inbox is full.
Nice!
I look forward to seeing more.
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Thanks! I didn't even know that was a thing...Originally Posted by CrashCraig
Dom, your private message inbox is full.
I have a Google sheets file with that info for the decks I own. The turns and sideslips generally follow a formula based on the length of the straight so wouldn't be too tricky to work out.
I have a full set of data for ww2 from the Tabletop Simulator mod I am working on.
Update: you can now input manoeuvre selections and fly your aircraft around the map. Firing and damage not yet implemented, so it sort of simulates the Western front on 12th Nov 1918...
Please have a play and let me know if there are any issues.
Absolutely brilliant, Dom! Fantastic work. I wish I had something to offer other than praise!
Dom, just tried a little test run and loved it. Flew off the map but was able to get back. Awesome work
Last edited by CrashCraig; 04-22-2022 at 11:17.
Thanks! I need to get it to stop the game if you fly off the table! The next step is to get firing working. Quite complicated with all the angles to think about...
The plan is to get it to visually place a ruler for every valid shot and then display the damage cards that are drawn next to the targets.
Then it needs to be able to give the player options if there is more than one valid target... Then cope with special damage... Then rockets...
Keep up the good work.
I play WoG because it's fun, but I also know that I would enjoy the heck out of the game at the competitive level. I know that some venues host tournaments; what has always bothered me is that accidentally nudging something a milimeter can decide the game. I think that that is going to be one of my favorite facets of this program; that it will remove that possibility.
I don't know how you would feel about Ares using your program, Dom, but I think that if they did, it would be a great idea for virtual product to be able to be redeemed via physical airplane packs—that is, include codes with them. I think that that would even encourage buying more product; having codes that you can redeem and even trade would obviously add more value.
Last edited by Killer Moth; 04-22-2022 at 19:32.
Updated. It now places a firing ruler when you are within range and arc of an AA gun. You can't fire back yet, nor does it track damage... Baby steps.
They don't need my permission, it is their game! They could get this done much better fairly easily if they chose to. For now, I'll keep making this unless they tell me to stop!
Dom, just checked it out. Looks great, well done again
Also tried and it looks pretty good. Please, stay on the trail - it would be awesome play online again!
Sooner or later, Dire Wolf's app should also appear:
https://www.aresgames.eu/22614
If it does not fail at the last moment like the Playstation version of Wings of War:
Or the one iPad/many iPhone version proposed by FFG.
Or the virtual version for which a Russian company paid an option, then giving up.
Or the Big Daddy app version that was never released:
Or the ePawn game board that interrupted its Kickstarter campaign:
But we will not give up...
Bwahaha! That is so sad, but also so funny, Andrea!
Interesting history of failure! Presumably all these failed because of politics, because in terms of coding it is a simple game - just geometry and trig.
Well, it is not just about failure. See thread Online Wings of War - Testers and Helpers Needed. But that seems like from another century now...
Well, it seems that failures involved only the very official versions.
Let's see.
Looks promising Dom.
Question: would people prefer to have manoeuvre selections redirected (e.g. you cannot select a sideslip if the previous manoeuvre was an immelmann) or to allow illegal selections and display a message informing the player or to allow illegal manoeuvres and play the "out of control" rule (aircraft is removed from the game if illegal manoeuvres are played)?
Depends on whether you want to cater for Ace Skills or not - one of them (Acrobatic Pilot/Daredevil - not sure which) allows a non-straight manoeuvre after an Immelmann reverse, and the other allows two consecutive "steeps", so these options become legal.
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Keep in mind that sometimes you must plan illegal maneuvres. For example, Kurtz plans straight, straight, Immelmann with a single engine fighter and he bursts into flames for a fire special damage. At the start of the next turn, he must plan a straight because of the Immelmann, but he can not because of the fire. Similar cases cam happen to a plane jamming the rudder in both directions. If you do not allow to plan an illegal maneuvre, the game could jam. Or you must anyway somehow program a special way to go on in such a situation.
In these cases, at the table an illegal maneuvre is planned and then the rule for that is applied (plane eliminated, or maneuvre replaced with straight and A damage card taken as a penalty, depending on rule in use).
Last edited by Angiolillo; 05-04-2022 at 06:42.
I have always preferred the maneuvre replaced with straight and A damage card taken as a penalty,as it seems a little harsh if the illegality is caused by the circumstances as in the Fire breaking out described by Andrea.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
And i always liked having the choice of planning straight while on Fire and receiving A. This really should be cleared up in the upcoming rule supplement, because apart from making sense and being tactical, it is a way out of absurd situations.
No, it's not - it's stupid, and entirely contrary to survival instinct.
Set a man on fire, or the vehicle he is in, and all rational thought departs - he will do everything he can to AVOID any further harm/burns/damage.
"Tactical" thought in such situations only belongs in "Boys' Own" comics
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Set a man on fire
You are that man. And it is highly doubful that you would set yourself on fire because of a straight maneuver. I like your imagination though
The problem with fire damage in the game is that it is almost certain to NOT kill you in one card.
When a player knows that there is only a 1 in 35 chance of a BOOM, if his plane has more than 5 damage points remaining then the next card has a 34 in 35 chance of leaving him alive.Thus he can coolly "ignore" it, when in real life he wouldn't.
In real life, people don't know that - they see flames "eating" their plane/car/clothes, and panic; they are animals, after all, at the basic psychological level, and fire is terrifying.
Watch videos on You Tube of people who catch fire - before they start to think, and throw themselves down on the ground and roll over to put out the flames, they
1) run around in circles
2) run to left and right, and back again to the same left and right, even though it didn't work just a couple of seconds ago!
Other people have to chase them, tackle them and THEN put out the flames.
It's harrowing to watch.
Set a man on fireI might have done it once, but it really wasn't my fault, honest guv.....
You are that man.
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Which is why the pilots carried handguns, no?
I get your point Tim. In my games, i prefer abstract elements, if it brings more tactics even on behalf of reality. I like to have a choice of sacrificing for benefit. Just in board games, not in my life. I understand it might get a bit too personal in this game though.
This game has quite some abstract elements implemented, and to me, it would only benefit from another one. But as i say, i understand what you mean.
As Andrea says, sometimes you have to plan a straight when on fire because the circumstances dictate you must but I'm with Tim in that you shouldn't be planning a straight other than that. I think you should implement both available rules: take the penalty for forced straights & be eliminated for any other !
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
One way or the other, this should be sorted out. Eliminating a player that overlooked something because the penalty is the same as the offense is just absurd. Or even accusing people of doing it on purpose and making use of the loop hole.
Andrea should somehow make it right.
So, not on the theme of virtual gaming, but on the fire theme.
I have been in the middle of executing an Immelmann when set on fire. Because I hadn't completed the maneuver within a given turn, I had been commited to planning a straight to complete the Immelmann, and been on fire. In this specific situation, I would have been immediately eliminated by the rules.
Because I am restricted to playing out planned cards within a turn, I can't abandon the Immelmann mid-turn, even knowing I will have to complete the remainder of the maneuver in the following turn.
In the virtual theme, in solo games, one of the rules is to ignore anomylies when a chart provides a solution like an Immelmann being the final card in one turn, with a non-straight maneuver being selected in the next. Also, some special damage rules are ignored because it is too hard to modify the solo rules to fit. I don't know if we want the same leaway in an app?
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
What I was suggesting is only eliminating people who plan straights for purposes (ie moves that gain a tactical advantage for position or shot) other than those for which they are compelled to do through manoeuvre or damage, who'd just take the damage penalty.
Most people in groups I've gamed with will ask what they can, or, can't do when they catch fire, or, someone reminds them, so it's not really that big an issue.
Only if those are the rules you're playing. Every game I've played in people use the 'replace the card with a straight and take the damage card' rules. Applied to all errors not just fire ones.
Last edited by flash; 05-05-2022 at 10:59.
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
Forbidding a straight move while on fire on a single engine plane comes from the memories of my friend Marco's grandfather*. He trained pilots in Regia Aeronautica and he always adviced to avoid that. Alas, he even had losses at his school because of people flying straight and getting flames from their engine.
* Not the same Marco joining us at Wings of Prague 2019 and 2022.
Dom, how are things? I just had a peek at your program, and it's looking good!
Yes, I am still slowly working away at it. It now draws different damage cards (A deck or B deck) depending on what is firing. Still only AA fire for the moment... Next step is to implement aircraft fire, then it can be an actual game!
Glad to see it coming along, Dom
Dom, what's good?
...in the hood?
Still working... Struggling with trig at the moment. I need to relate the aircraft angle to the angle to target:
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