homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation Battle of Britain + Battle of Britain II Here's what happened (Continued)

Folks,

SNAFU:

It has been raining here all day. May 1st, May Day. I am old enough to remember that before the cold war we kids used to celebrate May Day in all the schools. I never personally danced around a May pole but I do remember enjoying watching several young ladies do that.

I would say that if you, as a consistent and long term fan of BoB, are feeling uneasy and disillusioned then most of the folks who suddenly gained new interest in BoB with the announcement of WOV are even more so. I'm just trying to put a positive spin on the situation thinking that what I say means nothing to anybody anyway.

Rowan's effort was imperfect to start because of a rush to publish that left too much undone. We have new technology today that Rowan could not even have foreseen. The BDG has been tireless in their attempt to bring Rowan's BoB into the 21st century but there have been difficulties and their volunteer effort was obviously limited in scope. Then came Shockwave and the announcement of WOV. Everyone was excited. Old friends returned and new devotes were brought into the fold. Then things began to sorta cool down.... gradually.

As you say the BDG chaps have done more than their bit to flog WOV and to patiently answer questions. There is even a website devoted to WOV. On that website today there were only two threads.

It is not uncommon for a title to miss the projected publishing date. As we've said before BoB is however a tad different in the respect that we all thought all the previous hard work by Rowan and the BDG would mean just a bit of brilliant tweaking was needed and that couldn't take more than a couple of months, right? Perhaps even the BDG thought that?

From a marketing standpoint something new should have been posted weekly. An article, anything new, a small tidbit, screenshots, updates, a projected calendar would have been nice even if the publishing date kept moving forward that would have been something to hold onto.

I have a notion that this is not the fault of the BDG. Perhaps it is no one's "fault" that the game has not come out. With all the new technology demanded today it must be maddeningly difficult to try and stretch that old 20th century code around all those new bells and whistles. Yet that is precisely what the promise of WOV was all about, wasn't it? I thought so.

The graphics for this rejuvenated BoB must be a tiger to grapple with. I am trying to see every side of the thing and we are doing so without knowing what is going on behind the scenes. In other words, in all probability I am once again speaking without knowing what I am talking about.

It is a shame that folks like you SNAFU who have been here from day one and who have supported this community in every way you could now feel disappointment, even anger. I remember several weeks ago Bader or OSRAM was saying to be patient for it would be worth the wait. At one point someone said it would be about two weeks. That has become much more than a month. Surely someone who knows what is really going on will make a statement soon?