nicoliani wrote:If EA saw money in a simulate game they would do one their self. How much PR players think it's awesome it's just a small number of players compared to BF2. That means there is much more people enjoying BF2 as it is, and would be disappointed on a game like PR. Besides a realistic arcade game would be weird. There is already ARMA out there. Enjoy the mod and if you want a different game play play ARMA.
Speaking of ArmA and selling mods, I thought I would bring up a little history note that many people here are probably not aware of but might find interesting.
I'm sure many of you are aware that Armed Assault (ArmA) is pretty much Operation Flashpoint 2 (or 3, if you consider the Resistance Pack as part 2). Both use the same engine and core features, with ArmA fixing several bugs and adding in some extra features and optimisations. ArmA is a highly-realistic military simulation with very advanced "modding" capabilities. Because of the open scripting options and addon aspects, people can create almost anything they want in the ArmA world. And yes, fastroping is very capable there.
Back in the days of OFP there were a lot of addon groups in the community. Groups just like the PR team, who make free addons for the game. Several of those groups were well known for their attention to detail and high quality of modelling and texturing, some addons looking far better than the original game's objects. While there were literally hundreds of good addon makers in the community, there were only a handful of groups or individuals known as the Gods of OFP, people who could make something so awesome that you'd wet your pants watching the teaser clips.
About 6-8 months prior to the retail release of ArmA, several of the most well-known and respected addon groups suddenly stopped creating addons for the community. It's almost like they disappeared completely, and rumors starting popping up that they were hired by Bohemia Interactive to make the new units for the ArmA game. Nobody would confirm this nor deny it, but that is what the general community idea was. So everyone started waiting for ArmA's release, excited to think that the addons they loved so much would actually be part of the new core game.
ArmA gets released, and while the new units are nice, they are obviously not all from the addon groups that went MIA before. So now the big question was "What the hell happened? If this isn't what they were working on, where the F did they go?". The answer would surprise many of the community.
The answer? VBS. It was around the same time as ArmA's retail release that VBS was also becoming a major point of interest for several military and government agencies. Before VBS was completed, several US agencies were already using OFP with their own customized addons for their own training, and the developers of VBS saw the potential. VBS had plans to create compeletely customized addon packs called "Modules" for each agency that wished to use it, with each module containing custom vehicles, soldiers/personnel, weapons, equipment, etc. Because the core VBS program is stripped down and excludes the inclusion of the vast array of military units found in the core OFP/ArmA game, this meant that each agency could customize the software for their individual needs. Fire departments could have all fire and ems equipment without the inclusion of tanks and machine guns. Game maps for VBS could be made to realistically reproduce large sections of an entire city even, using satellite images and USGS data. Just think of the possibilities.
So how do those addon groups fit into VBS? Well, seeing the quality of their work and the popularity of them, the VBS team had an idea. Why not hire those groups to produce custom addons for their customers? They are already skilled in the tools required, have tangible proof of their work, and would require minimal expenses compared to hiring local developers in a studio. So a majority of the top-end OFP addon makers were now being paid to create addons for the VBS platform. Modules were now being sold specifically geared towards the end client.
So how does this story relate to PR? Pretty much PR is just like the OFP addon groups. They are making free community addons out of their own spare time for the enjoyment of the community and themselves, and in turn they are getting a lot of experience in those skills. Should PR become recognized as being exceptional work, it is possible that future developers who want to buy the engine for BF2 might look to the PR developers to make their units. The PR team might then be paid to do the same work they are doing now, and we might see a future game that uses PR as the base.
While I see little chance of this happening due to the jacked up engine we all know as BF2, it is still a very popular game and some company might just wish to use that to their advantage. It is still possible that some company might want to use the BF2 engine to create a new game, and I think PR will likely be the base of their desired units for such a game. As for military and government use of such a new platform, I don't see this happening. VBS is so much more desirable for that use that nobody would even consider the BF2 engine as an alternate But for a new game, it is possible.
Its kinda turned into EA hate thread.