Hello, comrades!

Recently, in Dev Blog #35, we told you about the new Museum mode. Today, we continue the topic of gameplay with a story about the central game mode — Career.

Initially, it is necessary to explain how we selected this particular mode. At the beginning of 2023, we undertook a difficult process of creative exploration in the area of future gameplay. It wasn't easy because we had to choose from several competing, exciting, and attractive ideas. Among them, in addition to an improved Career mode from IL-2 Great Battles, was a story campaign in the spirit of Wing Commander, WW2 Fighters, and Red Baron 2 — featuring detailed scenarios, characters, video inserts, jeep rides around the airfield, and more. Another option was a dynamic campaign, ideologically close to the old classics — Falcon 4.0 and Enemy Engaged series (Apache/Havoc, Comanche/Hokum). Our design of these modes, of course, was not a copy of the mentioned games; it contained many original ideas and features.

Nevertheless, in the end, the idea to further develop the Career mode that we created in Rise of Flight and then further developed in IL-2 Great Battles won out. There were several reasons for this. Let’s start by comparing the ideas described above to what they were inferior to.

First, the dynamic campaign. For all its advantages, it inherently can’t be historically accurate — that’s why it is ideally suited for hypothetical conflicts of the future, as you can find in Falcon and Enemy Engaged. Our projects, on the other hand, are about historical events and great air battles of the past. Alternate history is not yet our field.

Secondly, the story or static campaign, as it is also called. For all its advantages, such a mode deprives the player of the most important feature: replayability. Our simulators have always assumed that the player invests time not just to "complete" the game, but to discover something new and enjoyable in the product over a long period. Additionally, a static campaign with a historical plot is poorly suited for allowing the player to fly various airplanes; during the Korean War, very few people had the opportunity to fly piston, jet, and strike planes. This could have happened during WWII, but even there it was not within a particular battle, but instead throughout the war, which is almost impossible to realize with good quality as one story (it would turn out to be too long). To change the character in such personal stories, where the narrative is paramount, is to lose most of the advantages of this approach. We want to tell a story like this at some point, but as a primary mode, it’s not the best solution for the Korean War.

Thus, Career has proved to be the most suitable game mode for the genre in which we create our simulators. It allows you to reproduce the historical course of battles, and a wide variety of aircraft can participate in it harmoniously. Career not only allows, but it is designed for maximum replayability. Nevertheless, simply repeating what has already been done and reproducing this mode 1-in-1 as it was made in Great Battles, of course, was not in our plans. We envisioned "Korea" as a new step in the evolution of our simulations, and this had to apply to all aspects, including gameplay. That’s why we almost entirely decompiled the game mode of Great Battles into its components and came to the conclusion that the main direction of Career development is the development of the so-called meta part of gameplay, that is, the part of the gameplay in which the player participates in addition to the actual combat missions. In Great Battles, this mode was called "Pilot's Career," where the player fulfilled assigned tasks and, even after becoming a commander, could influence their parameters only to a limited extent. In "Korea," we have created a "Commander's Career" mode, where the player manages the entire unit (a squadron or regiment).

The squadron or regiment commander in a Career determines not only the number of pilots on a combat sortie, but also their distribution among units (divisions, sections), assignment to command positions, awards, dismissals, and also requests replenishment. The player also now manages the material aspect — assigning specific aircraft to a combat sortie, prioritizing repairs, and requesting new equipment after losses. In addition to planes, he monitors the consumption of fuel, ammunition, and spare parts kits in the unit’s depots, aiming to maintain the necessary level of supply while minimizing damage to the equipment during sorties. At the same time, the level of supply of the regiment by the higher command depends on the success of the player’s regiment in completing combat missions. Thus, the player, as a commander, must strike a balance between the strength of the forces he sends on combat missions and the materiel expenditures required to do so.

It is essential to note that the player, as a unit commander, now receives a task for the day not as a set of specific combat missions, but rather, more closely aligned with historical context, as a general task. For example, the task for the day is "ensure air superiority in the specified area." The player will determine the number, type, and composition of combat missions that his subordinates should perform in this area to achieve the set general task, as well as the specific aircraft to be used. The main task can be interrupted by specific "operational" tasks, such as repelling a bombing raid, repelling a raid on an airfield, or covering strike planes, among others. In other words, everything is just as it is in reality — the commander can plan everything as he sees fit, but urgent circumstances and the enemy will disrupt the plans.

The richness of the gameplay has been greatly enhanced. The unit’s combat days are centered around real historical events. We’ve mentioned before that Career will span the period from April 1951 to July 1953, covering a two-year period — a scale we haven't approached before. However, this has a downside — such a game mode may seem endless, too long for the player, as it might take time comparable to the real two years. That’s why we concentrated combat days around the iconic operations and battles of the Korean War, accompanied each combat day with a newspaper detailing events in Korea and around the world, and centered combat tasks from the command around the corresponding location on the map.

The success of the combat day will depend on the success of the overall task, which the number and success of combat sorties within that general task will determine. The success of the day will determine the supply of the unit, as well as the rate of replenishment of materiel, fuel, ammunition, and personnel. It will also determine how often the commander will be able to reward his subordinates with awards. The results of combat sorties will also determine the growth in experience of each participant in the flight. Interestingly, it will be possible to continue even in the event of the commander’s death — his place will be taken by the deputy appointed earlier. Therefore, the player needs to prepare a suitable replacement for their character in such a case.

As you can see, all of the above concerns the meta aspect of the gameplay. Still, there will be numerous changes in the core gameplay, including combat missions, with new game mechanics aimed at intensifying the experience. These changes will also introduce new entities, such as radar air control stations, enhancements to artificial intelligence, and a new wingman control system for the group leader. We plan to tell you about all of this gradually in the future.

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