Cpt Beefheart, on 22 March 2013 - 11:12 PM, said:
In amongst this whole "derp derp derp, I don't want 3rd person herp derp" thing has come the disposition that the MWO is a simulator (I don't want to use 3rd person either, but I'll get to that later). Please kids, calm down, the Mechwarrior series are not simulators in the pure sense of the word, and I for one am thankful they are not.
Here's some features that simulators have, and how MWO and other games in the MW series compare.
Functional cockpits and micromanagement
So far, MWO has shown intention of displaying readouts on LCD screens in cockpits. However in simulators this is the primary feature of the game, and you spend more time looking at instruments than you do looking at your HUD, especially outside of combat. This is because, IRL, when piloting/driving a piece of machinery it is physically impossible to display every important piece of information, in its finer points, on a HUD, and it's more sensible to put detailed readouts (which you need when operating complex machines) on an instrument panel rather than cluttering the pilot's line of sight.
This also means micromanagement. In flight simulators this is air:fuel ratios, voltage, radar management, scopes, bomb/rocket timing, laser targeting and so on, which MW games do-not feature. IRL, it's feasible that a big stompy robot would still need a great deal of its human "brain" to manage such systems rather than leaving it to an AI which is likely to get damaged in combat.
If MWO was a simulator, you'll be spending more time looking away from the action, clicking on a control panel and pressing hot keys than you would be going *pew pew pew*.
I started reading your wall of text, but this is as far as I could get. My eyes kept rolling back that I couldn't read any further.
First off, you're wrong. A vehicle sim doesn't have to be super micromanagement detailed.
http://en.wikipedia....simulation_game
Second, keeping more attention on instruments IRL is starting to tone down anyway. I've heard pilots describe the F-15 fighter jet as dividing your attention so that 80% of your awareness is on your instruments, and 20% is actually looking out your cockpit. The new F-22, on the other hand, interprets data so well for you that only 20% of your awareness needs to be on your instruments, and 80% can be outside your cockpit. Not to mention that fly-by-wire systems are getting more and more sophisticated over the generations.
Furthermore, when you drive your car, do you spend most of your time looking at your speedometer, or is most of your attention focused on the road?
What about the entire space sim or racing sim subgenres, where info is purposely presented in such a way so you can focus on the action? Are those no longer sims now, just because you say so?
Finally, as just a side note (really more semantics than anything), a simulator actually has a model cockpit to interact with the software. A simulation is just software that allows your own peripherals. I think your confusion between the terms is also contributing to your presuppositions.
TL;DR: Get a clue, OP. You're flat out wrong.
Edited by Suprentus, 24 March 2013 - 12:54 AM.