Take on Helicopters: Social Media pictures

[purepassion 22]

Seattle Comparison Shots – Real and In-game

In the last couple of years, New York and Los Angeles have been drawing much attention by setting the scene for a number of video games. It has rewarded both cities with a great deal of global publicity. As of now, Seattle can be added to this prestigious list. In the recently released Take On Helicopters, developed by the Czech studio Bohemia Interactive (also known for its award-winning military ‘Arma’ franchise), Seattle makes its first big appearance in a video game.

The brand new Take On Helicopters enables players to fly their helicopter over more than 3,800 km² of Seattle terrain, while enjoying an authentic flight experience. The game’s playground includes Seattle’s industrial, commercial and residential areas, as well as iconic landmarks like the Space Needle. Furthermore, Take On Helicopters brings several innovations to the flight sim genre. For example, players are able to get out of their helicopter and continue exploring Seattle on foot. Plus the game also includes a story-driven campaign, which is set around the fictional Seattle-based family business ‘Larkin Aviation’. Campaign missions range from: filming whales in Puget Sound, to flying in formation above Bremerton in a veteran’s air show and assisting SWAT fast-roping operations on the roof of the Columbia Tower.

Impressive! :)

[purepassion 22]

Earlier on in development, we created some concepts of how to bind Take On with the story and context of our previous Arma games (The Armaversum)

Although we weren't too specific in the game itself, this is how we envision South Asia fitting in with the geo-political situation in the Green Sea Region!

[purepassion 22]

Bloggin'!

Yes, we've been at it again, this time musing wildly on the thorny subject of narrative in Take On Helicopters.

We take a look at why we've included story elements at all - in a genre not typically known for its narrative - and talk a little about the problems we faced in taking on this endeavour!

Approaching the task of creating a narrative for ‘Take On’, we knew that everything had to be driven forward by gameplay. Narrative and simulation games don’t traditionally go hand in hand; at best, they’re uncomfortable cousins. Try to marry ‘em up,and people will have eyebrows raised at all sorts of ambivalent angles.

So, why seek to merge the concepts? Primarily: engagement. Constructing a simple narrative framework within which gameplay instances can take place, controlled by a progressive flow of complexity (i.e., the skill required by the player), affords us an opportunity to add a richness to - and provoke an engagement with - the overall experience.

Below, we track the design of Take On's narrative element from its inception through to the beginnings of implementation.

Read more...

[jedra 11]

Saw a link to this on Facebook. Are we getting a new model or is it an old image?

[purepassion 22]

Take on Teasers!

Well, it's a wire-frame of a helicopter, that's for sure... but WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!

Find out tomorrow!

Looks like the Venom from A2 :)

[soul_assassin 1723]

only difference I see compared to the original is the apparent FLIR dome. Or am I wrong?

[jedra 11]

I wasn't sure what was different! Those BI guys can be cryptic at times though, so who knows what they have planned! I gues we'll find out 'tomorrow'!!

[Sealife 22]

Hopefully it's the start of the mlods :)

Imagine that plus java patch ,it will be like the second coming

[[evo] dan 79]

Its not a new heli, its a sample model + guide to build our own helis like I said on FB. It has to be when they show it like that.

[purepassion 22]

Our sound engineer had the great opportunity to capture some new source material, which you can hear in this short clip!

and here is the video:

You know, there's a saying about helicopters: "If it’s ugly, it’s British; if it’s weird, it’s French; and if it’s ugly and weird, it’s Russian."

Hmm.. but do you know which copter would make such a beautiful sound?

Edited February 3, 2012 by PurePassion

[hon0 10]

It's a hind !

[samb 15]

Dammit I really hoped for Mi-17. I am so not excited with Hind, gonna buy DLC anyway just because it's BiS...

[_michal 10]

Mi-17 as a future DLC (after the Hind, you know :D) would be awesome. Imagine the campaign possibilities on the desert map, Mi-17 and Mi-24... awesome...

[AZY 1]

if it is a hind or any other hunky junky military helicopter from the past that has been done time and time again and been reproduced a million times YOU CAN KEEP IT !!! why are you developers so stuck in the past with your development ????? annoys me !!

WE need new Sophisticated Helicopters,new technology with the current times please,after all this will mainly be a civilian style of game simulator wont it ?

because if you wanna fly military get ARMA 2

hey i don't mind military scenarios, don't get me wrong a few is ok ,but there are millions of military sims and games to play,nothing in civilian life style feel flying AT ALL !!! yeah microsoft simulator sure, but specifically modern helicopters real to life with many options to choose from ,missions and multi player scenarios

you can keep ya hinds ya mi 17's ya ka50's the alike s

if you are in military missions i would far rather USA technology cobras,Comanche and so on,black hawks, bells and so on,radar surveillance style choppers and so on with great missions

but this is civilian life simulator ,is it not ?? !!! fire fighting,rescuing,passenger travels,cargo,joy flights, therefore we need new exciting helicopters with huge choice not 3 helicopters to chose from

im open to military ,but not old junk from the 70's

also maps we need multiple maps on large scale's

that my 2 bobs worth anyway,keep the game interesting ,lets not go back in time please

[samb 15]

You can play civ missions with Mi 17, and I'd be awesome choppa to fly it escorted by Hind. As for western helicopters- Huey is on top of my wish- list; Blackhawk and Seaking are next...

SamB

EDIT:

BTW @AZY How comes You know what "WE" need? It's kinda bold statement, don't You think? You also wrote

"if it is a hind or any other hunky junky military helicopter from the past that has been done time and time again and been reproduced a million times YOU CAN KEEP IT !!! why are you developers so stuck in the past with your development ????? annoys me !!"

Calm down man, there is a bunch of players who think modern helicopters with fly by wire systems and computers doin' half od pilot's job are not very challenging and wish to get something that's more difficult to control.

" if you wanna fly military get ARMA 2"

With it's arcadish flying physics? Come on...

"but not old junk from the 70's"; "cobras,Comanche and so on,black hawks, bells and so on"

Ekm... You know they started with Blackhawk You mentioned in 1974, don't Ya? First cobra was delivered in 1967...

Edited February 5, 2012 by SamB

[Baraka 10]

I agree with AZY.

I bought ToH because i´m a big ArmA fanboy. I never played a flight sim before.

As a flying Noob i get great fun from this game. Riding an civil Chopper is very relaxing and a awesome experience.

After all the years i played ArmA this civilian style of Gameplay is very refreshing,

in the campaign i skipped the most "flashbag" missions couse i got no fun from it.

I would love to see more civilian Addons for ToH, may it be helis or ground-stuff.

So a nice Firefighter-DLC with 2 Helis, some firemen and the possibility to create fire which can hurt and spray per module.

That together with a smaller urban map which is better playable on the ground.

(Remember, in A2 you have all this with mods)

Guess i will continue play+love Arma for the next 10 years.

ToH can be an long runner too, but only when it keeps unique.

[AZY 1]

oh samb

you certainly picked the hell out all comments relating to military didn't you

you don't see the big picture do you,very tunnel visioned i see.

hey im happy for it to be military as well dont get me wrong but more so civilian it should be.

and as for the old military helicopters,well yes you are right they were mostly designed around the 70's war time, but there all still used flying today but far more advanced upgraded technology,your talking about the old airframe because thats about it today.

all im saying is lets stick with it being futuristic in current times and give us something new and exciting innovative not old and boring has been done before old hat simulator game,euro copters technology type thing for civil,up with the times airframes,and if military new up with the times technology ,yes its all about the physics of the copters, i like with this sim,but i have to say its now a boring sim as ive played it to death, if BIS or the community does nothing about it being upgraded with exciting maps and helicopters scenarios the alike,its going to die a slow pain full death,because apart from the od few things going on in the community ,i see nothing constructive going on as far as major development in usable maps and usable helicopters with out major issues with cross over map development and rights from other simulators and or games.

the community seems to be doing there own map integration in single play mainly from arma maps but cant share with take on

im no developer so i cant say ,i fly ,im a player.just my 2 bobs worth,end of rant,if you dont like what i say keep it to your self,period !!

[beepee 10]

I think that BIS is releasing HIND because this comunity is small and they want it bigger. They need more customers. Well I understand that, it's business after all. There is more people who likes military games than civil games, so such awesome heli as Hind would probably bring here a lot of new gamers. And that's good, cause this way ToH can develop. But, as AZY said, this is civil game. I don't want it to be military one. Arma 3 is coming. I'm sure we will see some of ToH FM features in Arma 3. So if someone wants to fly military choppers - wait for Arma 3, it's not far away.

ToH comunity is small because there is no MP here. The multiplayer is the key to success in nowadays games. Some short 10mission, 4hour single player campaign will not keep the players interested for too long. I know there is editor, but making interesting missions is not easy. And even if someone will spend a week or two to make some complex one, you can play it once or twice. Then it becomes boring. If you want to make MP mission... well whoever tried knows how hard it is. I have tried, and you know what? After all that testing the mission which I was making wasn't interesting for me to play any more! So whats the point? The game should be fun, not time consuming, learning complex scripting languages, digging forums and wikis for propper function names and procedures.

When I've finished SAR 4 campaign some years ago I thought "this game is awesome, I'd like to see a little bit more complex FM and systems and propper MP and I wont play anything else". Then Black Shark was released. After I learnt how to start it I thought "would be great if someone can make old good Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphin with all that complex systems like in DCS." And then The Great Day has come. I've first time read about Take On Helicopters. "Oh My God! My dreams come true! The civil helicopter simulation with multiplayer, switching controls between pilots, propper systems management, working FLIRS, searchlights, winch system, fastroping and big open world!!" I was so excited that I've preordered it stright away. Couple of months later it was finally released. And... i've finished campaing and all missions in two days. Than I've switched to MP, five or six sessions with Ziggy clearing Sydney subburbs and some "circle races" and that was it. No fastroping in MP - it doesn't work, no complex winch system (anyone in BIS played SAR series?), you can't even use FLIR system at night cause pilot needs nightvision googles to fly and he can't use it because of HDR.

So I've decided to make Yeehaa mission with cows. After two months I had enough. Nothing worked like it should. Maybe I'm to stupid to write those scripts... maybe. I'm programist, I write in Java. Thats my job. I have great hope in Java scripting in ToH. I hope BIS will make propper winch system and fastrope working in MP, I hope my dreams can still come true!

Take On Helicopters is great simulator, it only needs some polish in appropriate areas, and those are NOT military.

[Dwarden 1124]

BeePee guess future patche(es) may save You :)

[_michal 10]

BeePee guess future patche(es) may save You :)

Go on... :cool:

[beepee 10]

BeePee guess future patche(es) may save You :)

Good to hear. Tnx for kind reply. So I'm waiting impatiently for future patches :)

[purepassion 22]

Smoking guns and spinning rotor blades – Bohemia Interactive has announced the first official DLC for Take On Helicopters:

Take On Helicopters: Hinds.

Shifting focus to a more combat-oriented experience, Take On Helicopters: Hinds puts players in the seat of the most iconic and revolutionary military gunship ever: the Hind.

Creative Director Jay Crowe points out:

“With Take On Helicopters, our goal was to strike a balance between pure gaming – story-driven scenarios, challenges, time trials – and an authentic experience of flying a helicopter. Of course, that’s a tough job, but alongside the accessible controls, difficulty settings and optional assists, we’re glad to find a big range of people having fun flying helicopters in Take On.

Our game doesn’t demand you to have any previous flight (game) experience, nor does it matter if you want to play it with mouse-and-keyboard, a gamepad or, for that matter, a full-blown cockpit-setup. In that sense, the civil-aviation context – not to mention the wonderful Seattle as the setting – of Take On Helicopters was ideal, as it allowed us to create a fun set of missions, whilst keeping the primary focus upon flying helicopters.

On the other hand, after launching the game, we felt there was room to complement Take On Helicopters with a more ‘action-packed’ experience. Our Hinds DLC is perfect for those who are seeking the adrenaline rush of flying a classic military gunship and getting into combat.â€

Take On Helicopters: Hinds includes the Mil Mi-24 V, Mi-24 P and Mi-35 Super Hind helicopter gunships (with over 25 different liveries), a brand new set of singleplayer challenges, 5 time trials and new competitive multiplayer scenarios.

The release date is set on Thursday 15 March 2012, when it will be available for download at Store.bistudio.com, Steam, Desura and several other online stores.

Awesome! :)

Here is a first article on the matter

[purepassion 22]

Have you ever wondered how a Superhing looks like from underneath?

Take a look here :)

Update from Facebook:

The Belly of the Beast!

Today, our programmers almost-but-not-quite finished the new 'rolling take off' feature!

Wait, what do we mean "almost-but-not-quite"? Well... we wanted to show you a sneaky video of it in action - but that'll have to wait!

... We're very sorry. Instead, here's a picture of an enormous gunship to make things feel all better. :)

Confused? Perhaps you missed our announcement!

Here's a recap: http://takeonthegame.com/hinds/

Edited February 17, 2012 by PurePassion
Video incoming!?

[Derbysieger 11]

Now I want to know; what excactly went wrong?!?! :D

Looking great!

[purepassion 22]

Edited February 24, 2012 by PurePassion