If you’ve dreamed of a simulation game that required you to pilot and crew a B-17 flying over Europe during World War II, MicroProse might be offering something for you with the announcement of their new in-house developed ‘The Mighty Eighth’! Let’s have a look at the announcement that came out today.
A VR enabled flying experience
There are few details of what The Mighty Eighth will be ultimately like, however, today’s announcement paints a picture of a VR enabled experience where you and 9 friends (or AI) can crew a B-17 or B-24 through the skies over occupied Europe.
This is the spiritual successor of B-17 Flying Fortress, a hallowed title in the annals of flight sim and gaming titles that dates back to 1992. MicroProse then released a very entertaining title that is still remembered and talked about and it makes sense that MicroProse is choosing this title to return to for their first announcement of a title that they are developing internally.
Back to the VR part of the announcement, MicroProse was clear to point out that this is being developed for VR-first, but it isn’t necessarily a VR only title which means that you don’t need it to have the experience. That said, the VR-first focus here is clearly guiding the experience and how they are approaching development.
How serious is this?
At this point we don’t know how “serious” of a sim this is going to be. With the bar set high by the likes of X-Plane, DCS World or IL-2: Great Battles, is MicroProse making a detailed simulation of a B-17 or B-24 with every switch, dial, electrical and control system modeled? Is the aircraft going to fly by the numbers and have a detailed physics model to guide how it flies through the air? Or does it eschew a few of those features in the pursuit of being a little more accessible?
The one thing clear is that MicroProse is modeling ever inch of the interior of the two famous heavy bombers of the USAAF 8th Air Force so that you can have a very immersive multiplayer experience. One that you can virtually walk through and take into battle over the skies of Europe. That is serious in its own way.
Stormbirds 
I wasn’t even born for the heyday of Micropose. But I like to see the revival of it 😀 Luckily it isnt made as a VR only game. Otherwise I wouldn’t have a chance to play it. With it also one of my dreams (to sit in a detailed B-24 and B-17) would come true.
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I am most excited to experience a ball turret in VR!
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Have you been up close to one? The only thing you can see is the sight in front of your face and the tiny window in front of it. VR not much use unless you like to look at your knees and elbows;-)
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From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_the_Ball_Turret_Gunner
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A sobering reality for a lot of ball turret gunners.
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As you said, how serious this game is going to be remains to be seen, but I’m pretty excited about the announcement, anyway. I’m especially pleased that Microprose decided to integrate VR into the experience.
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Wow – been waiting for this announcement for thirty years. Can’t believe it’s actually happening. Between this and Task Force Admiral it’s been a great year for WWII sim announcements.
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usually to build VR means you have 6DOF logic built in, so im pretty sure we can expect TrackIR support. im stoked as ive never really done bomber-simulation except for the original IL2
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Not necessarily. Derail Valley was built for VR from day one, but still doesn’t have TrackIR support. If you want it, make sure Microprose knows it.
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I was a Beta tester for Flying Fortress 2 in the mid 90’s. Now with Team Fusion Simulations. What was really cool at the time, was the developers chose to have the beta testers names as crew names in the Fling Fortress 2. Nice legacy for the work we did at the time. Would be awesome if they did that this time around as well.
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“so im pretty sure we can expect TrackIR support”
Indeed, and NO TrackIR support would, IMHO, be a dealbreaker in any serious flight-sim, to me at least as important as VR support.
No 6DOF but VR in a game like this would be strange to say the least too !?
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Played almost all of the sims by MicroProse in the past (starting with Gunship with Commodore 64) and then Gunship 2000 (Amiga 500) I’m really happy to see that logo once again. Hope they will go FULL simulation with B-17. Also hope to see remakes of Gunship, Tank Platoon (then integrate all the titles like that were planned in the past for a multi battlefield but never saw the light, one can dream) and Airborne Ranger (not flight sim but my first “infantry” sim) Great news!
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My guess is that they will focus on MP experience than in raw simulation. Some sort of Uboat crew simulator but in a B17. Complex but not enough so you need to have flying license to fly it (like in DCS World)
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I suspect the same and that wouldn’t be a bad thing either. An accessible sim lite with a focus on the crew and airplane itself would be interesting!
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Anyone remember this the last time it came out? Hopefully Microprose doesn’t get bought by a toy manufacturer again, thereby consigning Sim development to the ash heap in favor of interactive cook books or whatever Hasbro was pushing. Based on the last version of this I would say they will head for “sim-like” and really advocate the multiplayer component by way of different “crew experiences”..
For anyone that has a spare fiver or so, the title is still for sale at Good old Games and will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect since they have exactly the same title. This is NOT going to be the earlier ‘90s version I would bet money. Different title but exactly the same as the follow up, but for VRI would just almost guarantee it.
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I am going to count every single rivet !!!
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