This is intended as a guiding document for the project.
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Sopwith has a long history that deserves to be honored and preserved. By default, the game should always play like the original DOS version. That means the gameplay in particular should be the same, without any significant differences. Someone who has just discovered the project should find it to be a delightfully accurate recreation of the game they may have played when they were younger.
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Bugs in the original code can be fixed if they don't make significantly noticeable or controversial changes the original gameplay. An example is that in the original version it was possible to flip the plane upside down while it was sitting motionless on the runway.
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Some new features can be enabled by default, as long as they are subtle, unintrusive, carefully considered and can be turned off. An example is the medals feature.
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The game will never try to be "something it's not". This means that it will always have four color CGA graphics, PC speaker sound effects and a low resolution display. It will never add (for example) hi-res sprites or 3D models, digital sound effects or MP3 music. The goal is to be "a great old game" rather than "a mediocre modern game".
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New features should be fun and recognize the comical aspects of the game. Features should be carefully considered before being incorporated, not just added arbitrarily and thoughtlessly.
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Custom levels are the perfect opportunity to introduce new features without changing the original game. Some hypothetical examples might be:
- New levels might feature new items that weren't present in the original level, like artillery or observation balloons.
- In the original level, the enemy planes all have separate territories. Perhaps in a new level, enemy planes that share a territory know to fly in formation.
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Multiplayer is also a perfect opportunity for new features and gameplay expansions, since the multiplayer functionality in the original game only worked with the proprietary BMB network hardware and few people ever got to experience it.
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Sopwith has a World War I theme. Any new features should keep to this theme. Jet planes and cruise missiles would be anachronistic and not appropriate. A feature from the Author's Edition that previously added missiles and flares, for example, was removed. However, the primary aim of the game is to be fun rather than realistic.
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It should be remembered that World War I was a real world conflict in which around 40 million people died, and that should be respected. The game will never depict people, only vehicles, buildings and other inanimate objects.