I'm happy to present his thoughtful response and wish to make very clear to him and my readers that I am very supportive of VICE as a combat system. I believe it's the best and most dynamic system in Second Life. I will continue to use it personally and with others who also enjoy a more realistic inworld battle experience.
VICE combat will continue to be scheduled for my aviation groups, although less often than our TCS dogfight furballs that most of our more casual pilots are accustomed.
Mifune writes....
"VICE is a more realistic, free combat system that uses real bullets and gives builders many many options in the way they engage in combat (numerous types of units: infantry, air, sea, land, various armors, weapons, and bombs) and the freedom to choose the way their scripted object reacts to damage, being destroyed, etc...multitudes of possibilities in configuring it. It is vastly different from TCS and CCC which are sensor based combat systems, with a single type of damage model, limited to virtually only planes, and have an instant-hit cone/area of 23.5 x 23.5 @ 80m. TCS/CCC are better suited for very casual SL users and for sims that have 'no build'. VICE includes TCS/CCC compatibility for those areas.
The scripter's level of knowledge for thorough implementation and installation only requires that the scripter know how link messages (sending and receiving) work. We even include many working examples of various vehicles and weapons for people to dissect and learn from.
We are constantly updating the system and improving documentation to make it easier and in understandable in layman's terms. We are available and online to give advice and support on how to implement certain functions.
I don't want to sound like an elitist, but people who are selling scripted objects should obligate themselves to understand, to an extent, how the scripts in their very own products work. VICE doesnt use any new technology for configuration and installation, it simply uses link messages.
Zoe, I personally feel that this blog post might be giving the wrong impression to your readers; from the title "VICE vs TCS" and statements and wording such as "frustration", "issues", and "difficulty" it makes it seem like VICE is a flawed system, where it really is not. TCS and CCC have not been updated since late 2006, support and configurability...very limited.
VICE is a combat system that we are developing for free. It expands and pushes SL's technological boundaries, and we are hoping will change people's perceptions of what is possible in SL. It is freeing combat from being exclusive to only planes, only boats, or only infantry, and allowing all of these units to intermingle.
This kind of technology and technological advancement in SL should be promoted, especially by bloggers who are heavily involved in the SL community...builders and scripters should be encouraged to push their own limits and understanding of things in SL. Rather than encouraging them to be content with the status quo, with no explanation of what exactly the issues were, or seeking to clear up any misconceptions and educate people on an issue, open discussion and suggestions should be made and questions asked to see how it can be made to fit for your group.
With that said, I do believe RCAF would be better off staying with TCS, as one of the users mentioned that the majority of RCAF members are very casual users, and making things "easier to hit" is actually a plus, since most of their time is spent doing RP and not combat.
If anyone has questions about VICE, feel free to IM me inworld."
-Mifune Thibaud
