Battle of Britain 2 possibly most underrated sim

[+streakeagle 871]

It may have a sight center option... but I just struggle to get the right angle with TrackIR.

Though I agree, sight centered is the way to go for a default view.

But since the sight is fixed, it doesn't really help that much once I get used to where the bullets are falling.

i.e. in Aces High, the best pilots use just a dot for reference leaving their view unobstructed.

I have always preferred to fly with historically correct sights, but then Aces High doesn't give the P-51D once of its advantages: K-14 LCOS.

So, I can understand people gaming the game rather than using the diamonds that don't adjust to wingspan/range and don't move to reflect calculated lead.

Unfortunately, having precision in one sim doesn't directly translate to precision in another given different physics calculations.

One aspect of DCS: P-51D I like is that the K-14 works pretty close to the original (at least after they got rid of the bugs).

But with just a little practice, estimating lead angles visually with just a dot works just as well or better and leaves your forward view a bit more unobstructed.

[JediMaster 451]

After decades of simming with fixed sights in many sights, I'm more used to them as well.

The only time it sucks is when you have a gun with very limited ammo (eg 37mm) and you don't have any to waste "walking" it to the target when range is uncertain.

[+baffmeister 1,205]

Thanks for mentioning the new patch Streakeagle, after having some fun with this sim last year I drifted away from it but now I'm back. I still fly flight sims with a basic non force feed back swizzle stick so prefer to keep things simple. One of the problems I had with IL-2 and the main reason I don't play the game is the difficulty in keeping the aircraft in longitudinal trim. The option was to use the simple flight model but it was just awful. With BoB 2 the elevator trimming, even without force feedback, has a much more natural "feel" to it and I don't have any major problems keeping it trimmed. Also, I can use the advanced flight model while disabling the torque/slipstream effects. For simmers that like to keep things simple but still get an interesting flight model, this is a very desirable feature. Some other impressions:

 

Sound effects are very well done. Pilot voices are quite good, but a bit repetitive. [ the voice saying " You're leaking glycol!" sounds like Prince Charles!]

 

Visual effects are quite good considering how old the game is.

 

The FM's seem to be very good. Interesting departure's  for the Spit and Hurri if you get too carried away during hard maneuvering. I've only tried the Bf-109 once and it seemed very departure resistant, as most sources would suggest. There may even be a bit of wing rock when the slats deploy but haven't looked into it closely yet.

 

Considering how old the original game is, the graphics are quite good. My rig is low end and I have some of the settings turned down but it looks OK, better at altitude.

 

Immersion is very good. The squadron take-off is lots of fun and the arrival sequence is excellent, with the squadron circling the airfield  and individual aircraft peeling off to land. During engagements the radio chatter is OK.  Also, for the keep it simple types, the ability to fly as a wing man is excellent. After take off you can use accel time to get to the action, then use it again to return to base. You will probably want to join the fun in the landing pattern. The bail out sequence is a nice feature.

 

The campaigns are good and probably best played on a dead is dead basis.  Some careful reading is required if you want to just play the campaign as a pilot. Otherwise you will be put in charge of the entire campaign! That would require much more reading than I would care to do.

 

Setting the game up is a bit of a chore and also requires careful reading of the documents. At this point I have things set up in a simple fashion and only use a few view inputs and very basic target padlocking. I like to keep the screen clear and use as few aids as possible but sometimes I use the aircraft labels for situational awareness, disabling them once I engage a target. I don't use the peripheral vision or HUD display at all.

 

The clickable cockpit is reasonably simple to use. It can be disabled if desired but then you can't start or stop the engine.

 

It's nice to have a WW2 flight sim that with a bit of reading can be played "as is", no tinkering required! Well worth the money!

[+streakeagle 871]

I was flying BoB2 every night for a while, alternating between Spitfire and Bf109. The 109 is challenging to get started and off the ground quickly with a good verbal rating from the instructor. The 109 is hard pressed to beat the Spitfire in this sim, it takes a lot more patience and skill against a max Ace/Hero AI Spit. Whereas, I can beat an Ace/Hero 109 consistently even if I fly a little sloppy or make a mistake. Developments in DCS : World redirected my focus, but find the AI in BoB2 much more challenging and interesting than DCS : World. If I loved flying Spitfires and/or 109s as much as I love F-4s/MiG-21s, I would probably spend all my time flying BoB2. For me, the age of the game is a non-issue. The graphics are adequate and the flight model and AI are top notch. The clickable cockpits are icing on the cake, and I love having icing on my cake!