A Barnburner

[SirMike1983 3]

I'm currently flying a Nieuport 24 campaign with a French Escadrille home to some of the worst pilots in the French forces. It's a struggle to get one other plane home with me, especially considering this is an early and mid-1917 campaign when the German Albatross scouts are strongest.

 

The mission was a balloon defense. I often see the balloon in flames at some point during these missions, as this particular squadron has such poor quality. This particular mission though had the potential to go way south, fast. The enemy appeared in the form of no fewer than 3 German aces, along with another 4 or 5 Albatross D.III fighters. The numbers were evenly matched, as I had with me 6 or 7 "no name" pilots (well OFF gives them random names, but you get the idea). The flight was mostly N.24s though at some point an N.17 jumped in with us.

 

The mission turned out surprisingly well though. I managed to bag all three German aces (including Hermann Goering), along with two other Albs, and the AI "no names" shot down a couple of their own. The balloon survived the mission as did my wingman. The ending was particularly interesting. I had no ammo left, but the AI wingman did. I basically stayed behind the last German and this caused the enemy plane to fly defensively and flutter about low to the ground. The AI wingman was able to make hit and run attacks while I diverted the enemy (apparently the enemy AI doesn't know when you're out of ammo). Eventually this was a complete success, the Albatross hitting a tree after a stall. I returned to the airdrome with wingman in tow, him with at least 1 kill and me with 5, including 3 aces. (Vive la republique)

 

I don't normally post about missions to this length, but this was one of the best I've ever flown in OFF. I guess the moral of the story is that even if the situation looks bad at the start, it may turn out surprisingly well. Below is a shot of the outcome: N.24 with intact friendly balloon.

 

Edited September 18, 2010 by SirMike1983

[Guest British_eh]

Good job olde bean, I mean Vive la republique. Sounds like a great battle. One of the best I had was myself in a Dr.I dueling with 3 Bristol Fighters. I finally had to put it on the ground, but had one victory, shot another up badly, and was fortunate to land near an Aerodrome who gave me covering fire. Plane was a write-off though.

Cheers,

British_eh

[Olham 164]

Your mission, although it surely was great fun for you, shows how the AI needs to get programmed even more intelligent.

(Though I don't know how it could be done - I stand in awe for the programming of this already!)

I had another such successfull mission with my Albatros D.III; a scramble. We got jumped by many SPAD VII, with at least

4 French aces in the Escadrille. And in the end, when I had run out of ammo, only three or four SPAD were left.

I had shot down 5 of them.

Now, this is totally unrealistic, that a Staffel - getting surprise-attacked by such strong energy fighters, flown by aces - would

shoot most of them down. Not to speak of my 5 kills. Impossible.

Same with your Goering. The man - whatever we may feel about him - survived the war. He must have been quite a good

fighter pilot. So that's my strongest wish for P4 (besides of getting a Roland): that the AI can be made even more intelligent.

 

And again: that is said with the deepest admiration for what has already been achieved!

 

PS: sorry for my "trampling through" your joy, SirMike. And to be honest - I also still cheer at such events.

Edited September 18, 2010 by Olham

[SirMike1983 3]

I did find the named ace pilots did not fly significantly better than other "no name" AI I've faced. They flew well, but not head and shoulders above. Then again AI is one of the single hardest parts of the game to build because you're trying to replicate the human mind. We've come along way since the early sims, but still have a ways to go.

[Olham 164]

The aces may not have been SOOO much better in their flying than their less experienced opponents.

Just a good bit more decidedly, a cooler head, and knowing all the right maneuvers to fly.

 

With all that, they can't impress us much. We are pretty cool (cause we can't die); we are decided;

and we know the right movements, cause we flew and died many times.

All that regarded, I think we can't expect to meet a Super-MvR, who can do MUCH better than us.

 

But what might be possible to program, would be a more intelligent co-op between MvR and his wingmen;

a co-op you can't beat so easily.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

C'est magnifique, braves aviateur! Well done, SirMike. It does feel good to come home after a mission like that.

 

Olham, I agree with you as concerns the AI, and I too hope P4 will see further improvements in that area. Not that I'm complaining mind you, I dearly love flying OFF P3. However, it would be nice to see the enemy break off an attack when the tables have turned; have them fly much smarter when near the ground; see the use of standard defensive tactics, such as two-seaters flying in a circle to protect each other; etc. But as SirMike said, we've come a long way since the early WWI combat flight sims.

 

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[+Polovski 414]

Good write up sirMike

 

In fact the AI is one of the best, as Olham eludes to you guys are 1000s of hours and many deaths in, and fly a lot.. flying with no fear. Also remember there are two AI settings so if you choose the other AI then yes it's less of a challenge.

 

AI is extremely complex to do well but yes we are working on improving - as always.

[SirMike1983 3]

You would think a squadron with a diving golden Eagle (or a Hawk?) on the side of the plane would have good pilots. If the "Storks" have aces, "Eagles" should have even more, right? Apparently that's not the case, as these guys are routinely beaten up. I do notice that general pilot quality does make a different in the AI-- my Esc. 3 and 65 careers had far fewer friendly planes go down. I think that's a good element.

Edited September 20, 2010 by SirMike1983

[Olham 164]

Yep! When you enlist a new pilot and choose the squadron. there is a "morale line" underneath each squad name.

When it says "good" or even better: "Elite" - you will have good comrades in the air.

[Ras 0]

I've often wondered which is better. When you have "average" or "good". Elite and poor are quite obvious. Any thoughts?

[Olham 164]

Not sure, no. I suppose, "good" is better than "average", but I didn' really make observations to confirm this.