jwrich 0 Posted January 27, 2011 I have flying OFF for some time now and recently installed the "Hat in the Ring" package. I did soon notice the improvements, also it is harder to get kills without running out of ammo, the buffeting of the wind made it harder to stay on target. This is the best combat simulator out there. Here are a couple pilot log books since I installed the Hat in the Ring package. I have all my settings to normal and fly with the roll of the die setting. These are 2 Aces. Rich Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+elephant 36 Posted January 27, 2011 (edited) I play with HPWDMv2.5 (damage Mod) on and mg efficiency on hard settings,(Main and Rear Guns set to Less Acc), to simulate early mg's lack of concentration of fire... Makes a kill even harder to get...but rewarding as well! Edited January 27, 2011 by elephant Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RAF_Louvert 101 Posted January 28, 2011 . Rich, those are some crazy high kills for so few hours of combat flying. If you haven't done so, try shutting off all the on-screen aids that allow you to keep track of the enemy; i.e. targeting cone, labels, TAC screen, etc. And you don't need to shut down the TAC entirely if you want to keep it for following your route, just cycle off all the other blips on it. Flying with Eyeball 20-20 as your only enemy detection device will definitely get you more into the spirit of WWI aerial warfare, and likely give you more realistic kill numbers. All that being said, well done Rich on racking up so many victories and medals in such a short time, even though both of your aces ended up out of the fight. Cheers! Lou . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wodin 0 Posted January 28, 2011 (edited) I have 25 confirmed kills in my SE5a after 22 hours flight...I find the camel and the SE5a I can get a very good kill rate...the others it's so so. In other planes I get nowhere near this.... I also have on screen aids of accept the one that says when your hitting them and thats only because I want to know if it's an ace what his name is. I use tac but turn off when they turn red. Edited January 28, 2011 by Wodin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted January 28, 2011 (edited) Even the blue advisor's line, which tells you that you hit, is a cheat, cause it is like "double" tracer effect. It is not so difficult to pile a huge number of kills in a short time, when you fly with any aids on, and when you fly reckless for your own and your wingmen's life. What is really difficult, is to keep your wingmen alive AND live at least 1 year. (Then you'd still be dead before the end of the war). Hardly anyone here made that, myself included. I found it very touching to read the interview with Major Gwilym Lewis, who had been a friend of Mannock. He concentrated his whole care on protecting the rookies. He had a great understanding of how little they see, who inhibited they felt in their craft in fights, and how all this new stuff over-occupied them. When his newbies got in trouble, Lewis would dive in and help them out. Gwilym Lewis only scored 12 confirmed victories. But he never lost any of his newbies. A very great achievement. Edited January 28, 2011 by Olham Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hasse Wind 46 Posted January 28, 2011 Wodin, is that your Sith pilot? Where's the lightsabre? Olham, I wouldn't say 12 confirmed kills is little. It's actually quite a lot, if the pilot spent most of his time watching the backs of his less-experienced comrades. An admirable thing to do, indeed. My BE.2 pilot crossed the 50 hour mark recently. Not much of an achievement in 1915, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted January 28, 2011 Don't hide your light under a bushel, Hasse Wind. Didn't mean 12 kills was little - it's just less than the reckless aces made. But most of the reckless aces died before the end of the war. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hasse Wind 46 Posted January 28, 2011 And many of the careful aces, like MvR, died too. The air war became so dangerous in 1917-1918 that many of the most skilled pilots didn't survive of the war. Maybe it was even more dangerous to the famous aces, as everybody expected great things from them all the time, so the stress of battle was worse for them than for ordinary pilots. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wodin 0 Posted January 28, 2011 Due to the fact you cant recreate SA or true 3 dimensional awareness and no where near the actual RL scale you would see things (unless your playing on a projector) I think certain aids counter act the disadvantages of size\resolution etc etc. As long as dead is dead and you only use aids that help due to the constraints of it being a PC sim I see no cheating going on. But hey my wingman is still alive...I've saved his neck twice....also the game will not have historical outcomes....not a realistic FM...no mechanical breakdowns (many planes had to return due to mechanical problems as well as dropped out of the sky due to them aswell)....and most important your fighting an AI so it can become predictable and I'm sure a hell of alot easier to shoot down. As for the aid I use which is the hit message I'm usually up close enough to know I'm hitting...I tried it with it off and still shot 2 planes down in one mission... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+elephant 36 Posted January 28, 2011 For the experience of aprox. two weeks of constant flying OFF, I realised that the sim itself desides who's gonna live or die in virtual skies. Several times the whole sqn comes back safe as there is no contact with the enemy and I get a message that a pilot is missing! Another time that my flight was bounced by overwhelming swarms of bogeys and saw certain pilots going down in flames, (when I down a plane I turn labels on to see who of my squadmates is near by, to confirm), the sim desided that everybody returned back safe and sound! I do try to help my virtual squadmates in combat, sometimes it's more rewarding than a kill to force an enemy out of your mate's six, but I have come to the conclusion that the combat outcomes are randomly decided by the sim... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RAF_Louvert 101 Posted January 28, 2011 . Wodin, in no way are you cheating Sir, and I was certainly nor implying such in any way. That is one of the great things about this sim, you can fly it however you wish given the choices available to you. My only point was that if you wish to try and get closer to the RL experience, turning off all the aids helps a lot. Also, while there are some limitations in what we can "see" from our virtual cockpit, with TrackIR and a bit of practice it gets very close to actually being there, and the extra aidds are really not needed. Also, you can use dice rolls to factor in other experiences such as engine trouble, and here is the system I use for that. Use four standard dice. After take-off and as you begin your circle of the field to form up you roll the dice, and are then bound by these results: 9 = Second dice roll before crossing the mud. 15 = Second dice role after crossing mud. 11 = Second dice roll upon reaching assigned target. 24 = Engine drops to 50% power, (hit #5 key immediately). 21 = Engine drops to 10% power, (hit #1 key immediately). 5 = Fuel mixture will not function. This means you can either continue the mission and fly at lower altitudes, or turn back and land. 13 = Catastrophic engine failure, you must immediately shut off engine and pray you have somewhere to land. If you must roll the dice a second time I recommend you do it either well before engaging EA, or after a dogfight if you took no damage during the engagement, (and I make that stipulation because if you did take damage you will already have your hands full trying to get home anyway). Feel free to use this idea as you wish. It does add yet another realism layer to an already deeply immersive combat experience. Also, folks like Creaghorn use dice rolls to adjust their pilot's health and stays in the hospital upon being injured in a dog fight. There really is a lot you can do to zero in even more on the RL experiences of our WWI counterparts. Cheers! Lou . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wodin 0 Posted January 28, 2011 Like the dice roll idea...I don't have track IR nor could I ever afford it....would love it though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted January 28, 2011 Sorry, Wodin, I didn't mean to call anyone a cheater, who uses some of the aids - in fact I have recently even encouraged newbies or people with less good eyesight. I used the wrong word. Everything anyone wants to switch on or off, is okay. The longer I am with OFF now, the more I regard it as the big challenge, to fly with no aids, and even following a real paper map. But everyone should only do it, when he or she feels like doing so. Wodin, if you like flying sims, and you know you will like it for a very long time, you should try to get TrackIR. It's incredible - it really gets you into the cockpit. I would sell my grandma for TrackIR. Perhaps you can sell old stuff on Ebay, or eat no Pizza or Fast Food for some weeks, anything. Elephant, you are right, I noticed that some members of my flights were reported wounded or missing, although nothing had happened. I hope you devs can find a better, more realistic solution for this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
