Sucked into the (rotary) propwash!

[+SupGen 78]

First I was sucked into the WW2 propwash http://combatace.com/topic/77093-sucked-into-the-prop-wash/ by the sound of a Pratt and Whitney Wasp; now I'm being sucked into the WW1 propwash by the sound of a Rhone! I've had FE2 forever; just never got into it. Now I've added Jan Tumas' Tiles and a few aircraft, his terrain mod is fricken' awesome! The terrain actually looks alive. I've got Ojcar's Armchair Aces but haven't added it yet. As if I didn't have enough time before! Well, just thought I'd check in as a new stringbag pilot; one more thing: How do you see out of these things? I thought visibility out of a Deuce was bad!

[Heck 496]

Visibility is a major issue, SupGen, but you'll get used to it. Some crates are notoriously bad when it comes to seeing while pulling lead on an aircraft. You'll often lose sight of your opponent, but most times you can anticipate where he'll be. Then again... You'll have a huge install once you get everything downloaded, the modders in First Eagles have given the sim a depth you won't find in any other WW1 sim at present. A salute to them all.

 

Just a few more things:

You'll learn to fear head on passes.

Fly in hard mode with visual sighting set to hard. It's a hoot.

Try to turn off as many game aids, map icons, etc., as you can.

You may have a towel, but you don't have a parachute, so good luck.

 

The modders have made this one of the most enjoyable WW1 sims of all time, both for game play, and visually, so enjoy!

[+whiteknight06604 931]

it is amazing the things that have been done to this game and continue to be done. there may only be a few modders left in the FE community but they are damn good.

[33LIMA 972]

Visibility is a major issue, SupGen, but you'll get used to it. Some crates are notoriously bad when it comes to seeing while pulling lead on an aircraft. You'll often lose sight of your opponent, but most times you can anticipate where he'll be. Then again... You'll have a huge install once you get everything downloaded, the modders in First Eagles have given the sim a depth you won't find in any other WW1 sim at present. A salute to them all.

 

Just a few more things:

You'll learn to fear head on passes.

Fly in hard mode with visual sighting set to hard. It's a hoot.

Try to turn off as many game aids, map icons, etc., as you can.

You may have a towel, but you don't have a parachute, so good luck.

 

The modders have made this one of the most enjoyable WW1 sims of all time, both for game play, and visually, so enjoy!

 

+1 on all the above.

 

Installing all the stuff you need and fixing any lttle issues (like some decals not showing) can be a big effort but it's very worthwhile - just backup your 'mods' folder onto a DVD when you're done!

 

Fly with all settings on 'Hard' but use Peter01's FM mod as some user-made planes only fly right on 'Normal'. You might want to hand-edit gunner settings for 2-seaters tho, to restore them to stock, as this FM mod also much reduces their effectiveness.

 

Turn off the targeting cone/box and wayoint indicators (Hard setting plus hit ctrl+D till they disappear) plus you can hand-edit a file to turn off the little aeroplane icons on the in-game map, leaving just your route and waypoints showing.

 

I find that one of the things that sets FE above the other current WW1 sims is that it is significantly more amenable to flying, navigating and fighting without visual aids, in part becasue of the very effective way that flak bursts are portrayed, the fact that you can actually see other planes at a reasonable distance, and the good Strike Fighters style view system. Small points but they are part of the reason FE is best at WW1 air combat and patrol work.

 

I find it helps if you fly in the 'external view' pre-combat, which compensates for lack of peripheral vision, and the fact that you don't have your wingmen's eyes working with yours. Pan around from the external view, to scan the skies around your formation.

 

Have joystick keys assigned to:

 

- cockpit (F1)

- external view (F5 IIRC)

- padlock toggle (F4)

- NEAREST air target

- NEXT air target

- NEAREST ground target

- NEXT ground target

 

...but do NOT use padlock until you have identified enemies and are engaging, so that you are only using it as a quick way of keeping 'eyes on' enemies close to you and not a 'magic target radar'. Used this way, the FE padlock system is a great asset. It doesn't break lock when an enemy is screened by a part of your airframe but this is in part compensation for the fact that in real life you can move your viewpoint about quite a bit eg to look over or under your wing or over the side, in a way I don't feel head tracking systems do so well.

 

With joystick keys assigned as above, I stay in external view until I locate enemies, switch to cockpit while manouevring my flight into an attack, turn on padlock and lock up the closest enemy (or other chosen target) for my own attack, toggling padlock off and back on from time to time - especially if I'm close to the ground - to help me maintain orientaton (mainly with the horizon and altitude).

 

I can't recall if FE supports a 'check six/over your tail' view, which would be a useful addition to the joystick setup - but have managed without that so far. If rounds start hitting me - and again, FE is good at indicating this, without the 'sniper effect' that in some other sims would make this too late to do anything about - hitting 'closest enemy' with padlock still on, will usually show me when my six ISN'T clear, and why.

 

I suppose flying 'external' rather than cockpit only is one of those controversial things amongst simmers, next to padlock, but howls that one or the other isn't reaslistic don't bother me in the slightest. Sitting at a monitor isn't exctly a very realistic depiction of what you can see from a plane, either, unless you do so with your head in a cardboard box with a rectangle cut in the front! But my approach doesn't involve fighting from outside the cockpit, or from a no-pit view or 'over the shoulder' arcade-style view. And I like the sense I get of being in my own movie, able to admire the aircraft externals.

Edited May 29, 2013 by 33LIMA