SFP-1 to fly or not to fly online

[yubba 70]

I see there was a thread up,, with the woes of not being able to fly online with SFP-2 bummer,, so what's the problem with getting sfp-1 to fly online,, I was over at hyperlobby I've been flying IL-2 1946 there for years and did a sfp-1 flight granted it sucks ,, I don't like air starts out in the middle of no where, with all settings set to hard, and there wwas no way to have communications to other players ,,but it is a start ,get ground start and team speak,you might have something. , I think I had better frame there and what I get off line,,matter of fact it ran smoother than the IL-2..online server I was on..Hate to see this series go to the wayside that will happen when IL-2 gets their jet mod series up and running online.

[+streakeagle 871]

Some graphics settings are automatically limited to help frame rates stay smooth in multiplayer. While the co-op/team vs team missions are a nice idea, they aren't much fun if you get shot down early and have to wait for everyone else to finish the mission before you can join in the fun again. The option to respawn into an AI aircraft that is still flying could have helped solve that problem. The deathmatch/every-man-for-himself was far more flexible about people joining/leaving, which helps quite a bit when both the game and the people playing it have connectivity issues. You could still play teams if you wanted, just the game wouldn't score it that way and it was only good for air-to-air. Third Wire is never going to go any further with multiplayer in the PC SF series. The tablet/phone versions of SF recently added a multiplayer capability and it is little different from the SFP1 deathmatch setup, but with a much broader planeset if you don't mind flying from a third person shooter point of view.

 

The SFP1/WoX online community was never very large and is completely gone as far as I know.

[saisran 84]

I would really love to be able to fly wingman with the guys here but as streak eagle says online community is next to nothing. Probably due to schedule and location difference. You need to have a lot of people with plenty of time on their hands to pull off the IL-2/War thunder thing. But as Most SF2 players seems to have limited time it's gonna be difficult.

 

Maybe a time table board for those who want to play?

[yubba 70]

well the opportunity to fly online is there,,, what we do with it is up to us,, we could set up a mission board here with times people would want to fly,,, just starting out this would be familarization flights such as formation flying and  ,, to see what else we can do with it, and post here , If there was a way to change the dog fight arena in hyperlobby to get aircraft to carry all ordinance would be a start.

[+streakeagle 871]

I used to leave a server up 24/7 hosting dogfight/deathmatch. I would pop in when I could every evening between 8 PM and 11 PM EST. The magic time seemed to be from 9 PM to 10 PM EST back then. But even at peak popularity, the most people on at any one time was typically between 3 and 5 with a one-time event where briefly 12 people were on at the same time. Now you will be lucky to get 2.

[MrGoTime 20]

Is it all only pvp? Or can you fly actual missions together?

[yubba 70]

I used to leave a server up 24/7 hosting dogfight/deathmatch. I would pop in when I could every evening between 8 PM and 11 PM EST. The magic time seemed to be from 9 PM to 10 PM EST back then. But even at peak popularity, the most people on at any one time was typically between 3 and 5 with a one-time event where briefly 12 people were on at the same time. Now you will be lucky to get 2.

  If no one is interested, it's not worth one's time and energy,, I  hope this thread would spark some interest and we could talk it out and go from there I don't know the limitations of the game online ,, I like how IL-2 servers are set up where you can pop in the middle of the game pick a plane pick what you wanted to do and take off from a base

[saisran 84]

Well Il2 does play differently thsn sf2. Even if they get the jets running it doesnt have the campaigns and mission that sf has. Its purely enjoyable on an online environment only

[xrearl 27]

I think a lot don't play online, because of fear of getting my ass kicked in the first few seconds

[yubba 70]

I think a lot don't play online, because of fear of getting my ass kicked in the first few seconds

If you ain't dyin you're not tryin,,,http://stats.acesovereurope.org/playerdetails.php?id=1659

[+streakeagle 871]

When I was hosting, newbies were common. I would fly the F-100 so that they had a chance to kick my butt... and if they still had problems, I would coach them on using their aircraft and its weapons (usually the F-4). As they improved, I would upgrade to the F-104. Once WoV was released, the F-105 was a good aircraft for me to fly versus newbies. There were some regulars that were about equal to me and we would fly F-100 vs F-100 until others would show up. Then there were some elites, like doghouse, who could win no matter what they flew or what you flew. My best online times were with SFP1 SP2a (before WoV was released). After WoV, there were lots of flight model issues, especially at transonic speeds. But the almost everlasting 083006 patch level was the dominant one even after the last SFP1/WoX patches that arrived with WoI just before SF2 was released.

 

If anyone is going to start playing online again, THE install to use is the merged WoV/WoE at the 083006 patch level: a great planeset, a very stable install, and compatible with almost all of the older addons. The only problem is if you are playing co-op/team vs team type missions, the AI is a box of rocks. 083006 was around quite a long time, but had crappy AI making single player, or multiplayer that included AI less than challenging. The 083006 flight models also annoyed me. I much preferred the SFP1 SP2a AI and flight models.

 

SF2 was a huge step forward in so many areas: stock aircraft variants with much better cockpits, more detailed realistic ECM systems, AI as good or better as SP2a aside from colliding with the ground far too often. It is a shame SF2 couldn't support the original multiplayer :(

 

I haven't hosted in years. I am not sure my present router/pc combo will work as a host via hyperlobby, though it probably works fine with Hamachi, if Hamachi still supports enough connectivity for free (they kept changing their licensing rules). If someone wants to try SFP1/WoX multiplayer, we need to agree on a base, unmodded install and a type to hang out at hyperlobby. It takes time to get everybody connected and working properly (though it is mostly a problem for the host). Once everything is working for everyone involved, you can start adding mods one at a time to make sure everything works. EVERYONE has to have the exact same install to avoid connectivity issues. Again, the merged WoV/WoE at the 083006 patch level is the ideal install for this purpose since it provides a decent planeset and map variety out of the box.

[saisran 84]

When I was hosting, newbies were common. I would fly the F-100 so that they had a chance to kick my butt... and if they still had problems, I would coach them on using their aircraft and its weapons (usually the F-4). As they improved, I would upgrade to the F-104. Once WoV was released, the F-105 was a good aircraft for me to fly versus newbies. There were some regulars that were about equal to me and we would fly F-100 vs F-100 until others would show up. Then there were some elites, like doghouse, who could win no matter what they flew or what you flew. My best online times were with SFP1 SP2a (before WoV was released). After WoV, there were lots of flight model issues, especially at transonic speeds. But the almost everlasting 083006 patch level was the dominant one even after the last SFP1/WoX patches that arrived with WoI just before SF2 was released.

 

If anyone is going to start playing online again, THE install to use is the merged WoV/WoE at the 083006 patch level: a great planeset, a very stable install, and compatible with almost all of the older addons. The only problem is if you are playing co-op/team vs team type missions, the AI is a box of rocks. 083006 was around quite a long time, but had crappy AI making single player, or multiplayer that included AI less than challenging. The 083006 flight models also annoyed me. I much preferred the SFP1 SP2a AI and flight models.

 

SF2 was a huge step forward in so many areas: stock aircraft variants with much better cockpits, more detailed realistic ECM systems, AI as good or better as SP2a aside from colliding with the ground far too often. It is a shame SF2 couldn't support the original multiplayer :(

 

I haven't hosted in years. I am not sure my present router/pc combo will work as a host via hyperlobby, though it probably works fine with Hamachi, if Hamachi still supports enough connectivity for free (they kept changing their licensing rules). If someone wants to try SFP1/WoX multiplayer, we need to agree on a base, unmodded install and a type to hang out at hyperlobby. It takes time to get everybody connected and working properly (though it is mostly a problem for the host). Once everything is working for everyone involved, you can start adding mods one at a time to make sure everything works. EVERYONE has to have the exact same install to avoid connectivity issues. Again, the merged WoV/WoE at the 083006 patch level is the ideal install for this purpose since it provides a decent planeset and map variety out of the box.

 

Only 3 planes im interested in taking in an online arena. F-8s, F-4s and F-14s :)

[10107 768]

Fly dogfight, fly formation, get a bunch of guys with the exact same fit and you can do what you want but it excludes you from flying with random folks.  You need a dedicated clean install for that for either.

We used to set up with missions in the Strike mode with one guy flying the O-1 Birddog and WP rockets.  Have more guys up high, F4s, 100s, etc and he would mark and we would hit the random ground targets.  It really took your imagination to use it but it was fun.

 

We used to take off in dogfight mode, meet up, try formation flying, then you would always see a wing touch which led to a fireball but you would re-gen so have to get back into the formation.  You can fly off to the closest airbase and land, formation take off, landings and whatever.

 

Again, its not the same as other online combat sims and restrictive but it can be done and is fun stuff when you get a group of pilots.

[+streakeagle 871]

Historically, any virtual squadron that flew SFP1 online co-operatively as described above (dogfight mode, landing at base, taking off together, flying formations etc.) would get bored very quickly and move back to whatever sim they came from that supported multiplayer much better. The only people that stayed over the long haul were those that were happy to just randomly dogfight whoever showed up with whatever planes they happened to like flying. Most of the time, I was willing to fly aircraft that would balance the fights better. The draw to SFP1 multiplayer was the plane set, but the limitations were just too great for most people. Third Wire missed an opportunity by never providing useful multiplayer, but ultimately the SF PC series couldn't even afford to keep up in single player, so TK was wise to not waste time and money on multiplayer.

[yubba 70]

That is a shame,, I do love to fly online with IL-2 1946 HSFX,, I was in hopes that we could at least get Strike Fighters 1 online with a few tweaks to make it more interesting and user freindly,, I have in the last week gone on the hyperlobby sfp-1 and flown around a bit,,I am interested if there is a way to network 2 computers to fly against one another SFP-1 with maps that you takeoff from a base

[+streakeagle 871]

Two PCs on the same network have no problem with multiplayer. You don't need Hyperlobby at all to find other PCs on the same network. But the available dogfight and coop modes are the same. As long as both PCs are configured exactly the same in terms of mod files, they should theoretically be able to go online together. There is a less than perfect file checker anti-cheating program. Sometimes it has false alarms that keep pure stock installs of the same exact version from playing, yet it doesn't detect complete aircraft swap-outs if certain files have the same names as the aircraft that has been replaced.

 

The only way to accomplish base take-off is to fly the dogfight mode and have players agree to fly to their respective bases, then take off on command. For such a situation, I suggest unlimited fuel and unlimited ammo. There is no refueling or reloading of ammo in SFP1, using unlimited fuel and ammo will help flights last longer without having to respawn.

[Fubar512 1,350]

I fondly recall an MP session that Dave and I flew, just after WOE was released from Beta, round about the Spring of 2006.  We had added several additional aircraft models and weapons, cloned our installs (very important with addons) and flew a co-op mission, where we were flying Eagles and defending strike aircraft (If I remember correctly, they were A-10s).

 

Anyway, we encountered a flight of the as then unreleased Mirage Factory MiG-29As, covering another flight of MiG-23s that was bouncing the strike package  I killed a brace of MiG-23s in quick secession, only to hear Dave calling for help, telling me that there were "a whole bunch" of MiG-29s  on his tail, and would I very much mind getting them off of him  .  I "looked up", and saw Dave in a rolling scissors with three Fulcrums on his tail.  I killed two of them, and Dave managed to push the last one out in front of him, and killed him with guns.

 

That was probably the most fun I ever had in MP

Edited October 30, 2015 by Fubar512

[+Dave 2,322]

I fondly recall an MP session that Dave and I flew, just after WOE was released from Beta, round about the Spring of 2006.  We had added several additional aircraft models and weapons, cloned our installs (very important with addons) and flew a co-op mission, where we were flying Eagles and defending strike aircraft (If I remember correctly, they were A-10s).

 

Anyway, we encountered a flight of the as then unreleased Mirage Factory MiG-29As, covering another flight of MiG-23s that was bouncing the strike package  I killed a brace of MiG-23s in quick secession, only to hear Dave calling for help, telling me that there were "a whole bunch" of MiG-29s  on his tail, and would I very much mind getting them off of him  .  I "looked up", and saw Dave in a rolling scissors with three Fulcrums on his tail.  I killed two of them, and Dave managed to push the last one out in front of him, and killed him with guns.

 

That was probably the most fun I ever had in MP

 

 

They were slightly irritated that we were there.

[+streakeagle 871]

When you can get the right people into the right situation, there is nothing better than multiplayer. But it is hard to find more than two people that like playing the same way and can fly at the same time. The issues with SFP1 multiplayer connectivity made things even worse, though Hamachi solved most of the networking issues.

[+Crusader 2,101]

many moons ago...

 

 

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some vidcard trouble

 

 

Dwcace airshow with tomcat

 

 

special MP

 

 

 

 

 

 

more special mp

FAC mod .. modified F-4Es, one with white phos smoke rkts to mark tgts which the other player then bombed

 

 

pics all from 2005 to 2008 or so