Attacking Bombers

[Modifly1]

Hello all  and forgive me if this is a somewhat common discussion but I'm desperate for help right now. Recently I found out about the expansion pack and have just installed that. I was getting on well with it (no mods installed yet) and ended up finding myself playing a single mission that gave me a flock of R.E.8s to deal with. And as soon as I got behind one I was shocked to find he shot the hell out of me. My flight don't seem to have much luck either. I can't see how I've been able to shoot down up to six fighters in a day even when outnumbered but the very instant a bomber turns up  I just get wasted. I have tried many times and the best I could do was to try and loiter beneath them. But my old triplane didn't really like it and still, all he does is bank a tad and ends up shooting me again. I did try turning the skill down to normal and that made very little difference. So far I find myself getting hit more times taking out the bombers than I do with the fighters. I have also found that diving, cutting across and generally all main methods  to just be unreliable. How does one have a decent chance of fighting bombers in the game and living to tell the virtual tale?

-Thanks

[+whiteknight06604]

depending on what you are flying I've found getting above them from behind and then diving and pulling up and hitting them in the belly works pretty well. just hanging on their tail seems to be close to suicidal .

[+VonS]

@OP, I've been a bit out of the loop with FE2 for awhile (too busy with work currently), but as far as I remember, stock gunner AI in FE2 is laser-perfect and will often make for difficult attacks on two-seaters. Best is to dive on them, pull up, and leave as quickly as possible - do a wide turn, rinse and repeat, etc.

If you feel that the gunner AI on two-seaters is a bit too perfect - load either the old Peter01 FM mods available for FE2, or the various FM mods available in my (newer) FM/realism packs for FE2 - see the main FM realism pack download page, but also the "support pages" for that thread because there are a lot of separate FM packs available under the support thread too.

The various FM mods (of the data ini files for various two-seater aircraft) tone down gunner AI accuracy somewhat, especially in cases where my FM tweaks were based on older Peter01 tweaks that had already toned down the AI gunners. When toned down, the gunners are sometimes accurate, but oftentimes they miss or cause only minor damage to attacking fighters (more realistic that way, overall).

On an unrelated note, if you also fly WoFF (Wings Over Flanders Fields), there is a similar problem with laser-perfect gunners in two-seater aircraft. Best is to adjust AI gunner accuracy values in WoFF too, but via a little Java applet called "MultiMod" (see the various support threads on SimHQ, also CombatAce, for WoFF-related mods). Come to think of it, RoF (Rise of Flight) has the same precision-gunner problem in stock mode too - and benefits from various gunner mods that tone down AI-gunner accuracy.

Happy flying,

Von S

[Modifly1]

Thank you so much. One problem, I only have FE with expansion pack 1, not FE2 or are they interchangeable? Also, where are the .inis found? I looked all over and I can't see them anywhere, or are these encapsulated into the dlls or other files?

Edited April 12, 2022 by Modifly1

[+VonS]

While FE1/FEgold-era aircraft may be used in FE2, I have never tested data ini files from FE2 in older vers. of FE (I only have FE2). Might be worth a try, though. The inis are found in the individual aircraft folders of the various FM packs - they do not need to be extracted from anywhere. If a data ini is missing from a stock aircraft folder, simply copy over the one available in the FM packs - and that corresponds with that aircraft folder. For extraction of data inis and other files in FE/FE2 that are not initially viewable, see this post. Recommended is to see that entire thread, "New in FE2," if new to the FE series of sims. (Much of the info. might be helpful for older vers. of FE too.)

Cheers,

Von S

[Modifly1]

Alright thanks, I'll give it a shot. I take it AI data is the one I want. I noticed that all the other two seaters had no data pertaining to gunners however AI data did. 

Edited April 13, 2022 by Modifly1

[+VonS]

Yes, relevant entries related to "gunner," under the [AIData] section of a data ini, also the various [Dogfight] skill entries, if they are available (specifically gunner-related info. in the dogfight entries) - are worth checking out.

Possibly most important to look over are the various values under the gunner section of a data ini (for example, for the Nieup. 12, relevant info. follows below):

[Gunner]
SystemType=GUNNER_STATION
SeatID=2
GunnerID=2
PilotModelName=
GunnerBodyNodeName=Gunner
SetCockpitPosition=FALSE
Position=0.0,-1.02,0.95
MinExtentPosition=0.25,-1.1,-0.29
MaxExtentPosition=-0.25,-0.6,1.08
PitchModelNodeName=GunTiltMount
YawModelNodeName=Gunner
GunRange=400
PitchAngleRate=12
MaxPitch=25
MinPitch=-10
DefaultPitchAngle=5
YawLimited=TRUE
YawAngleRate=12
MaxYaw=260
MinYaw=100
DefaultYawAngle=180

Entries in bold are the ones to tweak, for increased/decreased movement and speed of the AI gunners in two-seaters.

 

Cheers (and happy tweaking),

Von S