Nicholas Bell

Guess I have a bit of Mick Mannock in me, as I am disappointed in the lack of flamers in FE2. I like to see them roast all the way down. Been working on this a while and the only way I’ve found to increase the frequency of flamers is by modifying the AIRCRAFTOBJECT.INI. The “APRoundFireChance” has to be dramatically increased far beyond what seems realistic. This is “mod for effect”. Even setting it at 100 percent doesn’t mean the target will burn everyone time. I would start at 50 and modify to taste from there. If you leave the other values at the default, burning aircraft will likely explode before they hit the ground. I prefer them to burn until they crash – they are not jets with thousands of gallons of JP-4 in them after all. I’m still working on balancing the FireCheckTime and the ProgressionChance to achieve this. If the ProgressChance is too low the aircraft will continue to fly around burning. I have added DamageRating=DESTROYED to the Fuel Tank on all my planes but this doesn’t seem to help stop them from flying. [ObjectFire] FireCheckTime= 12.0 //6.0 Number of seconds between checks for progression and explosion? APRoundFireChance=50 //1 HERoundFireChance=5 HERoundExplosionChance=1 ExplosionChance=0 //1 They still explode even at zero SuppressionChance=1 //10 I’ve seen plenty of fires snuffed out ProgressionChance=8 //15 This is just where I am at in testing. I hope you will experiment yourself with this and perhaps we can find the correct balance. If you don’t want your planes exploding like jets when they crash remark out this in the AIRCRAFTOBJECT.INI [GameObjectEffect] //ObjectExplosionEffect=AircraftExplosionEffect

Sorry. This is what you get when I write during lunch at my work desk! I meant Experience, not training, which I set to 10 or 20. I know it seems unfair, but my experience is that the difference is not all that horrible. Plus they still get random ace pilots among all the misfits, and they certainly will ruin your day while flying an Albatros.

First, I don't have a good answer. But I feel your pain. I've cut the training level by more than half for the Allies (10s and 20s). Helps a little. But German casualty rates are always too high. Flying for the Allies the casualty rates are more realistic, and with single gun fighters it's extremely tough to even get a kill against the Germans. I've also noted before that the German AI pilots perform maneuvers when I'm flying against them that I don't see when I am flying with them. And those same Allied AI pilots which shoot down my German wingmen every mission, can't score a single kill when I am flying with them. One might think that which ever side the player is flying for is handicapped by the program by making the other side better. Possible? My inelegant solution is to roll a die to determine if the pilot was actually killed, wounded or just fine when shot down. I hexedit his status to reflect "reality". This is standard practice in boardgame or miniature flight wargames which I used to do many decades ago. Although not directly related, I was reminded of this by Pat Wilson's Campaign Generator for IL-2 BOS which allows one to set a percentage value for pilot survival due to dumb AI crashes due to hitting the ground inadvertently. The point being is that just because the computer program kills your wingmen, doesn't mean you need to accept it. And for what it's worth, despite the excellent AI which actually knows when to disengage in WOFF, the casualty rates are also ahistorically high. In some of their "competitions" players have devised elaborate house rules which are self-imposed while playing a campaign. These include capping the number of kills one can score in a mission (no matter how many actually won), and forcing some many days of not flying after scoring a victory, for example. There's been more than one thread over at SimHQ asking about where the bloody is in bloody April - other than for the Germans! Replicating historical results for the Germans seems to be a common problem. Flying for the Allies is perhaps more realistic given the losses they actually suffered.

von Oben, I'd suggest downloading one of Stary's effect packs to find out where the files go.

I certainly respect and am grateful for the talent and hard work of those who have and continue to work on mods for FE2 (and the SF2 series in general). Thank you! This is not a new issue, unfortunately. Wasn't any different back in the mid-90's when I was hex-editing AOTP and AOE. I've always blamed the anonymity the internet provides for enabling the people to behave badly. I firmly believe that most people wouldn't say the things they write in a face to face discussion, where there might be consequences to what one says and how one says it. Then again, the concept of civility in our society seems to be fading memory of the past.

Thanks! Now to make so time available to fly! Fortunately winter is coming.

Would be interested in trying your campaign, if you are inclined to share. Thanks.

I've had campaigns end when I was "killed" when I did a deadstick landing in enemy territory. I've also escaped capture with no delay in days. This usually occurs when I land near the front, albeit behind enemy lines. So perhaps it has something to do with location. OTOH it could be a simple die roll. I have never seen a MIA or POW status for a pilot in FE2 - I'm envious! Obviously this a carry over from SF2 where the possibility of escape, evasion and extraction are a possibility. Have you tried hexediting the POW pilot back to being a POW? Wonder if the program would once again "rescue" him ?

I’ve been playing some heavily modified versions of Ojcar’s Armchair Aces for 1917. Really appreciate the “heavy lifting” he did creating these. Tweaking them is a breeze compared to starting with a 3W campaign. Been working on attempting to decrease the casualty rates via a number of approaches – the hit boxes, other damage model settings, AI settings, gun accuracy and lethality. As a base for starting, I’m using the Von S FM mods where available, and Peter’s to fill in any gaps that Von S hasn’t hit yet. Probably the most important thing I “discovered” (realize this is not new to others, but it’s been since 2007 since I last played…) was that single missions and campaign missions played out entirely differently. In campaign missions the AI pilots will at least on occasion break off from combat, while in single missions it’s a fight to the death. So here I am doing test after test in single missions attempting to increase the probability of the AI breaking off, all for naught. Jokes on me. But the fact remains that the AI will break off the chase or bug out of a fight. Unfortunately this doesn’t have anything to do with odds stacked against them or altitude disadvantage. On the other hand I experienced an interesting situation while flying a Pup and being chased by an Albatros D3 for a good 5 minutes. After I crossed the lines into friendly territory I turned on him and managed to fire off a few rounds in his general direction before running out of ammo. I don’t think I hit him, but he obviously had had enough and flew off in the general direction of his lines. OTOH I had a stubborn bugger follow me all the way back to base just last night. I need to check out the AI data for the Brisfit, as I’ve noted that they will often break off, fly a ways off, then turn about and re-engage. Lewis equipped Nieuports also display this behavior which I suppose is related to the reload time assigned the weapon. After they fire off all their reloads they will break off and fly home. The Brisfits are nasty! I understand why the Germans avoided them. They’re fast, maneuverable, and spit fire from both ends… I’ve often wondered about the apparent ineffectiveness of AAA. By using Debug and a lot of sight seeing after being shot down or while flying back to base I’ve noted a lot of 2 seaters along the front lines with light damage and no enemy aircraft about. I was really surprised while chasing an Albatross and it was hit by a flak burst which blew off both right wings - right in front of me. And it was German flak aiming at me which did him in. Unlucky bastard. Playing a campaign in a single gun plane is a totally different experience than a 2 gun fighter. Despite the higher rate of fire of a Vickers, it seems damned difficult (realistic?) to down any German plane. Lucky if I get 1 kill in 10 missions… While flying for the Germans the AI seems to do better with those single gun fighters against me… In my 1917 campaigns I’ve bumped up the experience of the Jastas and a few RFC squadrons (where appropriate like No 56) to 100 Experience and Morale. I’ve noted that flying against these Jastas as opposed to flying with them is a different experience. Against them, the Albatri AI pilots display what appears to be teamwork. What they look like is a school of sharks! I see them circling together, attacking together, and tag teaming me similar to wingman behavior in SF2. What’s odd is I don’t see that while flying an Albatross. Nor do I see similar behavior in the RFC units. Now I know this has nothing to do with the code favoring the Germans, so it must be something to do with the AI data. I also think the Albatros’s relative lack of maneuverability might have something to do with it. The faster and more maneuverable allied aircraft have a tendency to really spread out with all their twisting and turning, and this may inhibit the AI cooperation. More observation is necessary… Need to look at the DH2 damage model. On several occasions I’ve seen them on the ground going in circles, tipped up on one wheel. The German fighters came down to strafe them, so they are not in DISABLED mode (AI ignores all aircraft in this state). Some element of the DH2 which is tagged as HEAVY in the damage model needs to be changed to DISABLED or DESTROYED. UFO landing. Saw an Albatros stop in mid air over an airfield and float pretty much straight down until it touched down, at which point it rolled forward a bit. I saw an amazing display of AI piloting a week ago. A German 2 seater – I think it was an LVG – was attacked and did a slide-slip. Cool, except it kept flying sideways and losing altitude. Well, this pilot was so damn good he flew that plane sideways with the right wing pointing forward until he completed a 3 point landing. Then he immediately proceeded to take off, this time with the propeller in front, LOL. I didn’t know the RFC had Russian pilots. I witnessed an SE-5a perform a taran attack on a German DFW. Flew up to it and literally sawed off the DFWs tail, losing only his propeller in the process. The German plane fell in 2 pieces, ending that crew’s existence. The SE-5a pilot glided down to safe landing. Was flying a Pfalz DIII escorting a couple of C-types on a deep recon mission. Unusual mission for the Germans. Things went south when we were intercepted by Camels. My engine was knocked out at about 4000 feet altitude, so I did my best to glide back across the lines. We were so deep I didn’t even get close. Little did I know I had such excellent escape and evasion skills, for I turned up the next day at the squadron unharmed. I’ve also had flight members forced down behind German lines make it back to the squadron, although usually wounded… Murder. I’ve been feeling guilty about an incident from a few days ago. Flying an Albatros against DH-5s. Now I’ve toned down the UFO-like FM of the DH-5 quite a bit, but it remains a maneuverable foe difficult to keep in one’s sights. So here I am in a hard twisting fight with this DH-5, getting off short, high deflection bursts when all of a sudden the pilot stops maneuvering and flies level. We were not close to the ground. Was he wounded? I matched his speed, pulled up right on his tail and aimed for the pilots back. He slumped forward out of sight and the plane dove straight into the ground.

No time to fly much lately, but every once and a while I get a mission in. In the middle of a SPAD 7 campaign and am disappointed with how all the tweaking I did to damage models and guns for late war (ie 2 gun aircraft) simply do not work realistically with single gun aircraft. I can barely get a kill and the AI wingmen are unable to score at all. I presume you are satisfied with your mid-war modifications. Care to share, given mine don't work? Thanks, Nick