Personal flight parameters

R

Rickitycrate

Guest
Hi all, well I'm just having too much fun with my P2 experience so far. I'm still not deserving of the Blue Max but having a great time. My question among "men" is this, what settings does a real man fly by? You know, for realism etc. so as to be competitive when meeting up for MP. Limited or unlimited ammo and the like. I would appreciate your input as to to how you set up your parameters. I like the tight spread I know. But I set to unlimited ammo and feel like a cheat. I have also found that it makes a difference where I sit in the cockpit. I do much better if I get my face up toward the windscreen a little bit rather than laying back where I feel like I'm lounging. Same as when I drive a car by the way. Question is not meant to exclude Women Fly Too or any other of the fairer sex.
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Thanks, Jim
 
For myself, RC, I like to fly as full realism as I can get. No auto-mixture, limited fuel and ammo, no hud. About the only concessions I make to the fact that I'm on a computer is that I use labels and the radar screen. My rationale (or maybe rationalization, depending on your viewpoint) is:
labels-with my screen resolution and monitor size it would be impossible for me to identify aircraft before they could id me and therefore enemies would be firing on me while I was still trying to figure out if they were a threat or not,
radar screen-navigational purposes. In real life you don't get penalized for missing your waypoint by a couple of hundred yards.

That said, I should point out that I've been playing flight sims for ten years and they've gotten progressively more complex over that time, so I've had the luxury of growing into that level. I have no idea where you are in your career. Certainly, if you're just starting it's understandable that trying to negotiate all the intricacies of flying, particularly while engaging in combat at the same time, can be overwhelming and there's no reason to feel bad if you get some help. Let's face it, even in WWI a pilot would get several months of training and hours of flight time before being posted to a unit and then there'd be orientation flights prior to the first flight across the lines (I know this wasn't always adhered to, but they did try to do it when operational demands allowed).

Bottom line is it's a game and you should have fun with it. You can always change the settings as you gain experience and decide you need more challenge.
 
I'm flying with the default settings which, when I checked, appear to be 100% reality. I don't think I've mastered the fuel mixture thing yet but then I haven't had many high altitude flights either. Most of my dogfights (in Quick Combat) seem to end up at treetop height! I expect that fuel mixture will become more of an issue further into the campaign I've started.

I'm using the radar screen but then turning it off once the fight begins. I'm trying not to use the targeting cone or padlock view but sometimes my resolve weakens after I've flown around for several minutes and not been able to manually spot the enemy aircraft I know are there. I can imagine that TrackIR must be a real boon because you can keep your eye on an enemy whereas using the hat switch on my joystick seems to be very hit and miss for tracking something. I have a button on my joystick mapped to return me to looking straight ahead which helps to overcome any disorientation.

I've tried flying with all the messages disabled but there are some things that you need to know but don't otherwise have any information about, such as where your aircraft has been hit, so I've turned the messages back on.

I occasionally use F5 to see how much ammo I've got left and Z to check frame rates, height and speed and time.

It is interesting to know how others are using the features of this excellent sim but you shouldn't be too concerned about 'cheating'. Enjoy the experience and change things as you feel comfortable.

Doublestop
 
doublestop said:
I'm flying with the default settings which, when I checked, appear to be 100% reality.

Surely ( I can call you surely, can't I ? :)), reality settings are what a real pilot would or wouldn't see when flying- one of the latter being messages in the sky saying that his plane had been hit.

I can imagine that TrackIR must be a real boon because you can keep your eye on an enemy

It sure is. A Must have buy!

I've tried flying with all the messages disabled but there are some things that you need to know but don't otherwise have any information about, such as where your aircraft has been hit, so I've turned the messages back on.

Well, no, you don't need to know where your aircraft has been hit. The plane's actions or instruments will tell you. That, or the plummeting earthwards :)

I occasionally use F5 to see........, height and speed and time.

Does this mean you don't use the cockpit?



It is interesting to know how others are using the features of this excellent sim but you shouldn't be too concerned about 'cheating'. Enjoy the experience and change things as you feel comfortable.

I agree. Whatever suits. Down to the individual
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There was a large discourse on this lost when the old threads were lost. I fly full realism and have been doing so for years. To do so, you need joystick, rudder pedals and TrackIr. I have all the aids turned off, and don't use warp or autopilot. I even check the controls on the airplane as I do IRL before I take off. Silly you ask? Well, it's better to find that your control mapping has changed before you take off. I have done and found that my jouystick axes had become changed.

I also use my eyeballs to spot the enemy. This means I don't see very many, but when I do, it lends more excitement to the game. Alos, as IRL, you get better at it, learning to interpret clues, such as base colors that are visible at long range, direction of flight, altitude and behaviour. I have my spread and damage set on normal. I use death on die roll, because dead is dead kills you for the least little bump and never dies isn't good either. Since there's no provision in P2 for it, if I go down behind the lines, I terminate the pilot as captured.

I also use paper maps to navigate. The waypoints are meaningless, the in-game map is inaccurate and poorly rendered and unrealistic. The only times I use radar and labels is when attacking a railroad or other ground targets. I set the radar on the fron 180 deg. and buildings only. This way I can use the brackets to order my wingmen to attack the target otherwise, they're no help and you're the sole focus of the ground gunners. After ordering them to attack, all goes back off.


You'll find, just as the pilots in WWI did, that the more you fly in thei sim, the more experience you'll gain and do better. But the most important part is that you fly OFF in the manner that you enjoy the most. Hope this helps.
 
Rickitycrate: Just as a thought, did you ever consider wearing glasses, or taking some Windex to your windshield.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, there might be some breakthrough I'm unaware of, ever since the CFS3 Server has SHUT DOWN, MP has been a 1 on 1 operation for the most part. However the Boy's of 60 squadron, hold group actions, co-op missions mostly

von Baur: It the risk of sounding a bit like a broken record. Read STICKY OFF Tips & Cheats #1, I do think it'll reveal a path you may find enjoyable
 
Another vote for full realism and fly pretty much same as Cpirrmann above. Its not for everyone, but it sure is fun and very satisfying if you can do it.

Basically if you want the full experience don't use any gimics that a real pilot would not have.

"Magic neon signs" on the screen totally ruin any immersion. On the screen I only want to see what a real pilot should see...so no labels, no TAC, no messages, no extra guages, etc.

I want to have to keep the enemy plane in sight myself, so no padlock view. This really adds a whole to dimension to the game. The blind spots of the various aircraft become an important factor and you have to modify your flying to compensate.

No use of navigation cheats (the 'm' map, TAC, warp). Navigate by eye and use paper maps. This really adds to the experience.

Not for everyone, but give it a try.
 
p.s. I believe the developers have in the past recommend bullet damage should be at the strongest setting. I assume the damage model has been designed to work with this setting.

There are many opinions on bullet spread. Do whatever seems right for you. If you are getting more than two or three kills per mission I would say you are too good so use 'wide'
 
Thanks guys

Thanks to all who responded! Much appreciated. Sorry to GimpyGuy for not making myself clearer. I am very green with P2. One thing for sure is that flying an EIII is more of a challenge than a DVII at the same settings. I have tried to inform myself with the faqs and old threads but had not seen a lot of info about personal settings and it can stand occasional mention as there are still new people to P2. Since I have been downing 5 or 6 EA per sortie I think it's time to up the realism a bit. Best wishes, Jim
 
Well, since you asked.....Personally, I like to fly with no messages or labels. As for the TAC, I set it to aircraft only and pull it all the way down to the bottom right of my screen so that none of it is visable. I do this because I dont have TrackIR (yet) and have the targeting cone on my enemy and can follow him without knowing where "everybody" is. No extra guages, just whats in the plane im flying. Paper maps, which is really a challenge. 95% realism because I havent mastered the mixture. Death on die roll, Normal weapon spread and Normal weapon strength. No warp or autopilot.

-Rooster
 
Rickitycrate said:
Thanks to all who responded! Much appreciated. Sorry to GimpyGuy for not making myself clearer. I am very green with P2. One thing for sure is that flying an EIII is more of a challenge than a DVII at the same settings.
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Some people are very fond of the EIII, for the life of me, I can't figure-out why. Nostagia, Challenge, Traditionalism, take your pick

But she has NO alerions, she's a wing warper, which explains a lot

Actually the ONLY reason the German's used her, was she was the first available aircraft, with an interupter gear ( so you wouldn't shoot off your own propellor )

We used to have 200+ Pages of threads, so you could research just about anything, then we experieced a Huge Crash in Sept 08 ALL GONE

Only thing I can recommend . . Is check out the STICKY OFF Tips & Cheats = Lots of good intel. And don't just breeze by, the links in #8 are Great :ernae:
 
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