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I've been thinking about adding some more realism to our online IL-2 sessions and I want you guys to give me some input. I dont think we are quite ready to do our own complex engine management yet but how about I enable these realism settings?


1. Cockpit always on

2. No in-flight labels (both friendly and enemy planes). However, I will still leave in-map icons on.

3. Engine Overheat on

4. Take offs instead of air-starts

Take offs only.

All the rest are only useful when it's all humans flying. As soon as it's humans vs AI, they don't have those restrictions applied to them. They don't overheat. They can see you anywhere, anytime.

We get shot down ALL the time. We rarely have missions where more than 50% of those flying are dead before the end. Why do we need to make it harder than it should be?

the only one i would definitely be against is turning engine overheat on...

and take-offs if folks without rudder pedals are playing...

Steel wrote:and take-offs if folks without rudder pedals are playing...

I have never had rudder pedals and my take off success rate in IL-2 is at least 98% (including carrier take offs). I dont understand why other people have problems taking off if they dont have rudder pedals.

Jedi Master wrote:Take offs only.

All the rest are only useful when it's all humans flying. As soon as it's humans vs AI, they don't have those restrictions applied to them. They don't overheat. They can see you anywhere, anytime.

We get shot down ALL the time. We rarely have missions where more than 50% of those flying are dead before the end. Why do we need to make it harder than it should be?

You make some good points. Right now I'm leaning towards enabling "take offs" and possibly enabling "cockpit only". I'll leave labels on and engine overheat I'll leave off.

Kodiak can not take off without rudder pedals - or it is very difficult for him.

No one should be excluded because of the equipment they do or do not have. Perhaps you should work with him and see if you can help him work it out until he does get a set?

Take-offs might be easier if the controls could be set-up better - and currently I don'#t have the knowledge to do that myself. Nor do I have the spare time unfortunately to learn either. But they are overly sensitive in the Cougar.
With Saitek X series, there is a paddle on the throttle, so some folks have no need of pedals there, or certainly it is easier. Believe me there is nothing I would like more than to be starting on the ground, and finishing with a well-flared landing. Having done a little ultra-light flying myself, I know the challenges of take-off and landing. But, not only would it spoil it for me, but for you all too - if I were not to be there on most missions because I crashed on take-off. Because, for sure it ain't cos I don't know what I'm doing.

Kodiak, here is a suggestion. Go to this screen you see here. Select YAW and then increase the dead band slider. This may help with the over-sensitivity issue you have with the Cougar. You get to this screen via the "HARDWARE" and then "INPUT" options.

I have the cougar as well, so I think Kodiak won't have the Yaw settings as listed. I don't have that setting in mine (at least I don't think so).

However - I don't have that much trouble with takeoffs if I practice a little. When I never takeoff, the one time I try it in the narrow-gauge german planes, I always crash.

I have to agree with Jedi on this one, Take offs only.

We need all the advantage we can get when flying against the AI. I only use the no cockpit option for SA when I'm in a big furball (multiple targets) or close to the ground. The SA on a 2D screen, where the cockpit is 2/3 of the screen, only gives you so much info on your surroundings. SOME of us don't have TrackIR to easily track targets, and I have a hard enough time killing targets with the settings we have now. I would prefer to have the "option" to turn it off or on. Now if we flew human vs human, then I would definately say turn ALL realism settings on.

I can handle doing take offs in missions (I do not have rudder pedals), as long as they are not from a carrier. For the life of me, I have a very BAD track record for takeoffs from the carrier. What fun is a mission where right after you try to take off, you are swimming in the water while your buddies continue the mission?

The AI planes do not utilize Engine overheat, why should we give them an advantage? They already kick our asses in engine fuel/prop management and acrobatics.

Labels aren't an issue really, you can't see them until you are within 5km from the target. And like I have already said, with the settings we already use, we get our asses kicked up and down the map, why make it harder on ourselves?

Take offs-on

Engine Overheat against AI- OFF

Cockpit- Always on (this is how I play anyway)

Labels - OFF but map icons on. (IMO, more realistic to have to identify targets before you blast)


Engine Management? Would that mean overheat has to be on?

I think not having labels in a mid size furball could be disasterous. The AI can identify us as threat from any distance. We on the other hand only see a blob of grey and cannot assume enemy. Once again the AI gets an unfair advantage.[/u]

Any minute now, someone is going to say that we should just leave things as they are for now. Given that some don't have pedals, and some don't have TrackIR - that rules out take-offs, Cockpits.
Engine overheat gives the AI more advantage, and if AI can ID us at such range unrealistically, the only way to remove this unfair advantage is to give us the opportunity also to do that, right?!
I am however prepared to get some time in taking-off practice with my Cougar until I DO have a set of rudder pedals. gator, can you send me your HOTAS profile matey? Thx.

Ok. so the consensus seems to be to leave all the settings the same for now. Just keep in mind though in those missions where we may take up opposing sides that one of you may be fighting with the cockpit on and the other guy may have it off!

I would probably say so mate. But I'm not sure what you mean by the cockpit thing at the end there?! If cockpits are off, does that not mean that as clients we all will be able to play with or without cockpits enabled?

KODIAK wrote:I would probably say so mate. But I'm not sure what you mean by the cockpit thing at the end there?! If cockpits are off, does that not mean that as clients we all will be able to play with or without cockpits enabled?

No, what I mean is that whichever human player has the cockpit off will have the advantage when dogfighting against another human opponent who has the cockpit on. As the server, if I allow the ability to turn cockpits off, then that means that everyone can turn them off even though we have a couple players in WOF who always prefer to leave the cockpit on. I just wanted to make everyone aware of that for those missions where we will occasionally take up opposing sides in a COOP mission.

Hudson wrote:I think not having labels in a mid size furball could be disasterous. The AI can identify us as threat from any distance. We on the other hand only see a blob of grey and cannot assume enemy. Once again the AI gets an unfair advantage.[/u]

I agree 100% Hudson. Leaving labels on is definitely the best option.

As for the cockpits, I hardly think that's ever an issue. Those who only fly with them on are generally going to be better pilots than those who turn them off anyway, so if we fly H2H it's a handicap that levels the field.

Labels I like on for the IFF. It's not really an early warning tool as the planes are actually visible as gray dots well before the label shows up.

The main issue is stick time. Some of us have FAR less in Il-2 than others, and if we go mucking around with the difficulty the low-timers like me are left sucking dust. Other than the time I spend flying Il-2 online here, I NEVER touch it. Ever. In fact, I'd say 99% of my stick time in Il-2 and its variants in the last almost 4 years has been online, and I know I've flown less online than some others here.

i always fly with cockpits on, i prefer to have them forced on but if some of you wussies want them off o.k.... ;)

Steel wrote:i always fly with cockpits on, i prefer to have them forced on but if some of you wussies want them off o.k.... ;)

LOL!! Huzzah! If no one objected, I would force cockpits on but since that's not the case.....