Loads of planes Vs. Loads of varients

[BEANFro Elite]

One thing that has always managed to get of my nerves with the IL-2 series is how they can make about six varients of a plane. There is about 8 yak varients and 9 bf-109 varients if i'm not mistaken.

This only serves a small purpose but only in the original IL-2's campaign since that was a linear affair with flying different versions of planes as time passed, that makes sense but in forgotten battles, aep and pacific fighters this is made redundant as the plane you pick at the start of a campaign is the plane that you are forced at gunpoint (metaphorically speaking) to stick with.

This, I would imagine limits online play but I unfortunately wouldn't know because I don't have any net access from home.

I would say a maximum of 3 varients of the same plane at the most as its rediculous having anymore than that...

MORE PLANES LESS VARIENTS PLEASE!!

[Zak33]

Originally Posted by BEANFro Elite

There is about 8 yak varients ..

I would say a maximum of 3 varients of the same plane at the most as its rediculous having anymore than that...

MORE PLANES LESS VARIENTS PLEASE!!

ooooohhhh and you were doing so WELL up to then...

Right....lets start at the beginning.

A: Zak loves a Yak
B: that's all there is to it

Seriously...Beanfro my man..fella...pilot.....listen to me carefully...they are MILES APART ...different.....really different. Witohut the entire range of Yaks and 109's the game would be....hollow..empty....horrible

Yak1....a good plane to fly as a noob...turns ok....not goot at high altitude at all....stay between 1000 and 5000 in it......its light, and not very strong. Armament is poor....but you can carry rockets on it.

Yak7...its a long wheel base limo version of a Yak1 which was supposed to be a trainer( 2 seater) but they used cowling over the back bit...its a funny plane....but it doesnt make me laugh...its horrible.

Yak 9...come to daddy all sorts of versions...and ya know why..cos it ROCKS more power, goes higher, goes faster, and the guns...oh the guns

The canons on some of these planes fire from the nose cone, from the centre of the spinner.....

A good plane is the Yak 9 U (Ulischenny..Improved) (didnt check spelling, very def wrong) which has 2 20mm canons....
but a Yak9 T (tankolev,,go on....guess) has a 37 mm canon with HUGE POWER and MAMMOTH recoil....but christ does it hit.....dont forget..canons are explosive shells...this will do most anything in one hit IF you can hld her still and get the trajectory right....its for tanks but does all planes too.....BOOM

but wait......Yak9 K.....ooh.......

45 mm canon.....this is HUGE...MAMMOTH......there are records of a Russian Squadron taking out an oil tanker...with this plane....and that normally takes torpedos and bombs.

Yak 9 D has a long range tank.....its HEAVY


Now onto BF109...one of the scariest planes ever made..

[Zak33]

I think someone else can do BF's...where's Skii?

They have all sorts of armaments ..different climb rates....some have fragile engines....some stall as son as you try to turn..others seem to be vert helpfull.

ALL 109's can drop, like a stone, vertically.....fast..very very fast....but the different versions are loved by the Luftwaffe.....Emils....Freidrichs....Gustavs...(E, F G versions)

You've not mentioned Lavochkins finest.....Lagg3......,.....LA5...LA7....ubder planes..lots of versions....

IL-2...loads of them...loads...all sexxeh..some for one jobn..some for another.

Choice is GOOD...not bad....you just need time. Fly them....set up a single player Quick Mission...start at 3000 metres (superchargers go up a stage at about 2500 and mixture often needs to drop to 80% above about 3000) and fly against ...say...a BF109 F2.

Use a Yak1....then a Yak 7.....then a Yak9 (standard version).....then a Yak9 T....then a Yak 9 U....

see them climb differently....see then turn differenty.....

then you choose your favourite....and then swap the German planes....you ly the same..and give them worse and worse planes..older and older.....

[Nick]

And to play devils advocate, I think Beanfro means that there are loads of different types of essentially the same plane, so how baout spending less time modelling variants that are similar and more time doing whole new planes.

But, on the other hand, the Yaks are a bad choice of example as there's a world of difference between a Yak 3 and a Yak 9, they don't even look all that similar (only really in the same way as Spit looks similar to a Yak)

But I can see Beanfors point. For the casual gamer, who the game is marketed at AS WELL as the hardcore prop head, lots of variants on a theme isn't half as attractive or fun as lots of different airframes.

That said, its going to be very hard to find a game that gives you so many different planes (and I mean different planes, not variants and sub-variants)

[Zak33]

yeah...the lastest AEP additions confused me a bit.....but I had the advantage of already knowing most of them

[MA_Moby]

Originally Posted by BEANFro Elite

This, I would imagine limits online play but I unfortunately wouldn't know because I don't have any net access from home.

In some ways it opens it up, especially for the online wars which, on the whole, try to be as historically accurate as possible by using the correct varients of the various types.

Dogfight servers with limited plane sets (set by year) are nearly always a whole lot more fun than those with unlimited plane sets as you don't get everyone stooging about in the 1944-1945 n00b planes and jets and so on (which frankly is boring and unchallenging).

[Tumble]

I prefer stooging around in the 1937 vintage on unrestricted servers.. it's intensly gratifying to see the chat og like this:

OPP: "Gladiator heheh easy meat "
ME: "Come get some then..."
OPP: "WTF?!??! HOW DID YOU GET BEHIND ME SO QUICK"

OPP HAS BEEN BLOWN OUT OF THE SKY BY MA_TUMBLE




ok ok.. so it don't often pan out that way, but many a mkIX Spit has fallen to my 4 .303 brownings

[jeNK^]

I was uber embarressed to be downed by an I-153 whilst in my shiny Spit IXe

[Zak33]

rgr that.....in one of my finer moments.....of which there are few ...I dragged 3 bf109's down to my height in my I-153...and nailed 2 of them before the 3rd crashed into the sea.

Luckily I had the height to begin with....not to use against them..but to be on equall terms with them.....then, once drawn into a chain of people following me, I just circled lower and lower....all three fell for it.....and then as we got to 1500 after about a minute, only one of them was bright enough to break off and gain height...thats the moment when suddenly Zakky's bi plane increased its turn rate so much that I was on them like a bad rash.

Similarly my appaling gunnery was also like a bad rash, but they have lots of ammo, and I hosed them down in about 10 minutes.....and at 500 m altitude I saw the last one dropping on me, lke a hawk......hold ya bbreath....wait....and then turn REAL HARD....under he goes.....and boom..into the sea

In hind site he must have been away from keyboard...straight as an arrow....down....boom.

but none the less I had hit him earlier and got 3 in one

[Zak33]

Originally Posted by jeNK^

I was uber embarressed to be downed by an I-153 whilst in my shiny Spit IXe

dont ever be embressed by that......an I16 is also a devil. It dives way better, and turns nearly as well as a 153....just takes practice to take off and land

[jeNK^]

But the situation was also uber embarassing.. I was chasing him, rattled him a little in the wings a few times as he just would not sit still for me (I hate it when they don't co-operate ), then I stalled badly

I continued to fall from 2000 to about 800, finally pulling out of it (was in a black spin :/)

He turns on a tupence and nails me with what was either a highly skilled, or lucky shot setting my engine on fire immediately

[Zak33]

you see...you're turning with a plane that will out turn a London taxi....

dont do it...dont fall for it.

CLimb away in a gentle arc...you're faster...oh so much faster...stay high.....keep him in site....and then when you are comfortably above him, plan your attack...drop like a stone....go under him and pull up and through........shoot him in the belly...or go nose to nose with him and push your nose DOWN....he cant do that...the I153 engine dies of you push forward on the stick....he can only pull back....if he goes frward....go down more...he'll lose site of you under those nasty big wings of his....then get him..and if you miss...climb.....run away....out run him...then turn and have another go.

Or get out of the Spitfire and get a real plane......

get into a FW190 go really high......level off....build speed...then nose dsown....build more speed...collosal speed......huge speed....pull out gently at 750kph.......throttle open still....and just buzz him....by all means have a shot, butat that speed its hard...just fly past him really really close.....really close....at 750 kph...

he'lll just fall from the sky.....the FW190 will cause such turbulence at that speed that some planes literally fall over...in the sky

[mondogenerator]

I personally like lots of variants. It means you can take a Yak from day one of WW2 to the very last day, using the different versions as they advance, as your enemy advances. The FW's are a good example as all the ones present are different from each other, either in application of development, there all different for a good reason with different objectives. Like the IL2 I prefer the early models to the late ones due to there weight but its nice to have that extra choice, much like I do like a choice of BF109, to make them fit in the years they saw service, it means missions can be more varied which gives life to this sim, the variety of planes and missions that can be undertaken over the WW2 years. If you limit planes to a few variants then you limit your missions, maps etc.

If you only have 1 BF109 E, 1 109F and 1 109K the gets a bit limited in the maps that can be made, especially given you can use similar models with little changes to get the right plane, like the Corsair in PF, originally there was no FAA Corsair but the mod to the model was easy according to the builder that its was worth the extra effort. If you fly online or co-op, having all those planes give so much more depth to IL2:FB. Besides, the Luftwhiners will whine if they have 3 FW's and 3 BF109's only. I actually want more variants of the P47...a M and N and D30 would be great..fantastic even!

Zak, the Spitfire is a real mans plane, its the ultimate energy fighter! Just cause its easy to fly doesn't mean its bad, but you'll need to write to R.J Mitchell about that and im sure lots of allied fighter pilots will thank him for it

[Zak33]

Originally Posted by mondogenerator

Zak, the Spitfire is a real mans plane, its the ultimate energy fighter!

pah....

I hate it beacuse everyone flies it.

P51...P40's even....those are finer......not better...just finer.

But you want ENERGY fighters..lets talk Jug's....P47's. Damn hard..damn hard...but if you'rs good in them (which I am NOT at all) they are awesome.

Flew a great Co Op in a FW190 against Cess boys.....

eventually....Cess Ro got me...I was SURE my FW190 had the energy over him....but sod it...as we climbed up me on his 6...as I was running short...that bloody P47 still went up...

I fell away....and kept my nose down....tail between my legs, praying. Pulled out at 600 and tried for separation..thought I had it...could t see him... and just as was climbing again, in a classic zoom climb from 450 kph..

BOOM dead

[Dakaras]

Hehe the Spits a honey but I rarely fly her online prefer the challange of other less friendly planes

[Zak33]

/\ Ya See