Progress at 51% - General impressions

[CFC_Conky]

Hello Chaps,

Just wanted to give some general impressions of the sim to those of you who have not purchased it yet. I've started flying with more realistic settings, not quite full real, which I'll expand on further.

Control settings:

I've finally figured out the @#$%^! elevator trim settings. While most of the kites have regular trim tabs, the 109 has a 'flying tail', i.e. the entire horizontal stab moves. From a control setting standpoint, trimming up in, say, a Stuka will cause the nose of the 109 to pitch down. Luckily, you can reverse control inputs so I have both trim tabs and horizontal stabs doing the same thing. Also, my CH stick does not recognize the difference between Alt-b (air brakes), and b (drop bomb), which is inconvenient if you are flying a Stuka or Pe-2  .

Since I am now flying using the equivalent of IL2's CEM, there are a lot more controls to map. Unfortunately, IL2's feature of showing what prop pitch, cowl flap, mixture, etc are set to is absent from BoS unless you fly with easier game settings, something you will unlikely see in serious severs. The relevant levers and/or switches do move, but you have to look for them, and in flight you'll have to interpret the engine gauges in order to not cook the engine. ROF's & CoD's engine gauge hud system is much clearer in my opinion. Flap position is not indicated on-screen in any mode so you have to either look for an indication in the cockpit, look at the wings, or use external views.

Flight models:

The fm's are very, very good. You really get the impression that you have a powerful engine in front of you; the torque and inertia are modelled much better than in IL2 1946. In the air, the kites appear to be faster than in IL2 1946 and the German kites tend to be more refined than the VVS stuff. Ground handling can be very challenging; not all aircraft have a lockable tailwheel and there is no on-screen indication for those that do, you have to look for the relevant lever to move and I'm still trying to figure out if I start a mission with it locked or not  . Landings are much more challenging than in IL2 1946 and it is very easy to ground loop if you are not careful.

Weapons modelling:

You still can't modify gun convergence, it's fixed at 200m for now, that said, the guns are effective and you will need fewer rounds to disable your opponent. bombs and rockets make a suitable hole in the ground but firing rockets is mapped to the same key as dropping bombs, which can be awkward if you have both.

Graphics:

Outstanding, even at this stage of game development. Flying over Stalingrad and looking at the smoke plumes from the numerous fires is a real treat. Exhaust flame changing colour as the mixture is changed is a crazy-cool feature, even if you can't always see it from the cockpit.

Overall impression:

Aircraft handling and systems management are definitely of a higher order than in IL2 1946 and will require a lot of non-combat flying practice if you want to get the most out of your kite; if this floats your boat you will be very pleased indeed. Unlike IL2 1946, I don't think you'll do that well jumping into a different aircraft each prang, players will need to become much more specialized in a particular aircraft in order to survive.

Pip, pip,
Conky

[Badgerton Smedly]

That was an excellent summary Conky!

Tonight I start practicing full CEM over Stalingrad. I'm a bit reluctant to start this early with the control mapping likely to change, but I want to specialise with the Yak1 and I need the practice.

The Yak seems the best adversary to the 109 at the moment and every time I fly the La5 I just want to land it and take a branch to it in the style of Basil Faulty!

As you say, the controls are extensive and I've already mapped to everything on the X52 and there's plenty still defaulted on the keyboard.

One thing that is throwing me at the moment is gauging the right distances when deflection shooting. The velocity of the rounds seems a bit slow. I'm sure that it's just me getting used to the game, so more practice is needed!

I'll mix my practicing up with a bit of multiplayer too. I'll patch into TS for any one who wishes dabble.

Exciting times!

Badger

[CFC_Conky]

Hi Badger,

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, the Yak-1 is a pretty good match for the 109, there have been some complaints about it being too fast but further testing would be required. It retains energy better than the IL2 1946 version, making it a better TnB kite and as irl, one should avoid a turn fight if in a 109, at least at low altitude.

Bounder,

For the moment the auto-recovery mechanism for the Stuka is not modelled but may be integrated at a later date, according to the devs.

Pip, pip,
Conky

[CFC_Conky]

Hello Chaps,

Well I think I have a handle on all the controls and how they move in the cockpits. My controllers are mapped save for a few more tweaks. I've also started to fly with more realistic settings, in particular, operating without the automatic throttle limiter. The first thing that becomes apparent is the fragility of the engines, I'm constantly blowing the 109's mill. I understand they are still working on the 109 fm so I'll wait and see what happens, otherwise I'll have to fight at 80% max throttle.

In the meantime, the scenery is lovely so I just fly around a lot and admire the map.

Pip, pip,
Conky