Finnish VirtualPilots - Dynamic War

[LLv34_Untamo]

Finnish Virtual Pilots Association's IL-2 Great Battles server is open. Server is visible in the MP menu with a name:

"Finnish VirtualPilots - Dynamic War".

Basic idea (tl;dr version):
1) Shoot / bomb enemy defensive lines, bridges, depots, stations and ships on each sector, shoot down enemy aircraft and destroy tanks.

2) Fly in paratroopers to help in the fight
3) When mission ends, the amount of damage caused, planes/tanks lost and paratroopers dropped on both sides determines the amount of land area the other side gains. If both sides cause similar amount of damage, the battle is a draw. Each sector is resolved individually.
4) Repeat until whole map is conquered. -> Victory! -> Map is reset.

 

Simulation of the front line moving with axis(black) always winning:

Longer version:

The map starts with the Axis and Allied having both about 50% of the land area. On the frontline there are conflict zones. There are two types of conflicts: land and sea. Land conflict zones (or "sectors" as they are called in the mission) have frontline units close to the border. Some distance away there will be front depot, and even further away a rearward depot, and even further a station. These targets (frontline + bridges + front depot + rear depot + station) form a land sector. In sea sector the targets are combat ships near the border, and a convoy of transports escorted by a few combat vessels.

 

Airfields:
25km from the conflict zones there will be a front airfield. There will be fighters and attack aircraft there. Some 10-20km further, there is a rear airfield. They will have bombers in addition to the fighters and attack aircraft. Airfields aren't a target in themselves, and have heavy (and invulnerable) AAA defences. Airfields are captured automatically as frontline moves.

Airfield plane supply:
Each airfield has a supply of max 35 planes. When a player spawns an airplane on the runway he draws it from this supply. Conversely, when the player lands an airplane, it is returned to the airfield supply. When the airfield runs out of supply, players won't be able to spawn airplanes from that airfield, so it is quite important to keep the airfields supplied. You get updates through the chat on airfield supply status every time you spawn a plane or land. Hint: press Enter to check the message after spawning as it can fade from chat before you see it.

Airfields are supplied with fresh planes with off-the-map factory supply. The interval that they are supplied depends on the distance to the map edge (typically west for axis, east for allied). So, as the battle moves further away from the friendly territory, the plane supply will also get more scarce.

Pilots can bring supply to the fields as necessary with supply planes. Supply planes are available at the supply airstarts. Ju52 brings 30, every other plane 10 new planes to the airfield. Damage percentage of the supply plane is deducted from the delivered supply.

Airfield supply amounts persist over missions (they are not reset at mission start).

 

Temporary airfields:

In addition to the front and rear airfields, there is a airfield candidate on each sector for use as a temporary airfield. The temp candidates can be much closer to conflict areas and to the border than the normal front/rear airfields. This doesn't automatically mean that they will be closer to the conflicts (due to the continuously shifting frontline), but they have a better chance of being. They aren't shown on the map normally, but you can see these with the "<p" chat command. You can activate the temporary airfield by flying an supply plane (from the supply airstart) and landing it on the candidate airfield. Once activated, the temp airfield functions just like the front/rear airfields, except that there is NO AAA cover, and the airfield is supplied manually by players, so no factory supply. The temp airfield always starts with ZERO supply, plus the supply brought in by the first supply plane.

 

Airplane and tank value:

Each vehicle you spawn (minus supply planes) has a value that is counted to the sector's health. Every time you spawn a vehicle, its' value is added to the pool of on mission vehicles. When you land/return your vehicle to the spawn point, the value is taken out of the pool. In the end of the mission, this pool is deducted from the sector's health, so, in effect, if you lose planes/tanks -> enemy will advance. Vice versa if you shoot down/destroy enemies, your side will advance. You can find the airplane / tank values below in the RPS list.

 

Tank spawns and supply:

Tank spawn points have the same supply system as airfields. Supplying tanks spawns works by dropping in paratroopers on the paradrop point (since there is no place to land a supply plane). Tank spawns are not a target, so they also have heavy, invulnerable AAA defences which also shoots at ground targets, so enemy tanks beware!

 

Control point (CP):

There is a control point between the front lines which can be captured by ground units for a bonus to the front line advance. The bonus is maximum of +50% to the frontline advance (assuming your side is advancing), if held for 100% of the mission duration. If the enemy is advancing, but you have held the CP for the whole mission, then the enemy gets a -50% advance penalty. The CP is marked by a flagpole in game. Coming to a stop near it (under 150m) will start the capture. You will have to stay put until the flag has come down, changed sides and comes back up. The process of capturing can be repeated unlimited times during the mission, and counting for held time continues for capturing side.

 

Dropping paratroopers:

You can use Ju-52 (hopefully we get the playable Li-2 sometime soon) on both sides to drop paratroopers on the paradrop point near the front. The effect is two-fold. It will boost the health of the sector AND resupply the tanks in the tank spawn.

 

Mission cycle:
Normally mission goes in ~6h cycles (from approximately dawn -> mid day and afternoon -> dusk) reloading in between. Reloading doesn't reset the map situation, but is saved, so the war can wage infinitely in theory. The season changes after every 2 missions (summer -> summer -> autumn -> autumn -> winter -> winter and so on...). The weather is randomized for every mission, meaning cloud types and heights, wind strength and direction, and precipitation all change for every mission.
 
Mission is rotated also every time more than 75% of all frontline (land: front, sea: all ships) units in all sectors have been destroyed from one side. So, if you want to attack depots, leave the front alone

 

Combat sector location voting on mission ending:

When the mission ends, you can vote for the new combat locations. Use "!vote XXXX" where XXXX is the map grid of the candidate you want to vote. You are presented with (currently 4 randomly selected) candidate grids to choose from in the chat. You have 3 minutes to cast your votes. Both Axis and Allied side get to choose one location each. If both sides choose the same location, the other location is picked by random. To be eligible to vote, you have to have a side, which means you have to have spawned at least once BEFORE the voting starts. Hopping to other side and then voting doesn't change your voting side.

 

Victory:
Every map has a set of objectives(towns/cities) that each side must reach in order to win. This can be for example: "Axis must capture city A and either city B or C to win." For this example case, if Axis would take cities A + B, they would win. Map is changed upon victory.

 

Rotating plane set (RPS):

 

 

 

 

 

The server plane set that is roughly based on the plane's historical appearance on the battlefield, so you will have contemporary axis planes vs. allied planes. The set is rotated (advanced in time) with interval of two day, and there are 12 sets currently.

 

Mission scale:

Our previous server system used a huge static template mission from which all current mission stuff were parsed out. Now we generate the mission file from scratch for each mission. Thanks to Temuri's huge effort of mapping out all the available area and the road network, we can now make a truly dynamic scenario.

- more than 60000 possible positions for frontline units,  depots and ships!

- ~5000 road network nodes

- 89 airfields
- 94 rear depot positions

Map situation visualization:

Our server is linked with the il2missionplanner.link. The map situation visualization is available here:

http://il2missionplanner.link/#virtualpilots

 

Server rules:
 -This is a total war server, so basically no rules, so any dirty trick you can imagine, if it helps to defeat the enemy, it's ok ... Attacking airfields basically demands for vulching, etc. Cheating(breaking the game mechanics) is of course not allowed, will be reported to the devs, and the offender receives a permanent ban on the server. Disconnecting while in combat when your luck runs out is also counted as breaking the game, and very much a d*ck thing to do.

- Only ONE client connected to the server per player. You can use multiple accounts, but not at the same time.
- No teamkilling, this includes ground targets. There's an automatic system in place to detect this, and players will be punished if they TK. Note the retaliation** exception. If you are a victim of a false positive, give us an email.
- Gentleman rules are enforced (no chute shooting, strafing an already downed plane* etc.). No insulting other players.

- It is mandatory for the bailed out / ditched pilot to finish mission ASAP, otherwise you are considered an active combatant* and are free game.

- The use of the votekick/ban system is forbidden, and is automatically enforced. If someone uses the votekick feature, there will be ONE warning, for everyone. One only. Subsequent uses will result in punishment. If you have a problem with another player, report it to the admins.

- If you have something to report about another player, do it PRIVATELY with a forum PM, Discord PM or by e-mail ("gameserver(at)virtualpilots(dot)fi"). Public posting will result on punishment of the REPORTER. This is to avoid flame wars.

 

* "No chute shooting, No strafing downed planes" rules explained further:
The point of the rule is, that in the context of our server, if a player ditches his aircraft outside of airfield service area, it is lost. There is no point in shooting it any longer. Your side doesn't gain anything from it. So you only do it for being a d*ck. And we don't like people being d*cks on our server. Same goes for shooting at bailed out pilots, they're not active combatants.

However, there is one exception to this rule: If the ditched player keeps fighting (with turrets, firing flares or with his pistol), or a bailed out pilot stays in mission to spot for his/her friends, then he/she is fair game. The pilot can usually finish mission in 10-15s after bailing out / ditching, so you still have to give the player a chance to finish.

 

**Retaliation:

If someone on the same side damages you, for the rest of that sortie you have the "right" to shoot back, damage and/or destroy that player without the fear of the auto-punishment feature punishing you. Be careful, and be sure of the one you retaliate against, this doesn't give you the right to shoot back at any friendly, just that one player that damaged you. Well, multiple, if multiple friendlies shoot at you

Server settings currently:
- full real
- no icons
- no payload restrictions(mostly, some RPS limitations)

Statistics page:
http://stats.virtualpilots.fi

Discord server invite link:
https://discord.gg/zmZpKeBKrb

 

Chat commands (hint: write them to own team, so enemy won't get a clue of your actions?
<t - Tells the remaining current mission time.

<s - Tells you the status of each sector, showing percentage of objects still alive for frontline units, bridges, front and rear depots and stations.

<p - Shows you the plane and tank availability on all sectors on front + rear + temp airfields and the tank spawn. Useful for anyone planning to fly supply. Shows also the temporary airfield candidates.

<gd - Disable gunner punishment system for the rest of the sortie, which is on by default for every sortie. You have to disable it for every sortie you want to have it disabled on. Useful if you have a friend occupying your plane/vehicle's guns/turrets to prevent him/her from being kicked/banned for accidentally hitting the plane/vehicle he/she is occupying.

<ge - Re-enable the gunner punishment system.

!vote - Use "!vote XXXX" where XXXX is the map grid of the candidate you want to vote. See title "Combat sector location voting on mission ending" above for more information.

 

Chat feedback:

The system gives feedback of your actions. When taking a plane on the runway, it will tell you the current plane supply left on that airfield.

 

Small disclaimer:
This house of cards…I mean robust system is no doubt flawless, but in the extremely rare case that something odd might happen, please contact us in address "gameserver(at)virtualpilots(dot)fi"


Welcome to the server!

 

 

Edited January 27 by LLv34_Untamo

[LLv44_Kanttori]

And summer map is ready, too!

[coconut]

Lots of interesting creative stuff happening on the MP scene right now!

[II./JG1_Razwald]

Having done both sims in the past should be fun doing something like that again.

[LLv34_Temuri]

The server is now running the Stalingrad summer map.

[coconut]

 

 

And because we don't have droppable paratroopers yet, the conquering happens by landing and parking the plane next to the airfield tower (wait still for ~10s)

 

Here is an idea, do what you will with it: Dropping paratroopers is not that different from level bombing, from the point of view of the pilot. So maybe you could implement the final capture by putting a number of fake objects on the ground in a grid, and link their OnDamaged event to the airfield capture, but only provided there are no enemy planes below 2000m over the objectives. The only way the enemy could damage these fake blocks is by doing a level bomb drop.

 

This has its problems, for instance cheaters could switch sides and do a low-level bombing of the airfield. Another problem is if you have a friendly doing a low-level pass while you are doing your "parachute" drop, it would ruin it.

 

My fear is that the land and taxi part could be a bit tricky if there are enemies around in the air.

[LLv34_Temuri]

Here is an idea, do what you will with it: Dropping paratroopers is not that different from level bombing, from the point of view of the pilot. So maybe you could implement the final capture by putting a number of fake objects on the ground in a grid, and link their OnDamaged event to the airfield capture, but only provided there are no enemy planes below 2000m over the objectives. The only way the enemy could damage these fake blocks is by doing a level bomb drop.

 

This has its problems, for instance cheaters could switch sides and do a low-level bombing of the airfield. Another problem is if you have a friendly doing a low-level pass while you are doing your "parachute" drop, it would ruin it.

 

My fear is that the land and taxi part could be a bit tricky if there are enemies around in the air.

Thanks for the idea. We'll consider it. IIRC, the mission log shows which side's bombs were dropped, so cheating by side switching shouldn't be possible.

 

Dropping paratroopers would be tricky too, since the chutes and troopers can be shot by enemies. That's why you need air superiority when the para plane comes to the field. Remember that the airfield itself is closed when the para plane is landed, so enemies cannot take off from it, they have to come from other fields.

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

Map icon enabled (at least temporarily) because of popular demand.

[Sokol1]

 

LLv34_Untamo, on 12 Mar 2016 - 16:42, said:

And because we don't have droppable paratroopers yet, the conquering happens by landing and parking the plane next to the airfield tower (wait still for ~10s)

 

Since no paratroopers available, how about make only Pe-2, He-111 able to capture the field, simulating they are disembark ... "ISIL bombermans".

Edited March 16, 2016 by Sokol1

[SFF_Esso]

When a field is closed, the attacking party can bring in paratroopers with a transport plane to conquer the field. Because we don't have Ju-52/Li-2 yet in the game (as player pilots planes at least), we have to compromise, and use He-111 and Pe-2 (named "germanparas" and "russianparas" respectively). And because we don't have droppable paratroopers yet, the conquering happens by landing and parking the plane next to the airfield tower (wait still for ~10s). When the field is conquered and after enough ground objects respawn, the field opens, and is now in use for the attacking side.

Edited March 16, 2016 by SFF_Esso

[coconut]

I flew there a bit yesterday, it was fun. Lots of attacking ground targets, nervously looking at the sky to see if trouble is coming my way. I ended up fighting 1vs2, but with the energy advantage. Dealt some damage, took some too.

 

I'd like to see the server somehow introduce trains, vehicles and ships into the mix. They could play a role in bringing reinforcements to defenses or capturing troops. Why not have player-controlled tanks on some of the biggest/iconic airfields? Combined operations is always a lot of fun.

 

For ambiance, I think you should also add sirens on the airfields with enemy planes nearby. Nothing like scrambling from a runway under the sound of sirens and the pounding of AAA.

[LLv34_Untamo]

...

I'd like to see the server somehow introduce trains, vehicles and ships into the mix. They could play a role in bringing reinforcements to defenses or capturing troops. Why not have player-controlled tanks on some of the biggest/iconic airfields? Combined operations is always a lot of fun.

 

For ambiance, I think you should also add sirens on the airfields with enemy planes nearby. Nothing like scrambling from a runway under the sound of sirens and the pounding of AAA.

Good ideas, and we have thought about many of those already ... The general intention is to add new features as time allows, but as getting to this point has taken a year, well, you can imagine the pace ... Work, wife and a 1yo daughter keep me from the IMPORTANT stuff

[Toxin1]

This is great stuff

 

PS  Please check your image file link for the Zademiyanie!!! Looks like it was hacked!

[LLv34_Temuri]

 

Why not have player-controlled tanks on some of the biggest/iconic airfields? Combined operations is always a lot of fun.

 

For ambiance, I think you should also add sirens on the airfields with enemy planes nearby. Nothing like scrambling from a runway under the sound of sirens and the pounding of AAA.

I would like to have some player controlled Flakpanzers (e.g. Wirbelwind) or AA pieces there, but those of course don't exist yet.

 

Sirens is definitely a thing we will add in the near future. Another thing to add is changing weather. I have planned to do that so that I create multiple versions of the mission, each with different weather conditions, and then have the dserver randomly rotate the missions.

 

PS  Please check your image file link for the Zademiyanie!!! Looks like it was hacked!

Hacked?

[Toxin1]

I would like to have some player controlled Flakpanzers (e.g. Wirbelwind) or AA pieces there, but those of course don't exist yet.

 

Sirens is definitely a thing we will add in the near future. Another thing to add is changing weather. I have planned to do that so that I create multiple versions of the mission, each with different weather conditions, and then have the dserver randomly rotate the missions.

Hacked?

 

Not sure why but on my laptop and my iphone I get a XXX anime pic for Zaemiyanie.  I tried my wife's ipad and it was fine. Strange.....as I am not an anime kind of guy 

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

Updated the first post, now contains links to both available maps airfield intel pics.

 

On other news:

- fixed a bug in chat commands which caused only few first people to enter the server to be able to use commands, others were ignored

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

Statistics page now available at:
http://stats.virtualpilots.fi:8000/

Edited August 11, 2021 by LLv34_Untamo

[Lusekofte]

We are a group of VVS flyers , we might be able to do something here. I myself will be away for two weeks. I give them a hint

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

Excellent LuseKofte, bring all your friends

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

Saw the first full map conquer last night. Russian side made a successful tactical retreat from the map .. Congratz to the German side!

 

And a small bug in the reset logic caused double victory in the stats... Will fix hopefully before next victory

Edited April 6, 2016 by LLv34_Untamo

[LLv34_Temuri]

We added one bomber airstart at 3 km altitude for both sides behind the rear fields to encourage bomber flights to take place.

[LLv44_Kanttori]

We added one bomber airstart at 3 km altitude for both sides behind the rear fields to encourage bomber flights to take place.

We Finns are discussing to make this server a very bomber friendly. Untamo and Temuri are now building depots and military areas where you can bomb large targets from high level. Also Missions in this server runs very long time, mostly over 12 hours, so they don't end just then when you are climbing high!

Edited April 15, 2016 by LLv32_Kanttori

[LLv44_Kanttori]

Something new is going on:

http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/24354-mosquito-meeting-need-red-stars/

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

Original post updated. With todays update, people with BoS can now join us on the Moscow map, so try our server out!

[Mekanikol]

My friend and I will certainly try your server tonight!

[LLv34_Temuri]

The mission briefing should now be available in Russian language too. Also, capturing/repairing an airfield is now done by landing the needed plane on the airfield and clicking Finish Flight.

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

Post updated:

- Airfield capturing no longer requires taxiin the para-plane to the tower, just finish flight anywhere on the field to capture the field.

- Introducing repair plane, which will dramatically reduce respawn times for the airfield objects, possibly opening a closed field. Note: only works on closed airfields!

[LeLv8_Otto]

- Airfield capturing no longer requires taxiin the para-plane to the tower, just finish flight anywhere on the field to capture the field.

Only "In Service" landing is counted or also Emergency?

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

From the post:
"...the capturing happens by landing and finishing the flight on the airfield (without major damage)..."

 

This amounts to if there will be "object destroyed" log entry for your plane before "landing" entry. Our current knowledge about these entries is bit vague at this point, so we don't yet know, what kind of damage is needed for the "object destroyed" entry.

 

Our tests so far have concluded that emergency landing (at least when breaking the landing gear and/or prop) will lead to an unsuccessful capture (there will be a "object destroyed" entry).

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

Post updated. Supply convoys/trains were removed because of the heavy load on the server. Bombing factories still affects the supply interval. Do not fret, more targets to bomb/strafe are coming soon!

[=LD=dhyran]

whooooohhoooooo

 

being a official WB trainer back in ages i will bring on some of my good old squadmates. Allways liked the idea of having a arena concept gameplay

Send some good greetings to Kossu and grandma 

Still got the legendary 2007 Falk Panzer oil bottle on my desk...... so you guys know what good taste is all about 

[LLv34_Untamo]

being a official WB trainer back in ages i will bring on some of my good old squadmates. Allways liked the idea of having a arena concept gameplay

 

S!

 

You and your friends are very welcome to our server indeed! ... Yup. I fell in love with the system in Il-2 1946's DM server "War-Birds-FH", which implemented the same idea. When this new IL-2 got out, I immediately had the urge to get the same system here.

 

 

Send some good greetings to Kossu and grandma 

 

I will! (atleast to Kossu, grandma I don't have the pleasure of knowing )

 

 

Still got the legendary 2007 Falk Panzer oil bottle on my desk...... so you guys know what good taste is all about 

 

From Eurocon, or did you visit Mosquito Meeting or Urban Blitz here in Finland? ... It is a delicacy

Edited August 31, 2016 by LLv34_Untamo

[Brano]

I have to check it out. Haven't been online since months. Greetings to Finland from Slovakia

[LLv34_Temuri]

Note that when a player is spawned for the first time to an airfield, the AAA on the airfield will take a couple of shots at the player. Just Finish Flight and respawn. It's like this because of this issue: http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/767-thread-gather-your-suggestions/page-12?do=findComment&comment=337669 and the fact that the country for the spawned AAA doesn't get set fast enough the first time (we do give the command to change the country even before spawning the AAA), so the "neutral" AAA will take a couple of shots.

 

We haven't yet made a workaround, so that we'd have separate Russian and German objects spawning instead of the Neutral for which we set the country, but it's coming, since eventually we want to spawn correct country specific object types on the airfields.

[Ropalcz]

Hi i  played one game on your server today and bombed some ground targets (2 kills), but stats on the website say, that i have played for 0 time and i have 0 kills.  I have also played two games here before, but the stats have only counted my two disconnects, no game time. It only tells my fav plane (Gustav), but side also isn´t told.

Edited September 3, 2016 by KG[J]6_Ropalcz

[LLv34_Temuri]

Yes, Vaal's stats system processes the missions after they are finished, and our missions run on 14 hour cycle. Currently it looks like there are two sorties, but they are not included in the statistics because there was a disconnect.

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

Update:

- Supply planes added. Captured airfields (beyond that starting 50%/50% situation) aren't supplied by the factories. Instead, human pilots need to supply the fields as necessary with supply planes, aptly named "supply". Supply planes are available at rear fields, plus airstart.

Edited September 4, 2016 by LLv34_Untamo

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

Update:

As addition to last update, you can use the supply planes also to supply "factory supplied" fields in case of the factory being damaged (long supply interval) or heavy use of planes.

 

Also, we now have a dedicated channel on the official BoS Teamspeak server that you can use when flying on the server. Server details here:

http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/4802-official-teamspeak-server-bos-mp-now/

[F/JG300_Gruber]

Well, it seems I overflew that part of the forum so far.

Concept is appealing, I will give your server a try these next few days.

[RUS66]

Hello)))

Not found in the description of the purpose of the transportation "repair". What is his purpose?