[DBS]Browning

I also think there are two kinds of planes, or at least a spectrum of planes with two ends. Firstly, there are the planes well suited to novice pilots. They have stable and predictable handling, even when flown close to their limits. They have effective weapons that can be fired in long bursts. All the novice pilot must do to have some success is to bank and pull back on the stick as hard as is needed to point at the enemy. Example aircraft might include the Albatross D.V, the Yak7/9/3, Spitfires and Zeros. Secondly, there are planes that only achieve their potential when flown by more experienced pilots. They tend to have unpredictable handling and unusual quirks. Sometimes, but not always, they are heavier than usual for the time and do not perform well in sustained turns, but tend to be fast. These aircraft require tactics beyond simply pointing at the enemy all the time to reliably win fights. Examples might include the SPAD, FW190s, P47, Wildcats and the Me262. If two novice pilots meet in a P47 and an A6M2 Zero, the pilot in Zero is more likely to win. If two veteran pilots meet in a P47 and an A6M2 Zero, the pilot in P47 is more likely to win.

I immensely enjoy this game.

It's working as intended. Doubling the bomb size does not mean it will have anything like double the blast radius. Big bombs are only useful for hardened targets. Instead of a couple of 1000kg bombs, take many smaller bombs and you will have better luck.

Enable it in the difficulty settings

Many AI improvements have been made and improvements continue to come ever patch.

I strongly suspect ground target spotting is about right. Certainly, it is harder than reality due to the limits of our screens, however it is certainly easier because of the lack of ground clutter and determined camouflage efforts. We don't have to deal with small bushes, hedges, distant shadows, rural buildings and any number of other things that can confuse the view.

It's interesting that people have such different experiences. I find it exceptionally difficult to meet with a friend over a landmark, even when we orbit at the same altitude and location. I can track enemy planes at a distance for some time, only to lose sight of them completely as I start to get closer. I typically escort bombers from the same, or lower altitude because unless they are over water, I find it impossible to keep track of them and look for contacts. Even if I move my eyes away for 30 seconds, they can disappear and I won't find them until I dive to a lower altitude than the bombers. I've played IL-2 Sturmovik since 2001 and never had anything like these problems in the old IL2 game, in DCS or in MSCFS1/2/3, IL-2 COD or even Rise of Flight.

I would be interested to know if the people in the thread are playing single or multiplayer. In single player, the AI's spotting is infallible. This is a great help when either enemy or friendly planes are near. It is impossible not to see an enemy who will always spot and engage you. For me spotting is no big problem at long range, but appalling at medium range. Improvements have been made, but there is some way to go.

Spotting at range might need a little work, but it's not so bad. It's spotting planes at medium distance (say 2 - 5km) that is the biggest let down for me. I can be escorting a formation of bombers below me, turn away for 30 seconds and then be compleaty unable to find them, despite them being within 5km of me. Even more often, I give my online wingman a landmark to meet up over and we both start circling the area, unable to find each other for a great deal of time, despite our proximity.

Absolutely none of the problems with spotting are caused by the age of the game. I can say that with confidence as there are several older games that have no such problems.

I think I remember a member of the Dev team saying that it won't be worked on any time soon back when we had the last visibility patch. Could anyone find the quote perhaps? If my memory is accurate, it's a real shame as this is the #1 priority for me.

Ah ha! I think we have the answer. When you remove your hand from this stick, the motors turn off and the stick can move to one side. This will disable auto level. You could fix this by taping over the hand sensor at the back of the stick, but you must then remember to unplug the stick when not in use.

It is my impression that it is Sharpe's opinion that the goal of graphical development in the game is to produce as life-like an image as possible and if our hardware is unable to reproduce some things; that's a problem with the hardware, not the game. Such a stance might mean that if a distant plane is smaller than a single pixel, it can't be seen unless you upgrade your display hardware to something with more pixels. Sharpe has little flexibility on this matter and engaging him on it is largely pointless. Like you, and the vast majority, I would rather us virtual pilots have a graphical system that gives us the information we should have (such as the location of aircraft), even if that means the image is less life-like because it needs to show things that the hardware is not capable of displaying in a life-like manner. Such a stance might mean that if a distant plane is smaller than a single pixel, but a pilot could be expected to see it, it will be displayed in some form anyway either by increasing its size or having one or more pixels represent it in some way. Likewise, if the limitations of the hardware where to make a plane that should be easy to spot, difficult to spot, the image might be adjusted in some way to make it easier to spot, even if such an adjustment where to make the image less life-like.

Shame you can't disable them. I'm certain real pilots would not have used them if they gave so much disadvantage as they do in IL2 GB.

Does anyone know which planes do not have tracer rounds in their loadouts? I know the MiG-3 doesn't. It baffles me why any pilot would want tracers. Even if they assist in aiming a little, they can be seen far, far more easily than your plane. It's a sure fire way to attract every enemy in a 5+ km radius.