Who is this game for?

[Idaho]

On the fence about trying this.    Is it for the hard-core 'want to spend 20 minutes starting my engine, if you can actually shoot at and hit another plane it's too easy' crowd? 

 

Or the more casual flight sim fan?  

 

Is it mostly for people who want to fly online or is there some single-player goodness here? 

 

This is my first post, heck I don't even know what these mysterious 'unlocks' people keep talking about are. 

 

Any comments/suggestions welcome.... 

 

 

 

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 One button starts and shuts down the engines. Only engine management requires more controls and attention at higher level of difficulty, namely Expert. On lower settings the game controls systems more or less. Campaign consists of 5 phases, opening up upon successfully completing missions. Can jump to any plane, and sides, you have unlocked or at your disposal at beginning of game. Unlocks are weapons/ordance/equipment/skins for each plane. If not unlocked in SP you can not use them in MP either. No difficulty customisation in campaign, 2 settings: Normal and Expert. Only graphical presets, no customisation. GUI fairly easy and streamlined to use. Quick mission builder easy to use, full mission builder later. Runs decently even on a bit older hardware. Graphics adequate.

 

 Take your pick, get it now or wait for a sale.

[No601_Swallow]

It's not a "study sim", where you have to learn all the aeroplane's systems. So many of the routine actions are simplified - in particular, start up and shut down. 

 

There's a lot of aids and limiters to help you fly and shoot stuff, which can be turned off when you want to "go to the next step", and so on.

 

But the physics, in my opinion, is very realistic and very challenging. Even with all the aids, you've still got to learn how to fly!

 

Don't be put off by how wingey and argumentative we all are. It's a really fun sim to fly, and for me hits that sweet spot between "arcade" and "impossible".

 

The game's only just been released, so there's still a ton of evolution left, even with just the Stalingrad game, let alone what the devs come up with next. 

Edited October 31, 2014 by No601_Swallow

[Yakdriver]

lets start at the basics:

do you know, have an interest or are a fan of WWII flying things?
Things with props and guns and rockets and bombs?
have you modeled Planes as a kid, or flown models, powered by batteries?

then welcome. read on.

you could spend 3 minutes starting the engine on a LaGG-3 or a BF-109.

That was in the past but might come back just as you describe... 500 switches to activate in the correct order to make your plane ready for takeoff.
right now it is a single button, but a lot of systems get activated...

you can then take off and shoot stuff. and people.
and you are even supposed to!

you get a set of bare bones planes, and can get extra equipment, HISTORCALLY CORRECT equipment by doing the single player campaign. This is not mario kart after all...
-> what they call unlocks and do not like at all.
you can join a MP server and in the future host your own.
some MP servers offer dogfights, some offer just for fun no guns flying,

some will in the future offer dynamic campaigns- depending on how good the teams fare, the missions will change over time.
some offer difficult settings for advanced players, some make it more enjoyeable and relaxed.

 

IL-2 is a flight sim, trying -and doing a good job at - putting you in a WWII plane.
If you like Planes, and in particular WWII planes, this might very well be for you.

Let me turn it around:
tell me who you are, and i will tell you if this might be for you :D

Edited October 31, 2014 by Hawker_Typhoon

[Bearcat]

On the fence about trying this.    Is it for the hard-core 'want to spend 20 minutes starting my engine, if you can actually shoot at and hit another plane it's too easy' crowd? 

 

Or the more casual flight sim fan?  

 

Is it mostly for people who want to fly online or is there some single-player goodness here? 

 

This is my first post, heck I don't even know what these mysterious 'unlocks' people keep talking about are. 

 

Any comments/suggestions welcome.... 

 

Look at this thread...

[Brano]

Start up/shut down is not simplified.It is automated = you will not be able to push/pull all the stuff but it will be done and played automaticly by game with all animations

[indiaciki]

I like flying /landing these planes

[CheeseGromit]

Of the player types listed I'd put myself as "casual flight sim fan". The game is largely straightforward enough for me to just hop in and play on normal level. There have been a few frustrations which have turned out to be things that were a level of detail beyond what I've been used to, so a bit of learning has been required. I still can't reliably land yet, too much bouncing.

 

On the single player vs multiplayer, I'm single player only and the content we have so far is lacking IMO. There's the quick mission builder which is essentially make your own custom missions, and the campaign which is auto-generated missions with some historical story tellingin the form of cut-scene videos as you progress.

[avlSteve]

The range of difficulty configurations goes from having a lot of helpers and notifications and icons in game and on the map, all the way to no helpers whatsoever (although the start/shutoff sequence is always fully automated).  Their goal was to make it accessible for those new to the genre, but challenging for veterans.

 

Don't expect a single player "career" to play.  For each flight you will choose which side to fly for, what base to fly out of, what type of mission, choose your armament, etc.  The AI gets more dangerous as you gain experience. 

 

You'll need a joystick, preferably one with a twist axis for rudder, at a minimum. 

[=LD=Hethwill]

It is intended for anyone:

 

- somewhat interested in air conflict based in WW2 no matter the degree of knowledge carried.

 

- willing to learn a game by playing it and replaying it and trying things while playing it, going through the practice and the learning curve and not winning combos and cheat sheets.

 

- single or multi player oriented with half an hour per day to spare to a PC game.

 

- willing to invest money for a flight control, as cheap as it gets ( cheaper than gaming mouses! ).

 

Basically anyone that is interested in air war should invest their time into this. 

Edited October 31, 2014 by =LD=Hethwill_Khan

[BladeMeister]

It is for a game fan that likes a game with a big completely snow covered map,   good graphics, even better if  you could adjust them(4 presets, low, balanced, High, Ultra,  with no way to turn off post effects), that gives a pretty good feeling of flight, damage model is mediocre,  with a mandatory Single Player Campaign(to use upgrades in Multi Player you have to do this SP Campaign) that will unlock skins(10 per plane, no user made skins allowed yet, possibly in 6 months per 1C/777) and upgrades(better guns, bombs, armor) through an Xpoint per mission accumulation. The missions use the same 4 way points for every mission, which include, Home Field, Way point, Action Point, Exit Point.  A Campaign with no Historical Squads or Airfields, no Historical missions (Campaign missions generated by a QMB, non interconnect, non Dynamic). You cannot create a fictitious Pilot name, you do not receive Historical Medals, you receive BOS awards(in game examples,  Stalin's Falcon award, Young Pilot Certificate, this is a classic, the " Lucky" award, Description, "Complete 5 missions with successful mission bailout"). QMB is fair. There is no Full Mission Builder(possibly in 6months per 1C/777) and you have 2 presets in the Single player or Campaign , normal, icons on external views available, expert, most icons off, no external views. BOS has very little adjustment beyond this in xpert mode. From what I have read here MP performs pretty well, I am not a MP player much, so I will leave this to others to review.  The above mentioned are all facts verifiableby by anyone who has owned and flown BOS. I am an EA owner from before Early Access was available. I am not injecting any attitude or emotion here, The only Opinion I will express is below, everything else is only fact as of BOSs' current build.

 

 

  Or the more casual flight sim fan? Casual Sim at best to Arcade game

Is it mostly for people who want to fly online or is there some single-player goodness here?  IMHO ,  Single player (14 missions included) is the worst of any Sim I have owned, Especially the Campaign. The Qucik Mission Builder is pretty fun.

 

 

[Finkeren]

It's not a study sim, but it's definately a sim.

 

SP is still underdeveloped and plagued by poor design choices, but the sim itself is great and worthy successor to the original IL-2.

[Rjel]

I enjoy it. IMO, it's been money well spent and I would recommend it to a friend. I'm satisfied with the feeling of flight when cruising low over the "barren" landscape. There is a lot of detail to enjoy on what some think of as nothing but snow. I'm confident this is a sim that we can grow into.

[Sokol1]

"GUI fairly easy and streamlined to use" minus for Controls, a bit confuse...   

[fdswer]

I know a lot of people are pissed its not a full on study sim.  I love DCS and learning all the systems but some days when i'm tired after a day of work but want to fly its really nice to have BOS where I can just jump into the game and start flying without the worry of forgetting to flip some switch.  I also like how the maps are laid out so if I only have a limited amount of playtime I can at least do some damage and don't have to spend half my time flying to the objective and risk getting shot down and then having to quit with really doing anything.  BOS fills a good hole for me and I will see myself having a good time with it for some time.

[39bn_pavig]

I think of BoS as a gateway sim.

 

Just as war thunder is mostly game with a little bit of sim, and DCS is mostly sim with a little bit of game, BoS is in the middle. It can be played as casual (while retaining a full flight model) for people new to flight sims, or who do not want the DCS experience of learning every system, but in expert it opens up into a full hardcore simulator (only missing a few "study sim" aspects like clickable cockpits and non critical system modeling.)

 

I think the developers have straddled the boundary between casual and hardcore as a strategic choice, and for the most part done it well. Hardcore sims are traditionally developed by their own community, so as BoS grows the hardcore sim crowd will adapt it to their own tastes. With time community made content will come. Making the base package accessible to more casual gamers will ensure it has wider appeal over the life of the sim. Being able to buy a dvd, install, and get playing is an unusual thing for sims these days, which usually come with high barriers to entry.

 

So I think BoS is a sim which caters from serious casual players and also the hardcore sim community, though the hardcore simmers will have to wait a bit for the tools they need to customise the game.