Some general questions about the state of the game...

[pexmo]

Hello all. First post on here. 

 

I am currently considering of getting me and my old mates into this title, we have all been out of the WW2 simulator scene for quite some time. We did play and love the previous il2 game like crazy so this is our base of reference. 

Many of the things I am now oing to ask, I can find here on the forums, but only in fragments so I can not really make up a full picture. So here comes the questions, hope they have not all been asked waaaaay to many times already.... 

 

1: As we mostly did fly coop missions in the old IL2 game (1946 and the editions before it) I am wondering at what state the coop missions are at the moment due to the current mission editor. Are missions being made with triggers and such? What kind of coop missions can be made at the moment? Can missions be made with random parameters to increase replay-ability?

 

2: How complex is the mission editor to get into? I ask as I am probably the one that will be doing most of the missions for my group

 

3: How is the AI in the coop missions, do they present a interesting opposition? I am not looking for player like AI, as with simulation - I just want t too feel quite right... if it is really real etc does not really matter for us in the end.  

 

4: Does the game require hosting to be on a dedicated sever to run ok, or is peer to peer fine when hosting for a closed smaller group? 

 

5: In coop missions does one get debriefings as such?

 

6: How stable do you guys see the future for this game? We are a bit tired of committing fully to a complex title and then just to have the servers and all be cut just after a year or too.... The game does come at quite a high price, because one wants all those planes anyway. 

 

cheers. 

[6./ZG26_Emil]

Co-Ops are run in DF mode at the moment. There is only one or two organised co-ops one if which is run by DBS Tip. You can make your own but it's not quite as easy as the old IL2 was. Making something fairly simple isn't very hard but there is a guide written by Prangster at the top of this page and a mission maker forum section plus plenty of resources.

 

AI is better than any other sim I have played.

 

Hosting works by running the DServer on another PC although maybe it's possible to run on the same pc as the game (I haven't checked). To run DServer you need a second account which you can get for free by contacting Customer Support.

 

So a co-op can be made but it just takes some time to learn the editor, you can also get missions other people have made and change them to suit yourself and friends.

 

Not sure if  you can get complex debriefing but someone made something that on landing told you how many aircraft were shot down.

 

As far as a future goes I think it's got years ahead of it.

P.s The devs alluded to some more multiplayer modes but we don't know anything more at this point....fingers crossed for real co-op mode

[6./ZG26_McKvack]

I wish for a campaign co-op. Maybe one day...  

[No601_Swallow]

You can run the DServer on the same computer you're playing on. In effect you're hosting yourself. It's more complex than it needs to be, running two programs at the same time, but it's fine, in my experience, once you get it up and running.

 

Coop works fine, despite there not being a dedicated "mode" for coop. Sadly. It's all to do with the way the missions are set up and the way you and your squadron-mates want to fly the missions.

 

Before we got the mission editor, my own squadron would mount "guerilla raids" on the DF servers that were up. Most of them had ground targets we could attack and while some would go in to bomb or strafe, others would provide cover. Played this way, the DF servers were as good as a traditional coop, but wiht the added frisson that you might meet human opposition at some stage.

 

The ME opens up all sorts of possibilities, but the logic of mission building is "augmented" (i.e. different!) from the way things work in IL".  It's very straightforward once you get into it... [Edit: it's not very straightforward, but it is doable once you get used to the principles involved. It's a bit like computer programming, but without the computer programming bit, if you see what I mean. Erm...?] ...but it's easy to skip a crucial link or 'order' when you're designing your mission.

 

I learnt the basic ropes from Bob Vanderstok's (I think I've got that right) great youtube tutorials for Rise of Flight. And then all the helpful chums in the mission building forum. Hot off the presses is our very own Prangster's guide (mentioned before, and easily findable in the ME forum), which is the dog's spheroids in terms of information to get you up and running.

 

About mission building, if you can't get a mission to work, if you post it up in that forum, someone (hopefully) will have a look and give you a few ideas about what's not working. It's all good fun and people (as in all mission builder forums in my experience) are really nice! 

 

For my own squadron, we're experiencing a bit of a coop-anaissence (?) in BoS. After years of gritting our teeth through CloD's eternal hobbled summer...! (And we're an RAF squadron, for Gawd's sake!)

Edited August 18, 2015 by No601_Swallow

[JimTM]

Prankster also has a few BoS mission editor video tutorials at http://www.tangmerepilots.co.uk/NewForum/viewforum.php?f=72

 

FYI, I'm continuing to work on a detailed ME manual, which should take people further after they dive in using Prangster's Quick Start Guide.

 

Cheers!

Edited August 18, 2015 by JimTM

[voncrapenhauser]

 

 

fingers crossed for real co-op mode

 

+1

 

 

I wish for a campaign co-op. Maybe one day...

 

+1

[TP_Jacko]

Hi pexemo

 

Some of this may have been answered but this is my offering.

 

1: As we mostly did fly coop missions in the old IL2 game (1946 and the editions before it) I

DF is used at the moment but its not a  problem, Tangmere pilots run a squadron coop style against AI on a Sunday and we work with dead is dead so the pressure not to crash on takeoff or get killed for a silly mistake is there 

Are missions being made with triggers and such?

Yes triggers can be quite sophisticated and there are features like  timers and counters etc that make almost anything possible

 

What kind of coop missions can be made at the moment?

Anything you can think of with the planeset and maps available, summer maps are coming so we should be able to cover several years of operations

Can missions be made with random parameters to increase replay-ability?

Yes randomness can be built in I have not tried it yet

 

2: How complex is the mission editor to get into? 

Well its a bit of a culture shock from IL2 1946 unless you have used the ROF editor in the past. There are some basic things to get used to that as mentioned the prangster hand book can help with, the beauty is that you can save groups and commands as a template import them into a mission copy etc so once you have a nice group you can save a lot of effort. You can also grab groups from maps made by others once you have flown them (thank God no encryption)

 

3: How is the AI in the coop missions, 

They can be a good challenge depending on the setting and you need to work as a team to all survive. definitely no lawn darting or AI going dumb like in CloD.

 

4: Does the game require hosting to be on a dedicated sever to run ok, 

I have run a server and joined in with the squad with no problems so far. The missions can oly be sequential though not branching like was possible on IL2 1946

 

5: In coop missions does one get debriefings as such?

There is a briefing screen when you join and before selecting aricraft etc. Actually in Coop as you are on teh same side this works well

 

6: How stable do you guys see the future for this game? 

Who knows but with the recent news of summer maps new aircraft etc and a nice looking game I am overcoming the pain from CloD and feel optimistic. If the game can spread to other theatres and aircraft it could run a long time

[von_Tom]

Swallow, there is a typo in your post.

 

Shocking!

 

 

von Tom

 

Edit:  Apart from the general poke in Swallow's ribs, I echo his and Jacko's comments.  And JimTM is working on a detailed guide to the ME, but for now see Prangster's piece of art - http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/17721-prangsters-il-2-bos-mission-building-guide/ .

Edited August 19, 2015 by von_Tom

[TWC_Ace]

Ironically, first mode available in ROFs first days was only COOP mode. I enjoyed that greatly. You have one virtual life there so ppl act kinda realisticaly in engagements.

 

ehhh

Edited August 19, 2015 by blackram_