AI and Damage

[HeavyCavalrySgt]

There are two things that I have noticed that I really like.  The first is the AI.

 

Flying the LaGG, the 109s will simply avoid me until it is advantageous for them to attack.  They are not in a hurry - just make a pass then climb above me and keep going up if I try to follow.  Even starting the fight above them.... they can climb really fast.

 

Flying the 109, the LaGG drivers work very hard to force an overshoot and it is pretty much the only trick they have up their sleeves.  I have seen they will violently kick the rudder and also spike in pitch (to try to ruin your aim?).  I believe I have seen them deploy flaps if I was close behind. For the LaGG, the 109 is a very serious problem which is as expected.

 

I have seen that the LaGG can disengage at will by diving away, or catch a disengaging 109 but that is about the only advantage I have found so far.

 

teammate awareness seems to be surprisingly good.  You can bait an enemy aircraft - perhaps - into giving your wingman an easy shot and the wingman will take it.

 

One of the things I like about RoF is that the damage model doesn't work on a hit point sort of system.  You put a bullet in the right place and the fight is over.

 

That is also true in BoS.  When I closed up on this LaGG, I gave him one little burst and I am pretty sure the first or second bullet got him.

 

 

i also like how when pilots decide they want to be parachutists instead, they retain their momentum - parachutes don't open up above them, they open relative to the airflow.

 

Looking very good for alpha.

[WindyCityZeke]

It doesn't take much to bring a plane down, if you aim right and get some hits they start to smoke up right away.  As compared to some other sims it doens't take a load of ammo to bring down a plane.  As for the friendly AI, the one I had was an expert shot, he never missed.  All I did was drive from one spot to the next. 

[BeastyBaiter]

Indeed, a quick burst of MG is all it takes. I rarely even touch the cannon button.

[dkoor]

Looking very good for alpha.

That is exactly my opinion too.

 

Not sure why I'm seeing some dissonant tones on forum.

 

This really looks good and promising.

[silent_one]

I agree this is very good. When I see gun camera footage I often sees a few rounds doing major damage. Personally I was sick of how in old Il2 you had to blaze away with machine guns and eventually youd score a kill. Never some vital hit , bits comming off or something exploding . As I have seein in genuine gun camera footage.  This feels a lot more real to me. Wether it is or not doesnt matter to me. I want the feeling of flying . Not rivet counting

[FlatSpinMan]

I hear ya.

[71st_AH_Mastiff]

I love it its going to be then "in". as teenagers say!

[9./JG52Gruber]

I don't know why I see some people say it is too easy to bring down an aircraft. The fighter vs fighter combats are going to be short and conclusive and personally for me that is a good thing. 

[BeastyBaiter]

Exactly, it's not how many times you hit the enemy, it's where that counts. And that's precisely the way it should be. I'm very pleased with the DM so far. The effects and sounds still need some work, but these are just early incarnations as I understand it.

[Bussard_x]

AI is not dumb! Flying the 109 hitting a LaGG, puffing black and white smoke, I was waiting for him to pass me by to give m the final burst. No way! The damaged LaGG sneaked behind me and gave me the full burst from close range. 109 burning had to bail. I saw the LaGG fly away. I do not know what level the AI had.   

[FlatSpinMan]

The same happened to me. Had a novice LaGG beaten, I thought. He had thick clouds of greenish and black smoke streaming out behind him, so I turned for home. A couple of minutes I check six just in time to see him come barrelling at me, guns blazing. The swine shot off both my wings!

[=BKHZ=Furbs]

They are sneaky...just make sure they dont come back....

 

[Rjel]

They are sneaky...just make sure they dont come back....

 

Can you "kill" the chutes? I've flown right through a couple without effect. Haven't been able to get my guns on one. At leasts the parachute shrouds didn't bring down my plane as in the old IL-2.

[smink1701]

I think the damage model is realistic. During WWII there are a number of examples of aces being able to shoot down five or six planes on one mission with just a few short bursts per plane.

[BeastyBaiter]

Yes, you can shoot chutes. Of course I would never test this, not even against AI. Trust me.

[Mirtma]

Some damage at the end of video. I thought that pilot has jumped out. But it was only part of his plane.

 

Edited December 7, 2013 by Mirtma

[HeavyCavalrySgt]

Some damage at the end of video. I thought that pilot has jumped out. But it was only part of his plane.

 

 

 

hmmm - I wonder what you knocked off of him.

 

I am curious what the bail out criteria is for the AI.  I have seen pilots jump when the damage didn't look that bad and other times they keep flying and fighting with chunks of airplane missing and trailing smoke and fluid.

[Rjel]

hmmm - I wonder what you knocked off of him.

 

I am curious what the bail out criteria is for the AI.  I have seen pilots jump when the damage didn't look that bad and other times they keep flying and fighting with chunks of airplane missing and trailing smoke and fluid.

I would like to think it's from control damage, fuel leaks or maybe even an unseen fire in the cockpit. Whatever the reason, it is nice to see the AI pilots showing a little more need to survive than we have in the past.

[LordNeuro*Srb*]

I hade a little time to play the week 3 early acces but in 1 of my trays flying the 109 and shoting the lagg my wing man shot at me  and tru me to shot the lagg. Over agresive or what but remends me on mp in flying circus server in rof. Shoulder shoting from ai, lol.

[HeavyCavalrySgt]

I hade a little time to play the week 3 early acces but in 1 of my trays flying the 109 and shoting the lagg my wing man shot at me  and tru me to shot the lagg. Over agresive or what but remends me on mp in flying circus server in rof. Shoulder shoting from ai, lol.

Oh wow - that is very rude!  I hope you counseled him out behind the ops shack.

[AndyJWest]

Regarding the damage modelling, I've seen several different examples of bits coming off - including a Bf 109 where I'd shot off one of the flaps. And then there was the time I was flying the 109 myself, got a LaGG smoking, but made the mistake of slowing down to finish him off - cheeky bleeder suckered me into a scissors fight, got behind me, and shot the tip of my right wing off. I could still fly it, but it didn't seem safe to try landing, so I had to bail out.

 

Regarding parachutes, I'd not recommend trying to fly through them. I tried it once, and it removed the canopy from my 109. 

[ll./JG77_JadeBandit]

 I have had a few dogfights where I was pumping lots of rounds and getting hits but the Lagg would just not go down, I'd run out of ammo and then run for my life.

 

 In one of the dogfights the above scenario happened, I had kill the first three Lagg's but I ran out of ammo before I could down the last set, I was running for home thinking I was a dead man since they seemed intent on avenging the deaths of their fellow pilots, but just as they were getting ready to close to within MG range, a friendly AI near the airbase which I had no idea was even there until he showed up, came screaming down from above, nailed the lead Lagg downing him instantly and finally finished off the other a few tense moments later.

 

 Needless to say I was quite impressed with the AI and thankful a friendly had been there to save my butt.

[KStyle]

The damage model feels better than ROF. ROF is good but because the centre fuselage is indestructable it ruins the immersion.

[Uriah]

So if you smoke an AI should you count that as a kill and go on?  I've been able to smoke quite a few Laggs but tearing of wings and such I find hard to do.  They seem to have no trouble tearing off my wings.

[HeavyCavalrySgt]

So if you smoke an AI should you count that as a kill and go on?  I've been able to smoke quite a few Laggs but tearing of wings and such I find hard to do.  They seem to have no trouble tearing off my wings.

 

 

I guess it would depend on your mission, right?  If you are protecting a herd of Stukas, the LaGG not passing smog inspection isn't really good enough.  Or maybe in a campaign game, you don't want that plane and pilot to come down in their territory.

Edited December 9, 2013 by HeavyCavalrySgt