I'm an idiot

[Thrudd]

I can't believe I didn't buy this game sooner!

 

I used to play a lot of RoF back in the day, bought all but 2 of the planes, not that I wanted to fly them all just to support the game. I took a break from flight sims to play with spaceships but after many thousands of hours I got a bit tired of Elite Dangerous so was scanning around for a flight sim to play. I'd heard of IL-2 Battle for Stalingrad when it was still being developed but stupidly thought it was the same devs that made Cliffs of Dover and hadn't been impressed with that so gave it a miss. A couple of days ago I saw some great videos of BoS that piqued my interest and that it was made by 777!

This immediately changed my opinion as I'd loved RoF so I jumped on to the website and saw all the new maps and planes that had been added as well as the exciting things coming in the future (Career Mode & Flying Circus OMG!), bought BoK right away and am really impressed. I should have bought into this games a year ago, I'm sorry Devs! :D

 

I'm still really really rusty, WW2 planes aren’t as responsive as spaceships so will take a bit of getting used to but the sim really feels 'right'. It's been a fun few days, for me anyway, I doubt my ground crew would agree. I've pranged so many planes I think the Germans would have presented me with a truckload of iron crosses for single handily decimating the soviet airforce with how many IL-2's I've bent.

 

I'm going to have to pick up BoS & BoM too though as maybe I was a bit too quick on the early access of Kuban as there isn't much single player stuff in that package yet for me to train my skills with and quick missions get a bit stale. On the plus side it did make me pick up the mission editor sooner than I expected. (Massive thanks to JimTM for the work on the manual, it's been years since I played with the RoF editor so needed the help)

 

Anyone have suggestions for new player friendly groups and training/co-op servers? I'm flying full realism right from the get go as I didn’t want to learn bad habits but also didn’t want to jump onto the busy dynamic servers and destroy all my sides planes by being a newbie. Having other players to chat with while you play is always preferable to soloing so if anyone wants to wing up drop me a PM (I'm in the UK but have pretty flexible play times so East coast USA is good too)

 

-- Thrudd .o7

[OrLoK]

Welcome.

 

I frequent Coconuts's server as you can tootle around away from the front and get a feel for things rather than being dropped into a furball.

 

Also, loads more sp content will hit with thefull BoK release.

[Herne]

Wings of Liberty is a good place to start, High population prime EU evenings, It is full real with the exception of the map GPS. Missions are not dynamic so you can jump in and have fun, and learn about the ground handling quirks of each AC as you go.

Berloga is also great for working on your dogfighting skills. Air starts, and almost instant furball action means that your defensive as well as offensive flying skills will be tested and tuned in quick order, but I still think to start with WoL is ideal just to get a feel for the handling of the different planes both on the ground, and in the air.

 

Have fun, see you in the skies !
 

[LLv24_Zami]

Welcome to the light Thrudd!

[6./ZG26_Klaus_Mann]

Agree with Headline. 

 

TAW and Random Expert have one of the Largest and Nicest communities, however, not very noob friendly at first. It's best to get on Comms there, as asking "How to open Map?" and "How to Taxi" etc. will get you many "Ctrl+E", "Alt+F4" and "LoL" Responses. 

 

 

My Suggestion: Set yourself up for a Variety of Planes in Quick Missions first. Learn your Basics of Gunnery and Engine Management. 

 

Then: Join an MP Server and TS, find me there or someone like me (A Patient Jack of all Planes, Master of None) to fly with. A good guy there will fly a number of low Risk Missions for you to get your bearings straight and learn the Advanced Basics. 

 

 

There is of course the other way of running your Head into the Wall on Wings of Toxicity and Berloga, grow very frustrated and tossing the game in the Bin without having learned the Basics. 

Most normal Squads tend to be very relaxed and welcoming of honest Noobs so don't worry and hop in with them on Voice Comms. 

[Ribbon]

try this for SP, it's campaign generator and it have Kuban map and planeset!

Find on youtube tutorial how to set it up, it is must have for SP.

Also 20-30days until full BoK release

 

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/32137-pwcg-302-released/?hl=+pwcg

 

yeah, and welcome!

[ShamrockOneFive]

Welcome to the community! Glad you were able to find your way here and get started with the series. Look out for what will likely be a Christmas sale and pick up Moscow and Stalingrad at a pretty good price. If you like what you have so far it'll be well worth it.

 

We're waiting for the final release for Battle of Kuban and that is bringing with it a pretty big update with the final three aircraft, the new career mode, a scripted campaign flying the IL-2, and tons more stuff. That'll really fill out the part that you already own. Meantime QMB or multiplayer is good. You'll be a bit limited on the aircraft front right now but should be able to fly a fair bit anyways. Multiplayer mode has full compatibility so even if you don't own Stalingrad or Moscow you can still fly on those maps.

 

Again, welcome! Great to see new players jumping in!

[pilotpierre]

Welcome, I guarantee you not will be disappointed in either the game or the developers skills and dedication.   

[Thrudd]

Thanks for the warm welcome folks. I'll certainly check out Coconuts server over the next few days. I recon WoL & Berloga might be a bit too intense for my skill level just now so will wait a while before dipping my toes into either of those. While I've previously had a lot of flight time on my log with various games going all the way back to Red Baron back in the 90's as a kid I've not flown a WW2 sim in this high fidelity before so learning each plane is required. I love how the game requires practice and you can notice yourself improving. When I first fired it up I couldn’t even taxi to the runway lost a fair few planes doing doughnuts but then it got easier. The same struggles occurred with each of the steps (taking off in a straight line, setting engine correctly, controlled flight, landing etc) but after two days I can taxi, take off, fly to the targets, make an attack run (though spotting the target is still an issue) and land with about 60% success rate. This is all in a safe environment though, as soon as I get bounced my success rate rapidly dives to 0% :D

 

I like the ground attack role and I'm currently learning the IL-2. While I'm keen to try out all the planes one piece of advice for new players I saw given on forum threads was to pick one plane and stick with it. Problem is I'm not sure I like the IL-2 I have as the visibility isn't great, I'm struggling a bit with identifying targets. In real life I'd like the extra armour on the windows but currently I keep finding myself flying with the canopy open until I go to make my attack. TrackIR certainly helps but what are folks thoughts on the Pe-2? I may switch to that once I get BoS.

 

I remember Pat Wilson's Campaign Generator from RoF, that’s so cool that he’s also ported it over to BoX! Will certainly give that a go.

[EAF19_Marsh]

Thank you for your trading tool, helped me make my first million

 

Welcome to another time drain...

[Thrudd]

Glad it was helpful! Sadly I had to shut it down recently but it had a good run. Supposedly trade improvements are coming to Elite in the coming year so hopefully they'll finally fill the need that my site had to cover from alpha.

Thank you for your trading tool, helped me make my first million

 

Welcome to another time drain...

[Mesha44]

I love the IL-2, but agree that the visibility is bad.  What really helps is to just leave the canopy open.  The stupid thing will slide shut when you do dives onto the target, but when you pull up on the other side it will slide back open.

[19//Moach]

 

TAW and Random Expert have one of the Largest and Nicest communities, however, not very noob friendly at first. It's best to get on Comms there, as asking "How to open Map?" and "How to Taxi" etc. will get you many "Ctrl+E", "Alt+F4" and "LoL" Responses. 

 

 

 

 

It's not that we're not noob friendly, Much the contrary really.   The Ctrl+E gag is more of a tradition, a rite of passage that we do to welcome new guys and have a good spirited laugh.  Like a bucket of water to the head of a newly soloed pilot (in some places, they use motor oil)  It's part of the warm welcome.

 

What I'd like to add, for every new player out there, is:   Get in TS.    Getting in multiplayer is the first half of entering a whole new world of awesome multiplayer, getting in TS unlocks the second half.

 

For the Wings of Liberty server (aka: "Wings of Entropy", "Wings of Potato", "Wings of OMG that guy almost crashed into me!", etc...) we usually use the Official Teamspeak Server

 

 

The Official BoS Teamspeak:

 

ip:  8.3.5.133:9407

pass:   bos2014

 

 

In it you'll meet awesome gentlemen (such as myself) and many other friendly life forms and/or indistinguishable facsimiles thereof.   

 

It is the best place to ask questions, as any (most, at least) of us will readily lend themselves to coach a new pilot in all the fine details of how to get the most out of each plane, and also how to setup the game just right so it looks awesome and runs smoothest.

 

I've talked a few pilots into joining TS for their first time, and to quote one:  "It's a whole new game!"

 

 

So welcome aboard.   Join TS, and be awesome with us!

Edited December 7, 2017 by 19//Moach

[North_Wolf]

Its nice to see someone in the same situation as me, I loved Red Baron 3D, did a stint in Rise of Flight and I am now diving into the WWII era (after owning but not playing the game for ages).  Unlike you I have been an eternal Elite noob with just over a hundred hours in it since release however.  

 

I´m looking at getting some play time over the weekend and I had planned to check on the discord used by Sheriff (who does youtube tutorials for the game).

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEOoU9PxkXEmsFdzrbvx37A

 

https://discord.gg/tFKrVtk

 

Since he seems to have a small group there that is open to helping newbies.

 

Im in the same boat, so if you find a good bunch, feel free to pm and tell me!

[Chief_Mouser]

If you see the 216th on Coconut's then say hello. We're a non-structured squad and happy to talk to anyone.

[6./ZG26_Klaus_Mann]

There are a plenty of Multi National Squads out there, with varying degrees of Political Correctness as well as Competitiveness. You only have the choice to make. 

[No601_Swallow]

I'd humbly suggest, Thrudd, that you give the Tangmere Pilots a look. UK-based, we fly coops on Sundays - our Mission builders churn out bespoke historically based missions weekly, and mid-week we often jump into Servers to get shot down and wreck the stats of whichever side we're flying for.

 

We have an OTU for newcomers, with four check-flight missions to complete before being transferred to the front.

 

Doling out and receiving banter is probably as important for us as our flying "skills", so the honing of "witicisms" is a must.

 

In any case, welcome to the sim!

[Thrudd]

Well I must say the community seems small but very welcoming. Thanks again for the tips chaps! I've already had a few messages pointing me to groups I could join so thats nice.

 

I've been watching a LOT of Requiems, Bismarks and Sherifs videos these last few days. It's nice that there are so many good instructional videos to watch on Youtube, it really helps to visually see how to do things rather than jsut reading from a page. The quality of the flying is impressive, can tell that they have put in a ton of stick time over the years. 

 

I'll certainly be joining various TS and Discord servers as I play, been using voice chat for all games since starting in Eve online back in 2003. Typing just gets you killed but more importantly voice lets you get to know people much better than text ever would. Trying to coordinate any group action by text is just a lesson in futility :D

 

*You have reached your quota of positive votes for the day*

[=TBAS=Sshadow14]

All good but if training please dont waste planes in WOL
there are training servers for that

[Thrudd]

All good but if training please dont waste planes in WOL

there are training servers for that

Yeah I have no intention of hitting the serious servers until I'm competent to do so

[Herne]

Yeah I have no intention of hitting the serious servers until I'm competent to do so

 

I wouldn't call WoL a serious server. But it does have the parked starts and complex engine management. It's where I started, the learning curve was steep, but I had a lot of fun. I think with your previous experience with Flight Sims, it could be a good fit. 

 

I'm sure you'll have fun no matter what you do. If you have or are interested in VR, then you are in for a treat. VR with this game is my favourite VR experience so far, and I loved it with Elite Dangerous. IL2 is better

[216th_Jordan]

All good but if training please dont waste planes in WOL

there are training servers for that

??

Please don't be so elitist. WoL is fine for a start, its not even a campaign where plane losses matter.

And even the best pilots lose their planes on full hardcore servers like TAW.

 

Fly any server if you feel up to it Thudd, just try them and have a look, of course the training servers are neat for the beginning but they lack some focus IMO.

 

Oh and great to read such statements, hope you'll enjoy the future with this sim.

[Thrudd]

I've been itching to try out VR since the Oculus Rift was first announced but haven't had the opportunity to try it yet. I know it would be amazing for sims like ED or BoX so it's still on my wishlist for some day. 

I'm a bit weary of outlaying the cash on something before trying it out first as I want to make sure that I can use it comfortably. I've heard that some people can get a bit of motion sickness during long play sessions but that seated games like flight sims tend to be better as your body doesn't get as confused due to your seating position both in game and real life.

I have a feeling once I try it I'll never want to play with a screen & TrackIR again. :D

[=EXPEND=Dendro]

You can indeed waste planes on WoL server. There is nothing like guys pranging their f4's on take-off/taxiing and then when you try reload rearm you only have f2's against yaks and LA5s and IL2s and ratas and PE2s.... not fun.

 

Anyways.......welcome Thrudd and WHENEVER you like please jump on BOS teamspeak channel, Shadow and I and a lot of  great guys will be glad to help you when you feel like flying on MP. 

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

VR is great Thrudd, and the current gen offers a good picture if we get the settings right. Low resolution issues with pixelation is a thing of the past, ever since they released proper SuperSampling in the 2nd quarter of 2017. If you read people with such concerns, they're fortunately wrong - nowadays. Resolutions work different in VR than on 2D monitors due to the lenses.

 

It is quite taxing however, you'd want at least 4.6GHz on a singlecore (the new AMD CPUs, although great, are unfortunately unfit for IL-2 VR), and at least a Gtx1070 to go with (better Gtx1080 or even 1080ti, it allows for higher SS, a crisper image, and avoid mentioned pixelation)

[56RAF_Roblex]

I love the IL-2, but agree that the visibility is bad.  What really helps is to just leave the canopy open.  The stupid thing will slide shut when you do dives onto the target, but when you pull up on the other side it will slide back open.

 

I also try to keep the canopy open but bear in mind that he canopy is toughened and can sometimes stop a bullet.  There is a video out there somewhere of an IL2 pilot diving on his target and his canopy slamming shut a second before an AA bullet destined for his head arrived and bounced off :-)

 

One suggestion for a server to practice in is Berloga.  It is a pure dogfight server with airstarts only about 10km apart, which is normally the last place I would fly, but it is fantastic for trying out how each fighter behaves in combat.  There are always dozens of planes twisting & turning in one small area and nobody is keeping score so you can fly-die-fly-die endlessly until you have a better handle on what things you should avoid doing in the other servers :-)

Edited December 8, 2017 by 56RAF_Roblex