My First Multiplayer Attempt - Need Advice :)

[p6889k]

I finally decided to try multiplayer for the first time this weekend and totally failed I joined the Berloga server and flew 109F4. On Saturday the server was pretty full and I got shot down within a minute or two - six times in a row, couple of them might have been crashes as I was frantically checking my 6. I'm not used to not having a map and not having object markers identifying friendly/enemy targets. Without the interactive map I had trouble checking my 6 and someone always pulled up on me and shot me down. On Sunday I joined again, this time the server was less full. I decided to gain altitude, observe and survive. That worked pretty well, I also started learning how to use my mouse to check my surroundings. Next thing I tried was to get close to some action and pick out friendly from enemy. This was very difficult. It was hard as the action was very fast, seemed much faster and more chaotic than playing against AI. Couple times I was able to get behind someone and as I got close I would find out it's a friendly. In the end I flew couple missions for about an hour, got shot down couple times and once my engine overheated and died. Overall it was better than Saturday, but I still didn't get a single enemy airplane in the cross-hair. 

 

So besides the advice of fly more, do you have any specific advice to help with the following:

 

• How do I quickly determine who is friend and who is enemy. The action happens really fast...
• What's the best way to check my six? I've tried couple things and I think the best so far is hit F2 to trigger external view and then rotate view until I see behind me - that gives me a nice wide view. Is there a way to snap into that external view looking behind the plane - not from cockpit but from external view? 
• When I'm at high altitude to either escape the action or gain energy I can't tell who is who below me. Once I dive down, I fly by others so fast that I can't tell who is who. If I hang out down low checking out out the traffic I loose energy.

 

Btw, I have TrackIR, but it gives me nausea so I'm instead using mouse in my left hand to look around, seems to be working just fine if not better for me.

 

Thank you,

 

Pavel

[LLv44_Kanttori]

Berloga is not the best server when you try Multiplayer air war at the first time. It is a furball, dogfight and dueling server where online players practice their situation awardness or duel pilot vs pilot. There are couple of small servers to beginners witch have aircraft and map icons on, try them at first.

Edited February 5, 2018 by LLv44_Kanttori

[Eclipse4349]

First, in my opinion you might be at a disadvantage without either using head tracking, or setting up an 8-way hat switch on your joystick to look around. I think a lot of servers only allow a cockpit view, so relying on an external view will probably not work in the long run. It wouldn't be good to get used to something you can't use in some cases, you know? Plus, you will come to appreciate being able to move your head left/right/up/down to be able to look around things that otherwise would block your view, like cockpit frame and engine cowling. I would find a way to make TrackIR work for you. You shouldn't have to move your head much. Or, if it feels better, set it up so you move your head more. You can really dial it in to something that feels comfortable to YOU. If it was jittery, make sure you bump the "smoothness" up. Mine is at 30, and it filters out all the unintentional head movement, but also doesn't feel laggy when I intend to move it. I also have a sharp drop to zero response at the ends of the in-game view range, so it quickly slows then stops as I get right up to the end of the range. The effect is that the view doesn't "slam around" and it just feels more natural,and I still have full range of motion and complete control.

 

There are several ways to set up the hat switch behavior, and you can adjust the speed that the view changes/pans as well.

 

Second, there is some great info around these forums and on YouTube that will help your aircraft recognition. There are "themes" that you can learn to recognize, like wing shapes, that are subtly different but different enough to tell them apart with some practice and experience. And as you get closer, there are other things to look for that can more positively identify an aircraft. Depending on the angle and orientation it can be harder or easier to identify. Things like leading edge shape VS trailing edge shape of wings, wing tip shape, how high the horizontal stabilizer is, whether it's mounted directly on the fuselage or is coming off the vertical stabilizer, is there a big air scoop under the fuselage or not, there are all kinds of things to look for. I'm not really great at it yet myself, but most times at a distance I can say it's Russian or German with I would say a good 75% accuracy rate. It is something that does get easier over time, as long as you're actively learning the differences and paying attention. At least that's my experience with it so far.

 

Also, there are other cues, such as whether or not AA in the area fires on the aircraft in question, as long as you know whether the AA is friendly or not.

 

Hope this helps.

[JimTM]

I think you have the right idea in Berloga to stay high and look for openings to attack. You can dive into a furball as long as you keep your speed up and get right out again; if you hang around in the fray too long, someone is bound to nail you eventually. I enjoy Beloga because it gives you concentrated experience in attacking and defending, as long as you stay out of the heavy knifefights (but they can be fun too sometimes). Full mission servers offer a less intense way to learn though, particularly if you have a good wingman (highly recommended). 

 

Check out some of the dogfighting resources listed in the IL-2 Wiki. This RoF one from the Wiki is valuable for learning Basic Fighter Maneuvering (BFM).

 

Re. TrackIR, perhaps take a page out of the VR recommendations and do short sessions at first, working your way up to longer sessions as you get used to the feeling.

Edited February 5, 2018 by JimTM

[p6889k]

Thank you all for your advice. For the moment I stopped with multiplayer and decided to go back to learning against AI before I jump fully against real people.

 

I'm trying to learn few things.

 

1) Using TrackIR. I'll give it a chance to see if I can get used to it. Today I lasted an hour and half before I had mild nausea. This is better then my previous attempts. I'm hoping I can get used to it because it does feel much better than using mouse for looking around and keeping eye on target.

 

2) I'm still using HUD map to navigate to target area, but once I'm on target I switch it off to get used to flying without object markers. It's hard, I feel like I'm starting from zero, but I'm slowly getting better at it.

 

3) And to make it little bit more complicated , I switched from Yak1 to FW190. I think it may help me learn how to be more patient and plan my attacks instead of just jumping on someone's tail and following them around.

 

Once I feel good about the skills above in AI, I will try multiplayer again.

 

Regarding multiplayer servers, what's the easiest way to find out which multiplayer server does what? Is there any reference webpage that lists the servers, their difficulty level, objectives, etc.?

 

Thanks again,

 

Pavel.

[56RAF_Roblex]

Berloga is a kill-fest.  Getting killed over & over is normal unless you just hover over the fights waiting for easy kills then get out again immediately.

 

My advice is:-

 

If you wait for a chance and dive in then don't exit again by climbing steeply.  It makes you a fantastic target for anyone above you.  Exit low and fast then climb gently checking behind (and above) the whole time then take your time getting back into a perfect position..

VVS gunfire has a red/orange tint and LW gunfire is pale yellow so if you see two aircraft fighting and don't know which one to attack look at the tracer colours.

VVS aircraft generally have fatter wings at the root that taper heavily on the front and back.  190s & 109s have thinner wings (though still with a little taper) and a longer fuselage between the mainplane & tailplane. You soon learn to see these cues subconsciously.  I admit it is not so easy from dead 6 though.  If the tailplane seems to be just above a triangular fuselage then it is probably a 109.

If it is climbing vertically like a rocket continuing until well above the fight then it is probably LW :-)

 

Lastly,  Berloga is not representative of the other servers.   Being in the middle of multiple swirling aircraft is not normal.  In most servers you will be attacking one or two aircraft below you and they will probably not be as alert as they are in Berloga because they may not have seen another plane for 5 minutes and are checking their map.

[unreasonable]

Thank you all for your advice. For the moment I stopped with multiplayer and decided to go back to learning against AI before I jump fully against real people.

 

I'm trying to learn few things.

 

1) Using TrackIR. I'll give it a chance to see if I can get used to it. Today I lasted an hour and half before I had mild nausea. This is better then my previous attempts. I'm hoping I can get used to it because it does feel much better than using mouse for looking around and keeping eye on target.

 

2) I'm still using HUD map to navigate to target area, but once I'm on target I switch it off to get used to flying without object markers. It's hard, I feel like I'm starting from zero, but I'm slowly getting better at it.

 

3) And to make it little bit more complicated , I switched from Yak1 to FW190. I think it may help me learn how to be more patient and plan my attacks instead of just jumping on someone's tail and following them around.

 

Once I feel good about the skills above in AI, I will try multiplayer again.

 

Regarding multiplayer servers, what's the easiest way to find out which multiplayer server does what? Is there any reference webpage that lists the servers, their difficulty level, objectives, etc.?

 

Thanks again,

 

Pavel.

 

I am sure that is the right way to go. I used to get some dizzyness using TiR myself, but I found that adjusting the curves to have a deadzone in the middle - so that the picture is fairly stable when looking ahead, plus a sensitivity that means that you only have to move your head a little to get the full up/down/side views helps.

 

I also turned off the roll axis and the forwards/backwards movement so I just gave left/right and up/down rotation, plus side to side movement so that you can line up on the gunsight. After that if found it much less nausea inducing!

 

Good luck!

[Hoss]

Get on the Battle of Stalingrad Team Speak, you'll find the link in these forums...... People will help you out and you can join up with your team and learn as you go. On the job training with mentors......... And it's a hell of a lot more fun with friends

 

Cheers

 

Hoss

Edited February 10, 2018 by 1./JG54_Hoss

[Requiem]

• How do I quickly determine who is friend and who is enemy. The action happens really fast...
• What's the best way to check my six? I've tried couple things and I think the best so far is hit F2 to trigger external view and then rotate view until I see behind me - that gives me a nice wide view. Is there a way to snap into that external view looking behind the plane - not from cockpit but from external view? 
• When I'm at high altitude to either escape the action or gain energy I can't tell who is who below me. Once I dive down, I fly by others so fast that I can't tell who is who. If I hang out down low checking out out the traffic I loose energy.

Pavel

 

-Rome wasn't built in a day...Knowing friend from foe will come with time, so don't sweat it if you accidentally shoot at a friendly (such as a P-40 when flying Russian) as you get accustomed to the silhouettes the more you see them from all their different angles.

- Regarding the other looking around / IDing stuff...I know you said the mouse is working better than TrackIR, but if you can practice using the TrackIR you will find it is much more efficient. The nausea should pass with time, but take a break for a few minutes when you feel it come on then go back at it. If you need to try a TrackIR profile feel free to use mine from this thread: https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/3625-air-combat-tutorials-tir-profile-30-january-2018/

- Focus on only flying one plane at a time until you are comfortable flying and shooting with it before trying something else.

 

Success comes over time with practice and patience

[=OPFR=ColNinny]

Pavel- perhaps you are not yet quite ready to join the expert multiplayer servers. I have a series of tutorials which will prepare you for the expert level - and also give you a chance to survive!!!

 

[[N.O.G.F]_Cathal_Brugha]

p6889k, 

Start with Requiem's trackir profile, it is really good. (thanks Requiem ) Use trackir as much as you can without getting sick. It just takes some getting used to. Once you are used to it you can tweak the profile to suit you. I had trouble with getting used to trackir too but now I can't fly without it. Check out videos such as colninny's above, also requiem's air combat tutorials and I-Fly-Central's and others. 

On multiplayer you will be shot down ALOT (understatement of the week ) Learn from your mistakes, and try again. It will take time.  

Follow the advice in the posts above, they know what they are talking about, I am relatively new myself so I'm just trying to give another new players perspective.

Have fun, hope to see you sometime.

[p6889k]

Hi guys, thanks for all the advice. I'm making some good progress. I've been back to Berloga multiple times in FW-190 and so far am staying alive. I'm taking it real slow, gaining altitude to about 2000-2500m, observing and trying to survive. The biggest difficulty is still recognizing enemy from friendly. I only dive down when I'm fairly confident it's an enemy, but so far I haven't made any kills. I think I dive down only about 3-4 times in the entire mission and then land when I'm out of fuel. I've had numerous occasions where I picked a target, doved down on him and didn't take a shot as I really wanted to make sure it's not a friendly. I think out of those 3-4 dives per mission I shoot only once, the rest of the time I simply zoom out, disengage and go back up. I do have one kill though where a Yak climbed up to me to 2500m, I dove down, he followed me and hit the ground - funny I didn't shoot a single bullet in that mission, but it felt good. Today I had a 2nd semi successful mission where I had a Yak on my 6 for a while trying to get an angle to take a shot at me at about 2000m while climbing and he didn't notice there was a friendly who pulled up behind him and took him down. After the missions I replay the recordings and it's interesting to see who was who and how that compares to what I thought when I was trying to identify the aircraft. I still can't identify aircraft based on the color of tracers. So far I've picked up on the following regarding the identification of Russian airplanes: 1) They have a light blue glow/paint 2) When not engaged in a fight many of them seem to fly straight and close to the ground 3) Their shape is unique - but it's hard to distinguish from far away.

 

Oh, and I'm good with TrackIR now, no more headaches. 

Edited February 25, 2018 by p6889k