Is Cliffs of Dover Blitz worth buying

[gn728]

16 hours ago, Dagwoodyt said:

How many and detailed have been discussions of TF 5.0 game play?

 

I asked a few times about this and Buzzsaw replied a few days ago with this...

Hello

 

-  Scripted campaigns for the major aircraft types on the Tobruk map, as well as some new Channel map campaigns

 

-  Quick Missions for the Tobruk map and aircraft... plus some new Quick missions for the Channel maps to introduce the 1941 time period

 

-  Single Missions for various situation and aircraft

 

No Quick Mission Builder changes yet... that is something we are still working on... hope to include in a later patch after release.

 

We will be including mission templates which can be used by players to allow the quick building of missions using the Full Mission Builder.  So these templates would come with particular map areas already having populated airfields... with stationary vehicles, hangers, objects, etc... plus as well as the towns and fortifications would be populated with stationary objects and vehicles.  So if you want to create a mission in the Bardiya area, you could open the Bardiya template... and then just add your aircraft flights... plus any vehicle/ships with waypoints etc. as you want.

[DD_Arthur]

33 minutes ago, Semor76 said:

Ehhm....are you serious? ? 

 

Very.

 Semor you did some tremendous work to bring this stuff effectively to life but that was in late 2018.  The game was released in 2011 and seven years later the single-player audience had left the building.  If you recall, for many years there was a minor but unaddressed fault with A.I. behaviour that meant several things important to a campaign - like takeoff- were not possible without resort to a work around.

 

As Sokol would say 'it's CLod!'  Unfortunately there have always been far too many 'it's CLoD' moments for the single player.  These could have been addressed in the past but TFS is the progeny of an online squad/mod team.  The majority of all the work done on CLoD since it's release has been directed to the multiplayer experience.  This has left it with a curiously lopsided player base.  Of the approx. two to three hundred regular users of this game left on the planet, nearly half of them are from the MP community.  

 

How problematic this has been for beta testing remains to be seen.  The release of TFS 5.0 really must go smoothly for the devs if this series is to carry on.

[Dagwoodyt]

4 hours ago, gn728 said:

 

I asked a few times about this and Buzzsaw replied a few days ago with this...

Hello

 

-  Scripted campaigns for the major aircraft types on the Tobruk map, as well as some new Channel map campaigns

 

-  Quick Missions for the Tobruk map and aircraft... plus some new Quick missions for the Channel maps to introduce the 1941 time period

 

-  Single Missions for various situation and aircraft

 

No Quick Mission Builder changes yet... that is something we are still working on... hope to include in a later patch after release.

 

We will be including mission templates which can be used by players to allow the quick building of missions using the Full Mission Builder.  So these templates would come with particular map areas already having populated airfields... with stationary vehicles, hangers, objects, etc... plus as well as the towns and fortifications would be populated with stationary objects and vehicles.  So if you want to create a mission in the Bardiya area, you could open the Bardiya template... and then just add your aircraft flights... plus any vehicle/ships with waypoints etc. as you want.

Yes, you get a response if you ask. My point is that, if offline game play is truly a valued component of the game, there would be no need to ask. Other issues do not seem to register response when mentioned. I still don't know why a one-click record function doesn't seem to be present in Blitz. On my rig the cumbersome procedure to record a mission in progress doesn't even work reliably. A simple QMB module to make the game more accessible to newcomers, after so many years, still on the wish list? While I respect what Oleg did for the community, I am not sure that the CloD/Blitz engine is as adaptable as might have been hoped. While no doubt there was huge pressure for the original CloD release I don't see that a similar pressure exists for release of TF 5.0. OTOH positing the existence of such a clamor makes it more plausible to excuse lack of improvements in user interface as the two noted here. After those issues have been addressed I might begin to believe in a TF 6.0 VR Edition.

[DFLion]

To follow up 'Dagwoodyt' I would highly recommend the purchasing of "Cliffs of Dover -Blitz". I created many missions in the original "Cliffs of Dover" which had many faults. These faults have been gradually overcome by the new developers who are doing are fantastic job. I am looking forward to the release of TF 5.0 where I can add the BF109F to my continuing JG26 Campaign, which I have recently upgraded. This Campaign follows JG26 right through the 'Battle of Britain' and I want to continue it through 1942/3. I am also looking forward to the Tobruk Map and new aircraft and ships. I have included a few grabs from 'Blitz' which will hopefully wet your appetite. DFLion

[erebus465]

There are not a lot of applicable Mods and Skins on this game

 

[jokerBR]

I didn't bought Tobruk, so I don't know if what I'm experiencing may be caused by this, but today I installed the game, after being absent for more than a year. I don't know if it is because I'm too used to fly IL-2GB/RoF/DCS, but the flying model wasn't compelling at all, it felt totally "floaty" in a bad way, like the plane's momentum is somewhat exaggerated and with a large dead area in the joystick's middle movement (warthog), which makes aircraft control difficult. Also, for some odd reason, commands lagged a bit, and some of my axis (i.e. mixture/pitch/etc) from button box lagged a lot. Did a few quick dogfights, and although I downed a few planes, I didn't enjoyed the experience, unfortunately. Uninstalled. Wish the team success, though. 
One thing I noticed that is better than previous versions is the AA and the absolute absence of microstutters. I think that for those who aren't experiencing the lack of control like I've experienced, the game may be good. 

[Buzzsaw]

On 9/11/2020 at 4:30 PM, jokerBR said:

I didn't bought Tobruk, so I don't know if what I'm experiencing may be caused by this, but today I installed the game, after being absent for more than a year. I don't know if it is because I'm too used to fly IL-2GB/RoF/DCS, but the flying model wasn't compelling at all, it felt totally "floaty" in a bad way, like the plane's momentum is somewhat exaggerated and with a large dead area in the joystick's middle movement (warthog), which makes aircraft control difficult. Also, for some odd reason, commands lagged a bit, and some of my axis (i.e. mixture/pitch/etc) from button box lagged a lot. Did a few quick dogfights, and although I downed a few planes, I didn't enjoyed the experience, unfortunately. Uninstalled. Wish the team success, though. 
One thing I noticed that is better than previous versions is the AA and the absolute absence of microstutters. I think that for those who aren't experiencing the lack of control like I've experienced, the game may be good. 

Your issue is probably joystick or joystick config related.... you should have a look at your joystick configuration within the game to see if the deadzone is too large.

 

Please also check your joystick calibration to make sure it is calibrated correctly in Windows.

 

----

 

To do this:

 

-  Before you start the game... right click on your windows icon on the bottom left of your screen desktop monitor

 

-  Scroll down to 'Settings' select it, and you will go to 'Windows Settings'

 

-  Select 'Devices' from the list of objects

 

-  You go to 'Bluetooth and other Devices'...  Look over to the right of the screen and click on 'Devices and Printers' line

 

-  You will see a list of Devices listed in visual form.  Right click on your joystick in the selection

 

-  From the drop down menu select 'Game Controller Settings'

 

-  Select your joystick from the list of controllers... then click on 'Properties'  Please note, your joystick should be #1 in the list.  You can change the order of the devices by clicking on the 'Advanced' tab instead.

 

-  The Joystick configuration box will come up, select the 'Settings' tab

 

-  Click on the 'Calibrate' tab and follow the instructions.

 

When you have done this, then exit windows Settings and start the game.

 

-  Go to 'Options', then 'Controls', then 'Aircraft', then 'Axes'.

 

-  You will see the various controls which can be programmed on an axes.  The top three in the list are Ailerons, Elevator and Rudder.  Right click on the first... 'Ailerons' and the deadzone settings come up below.

 

Personally I find using the minimum deadzone is best.... and this is only necessary for the 0% setting.  (i.e. first movement of the stick)

 

I use the following settings:

 

'Sensitivity' -  1.00

 

'0% Deadzone'  -  0.02

 

'100% Deadzone'  -  0.00

 

Repeat for the other control surfaces... and test.  Change if you prefer.

 

-----

 

I have never seen any reports to the effect there is 'lag' in the controls or too great a deadzone if the joystick is set up correctly.

[jokerBR]

Hi Buzzsaw, thanks for your detailed instructions. Yes, I've checked the joy's config inside the game and all is fine on Windows too (it's a warthog, it's well calibrated and working flawlessly on DCS/RoF/BoX series). What I found most strange was that the controls of my button box (extra axis for mixture, prop pitch, rads, etc) were lagging a lot, while the joy was lagging only a bit. Perhaps this is due to Joystick Gremlin intercepting the button box to apply some macros on switches (and then "getting in the way" of the game, something that other sims doesn't bother with? Dunno). Anyway, as I said, this is probably something on my end, other players may enjoy, so no worries. I already have my hands full with those three sims that I mentioned.
Oh, forgot to mention that the cockpits are nicely done. 

Edited September 13, 2020 by jokerBR

[Wolfstriked]

If your talking about the axis in controls setup lagging behind onscreen when you move them.......I had same issue and found the fix but forgot what I did.Something about putting game controllers in win7 compatability mode or something like that...sorry

[Sokol1]

As OP question is about 'Blitz,' the answer is YES, regard game "perpetual" issues, for $ 25 (actual normal Steam price) is a good deal.

 

As someone who have game installed since 2011 I can say that game was vastly improved by TF/TFS.

But since they don't look at some very basic issues, like the convoluted  "loadouts" in game GUI, the impression

in a rapid view (like most new/returning players do) is that is the same old "broken CloD". 

 

 

 

 

[jokerBR]

9 hours ago, Wolfstriked said:

If your talking about the axis in controls setup lagging behind onscreen when you move them.......I had same issue and found the fix but forgot what I did.Something about putting game controllers in win7 compatability mode or something like that...sorry

Hi Wolfstriked, thanks for your comment, but no. I was referring to real delay, like moving the controller axis and the game registering it (applying the effect) later, to the point that I crashed three times trying to take off before recognizing what whas happening. Once I realized the lag, I could fly by anticipating the movements, but obviously the experience wasn't good. To be fair, this particular sim never behaved well on my machine, for some reason the experience was never fluid enough, despite all other sims (DCS, RoF and IL2 whole family) working flawlessly with high fps and max graphical quality.

I'm ok with that, because after experimenting it, I would probably stick with these three sims, even if blitz wasn't laggy, just because I also realized that I kinda prefer to fight over terra firma. ?

I think it's good however for those who like BoB/desert scenarios, so everyone has a choice.

[jollyjack]

I just bought Tobruk, out of interest for the Mediterranean area, and again feel that CloD is just not on par with IL2.

Plane graphics are great, all 2k still, but the landscape can be improved. I miss Malta, an important WW2 place.

But the plane flying, and Ai is just not good enough (yet?).

[Dirtbag_Jim]

1 hour ago, jollyjack said:

But the plane flying, and Ai is just not good enough (yet?).

 

Strangely I found the opposite, moving from BoX to CLoD I've found the AI more challenging to fight, they almost feel human in how erratic they bob and weave and take pot shots and deflection shots. The AI in BoX is probably the weakest aspect of the sim to me, it feels incredibly lackluster and boring to fight (No deflection shots, constantly turning in a never-ending circle in fights, can't BnZ, etc) . Also CLoD AI wingmen are actually useful and help me out instead of just dying and crashing like in BoX.

 

The planes also just have a nicer feel to them (not even sure how to describe it, but it's almost like I can feel the weight of the planes in how they move and control compared to BoX, and the sounds definitely add to this) and I 100% much prefer the fact that there's no fantasy engine timers that nuke the engine after a set time limit, and that you can really push your engine if you pay attention to it and manage it right. BoX feels a lot more game like in how you just put the engine in one setting and simply countdown how long it lasts without any real worry about overheating, etc. DM is also much better and more complex in CLoD (however I do admit I miss how wings bend and snap under G-Load in BoX).

 

I love BoX, especially for graphics, but CLoD is superior in my eyes in terms of AI programming and the experience of actually flying. CLoD feels more like a simulator and is more immersive for me, while BoX feels more like a game. Both are great and I play both regularly, but I prefer CLoD for the FM, DM and AI.

[jollyjack]

Probably did not play CloD too much, I think that i must dive deeper into it before commenting LoL  ....