Combat Box by Red Flight

[SCG_Tzigy]

Just wondering what the AI is set  at...

the other day i had a really tough time staying alive... ?.  Hope it was ACE... o/w i sucked super bad.... ?

[Drum]

Good question, I'm curious about that too.  It's got to be ace setting I'm thinking, plus, as far as I know the AI can still see through clouds so there's no sneaking up on or away from them.  In that regard they're better then any of us.  ?

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by Drum

[IRRE_LeLong]

CB a few moment sooner: epic battles, thank you all o7

 

Battles, but also lovely scenery

Edited September 10, 2022 by IRRE_LeLong

[ITAF_Rani]

Great server, compliments.

Any plan to adapt Normandy scenario to 41-42 timeframe

(Bf 109 f2/f4 vs RAF ) ?

[=X51=VC_]

You guys have done a great job getting us a Normandy mission so quickly, it's been nice flying on the server.

 

However, I feel there are too few planes available when the server is full. For example yesterday, I unfortunately lost my plane early in a new 1942 mission and had to quit the server because I don't own the Hurricane. Everything else on the allied side was already used up only 20 minutes into the scenario.

Edited September 11, 2022 by =X51=VC_

[Sketch]

On 9/11/2022 at 12:58 AM, ITAF_Rani said:

Great server, compliments.

Any plan to adapt Normandy scenario to 41-42 timeframe

(Bf 109 f2/f4 vs RAF ) ?

Yes, we do have plans for that. We also intend to make a few missions on the West side of the map, and possibly do a Operation Sea Lion mission or two. These missions take time, but if you join our Discord -> https://combatbox.net/en/ <- you'll get all the latest updates about Combat Box.

 

On 9/11/2022 at 3:30 AM, =X51=VC_ said:

You guys have done a great job getting us a Normandy mission so quickly, it's been nice flying on the server.

 

However, I feel there are too few planes available when the server is full. For example yesterday, I unfortunately lost my plane early in a new 1942 mission and had to quit the server because I don't own the Hurricane. Everything else on the allied side was already used up only 20 minutes into the scenario.

Thank you for the feedback. We've addressed this already, and the missions should have more available planes now. If you have more suggestions please send them to our suggestions channel in our Discord -> https://combatbox.net/en/ <-. We respond much faster there.

 

On 9/4/2022 at 1:49 PM, SCG_Tzigy said:

Just wondering what the AI is set  at...

the other day i had a really tough time staying alive... ?.  Hope it was ACE... o/w i sucked super bad.... ?

Most of the low pop ai is set to normal difficulty. 1v1 they're not that great. However, when they're in a bigger group the ai does decently sometimes.

[Youtch]

2 minutes ago, Motivated said:

Finnish Virtual Pilots essentially being War Thunder on steroids

Just curious to know why you are referring to it this way.

[Psyrion]

1 hour ago, Motivated said:

Is Combat Box dead set on running stictly late war scenarios? With the talent you guys have, the server could easily run missions spanning the entirety of the war on both the Eastern and Western Fronts which I'm sure would be welcomed by many players. With Wings of Liberty practically dead and Finnish Virtual Pilots essentially being War Thunder on steroids, the ball is definitely in your court and I'd hate to see a missed opportunity.

Pretty much set on the western front outside of special missions.

[KG100_Brannon]

~S~

 

I really enjoy flying on the server and with the new Normandy map as well.  Thanks for hosting this !  

[CountZero]

19 hours ago, Motivated said:

 

I say that since random planes are thrown on a map where they may have never flown. For example, P-51s and Tempest over Stalingrad ?

 

I won't bash the server too hard but it's not where I go to look for historical missions, etc. It's more or less a giant sh*t show.

They are dinamic war server not historical server so it has perfect setup for what it wonts to be, and how popular it is it seams players in this game wont balance and fantasy more then historical as there is no historical servers with players in game.

Also how are you able to play on WoL with Spitfire 9s and P-47s on missions that should not have them, or maps that pretend to be Kursk, Vjazma, Smolensk, Poland and so on...

And on CB with P-39N or P-40E from bases in England in 1942, is historical for you ?

Guess your standards on whats historical are differant from server to server, not to talk about amount of axis slots alowed in later maps, its like axis were invading europe for 2nd time in 44, and had oil rigs in berlin pumping oil like crazy.

Edited September 13, 2022 by CountZero

[Firesilver]

Will air spawns for bombers and paratrooper aircraft (Ju52/eventually C-47A) be added to the new BoN map you guys are running on Combat Box or are there no plans to add these at this time?

[purK]

4 hours ago, CountZero said:

And on CB with P-39N or P-40E from bases in England in 1942, is historical for you ?

 

No.601 Squadron flew early P39s from England August 1941-March 1942, although mostly in a ground attack role.

[CountZero]

12 minutes ago, Krupnski said:

No.601 Squadron flew early P39s from England August 1941-March 1942, although mostly in a ground attack role.

Yes i know that, they were not 37mm , they had 20mm, there was small number of them, and they were not even used in combat in 42, just few times in 41. Also they were based far north of London that map dont have... so if you have Hurricane and Spit V and you give option of 5-10 P-39N thats making un-historical option, its like giving axis side 5-10x190A3s on same mission where they are suposed to play with E7s ad F2/F4s. I dont care if they have P-38s or 190s in channel 42 map if they wont, i was just pointing out how hypocritical his point about VP is if he thinks CB is historical.

Edited September 13, 2022 by CountZero

[purK]

It's not a P39N, the P39N is quite superior to the P39L we have in game with reduced weight and a better prop.

[BigGinger]

2 hours ago, Krupnski said:

No.601 Squadron flew early P39s from England August 1941-March 1942, although mostly in a ground attack role.

This statement is pretty misleading.  RAF Airacobras flew less than 10 operational sorties (somewhere between 1 and 8 depending on the source), and as mentioned above it was a different model with a completely different cannon from what we have a available.  After those few sorties the type was rejected by the RAF.  If the reason for including it in a mission is “I like P-39s”, fine, I get it.  But there’s no reasonable argument to be made about them being “appropriate” for the theater.

[purK]

21 minutes ago, BigGinger said:

This statement is pretty misleading.  RAF Airacobras flew less than 10 operational sorties (somewhere between 1 and 8 depending on the source), and as mentioned above it was a different model with a completely different cannon from what we have a available.  After those few sorties the type was rejected by the RAF.  If the reason for including it in a mission is “I like P-39s”, fine, I get it.  But there’s no reasonable argument to be made about them being “appropriate” for the theater.

The fact is they were there, not for long and not in a significant role. Nobody said it was 100% historically accurate, for the timeframe in the mission allies shouldn't get such highly boosted Spit5s either, and axis shouldn't get 1.42 ata F4s. But this isn't CLOD, so arguing over this where we don't have historically correct planes in the game for 1941-1942 is absolutely pointless anyways. Allies and axis get 5x of these "special" planes to help balance the mission and add a bit of variety, which are not yaks or something unreasonable.

If you wish for such 100% accuracy you are free to make your own server, but even still you don't have the correct planes if you wish to play similar scenario.

Edited September 13, 2022 by Krupnski

[CountZero]

Yes its L not N we have in game i forgot, also i made big mistake comparing it to likes of 190A3, on channel 42 map you would expect to have 190s as they operated on map we have, but mission dont have them for a reason.
Limited 39Ls is more like giving axis G6 with 30mm also limited, to represent 109G1s that were there in 42 over channel, its 109, 20 or 30mm , ah who cares its just small numbers, 10% of each side slots, but your making it un historical for no reason exept to have usa airplanes in period where british were far more numerous. 
So someone can look at VP and see airplanes used in ww2, over maps representing ww2 areas, and axis vs allieds, and say whats not historical there, Tempest V is historical airplane, Stalingrad is historicly made, and axis fought allieds, all is ok it looks historical to me, 
then someone can look here, and see P-39L and P-40E but no 190A3 or 109G2 in 1942 channel map, and say how is that historical, to him thats same like yaks over london or tempests over kuban that is ment to be italy and so on...
Then there is onother level historical nerds that wont think about mission to be historical if its not depicting battle event exactly as it happend...
 

[MeoW.Scharfi]

P39 in 1942 planeset won't kill anybody tbh or actually it would.

I can give you guys so much more example of historical inaccuracy of Combat box planeset,

yet you focus on the P39 not fitting in 1942 but it does more than some other planes. ?‍♀️

[Sketch]

15 minutes ago, Tristan- said:

whoever made this mission is a nub. the description text is 1944, the planeset is 1942, the cliffs float in the air. There is no radar. 

E-7 vs P39? okayyy.

When god ceated the World he was high on krokadil.

Damn you caught me! You try making a mission in 2 days not high on quaaludes!! This seems like a troll post and not a well thought out response. Having said that, I'll still take the bait and respond.

 

I say this, because there's like 4+ posts above you discussing the Bf109F4 that is in the mission as well. Therefore, it's not just Bf109E7s versus the very uber P39.

 

The cliffs bug has already been resolved, which you can see here: 

 and in our change log channel on our Discord here: https://combatbox.net/en/

 

The description text does indeed read 1944. Literally unplayable and completely game-breaking! I'll work on fixing that huge problem right now. The next time you play, it should read the correct year.

 

 

 

Please forgive us mission designers for the sins we have committed. Thank you for understanding.

[Denum]

I have yet to notice floating cliffs 

[CountZero]

2 hours ago, MeoW.Scharfi said:

P39 in 1942 planeset won't kill anybody tbh or actually it would.

I can give you guys so much more example of historical inaccuracy of Combat box planeset,

yet you focus on the P39 not fitting in 1942 but it does more than some other planes. ?‍♀️

So guy come and say VP server is WT sht show because its not historical... i found this funny and pointed out that servers like WoL and here have unhistoric stuff, channel 42 map was on and P-39 and P-40 imidiatly come into focus as something that can be shown as example of unhistorical stuff, intent is not focus only on P-39 and forget about other stuff, its just to show how strange it is to say one of 3 is un historical only, when all 3 are un historical , and there is no one in his right mined who would make historical server and expect ppl to play on it. If only i pick Kuban pretending to be Rome as example, P-39 fans would not come to defend its use so fast

 

Edited September 13, 2022 by CountZero

[Tempus]

To Admins,

Are V1's really implemented in map or is it a kind of fake? If it were a yes.... then in the mission "Flames in the skies" flying Allies you can read Radar-server notices in yellow V1's X site is about to launch in x minutes till V1 launch countdown has reached zero. But after V1's launching we have ZERO radar info in case we would like to intercep them. May I suggest you to implement any radar notice pointing the V1 Heading, altitude and intercepting bearing or, in case it would be too much scripting hard work, at least V1's grid and altitude.

 

Maybe you got it in mind for next mission updates, but I thought it would be right letting you know. Regards.

 

Spoiler

P.S: There's a mistake with the radar call out when Germans head for Dungeness radar site in that map. Radar call out says grid 0723, but if you check the inflight map the marked grid is 0524. Or radar call out is mistaken or the the mistake is in the marked grid.

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by Tatata_Time

[Sketch]

Hey Tatata. Thanks for the feedback! I did indeed break the subtitle messages for some of the new radar grids I placed yesterday, and I will fix them in the next update for that mission.

 

EDIT: The subtitle message issue has been resolved.

 

The V1s fly from their launch pads directly to the city of Dover at 1500m. Each site has three V1 rockets and they do indeed launch, fly to target, and bomb the city. There is a countdown till launch (as you mentioned), and a notification from the Dover citizens after the bombs have dropped. If 8 rockets drop on the city, then the Axis will score a victory point for that mission. I recommend either attacking the facilities or stay to the West (in the channel) of the sites and keep an eye out for the rockets. They are very hard to spot.

 

 

So while I can't give you exact intercept bearing or the V1's heading, hopefully this information will be helpful to you. Good luck!

Edited September 15, 2022 by Sketch

[Talon_]

On 9/13/2022 at 4:01 PM, CountZero said:

Yes i know that, they were not 37mm , they had 20mm, there was small number of them, and they were not even used in combat in 42, just few times in 41. Also they were based far north of London that map dont have... so if you have Hurricane and Spit V and you give option of 5-10 P-39N thats making un-historical option, its like giving axis side 5-10x190A3s on same mission where they are suposed to play with E7s ad F2/F4s. I dont care if they have P-38s or 190s in channel 42 map if they wont, i was just pointing out how hypocritical his point about VP is if he thinks CB is historical.

 

Most of the planes Allies can fly in 1942 are collector planes. The server needs to welcome those with only the base versions of the expansions too.

[CountZero]

36 minutes ago, Talon_ said:

 

Most of the planes Allies can fly in 1942 are collector planes. The server needs to welcome those with only the base versions of the expansions too.

Wait your saying me you have to have compromises so players come and play on server, and you cant just have fully historical missions. Sounds like something i was saying, servers with historical missions would be empty fast.

Like i explained before, i dont care about settings, if guy come and say VP is WT like sht show because game play on it turned iton WT like gameplay, or he said he dosent like it because of admins or mission makers,ok, but saying its un historical  was so funny and wrong to me when all other popular servers he probably play are un historical.

[Sketch]

I think you're right, but let me make some definitions for clarity.

 

Historical: Pitching tents, digging holes, shining boots, being ordered around and not flying your plane in a 1v1, flying a plane that's not exactly pristine, watching your buddies get shot down and dealing with the emotional consequences of that, lack of sleep, completely unbalanced amount of planes and plane types, not having enough fuel or having the 'best' fuel, not having the precious module you want (such as Mw50), attacking targets with limited ordnance, flying missions and never ever seeing a single plane, flying at night, flying in bad weather, having only one life to give... I hope you get the idea here. 

 

Authentic: Attempting to extract what was "historic" from those experiences without all the stuff that wasn't fun. (Sounds kind of shitty, but it's true; we humans like to play war.)

 

No server or mission I have flown on is historical, just as you said. However, I have played on servers and missions that are extremely authentic; even at the expense of individual player's enjoyment. ACG and FTC private campaigns come to mind and they're really great! Even if you're in a 'lesser' plane, out numbered 2:1, or are forced to fly with the group into certain death, because the flight leader said so.

 

On the other hand, Finnish is a great server, allowing pilots to get into some quick action. I think it misses the mark on being authentic. There's a large majority of players that are looking for this quick action. And I can agree that the quick action can feel very much like Warthunder. To be honest, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that type of gameplay. Warthunder has been around for many years because it's fun, more accessible, and hits the dopamine juuuusstt right. But is it authentic? I think not.

 

Having said that, I think a lot of simmers, at least within this community, are really looking for an authentic experience too. But, a more authentic experience means you'll see action less often. That can be less enjoyable for newer players who get bounced by more veteran players. (This is authentic too right?) Making our server a little less fun and a little less accessible - and of course a little bit more niche. So, we do our best to balance the authenticity of our missions from all sorts of stuff - available planes based on Great Battle modules or if a plane is a collector or not (giving more accessibility to players if they don't own a certain Great Battles module), plane sets that are as even and fair as we can possibly make them, adjusting plane modules to give players more plane options (instead of just picking the best plane in the list), objectives that are spread out and fairly equal in distance for both sides, flak that doesn't always out right kill an attacker on the first pass (but does make it difficult for them to make an attack), airfields that are 'protected' from vulching and airfields that are not protected, randomized weather and time of day, and much, much, much more.

 

Is it historic? No. Is it authentic? Again, probably no. But we do attempt to strike a balance between what's fun and authentic. It may not be 50/50, especially if we look at each mission. But that variety, at least in my opinion, is the right spice for the Combat Box kitchen. Thanks for listening to me CountZero.

Edited September 15, 2022 by Sketch

[SCG_Wulfe]

I have to say, I flew last night with the SCG boys on the Combat Box '42 Channel scenario and it was as if I remembered why I liked IL2 again. Was feeling very burned out. Sure it wasn't perfectly historical with V1 sites etc, but it was wonderful and had that historical flavored authenticity. That 'je ne sais quoi'

 

I am missing/craving the authentic experience that Sketch mentioned. Combat Box (up to this point) has done a great job of providing that for late war western front. However, I was really missing the same experience for the earlier war where it has a very different feel with the slower pace of combat and length between engagements and targets. 

 

I for one agree that Combat Box could really fill a niche for scenarios spanning the breadth of all the content available in Great Battles. Scenarios spanning from early war to late war, eastern front to western front. There's got to be many like me who are missing this.

Edited September 15, 2022 by SCG_Wulfe

[Talisman]

Enjoying the new map.  Thanks a lot 

 

Not sure if it is feasible, but could we please have a lot more anti-aircraft guns around targets like ports/docks and airfields?

Also, barrage balloons along with more anti-aircraft guns could help create the feeling that there is a war going on.

 

Thank you for your consideration and thank you again for a wonderful MP server.    

 

Happy landings,

 

Talisman  

[CountZero]

3 hours ago, Motivated said:

 

Hey, I'm that guy. Plenty of people are willing to play on a historical server otherwise FTC wouldn't exist. It may not be 100% historical but at least they strive for it.

 

And yes, Finnish is still a sh*t show so let's stop beating a dead horse. Have a nice day ?

But if FTC guys open 24/7 server it would be empty... they do their campaign once a week and then dont play online or play on fast food servers.

Its same like it was in clod, atag was played on but acg server more historical was empty even though they had 150+ ppl playing their historical campaign 2-3 time a month. Ppl go where numbers are and only on events they can get together.

[Tempus]

18 hours ago, Sketch said:

objectives that are spread out and fairly equal in distance for both sides

Let's talk about this from a strategical point of view. In the "Spring cleaning April 1944" mission allies are almost 99% of ocassions are doomed to fail in rolling this map to their side. Here goes the explanation based in my ingame experience for more than 7 times fully played this map from minute zero to rolling out: 

- 100% times axis side have rolled out the map

It's simple.... objectives are fairly equal in distance but not in affordability for both sides due axis have a total of 4 TGT's sites ALL OF THEM in the coast line. They have to go inland in ZERO of them, so they only have to deal with the coastal AAA sited in the TGT, drop the bombs and head home over "no man's sea". There are 3 TGT's highly concentrated in a small piece of the map, so in case attackers recibe any info about enemy actitivity inroute they can easily switch TGT cause they basically head to Dover and mid way they can change their plan and choose the less defended one of 3.

On the other hand allies have only one TGT sited in the coast line, right in the eye of the hurricane, Cap Gris-Nez ("french point" in high elfish), highly crowded, cause is the starting/finish point of the Hellfire Corner.... and this is the esiest TGT of 4 for pounding!!! The other 3 inland are behind enemy's lines and surrounded by 2 active front line AF's (Dunkirk and Calais) and 1 in the back (Saint Omer) and this one also protected from vulching basically forming a defensive triangle. If you're so lucky to reach any of those TGT's, AAA sites will crush you and/or the radar call out will finally call fighters in the vicinity (basically they all live there) to crush you... so your A-20 is cursed with a one way ticket 99.99% times. Mid-light (P-38's, p-47's, Spit's, P-51's) attackers have similar luck: cause you have to dive to the deck,, drop the bombs and run away from AAA that are, at least, spotting you with their tracers for a long way til you reach the coast line and evade all screen of fighters....and head home...  would be "easy peasy" deliver spies with a Lysander in day light and be safely back home at tea time...Even Maverick had a better plan!!!

All that really forces any pilot who choose allied side to be in a defensive mode: it means hop on the most affordable fighter in the most nearest place to the action. The natural choose is, of course, Spitfire Mk.IX near Dover and establish a low CAP there for fishing.... This reminds me old times in ATAG's server.... but those missions were/are based in 1941 when allies were really defending England from any axis invasion.... but in 1944 things were rather different. 

Don't get me wrong.... I've enjoyed every single minute defending Dover, like the other 50 more players there, like we used to be in 1941 missions but even better suited in a Mk.IX than in a MK.Ia, as axis pilots in their Gustaff 6 late than in an Emil 3-4. I know surelly it never has been your pre-planned objective when you designed this mission, but this is how things are now, so please check out any server stats you use for measuring most/less bombed TGT's, most/less choosen A/C's, most/less part of the map used, ... whatever you use for taking conclusions and, maybe, introduce some changes. But, IMAHO, from the strategical sight, this map is highly biased to the axis side(*).

 

(*) I'm accusing NOBODY of having done it intentionally, also this is not the point of this post neither affirm  any personal opinion, so diehards stay away quoting this!!! 

 

Regards

[ACG_Cass]

1 hour ago, Tatata_Time said:

(*) I'm accusing NOBODY of having done it intentionally, also this is not the point of this post neither affirm  any personal opinion, so diehards stay away quoting this!!!

Thank you for this. Dont worry at all this is valuable feedback. A lot of these maps were hastily put together so players could fly Normandy and I had a suspicion that there could be playability issues with Spring Cleaning.

 

People had mentioned that all the Allies were doing was defending and it now makes a bit more sense as to why that is. The AAA skill has been reduced across the board so should be less lethal.

 

Its a bit tricky with how the airfields are located on the French side in this area of the map. I think potentially we could pull back one of the Anton airfields, leaving just 2 bomber airfields and 1 Anton on the coast.

 

I've also added a new Radar system to the map but just for Axis while I prepare the Allied one.

 

I will take a look this weekend to see if there are further updates that could help the balance.

 

[SCG_Syn]

nvm solved it

Edited September 16, 2022 by SCG_Sinerox

[150_GIAP-Red_Dragon]

Wow! A new map on the statistics website! These server developers are really champions at creating immersion

Edited September 16, 2022 by -332FG-Red_Pilot

[ITAF_Rani]

14 hours ago, -332FG-Red_Pilot said:

Wow! A new map on the statistics website! These server developers are really champions at creating immersion

Great stuff...my compliments...the paper stile map is gorgeous !!

[KoN_]

What is the AAA set at as it nearly impossible to ground attack . Even in bad weather . Aim-bot is spot on . 

Flying Axis . 

Bad weather and low level attacks AAA see all . 

Would like too say thank you for all the effort you guys have put into this server . 

VR is amazing . !!

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by KoN_

[71st_AH_Mastiff]

why are there G14 109s in an april 44 map? The G-14 arrived in July 1944 at the invasion front over France.

 

so why does Combat box have it in the normandy map rotation for april 1944, I can understand the G6 but the K4 or G14 no..

[Denum]

30 minutes ago, 71st_AH_Mastiff said:

so why does Combat box have it in the normandy map rotation for april 1944, I can understand the G6 but the K4 or G14 no..

 

 

Because it wouldn't be fun for axis players?
Allied is usually stacked also so you have to give them something. 

[Talon_]

On 9/18/2022 at 1:55 PM, KoN_ said:

What is the AAA set at as it nearly impossible to ground attack . Even in bad weather . Aim-bot is spot on . 

Flying Axis . 

Bad weather and low level attacks AAA see all . 

Would like too say thank you for all the effort you guys have put into this server . 

VR is amazing . !!

 

 

AAA is always set to the dumbest difficulty on CB! I suggest wiggling a bit!

1 hour ago, 71st_AH_Mastiff said:

why are there G14 109s in an april 44 map? The G-14 arrived in July 1944 at the invasion front over France.

 

so why does Combat box have it in the normandy map rotation for april 1944, I can understand the G6 but the K4 or G14 no..

 

As you say it's G-14s and not K-4s, and one of the issues we have is that not all players own Normandy yet so by grandfathering in G-14s Bodenplatte owners can still fly.

[357th_KW]

And the G-14 is functionally identical to the G-6 late with MW50, which had just started seeing use in April/May 44.

[JLean]

Thank You Combat Box Team!

Yoy really got that Normandy map and opened Second front here in multiplayer community.

Great missions you have made with short time. 

 

 JLean