Combat Box by Red Flight

[IRRE_Genius]

On 4/11/2019 at 12:30 AM, Alonzo said:

 

Was this on Operation Frantic? I've re-synchronized the translation files with the English, it might fix the problem. Sorry about this, something in the editor I guess went screwy.

 

Yes

[Alonzo]

An update for those interested: I have the new server hardware and am currently doing stability testing and overclocking (actually not in that order...). I should be able to switch us over to the new hardware soon but I want to do that on a day when I can monitor everything all day, so that might be Sunday or Monday this week.

 

@Agathos_Deimon made a video about his experiences on Combat Box. Formation flying in VR! With fully loaded ground-attack P47s! Some sexy stuff!

 

 

[336th_Ripper*]

Thanks Alonzo I will stop in Cheers!

[Haza]

I'm really enjoying this server, especially with the GPS off and the locks all appear to be unlocked unlike other servers.  The interesting and most appealing aspects for me are the weather/time and the way with GPS turned off, the fights feel that they are happening at higher alts (unless the fighters/bombers are attacking ground objectives and the fight is pulled down to the deck).

 

Indeed, trying to find the target and then RTB is a lot more fun and I'm enjoying the maps (late WW2 attempts with current maps) and the aircraft sets.

 

Regards

[8ELT_Grzesiek]

On 4/12/2019 at 5:16 AM, GOA_Walter_Nowotny said:

Today the GOA squadron while flying in formation with BF110G towards target in Kalinin, one of our pilots (GOA Karaya) was shot down because someone entered to take his rear gunner and strafed the elevator. All our planning went to the garbaje and it was very annoying. It would be great if the adminis can find who did it. I have reviewed the flight itinerary and the incident appears but it does not figure who was in the gunner's turret.
Thank you Alonzo

 

 

Hi !

I confirm the same event a few minutes ago during the flight on A-20. Someone was shooting at my horizontal collision, a moment later the plane went into a corkscrew and I jumped out with a parachute, at the same time someone called "xxxxxx" left the server. I do not want to accuse this guy unjustly because maybe it's a coincidence that he just came out of the server at the same time but ...

Edited April 14, 2019 by 8ELT_Grzesiek

[Alonzo]

54 minutes ago, 8ELT_Grzesiek said:

I confirm the same event a few minutes ago during the flight on A-20. Someone was shooting at my horizontal collision, a moment later the plane went into a corkscrew and I jumped out with a parachute, at the same time someone called "-332FG-Buddy" left the server. I do not want to accuse this guy unjustly because maybe it's a coincidence that he just came out of the server at the same time but ...

 

Can you find the mission on the stats site? Then I can investigate further. http://il2na.com/en/missions/?tour=5

 

The 332nd Buddy thing is a coincidence, I know that pilot personally and have flown with him for many months, so he's not the gunner troll that we're looking for.

 

Anyone flying on the server, please report if someone joins your gunner spot uninvited. I believe it's possible to "lock" the gunner position but you have to remember to do that each time you fly. Any kind of uninvited gunner is suspicious in my mind, so please let us know and we will investigate.

[8ELT_Grzesiek]

It was this mission: "D-Day-June- 1944,  14.04.2019, 15:51"  http://il2na.com/en/mission/716/, I went in for the last 35-25 minutes and after about 3 minutes of flight I heard shots, when I looked back I saw the rifle's rear rifle gun pointed towards the left ballast horizontal and shooting after him. I apologize for Buddy and I am editing the previous post. I did not think that in the communities of this game I would meet people behaving like psychopaths, but I think nothing will surprise me anymore.

Thanks for helping Alonzo.

Edited April 14, 2019 by 8ELT_Grzesiek

[ROCKET_KNUT]

52 minutes ago, Alonzo said:

Anyone flying on the server, please report if someone joins your gunner spot uninvited. I believe it's possible to "lock" the gunner position but you have to remember to do that each time you fly. Any kind of uninvited gunner is suspicious in my mind, so please let us know and we will investigate.

 

Hi Alonzo,

 

thank you for putting up this great server, I do like it very much. Sadly, that gunner thing happened to me as well, please see pictures. I hope it helps.

Is it possible to set the server settings so the gunners positions are locked by default?

 

Greetings!

 

http://il2na.com/de/sortie/log/9413/?tour=5

Edited April 14, 2019 by =RR=ROCKET_KNUT

[Bilbo_Baggins]

@Alonzo

 

Server popularity increasing by the day- it’s fantastic!

 

Alonzo, I was wondering how you have the server set up regarding notification messages. When a ground objective is attacked, is the warning message to the other side instant or how much of a delay is there? I ask this because it’s been quite exciting with many messages popping up of ground assets being attacked, but I’m not sure if these notifications are delayed?

 

Regards

[Sketch]

As of April 14th, 2019... Looking at a single objective on the Battle for Kalinin mission, it seems @Alonzo's missions currently have no delay when a target is attacked (red arrow). However, if the message has popped up, it will not pop up again for three minutes (green arrow).

 

 

Edited April 15, 2019 by No.610_Sketch

[Bilbo_Baggins]

1 hour ago, No.610_Sketch said:

As of April 14th, 2019... Looking at a single objective on the Battle for Kalinin mission, it seems @Alonzo's missions currently have no delay when a target is attacked (red arrow). However, if the message has popped up, it will not pop up again for three minutes (green arrow).

 

 

 

Good to know, thank you.

 

I prefer it this way to be honest as the fighting can become more focused.

Edited April 15, 2019 by Bilbo_Baggins

[HerrBree]

On ‎4‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 1:19 PM, 8ELT_Grzesiek said:

 

 

Hi !

I confirm the same event a few minutes ago during the flight on A-20. Someone was shooting at my horizontal collision, a moment later the plane went into a corkscrew and I jumped out with a parachute, at the same time someone called "xxxxxx" left the server. I do not want to accuse this guy unjustly because maybe it's a coincidence that he just came out of the server at the same time but ...

 Same thing happened to me flying out in a bf110. Ive found the mission it happened during via il2 stats I'm just not sure how to go about gathering the proof. I also know who for a fact it was but wont drop names here.

Edited April 15, 2019 by HerrBree

[PerfectionMan]

At this time I'm sad to say that with no GPS and because of our skill level we will not be able to fly with you on what looks to be a otherwise great server for us in NA.  Maybe one day our skill level will be on par with others who prefer no GPS.

 

My friend and I are new to il-2 and having GPS turned off makes it so difficult for us to fly together especially with maps and seasons constantly changing.  We fly in VR and it's so hard to keep track of one another and spend 90% of our time trying with little success to regroup.  After a bit we just give up and move on to Wings of Liberty out of frustration.  I know what some of you will say, it's more realistic and we should learn to use terrain but there is so much to learn before we get to that point. 

 

 

[RedKestrel]

My apologies for my disconnects tonight everyone. It’s not intentional, I’m one of those unfortunates who get the 100009 connection loss error.

 

40 minutes ago, PerfectionMan said:

At this time I'm sad to say that with no GPS and because of our skill level we will not be able to fly with you on what looks to be a otherwise great server for us in NA.  Maybe one day our skill level will be on par with others who prefer no GPS.

 

My friend and I are new to il-2 and having GPS turned off makes it so difficult for us to fly together especially with maps and seasons constantly changing.  We fly in VR and it's so hard to keep track of one another and spend 90% of our time trying with little success to regroup.  After a bit we just give up and move on to Wings of Liberty out of frustration.  I know what some of you will say, it's more realistic and we should learn to use terrain but there is so much to learn before we get to that point. 

 

 

What I would do is take some time and practice navigating alone in the qmb. Spend a bit of time before flying online to practice. Then when you fly with your friend make the leader be responsible for navigation and the other person just follows and watches for bandits. Kinda like real life.

[Legioneod]

1 hour ago, PerfectionMan said:

At this time I'm sad to say that with no GPS and because of our skill level we will not be able to fly with you on what looks to be a otherwise great server for us in NA.  Maybe one day our skill level will be on par with others who prefer no GPS.

 

My friend and I are new to il-2 and having GPS turned off makes it so difficult for us to fly together especially with maps and seasons constantly changing.  We fly in VR and it's so hard to keep track of one another and spend 90% of our time trying with little success to regroup.  After a bit we just give up and move on to Wings of Liberty out of frustration.  I know what some of you will say, it's more realistic and we should learn to use terrain but there is so much to learn before we get to that point. 

 

 

 

One thing they really need to add for non-gps flight is map tools. Imo this would help immensely with flying without map icons. The ability to plot waypoints on the map to give you a good visual map reference of heading would help with navigation.

[JG1_Vonrd]

Personally, I'm glad to see that CB has eclipsed WOL in popularity. I prefer the non GPS and no weapon mod restrictions and custom skins. (love being able to do JABO 190s again). And, yes, I also fly Russian / Allied also.

That being said, there is a need for a beginner server (like the ROF New Wings model of full switch and a novice server). Hopefully, someone will launch a novice server. But, for the time being...

Edited April 16, 2019 by II./JG1_Vonrd

[Ribbon]

Suggestion and feedback for D-day mission;

Regarding Allies side it would be good to place emergency landing zones and spawn points a bit further from mission objectives to avoid constant vulching and camping over those from Axis players.

Also with bumpy terrain of emergency landing zone it's impossible to land without crash and give kill if slightly damaged not to mention Axis players are always camping there (they have covered mission objective, landing and spawn points in very close proximity).

Love the server but this mission feels like Berloga when flying Red side, airspawn and fly till you die.

 

S!

[JonRedcorn]

3 hours ago, EAF_Ribbon said:

Suggestion and feedback for D-day mission;

Regarding Allies side it would be good to place emergency landing zones and spawn points a bit further from mission objectives to avoid constant vulching and camping over those from Axis players.

Also with bumpy terrain of emergency landing zone it's impossible to land without crash and give kill if slightly damaged not to mention Axis players are always camping there (they have covered mission objective, landing and spawn points in very close proximity).

Love the server but this mission feels like Berloga when flying Red side, airspawn and fly till you die.

 

S!

Agreed this is the only map I don't like on the server. Also it's truly awesome to see a NA based server thriving. Bodenplatte is going to be a game changer. 

Edited April 16, 2019 by JonRedcorn

[56RAF_Roblex]

3 hours ago, JonRedcorn said:

Agreed this is the only map I don't like on the server. Also it's truly awesome to see a NA based server thriving. Bodenplatte is going to be a game changer. 

 

My squad moved to a different server when this Normandy came up because the close targets just make it a giant furball.   I can believe that there are many who probably like a giant furball, it is just not for us.  I like the idea of a Normandy setup but I think we would prefer it to be more spread out.

[RedKestrel]

3 hours ago, JonRedcorn said:

Agreed this is the only map I don't like on the server. Also it's truly awesome to see a NA based server thriving. Bodenplatte is going to be a game changer. 

I like the map well enough, but it does feel like Berloga with objectives. As it stands, early in the mission there is very little incentive not to just fight to the death or, if your plane is heavily damaged, just steer it into the nearest ground target. I love that there's a decent attempt to model the Normandy landings in a multiplayer mission and the potential is there for it.

Here's a suggestion for D-Day, not sure if it would work. Could we put an allied landing area farther away to the east, off the land mass that the main mission objectives are on? For example, the field at Zaporzhskaya in map square 0612. Even if its a ten or 15 minute flight, players who want to live can make their attacks and then head for home across the 'channel'...just in a different direction, if they want to.It would encourage people to watch their fuel a little bit too, like they would have had to during the real Normandy landings.

As far as the server...yes, its amazing to be able to play on a nearly packed server on a Monday night no less, in North America! The demand is clearly there. The initial surge of popularity may taper off over time but I think this server has some legs to it. 

[Talon_]

You can choose not to participate in the furball on D-Day - German planes are faster and can hit and run the boats and the allied planes. Regardless the landings are over after 20 minutes at which point it becomes more of a "normal map". The Allied airspawns have also been moved further north in the latest update.

 

In terms of size, the distances between the landings currently are not all that unrealistic. From the westernmost to easternmost points, the Allied invasion force landed on a stretch of 6 beaches under 40 miles wide.

 

 

11 minutes ago, RedKestrel said:

It would encourage people to watch their fuel a little bit too, like they would have had to during the real Normandy landings.

 

My reading suggests most of the allied forces didn't switch to internal fuel until they were almost at the beach

Edited April 16, 2019 by Talon_

[BOO]

We (SCG) spent a fair but of time over weekend on the sever and found the Normandy map to be a blast (Personally i had less of blast and more of a "blasted" but that was TIR gone bad and even worse personal skillset). Really liked the forcing of a lot of low level action with the targets and cloud. Great server.

[RedKestrel]

10 minutes ago, Talon_ said:

You can choose not to participate in the furball on D-Day - German planes are faster and can hit and run the boats and the allied planes. Regardless the landings are over after 20 minutes at which point it becomes more of a "normal map". The Allied airspawns have also been moved further north in the latest update.

 

In terms of size, the distances between the landings currently are not all that unrealistic. From the westernmost to easternmost points, the Allied invasion force landed on a stretch of 6 beaches under 40 miles wide.

 

 

 

My reading suggests most of the allied forces didn't switch to internal fuel until they were almost at the beach

Fair enough. But what do you think about having an airfield for landing farther east as I suggested? Just to simulate the return across the channel. Too much work? Or would it cause problems for how you guys envision the campaign working? Not a criticism, just spitballing here.

I agree, the distances between landing zones are not a problem for me at all. If the Luftwaffe had shown up in force, it would have been a massive furball in reality. I really appreciate the fact that you were able to find a stretch of shoreline that quite resembles the landing areas on the Normandy coast!

[Talon_]

2 minutes ago, RedKestrel said:

Fair enough. But what do you think about having an airfield for landing farther east as I suggested? Just to simulate the return across the channel. Too much work? Or would it cause problems for how you guys envision the campaign working? Not a criticism, just spitballing here.

I agree, the distances between landing zones are not a problem for me at all. If the Luftwaffe had shown up in force, it would have been a massive furball in reality. I really appreciate the fact that you were able to find a stretch of shoreline that quite resembles the landing areas on the Normandy coast!

 

The idea of the landing area to the East comes up from time to time in the admin channel but it just seems like a trap for Allies when a couple of exploity Axis feel like easy meat sadly. That discussion is what gave rise to the emergency landing zones.

[RedKestrel]

Just now, Talon_ said:

 

The idea of the landing area to the East comes up from time to time in the admin channel but it just seems like a trap for Allies when a couple of exploity Axis feel like easy meat sadly. That discussion is what gave rise to the emergency landing zones.

That's a really good point. I hadn't thought about it that way.

[Psyrion]

@RedKestrelThe next airfields to the east are also pretty far away.

[Ribbon]

1 minute ago, Psyrion said:

@RedKestrelThe next airfields to the east are also pretty far away.

Not sure does editor allows to flat terrain to make custom airfields, but it doesn't need to be original map airfield.

Some flat grounds a bit further away from objective would be nice this way red side is easy target for Axis, they just need to camp in 10-20km radius to cover all (airfields, spawn/landing points and objectives).

I don't like idea of losing plane in every fight.

But it's just one mission i can avoid it if i don't like it.

[Talon_]

Just now, EAF_Ribbon said:

I don't like idea of losing plane in every fight.

 

 

I've heard this a couple of times now but I haven't experienced it myself - you get an hour of fuel in a Spitfire and much more in a P-47 but the landing phase only lasts for a third of that. You can fly around the edges or climb up above the Axis planes too, nothing keeps you beneath the clouds!

[RedKestrel]

4 minutes ago, Psyrion said:

@RedKestrelThe next airfields to the east are also pretty far away.

Il2 Mission Planner shows the airfield I mentioned as 46 km away from easternmost landing zone at Gold Beach, so a ten minute flight  at 300 km/h, and most of our planes cruise faster than that. Not too far in my opinion. I guess it really depends on your point of view, and how quick you want to get back into the action.

But Talon mentioned above the best reason not to do it, and I agree with him, so I guess I should retract the suggestion. That's why they're the mission designers and I'm just a fighter jockey, I just put the bullets and ordnance in the right general direction (on good days). 

[Psyrion]

3 minutes ago, RedKestrel said:

Il2 Mission Planner shows the airfield I mentioned as 46 km away from easternmost landing zone at Gold Beach, so a ten minute flight  at 300 km/h, and most of our planes cruise faster than that. Not too far in my opinion. I guess it really depends on your point of view, and how quick you want to get back into the action.

But Talon mentioned above the best reason not to do it, and I agree with him, so I guess I should retract the suggestion. That's why they're the mission designers and I'm just a fighter jockey, I just put the bullets and ordnance in the right general direction (on good days). 

As Talon said, we did look at that possibility. 0612 is to close and the next ones areabout 110-130km away with nothing suitable in between.  But yea, the emergency zones should work since you can just ditch them there. 

Edited April 16, 2019 by Psyrion

[Alonzo]

D-Day is definitely the most "out there" non-standard map we have created. We have another one in the works, by the way, so we'll see how people feel about that one too. D-Day is definitely in danger of being Berloga-with-objectives, or a massive furball, or fly-die-repeat, but for as many people dislike it I think we have people also saying it's great. Definitely a polarizing map!

 

We tweaked the map positions a little bit and the cloud base, we'll see how those changes work for people before we make further changes. I do agree that there are lots of issues with the map, but again, many people really enjoy the atmosphere of the beach landings and the fact that it's such a different map to what people normally fly.

[RedKestrel]

1 hour ago, Alonzo said:

D-Day is definitely the most "out there" non-standard map we have created. We have another one in the works, by the way, so we'll see how people feel about that one too. D-Day is definitely in danger of being Berloga-with-objectives, or a massive furball, or fly-die-repeat, but for as many people dislike it I think we have people also saying it's great. Definitely a polarizing map!

 

We tweaked the map positions a little bit and the cloud base, we'll see how those changes work for people before we make further changes. I do agree that there are lots of issues with the map, but again, many people really enjoy the atmosphere of the beach landings and the fact that it's such a different map to what people normally fly.

I like the slightly farther-out air spawn, gives you more time to get sorted before going feet-dry. I also like the low cloud base in general, it keeps things tense and forces the air action closer to the ground objectives. 

Overall I really like the atmosphere of the mission- D-Day should be tense, there should be a lot of activity, there should be that pall of overhanging anxiety. Flying over the beaches and seeing the AA from the shore positions and the allied ships really brings something interesting to the map rotation. Maybe its not perfect but I still like it. 

 

[HerrBree]

I only played the D-Day mission once.  It was fun but I think after a while it can be a bit of a grind.  The biggest question I had during the match was shouldn't the AAA near the beaches be axis and not allied? Or does the time frame start after the allies have been landed for a while? 

[Alonzo]

7 minutes ago, HerrBree said:

I only played the D-Day mission once.  It was fun but I think after a while it can be a bit of a grind.  The biggest question I had during the match was shouldn't the AAA near the beaches be axis and not allied? Or does the time frame start after the allies have been landed for a while? 

 

AAA on the beaches at map start is German. During phase 2, the Allies establish beachheads: some new targets pop up for the Germans to attack, and those are defended by Allied AAA.

[Alonzo]

Central just posted an excellent highlights video of his week of flying on Combat Box. I really like the video, not just because of the excellent flying and gunnery, but because you get a good look at the maps -- you can see targets being bombed and defended, landmarks that you'd use to navigate, craters and smoke and tanks hidden in river valleys and all sorts!

 

 

[GOA_Canas-MX]

On 4/11/2019 at 12:41 AM, Garven said:

On the D-Day map before the allies capture ground I accidently hit friendly bunkers that were unmarked in 508-8 in enemy territory just east of German artillery.  Could friendly ground units be more clearly marked especially when they are located in enemy territory.

Same thing to me. Flying blue I hit bunkers in the beach, after reds captured it, according to the front line they should be enemies.

[Alonzo]

Tomorrow, Friday 19th April, at 19:00 UTC we are doing a public test on a new map! The Legend of Y-29. We invite everyone to join and help us test our new mission.

 

New Years Day, 1945. Hoping to catch the Allies hungover or still drunk from the evening's celebrations, German forces launch the largest coordinated air strike of the war. Operation Bodenplatte is designed to grind the heel of the Luftwaffe into Allied airfields and achieve total control of the air.

 

Advanced Landing Ground "Y-29", home of the 352nd and 366th Fighter Groups, sits directly in the path of the German strike. Lt. Col John Meyer, suspecting a surprise attack on New Years Day, persuades Allied Command to let him field an early patrol before providing escort to bombers headed to Berlin.

 

As the Luftwaffe approach Y-29, a flight of P-47 Thunderbolts are circling overhead, with a dozen P-51 Mustangs on deck ready to take off...

 

[Flamboyant_Flamingo]

Can you check the server logs @Alonzo.  I landed this sortie: http://il2na.com/en/sortie/log/18007/?tour=5

at the airfield took off from I think.  I also got shot at and hit by a P47-28 but that's not reflected in the log.  I didn't film to the end of the mission, but I can upload the 300meg track file if it'd help troubleshoot.

[Alonzo]

2 hours ago, Trefftz_Plane said:

Can you check the server logs @Alonzo.  I landed this sortie: http://il2na.com/en/sortie/log/18007/?tour=5

at the airfield took off from I think.  I also got shot at and hit by a P47-28 but that's not reflected in the log.  I didn't film to the end of the mission, but I can upload the 300meg track file if it'd help troubleshoot.

 

It looks like you landed outside the maintenance radius of the airfield. Are you sure you landed at the same airfield you took off from? Did you land within the field boundaries, or short? Maybe take a quick look at your replay to check it was the active field.

[Flamboyant_Flamingo]

I didn't film the landing, no sense eating up the hard drive space.  I don't care about the shootdown, just curious about why it says I didn't landed there.  Also curious if you saw the p47-28 doing damage to me in the log file.  I've included a screen of the instant it hit me.