Air Marshal Mode - Speculation

[Herne]

Really curious to know more about this, one thing in particular that I thought could be a good idea would be to have the map objectives hidden from players.

 

Only the air marshal would be able to see the objectives, which he could then assign groups or individuals to. Once assigned, perhaps a vague area could appear on player maps kind of like the transport column white areas that we see on TAW but with a tighter search area. So if your mission is to take out the tanks, you would have to fly to your designated area, then search for them.

 

How do you see this working ? I guess we will all know soon enough, but in the mean time a little speculation could be good fun

[Feathered_IV]

I like the idea of doing recon flights to reveal areas for the air Marshall so they can create strategies.  Hopefully there will be something like that in there.  

 

I hope it isn’t voice-only communication as well.  That would exclude too many people. 

[RedKestrel]

2 minutes ago, Feathered_IV said:

I like the idea of doing recon flights to reveal areas for the air Marshall so they can create strategies.  Hopefully there will be something like that in there.  

 

I hope it isn’t voice-only communication as well.  That would exclude too many people. 

I can't imagine it would be voice only when there's no built-in voice communication in the game. 

My speculation:

-The Air Marshal will have the ability to designate priority targets - this info would appear on the briefing and maps for players.
-The Air Marshal has beginning intelligence on a few targets but needs recon to see the rest. Whenever a friendly player discovers a target with some mechanism, that appears for the Marshal, who can then designate it on the map or direct players to strike there.

-In the same way that messages appear on the screen when a plane is spotted over X area or a friendly target is being attacked, the Marshal could relay information to all players on a side. Like "New priority target - Soviet Tanks at 1712!".
-Perhaps the marshall could create 'strike packages' at airfields, where players fill designated roles in specific aircraft before all launching together. For example, at one airfield the marshal creates a package of 2 Pe-2s and 2 Yaks for a strike mission against a rail yard. Players fill in the slots and then launch as a group, with the Yaks providing escort for the bombers. This one might be hard if no one is on voice comms together, but doable, I've done it coordinating just through chat. Not as effective though.
-Marshall controls supply of aircraft and can shift supply or activate/deactivate certain airfields as needed. i.e., if one airfield is getting swarmed by vultures, they can activate an alternate in its place.

I have no idea how feasible/infeasible this all might be, but there's all kinds of interesting ways the role might work. 

I think it would work best when used for special events - like having a Marshal Night on a server for a few map rotations, with a designated player commanding each side. that way it gets well used while also allowing people to just sign into a dogfight server and do what they like a lot of the time too.

[Feathered_IV]

Hopefully there will be some kind of practice, preview or offline mode so that aspiring air marshalls can learn to use the tools before jumping into the position online.  Otherwise there would be an extended period of people occupying the spot just to have a look around.  Ignoring all others and fiddling with the controls before exiting the game.  Other players may get frustrated quite quickly when their controller changes identity and adopts a different strategy every couple of minutes.  

 

I also hope there is provision for sector controllers too.  Two or more air marshalls at one time. One to handle offensive operations for example, the other for defensive ops etc.  it would make things go much smoother on the busier servers.  

[Guest deleted@83466]

8 hours ago, RedKestrel said:

I think it would work best when used for special events - like having a Marshal Night on a server for a few map rotations, with a designated player commanding each side. that way it gets well used while also allowing people to just sign into a dogfight server and do what they like a lot of the time too.

 

Actually, I think that's the only place this would ever work:  Organized, scheduled events or closed, intra-squad flights.  In those situations, having a higher organization looking at the bigger picture can be pretty cool.  But as far as the daily, general public servers go, I don't see how an 'Air Marshal' would go over, trying to tell people what to do.  That doesn't seem viable to me.

Edited May 30, 2019 by SeaSerpent

[NO_SQDeriku777]

10 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

I like the idea of doing recon flights to reveal areas for the air Marshall so they can create strategies.  Hopefully there will be something like that in there.  

 

I hope it isn’t voice-only communication as well.  That would exclude too many people. 

I really hope the Air Marshall and new mission types will incentivize the use of specialized Premium planes ( Ju52, U2, HS-129 ).  For multiplayer there does not seem to be much incentive to buy/fly any of those planes.  

[Feathered_IV]

While we’re on the subject. The title of Air Marshall is a little bit... yeehaw.  Is there an  equivalent Second World War title that was used?

[kurtj]

Air Marshal could be particularly exciting in the future with carrier-based scenarios.

Consider a Midway-style confrontation, for instance... 

 

[Jade_Monkey]

I could be wrong, but I saw some files in the folder below that made me think it could be related to Air Marshall, maybe leaked by mistake in the last patch:

 

IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data\swf\extensions\airrecontargetslist

[JimTM]

39 minutes ago, Feathered_IV said:

While we’re on the subject. The title of Air Marshall is a little bit... yeehaw.  Is there an  equivalent Second World War title that was used?

 

Air Chief Marshal Hugh "Yeehaw" Dowding:

 

[BraveSirRobin]

AWACS

[Velxra]

I'm hoping for recon specific planes and more drivable ground vehicles. 

[No.85_Camm]

7 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

While we’re on the subject. The title of Air Marshall is a little bit... yeehaw.  Is there an  equivalent Second World War title that was used?

Yes there was. I believe it was called  'Tophat'.

[PatrickAWlson]

For whatever reason I always think of the of the old BoB campaign when I hear Air Marshall.  

[RedKestrel]

4 hours ago, Geronimo553 said:

I'm hoping for recon specific planes and more drivable ground vehicles. 

Someone could make the pink recon skin for the Spitfire. If the devs were to do a mod to remove the guns and do a general lightening of the airframe, you could have a recon spitfire pretty easily. A mod for the Ju-88 as a recon plane would be doable too, I think. If there is new recon-style targets and missions then maybe the devs will find time to do some stuff like this.

[Diggun]

35 minutes ago, RedKestrel said:

pink recon skin

Already exists, and is very handsome!

[Leon_Portier]

36 minutes ago, RedKestrel said:

Someone could make the pink recon skin for the Spitfire.

P-pink recon plane?

[Diggun]

https://nowiknow.com/invisible-pink/

 

Real men wear pink to war don'tcher know my dear old thing golly whoops heres a bally good wizzbang whato?!

[Leon_Portier]

Ohh to blend in with clouds!

[unreasonable]

1 hour ago, RedKestrel said:

Someone could make the pink recon skin for the Spitfire. If the devs were to do a mod to remove the guns and do a general lightening of the airframe, you could have a recon spitfire pretty easily. A mod for the Ju-88 as a recon plane would be doable too, I think. If there is new recon-style targets and missions then maybe the devs will find time to do some stuff like this.

 

The skin is easy (for Vb): but not sure how to upload here, even zipped the file is too big.

 

Was Special Guest Star in my last movie as 007's surprise gift from Q. 

 

 

If "Air Marshall" does not work how about "Sector Controller" or even "Forward Air Control", positioned in a vehicle? 

Edited May 31, 2019 by unreasonable

[-SF-Disarray]

17 hours ago, SeaSerpent said:

 

Actually, I think that's the only place this would ever work:  Organized, scheduled events or closed, intra-squad flights.  In those situations, having a higher organization looking at the bigger picture can be pretty cool.  But as far as the daily, general public servers go, I don't see how an 'Air Marshal' would go over, trying to tell people what to do.  That doesn't seem viable to me.

 

I think it could work just fine in a GP match. In other games where a similar sounding system is in place, particularly Squad and Post Scriptum, it works very well. Yes you get the odd instances of people not playing ball with the system but you will always find those types on the internet. The thing that will make or break the system, I think, is utility. If the Air Martial system appears to be useful to the average player they will work with the system, if it is actually useful while also appearing useful that will be even better. It will also depend on who is in charge, their leadership style and the results they provide. On the whole it should be interesting to watch play out.

[Herne]

2 hours ago, PatrickAWlson said:

For whatever reason I always think of the of the old BoB campaign when I hear Air Marshall.  

 

Would love to see a modern version of that

[JimTM]

9 minutes ago, Disarray said:

 

I think it could work just fine in a GP match. In other games where a similar sounding system is in place, particularly Squad and Post Scriptum, it works very well. Yes you get the odd instances of people not playing ball with the system but you will always find those types on the internet. The thing that will make or break the system, I think, is utility. If the Air Martial system appears to be useful to the average player they will work with the system, if it is actually useful while also appearing useful that will be even better. It will also depend on who is in charge, their leadership style and the results they provide. On the whole it should be interesting to watch play out.

 

Air Marshal may work well in icons off servers such as Combat Box and Knights of the Air, where the navigation challenges probably attract more pilots interested in the "full-real" experience. I think the feature will encourage the less assertive pilots to wing up with others as part of a planned sortie. I hope Air Marshal works out as planned because it's a lot of fun to fly with others and work together to accomplish an objective.

[RedKestrel]

5 minutes ago, Disarray said:

 

I think it could work just fine in a GP match. In other games where a similar sounding system is in place, particularly Squad and Post Scriptum, it works very well. Yes you get the odd instances of people not playing ball with the system but you will always find those types on the internet. The thing that will make or break the system, I think, is utility. If the Air Martial system appears to be useful to the average player they will work with the system, if it is actually useful while also appearing useful that will be even better. It will also depend on who is in charge, their leadership style and the results they provide. On the whole it should be interesting to watch play out.

The best missions I've flown in online have been when someone or a couple someones on my side are basically calling out targets, getting updates on target status, and spreading info. on enemy opposition. Even when its done via chat in an ad hoc way its pretty good. It can happen pretty organically already, with a built in feature I think it could work even better.

There have been times I've been hitting targets alone when I could have jumped in with a strike package if I had only known, and times when I could have finished off a target if only I'd had fighter cover to keep the enemy off my back long enough to do my bomb run - but the fighters were all off orbiting another target that no one was hitting. 

The main issue I think will be getting people to fly attacker or bomber sorties where necessary. Right now the ratio is heavily skewed towards fighter sorties which will not be possible in most mission-oriented scenarios.

[Guest deleted@83466]

36 minutes ago, Disarray said:

 

I think it could work just fine in a GP match. In other games where a similar sounding system is in place, particularly Squad and Post Scriptum, it works very well. Yes you get the odd instances of people not playing ball with the system but you will always find those types on the internet. The thing that will make or break the system, I think, is utility. If the Air Martial system appears to be useful to the average player they will work with the system, if it is actually useful while also appearing useful that will be even better. It will also depend on who is in charge, their leadership style and the results they provide. On the whole it should be interesting to watch play out.

 

 

If I get on a server for an organized or scheduled event where the command structure is understood, and that's what you're signing up for, that's one thing, but if I get on a place like WoL for a more casual experience and there is some yahoo trying to boss people around, well, I don't know that I'll be game for that.  Like you said, we'll see how this goes and how it plays out.  I'm all in favor of 'Air Marshal' capability being added to the game, I just think it has to be used smartly by the server operators.

[Jason_Williams]

2 minutes ago, SeaSerpent said:

 

 

If I get on a server for an organized or scheduled event where the command structure is understood, and that's what you're signing up for, that's one thing, but if I get on a place like WoL for a more casual experience and there is some yahoo trying to boss people around, well, I don't know that I'll be game for that.  Like you said, we'll see how this goes and how it plays out.  I'm all in favor of 'Air Marshal' capability being added to the game, I just think it has to be used smartly by the server operators.

 

Server operator has control over who is Marshal. We’ve made sure only people who take it seriously should be Marshals. 

 

Jason

[zwarteeend]

Please include Air Marshal functionality when playing without the techno-chat. Many people who prefer more realistic experience fly without it.

I think AM mode can dramatically increase amount of fun especially in more 'serious' servers.

[Jason_Williams]

Techno-chat has nothing to do with Marshal mode.

 

Jason

[Velxra]

9 hours ago, RedKestrel said:

Someone could make the pink recon skin for the Spitfire. If the devs were to do a mod to remove the guns and do a general lightening of the airframe, you could have a recon spitfire pretty easily. A mod for the Ju-88 as a recon plane would be doable too, I think. If there is new recon-style targets and missions then maybe the devs will find time to do some stuff like this.

 

Yes, some modified versions of current crafts for a recon role would be easier to do and I like the idea. However I had sole purpose planes in mind.
 

Spoiler

and of course his and hers

[FTC_Mephisto]

Just add compatibility with hyperlobby and we will have normal matchmaking ability and online features which have been lacking in this game since release....

[ShamrockOneFive]

2 hours ago, Mephisto said:

Just add compatibility with hyperlobby and we will have normal matchmaking ability and online features which have been lacking in this game since release....

 

One of the things on the long term roadmap for IL-2 is an enhanced lobby. Hopefully it'll have all the necessary features to do some good matchmaking.

[RedKestrel]

2 hours ago, Rekt said:

 

Can you or somebody else briefly explain what Hyperlobby actually was (I was busy with other things when IL-2 was big)? I still don't completely understand it.

 

Would somebody start a single-player type mission on their computer and then invite other people to log in and help beat up the AI? Have two human teams log in and go after each other?

 

Is there something specific about the new IL-2 that prevents the old Hyperlobby program from working with it? Could the creator of hyperlobby modify it to work with BoX?

 

Its a third party lobbying and matchmaking system used in a lot of different older games.

https://hyperfighter.sk/ 

looks like it hasn't been updated for at least 4 years. It still works as there is still a small active Il-2 1946 community for it, but whether it can be made to work with Il-2 GB, I don't know. I never did use it when I was playing 1946, I played single player only.

[Feathered_IV]

It was a little widget that sat on your desktop and displayed the hundreds of Il-2 servers that were currently online and the number of players within each.  It allowed you to check for a match without having to blindly enter/quit the game and was a constant temptation to play.  You could also see the name of every player within a server, find friends, avoid others and join a game directly from the app.  

 

It it also had a chat and PM feature.  Plus the smoothest way to organise, advertise and launch co-op missions that flight sims have ever seen.  

[Leon_Portier]

I installed hyperlobby as well, clicked around a little.

It seems well made, I have no idea on how to set it up tho.

[BraveSirRobin]

Hyperlobby is basically a Teamspeak server with no voice comms functionality.

[Leon_Portier]

21 minutes ago, BraveSirRobin said:

Hyperlobby is basically a Teamspeak server with no voice comms functionality.

Is that all?

[BraveSirRobin]

1 minute ago, [N.O.G.F]Leon_Portier said:

Is that all?

 

Pretty much.  You can start the game from it, which you can't do in HL.  BFD

[Leon_Portier]

I see.

[Feathered_IV]

I used to start the game in Hyperlobby all the time.  

[Leon_Portier]

6 minutes ago, Feathered_IV said:

I used to start the game in Hyperlobby all the time.  

Just tried it and it did start the game, thats pretty nice!

 

On topic of Air Marshal Mode I hope it´ll be like the Battlefield 2 Commander who looks at the map and gives orders via markers and recieves contatcs, also via marker.