Why you should take the plunge and play online!

[RedKestrel]

I guess I'll preface this by saying that I don't want to tell anyone how to enjoy the game, or that one way to play it is better than another. I also recognize that a lot of people have crappy internet connections (I'm one of them), and I realize not everyone has the same amount of time to devote to the sim.

All that being said...here's why I think more people should give it a go to fly online. I have to give some credit here to IFlyCentral on youtube, who did a great video about what it takes to get into online multiplayer and why more people should try it. It inspired me to get more into online play, not just faffing around once a month on Berloga but to make it a big part of my gaming experience. It's been a lot of fun and I owe him some thanks.

I used to be a single-player only guy. There were a lot of reasons - I'm not generally a competitive guy, didn't have a lot of confidence in my skills, and really just played to relax and have fun. The career mode in Il-2 can be pretty immersive and I was having a great time just on the single player side of things, where I could basically do what I wanted and play at my own speed. But for the past few months I've shifted heavily into online play, and it has been very rewarding, even for a beginner such as myself. 

This is a bunch of stuff I've thought about and seen people talk about when deciding whether to play online.

Are you good enough to play online?

Almost certainly yes.

Let me tell you the skills necessary to fly online in Il-2.
1. be able to taxi your plane without ramming airfield structures or other players.
2. be able to take off and land
3. be conscious of airfield traffic so you don't collide with other players.
4. be able to operate your plane in flight.
5. be able to identify friend or foe (on most servers, there are no icons).
6. For some servers, be able to navigate (this is actually not as hard as most people think, as our maps are perfect representations of the landscape. it just takes practice). 

That's it. If you play career mode at all, you can already do number 2 and 4. For #1, You can practice taxiing in the QMB if you start from parked. Number 3 just requires you to pause on the taxiway before going out onto the runway, and look around carefully for anyone currently taking off or on approach. I give Landing traffic the Right-of-Way, especially if they are damaged. For number 5, there are resources on this forum that are great at helping you learn to ID planes. And if you're not sure, don't shoot - the worst that can happen is that you get shot down by a guy you weren't sure about it. And you're going to get shot down a lot anyway...

But isn't everybody insanely good and won't they destroy me??!?!?

Short answer is  No. Are you going to be repeatedly humbled by people who have thousands of hours of flight time? Yes. But not everyone online is some reincarnation of Adolf Galland. If you're used to the AI, you'll find that its much easier to sneak up on your average real-life player than on the AI, who see anything that's not in a blindspot. Even the great players online get bounced occasionally. Additionally, most players lack the terminator-style gunnery of the AI. 

However, you ARE going to get shot down. A lot, sometimes by the same dude several sorties in a row.  One look at my stats page on any given server I fly on is that most of my sorties end in death, bailing out or a crash landing. The number one thing to remember is that there's absolutely no shame in it happening. Everyone currently online has been there at one time or another, even if they don't want to admit it. No amount of practice in single player can fully prepare you for fighting human opponents. Conversely, you'll improve massively very quickly if you let yourself absorb the lessons of combat.

On the plus side, sometimes when you're spiraling to the ground engulfed in flames, you'll recognize someone famous/infamous in the community has shot you down, which is actually kind of a good feeling! Whether you've been shot up by Sheriff, Immolated by IFlyCentral, or mauled by MeowScharfi, know that you have joined a long and illustrious line of opponents in your glorious demise.

Are the players toxic?

Like any online gameplay, there are a few jerks around. It varies from day to day and server to server. In my experience, there are far fewer toxic players in Il-2 than in other competitive online games. The time investment required to play is too high for most people who just want to be a-holes. There are occasional team-killers, rage-quitters, and trolls, but the vast majority of the time people are just there to fly. As long as you don't do anything too stupid or trollish most people don't care.

One thing I'll say is that the nature of the chat tends to be a little abrupt and often looks like a rebuke when really its meant as a friendly tip. its hard to type and fly at the same time so people keep it brief, and many people online have English as a second language so they may appear terse.

For the experienced online crowd: please, if you do see someone haranguing a newcomer or making cruel remarks, say something about it. I've done this myself (not that I consider myself very experienced). You don't need to start a fight or anything, I just say that everyone has to learn and we all went through the same thing. Newbies should be nurtured as a resource that will increase server populations, incentivize more online improvements to the game, and get more people putting servers up to handle the load, not to mention giving you more people to fly with.

Is the gameplay any good?

This is really subjective, but the quality of the gameplay depends heavily on who is on the server and the mission design. But I would say most servers have fair to excellent gameplay. Often, the time to get to action is actually quicker than in a lot of single-player matches, and it tends more towards the chaotic than in single-player type missions (though if there are squad guys on, you'll see organized bomber formations, strike packages, and some quite excellent use of RL combat tactics). Most servers have a variety of targets, scenarios, and maps that play out differently.

The gameplay improves hugely if people try and coordinate. If you're a beginner, get on the team chat and ask where you can be of help. If you're in a fighter, ask who needs cover or escort, or what needs defending. If you're in a bomber or attacker, ask what targets are being hit and how. There's usually at least a few people on the chat trying to engage in teamwork, and they'll often fill you in. Voice chat through discord or teamspeak is better for direct coordination with people, but the text chat is much, much better than nothing. 

But the Servers are All Empty!

This is rarely actually the case, but even when it is, its sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Everyone sees empty or sparse servers and no one joins the match. It's still possible to have a great time on a nearly empty server, as long as you aren't averse to flying ground attack. And often, once you get 4 or 5 people on a server, everyone will pile in as now there is enough players to make it fun. Even server populations of 10 pilots or less can be very fun and provoke some intense action - on Combat Box the other night teams were six on each side and there was a constant, swirling dogfight over one target as both sides fought for air superiority while bombers made desperate attack runs on enemy ships. This is where coordination really helps -to find the action and keep it going. Its also why ground attack is so important - hit a target a couple times and someone will show up to defend it. 

I'll end this overly long post with my own rules of thumb for having a good time online (not necessarily for being a good pilot online - its gonna be a long time before I can write anything like that!):

REDKESTREL'S RULES(well, more guidelines actually) FOR ONLINE FUN

1. Be respectful of your team mates and your opponents. Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. The people on the opposing team aren't your enemy, they're helping make the game worthwhile.
2. Don't take it too seriously. You're not dying in real life, at the end of the day its just a game. If you find yourself getting mad or frustrated, sign off for the night, and go practice some basics, or read a book, or have a beer. Come at it in a better frame of mind.
3. Fly to the Mission - even if you're not that good, the game is much more fun when you have a goal in mind other than fly around and try and shoot somebody. It also makes it sting less if you get shot down.
4. Fly ground attack every once in a while! A lot of guys cheat themselves out of half the game by only flying fighters. Ground pounding is a great change of pace, and if you're not confident in your fighter skills its also a great way to contribute to your team's chances of victory. Most servers require some amount of ground target destruction to win a map, and I've seen times when an entire side of fighter pilots absolutely annihilates everything in the air and still loses the map because some guys on the other side got together, strapped on some bombs and moved some mud. I usually fly about 50/50 ground attack and fighters. 

5. Record tracks or videos if you can, so you can go back and gloat over your victories and learn from your deaths. 
6. Above all else, enjoy yourself. That's the point, after all.

I'll invite anyone with any tips for online beginners, or any amusing stories or videos, to share them in this thread. Thanks!

EDIT: Mods, I understand if you might want to move this to Multiplayer Servers and Hosting, but I request that it remain in the General section of the forum so that people who aren't normally online players can see it and possibly benefit from it.

 

[Sketch]

This is a great post! Online play is all about the community. You'll never get the same experiences as you do when flying with or against players. 

 

My beginner tips:

- Invest... The more time you invest in a game, the better you'll be at it. The same goes for IL-2. I recommend you start here: 

 

- Fly With Others... The entire point of online play is the community! Why miss out on multiplayer's greatest strength? Jump on Discord, especially if your not sure what to do. I'm way more likely to assist a player over voice than via typed chat. This tip is so important. Even if you don't have a mic or are afraid that we will make fun of your lack of English, at least you can listen in on the conversation and follow along. I make fun of my terrible English all the time.

 

- Leave Your Ego at the Door... The greats all have already invested a shit ton to become great. They probably could rattle off every detail of every plane, and they know that a dogfight isn't about special moves, but more of a dance in the air. So don't compare yourself to them. Instead, compare yourself to the older version of yourself. Have you improved? If so, you're in the right track to becoming great too.

 

- Stop Making Excuses... So what if X plane is better than Y plane. So what if you're outnumbered. So what if they keep flying X style. Learn to over come those difficulties... How are the greats doing it? What would Scharfi do? 

 

- Decisions and Experience... Speaking of the greats, and what they'd do; think about what you're going to do before you do it. Should you make the pass? Should I attack these ground targets or stay up high and provide cover? Later, when you die or bail out, you can think about your choices and improve your decision making with experience.

[Jade_Monkey]

51 minutes ago, RedKestrel said:

Let me tell you the skills necessary to fly online in Il-2.
1. be able to taxi your plane without ramming airfield structures or other players.
2. be able to take off and land
3. be conscious of airfield traffic so you don't collide with other players.
4. be able to operate your plane in flight.
5. be able to identify friend or foe (on most servers, there are no icons).
6. For some servers, be able to navigate (this is actually not as hard as most people think, as our maps are perfect representations of the landscape. it just takes practice). 

 

Good post!

 

I would see the above as "recommended skills", definitely not minimum.

In reality, this is what I see in servers like WOL:

 

1. be able to taxi your plane without ramming airfield structures or other players.
2. be able to take off and land
3. be conscious of airfield traffic so you don't collide with other players.
4. be able to operate your plane in flight.
5. be able to identify friend or foe (on most servers, there are no icons).
6. For some servers, be able to navigate (this is actually not as hard as most people think, as our maps are perfect representations of the landscape. it just takes practice). 

 

Jokes aside, the bar to get started online is pretty low but dont expect to be an ace overnight, you will die in most engagements until you get the hang of it.

 

If I could offer just one piece if advice to novices online: Fly 2Km higher than you think it's necessary.

[Velxra]

Definitely a good post @RedKestrel, the only thing I have to add, is that if anyone is worried about playing online just join a server and be a gunner for a few missions. This will show you what to do and what other players/pilots are doing. When thinking about online for the first time thoughts like "where do I go" or "how can I help the team win" comes to mind. Playing as a gunner lets you see the ropes and get a feel for things. Just do not be that person who shoots the tail off or shoots friendlies as that will make you quickly unpopular and banned. But the biggest infasis I want to push, is that, if you are new and have any questions or concerns at all, join teamspeak/discord for that server. Lots of people enjoy helping newer players setup or taking newer players under their wing for flights. They will basically walk you through every step and every setting before, during, and after take off. Online flying is what makes iL-2 great and its a key component of the game that should not be missed. You will learn the most from flying with others and it is the fastest way to become a good pilot. Just like it is done in real life. 

[RedKestrel]

8 minutes ago, [TWB]Sketch said:

This is a great post! Online play is all about the community. You'll never get the same experiences as you do when flying with or against players. 

 

My beginner tips:

- Invest... The more time you invest in a game, the better you'll be at it. The same goes for IL-2. I recommend you start here: 

 

- Fly With Others... The entire point of online play is the community! Why miss out on multiplayer's greatest strength? Jump on Discord, especially if your not sure what to do. I'm way more likely to assist a player over voice than via typed chat. This tip is so important. Even if you don't have a mic or are afraid that we will make fun of your lack of English, at least you can listen in on the conversation and follow along. I make fun of my terrible English all the time.

 

- Leave Your Ego at the Door... The greats all have already invested a shit ton to become great. They probably could rattle off every detail of every plane, and they know that a dogfight isn't about special moves, but more of a dance in the air. So don't compare yourself to them. Instead, compare yourself to the older version of yourself. Have you improved? If so, you're in the right track to becoming great too.

 

- Stop Making Excuses... So what if X plane is better than Y plane. So what if you're outnumbered. So what if they keep flying X style. Learn to over come those difficulties... How are the greats doing it? What would Scharfi do? 

 

- Decisions and Experience... Speaking of the greats, and what they'd do; think about what you're going to do before you do it. Should you make the pass? Should I attack these ground targets or stay up high and provide cover? Later, when you die or bail out, you can think about your choices and improve your decision making with experience.

Agree with all this. I just finally got a headset and mic, and being able to coordinate via voice chat has added to the game immensely. Everyone I've flown with so far has been very helpful and friendly. And you have been very generous in illustrating to me just how many interesting ways a soviet plane can come apart under luftwaffe guns!
 

 

7 minutes ago, Jade_Monkey said:

 

Good post!

 

I would see the above as "recommended skills", definitely not minimum.

In reality, this is what I see in servers like WOL:

 

1. be able to taxi your plane without ramming airfield structures or other players.
2. be able to take off and land
3. be conscious of airfield traffic so you don't collide with other players.
4. be able to operate your plane in flight.
5. be able to identify friend or foe (on most servers, there are no icons).
6. For some servers, be able to navigate (this is actually not as hard as most people think, as our maps are perfect representations of the landscape. it just takes practice). 

 

Jokes aside, the bar to get started online is pretty low but dont expect to be an ace overnight, you will die in most engagements until you get the hang of it.

 

If I could offer just one piece if advice to novices online: Fly 2Km higher than you think it's necessary.

I wasn't going to mention the crazy takeoff and taxiing behaviour on WOL, I don't want to encourage it! Lets be real, for new people and those like me landing is an exotic skill, only put to use in 1 out of 10 missions that you don't get killed. Better off practicing your on-fire-belly-landings. 
Definitely people need to fly higher on fighter missions, for the most part, though as an occasional ground pounder, its nice when my fighter cover is low enough to save my butt in time rather than just swoop down and avenge me. 


 

[JimTM]

This thread has some good tips for online beginners. One thing I'll add is if you type a chat message meant for your side only, DO NOT press Enter, which sends the message to both sides. Instead, press Cntl+Enter (I believe that's the default), which sends the message to your side only.

Edited June 6, 2019 by JimTM

[RedKestrel]

8 minutes ago, JimTM said:

This thread has some good tips for online beginners. One thing I'll add is if you type a chat message meant for your side only, DO NOT press Enter, which sends the message to both sides. Instead, press Cntl+Enter (I believe that's the default), which sends the message to your side only.

This is an extremely important point, and a lot of people make this mistake...which is awkward, when someone announces "OK, lets take 3 Pe-2s and attack the railyard in 5 minutes!" and some Luftie says "OK, will meet you there ? ? ? "

The two big mistakes people make with chat:
1. Use control-enter to OPEN the chat, then hit enter to send, thinking this will send to the team. It doesnt! Use CTRL-Enter when sending!
2. Re-binding the chat button so that Enter sends to team and CTRL-Enter sends to everyone. This does not work! The chat buttons are hard-coded and cannot be re-bound properly!

[Xyperion]

Hey, thanks a lot for the tips. I'm looking forward to playing online when I get a bit more experienced vs the AI in Career mode.

2 hours ago, RedKestrel said:

Let me tell you the skills necessary to fly online in Il-2.
1. be able to taxi your plane without ramming airfield structures or other players.
2. be able to take off and land
3. be conscious of airfield traffic so you don't collide with other players.
4. be able to operate your plane in flight.
5. be able to identify friend or foe (on most servers, there are no icons).
6. For some servers, be able to navigate (this is actually not as hard as most people think, as our maps are perfect representations of the landscape. it just takes practice). 

 
My reaction to these "rules":

1. Big no-no so far, it often happens to crash near (or hit) a building/plane... I'll probably do more damage to the airfield than a bomber raid ? .
2. 70% of the times it works every time.
3. I guess I can do this.
4. That's fine. Unless engine management is included, sometimes I use emergency mode for so long that I forget about it and I have to make emergency landing deep into enemy territory.
5. Pretty sure that by the time I can ID the plane I'll already be shot down or I'll bump into it by mistake.
6. I tried not to use the map in some missions and I ended being so lost after a dogfight that I was ~50km away from my destination...

7. Okay, back to single player...

Jokes aside, thanks for sharing these tip. I'm going to follow all points that you made to improve my flying and hopefully in a couple of months I'll be ready

[40plus]

I'm a devout single player but I have sinned on more than one occasion. Despite the efforts of the talented devs, the SP AI just doesn't measure up for long term game play so I dip into MP everyone in a while.

 

I can't ID planes

I can't win a fighter-on-fighter engagement with a human

I can't do anything even remotely tactical

 

So I bomb and, by the various gods, it's fun.

 

Playing cat-and-mouse against the fighters is thrilling. Dodging AAA is terrifying and getting home is a huge achievement.

I played one mission in an A20. Shortly after take off I was startled to see another A20 sitting 40m off my port wing. We had no voice chat and I didn't know how to use the text chat. We had simple communication through wing dips and such.

 

Anyway, the two of us cut a long arching path to the target and when we arrived I accelerated and went in first. Although my bombing was a huge success I got eviscerated by AAA and I also lost contact with my wing-man. (No idea if he made it out) The rest of that flight was a struggle between me and my stricken plane. leaking every fluid from every source. smoking and shaking. I trimed teh engines and navigated my way back home to a VERY busy airfield. I had to make an emergency landing firing my guns to warn others but still a PE-2 decided to take off. Just after my wheels hit tarmac he pulled up. less than a dozen meters in front of me. All I could see was his belly.

 

This was fun, I whooped when I knew I had made it. Looking at the fluid still draining form my wings I parked the plane, spawned a new one and went back for more.

 

You can have a single player experience in a MP server and you just might meet someone who is a temporary partner along the way.

[RedKestrel]

6 minutes ago, Xyperion said:

Hey, thanks a lot for the tips. I'm looking forward to playing online when I get a bit more experienced vs the AI in Career mode.

 
My reaction to these "rules":

1. Big no-no so far, it often happens to crash near (or hit) a building/plane... I'll probably do more damage to the airfield than a bomber raid ? .
2. 70% of the times it works every time.
3. I guess I can do this.
4. That's fine. Unless engine management is included, sometimes I use emergency mode for so long that I forget about it and I have to make emergency landing deep into enemy territory.
5. Pretty sure that by the time I can ID the plane I'll already be shot down or I'll bump into it by mistake.
6. I tried not to use the map in some missions and I ended being so lost after a dogfight that I was ~50km away from my destination...

7. Okay, back to single player...

Jokes aside, thanks for sharing these tip. I'm going to follow all points that you made to improve my flying and hopefully in a couple of months I'll be ready

What I did to familiarize myself with ground handling was to do at least one QMB mission from parked every time I played in order to practice the fundamentals. So the first ten or fifteen minutes of playtime in a session was startup, taxi, takeoff, land, taxi, park. Then I would "reward" myself with some combat-play. My landings are still rough (I tend to bounce) but my taxiing is not so bad. Some of the planes are a real pain to taxi in so its tricky. This is also a good time to fiddle around with engine management, mixture, etc.

For engine management, get used to the auditory cues to remind you of your engine settings - emergency or boosted power is usually quite a bit different sounding than cruise. Use tech tips if you need to, I do, just because some planes are difficult to determine the setting you're at otherwise. 

For navigation, in QMB take off from one airfield and set yourself a circuit visiting several landmarks before returning to the field. use il2missionplanner.com and follow the bearings speeds, and time estimates. nothing too crazy. Check the map every few minutes. Open the map for the first time on the ground and focus it on the area you'll be flying in and leave it at that scale to help you see all surrounding landmarks. ID landmarks you can use to determine if you're roughly on course.

If you find yourself lost, keep an eye out for enemies and then climb pretty high so you can see far. Look for cities and big rivers. When you find a city, fly over to it, get a good idea of its shape, then open the map and try and find that city and the surrounding land marks on the map (i.e. rivers, roads, bridges, etc.). Check the area of the map you thought you were in at first, and then gradually work your way outwards from it to find the landmark you're currently orbiting. 

Eventually you can estimate at a glance the course you'll need to take to reach a given area or target, and the distances in most MP servers are short enough that being off by a few degrees isn't going to screw you up too much.

If all else fails, you can get back to friendly territory in almost all situations by following a cardinal direction. If soviet, head east (090). If german, head west (270). Crash land if you need to, or land at a different airfield. 

Don't be hard on yourself! These things are difficult but its very rewarding when you get it right. Even the pros get lost sometimes, or blow their engine in a dogfight. If you take the time to practice you'll be ready sooner than you expect!

 

[JimTM]

29 minutes ago, Xyperion said:

 

...
2. 70% of the times it works every time.

     See the Requiem Aircraft Guides in the IL-2 Resources post. He shows a takeoff and landing for all aircraft.
3. I guess I can do this.
4. That's fine. Unless engine management is included, sometimes I use emergency mode for so long that I forget about it and I have to make emergency landing deep into enemy territory.

     See Complex Engine Management by Requiem (included in the IL-2 Resources post).
5. Pretty sure that by the time I can ID the plane I'll already be shot down or I'll bump into it by mistake.

     See the last three bullets under "Air Combat Guides" in the IL-2 Resources post.
6. I tried not to use the map in some missions and I ended being so lost after a dogfight that I was ~50km away from my destination...

    See the navigation posts under "Flying Guides and Utilities" in the IL-2 Resources post.

...

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by JimTM

[BubiHUN]

Really good post!

[357th_Dog]

Plus...there's nothing that matches the thrill of your first online kill against another player. 

[=FSB=Man-Yac]

Yes good post, I feel like this game has the majority of its player base playing singleplayer, which is understandable, but a shame at the same time. I advice looking for squads that teach their new member the basics!! I remember my first mutlliplayer experience was in il-2 1946 hyperlobby. I made friends with a guy I don't remember how and I joined his squad. I flew as wingman for several missions and he thought me the basics, it's a lot more fun and a lot more easy flying as 2! You can fly the faster planes and drag and bag, it's a good way to practice. I lost touched with the guy but I will always remember him, I was about 15 at time and he was a retired man haha.

Also always check your 6 frequently!!

[69th_Mobile_BBQ]

Also, you have to be able to keep a thick skin on when 'online oddities' happen...  

 

Got shot by a plane that obviously did not have the angle on you?   Blame it on netcode/lag and move on.  

Set an opponent plane on fire and not even get any credit?  Blame it on netcode/lag and move on.  

Opponent plane pulls a maneuver that would result (IRL) in a crash for the pilot of said plane or be physically impossible?  Blame it on netcode/lag and move on.  

Opponent plane takes damage that would (again... IRL), at the very least, result in the pilot running for home but keeps flying and fighting with no issue?  Blame it on netcode/lag and move on.  

Opponent plane collides with you, exploding your plane but suffers ZERO damage?  Blame it on netcode/lag and move on. 

Lose almost every collision you encounter this way?  Blame it on netcode/lag and move on.

 

I could go on and on...  

This doesn't even account for the ridiculous things that those bent on bad behavior might do.  And I mean things that can be done with a legit "un-altered" version on the game.  I guess points given for creativity to those players.....   

 

Really, if you're going to fly in MP do it because you'd rather play MP than SP, not because of gaining stats on the various servers' external webpages.  IMO those stats have absolutely ZERO validity.  I used to use them to measure whether or not I was getting better at the game. Now I really don't care.   

 

The people I fly with on comms channels are more important than the rankings lists.  That's the main reason I fly MP.

 

The other reason is that when the internet gods are in a good mood, players can (and do) offer much more nuanced and challenging dogfights than most SP AI. 

Granted, sometimes the SP AI will totally shock you with challenging goodness but not as much as coming across a good human player.  

[RedKestrel]

49 minutes ago, =AVG77=Mobile_BBQ said:

Also, you have to be able to keep a thick skin on when 'online oddities' happen...  

 

Got shot by a plane that obviously did not have the angle on you?   Blame it on netcode/lag and move on.  

Set an opponent plane on fire and not even get any credit?  Blame it on netcode/lag and move on.  

Opponent plane pulls a maneuver that would result (IRL) in a crash for the pilot of said plane or be physically impossible?  Blame it on netcode/lag and move on.  

Opponent plane takes damage that would (again... IRL), at the very least, result in the pilot running for home but keeps flying and fighting with no issue?  Blame it on netcode/lag and move on.  

Opponent plane collides with you, exploding your plane but suffers ZERO damage?  Blame it on netcode/lag and move on. 

Lose almost every collision you encounter this way?  Blame it on netcode/lag and move on.

 

I could go on and on...  

This doesn't even account for the ridiculous things that those bent on bad behavior might do.  And I mean things that can be done with a legit "un-altered" version on the game.  I guess points given for creativity to those players.....   

 

Really, if you're going to fly in MP do it because you'd rather play MP than SP, not because of gaining stats on the various servers' external webpages.  IMO those stats have absolutely ZERO validity.  I used to use them to measure whether or not I was getting better at the game. Now I really don't care.   

 

The people I fly with on comms channels are more important than the rankings lists.  That's the main reason I fly MP.

 

The other reason is that when the internet gods are in a good mood, players can (and do) offer much more nuanced and challenging dogfights than most SP AI. 

Granted, sometimes the SP AI will totally shock you with challenging goodness but not as much as coming across a good human player.  

Agreed, a great many people take the things that happen in game way too personal. I go out to have fun and be useful to my team. If I die five times ina night, hey, it’s not like it’s a real war.

[Velxra]

Take the plunge! Quickly, the fate of the online war depends on all taking it to victory! 


 

[Hawk-2a]

What got me hooked to MP was to not fly alone.

 

Solo sorties on MP all the time tend to get boring, especially if you don't see any action / get slapped out of the sky because you did not see the enemy sneaking up on ya.

Reach out to other pilots. Coordinate. Find a wingman. Lots of guys are gladly flying with others. Even if you can't fly formations like a champ.

Try to fly with a wingman -> yes you will lose sight very often at the beginning, spending time of simply trying to find your mate in the sky again. And yes, it gets better the more you fly with that person.

Voice comms (TS / Discord, you name it)

Suddenly you will notice that communication is becoming simple, more accurate and you will adapt to eachothers flying style. Resulting in spending less time searching your mate but more looking around for enemies.

Another pair of eyes can help more than you think and probably saved me more often than I would like to admit...

 

And after all, flying with a wingman is simply more fun.

Edited June 7, 2019 by =FC=SteelFalcon

[Herne]

I do enjoy the occasional solo sortie, but particularly when in a fighter, they rarely end well for me.

 

taking a jabo load out, attacker or bomber can be very rewarding attacking targets behind the lines, very satisfying when you manage to bring your damaged bird home. 

 

Edit: One of the things I really like is how you get so much variety on servers that all use the same assets. The back end code the server admins program for their servers makes for some very unique experiences, particularly with ongoing dynamic campaigns that can involve resupply of planes, and even munitions, and the different rules for moving the front line.  

Edited June 7, 2019 by Herne

[BlitzPig_EL]

Back in the old IL2 I would fly online almost every day for years on end.

Today, going onto an open server almost never happens.  It's just too difficult to ID anything at distance in the current sim, on the ground or in the air.

I'd love to come back to virtual flying again, but every time I try it's just more of a job than it is fun, and I already have a job.

[CountZero]

Just now, BlitzPig_EL said:

Back in the old IL2 I would fly online almost every day for years on end.

Today, going onto an open server almost never happens.  It's just too difficult to ID anything at distance in the current sim, on the ground or in the air.

I'd love to come back to virtual flying again, but every time I try it's just more of a job than it is fun, and I already have a job.

I dont have mutch problems with ID but vis ranges are the worst i ever saw in flying games, and i dont belive that will ever improve... and then they add 262 with this short vis range, game will be a joke lol

[BlitzPig_EL]

I have to agree.  A 550mph aircraft in a 10km bubble...  What could possibly go wrong?

[CountZero]

Just now, BlitzPig_EL said:

I have to agree.  A 550mph aircraft in a 10km bubble...  What could possibly go wrong?

and for most players they can bearly see a thing at 5km with the way it works in game now

[Velxra]

15 minutes ago, 77.CountZero said:

and for most players they can bearly see a thing at 5km with the way it works in game now

Which could easily be fixed if we could disable the depth of field blur. Maybe one day we can! 

Edited June 7, 2019 by Geronimo553

[Hawk-2a]

13 minutes ago, 77.CountZero said:

most players they can bearly see a thing at 5km with the way it works in game now

 

Aaand it‘s getting OT again... The render distance has been mentioned by many guys in loads of posts / complaints / technical issues etc. 

But this is not the place to bitch about it. The intention of this thread as @RedKestrel said, is to motivate guys to give the MP a try, not to bitch about spotting and discourage them from even playing.

 

by the way „most players can barely see  5km“ is pure rubbish. There is other factors than render distance why you could possibly miss a target. Sunlight, reflection, time of day, heading relative to your heading or simply your eyes not catching it. Happens to all of us and is not a game issue. It‘s your very own issue for the most part.

 

now let‘s stay on topic. Thank you

[RedKestrel]

7 hours ago, =FC=SteelFalcon said:

What got me hooked to MP was to not fly alone.

 

Solo sorties on MP all the time tend to get boring, especially if you don't see any action / get slapped out of the sky because you did not see the enemy sneaking up on ya.

Reach out to other pilots. Coordinate. Find a wingman. Lots of guys are gladly flying with others. Even if you can't fly formations like a champ.

Try to fly with a wingman -> yes you will lose sight very often at the beginning, spending time of simply trying to find your mate in the sky again. And yes, it gets better the more you fly with that person.

Voice comms (TS / Discord, you name it)

Suddenly you will notice that communication is becoming simple, more accurate and you will adapt to eachothers flying style. Resulting in spending less time searching your mate but more looking around for enemies.

Another pair of eyes can help more than you think and probably saved me more often than I would like to admit...

 

And after all, flying with a wingman is simply more fun.

I had the chance to fly closely with other players on comms for the first time last weekend and it really is a completely different experience and worth doing if you can get your hands on a proper headset. It also highlighted some deficiencies in my situational awareness.

Just to show the difference between being on voice comms and only using chat, I'll talk about a situation on Combat Box. Normally, when I fly online, I'm pretty active on the chat, asking for targets, offering cover, etc. But it's difficult to type and fly at the same time, so the amount of detail you can give is low. So a typical scenario is that I find out which target to hit if I'm in a bomber, and head over there, asking for cover on the way. Ideally, someone is taking off at the same time and we connect via chat so we both hit the target at the same time. In fighters, the same thing applies for areas you are covering, but using the chat to call out bandits and keep your wingmates posted is much more difficult in a fighter.

A typical fighter excursion for me involves getting to the target and watching for bandits, helping out people I see in trouble, or being bounced (LOL!). I'm usually able to be somewhat useful

For an example of an on-comms mission, here's one from Combat Box - Paravane Mission (as best I can remember it). Despite lower server numbers that target had been swarming with enemy fighters for almost half an hour, rendering ground attack suicidal (ask me how I know), so everyone on the Discord basically decided to take fighters and go in force to try and clear the area for a followup strike. Physky and I both arrived over the target above cloud and started patrolling, he in a Spit IX, me in a Yak-7 (hard to keep up with the Spit in a yak, esp. climbing and high alt). After a while I spotted a contact trailing exhaust and called it out, confirming it wasn't friendly via comms. The enemy then tried to engage Physky and I was able to get onto his six, then follow him down through cloud. 

Physky followed me down as I engaged, covering my six and keeping in contact with me, and I the same. As we descended we must have kicked a hornet's nest because at least two more enemy fighters joined the dogfight. Due to my own issues with target fixation/situational awareness I'm sure Physky and I almost collided (at one point he said "Ah, we're a bit close there, aren't we? Really close!") but we both tag-teamed the bandit, Physky got some MG hits in and then I put a cannon shell into his engine during a scissors. Almost around the same time Physky got annihilated by an enemy fighter as he was trying to cover my six. I was able to disengage from the furball and follow the D-9 down and give him one last burst before bugging out. Unfortunately a guy in a 109G-14 followed me down and ventilated me shortly afterward. 

The outcome was perhaps not great for either of us, but I know for a fact I could not have killed that D-9 on my own, and I know that my wingman kept me alive a lot longer than I would have flying without. It was a much more intense fight, and certainly exposed my inexperience with teamwork, which is the first step towards getting better. 

[JG27*PapaFly]

On 6/6/2019 at 8:30 PM, Jade_Monkey said:

1. be able to taxi your plane without ramming airfield structures or other players.

2. be able to take off and land
3. be conscious of airfield traffic so you don't collide with other players.
4. be able to operate your plane in flight.
5. be able to identify friend or foe (on most servers, there are no icons).

 

 

If you want to maximize your learning speed:

- Learn the trade by flying on servers with air starts and icons : you'll get more engagements per hour that way. Navigating a huge full real map for 20 minutes just to get bounced and killed by a guy whom you never saw won't help you on your journey.

 

Icons will help you learn how to maneuver and position relative to your opponents. It's brutal because you can never hide, but I'll help you lay down the groundwork. Once you're proficient in that environment you can take the next step and learn the finer nuances in full real.

- Train air-to-air gunnery offline in the QMB. A LOT. I can't stress this point enough. Online, you'll have very few shooting opportunities by comparison. Quite often you'll die if you miss the one shot you get. That's why being a good shot will boost your survival rate greatly.

- Always warm up in the QMB before you join an online session.  I find 15-30 minutes against batches of 8 unarmed AIs perfect to get my muscle memory and gunnery estimation up to speed.

[Leon_Portier]

Being stomped every flight makes it hard to keep trying multiplayer. Single Player is a bit boring tho.

Multiplayer looks so very competitive to me, I just wanna fly and have simple fun.

[THERION]

1 hour ago, JG27_PapaFly said:

- Always warm up in the QMB before you join an online session.  I find 15-30 minutes against batches of 8 unarmed AIs perfect to get my muscle memory and gunnery estimation up to speed.

 

That's what I exactly do on BERLOGA - go arena to warm up and be ready for TAW,  KOTA, Combat Box and Finish...

[seafireliv]

I remember in old IL2 Online when we were all lined up on the strip, one guy up front posted, "How do I start the engine?"

 

At least play a bit offline first so you know how to start the aircraft!

 

I loved flying Online in a Squad. I still do, but it`s all about time. I tend to get too into it then the evenings just fly away and other projects suffer. In single Player I can stop and start as I wish. And even with what i know, I hate going Online ill-prepared.

But when things are better sorted perhaps I`ll go Online for a more permanent stay!

Edited June 7, 2019 by seafireliv

[JimTM]

Although it is important to have an altitude advantage (if possible) before you engage an opponent, I sometimes like to go on the Berloga server and purposely fly under the opponents. That gives me some practice defending against a boom-and-zoom. Of course, you want to avoid flying under multiple opponents, unless you really want a challenge. 

[Cpt_Cool]

I have been too busy to play any games at all lately (and sort of stuck with the career and campaigns when I would get the chance to fly), but when I finally did have a free hour last night, this post inspired me to saddle up. I am exhibiting the classic symptoms of having "caught the bug."

[Velxra]

22 minutes ago, Cpt_Cool said:

 I am exhibiting the classic symptoms of having "caught the bug."

 

A few dozen hours of solid back to back flight time will cure that up. 

[Sublime]

R Kestrel is totally righr. I havent been online in a couple weeks and miss it. I still do SP but for anyone considering it take it from me --

Hundreda of SP kills ... Theyre ok. Fun. Cool. Whatever.  I literally remember my first few kills in this like they actually happened to me. For me shooting a hunan down is SO much more rewarding than an AI - and ive had good fights where my hands were shaking after. 

[RedKestrel]

41 minutes ago, Sublime said:

R Kestrel is totally righr. I havent been online in a couple weeks and miss it. I still do SP but for anyone considering it take it from me --

Hundreda of SP kills ... Theyre ok. Fun. Cool. Whatever.  I literally remember my first few kills in this like they actually happened to me. For me shooting a hunan down is SO much more rewarding than an AI - and ive had good fights where my hands were shaking after. 

I had an intense fight on CombatBox once where I shot down a FW-190A-8 in a P-39 over one of the industrial targets on CombatBox - AA flashing all over the sky, me clinging to his six from cloud level all the way to the deck, finally got enough hits on him to put him into the water, then I was running hell for leather because I knew there were more around and I was low and slow near an enemy target. I had to take several deep breaths to steady and my  wife stopped by to check if I was OK. Mind you I'm pretty high strung when I'm playing, when I get bounced I tend to jump in my chair and accidentally smack my stick back into the desk and scare my family with the noise!

Air kills are more satisfying to me in multiplayer, but ground kills are too! Getting in and out under the nose of the enemy air cover, hitting targets that you know are critical to your side's victory, adds more to it, at least psychologically. 

Out of curiousity, I compiled my stats since starting playing multiplayer back in the spring. From March to June, I have 29 kills and 280 ground kills over the course of 155 sorties in 37.9 hrs of flight time online. In case you think this is me stroking my ego, this was somewhat offset by the loss of 116 aircraft, a loss rate of 74.8% overall. I think I'm costing my side more than I'm actually helping!

Now that I finally have Bodenplatte I think I'll be a little more helpful on CombatBox, as previously I was flying Kuban or earlier aircraft against late war planes. Time will tell! 

 

[Leon_Portier]

Okay I just played a bunch of MP and its such bullshit.

There is always a more enemys than I can handle, they are doing weird turns and turn faster than I can and shoot me down all the time.

[BraveSirRobin]

3 minutes ago, [N.O.G.F]Leon_Portier said:

Okay I just played a bunch of MP and its such bullshit.

There is always a more enemys than I can handle, they are doing weird turns and turn faster than I can and shoot me down all the time.

 

What aircraft were you flying and what were you flying against??

[JonRedcorn]

6 minutes ago, [N.O.G.F]Leon_Portier said:

Okay I just played a bunch of MP and its such bullshit.

There is always a more enemys than I can handle, they are doing weird turns and turn faster than I can and shoot me down all the time.

hahahahahahahaha You are joking right?

Edited June 14, 2019 by JgonRedcorn

[BraveSirRobin]

3 minutes ago, JgonRedcorn said:

hahahahahahahaha You are joking right?

 

Why do you think he's joking?

[JonRedcorn]

1 minute ago, BraveSirRobin said:

 

Why do you think he's joking?

I know he's not, I just thought putting, hahahahahaha was a little too harsh. Lighten the mood brother!

Edited June 14, 2019 by JgonRedcorn