A more believable autopilot

[Lusekofte]

I spent a considerable time being negative and then go over to a make do state of mind like I have in DCS. 

Thing is thinking over it there are not a lot of things that need to be changed in order to get a real ww 2 expirience. 

I finally figured out that changing the bombaim interface is probably not a option but there are things that can be done with the autopilot. 

If you get it a bit more slow to react like they are even today. And only keep it to directional axis not altitude. Let the trim take care of that. 

As it is now the only challenge you get is late rendering of target.  You can hit a ship from 5 k if you know it’s approximate position. 

I found ai to be better wingmen in campaign now. And that is a huge improvement. This game is so very close to be perfect that it is almost frustrating. And cheers to the developers for the continuous improvements that we do get. 

I am not giving critique, this is meant to be my input on how to get things more immersive

Edited August 19, 2019 by LuseKofte

[Herne]

"Rome was not built in a day" so the saying goes. It's clear that devs are striving to continually improve the game over time, and not just with more theatres, planes, and careers. . . . Not just the things they can sell I mean.

 

Maybe some of the things on your wish list, even if not possible right now, may be introduced over time.

 

 

 

[Lusekofte]

Yes I am aware of it. 

I tried to like fighters. But like in real life there are fighter pilots and there are those who are not. I am by now after 29 years of IL 2 sure I am not. So I can only advocate my perspective on how I think this brand should be. At the same time accept the fact that most would not agree

[Sublime]

Oh of course - theyre just ideas. I dont make games etc and I dont have any idea of the difficulties etc etc.  Just things I really think would make the game come alive

[[DBS]Browning]

Why let trim take care of altitude? The auto pilot attitude hold was a common feature of the second war (and even some first war!) bomber autopilots.
Even for bombers that did not have an attitude held auto pilot, that's the pilot's job, not the bombardiers.

[Dirt_Merchant]

Respectfully disagree that they need any change @LuseKofte.

 

I think the auto level and auto turn features enhance the access to this experience more than they take away from immersion. Due to their nature of requiring close to level flight to begin with (before enabling), they are not some kind of crutch that will auto recover from a spin or something ridiculous either.  

 

 

Edited August 19, 2019 by [_FLAPS_]Dirt_Merchant

[RedKestrel]

Embarassingly enough, I didn't even know there was an auto turn feature available.

[Lusekofte]

25 minutes ago, [DBS]Browning said:

Why let trim take care of altitude? The auto pilot attitude hold was a common feature of the second war (and even some first war!) bomber autopilots.
Even for bombers that did not have an attitude held auto pilot, that's the pilot's job, not the bombardiers.

Yes I agree that there where a altitude regulated autopilot aswell.  

But the autopilot we got today is simply too smooth. If we got a two stage one with non altitude directed and a bombrun with altitude hold it probably would work better. 

I know this will make things harder and it is controversial. 

I would not recommend changes in this system if there is no support among the users. 

But how can we know without raising the question 

Edited August 19, 2019 by LuseKofte

[AndyJWest]

33 minutes ago, [DBS]Browning said:

Why let trim take care of altitude? The auto pilot attitude hold was a common feature of the second war (and even some first war!) bomber autopilots.
Even for bombers that did not have an attitude held auto pilot, that's the pilot's job, not the bombardiers.

 

Yup. Sperry-type autopilots of the era had 'attitude hold' on pitch, rather than 'altitude hold'. Not as accurate long-term if you wanted to hold a certain altitude, but better than trying to do it with trim alone.

 

And yes, the job of the AI when you are using the bombsight is to imitate the pilot as well as any autopilot fitted. Bomb aimers made minor course corrections, they didn't fly the aircraft.

 

Incidentally, I'd done a bit of tinkering around modelling a proper 'Sperry-type' autopilot in IL-2 GB, see this thread. It hasn't progressed very far, for technical reasons that limited its utility, but it was an interesting exercise. If the developers ever want to introduce an authentic autopilot (or add 'attitude hold' to the existing one), I'd be all for it. It has its advantages over what we have now.

Edited August 19, 2019 by AndyJWest

[Lusekofte]

I read a lot or lets say available lecture of Norden bombsights. Less about german types. 

I do not want to bring up other flight sim as a example because I find developers here more than capable to judge such things. 

Norden type bring in too much input and data not feasible in this game taken the gameplay into account. I am simply looking for a bit more realistic feel to it. 

 

[Dirt_Merchant]

38 minutes ago, AndyJWest said:

 

...(or add 'attitude hold' to the existing one), I'd be all for it. It has its advantages over what we have now.

 

Me too brother! That would be a wonderful addition and would be absolutely awesome for climb outs. I feel like a mechanism such as auto-turn, but applied to pitch would be great too.

 

I still think at the core, the current system's functionality is crucial to quality-of-life concerns within the sim. I certainly appreciate not being absolutely bolted to my chair when flying.