Where / How to Find a Server?

[Five_By_Five]

Looking to try my hand at multiplayer but my game never shows any servers.

Not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if there just isn't anyone playing while I'm online.

 

I'm in the Central Time Zone and I can play weeknights at about 11pm.

Anything going on then and how would I find it?

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

You are entering the Multiplayer -> Dogfight -menu, right? ... The Cooperative side rarely has servers on.

[Talon_]

Disable mods

[Five_By_Five]

Yes, I've tried both the dogfight and coop sides. Nothing doing. I will disable the mods as suggested & see if that brings anything up.  Thanks!

[Five_By_Five]

Turning off the mods option worked. Wow! Lots of servers.

 

I tried out Combat Box because it was the largest and I have heard about it.  Unfortunately, I couldn't even get into the air.  Tried the P-38 but the engines wouldn't start. Then tried a Tempest but it would hardly move.  Gave up before I looked like too much of a noob.

I have always had "complex engine management" turned off in single player because . . . well, I don't actually know how to fly a plane.  It seems I need to know the full engine startup and management to fly online?

Not looking for something too arcadey . . . but I'm not sure if full realism is going to be something I have the time for.

I just noticed the Multiplayer forums so perhaps I should be posting over there.  Is there a thread with tips for beginners on these multiplayer servers?  Specifically Combat Box or any of the others that are well populated?  I really do want to get into this part of the experience so I am willing to give it a shot . . . just not really sure how to start.

[JimTM]

On 2/15/2020 at 10:45 AM, Five_By_Five said:

Turning off the mods option worked. Wow! Lots of servers.

 

I tried out Combat Box because it was the largest and I have heard about it.  Unfortunately, I couldn't even get into the air.  Tried the P-38 but the engines wouldn't start. Then tried a Tempest but it would hardly move.  Gave up before I looked like too much of a noob.

I have always had "complex engine management" turned off in single player because . . . well, I don't actually know how to fly a plane.  It seems I need to know the full engine startup and management to fly online?

Not looking for something too arcadey . . . but I'm not sure if full realism is going to be something I have the time for.

I just noticed the Multiplayer forums so perhaps I should be posting over there.  Is there a thread with tips for beginners on these multiplayer servers?  Specifically Combat Box or any of the others that are well populated?  I really do want to get into this part of the experience so I am willing to give it a shot . . . just not really sure how to start.

 

Here are some links in the IL-2 Resources post that can help you with complex engine management:

 

Aircraft Guides

• Requiem Aircraft Guides:
    - Battle of Stalingrad Airplanes
    - Battle of Moscow Airplanes
    - Battle of Kuban Airplanes
    - Battle of Bodenplatte Airplanes
    - Flying Circus Airplanes

Flying Guides and Utilities

• Requiem Flying Guides:
    - Flight Principles (see videos on multi-engine techniques)
    - Complex Engine Management

There are threads on the Multiplayer Servers and Hosting forum for many (if not all) of the servers. Most are pinned to the top of the forum, except for Combat Box. Usually, the first post in each thread will give you the basic information you need about each server.

 

Some tips for online flying:

• First, get comfortable offline with things such as aircraft systems, taxiing, aircraft identification, and navigation (for expert servers, i.e., no icon on the map for your plane)
  
  In the IL-2 Resources post:
    - Aircraft identification is covered near the bottom of "Air Combat Guides"   <--- Very important for online flying!
    - Navigation is covered near the bottom of "Flying Guides and Utilities"
    - There is a taxiing tutorial here 
   
• Online opponents are much better than the AI opponents in single-player so you may get shot down a lot until you build up your skills. For best results early on, fly cautiously and with other players, if possible. Make sure that you have a good height advantage and pick your battles carefully. Don't fly straight and level for more than 30 seconds (tak-a-tak-a-tak-a-tak) and check your six often.
  
  Requiem has some good videos on formation flying near the end of his Air Combat Maneuvering video series
   
• Get on voice comms in Teamspeak or Discord and fly with others on the voice channels. Jump on a channel and wait for a lull in the conversation before introducing yourself and asking if anyone needs help or wants to wing up with a novice. Be careful not to jump in when people are in the middle of a dogfight. Sometimes there may be a conversation break during the dogfight but it's better to keep comms to a minimum until the engagement is done.
   
• Be sure to positively identify a plane as enemy before opening fire. It's better to second guess your ID early on and lose an opportunity rather than taking the chance of shooting down a friendly. That said, even good pilots make mistakes now and then, so apologize profusely and move on, having learned a lesson. 

Edited May 21, 2020 by JimTM

[Five_By_Five]

Man, thanks a million.

I'm pretty comfortable with the basics of flying and fighting after years of single player gaming. I'm in no way looking for an arcade sim . . . .but not sure if I'm ready for the whole other end of the spectrum yet.

Seems . . . daunting.  Are there any, say 75% real servers?  I definitely want the realism as far as aircraft ID, no external views, no HUD, etc., but the mechanical aspects seem like they'll take forever to learn.  "Complex engine management" sounds pretty . . . complex.

I'll give it a try but I don't have hours to dedicate to it.  Maybe about a half-hour every few days.  I get the feeling that multiplayer isn't for the average player. I'm very average.

[BraveSirRobin]

2 hours ago, Five_By_Five said:

but the mechanical aspects seem like they'll take forever to learn.  "Complex engine management" sounds pretty . . . complex.

 

It's not that bad for some aircraft.  The 109 is almost completely automatic.  You don't have to worry about mixture, radiator settings, or RPM/prop pitch.  Try flying it in quick missions.  Start from parked and make sure you can taxi to the runway, take off, then land.  Then practice killing some AI fighters.  If you can do that you should be ready to get your ass kicked repeatedly online.

Edited February 16, 2020 by BraveSirRobin

[Talon_]

On 2/15/2020 at 3:45 PM, Five_By_Five said:

I tried out Combat Box because it was the largest and I have heard about it.  Unfortunately, I couldn't even get into the air.  Tried the P-38 but the engines wouldn't start. Then tried a Tempest but it would hardly move.  Gave up before I looked like too much of a noob.

 

Welcome to my server

 

Make sure you set the mixture above 0% or your engines won't get any gas!

 

Once the big fan starts spinning, set RPM to 100% then bring up the throttle slowly. You can control your aircraft speed on the ground with Throttle only, then when you get in the air back both throttle and RPM back to 80% or so and you should be good.

[Five_By_Five]

The hard part about learning to actually fly any of these aircraft with complex engine management is that . . . you actually have to learn how to fly these aircraft. There is no in-game tutorial and I haven't been to flight school. Kind of a hard thing to just jump into. I assume that most people doing it have some actual stick time or they've put a lot of effort into learning outside of flying in the sim.

Not sure I have what it takes to learn all of the intricacies. Or the time. I only have about 20 minutes to a half-hour to play every few days.

Kind of a bummer because I really haven't been able to get into the single-player Bodenplatte expansion and was hoping that online might offer some excitement.

It sounds like a chore . . . only to only get shot down all the time.

I guess I'll leave it to the experts.

Edited February 22, 2020 by Five_By_Five

[JimTM]

51 minutes ago, Five_By_Five said:

The hard part about learning to actually fly any of these aircraft with complex engine management is that . . . you actually have to learn how to fly these aircraft. There is no in-game tutorial and I haven't been to flight school. Kind of a hard thing to just jump into. I assume that most people doing it have some actual stick time or they've put a lot of effort into learning outside of flying in the sim.

Not sure I have what it takes to learn all of the intricacies. Or the time. I only have about 20 minutes to a half-hour to play every few days.

Kind of a bummer because I really haven't been able to get into the single-player Bodenplatte expansion and was hoping that online might offer some excitement.

It sounds like a chore . . . only to only get shot down all the time.

I guess I'll leave it to the experts.

 

There are servers available that have automatic engine management and plane icons on, so you may find those provide some fun without the steep learning curve. I only fly expert these days so I'm not up to speed on which ones are popular these days. Check the server forum. 

 

Many of these easy-to-fly servers have the word "Normal" in the title (as opposed to expert servers, which usually require full engine management, but may or may not have icons on). Servers with two chevrons to the left are full normal servers. Servers with two chevrons and a star to the left are full expert. Servers with nothing to the left have custom settings. 

Edited February 22, 2020 by JimTM

[Utopioneer]

8 hours ago, Five_By_Five said:

The hard part about learning to actually fly any of these aircraft with complex engine management is that . . . you actually have to learn how to fly these aircraft. There is no in-game tutorial and I haven't been to flight school. Kind of a hard thing to just jump into. I assume that most people doing it have some actual stick time or they've put a lot of effort into learning outside of flying in the sim.

Not sure I have what it takes to learn all of the intricacies. Or the time. I only have about 20 minutes to a half-hour to play every few days.

Kind of a bummer because I really haven't been able to get into the single-player Bodenplatte expansion and was hoping that online might offer some excitement.

It sounds like a chore . . . only to only get shot down all the time.

I guess I'll leave it to the experts.

These are a work in progress but they may help getting familiar with a few aircraft.

[Five_By_Five]

Quote

 

There are servers available that have automatic engine management and plane icons on,

 

Ah, that's good to know. I'll look for those.

I would actually prefer to play with icons off and I do that in Single Player for the most part.

Utopioneer, interesting.  I will peruse that thread.  An in-game tutorial in how to go full-real (or mostly) would be fantastic and I WOULD do that.  Heck, I would PAY for that.  

[Utopioneer]

10 hours ago, Five_By_Five said:

Utopioneer, interesting.  I will peruse that thread.  An in-game tutorial in how to go full-real (or mostly) would be fantastic and I WOULD do that.  Heck, I would PAY for that.  

That's what these are and they are free!

[Sheriff88]

Check out the Berloga server.As challenging as it is Berloga server has air starts only. Certain times of the day action can be quite hairy. Avoid action until you gain altitude and don’t get caught up in swirling fur ball . The EU Official 1CGS Planes and Tanks Normal and Shooting Stars Normal with AI let you fly without complex engine management. Their maps are more interesting than Berloga. 
I would buy into some of the long mission times on Combat Box if they allowed external views. If you don’t use head tracker or VR it gets old fast. I Only have 10 fingers.

Edited February 25, 2020 by Sheriff88

[Five_By_Five]

Been playing online for the last couple of weeks.  It's like discovering a whole new game.  I figured out engine management well enough to get the job done.  The whole experience is thrilling because it feels much more real than single player.  At first all I did was die but I'm slowly getting much better.  Didn't complete a mission for the first week and a half but have completed three in the last three days . . . with kills.  Everything feels earned now, as opposed to single player where it was just about getting the Knights Cross by shooting fish in a barrel. I don't want for anything in multiplayer but to finish a mission and maybe get a couple of shots in.  Simply taking off, flying into danger territory and coming back alive feels like a victory.

Unfortunately, my Track IR picked a bad time to start giving me trouble . . . but hopefully I can get that worked out and get back to flying.

I've flown on Wings of Victory, the Finnish server, Tactical Air War, Berloga and Combat Box.  I think I like Combat Box the best, even though it is the hardest . . . or possibly, because it's the hardest.  I like not having map symbols and having to navigate by sight.  Not getting lost and getting back to the original field is as challenging as any dogfight.

[JimTM]

I'm glad that you are enjoying a whole new experience in the multiplayer servers. It sounds like your expectations are reasonable and you are progressing very nicely.

 

Cheers!

[Alfred_Tupper]

Hi can I just thank everyone who has posted here for answering all my questions about MP settings in one thread.

 

Five_By_Five - there's someone on MP noobier than you now, watch me burn folks.