My experience as a noob

[NiiranenVR]

39 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

Was your first try a Hendrix tune?

Oooo yes - similar to game i guess 

 

remember when leaning a tune 

I try and try and try , but couldn't work it out ..........few days later pick up the guitar again .....and now it's seems more easy 

 

I think our body learn / remember also when not do the 'job' 

[Bilbosmeggins]

It’s easy to become jaded. I’ve been flight-simming since the 80’s, and I still suck.  Many times I’ve said, “Sod this”, and given up. Not only given up, but also sold all of my flight-sim gear. Then, after a break, the itch has returned, and I’ve had to buy it all over again.  This has happened many times.  So, my advice is to take a break, but absolutely DO NOT sell your gear. Because we both know that you will be back

 

[Jaegermeister]

9 hours ago, ShamrockOneFive said:

I've been flying IL-2 multiplayer since IL-2: Forgotten Battles circa 2003. That's 17-years of IL-2 experience... and there are still days that I feel like a complete newbie. Sometimes I go on a roll but other times its a total disaster. Just how it is 

?

 

As a result of reading this thread and a couple of others, I spent the weekend figuring out how to log onto a multiplayer server and set up discord for chat. I flew a couple of sorties solo and had a sort of mixed opinion. 

 

On Sunday afternoon, I logged into discord and dropped into a new mission with @JimTM and a group of 6 or 7 guys. They got in A-20s and took off in formation for a bombing run. Me and another guy tagged along in P-38s and flew low level escort. We were attacked by enemy fighters, on several occasions and I managed to destroy one. Forming back up, his buddy blasted me and I bailed out of a flaming plane and died. The bombers made it back with no losses (I think). 

 

I felt like like a complete noob! Good thing I have 15 years practice because I needed it. Yeah it’s a full real server with no icons and whatnot, but that wouldn’t have helped anyway. There is too much going on with flying formation, scanning, maneuvering, real radio calls, etc. Did I say I died? Yeah shot down in flames and I don’t care, it was probably the most fun I’ve had with this game in years. I’ll be going back for some more of that.

 

Getting in with some other guys you can tag along with is probably a good idea. It opens up a whole new set of possibilities. Flying online alone seems pretty dismal. Every time you run into fighters, they are on comms and one drags you to your death while his buddy maneuvers for the kill. There is no defense for that.

 

To the OP, try some different stuff and see how it goes. Flying in coordinated groups is a completely different experience. Thanks for the navigating Jim!

[PatrickAWlson]

A few tips:

1. Pick a plane and stick to it

2. Start with basics of takeoff and landing.  Get that down.

3. Once you are comfortable with that go to QMB and pick an easy plane for target practice.  IL2 Mod 41 is great because it is basically a helpless flying tank.

4. Once you can shoot down a near helpless target up the level of competition.

5. Requiem videos are your friend

 

In many things, a large, challenging task has to be tackled through decomposition.  So if the task is "learn everything about IL2" then the above is my way of decomposing and tackling the individual elements.  Hope that helps.

 

 

 

 

 

If it makes you feel any better, I know nothing about bombing.  I started with level flight trying to use the bomb sight.  I can barely make it drop the bombs much less hit anything.

 

So I decide to take up an He111.  Nice, docile plane.  Couldn't get it off the ground.  About 10 attempts later and learning to use toe brakes to compensate for lack of rudder authority i can get it airborne with a light bomb load.  I have yet to make it home as I have burned out the engines every time.  

 

I have owned Il2 for years  

 

[JimTM]

2 hours ago, Jaegermeister said:

...

To the OP, try some different stuff and see how it goes. Flying in coordinated groups is a completely different experience. Thanks for the navigating Jim!

 

Yes, flying with a group (especially with voice communications) really makes MP into a great experience. I'm looking forward to seeing how the upcoming MP changes for "Air Marshall" can improve coordination for everyone on each side.

 

You're welcome re. the navigating Jaegermeister. It takes some practice to get comfortable with it. You can find some tutorial links in last third of the "Flying Guides and Utilities" topic in the IL-2 Resources post.

[startrekmike]

I see a lot of replies here that are telling you that you should move into multiplayer and while I can see where they are coming from, I don't know if that is always the best answer. There is certainly a lot you can learn online (especially in PvP with other players) but there is also a greater chance for frustration when you realize that there are players who will swat you out of the sky without so much as breaking a sweat because they have built up a lot of PvP specific skills over the years. I am sure there are co-op scenarios online that could be a lot better about that but even then, I am not sure that the online server space is the best place to get the feel of the basics.

 

  You mentioned that you play guitar and bass. When a prospective player jumps into the guitar scene, they are met with a lot of youtubers and the like telling them all kinds of shortcuts around the learning process but in the end, the best way to learn to play a musical instrument (guitar or otherwise) is to take a step by step approach where you start with the fundamentals and meaningfully build on that with everything from practicing progressively challenging songs to learning music theory. The guitarist that uses all those shortcuts and never really digs in to the mechanics and theory of playing will only progress so far as a both a musician and a guitar player. 

 

  From the sound of things, it seems like you may need to take a more focused, step by step approach. There is no denying that out of all the combat flight sim types, WWII focused sims are often the most difficult. In WWI sims, you are going quite slow and can maneuver quite tightly. Likewise, your gunnery is often done at very close range and with very little lead due to the slow speeds. In modern sims, you have the benefit of many systems, sensors, and even HUDs that help you put your weapons on target very precisely and with no real guesswork. WWII sims are hard and require a lot out of the player. 

 

  With all that in mind, here is my suggestion. Start from square one. Don't worry about shooting enemies down and instead worry about just getting full control of the plane. Spend some time learning how engine management works, how RPM, mixture, radiators,  and turbo/superchargers all combine to help you go as fast as possible. Learn the theory and concepts behind "boom and zoom" and turn fighting tactics. This is all stuff you can do in a low pressure single player environment and at your own pace. The aircraft in IL-2 are not exactly complex to operate so you can mainly focus on the overall concept/theory behind their operation as opposed to switch by switch, system by system operational concerns. Just spend time taking off, flying around, and generally putting the aircraft and your own piloting ability to the test. You can't win a fight until you can get every bit of speed, altitude, and turn radius/rate out of your own aircraft. There is a reason why real pilots go through a lot of training before they ever take on a enemy aircraft. Think of it like this. This is the stage where you are learning the notes on the fretboard, the basic theory behind scales, chord construction from scales, and building progressions of chords based on the key of the song. It is the stage where you are working on getting your picking hand and your fretting hand coordinated and your fingers on the right parts of the neck. Now is not the time to try and figure out a Stevie Ray Vaughan or Joe Satriani song, it is the time where you just build up a good foundation with the basics in a way that will actually help you as you go along. 

 

  When you are confident, you can then start to think about gunnery. There is no shame with starting with unarmed, large targets like the Ju-52 as a sort of "target drone" where you can get a feel for the gunsight, some low speed deflection shooting, and how different aircraft weapon arrangements change how you approach taking a shot. Just use the single player quick battle mode, put yourself in the fighter of your choice, and place a few Ju-52's. This will help you understand the importance of ammo conservation and will give you the opportunity to practice precision gunnery (hitting the right part of a plane as opposed to wasting ammo on the wrong part). 

 

  When at a point where you are comfortable shooting down those big Ju-52's, start changing it up by using armed aircraft like Stuka's, IL-2's, and the like. This will help you practice some tactics as you learn to attack without presenting a easy target for the gunners. The aircraft will still have a hard time fighting you on a dogfighting level but they can at least shoot back and give you something to think about. This is probably where precision gunnery practice will pay off since you will learn how to make overhead "boom and zoom" attacks that kill in one pass. Remember, there is no honor in the air. Kill the pilots, kill the gunners. They are your enemy, not the airplane. 

 

  After shooting down some cargo planes and bombers/attack aircraft, start doing one on one fights against fighters. Don't start with the most capable enemy fighters and lower their AI difficulty, there is no shame in this. Don't ever feel like you need to up the AI difficulty until YOU ARE READY to do so. Likewise, don't be afraid to experiment with the quick battle settings so that you can set yourself up (or the enemy) to have the altitude/position advantage. The important part is to ease yourself into it. 

 

  The big thing to work on here is situational awareness. Don't be afraid to use labels and make sure your head-tracking (TrackIR or otherwise) is in good order so you can easily look around without any issues. If you don't have head tracking, get it as it is pretty much a requirement for sims and will make your life so, so much easier. 

 

  Like learning a more complex song, it will take time to put all the skills together and turn it all into a dogfighting kill but it isn't impossible and ANYONE who is physically capable of doing so can do it after some learning and practice. It is all about attitude, willingness to learn, and a good learning process. 

 

  A couple of final thoughts. 

 

  Don't rush into multiplayer. I know that the combat flight sim community as a whole tends to push REALLY hard on that but you don't need to go online until you are ready. Even then, it is sometimes more enjoyable to simply build up a group of friends that you play with on your own private servers as opposed to playing the social lottery that is public server gaming. There is nothing wrong with sticking with single player if you want. You have no obligation to fill a slot on some public server if you don't want to. 

 

  While I don't usually advocate using one sim to "train up" to another, I do think you might benefit from downloading Rise of Flight. It is a WWI sim and will let you practice all the concepts you will use in IL-2 but everything is slower and easier to follow. it helps that Rise of Flight in itself is free and the aircraft you get for free are quite good so you don't really need to buy anything extra. It is a great sim in regards to teaching the fundamentals of both flight and air combat. It is a very "pure" dogfighting experience that is built on the same structure as IL-2 so it will be very familiar (made by the same developers).  

[SAG]

1400 hours into the sim, at least 400 of them as a fighter. still suck.

 

I think the secret is to fly with others and to just have fun, as for getting better, as many others have said, stick to a plane. You are probably going to be a faster learner than I am. Do you know how many hours it took me to realize that I wasn't leading enough for the La5's guns? about all of them ?

[Bremspropeller]

On 5/18/2020 at 1:16 AM, busdriver said:

First couple of years...I died all the time. Had my ass handed to me...all the time. Now? I get my ass handed to me and bailout/die ALL.THE.TIME. I suck as a 1GCCFP. When I'm online, I'm the "designated mort," as I'm sure @ShamrockOneFive and @Requiem can verify. At heart I am a SP fan, enjoying a squadron's career fiction including editing my opinion of mission events offered by PWCG. But I really get a kick out of the beauty of the maps, flying low and dropping bombs, and flying at night. 

 

If dogfighting success or failure were the only measure of my enjoyment, then I would quit. Oh, did I mention I flew RF-4s and F-16s, and taught BFM in RL? I highly recommend reaching out to Requiem and try to set up some online instruction, join his Discord channel, come fly with us. 

 

I tried to follow Requiem's Discord invitation on his profile, but it won't work.

 

Seems like I'm not one of the cool kids ?

 

====

 

The most important goal should be having fun. My experience has been that even bad days can be fun when on comms and a light-hearted attitude is shared by everybody. Don't let *results* get in the way of having fun. Most people that are good have had a very long time trying to achieving the level of proficiency they're now demonstrating. It doesn't just come over night.

 

Don't take the GAME too seriously.

Edited May 20, 2020 by Bremspropeller

[busdriver]

1 hour ago, Bremspropeller said:

I tried to follow Requiem's Discord invitation on his profile, but it won't work.

 

We can fix that. Hey @Requiem can you help out a brother?

[Requiem]

6 minutes ago, busdriver said:

 

We can fix that. Hey @Requiem can you help out a brother?

Catching me on my morning forum reading... @Bremspropeller Dunno why the link in my signature wouldn't work. *Edit* Looks like I wasn't using an unlimited link, fixed...thanks for pointing it out

 

https://discord.gg/rPQCjch

Edited May 20, 2020 by Requiem

[VR-DriftaholiC]

I gotta say the AI in even ACE mode is EZ, I rarely loose a dogfight. In multiplayer I get whooped on constantly. I'm lucky to have a few kills in many more deaths. I personally think learn to take off and land and maybe practice some gunnery so you know how to lead targets then get into multiplayer to quickly learn what you can't get away with. You'll be punished much quicker for your mistakes and as a result learn a lot faster. There is nothing wrong with failing just take every sortie and ask yourself what you could have done differently then try that!

[oc2209]

I think learning to fly as a child helps. Both for sims and in real life. I've been flying sims (albeit primitive ones like Aces of the Pacific and Their Finest Hour) since I was practically a toddler. It got me used to the basic principles of flight. I moved on to other sims, then the original IL-2, then 1946. I only recently got Stalingrad and Bodenplatte of the current IL-2 series; it's the most advanced sim I've used so far.

 

I have not yet tried multiplayer. I expect I'd do poorly for a variety of reasons, some being the inadequacy of my PC and settings. But I still enjoy single player; even if, as others have mentioned here, the current IL-2 AI is lacking in some respects.

 

In terms of advice, I'd say focus on single player mastery before getting heavily involved in multiplayer.

 

If you can't shake the AI, I'd suggest only flying planes with a good turning radius. The Spitfire is your best bet in that regard.

 

Ultimately though, you're going to need to find... The One. The One. And yes, I mean that in terms of human soul mate terminology. Pilots are married to/in love with their favorite planes. It's a tragic fact of life.

 

All kidding aside, each plane has a temperament that either fits with yours, or it doesn't. It either does what you want and expect it to do, or it doesn't. It's guns are easy for you to aim, or they aren't.

 

I've experimented extensively with the P-51, the P-47, the Spitfire Mk IX, the Tempest, the Yak-1, the Fw-190 A-8, and every Me-109 from F to G to K. Of all those planes, only one consistently does what I want, and allows me to score regular kills. I've improved enough that I'm averaging 4-5 kills per career sortie (6 is my record high); in all my other planes, I'm lucky to get 2-3 per sortie. I'm purposely not going to say which plane I prefer, to not prejudice you.

 

The point is that you need to isolate which plane you naturally do well in. This is most easily tested in quick battles, 1v1 against the AI. Start at minimum altitude so it's harder to lose track of them. Choose the same enemy plane each time. I'd suggest a P-47, since they're slugs at low altitude, and the AI can't maximize their advantages at all. A P-40 is also another good opponent. Tough but not overpowering, and not very fast. Whichever plane you fly that can consistently shoot down the AI the fastest, while using the least amount of ammunition: that's your plane.

[Eclipse4349]

I'm still pretty newb, and have been in IL-2 for since 2016 or so, I think. It's been off and on due to life and other things, but now I'm "back on" and there shouldn't be anything changing that now! 

 

One thing that will help with spotting and IDing are your graphics settings. There is good info here on the forums about that. With the new rendering and options, I'm finding that (using the Rift S) no supersampling in VR, 4xMSAA, sharpen on, and the blurry landscape filter look best and I've seen no compromise in spotting and I think better ID ability. 

 

As far as my own abilities, I've been finding that there is a difference between "knowing BFM" , and really knowing it, as in, not just knowing it on paper. As you've probably seen already, if you get a six, you've made serious errors and you will have a very hard if not impossible time shaking it off. 

 

As I have been rewatching Requiem's excellent tutorial content, I have found that I'm picking up on subtle things that went over my head the first (many) times I watched them, since I now have more experience to draw from. I highly suggest rewatching from the beginning, more than once, periodically. You might pick up on more things, as I did. 

 

Putting the pieces together takes some thought and experience. Situational awareness is always key, and something I still struggle with. As others have said, there's a lot to keep track of. But it's improving, as is my ability to correctly ID a target (which I also still struggle with in many cases). And being aware of a target and responding appropriately are two different things, of course. 

 

My improving understanding of energy states, energy management, nuances of some BFM maneuvers that drastically help manage range, angles, and closure and maneuverability of my aircraft, knowing good choices to make in different situations in applying the BFM I've learned, etc., is coming along pretty well now, and I still feel like a noob compared to most online. 

 

But... I'm completely fine with that! I have nowhere near the level of experience of those who fly regularly online. I do enjoy the learning and improving process. I plan to start to dip into multiplayer more, now that I feel like I have a foundation. 

 

I also play guitar also, and that's a pretty good parallel. In guitar terms, I'm still learning the notes of scales and chords and where they are on the fretboard in IL-2, but have a good bit of that under my belt now, I think. Nowhere to go but up from here (so lots of going down in flames to come!).

 

Over months of additions and changes, I have made what I feel is a good practice mission for pretty much anything you want to practice. I can send a OneDrive link to it if you're interested. It's been very helpful to me and a couple friends just now getting started in it. 

 

Good luck, and have fun! Don't stress about success. 

[RIPSkyKingTasmanaut]

I have a slightly different perspective on this, I'm going to humble brag a little bit so forgive me. I've played for a bit over a year now, though I came from another WWII flight game that had some crossover knowledge (rough match ups, gunnery basics, situational awareness etc). I'm a terrible pilot, I don't take off and land correctly, I can't read the gauges or know the correct engine settings. However, I am excellent in a dogfight. On my first multiplayer session after getting the game, I was accused of smurfing on a dogfight server. Over the course of my time with the game, this aspect of my flying hasn't really gotten any better. What has improved is my situational awareness, patience and the subtleties of gunnery and engine management. I am still not good in these areas, just improving from what I was. I get shot down a ton, some days more than others, but it doesn't surprise me as I look for fights without any real planning a lot of the time, going up against squads of 2-4 players by myself and just hoping to down 1 before they down me. The most rewarding sessions are the ones that I come in with patience and with a goal to stay alive. I'm still very much a noob, but I'm a scary prospect to deal with.

 

On my initial point, that I was basically instantly good at close quarters fighting, I'll try to explain what it is that I think I do better than most others with a similar time frame with the game. There are only a handful of things you need to be able to do to be good at this, but you have to chose the correct one to apply in a given situation. 

 

1. Matching speeds. You must anticipate the enemy cutting throttle and trying to force you to overshoot, be quick and ready to chop the throttle and maintain a position behind the enemy. Do NOT attempt to match their exact moves, stay out of plane if you have to, but in such a way as that within a few movements you have a shot at them. This requires anticipation of the enemy and knowledge of what both planes can do at a given time.

 

2. Forcing an overshoot. Probably the biggest thing for survival. If you find yourself in front, chop that throttle and attempt to stay out of the plane of his guns. This is where you need to either engage in a rolling scissors, flat scissors or snap roll. if they match your speed and follow you into the scissors, you will need to learn how to feel and ride the stall better than they can (my favourite thing to do)

 

3. Using energy traps. Knowing when to go into a steep climb, bait them into following, before  kicking the tail round and blowing them away as they stall. You need to be able to judge if you have enough energy advantage to pull this off. Knowing when to enter a dive in order to pull away and gain an energy advantage if your plane is capable of doing so.

 

That's basically all I do. No special tricks, just a few basic go-to things that I can perform variations of. Barely ever do I find myself in flat turning tail chases. Its all about scissoring and fighting with angles. Really when it all boils down, being able to maneuver better than they can right at the edge of stalling means you can always pretty much find a way to force to overshoot. The easy part is what to do when they're in front of you. I'd suggest you stop engaging in single circle turn fights and start fighting in terms of angles and energy. Get away from single player and the AI as it teaches you bad habits. No human opponent will fly as the AI does. The AI is fun, as a target practice, or as a bit of immersive mission action, but to truly develop your skills in combat flying, you need to fight humans, and get shot down a lot. But you cannot give up. You can do this. Find someone that wants to fly with you and go into multiplayer and duke it out. I'd be happy to be that guy. Hit me up if you want to have a practice session. That is the best and only way to learn

Edited May 26, 2020 by RIPSkyKingTasmanaut

[novicebutdeadly]

On 5/16/2020 at 8:34 PM, ME-BFMasserME262 said:

Warning: this post is made out of my frustration.

 

I started playing, IIRC, by May 2018. So now it's 2 years and few days. 

 

As I'm writing this, out of frustration, I have all my flying sim hardware in their corresponding packaging, that is, Im giving up. Being rekt by AI, which no-matter-what keeps at my 6, and being rekt by other humans (whose skills I envy), I find no fun in that, even If I tried to force me to do so for during these 2 years.

 

I play guitar and electric bass just for fun at home, and after the initial 2 years, I made progression on both. Same goes for other video-games. Same goes for my job. But no way I progress here. Yeah, I dont crash at landings or at take-offs (I learnt to do it without dying the first 2 months actually). But no way I can be a "fighter" or a fighter-bomber or a bomber. No matter how much tutorials or manuals I watch/read, its just a "no".

 

Still cant shake a lovely AI from my tail, still cant shot down human players, except distracted players flying in Berloga, still cant notice a darn thing flying near me (that is, my situational awareness is still crap). I still miss to spot a plane 5 meters away from me, while I can see a RC plane flying at 10 feet heigth flying far away from me in RL. Well, everything that can be made wrong in this game, I STILL do it. Im not sure if it happens to someone else, and I envy those who have the patience to learn the game but... I seem to be too bad for it, word.

 

The thing is, I will probably buy BoN when I can (can't right now) and future releases, since Im still amazed at the work the devs do. The game is great, with its flaws yeah, but its great. The game, and the dev team, both.

 

Now Im kinda curious on knowing people's experience for first 2-3 years in the game. Did you improve, or you needed 30 years for that?

Are you still a noob? Are you still crashing after stalling a 190 against a AI-flown Yak? If so, you are not alone.

I have read many people's helpful advise,

But to me there is something missing, and I will do my best to explain this my friend.

The first thing you need to sit down and work out is "why are you playing this game"

What I mean is what made you decide to play this game, of all the games available?

For many of us here it is a deep interest in aviation and in particular ww2 aviation.

There is no point to me coming up with your possible reasons, this is something only you can do.




Some advise to help you if  you chose to continue:

The first lesson is to love the plane that you are flying, know it's strengths and it's weaknesses.

The second is to try to dictate the fight

If you stall out fighting a Yak then you aren't flying the FW190 the correct way.

The FW190 is not a turn fighter (at least not at the lower speeds), it just isn't capable of it, so try some turns and then disengage and create some separation before turning back at them in a head on attack.

In regards to not seeing aircraft in game versus real life , I know exactly how you feel.





 

[Nate_2112]

For me,it was a long process,and I am in no way "good".But I can hold my own against AI.When IL-2 first came out,I mostly played SP and used very arcade-like settings.I used invincibility for awhile,and after some time,noticed I was getting hit less from enemy planes.Then started turning more of the settings to be more of a sim.

But the one thing that helped me have more fun and fly better was buying a Trackir system.

Can't play without it.

 

 

 

[MasserME262]

Hell thats a bunch of nice replies...

 

After some months away from the sim, I really want to set up the hardware to fly again, just feeling lazy as my desktop is small and its uncomfortable to work (I work on IT so my computer is my workplace as well) specially with those pedals behind the desktop ?

 

But I can't forget the fun some 10 days of autumn or sea dragons gave me and I feel tempted to fly again so I guess I will just give up and set up that hardware!

 

Anyway, thanks for the advice and the helpful comments, I wasn't wrong when I decided to fell in love with this game and community.

 

Cheers!

[Lusekofte]

I hardly can bring myself to care. I fly planes not suited to defend one self if spotted online. So I hardly fly online. 
The little I do fly this game is scripted campaigns and a little coop. 
There are many good online missions, designed to make people care about objectives. If you try to have that in mind flying online , your a champ in my eyes

[sergio_]

From the first post we can alredy see that:
- You kept tyring.
- You Still wanted to get BoN despite unplugging.
- You came back again.
To me, this means that you simply like the sim, and you may not need any other reason.

Since you were kinda curious of people's experience for first years, mine is quite close to yours. All my life playing flight sims (since the 80's), eventually I got to fly IRL (while it doesn't really mean anything in this context), and I still suck at IL-2.

Now, suddenly I changed the sensitivity of my joystick back to almost zero around a week ago and I find I can now sustain a tight turn and actually aim, or shake an AI enemy from my 6 without stalling. Turns out, when my joystick is almost at max deflection, I have much more control than I've had all my IL-2 life.

Has this changed the actual fun I have in IL-2? Not really.

What I'm saying is:
- I kept back flying because, despite the frustration and difficulty I found in IL-2, I like this sim. I have quit more than once, but I always come back because I love flying these birds. Many reasons why I like it other than success at combat are just flying replicas of the planes, the different roles, learning navigation, VR, some great moments with mates, getting curious at history, and so on.
- You may or may not find some setting or your ability may some day just kick in, maybe never. But that's not what kept me coming back, and I know it now that I can play scripted campaigns and come back to land my plane (really, this only started happening consistently less than 2 weeks ago).
- I may die many times in a day and still come back, because they could kill my virtual pilot, but never my fun.

I don't have a direct advice. This is just my answer to OP's question.

[Swine08]

Join a squad. You will learn so much and plus you will have wingmen as they did in the real world.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions even if they seem stupid.  There are no dumb questions in this arena. This sim along with a few others require time and experience to become proficient. 
Practice, practice, and practice.  This is kind of like shooting. You have to continue to train or you’ll lose it.    I can’t emphasize the squad thing.  I did that back in 2004 when IL-2 first came out and it was a great experience.  I made a ton of really amazing friends. That also made it a blast.  Man I made some good friends. I never expected that.  

 

[BuzzU]

Try and have fun being shot down. Someone has to do it.

[ITAF_Airone1989]

On 5/16/2020 at 12:34 PM, ME-BFMasserME262 said:

Warning: this post is made out of my frustration.

 

Are you still a noob? Are you still crashing after stalling a 190 against a AI-flown Yak? If so, you are not alone.

 

 

@216th_LuseKofte why don't you try online with somebody else? 4 eyes are a way better than 2...

 

Edited August 20, 2020 by ITAF_Airone1989

[BuzzU]

Ok, my above post was a little humor. My best advice is to get a wingman to protect your six.

[mazex]

Well - I have been flying simulators and real planes since the 80:ies and still suck as well online in BoX, as I never find those small pixels supposed to be aircraft even though I have 2.0 eyesight... Against the AI I would at the other hand consider myself rather mean 

 

One of the most important things I think is to get a hold of are the basic BFM manouvres - especially lead, pure and lag persuit. I had to learn the hard way in the old IL2 where I flew much more MP, but that is even more important in BoX with the AI that likes to go in circles forever (but it has improved rather dramatically the last year). I can not over stress the importance to get these right. Look at the great video below. The thing me as a noob did way to much (and I think that is a mistake by many newcomers) is to pull all you can in every turn ending up in lead persuit. You close to fast and have to squeeze off a few bullets with high deflection and then overshoot - or bleed off all your speed in a energy wasting turn. Learn to mix between them and use pure or lag much more and end up straight behind the bandit instead for a much easier shot and better control of the fight with more energy. Get a hold of the high yo-yo combined with lag persuit if you are way faster than the bandit etc.

 

 

And do look at his other videos as well - one thing the is common with new pilots while turning as I said earlier is pulling to hard, hanging by the prop at 200 km/h instead letting off a bit of pressure and rather dramatically increasing their turn rate - watch below:

 

 

And another thing that is evil - good and expensive hardware really helps. When I switched from my old Logitech G940 stick to a Virpil Warbrd Base and a T50 CM2 stick my aiming got twice as good. It is expensive but it really helps with a joystick that is exact and has a rather long throw...

 

Good luck - and hang in there!

Edited August 20, 2020 by mazex

[WokeUpDead]

When I first got IL-2 1946 many years ago I got better than the AI pretty quickly, but it took me over 4 years to become just a 50/50 player (one who gets as many kills as deaths) online. Keep I’m mind that online you may be flying against guys who have over 20 years experience sometimes, from days before the original IL2 game even.

 

Lots of replies here say “join a squad,” that’s not a bad idea but personally my squad experience didn’t help me as much as my solo flying. I think these three things helped me to improve the most 

 

1) I picked one plane family and practiced them all the time. In the quick mission builder I practiced basic maneuvers like tight turns to see where the stall limit was, dives to see how it flew at high speed, steep climbs to see how it maneuvered there too. Later I’d add a predictable AI opponent and practice the same defensive and attacking maneuvers over and over. I then flew online in “airquake” servers (Berolga server is the closest thing we got in this game) just to get as many sorties and fights as possible in a short time frame.
 

2) When flying on more realistic servers I kept a journal. Over a time I saw trends develop, same mistakes leading to losses over and over. I worked on those mistakes.

 

3) I recorded and watched a lot of tracks of myself to learn from mistakes and successes.

 

Eventually I became pretty good; I consistently finished near the top of the scoreboard with a good K/D ratio and I joined another small squad where I taught some players. A few years ago I switched to this game and now I’m barely a 50/50 player again, haha. It’s a harder game and it seems the ratio of veterans to noobs is much bigger than in IL-2 1946 as well.

[Mac_Messer]

2 years is nothing without external help ie. someone assisting you. One friendly experienced player will tell you most things you do wrong about flying and not knowing it. You won`t be able to tell if you`re learning otherwise.

21 years of virtual flying and I still can`t accurately tell enemy planes` energy state  quick enough when I see them; probably another person, preferably with physics background would have to explain it to me.

[SIA_Sp00k]

Forget about engine management, speeds at altitude, turning circles at speed, Air Combat Manoeuvres and all that other wannabe stuff.

You need 3 words.  The first two are the hardest to acquire.

 

1. Discipline

2. Patience

3. Closure

 

The first two you will learn alone. You cannot learn them if you are at the whim of another with an obligation to engage or save.

You must wait until the situation favours you.  You must not be tempted by the quick kill or the urge to engage. You must be close.

 

Master those 3 and you will kill many.

[AEthelraedUnraed]

On 8/21/2020 at 8:47 AM, Mac_Messer said:

21 years of virtual flying and I still can`t accurately tell enemy planes` energy state  quick enough when I see them; probably another person, preferably with physics background would have to explain it to me.

Well, the physics is easy but I don't know how much help it's going to be.

 

Let's say you're flying at 360kph (=100m/s). The kinetic energy due to your speed is 0.5*m*v^2, where m is the mass of your plane in kg and v is the speed in m/s. That means your kinetic energy is 0.5*m*100^2 = m * 5000 Joule. Don't worry about the mass for now.

Now if you suddenly start to fly higher, you trade some of that kinetic energy for an equal amount of potential energy due to your increased height. The added potential energy is m*g*h, where m is again the mass of your plane, g is the gravitational force (depending on your location on Earth around 9.8, but I'll round to 10) and h the height difference in metres. So let's say you fly 100m higher than before. That means that your potential energy increased by m*10*100 = 1000 Joule.

 

To find out how much speed we've lost as a result of the ascent, we can calculate the total energy state for both cases. That's m * 5000 Joule (kinetic energy) for when you were flying low and fast, and m * 1000 Joule (potential energy) + 0.5*m*v^2 (kinetic energy) for when you're flying high and slow. Now equate the two to find out your new speed:

m * 1000 + 0.5*m*v^2 = m * 5000

Notice that there's an m everywhere? That means we can divide it away, and the difference in energy state of our aircraft doesn't depend on its weight!

1000 + 0.5 * v^2 = 5000

Subtract 1000 on both sides.

0.5*v^2 = 4000

Times two.

v^2 = 8000

And finally find its root.

v = sqrt(8000) = 89.44 m/s = 322 kph

 

So a reasonable rule of thumb would be that an aircraft flying 100m above you is of equal energy state if it's flying 40 kph slower. Do note that kinetic energy isn't linear (the speed is squared) so the speed difference is bigger for slower velocities (47 kph when flying 300 instead of 360) and smaller for larger speeds.