The Circus Post

[76SQN-Gresham]

1 hour ago, J2_NobiWan said:

Impressive score, considering the fragility of the S.E. and your noble attitude towards disabled enemies limping back home, Sir! S!

 

Thank you, could have been 34 or maybe more if I wasent so nice ? S!

Edited December 9, 2021 by =RAW=76SQN-Wellington

[No.23_Starling]

On 12/4/2021 at 8:39 AM, J5_Mueller said:

update: Latest reports indicate the 131 streak of Gus_GT apparently ended in a tragic collision. While US93_Rummel has increased his player streak to 84, great accomplishments, gents. 

I think I’m in triple figures pvp now.. Time to stop neglecting my family.

 

Great post Mueller. J5 are still the beating heart of the FC community and a nice bunch too. I can’t wait to see more events and maps, particularly when we get the big bombers!

[J2_Bidu]

24 minutes ago, US93_Rummell said:

I think I’m in triple figures pvp now..

 

It's a pretty obscene number, I understand why you're not specific.

 

Fortunately my contribution to it has become modest, lately. It payed off to change the family chores and dinner time to coincide with your flying hours. They say they're not hungry, but so what?

Edited December 9, 2021 by J2_Bidu

[No.23_Starling]

1 hour ago, J2_Bidu said:

 

It's a pretty obscene number, I understand why you're not specific.

 

Fortunately my contribution to it has become modest, lately. It payed off to change the family chores and dinner time to coincide with your flying hours. They say they're not hungry, but so what?

My trick is to time it with The Great British Bake-Off. For some reason that show is the centre of the family week. It’s literally just ppl cooking.

[JGr2/J5_Mueller]

A blanket of snow coats the ground and trees around the front today, big flurries falling slowly, dampen the sounds around the aerodrome. The holiday celebrations have left me dehydrated with a throbbing headache. The cold air feels good. A surreal quiet and calm pervades the atmosphere, overcast skies and heavy wet clouds stretch from horizon to horizon. Stiffening cold fingers strike the match to light the first cigarette of the morning. The heat from it warming my cupped hands, inhaling as the smoke fills my lungs. No one else has awoken this early so nothing stirs around the field, planes in hangars and tents covered in white waiting silently for their pilots. Even the German Shepard Hans, the squad mascot, who heard me come downstairs, and followed me from his place by the fire out into the morning air, waits silently by my side alert, looking. then I exhale and my breath mixes with the smoke to create a huge cloud that spreads upward from its own heat, as i pat Hans on the head and scratch him gently behind his ears. "frohe Weihnachten Hans" I whisper. The dog bounds from the porch headlong into the snow, nosing it up into the air and snapping at it with his jaws. running in circles and rolling around, i cant help but smile, the corners of my mouth creeping upwards unconsciously.  Just for a fleeting moment I slip away from the reality around me, another drag mixes with my breath into the air and my spirit is reveling in the joy of the dog playing innocently in the freshly fallen snow, not a care in the world. This is what life and living are about I ponder, a collection of fleeting moments of peace and tranquility interspersed with fleeting moments of terror and anxiety. The sharp contrast between the two hangs in my mind. My senses return as a wind kicks up making me turn up the collar of my coat. "Kom her Hans" I pointedly command. His ears perk up as he quickly comes up from the snow and tilts his head intently staring at me. "Kom!" I command louder now and he breaks into a sprint to join me again on the steps of the porch. Flicking the butt between my thumb and index finger it swirls away to land in the snow nearby and is quickly extinguished. "frohe Weihnachten" I utter once more as we go inside and shut the door, and the moment is gone.

   As the year comes to a close, our minds will tend to look back across the events of the year. It was a great one in terms of new content for this title and for fixes to problems that had persisted. It was good for new and old fans of the WW1 genre to return or discover new interests in flying the old crates. Three major multiplayer campaigns over the course of the year, the first time the capacity of the server needed to be raised to accommodate the players wanting to join. The younger pilots showing interest in the sim is encouraging. The delicate balance it takes to conserve energy above stall speed, while not exceeding the performance limits of your aircraft and still maintain an advantage enough to get a gun solution on your target. The most challenging era of flight i believe, there is no afterbuner, or turbo charger, or even any extra horsepower of get you out of making a mistake. The flak, the ground, the plane, the enemy are all doing their utmost to see you die, but despite that many pilots crave this type of challenge and return to it time and again. The most challenging form of air to air combat and simultaneously the reason some love it, and the reason the community is so compact. This is most likely the only era of flight where you can pretty much tell who your fighting by the way the fly.

    Looking ahead the sim and community both show promising signs of growth. New maps, planes, vehicles are all on the way, time specific plane sets, different seasons and fronts,new clouds and weather, who knows maybe a WW1 version of the coastal map could be created for Channel battles again from the Normandy map. The surface editing function has been enabled and some map makers are pioneering work in this area to make new airfield locations new roads, train lines, and who knows what else is possible. It has been announced elsewhere a new improved parser for keeping statistics will be introduced on the Flugpark with plane specific stats, and vehicle stats plus other features. The player base continues to grow with 737 different pilot accounts having flown on the server to date this last quarter, we can hope it will continue as VR users discover the open cockpit and close in dogfight immersion this offers over other eras of flight sims. There's heavy competition among DCS and Il2 when WW2 is concerned, and with the 262 and Arado jet planes it appears as though 1C may be stretching into the jet age to compete there as well. As far as WW1, Flying Circus is currently the only game in town under active development with a growing multiplayer base and as yet undeveloped planes coming in the future. 

    Another area where this sim is developing is in the player controlled vehicle combined arms aspect. It would be awesome to have player controlled tanks battling it out with player planes overhead. This is challenging with the current offering of player controlled vehicles as there are really none of the 1916 to 1918 era. Maybe some will be developed down the road i have no information on this but the inclusion of the female Mkv tank and other WW1 vehicles tells me work must be continuing to advance in that area. In an effort to bridge that gap, Jasta 5 ,with help from Kurtz28, and input from 1PL_Lucas has developed a combined arms battle for the 1920+ era. In a departure from conventional map making processes, this active front, capture area to win, air ground mutual support style of campaign is something i have not yet seen or experienced on the Flugpark, Finnish, or Combat box servers. In testing, myself along with J5_Wolff and J5_Eck experienced an intense 2 and and half hour battle attempting to retake an aerodrome from it being captured by Eeafanas in a Russian flak truck with the help of a squad of Russian armored cars. Last year the initial release of this map was a bit one sided as the Polish side could only defend against waves of Russian attackers. This reiteration features a Polish counter attack by 32 of the new Renault tanks correct to the period and conflict, whichever side is most successful at supporting their ground positions and attacking convoys will be victorious. As of this writing the battle for control of the map is slated to go for 12 hours or whoever wins first. There is a possibility to run this continually for a 40 hour period with no map roll except in case of victory by one side or the other. This would allow for night sorties to be flown and increased immersion, ie fly a few sorties to help the war effort, go sleep, return the next day to check the status of the front line and battle and go back up to influence it for your side. Or come late after the start to mount an attack under cover of darkness to win the map while your foes are asleep! I have not seen a continuous dynamic battle map run for any length of time as most campaigns last between 2 to 4 hours, this would add a whole new dimension to the gameplay. Please comment if you would be interested in seeing an extended campaign of this nature. As of this writing the stress test for this will be launched on Jan 1, 2022. Please see the poll on the thread in missions and campaigns in this forum. I should mention the U2 ww2 aircraft, the German and Russian flak trucks and most Flying Circus 2 aircraft are available on this map as well, so if you didnt get what you wanted from Santa, grab it from 1C on sale.

    Notable steaks for this quarter must begin with US93_Rummels continuing death toll of over 116 pilots, wow the 3rd pilot from the 103rd to score in the triple digits! Accolades to the squad as a whole for training and discipline, and great teamwork. Zatch with 23 player kills currently the next highest, congrats on that well done sir! J5_Klugermann and =RAW-76SQN-Wellington stand tied at 14 each only a few days to go before quarter end guys. J_99Sizzlorr at 12 currently Salute! US28_Baer with 11 currently working his way back to the triple digits. Several other pilots have steaks of player kills under these numbers which deserves honorable mention, if i failed to mention your streak or it has been going multiple quarters please inform me in this thread so i can track it. Also would love to include bombing streaks as well if anyone has one of note pipe up. 

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all the virtual pilots of Flying Circus, until the next sortie, that is all.

[J2_Seya]

Great post thanks. I would love to see some bombing and recon streaks. I'm looking forward to the 1920 event the last one was a blast.

[No.23_Gaylion]

Nice job Mueller 

[JGr2/J5_Mueller]

  For the second time today i have nursed a shot up and damaged aircraft back to the aerodrome, my mechanics look at me as though they are seeing a ghost and stare through the large holes in my aircraft. Wondering im sure what hell had assailed me during the sortie, but afraid to ask lest i tell them the horrible truth. I retire to my quarters without a word and lay down to rest, the blackness swirls behind my closed eyes and pitches back and forth, to and fro as if im still flying. I reach for the flask of shnapps in my pocket, I know the alcohol will calm the swirling vertigo and help me sleep. Inside my flight jacket pocket i grab it and notice that its gleaming metal surface is showing through what should be the inside of the coat. With my thumb and index finger I stretch the thick leather out from the coatrack and put my finger through the hole. Wow, there is also a corresponding dent in the center of the flask, I stare in amazement at the two obvious indicators i had been hit. With a thud the flattened slug drops to the floor as I turn the pocket upside down. I pick it up and examine it closely. An 11mm slug from a balloon gun. Good thing it wasnt a faster moving .303 or it would've gone through and through. The good Lord was protecting me once again. I notice my hand holding the slug, is it shaking? No, surely not, but despite concentrating hard, the tremors continue. With a sigh i toss the slug onto the night table, my new good luck charm, not as cute as von Richthofen's small blue dog, but just as full of luck still. Is there such a thing as luck? I dont really know. I feel that there is providence in everything, and luck has no place in life, only the will of God, and if its His will to take you on your last flight, not any amount of luck will change the fate you have been given. So i crack and raise my flask to the Almighty, and I swallow several gulps. Tomorrow will be another sortie and another chance for me to see if its my day or am I granted another, I lean back on the bed and light a cigarette, thinking deeply now about how many days will I be granted, My wingmen ? How many for them? Enough, the word pops into my brain, or was it put there? Again, I dont know, but I do know the drink has stopped my hand from shaking and my closed eyes from bouncing in their sockets. So i stub the cigarette out early and say a quick prayer under my breath, "Lord, have mercy on our souls" just in case there's a chance my next days were undecided.

      The new year brings more great things to Flying Circus, The Gotha and HP heavy bombers due out very soon will add a whole new dimension of gameplay, coupled with new recon and artillery spotting missions hopefully available for mutiplayer missions expand those horizons even further. The impact damage with pilots dying after slightly rough landings continues to be a problem we hope will be addressed soon as so many other issues have been before. Population on the server continues to increase, and seems just on the cusp of a regular weekly player base. Thursdays action is always so intense and deadly i try to not miss one. Sundays the server is full usually for hours, and battles swirl over every part of the front. Looks to be a promising year for IL2 even in the WW2 department due to the closing of DCS most popular WW2 server. Looking forward, the next iteration of the Flanders in Flames campaign has been initially announced, it is slated to take place on the Kuban map for a change of pace with a newly created front allowed for by the surface editing function mapmaker JG1_Buttzel has gained a good knowledge of. A great campaign to look forward to before winters end, see the JG1 website or FIF discord for details and to register. In April Jasta5 will host the Spring Offensive campaign. 

      I have not had time to review air or ground streaks so please feel free to add in this post if you are courting a streak of note. Until the next sortie, that is all.