Feature request: "Pause on contact/combatzone"

[Roshko]

Hi

Flying long hauls is certainly a part of the realism - no doubt.

Sitting in a chair, drinking coffee, while flying long hauls is not.

Simming is always a compromise right?

 

I often do not have the time (or the patience) to fly formation for +100 kms, so what I do is of course engaging the autopilot and speeding up time to 8x.

 

Only trouble is, that I often miss some event - being intercepted or arrival at target - because I am doing other things while the autopilot is doing the long haul.

 

It would be an awesome feature if the game could be set to pause, as soon as an enemy is spotted on the map and in good time before arrival at target area (only if the autopilot is engaged of course).

Shouldn't be very difficult to implement I think?

Edited December 18, 2021 by acebone

[Raptorattacker]

It unfortunately then becomes more 'arcade' than Sim if you start implementing those type of options though doesn't it?

The speeding up is pretty much as good as it gets for a 'sim' because it is, above everything else, a Simulator.

 

Rap

[Yogiflight]

14 minutes ago, Raptorattacker said:

It unfortunately then becomes more 'arcade' than Sim if you start implementing those type of options though doesn't it?

The speeding up is pretty much as good as it gets for a 'sim' because it is, above everything else, a Simulator.

 

Rap

It is not more arcade than flying in autopilot with 8x speed. And it could be done, so you have to activate it in the difficulty settings, so everyone could feel free to use it or not.

[KPnutskgwanchos]

Totally agree this would be an excellent idea. I would have spent far more time in this game if this kind of option was possible. I really dont see how having this as an option would make it "arcade" ... it would allow those of us with time poor days to be able to slot some time in easier. Great call .

 

      

[Roshko]

1 minute ago, KPnutskgwanchos said:

Totally agree this would be an excellent idea. I would have spent far more time in this game if this kind of option was possible. I really dont see how having this as an option would make it "arcade" ... it would allow those of us with time poor days to be able to slot some time in easier. Great call .

 

      

Yeah - you could start your mission, then go do whatever it might be, return an hour or more later, and be ready for some action. Unfortunately most of us aren't getting paid to fly sim

[Jade_Monkey]

I like the idea.

 

Another idea tangentially related: ability to jump into and control other friendly planes like in DCS. If you get shot down after a really long haul, it would be nice to just switch to your wingman and continue the flight instead of having to start over.

 

I've got a little baby and i don't have time to repeat long hauls.

[Eisenfaustus]

Good idea - wouldn‘t work for me since my vr would turn off and thusly kill the game. But nevertheless great if implemented. 
 

little advice for virtual pilots with time constraints (like myself): air starts start close to the second waypoints 

 

So start as squadron leader, place the second waypoint closer to the third (where the action is) and fly airstart. Now you‘ll have to cruise far less. On your way home once you safely passed own lines you can leave mission and it counts as if you arrived. 
 

I really enjoy takeoffs and landings but on Rhineland this means almost an hour of eventless cruising for German fighters. Realistic maybe - but boring. 

[CAFulcrum]

Something like Silent Hunter 3 would be fantastic -- having a much faster time acceleration in map mode (like up to 64x), but with an automatic 'back to normal speed' the moment your flight spots contacts (or gets bounced if they don't -- just don't automatically slow the game down whenever enemies appear as it ruins the surprise element) or hits the target approach waypoint.  Sitting in front of the computer for 10 min flying your airplane in a straight line doesn't really make the game any fun; it's a necessity in MP but in SP just makes the 'game' take longer.  Also it's kind of needless strain on your arm if you're using ffb... just the extra sitting time is bad for you lol.  The only gameplay going on is usually climbrate, fuel setting, etc. that can be done in fast speed.  You can skip it currently with airstart but you lose the additional 'gameplay' of taking off and landing if you skip the long en routes.

[Raptorattacker]

38 minutes ago, CAFulcrum said:

Something like Silent Hunter 3 would be fantastic -- having a much faster time acceleration in map mode (like up to 64x), but with an automatic 'back to normal speed' the moment your flight spots contacts (or gets bounced if they don't -- just don't automatically slow the game down whenever enemies appear as it ruins the surprise element) or hits the target approach waypoint.  Sitting in front of the computer for 10 min flying your airplane in a straight line doesn't really make the game any fun; it's a necessity in MP but in SP just makes the 'game' take longer.  Also it's kind of needless strain on your arm if you're using ffb... just the extra sitting time is bad for you lol.  The only gameplay going on is usually climbrate, fuel setting, etc. that can be done in fast speed.  You can skip it currently with airstart but you lose the additional 'gameplay' of taking off and landing if you skip the long en routes.

Now THAT'S more along the lines... after thinking about the whole thing I'm starting to kinda come round to something like...

I've still got that thing in the back of my mind that there is a case for some sort of realism and I guess that if it would kick OUT of acceleration as soon as there were enemy activity spotted (8km out, for instance) so you wouldn't be capable of, say, having a kip or  whatever!

Edited December 18, 2021 by Raptorattacker

[BlitzPig_EL]

As I have said on other threads, options are a good thing.  They allow more people to enjoy the sim, wether or not we agree with their way of doing things.  In the end that makes it better for all of us.

 

I've never understood the "my way or the highway" attitude that some of the more hard core players have.

[PatrickAWlson]

RB3D dropped out of time compression on contact.  I wouldn't mind that either.  Yes, it tells you that enemies are nearby, but so do the red plane shaped thingies on the map.  

 

I never worry about how other people play a single player game.  There is no such thing as cheating, since you need an opponent to cheat.

[Eisenfaustus]

1 hour ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

I've never understood the "my way or the highway" attitude that some of the more hard core players have.

 

16 minutes ago, PatrickAWlson said:

I never worry about how other people play a single player game.  There is no such thing as cheating, since you need an opponent to cheat.

Both of you nailed it. Like many here I personally like to play on the most realistic settings - yet when I started simming I was thankful for all the unrealistic aids that helped me to get into the game. And if I‘d fly with unlimited ammo, simplified physics and floating lead markers - who cares? Everything that helps more people to enjoy the game is welcome!

[PatrickAWlson]

I am not young.  I can't see the planes without help.  Neither do I like the mass of text that you get with in game icons.  So I use a mod that buts a single red or blue dot over the plane.   That is what is right for me.  If I had to rely purely on spotting the actual plane I probably would not play.   I also use map icons. My SA is simply not good enough otherwise.

 

I do not play dead is dead.  I play dead is badly wounded and you miss significant time.  Enough to keep me honest without being so brutal that I lose interest.

 

I also use a mod to tone down AA and gunner accuracy, which IMHO is excessive.

 

I do play with real physics, full engine management (to the extent that the game has full engine management), no aiming aids, limited ammo, etc.  Most of my choices center around getting killed less often while still keeping the difficulty of scoring at a relatively high level.  

 

Have fun.  We're not going to douse ourselves in gasoline and light a match if our virtual plane is burning.  In a real combat situation, air or ground,  I would probably be dead inside of the first two minutes.  I am very thankful for the "restart" button.  Real life doesn't have one.

 

[Roshko]

2 hours ago, PatrickAWlson said:

I am not young.  I can't see the planes without help.  Neither do I like the mass of text that you get with in game icons.  So I use a mod that buts a single red or blue dot over the plane.  

 

 

I have the same challenge - My not so young eyes can't see, so I turn on the icons to know what's going on. I'd really like a small dot rather than the icons. What mod are you using and where'd you get it?

[PatrickAWlson]

12 minutes ago, acebone said:

I have the same challenge - My not so young eyes can't see, so I turn on the icons to know what's going on. I'd really like a small dot rather than the icons. What mod are you using and where'd you get it?

 

Lots of options.  I am using ICON_D_D_NL_SM_RB_DOT which I believe partially means icon small dot red/blue.

I use ICON_NAV_DMD which is a yellow diamond for nav icons.  I want to switch that out to something smaller.

 

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by PatrickAWlson

[Roshko]

2 hours ago, Eisenfaustus said:

 

I personally like to play on the most realistic settings - yet when I started simming I was thankful for all the unrealistic aids that helped me to get into the game. And if I‘d fly with unlimited ammo, simplified physics and floating lead markers - who cares? Everything that helps more people to enjoy the game is welcome!

Exactly! I am in the process of doing that exact thing! I do worry if I'll be able to see planes well enough, but it's the endgoal

[354thFG_Leifr]

Dropping out of time compression (or skipping the interlude patrols entirely) would be OK for me. I no longer have the time to commit to long sorties on patrol (newborn), but being able to run a career and skip on the extended periods of flight would be a great boon. The Microsoft CFS series used to have this; the player would take off, get airborne and be offered the chance to skip to the next patrol point with a key press. The next patrol point usually involved a short patrol for aircraft, or combat.

[AEthelraedUnraed]

It's already possible to automatically set time compression to 1x.

 

The game does so if you play a custom sound. Just play a 1s silence, and the game will go to 1x speed without the user noticing anything. Very easy to implement in a custom mission. It should also be possible to add such an option to automatically generated missions such as in @PatrickAWlson's campaign generator.

[Roshko]

13 minutes ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

It's already possible to automatically set time compression to 1x.

 

The game does so if you play a custom sound. Just play a 1s silence, and the game will go to 1x speed without the user noticing anything. Very easy to implement in a custom mission. It should also be possible to add such an option to automatically generated missions such as in @PatrickAWlson's campaign generator.

Play a sound? What do you mean? How do you play silence??

BTW. This is not about going to 1x - this is about pausing the game, or in other words going to 0x. Also this has nothing to do with mission-building. This is a requested new feature that will apply to all kinds of missions if you choose to enable it.

Edited December 18, 2021 by acebone

[AEthelraedUnraed]

1 hour ago, acebone said:

Play a sound? What do you mean? How do you play silence??

By having an mp3 file without any sound in it.

 

1 hour ago, acebone said:

BTW. This is not about going to 1x - this is about pausing the game, or in other words going to 0x.

I know, but it's the next best thing, isn't it? And several people above mentioned that they'd like it.

 

2 hours ago, acebone said:

Also this has nothing to do with mission-building. This is a requested new feature that will apply to all kinds of missions if you choose to enable it.

And how do you suggest to accomplish such a thing without programming the relevant triggers into a mission file?

[danielprates]

9 hours ago, PatrickAWlson said:

I am not young.  I can't see the planes without help.

 

I remember bringing this up when the new spotting system was being developed, when it came to diatances, contrast against the sky and ground etc. "More realism" is great as a general rule, but then again "real" was having only 20yos with perfect eyesight flying those planes.

[Roshko]

10 hours ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

By having an mp3 file without any sound in it.

 

I know, but it's the next best thing, isn't it? And several people above mentioned that they'd like it.

 

And how do you suggest to accomplish such a thing without programming the relevant triggers into a mission file?

I am talking about the campaign system. I do not build missions for those.

Thanks for you answer, I now know something I didn't know beforehand

[Roshko]

7 hours ago, danielprates said:

 

I remember bringing this up when the new spotting system was being developed, when it came to diatances, contrast against the sky and ground etc. "More realism" is great as a general rule, but then again "real" was having only 20yos with perfect eyesight flying those planes.

True that - another argument: Realistic would be if you could have the same field of view in the sim as you do in real life, and you can. When you zoom in, your field of view approaches that of real life. So the next time you're on the tail of a bogey -.try zooming all the way in: That's how big he would appear to a RL-pilot.

The big downside of that is of course that it is like looking through a little hole, you can't see much else than the fighter in front of you. The upshot is that anything you see when using normal zoom is way smaller than it would appear in real life.

So what is most realistic when you spot in the distance? That the planes have their original size, but you are as fish-eyed as a haddock and can't see them? Or that the planes are enlarged on distance, giving you the same opportunity to spot them as RL-pilots had? Well that depends on how you define realistic. If you define it mathematically, the wide-eyed haddock is the most realistic, but if you define it perceptionally I think that the latter option is the most realistic. After all, sims are about giving you perceptive experiences that approaches those of real life.

(btw - this comment only pertains to simmers using normal screens. The VR-thing is quite different in this aspect)

Edited December 19, 2021 by acebone

[AEthelraedUnraed]

2 hours ago, acebone said:

I am talking about the campaign system. I do not build missions for those.

Thanks for you answer, I now know something I didn't know beforehand

I understand, but every mission uses the exact same mission format, whether it's a written mission, a quick mission, a AQM mission, a campaign or a career. If something is possible in a single mission, it's possible in the career; the only difference is that the mission is made programmatically instead of manually.

 

Now of course the mission creation software has to implement such a thing. I think chances are slim to see it in the official career, but PatrickAWlson might implement it in PWCG, if you can convince him.

[Raptorattacker]

20 hours ago, PatrickAWlson said:

I am not young.  I can't see the planes without help. 

My situation exactly Meester Wilson!!

[SharpeXB]

Missions would be silly and boring if they had predictable “contact zones”. If you don’t want to fly longer missions there’s the option to air-start. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by SharpeXB

[Roshko]

Then just don't use such a feature? It's like you didn't read the thread or the OP at all?

Air-start will not cut much time of a 200 km forth and back haul, and some of us might not enjoy flying straight ahead for 10-15 mins. Others may have babies to tend to (at least two guys in this thread). If you enjoy flying long stretches with zero action, then nobody is or will be stopping you.

[Ace_Pilto]

On 12/19/2021 at 3:24 AM, PatrickAWlson said:

RB3D dropped out of time compression on contact.  I wouldn't mind that either.  Yes, it tells you that enemies are nearby, but so do the red plane shaped thingies on the map.  

 

I never worry about how other people play a single player game.  There is no such thing as cheating, since you need an opponent to cheat.

 

And Red Baron 1 had a "Skip to the Action" feature which you could activate after taking off. Some kind of dynamic pausing system would be a great idea for people who need to use it. Time compression might work for some but it is hit and miss, depending upon your system. For me it just turns the sound off and doesn't speed anything up appreciably if there is a lot of units in the mission.

 

Most missions are built with the idea of the player flight meeting an enemy flight or some objective, so why not let people have a 'pause on encounter system' in the options so they can let autopilot fly them around while they attend to their younglings or whatever other preoccupations normal people pursue? This would be what is referred to as an accesibility feature. So long as I can still play Ironman while sitting on my 10 gallon can of gasoline, in my underwear, with a loaded revolver on my desk and sneer at the casual plebians while I select fulll realism settings, I'm happy.

[Yogiflight]

2 hours ago, Ace_Pilto said:

And Red Baron 1 had a "Skip to the Action" feature which you could activate after taking off.

I would always prefer this option to an airstart. Takeoff and landing are two features, which in my eyes, are essential parts of flying. OK, at least the takeoff, the landing part, sometimes is a bit unforeseeable

[Ace_Pilto]

38 minutes ago, Yogiflight said:

Takeoff and landing are two features, which in my eyes, are essential parts of flying.

 

Conventional wisdom agrees with you on this point and so do I, airstarts skip one of the fun parts. Taking off and landing are the next most fun things to do next to blowing stuff up.

[PatrickAWlson]

4 hours ago, Yogiflight said:

I would always prefer this option to an airstart. Takeoff and landing are two features, which in my eyes, are essential parts of flying. OK, at least the takeoff, the landing part, sometimes is a bit unforeseeable

 

I would not do that because of the dynamic nature of my missions.  Like RB3D, everything is moving.  There is no "warp to action" because neither the place nor the nature of the action is predefined in the mission.  Not saying that there is anything wrong with warp to action if a mission is built that way (go here and when you get here you will fight these these things at this place), but it would not work for mine.  Losing the undefined nature of PWCG missions is too steep of a price to pay.

 

However, I also keep PWCG missions non historically short.  I don't want to carve circles in the air for three hours either.  If time compression actually worked as stated you could blow through the ingress/egress in just a few minutes.  With that in mind, what I would like to see is a massive push to improve performance.  That would not only pay dividends in time compression, it would enhance the experience across the board.

Edited December 20, 2021 by PatrickAWlson