Settings?

[Knarley-Bob]

I am limited to SP play, and was wondering what are the most realistic settings to play in "Pilot career"?

Thank you,

KB

[Majpalmer]

My advice is that you look for settings that, for you, make Il-2 enjoyable. Remember, it's supposed to be entertainment, not work. You're not being paid to fly, after all, and you aren't facing death if you screw up. So, no matter the settings, it's not "Realistic." 

 

For example, I'm color blind so I have to play with the colored icons on. It's not realistic, but for me if they're not on, and I'm looking down, I often cannot see the EAs and only see the icon markings. It's total frustration. In my case, realism would mean I'm grounded. I should delete the game and play something else?

 

Autopilot and accelerated time are obviously not realistic. But escorting a flight of lumbering HE-111s on a long-range bomber escort mission in real time kills the game for me. I cannot imagine someday down the road flying a P-51 Heavy Bomber escort mission from the UK to Berlin and back in real time. Is it "realistic" to hit the pause button to take a whiz? Or do you relieve yourself in your gaming chair? 

 

I started with all the help features, except the simpler flight model and physiology settings, turned on. Then I turned things off one at a time as I tackled mixtures, radiators, etc. 

 

But as I said, such things are all personal. 

Edited June 22, 2022 by Majpalmer

[Knarley-Bob]

I guess I hadn't looked at it that way. There are wisdom in your words.

Thanks,

KB

[AEthelraedUnraed]

Absolutely, the most important thing is that it's enjoyable rather than realistic (I mean, the fact that you won't get large holes through your organs if your plane is hit is great, isn't it?).

 

Apart from that, it really depends on your definition of "realistic".

Whether you're OK with it or not, the current "timer" system for engine boost is not realistic. But is turning it completely off more realistic? Debatable.

IMO, the current pilot physiology is state-of-the-art. But there too, there are people who think there are some problems with it.

As said, time compression and autopilot aren't realistic either; on the other hand the part you're skipping is lots of boring routine actions rather than combat, which is what the whole game is about.

 

For me personally, "realistic" means the following:

- "Realistic" engine management, flight physics and pilot physiology.

- No icons (so I have to ID an enemy first, before shooting at it).

- No map icons (firstly, I can't cheat by looking at the map where the enemy is, secondly, I need to navigate using landmarks rather than simply looking where my plane icon is).

[firdimigdi]

2 hours ago, Majpalmer said:

Is it "realistic" to hit the pause button to take a whiz?

 

I try to keep those functions bound to separate buttons.

[Irishratticus72]

3 hours ago, Knarley-Bob said:

I am limited to SP play, and was wondering what are the most realistic settings to play in "Pilot career"?

Thank you,

KB

I set myself on fire once, then dived out of my gaming chair, while a fan blew air into my face. 10/10 would recommend for realism.

[R33GZ]

Im SP too and do prefer to make the experience a bit more difficult for myself as I find it increases the reward buzz when I can pull it off. 

 

No icons on screen or map, all realism options checked and technochat off so I have to use my instruments to assess current engine state... Boost being an exception ? that seems to be more based on guess than anything the aircraft is telling you 

 

The only thing I do tend to leave on is external views.... I can't help but soak in the beauty of the aircraft and scenery on long hops ?

Edited June 22, 2022 by R33GZ

[Knarley-Bob]

I'll have to admit that I do use the icons. I'm on a smaller screen and  have a hard time identifying the bad guys...

I'll also use the external views to check out the damage I have received. Yeah, I guess reality/realistic is a relative term.

KB

[Hoss]

By settings do you mean game/career settings or Joystick settings, video card settings... LOL, the list of settings is very long and not so distinguished...

 

 

[Skycat1969]

Most realistic for a career?

Iron Man = yes.

Career speed = realistic.

Difficulty = hard.

Frontline activity = dense.

Mission start = on runway.

No assists.

Nothing automatic that shouldn't be automatic.

No icons. No technochat. No HUD. No mini-map. No external views.

Carefully follow waypoints at the airspeed and altitude you are assigned.

Do not leave your wingman.

Earn your promotions to commander.

 

How do I play?

Not like that.

[Praetorious]

As a single player I have a philosophy like everyone else here ,i started a certain way 20 years ago with certain settings and it seems like every year i got rid of something else  and thats where i am now,heck until a few years ago i used to fly with way points and of all the settings i have gotten rid off that is the one i wish i had done it sooner, like 15 years ago sooner, man i love playing without those things,nothing is more exciting than being in a dogfight, shooting down a couple of planes (a rarity for me ) and everyone else is gone and you're  all alone and you come out of the clouds and you have no earthly where your at???  and then you start looking around and "oh, that looks like that river i passed on my way here that was next to that airfield, i know where home is! etc,great feeling.

 

I use technochat and i use hud,some airplanes where the big compass is located is very hard for me to see it with my trackir  and i know it wasn't that way for real pilots  so im good with that and i also use icons, my vision is not as good as it used to be so they help a lot.

 

I do Full realism on engine settings because it is something i can control,I'm one of those that even if I'm driving a brand new car I'm constantly scanning my coolant and oil gauges so that part in IL2 just came naturally to me, never use autopilot and the time compression thing to me has never worked in this game (maybe its my computer?) now in the old game time compression worked really well,too well in my opinion,back then you hit those bracket bars and you were in another continent in half a minute,these simulators will never be 'the real deal" but they provide lots of entertainment and like someone said, its all about having fun,you can try removing something and give it a whirl for a couple of days,if you just really dont like it turn it back on etc or tough it out and you might end up liking having that particular setting off.

 

The important thing is not to follow the crowd,do what you enjoy,its not a paying gig, its for you to have fun with.

 

 

[EAF19_Marsh]

14 hours ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

(I mean, the fact that you won't get large holes through your organs if your plane is hit is great, isn't it?)

You disable ‘Catastrophic  Organ Damage’?

 

lol noob!

[Guster]

I have only tried career mode very briefly, and this likely a daft question, but how do you make sure you start on the runway?

[Irishratticus72]

16 hours ago, Praetorious said:

As a single player I have a philosophy like everyone else here ,i started a certain way 20 years ago with certain settings and it seems like every year i got rid of something else  and thats where i am now,heck until a few years ago i used to fly with way points and of all the settings i have gotten rid off that is the one i wish i had done it sooner, like 15 years ago sooner, man i love playing without those things,nothing is more exciting than being in a dogfight, shooting down a couple of planes (a rarity for me ) and everyone else is gone and you're  all alone and you come out of the clouds and you have no earthly where your at???  and then you start looking around and "oh, that looks like that river i passed on my way here that was next to that airfield, i know where home is! etc,great feeling.

 

I use technochat and i use hud,some airplanes where the big compass is located is very hard for me to see it with my trackir  and i know it wasn't that way for real pilots  so im good with that and i also use icons, my vision is not as good as it used to be so they help a lot.

 

I do Full realism on engine settings because it is something i can control,I'm one of those that even if I'm driving a brand new car I'm constantly scanning my coolant and oil gauges so that part in IL2 just came naturally to me, never use autopilot and the time compression thing to me has never worked in this game (maybe its my computer?) now in the old game time compression worked really well,too well in my opinion,back then you hit those bracket bars and you were in another continent in half a minute,these simulators will never be 'the real deal" but they provide lots of entertainment and like someone said, its all about having fun,you can try removing something and give it a whirl for a couple of days,if you just really dont like it turn it back on etc or tough it out and you might end up liking having that particular setting off.

 

The important thing is not to follow the crowd,do what you enjoy,its not a paying gig, its for you to have fun with.

 

 

I fly drunk.

[Skycat1969]

10 hours ago, Guster said:

I have only tried career mode very briefly, and this likely a daft question, but how do you make sure you start on the runway?

Launch a pilot career and look to the bottom right corner of the screen for the Options button (to the left of the green Start button). Click on it and you'll be presented with pull down menus for options including 'Mission Start.'

[R33GZ]

5 hours ago, Irishratticus72 said:

I fly drunk.

Lol. I get hopelessly lost on the stalingrad map if I do that... Ended up landing on an enemy airfeild convinced I'd finally found my way home lol

[EAF19_Marsh]

4 hours ago, R33GZ said:

Lol. I get hopelessly lost on the stalingrad map if I do that... Ended up landing on an enemy airfeild convinced I'd finally found my way home lol

 

That was a surprisingly common occurrence, even for the sober.