kuroi neko

Yes, I hope we'll get a British UFO or a German starfighter for Easter

Pretty good review as far as my pretty rusty German allows me to understand it Just one thing: you say the game is only available from the USA, but there is also shipping from Ireland. As far as I can tell, delivery delay in an EU country should be between half a week and 2 weeks (was 8 days to France in my case).

Seems like a normal perspective and field of view effect to me. The new 3D model looks really good. The paint job is also much nicer. I like the slightly uneven color, especially on the wings. Gives a nice weathering effect.

The Randy is looking good, but I'm not qualified to judge the 3D model accuracy. I have a pretty good French reference book on Japanese WWII fighters, but I lent it to some friend and won't be able to get it back for a while. About the spit, I think getting 3 colors out of 4 is an acceptable compromise . Just joking, I think you really do a great job listening on all these feedbacks!

I hope nobody got me wrong here. I dont want to give a poor impression of the game at all. I'm just saying the most often voiced critics come from people playing often enough to push the game to the limits and encounter some limitations. I think the next tweaks should rather aim at preventing players from wandering into currently reachable areas where the game system gets stretched too thin, and add more reasons even for "frequent flyers" to spend more time flying with middle-range pilots. As Ray pointed out, the campaign games are a significantly different use of the game system (no career management for campaign pilots, but added strategic dimension). This is, I think, an illustration of the considerable potential of the core design. Career and campaign modes have a significantly different feel and are blending together pretty well. I'm sure these initial quirks in career mode can be corrected, and even more exciting additions can be made. However, I am convinced that adding more reasons to fly against AI-controlled planes is not the way to improve the current design. On the contrary, the main strength of the game lies in player interaction. This is why, IMHO, the future additions should aim to promote player vs player interactions rather than give even more reasons to play alone.

Yes, you're right: the two-color roundels were already present in some squadrons at BoB time, or even before that. But I think choosing the 4 color ones for the spit I's paint job would help differentiate from later models, since the 2 colors became much more widespread after '42 or so.

By 50/50 at high level I mean the game is decided by the initial hand against the wingie. Strategy plays no part in the vast majority of the games. Pure no-brainer go-for-wingie-and-hope-for-the-best. About pilots lethality, I respectfully disagree with Ray. Bots kill a lot less players at comparable level. Up to level 30 or 40 they provide quick and easy XPs and EDs. On the contrary, pilots trained against bots are likely to kill pilots raised only against humans, mainly because you can nurture a "perfect" wingman against bots with all the skills to backup the leader, while playing against humans only would see the end of your wingman much sooner. Of course I am evoking a pure human vs human play just for the sake of the argument, right now the obvious strategy, at least up to level 25-35 depending on the nation, is to play bots, if only to regain EDs. And also you can devote all your XPs to permanent skills in bot games, while playing against humans you will need extra cards, redraws, etc, if only to protect your wingie. Bots are not only allowing to evolve pilots quicker, but also to come up with more powerful pilots for a given XP total. I think the way to escape the "damnation" Ray talked about is to focus on solutions to make low to mid-level games more rewarding against humans than bots, instead of asking for ways of going from level 50 to level 60. The system needs polishing up, no doubt, but I think the most interresting part of the game is to interact with other players at a level where the game variety is at its best and various tactics are worth experiencing, rather than unlock a couple more skills at a level where the tactical options are reduced to the bare minimum. [ October 24, 2005, 11:46 PM: Message edited by: kuroi neko ]

What is the point, really ? At this level you will stand a 50-50 chance of dying against humans. Only the bots are winnable due to a couple of AI shortcomings. And once your wingman will be gone you will want to scrape the leader as well. Playing only against bots to storm the ladder is killing the game.

very easy : play 1v1 games, start at very low and go after the wingman no matter what .

I think the 4 colors wing roundels were used , at least in some squadrons, until BoB, and were phased out afterwards. I remember doing a platic kit of a Polish squadron Spitfire I which had them, but it was a long time ago . This is also the markings retained for the more or less famous "piece of cake" TV show, from the more or less famous Derek Robinson's novel. They couldnt find enough Hurri Is or Spit Is but they did a pretty good job with the spit IXs in early war paintings.

I rather like the "target pilot" animations. I take them as a funny reminder of the abstract side of the game. And at least 4 engine bombers going for the kill are a pretty unique sight

Looks good to me. You could still do a better canopy, a slightly blunter spinner and also modify the roundels. Differences are apparent on these profiles for instance, but given the final size of the animations, the current 3D model state may be quite acceptable. However, the fuselage and wing roundels should be 3 colors with a yellow exterior circle. That should not be too difficult to change. [ October 23, 2005, 06:40 AM: Message edited by: kuroi neko ]

Sorry boss, bad karma against Zonso First turn was a 1/2 convoy, so I sent my kates with the weakest oscar escort, since even the weakest hurri I element was enough to eliminate a kate and deprive me of 2 points. Ron didnt reply, so I had my 2 points. The first air superiority was a total disaster. I had put my best oscars and the zeroes, against his best two elements. My zero wingie was killed immediately by an IMS2:D. I managed to get both Hurri IIs to 1 points before smoking, but a serie of disastrous bad draws ended up in all my 4 planes downed with only a Hurri I smoked by Sakai just before he went down. 4 points for the Brits and my 2 best elements rendered useless. What a nightmare! Turn 2 had a 1/4 bombing target. Since the previous disastrous turn had most of my good pilots dog tired, I gambled sending my bettys escorted by the puny nates. Ron sent his best elements against them. Unfortunately one pair of Hurri Is started co-alt with the bombers, at low alt. The Hurry IIs were only a level above. Worst possible altitude for bombers, despites a 5 turns game. Nates did a good job of keeping the Hurri IIs busy for 2 turns before getting shot down, but this was not enough to prevent one of my bettys to go down. It ended in a draw, which was more or less the logical result given the circumstances. I sent the weakest oscar pair to air superiority, and luckily Ron did not answer. A measley 2 points won, but at an acceptable cost. Last turn, the bloody 3/5 battleship appeared. The tired bettys still had more chances of doing the job than the fresh kates. I needed a 2 planes element to fend off the attackers, so I selected my best pair of oscars, hoping to delay the interceptors as much as possible. With a living zero wingman I would have tried to save the bettys and aim for the 5 points, leaving the 4 air superiority to the Brits, but as it stood I was bound to fight for the air supremacy and pray for a miracle over Singapore. I put the weakest oscars and the surviving zero on air superiority, hoping for the best. As it turned out I had an insolent luck, managing to kill both Hurri IIs at the cost of a single oscar. 2 more points for the rising sun. So the outcome was decided in the last game. My exhausted wingman went down immediately, and the leader managed only to distract the strongest element for 2 turns. Here again the bettys were attacked immediately, and the low altitude gave the Brits ample redraws. The previously downed betty smoked and went down after a couple of turns. At the end of turn 4 the remaining betty had still 3+4 structure left. Too bad the unengaged Hurri I drew another IMS2:D that went through. 6 points for the Brits, end of the story. As it turns out I'm not especially ashamed of the result. Ron and I won each 3 games, and luck changed side a couple of times. Better luck next time... [ October 22, 2005, 03:21 PM: Message edited by: kuroi neko ]

Mmmmm.... Could you remove my address please, boss ? I've had enough viagra ads already .

Maybe an increased delay for turn one could be an acceptable compromise ?

lol you should have seen some IL2 boards. There were guys there able to identify the exact type, subtype and serial number of a 109 from a badly scratched picture of the corner of the left ear of the pilot's dog .

I hereby declare the 109B model geometry in conformity with my subjective accuracy criteria . Nice job!

Looking quite better already! Now the only remaining challenge will be to model the big nose radiator intake. Given the angle at which planes are usually viewed in most of the animations, I reckon perfect modeling is not required, but this big scoop should be visible at least in loops or barrel rolls. Maybe the wingtips are still looking a bit too curved too. They should be completely straight, with a much smaller curved area at the edges. Also these polygons look like if they could use a bit of smoothing . [ October 18, 2005, 08:14 PM: Message edited by: kuroi neko ]

Just pray for your boss not beign either a card games or wargames freak, then .

That was against Mistura Actually I did the same to the AI (albeit not in turn one) and won the campaign 20 to 0 .

Campaign plane stats are fixed. The hurri II and zero elements are clearly the key to the game. THe hurri II wingman is the most interresting target, easier to down or kill than the leader. Getting rid of any of the 4 top pilots is a major step toward victory. Japanese zeroes are more prone to catch cold on an unlucky initial setup (even a hurri I playing first is likely to pour a lucky OTS2:3 or 3:4 into the zero wingman or even leader). I had an horribly bad first battle once: all planes started at medium alt, and the zeroes were playing at position 2, sandwiched between Hurry Is and the dreaded Hurry IIs. Sakai was smoked by a lucky OTS2:3 from the Hurry I leader (no aces or vroll from initial draw or extra card), failed to IMS2:D the Hurri II wingman (last resort attempt, a damaged zero deprived of agility was doomed anyway), and was killed by another OTS from the Hurry II leader during first turn. Quickest defeat to date for me, was not even worth continuing to play .

Yes, the AI may give up the chase, mainly when you deplete its hand with repeated climbs from disadvantaged position, but one or two levels are usually enough to gain 3 or 4 turns where a human player could have let fly on the bombers instead of chasing your fighters.

The 109B and E spinners are different : the B's is a pure truncated cone, while the E's is broader at the tip, the planned engine-embedded cannon (never installed in the E version) orifice being blunter than on the B's spinner. The B's engine was a Jumo 210E, hence the completely different cowling, radiator scoops and exhausts. The Emil used the DB601A power plant, and all subsequent versions (except post-war adaptations) used the Daimler-Benz 60x family. With the F version, the cowling was again reshaped to improve aerodynamics and also accomodate for the new DB605 engine. Not only was the lateral supercharger intake redesigned, but also the underwing and nose radiator scoops. Spinner was given a more rounded shape, and did not evolve anymore from F to K. The G version had the well known bulges (hence the nickname "die Beule"), needed to house the heavier 13mm MG151 machineguns and improve engine cooling. Also, the vertical stabilizer surface was increased to counter added engine torque. The K version was externally very similar to the G-14 series, except for a new canopy (Erla Haube) with improved visibility.

That makes sense too, Ron. I think fatigue is a rather complicated issue, especially since we dont really know how it is computed, how much the relative experience levels of different elements or mission success/failure margins influence the evolution. However, I like StalinsO's idea of basing (even partially) fatigue on what actually happened in the game. Aces have more options, which usually leads to more cards played, and would thus be more likely to get fatigued. Knowing that playing a lot of cards or some specific ones, taking damage, etc. would increase fatigue could add some tactical options, like choosing to fly to the limits and be exhausted or be more cautious to remain in good shape.

True enough, some short campaigns (including Singapore, by the way ) may have extremely random results, depending on the kind of objectives appearing and the fate of some key aces in early turns. The daylight bombing is probably the only one that shows clearly weaknesses in AI decision making. The worst flaw in bomber intercept missions is the inability for the AI to let go of the fighters once engaged. It allows the US player to drive one pair of attackers off the bombers nearly at will, and the German player to keep the escort busy with a weak pair of 109s while the würgers do the dirty work on the bombers . Plus the inability to concentrate on the wingman when circumstances allow, which gives the player a decisive advantage in all kind of missions. At strategic level, the AI does rather well, this shows mostly in the Solomons campaign, where the tactical AI flaws are less decisive due to the relatively high number of bombing missions not beign intercepted due to lack of fighter cover. I could not see obvious mistakes in the 2 or 3 trials I made, except maybe a tendency to fly too many sorties, which tends to tire the pilots a bit too much. But so are doing a lot of humans too . [ October 18, 2005, 05:58 AM: Message edited by: kuroi neko ]