Wish list ??

[Guest Mike]

Originally posted by Sixxkiller:

Crikies, I leave for a day and all the "idea people" come out trying to get thier names on the same level with Sixxkiller!!!

I think they're trying to do better than that - who would want to be so low??!!

[Sitzkrieg]

Somebody already listed it but I also want to be able to pick the nationality of my opponents. Fun to switch up once in awhile but it's frustrating when the computer gets "stuck" picking the same nation and planes over and over again. Right now it's stuck on Japan when I use my Brit pilots when I REALLY want to knock down some Heinkels.

Planes I would like to see added:

- B-17G, B-24 and B-26. Wouldn't think these would be hard too add because they would be pretty close to an existing plane's stats (B-17F or B-25).

- Me-262.

- Italian planes for a Med/North African expansion and campaigns.

Really looking forward to the Russian/Polish expansion.

[Mistura]

Hi all. I would like to have the F-22 Raptor. :cool: Yes it is a (little) modern, but I think I'll be able to shot down 300 planes. Than again I could be the first to be shot down by a British Bi-plane.

[Sixxkiller]

Children letting you post again Herr Blimp Head? Must send those girls to Yoda I will.

[Sitzkrieg]

Another thing I would like to see added (if possible):

- A "Fast Diving" Special for planes that were known to gain speed quicker than normal in a dive, like the P-47 (maybe the Corsair, others?). This Special would give these planes an extra +2 cards, instead of +1, when they dive to a lower altitude.

[Sixxkiller]

Well the "skills" are based on pilots, not on the various aircraft. I wouldnt mind it being inherent to an aircraft like say agility and turbo are to some aircraft. Good idea though.

-Ray

[Guest Mike]

There are lots of known cases of a/c that had climb or dive limitations - eg teh early carburetted Spitfires & Hurricanes famously had to roll inverted to start a dive or their engine would cut out, and the lightly built early Japanese a/c were normally out-dived by allied fighters.

Climb is a bit moer of a problem though - there are 2 speeds of climb - zoom climb - where you are travelling faster than your sustained clibing speed, and sustained climb, where you're at your sustained climbing speed. Some a/c were better at one or the other - eg the Tempest apparently had a very good zoom climb due to it's massive horsepower, but wasn't so hot once it slowed down to its sustained best climb speed, where Spitfires and other a/c were better than it (see Tempest V tactical trials )

similarly there are fiarly well known degrees of manouvreability - the Spitfire was more manouvreable than the 109 (generally), but less so than the Zero, so the "agile" function could conceivably be based on a comparison of jsut HOW agile each a/c is (eg any a/c counts as agile agaisnt an oponent that has a lower agile rating than it has).

And degrees of armour plate and damage protection - early Spitfire I's had none, by 1940 they had a modicum but Spitfire II's had another 100+ lbs of armour added IIRC on top of that, and ground attack Fw-190's (F's and G's IIRC) had an awful lot of armour in some places, so this could be a modifier for the damage rating - say +1 for unarmoured, 0 for moderately armoured, -1 damage for heavily armoured - so even rifle calibre machineguns would tear an unarmoured a/c to bits, while cannon armed ones would blast such an a/c out of the sky in very short order - most biplanes & early/pre-war monoplanes would be unarmoured and even less of a match for anything half decent than they are now.......

And I'm sure there are other possibilities too.......

[ June 07, 2006, 09:09 PM: Message edited by: Stalin's Organist ]

[Sitzkrieg]

Sixxkiller,

Yep, that's what I was suggesting. An inherent attribute of the plane, not the pilot.

So a P-47 would have turbo and "Fast Diving" (or "Aerodynamic Brick" or somefink) as it's special abilities.

Another possibility would be to make it like "Use Agility" where it would only be enabled if you were being tailed. So you could dive away and the enemy couldn't follow. But that might be too powerful.

[Sixxkiller]

I think I would like a new skill that can give a pilot the option of going to the same level as the enemy but not be able toplay offensive cards until the next turn.

[Rick Vogel]

Is there a way to rest your pilots in a local game? I have several fatigued pilots and I'd like to give them a couple of days off without waiting a week.

OldManRick

[ June 07, 2006, 03:43 PM: Message edited by: Rick Vogel ]

[Baron von Beergut]

nope. Local games are with a different set of pilots.

Just make the max of 4 pilots per nation and rotate them to give the others some rest.

[Talorien]

Hi there,

Congrats first on all to Dan and team for such a great game I just got it a few days ago and am really enjoying it.

Some feedback on what I'd love to see, mostly relating to the single player game:

1. The ability in 'manage pilots' or 'create a game' interfaces to 'activate or deactivate pilot skills' (could be done through an 'active?' check box window system).

Deactivating a skill would make it inactive and lower the pilot's point value (like choosing a lower plane type). Reactivating a skill would restore the point value.

Rationale: sometimes it's more fun to play games at a lower point level so that the AI opponent doesn't have so many skills, or players pick skills which they later regret choosing.

However, part of the fun of playing is building up pilot skills. This option would increase replay value through being able to customize the point value of favourite, experienced pilots.

It could also enable a more level playing field for multiplayer for those new to the game (one danger of online characters is that the 'barrier to entry' gets too high for new players and discourages the playerbase from expanding).

2. New pilot skills (this is very compatible with #1 above).

3. An 'extended missions' AI mission type. This could use existing mechanics to increase replayability and excitement by basically stringing missions together to build a short storyline.

Example: 'Long Escort' mission. Randomly strings together 2-3 AI missions (e.g. escort, escort, intercept).

The AI would take into account the state of the player's planes in the point value, number of planes, turn length, and type of subsequent missions.

(e.g. only 1 damaged player plane left at end first mission in series. Next mission generates a single enemy, 2-turn dogfight mission. This simulates the pilot being 'bounced' while racing for home).

The pilots could get XP/victory result at the end of each seperate single mission (to keep the programming simple).

Fatigue however might have to be applied only once at the end of the whole extended mission.

4. Being able to use local pilots for single player campaigns (for those of us who like playing locally and single player).

5. A pop up window in the pilot/plane information window in the combat window that lists the pilot's skills (similar to right-clicking on your leader to see his cards; this may be easier to implement than the icon system)

6. Being able to use player pilots for both elements in a mission (this has consquences for the fatigue system, however... maybe the 2nd set of pilots doesn't get fatigue?)

[Talorien]

Oh, I really like Sitzkreig and Sixxkillers' suggestions btw, so repeating them:

7. Fast Dive inherent plane ability for the P-47 (+1 card when diving).

8. "Armour" rating in the plane statlines. Armour 1 modifies damage against that plane by -1, etc. This would also help negate some of the brutal wingman attacks problem (Wingmen with attack 4 and +1 damage are OUCH! )

9. More planes (Hellcat, P-51B, Avenger, B-17G, B-24, B-26, Typhoon, Tempest, FW-190 armoured bomber attack model (with armour rule, above), can't remember the model numer), TA-152, Me262, P-80, Gloster Meteor. Forgive me if some of these are already in, only been playing a few days!

The existing system is a really elegant representation of the differences in WW2 planes, so I guess I'm saying that anything that gives the planes more 'individual flavour' while retaining good balance and game mechanics is a great addition

Jets may need a new special rule, maybe a 'vertical roll' ability (can get this for any card, like Scissors on agile planes) that would simulate the typical jet attack of zooming in, strafing and zooming away

[bartbert]

Keep your eyes peeled for the official expansion pack announcement. It will include more aircraft, more skills, more campaigns, and a couple of new features.

It won't cover everything on your wish list, but it does have the Me-262 (and new jet rules).

[reverend]

I only bought the game three days ago, but after 60 mission, personally, I would like the following additions:

- Add a "start dogfight" button to the preview screen and only start the fight once the player (or both players online) click on it. It is very annoying that you can barely glance at the statistics and skills, while the fight already has started.

- Volume adjustment. For some reason, the .wav files used are extraordinarily loud. I have to turn down the system volume all the way, meaning I can't listen to anything else while playing.

- Different sound for different weapons. Give the dmg -1 mgs a lighter sound, the ones with dmg +1 / +2 a deeper sound and add a nice, slow effect for the planes with heavy cannons.

- Add a few graphs to the leaderboard, at least when "my pilots" is checked, detailing the development of the averages over time. I'm sure there are a few nice statistics that could be generated.

- Don't make Polish and Soviet pilot option available in the "create leader" drop down menu unless you actually have the expansion.

- Not sure if this should be a bug report, but if you have Firefox as default browser, with Internet Explorer disabled via Windows Security, DiF generates an exception whenever it tries to send you to the website. (Firefox starts and displays the page, but you still get an exception. You get a lot of exceptions anyway, although the program continues working without problem. Maybe when you catch them, don't alway display them unless you know the program stops working?)

- Offline campaigns.

- 2-on-2 dogfights with both elements from your own pilots instead of a randomly generated element.

- Intercept online. Why else is there a statistic for bombers killed / damaged?

[SamF7]

Hi bartbert!

Hopefully you are still checking this thread out. I had one of those "great ideas" the other day, that might be a very nice addition to the game at some point. Let me go cut and paste from a previous post since it cuts to the heart of the matter :

Each time I'm shotdown, however, it always seems to follow the SAME pattern : I get dealt ALL fire cards at the start (my record is nine in my starting hand. NINE), and the NME invariably goes first, loops me, then pops me with the DESTROYED card. BOOM. Dead Plane. Turn one. Always.

I suggest stealing an idea from Magic the Gathering : Add a button that is only active on the first turn. If you don't like your starting hand, you can request a redeal, but you get one less card on your redeal. You can keep clicking it until you like your hand or are down to one card. I would even suggest adding a modicum of AI to let them do the same.

SamF7

[Guest Mike]

Start higher, that way you get 1st go. Buy an ace card too

[SamF7]

Oh I've tried all that. Redraws, Draw card, ACE, VERY Hi....it just doesn't help when you're dealt ALL fire cards (ONE ACE doesn't save you for long when he's on your tail at VERY hi with ALL fire cards...just prolongs the agony).

It's amazing. I've lost EVERY pilot on the opening salvo....everytime with a handful FULL of fire cards. It gets old.

SamF7

[SamF7]

*wow*

JUST last game.

- V.Hi, 4 cards, I'm dealt all fires, plus my ace, of course.

- Enemy ALSO started V.Hi, and went first,

- loop-ACE-fire-fire-fire => I'm dead.

Just like that.

Again.

It's getting VERY old....

(can I at least use a ReDraw I purchased for my opening cards????? - SOMETHING!).

SamF7

[Baron von Beergut]

I recommend High Alt and not Very High for starting unless you know your opponent's likely start. Many players prefer the lowest altitude to get the most possible cards. But as S.O. said, higher means you go first and so I generally go that way unless I have a lousy plane that is not good at high alt.

Either way, good luck in your battles... BvB

[Guest Mike]

As BBG said - try low instead then!

but what do you expect if you get all fire cards? by definition you have no defence so of course you get shot down - it happens to me too if I get all fire cards.

Hell if there was no risk of ever being shot down then what's the point of hte game?

It also happens if you get all tight turn cars and your opponent has a sincgle scissors, or if you get a handful of manouvre cards.

[SamF7]

I kinda like the 'ol "handful of turn" cards. "Good luck getting on MY tail!", I think.

Even a LOOP still leaves me a bunch of cards to stop bullets. Only OTS and/or scissors/ace can stop a bunch of TURN cards.

Which, of course, does happen every now and then.

It actually happened to the AI the other day. I shot the AI down on the first turn, with the DESTROYED card, and he had EIGHT cards in his hand. Not one "dodge" card. Poor chap. I felt about this ->| |<- bad for him....

SamF7

[SilentAce]

Well not sure if posting here will get noticed as last post was a couple of months ago but seems silly to open a new thread.

This game is great but it needs one thing more than it needs new planes or new campaigns to keep it fresh. It needs randomness.

I would suggest a button added to the Create Online Game page that would when clicked create a totally random scenario for the element showing.

The random addon to the progem would first select the type of mission Dogfight, Intercept or Escort. Then it would in the case of Dogfight decide wether that would be a 1v1 or 2v2 setup. Lastly it would randomly altitude your element so negating that old lets always go very low for +2 cards or whatever floats your boat attitude.

Using this idea would mean you would never know what scenario you were going to face till you were actually doing it and it would also mean Intercept mission could be flown as part of the ladder as they would not be something to be abused as they would only have a 1 in 3 chance of happening each time.

[Baron von Beergut]

Two new permenant skill ideas:

1) "Rabbit's Foot": gives a pilot without an escape death that gets a death result a 50/50 chance to survive anyway.

2) "Super Ace": gives the pilot some sort of increased chance to get an ace card when he draws new cards.

Probably make these extremely

expensive -- something for those super high experience players to try for.

OK - scratch the expensive part and decide if they're worthwhile otherwise maybe...

[ October 01, 2006, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: Baron von Beergut ]

[Guest Mike]

You wouldn't be able to get them then unless you got them early - high pilots have to pay 10's of thousands of experience for the few they don't have - which is a pretty effective break onm going any further - so if they start expensive to stop low level pilots getting them then they'll rapidly become too expensive for anyone at all.