Piloting Helicopters

General discussion of the Project Reality: BF2 modification.
Truism
Posts: 1189
Joined: 2008-07-27 13:52

Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Truism »

Incomplete Spork wrote:No need to punish the whole team like that for a shitty pilot and how much AA spam there is. Only transport on Kashan is walking or helo. Anything else and you can count on getting blown up.
Yes, there is. Teams SHOULD be collectively punished, that's one of the things that PR's ethos stresses - teamwork and collective responsibility.
CAS_117 wrote:Sources plz? :roll:
Wikipedia actually :( . According to them 2400 Blackhawks were produced, while the US Army and Marines combined operate just under 6000 Abrams. It's not the sort of stats that get messed with on Wikifail though. Wouldn't mind verifying it though.
Dr2B Rudd wrote:if that is true, its a case to increase the number of tanks on maps like kashan rather than decrease the number of trans helos.

imo, seeing a lone chopper on ANY PR map looks weird, especially if that chopper is unarmed.
No, it's not a case for increasing the number of tanks because the numbers of infantry also have to figure into the ratios most of the time. There are too many tank respawns on Kashan anyway (completely losing the first tank battle rarely costs a team as much as it should because of the second wave of tanks that are deployed on the delayed timer).

The respawn timer on trans heloes should just be increased and troops should have to walk further when their team stuffs up. AA saturation is not too high, and AA is generally not effective enough when compared to flares. Helicopters are not used in a particularly realistic way in PR, and that should change. "Hot" insertions are more or less a thing of the past - no commander is realistically going to expose a $5million helicopter to as much risk as we habitually do in PR. Helicopters are for cold and safe insertions - Humvees are for lukewarm ones and APC/Tanks are for hot ones.
Alex6714
Posts: 3900
Joined: 2007-06-15 22:47

Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Alex6714 »

When will people realise that respawn times aren´t going to affect how people will use something how you want, as long as you can simply leave the server and join another.

If anything there aren´t enough tanks on kashan to simulate a proper combined arms map.

The infantry should only be going in anywhere once the area has been secured anyway.

If you think aa is ineffective, I think with all due respect you are doing it wrong. Yeah its not a one shot god kill all the time, but it shouldn´t be either.

If you want people to behave somewhat realistically in a game, then they have to be put into a realistic environment, not one where there are artificial limitations in place to force people into something, cos that just takes away from immersion and breaks up the feeling of realism imo.
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Majorpain
Posts: 59
Joined: 2008-05-16 13:41

Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Majorpain »

Put a time limit on the Pilot kit.

I.e. Transport chopper on map respawns in 10 mins, so have 15 mins until you get the pilot kit back.

Goods pilots who dont die for a long time will instantly be able to get the kit back, Vanilla noobs will end up waiting next to it or watching someone else steal it.
Alex6714
Posts: 3900
Joined: 2007-06-15 22:47

Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Alex6714 »

Majorpain wrote:Put a time limit on the Pilot kit.

I.e. Transport chopper on map respawns in 10 mins, so have 15 mins until you get the pilot kit back.

Goods pilots who dont die for a long time will instantly be able to get the kit back, Vanilla noobs will end up waiting next to it or watching someone else steal it.
I think this has been suggested, only problem is its up to abuse, from TKs, to random lagspikes.
"Today's forecast calls for 30mm HE rain with a slight chance of hellfires"


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SocketMan
Posts: 1687
Joined: 2007-03-09 22:03

Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by SocketMan »

Perhaps if both teams had air assets on most maps the number of "pilots" would be
split and so as the number of crashes.I am pretty sure there was a PR release
where if you jumped into an air asset and crashed you got auto kicked
for negative points right away.Perhaps that needs to be brought back.
Cptkanito
Posts: 384
Joined: 2008-08-31 12:06

Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Cptkanito »

Whats wrong with the current system. Ye sure that Vanilla noobs crash 'em but they should learn from the wisdom of good Project Reality Squads. If they don't learn, then they should go back to vanilla or grow up and start acting like they got a pair...
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Mongolian_dude
Retired PR Developer
Posts: 6088
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Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Mongolian_dude »

I think there are many many capable pilots out there and most often than not, they will be flying.
Only issue is that not all these pilots are thinking outside the cockpit.
While their flight ability is decent, perhaps their critical and stratiegic thinking is not in full-gear.
You'll be suprised how little it dawns on transport pilots that landing on a flag is an extreme risk.

I feel that its important to be aware of 'battle-lines' that get drawn up in almost every round of PR.
These lines are formed by players and naturally by map terrain and flag layout.
For example, the Central Hills on Kashan quite neatly devide the map. If your forces hold a part of that hill, you can assume you have quite a fair bit of freedom around there and that landing wouldnt be too much of an issue.
The better the players on the server, the borader the battle-lines are, however expect them to shift quicker, yet less often.
Also keep in mind, flags attract flies. So keep your s**t away from flags.

...mongol...
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Robbi
Posts: 3564
Joined: 2008-07-05 14:53

Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Robbi »

Remember AA is more of a deterant than a killer if facing a good pilot.

Keep AA near other Armour units and you wont go far wrong

Helos on the other hand are a mixed bunch atm....
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squeaky024
Posts: 21
Joined: 2009-03-16 16:36

Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by squeaky024 »

Right now id say the entire system is ok, just some helis need a rework on the way they fly

For example: when i was landing a black hawk i find myself swaying back and fourth because of the super sensitive pitch and roll angles.. i ended up side swiping a building and blowing up because of this. I use a joystick and i barely had to move it a few millimeters to move the heli a huge distance sideways.
TheLean
Posts: 483
Joined: 2009-03-15 20:26

Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by TheLean »

Noobs crashing chopper after chopper is a problem. How about if a pilot crash to ground then the pilot kit is not available for that person the rest of the round (not counting shotdowns)?
Truism
Posts: 1189
Joined: 2008-07-27 13:52

Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Truism »

Alex6714 wrote:When will people realise that respawn times aren´t going to affect how people will use something how you want, as long as you can simply leave the server and join another.

If anything there aren´t enough tanks on kashan to simulate a proper combined arms map.

The infantry should only be going in anywhere once the area has been secured anyway.

If you think aa is ineffective, I think with all due respect you are doing it wrong. Yeah its not a one shot god kill all the time, but it shouldn´t be either.

If you want people to behave somewhat realistically in a game, then they have to be put into a realistic environment, not one where there are artificial limitations in place to force people into something, cos that just takes away from immersion and breaks up the feeling of realism imo.
I take you as wrong on every point.

Respawn times DO effect how assets are used, and how a team views their use and misuse. Best examples of this are Jets and Attack helos on LOOOONG respawn timers, as well as Limit 2 kits back when Kit requests were longer.

Infantry's job is to close with in order to kill and capture the enemy - they are not fodder, but are also not to be molly coddled. They are the primary land fighting force of all militaries. Their primary mode of transport is still feet, though most units are at least motorised nowadays.

Missiles are incredibly **** in PR compared to countermeasures compared to real life. IN every possible way.

If you want people to behave realistically, you have to impose realistic restrictions, like not having choppers on a cooldown timer vastly shorter than assets that are rarer in real life. Project Reality is about imposing restrictions where EA were too liberal, and buffing capabilities where they were originally lacking in order to impose a realistic battlefield.

I don't actually think I could have disagreed more with what you said.
Truism
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Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Truism »

Emnyron wrote:I`d take alex over you in virtualy evry possible situation.


Indeed times do have an effect on how its used, mostly it then get used by some frakking singleminded fool, that have been stuck in the base watching Generation Kill or whatnot turning him/her into some abomination rivaling that of the furries. Thusly the asset lasts for an average of 2-3 minutes, due to the fail that is flying it.

LONG respawn timers hamper the gameplay, atleast when its as easy as it is to kill any air asset. The AA missiles have been tipped with tactical nukes you know, and the pilot can do frak all if he gets locked by some random opfor while on his landing slope.
No, long respawn times force cautious use of valuable resources. Half of what makes PR work where vBF2 didn't is the Dev's willingness to punish players and teams for mistakes - case in point, spawn times. Players spawn times are longer than vBF2, Vehicle spawn times across the board are longer than vBF2, special kits even have spawn times. Where spawn times are not long enough, players do not treat assets with the respect they deserve, because there are no immediate consequences.
Tanks Vs infantry, if both are aware of eatchother, I whoud not want to be the poor ******** who`s got an angry metal house looking to kill them.
The reason they are the primary land force, is the fact that they are cheap, and can traverse most terrain, not to mention you cannot capture squat without them.
This was utterly mindless. Tanks and infantry work together. Tanks don't solo forward and clear **** out for infantry to walk in and cap, they provide mutual support and assistance.

And you hit it on the head - infantry are the main fighting force because they are cheap, by virtue of this, there are many of them, which in turn means they can be armed to counter a variety of threat types effectively. Infantry can overcome tanks, and often do. Yes, tanks have an advantage over infantry but your friend couldn't have been more wrong when he said that infantry shouldn't move into an area before it's secured - infantry move in TO secure an area.
Are you playing PR? The AA missiles are the single most effective weapon on the field, a single hit, frak it, a semi close proxy detonation will shut the aircraft down.
The countermeasures are, well, the work in preventing the opfor from getting a lock, but if they get a lock, you`re proper fraked after about 1.2 seconds.
Rather unfortunately, unlike in real life, an air asset only has to flare once every 15 seconds to be immune to AA. This is because flares are too effective. Additionally AA missiles can lock and hit a target flying perpendicular or in the opposite direction, parallel to the direction of fire, thing which missiles assuredly are able to do in real life, but most certainly don't in real life. Flaring is easy to do, and is easy to sustain with regular trips back to a very close resupply point, while Anti-Aircraft missiles are (rightly) hard to rearm and just as easy to kill.

If an air vehicle manages to get itself into a threat envelope in real life, nine times out of ten it's up shit creek without a paddle. Air units deal with AA in real life by avoiding it, killing it from outside of range, or outclimbing it (a variation of avoiding it).


The fact that as a helicopter pilot I fear tank and APC sniping more than stationary and MANPADS AA units indicates that there's probably something wrong with the state of AA.
If you want people to behave somewhat realistically in a game, then they have to be put into a realistic environment, not one where there are artificial limitations in place to force people into something, cos that just takes away from immersion and breaks up the feeling of realism imo.
Your opinion is wrong. All limitations in a video game are artificial, however in PR they emulate real life limitations to produce a vaguely realistic environment. Helicopters are not presently used realistically because insufficient penalties apply to them being destroyed - the most basic of which should be that they are unavailable for use - air access has been denied. Battlespace control generally doesn't play a large enough role in PR because the means of bypassing obstacles are too easy to come by (helicopters, incendiary grenades and hooks come to mind). Easy spawn times on helicopters is one example of this. In real life, if a helicopter is destroyed, it will probably not be replaced for the duration of the engagement even by a helicopter from another engagement or in reserve. The unit itself will not be able to replace the helicopter until a new one can be ordered, which takes quite some time - all of which prevents its further use.

While soldiers riding into battle on helicopters is a very popular image in the media and video games, it is largely at odds with the reality of warfare even for the US military. Most infantry walk into battle or are driven there in trucks. Helicopters have seen a lot more use in the counter-insurgencies we've been fighting than they would in a high intensity war like those in the BF2 universe, but trucks, IFVs and APCs remain far more prevalent in real life than the helicopters everyone's in love with. Furthermore, where helipcopters are used, the utmost care is taken to ensure they are not exposed to fire - "hot" landings are a thing of the Vietnam era and movies - commanders don't risk 5 million dollar pieces of largely irreplacable transport equipment they way we habitually do in PR.

Limitations are not only necessary in video games, in ones like PR they are highly desirable because they stop bad behaviour, like the unrealistic use of helicopters. More limitations are needed in this area to stop people from re-enacting scenes war movies. More limitations would improve immersion for people who judge realism off what actually happens in war, and not war movies.

(NB: Some maps like Muttrah and Barracuda defy this rule by the way - they are airborne assualt maps and should remain that way - some "hot" stuff is needed in those).
Last edited by Truism on 2009-03-27 12:52, edited 2 times in total.
Alex6714
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Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Alex6714 »

Truism wrote:
Infantry's job is to close with in order to kill and capture the enemy - they are not fodder, but are also not to be molly coddled. They are the primary land fighting force of all militaries. Their primary mode of transport is still feet, though most units are at least motorised nowadays.
Indeed, battle can´t be won without infantry, but I think you will find, facing an enemy with a huge number of tanks and aircraft, first you send in your aircraft to gain air superiority, and you tanks and CAS aircraft to mop up the rest, then the infantry goes in and secures the ground.

Except you won´t hear much about the initial strikes..


I can´t find the video at the moment, but the first strike iirc of the iraq war/desert storm? (I don´t remember names to well) was done by a single jammer aircraft and a whole bunch of fighters to take out the radar stations and key targets.

Conventional warfare would just be so much different from the current war in afghanistan, where the enemy does not have these powerful assets.

Helicopters are not presently used realistically because insufficient penalties apply to them being destroyed
Helicopters are not used realistically, because they are not realistic, or as realistic as they could be. Believe me, I have tried them with alot of changed and as such they could be used very realistically.

Rather unfortunately, unlike in real life, an air asset only has to flare once every 15 seconds to be immune to AA. This is because flares are too effective.
I have shot down aircraft while flaring. I think you are doing it wrong, Im sorry.
Air units deal with AA in real life by avoiding it, killing it from outside of range, or outclimbing it (a variation of avoiding it).

The fact that as a helicopter pilot I fear tank and APC sniping more than stationary and MANPADS AA units indicates that there's probably something wrong with the state of AA.

Or they kill it themselves...

To the bold part, this is tru, but it is not a problem with the AA, rather than a problem with the fact that everything is crammed into a short view distance and as such has the same engagement distances, couple this with unrealistic aircraft and one thing gains a huge advantage over the other. For example, helicopters can´t track tanks, have no stabilisation, can´t engage out of their range, yet the tanks have a cannon with a hide speed for the projectile, no deviation, better stabilisation (complete once stopped) and is fire and forget. Plus, it actually has more range than the helicopter in game, figure that out.
No, long respawn times force cautious use of valuable resources.
The thing with spawn times is that they are very fickle and hard to balance. They can be too low (vanilla style) or you can make the right where they cause enough carefulness but it is very easy to just assume that by increasing them that the carefulness increases, because it simple won´t. There comes a point where more spawn time becomes counter productive to gameplay but I won´t go into this because this just says it all.
Your opinion is wrong.
It is different from yours, of course it must be wrong.
Last edited by Alex6714 on 2009-03-27 13:08, edited 2 times in total.
"Today's forecast calls for 30mm HE rain with a slight chance of hellfires"


"oh, they're fire and forget all right...they're fired then they forget where the target is"
McBumLuv
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Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by McBumLuv »

The sadest part, and I'm not trying to brag that I don't get shot down ever, is that flying in jets and helicopters, I must have an equal death to the enemy as I must have a death to friendlies/hackers. It's either that I've been in mid-flight when the server gets hacked (happened twice or three times with M_Striker in one round alone), or that some idiot who gets pissed off for some unknown reason and doesn't understand the "queueing" proccess that is brought on by mutual respect and decides to fire a rocket/.50 cal/transport chopper (that's happened too)/mines in my direction.

And this is coming from someone who does die in assets, though much less than most others. I don't think that respawn times force overly cautious use of assets after a point. IE, APCs with spawn times of 10 minutes are foten used the same as Bradleys with 20 minute spawn times (On FW, let's say). Mainly, this is imo because you cna't be overly cautious with them. The only sure way not to have them die is to stay in your main, away from anyone requiring help.
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Vege
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Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Vege »

Im yet to see someone popping flares in advance when they are in a sure hot zone.
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Outlawz7
Retired PR Developer
Posts: 17261
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Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Outlawz7 »

I demand source links to be provides to all this **** everyone claims to be "realistic" because the word is turning my lunch inside my stomach towards an upward direction.
I just find the whole situation with AA vs. air hypocritical at least.
On one side everyone wants to have an effective AA system "because itz teh realstik" or somewhat more believable; to balance the gameplay, while on the other everyone wants to be the l33t undying pilot that flies troops into hot LZs upside down and fastropes them out while the others wtfpwn all ground assets with attack helis and jets without being shot down.

You can only have one of these.
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Alex6714
Posts: 3900
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Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Alex6714 »

Well the idea, would be to have everything as realistic as possible tbh. Where neither The mythical AA is king, nor the aircraft are overpowered.
"Today's forecast calls for 30mm HE rain with a slight chance of hellfires"


"oh, they're fire and forget all right...they're fired then they forget where the target is"
Truism
Posts: 1189
Joined: 2008-07-27 13:52

Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Truism »

It is not wrong because it is different from mine, it is wrong because of the facts stated.

This is taking too long TBH, I don't want to continue it because there's no point.

I will take you on one thing though. The idea that Desert Storm/Iraqi Freedom represent what a war is normally like. These operations were a superpower crushing a relatively small and economically backwards state. The saturation the US was able to achieve is completely unrealistic to expect against either the MEC superstate, or BF2's Chinese superstate. Infantry would be fighting more as they did in WWII (because let's face it, it's meant to be WWIII) as a main fighting force with other units in support. Iraq was easily defeated because it was using elderly technology in insufficient numbers to counter the stuff the US fielded, the means used to do it are really just a follow on from that fact.

There is no way I want to be a pro leetxor unkillable pilot or to have them in this game. Pilots should be in a position where if they stuff up and end up in a position vulnerable to AA, they should pay for that mistake. Tactics will adjust to compensate.

And you didn't shoot down a flaring plane in this version. It flared after you locked and shot the missile. He flared too late basically - if he'd flared any time in the lead up to that, you would have locked on the flare instead (flares are always prioritised over engines for some reason likely linked to codability).
Kruder
Posts: 803
Joined: 2007-04-05 10:26

Re: Piloting Helicopters

Post by Kruder »

Truism wrote:
And you didn't shoot down a flaring plane in this version. It flared after you locked and shot the missile. He flared too late basically - if he'd flared any time in the lead up to that, you would have locked on the flare instead (flares are always prioritised over engines for some reason likely linked to codability).
You can shoot down anything even if it starts dropping flares before you see him.Personal experience,from both sides.
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