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Question on the future of helos in PR
Posted: 2008-02-26 12:26
by Corporal Cody
You guys are probably getting really tired of all the questions and suggestions for the upcoming versions..... but I just gotta ask. Do you fellas have any plans for the inclusion of attack helicopters in an urban enviroment (such as an Apache at Al Basrah, etc. etc.). Along with this, any plans for a map with both attack helis and jets? I don't think there is a map that has both yet (64 Kashan has the jets, 32 has the helis, not sure about that Chinese map though).
Posted: 2008-02-26 12:41
by Technoelite
Barsa used to have apache gun ships but i remebr they where taken out becaseu of a bug or that it was unfair to the insurgents i cant remeber.
And Quailing uses AIR ,chooper ,attack chopper. To answer the chineses question.
Posted: 2008-02-26 13:15
by Alpha(r)
Corporal Cody wrote:You guys are probably getting really tired of all the questions and suggestions for the upcoming versions..... but I just gotta ask. Do you fellas have any plans for the inclusion of attack helicopters in an urban enviroment (such as an Apache at Al Basrah, etc. etc.). Along with this, any plans for a map with both attack helis and jets? I don't think there is a map that has both yet (64 Kashan has the jets, 32 has the helis, not sure about that Chinese map though).
Battle for Qinling 64 map(the Chineese one you probably mean) has both attack choppers and jets
EDIT:sry I've just read Technoelite's post carefully
Posted: 2008-02-26 19:29
by Expendable Grunt
Hey Alpha, Cheomesh here
Anyways, the Apache got taken out of Basrah because it turned into a slaughterfest. During the beta, when it was still AAS, it was impossible for the Insurgents to win (The AA was still borked). When it went over to Insurgency Mode, the Apache still trolled the skys, making it impossible to defend the caches.
As for whether or not we'll ever see a chopper on an urban map again, I ask you to see "Gulf of Oman".
Posted: 2008-02-26 19:59
by Alpha(r)
Expendable Grunt wrote:Hey Alpha, Cheomesh here
OMG that is you little rascal

I haven't really thought that you and...um you is the same guy lol
Posted: 2008-02-26 20:53
by Rhino
Technoelite wrote:Barsa used to have apache gun ships but i remebr they where taken out becaseu of a bug or that it was unfair to the insurgents i cant remeber.
it was taken out cos it was simpley too easy to fly around the map and have the gunner look in all the obvious locations for the cache, then be able to shoot it with the MG from long distances away..
and yes, Qinling 64p has both Jets, Attack choppers and Transport choppers...
Posted: 2008-02-27 23:08
by Sabre_tooth_tigger
In theory you could do something similar with a merlin but caches are hard to spot from the air because of the shading used, they blend in.
Theres only a couple caches that can be spotted in this way usually.
I think the apache could be added in without unbalancing the map but they allready have tons of vehicles and theres only 32 players to crew them all and search the ground which Im certain would still be the most important way to find caches
UK win anyway dont they. Does anyone play this map regularly, who usually wins? We played this in an organised game recently and insurgents were a terror which is not how I remember 0.6
Posted: 2008-02-27 23:16
by gazzthompson
Sabre_tooth_tigger wrote:
Does anyone play this map regularly, who usually wins? We played this in an organised game recently and insurgents were a terror which is not how I remember 0.6
good map but its total noob city tbh and it always crashes the server so its not so good to play
Posted: 2008-02-27 23:28
by Rhino
Sabre_tooth_tigger wrote:In theory you could do something similar with a merlin but caches are hard to spot from the air because of the shading used, they blend in.
nooo, main reason why the merlin is not effective is because it dose not have a gunner that can look around below the chopper, on the ground, zoom in on targets and use its chain gun to destroy anything it sees. even if the merlin dose spot it, all he can do is inform his team and maybe drop off some troops to take it out, but it cant destroy it...
Posted: 2008-02-27 23:33
by zangoo
go onto basrah traning map, now get into the apache with someone ask them to go to village, now shoot at the village with the 30mm gun, it will take out the village in less then 1 min so it wouldnt be very hard to just destroy the area where you think the cache is.
sticking to ma guns
Posted: 2008-02-28 00:43
by Sabre_tooth_tigger
Well maybe I can pop onto the basrah training map sometime with you but I have played with apache (+ gunner) on insurgency basra before and it wasnt overpowering like it seems it obviously would be.
If we count village and the island as definate air spottable caches. There is a possible on refinery and palace as well but I think its limited in its effect beyond that.
The biggest change would be its overwhelming firepower influencing the game if it stayed up long enough. SA-7 might be a good enough counter to it as well as 50 cal technicals.
The gunners zoom is shakey and more importantly, in black and white. So the heli would need be really close, far closer then it should be in order to stay safe.
Im not arguing it should be loaded on the map just with the idea that it obviously could never be on the map because its great at finding caches.
I think the civilian deaths from splash damage, etc is the real reason it couldnt be put in maybe
Old vid of me trying to find caches on basra 0.7 with the merlin, server was half empty and filling up after a crash hence my death at the end from a short range sa7 launch
jj - Battlefield 2 video
even if the merlin dose spot it, all he can do is inform his team and maybe drop off some troops to take it out, but it cant destroy it
Ive cruised round with an engineer before. In terms of finding caches, I found it similar.
The apache can open up buildings more easily if they are destructible but apart from village (because it seems to always have a certain cache) its not a massive factor as they are usually empty anyway - a wild goose chase
Posted: 2008-02-28 01:05
by Mora
The apache could be added but only if the caches are really good hidden under the ground or something.
Posted: 2008-02-28 03:53
by BloodBane611
Hey Sabre, the fact that it rapes when trying to find caches really is the reason. Most of the caches are exposed, either in yards or on roofs, and that means that finding one in an attack helo hovering right inside the fog zone is ridiculously easy, and that destroying them with missiles/cannon fire is also ridiculously easy. Assuming the caches could be moved under cover it might be reasonable, but don't expect it.
Anyhow, there are a lot of urban maps in the works (I can think of like 3 in the community mods forum), so I'm thinking there is a good chance of an apache showing up in a city fight sometime soon.
Posted: 2008-02-28 12:23
by Sabre_tooth_tigger
I dont agree the apache is great at spotting caches from the air, its not easy. Watch the vid above and tell me how many cache you can see with me 20 feet off the ground (too dangerous in a full server), the apache does not have any more ability to spot then a merlin with passenger
Maybe its laser targeted missiles would be too much, you'd have to find the cache first but it would alter things as far as destroying it
It wasnt a great factor with tv missiles though
Posted: 2008-02-28 14:34
by Waaah_Wah
[R-DEV]Rhino wrote:nooo, main reason why the merlin is not effective is because it dose not have a gunner that can look around below the chopper, on the ground, zoom in on targets and use its chain gun to destroy anything it sees. even if the merlin dose spot it, all he can do is inform his team and maybe drop off some troops to take it out, but it cant destroy it...
Dont tell me that you have never seen a Merlin with lots of C4 dropping engineers in it

Was great fun in 0.6 as you could pretty much carpet bomb the city with SLAM's and C4

Posted: 2008-02-28 14:44
by BloodBane611
Why would you fly 20 feet off the ground when you can be at 600, and clearly see with little ability to be fired on? Even with two or three SA-7 kits it would still be very hard to take down, and would allow the brits to destroy a huge number of insurgent vehicles and spawn points from the air.
Posted: 2008-02-28 15:19
by Sabre_tooth_tigger
If you could show a screenshot of 600alt with a clear view on a cache then obviously Im wrong
The gunners zoom is no good for spotting for caches but using binoculars from the merlin or a parachute would be a more then fair comparison
Anyway I hope they fix the basra map bug so we can settle this in battle!
I was piloting the a mec attack chopper on kashan the other day. We were shot down at 597 alt a couple of times. I dont think the view distance on basra is quite so great, 400 is probably the fog viewdistance limit
Posted: 2008-02-28 23:24
by VipersGhost
I think the choppers work within the BF2 engine MUCH better than the planes do. I would really like to see more attack chopper maps.
Posted: 2008-02-28 23:53
by [=TC=]nuetron
Technoelite wrote:Barsa used to have apache gun ships but i remebr they where taken out becaseu of a bug or that it was unfair to the insurgents i cant remeber.
And Quailing uses AIR ,chooper ,attack chopper. To answer the chineses question.
WRONG!!!!!!!!!!

??:
the HIND is a
Gunship(attack heli/transport)

the Apache is an
Attack Helicopter 
Z-10 is an Attack helicopter
Attack Helicopter 
??:
the Havok is an attack helicopter
Attack Helicopter 
??:
Posted: 2008-02-29 05:45
by Ecko
[R-DEV]Rhino wrote:nooo, main reason why the merlin is not effective is because it dose not have a gunner that can look around below the chopper, on the ground, zoom in on targets and use its chain gun to destroy anything it sees. even if the merlin dose spot it, all he can do is inform his team and maybe drop off some troops to take it out, but it cant destroy it...
I always wondered, would it be possible to god mode the caches vs a set entity, that being an apache

. If so problem solved. Of course AA would also need a fix before implementing it. Plus with civilians around using the apache would be difficult.