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Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 20:31
by CanuckCommander
Just wondering if this can be done with a few lines of code to maybe make one of the 1-9 keys a salvo firing mode for the Attack Helicopters' rockets.

REASON? A lot of times I would go into a dive on a target for a Hydra/Strafing run, but would spend too much time diving because the rate of fire of the rockets are not fast enough. Most of the time, I do fine by pulling out early (not being able to deliver all my payload) and have to come back again to expose myself to more AA fire.

My experience has been that the longer I hold my Angle of Attack on a target, the more likely I am hit by AA. I've seen videos of Apaches firing salvos of 4 or 8 rockets at a time, so maybe the 4 or 8 key on the keyboard can switch you to rockets that fire 8 at the time, 4 from each pod. Of course the rockets will be ammo linked.

I'm guessing this wouldn't be too much of a problem at all if it wasn't for BF2's crazy engine where Helos accelerate out of control in a dive, which is more of a reason to allow pilots to get MORE bullets off before slaming the brakes to avoid hitting the ground.

*I wrote this fast, pls excuse any mistakes.

EDIT,

To clarify, some of you guys didn't seem to get what I mean. My idea is to keep the single fire, but have other keys to switch firing modes. This was stated in my post with "ammo linked" rockets, but I guess people just don't read that carefully :-) .

Here's an example, watch the second attack run.


LiveLeak.com - Apache Rocket Attack

What do you guys think about this?

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 20:36
by McBumLuv
I really support this idea.

How about three modes though, One for the current speed, the second firing at eight times the speed, and a third firing them all off at once in a second :goodvibes :

We can still use the 7-9 keys for the views (though is that being fixed for the Apache? It doesn't have those views).

Actually, while we're at it, can we instill the realistic rocket numbers and damage for each attack heli? the Super Cobra should only have 14, the Apache with 38 iirc, etc.. etc..

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 20:45
by LudacrisKill
Go from a hight alt and further away. When I do hydra runs I dont usually even see the target, just see a marker placed by spotter/gunner.

This way I have more time to unload my hydras, almost 100% survival chance and I get a nice spread of hellfires.

Ofc this is not that useful for a accurate hit but hydra runs are usually not suppose to be very accurate.

Im not sure how useful it would be to shoot 8 rockets at a time unless it was for a armoured veh which you should be using hellfires on anyway.

Remember this is a game and things are done to change gameplay not JUST get the game as close to reality as possible.

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 20:52
by McBumLuv
LudacrisKill wrote:Go from a hight alt and further away. When I do hydra runs I dont usually even see the target, just see a marker placed by spotter/gunner.

This way I have more time to unload my hydras, almost 100% survival chance and I get a nice spread of hellfires.

Ofc this is not that useful for a accurate hit but hydra runs are usually not suppose to be very accurate.

Im not sure how useful it would be to shoot 8 rockets at a time unless it was for a armoured veh which you should be using hellfires on anyway.

Remember this is a game and things are done to change gameplay not JUST get the game as close to reality as possible.
How would this be negative for gameplay? Your account is simply your description of your adaptation to an ignored aspect of the game. there are times when you'll want to unleash all hell on the enemy and GTFO before they realize what's hit them, like how attack choppers are SUPPOSED to work. An example would be coming in fast on an enemy bunker and strafing with the hydras, but if they have AA, you won't be able to stay there very long. And relying on a gunner isn't always beneficial if you aren't acquainted with them/ they can't identify and engage targets as easily on the move.

EDIT: damn I can't spell :?

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 20:54
by CanuckCommander
LudacrisKill wrote:Go from a hight alt and further away. When I do hydra runs I dont usually even see the target, just see a marker placed by spotter/gunner.

This way I have more time to unload my hydras, almost 100% survival chance and I get a nice spread of hellfires.

Ofc this is not that useful for a accurate hit but hydra runs are usually not suppose to be very accurate.

Im not sure how useful it would be to shoot 8 rockets at a time unless it was for a armoured veh which you should be using hellfires on anyway.

Remember this is a game and things are done to change gameplay not JUST get the game as close to reality as possible.
Yea its not like I DON'T know how to do it in game. I'm just asking for a better way that it can be done. People always like to asssume...

Why do all that extra stuff to get altitude when you could just fire off multiple salvos and empty your whole payload within 2 seconds?

I think this will change gameplay for the better, so I don't know what your argument was against.

This will increase the survival rate of most choppers because you have no idea how many times I've been killed in a DIVE, especially diving at those 90% accurate 50 cals on vodniks on Muttrah lol :-p .

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 20:55
by CanuckCommander
^^^ Lolz, the attack of the Canadians!


Anyways, back on topic!

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 21:03
by McBumLuv
Now, where's Alex when you need him to go on a rant about nerfing (mainly air) assets ;)

But, yea, this is such a simple and logical suggestion that I'm wondering why it's been ignored.

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 21:06
by Rudd
its only been up 4 an hour, they are testing the new build....

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 21:07
by McBumLuv
^ so, :p

But yea, this shouldn't be hard to implement at all, either.

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 21:31
by jbgeezer
Support this idea. While we are at it why not add salvo mode for the 30mm gun like its on the Apache IRL? I think its 10round, 30 round, 100 round and spend it all firemodes(saw this on Nat geo channel, correct me if i am wrong)

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 21:36
by LudacrisKill
Not sure hydra range but I think its limitless.

A spotter/gunner put down a accurate marker on a FB/target and you jst aim the chopper at it from 1000m away, spray and back out when you all out.

You wont even see the target only the marker. No risk and the enemy still didnt see it coming.

Bad thing about this is the fact that non exp pilots will find it hard to aim at long ranges.

This works well for jets also. With the a10 and especially frogfoot, if I have a accurate marker on a FB/inf postion I do i dive from 2.5/3k and pull up after firing rockets and cannon. I dont drop lower than 1000 atl.

I just think there is no need to fire so many missiles at once.

Whats the difference between 1 missile and 8 missiles hitting the same place? (unless its a armoured veh, nothing, inf will be killed and fb will be dmg'd.)

When I get a new PC I hope to make a tutorial video on how I use my air assets hopefully you will see my side of things ;) .

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 21:38
by CanuckCommander
jbgeezer wrote:Support this idea. While we are at it why not add salvo mode for the 30mm gun like its on the Apache IRL? I think its 10round, 30 round, 100 round and spend it all firemodes(saw this on Nat geo channel, correct me if i am wrong)
I think i will correct you :p . The reason hydras can fire salvos is that it has multiple rockets in multiple launch tubes, meaning that multiple rockets can be ignited at the same time if not one after another in a quick succession.

Now, in the case of the cannon, no matter how many round-burst firing mode you have, you still have one barrel, and that limits how fast you can fire. In other words, it doesn't matter if your firing by holding the trigger, 100 round bursts, or W/E, you'll still be firing at the same rate of fire.

I think what you saw on TV was that they were talking about the Pilot controlling how many rounds to fire according to SOP (standard operating procedure). For example, even though the GAU-8 on the A10 can fire thousands of rounds without at a time much difference, pilots are taught to fire about a 2 second burst to conserve ammo.

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 21:43
by jbgeezer
CanuckCommander wrote:I think i will correct you :p . The reason hydras can fire salvos is that it has multiple rockets in multiple launch tubes, meaning that multiple rockets can be ignited at the same time if not one after another in a quick succession.

Now, in the case of the cannon, no matter how many round-burst firing mode you have, you still have one barrel, and that limits how fast you can fire. In other words, it doesn't matter if your firing by holding the trigger, 100 round bursts, or W/E, you'll still be firing at the same rate of fire.

I think what you saw on TV was that they were talking about the Pilot controlling how many rounds to fire according to SOP (standard operating procedure). For example, even though the GAU-8 on the A10 can fire thousands of rounds without at a time much difference, pilots are taught to fire about a 2 second burst to conserve ammo.
No I wasnt propsing to increase firerate but one pull on the trigger is for instance 30rounds going out the barre without you holding the trigger. The gunner has a small switch on his controlls

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 21:46
by CanuckCommander
LudacrisKill wrote:Not sure hydra range but I think its limitless.

A spotter/gunner put down a accurate marker on a FB/target and you jst aim the chopper at it from 1000m away, spray and back out when you all out.

You wont even see the target only the marker. No risk and the enemy still didnt see it coming.

Bad thing about this is the fact that non exp pilots will find it hard to aim at long ranges.

This works well for jets also. With the a10 and especially frogfoot, if I have a accurate marker on a FB/inf postion I do i dive from 2.5/3k and pull up after firing rockets and cannon. I dont drop lower than 1000 atl.

I just think there is no need to fire so many missiles at once.

Whats the difference between 1 missile and 8 missiles hitting the same place? (unless its a armoured veh, nothing, inf will be killed and fb will be dmg'd.)

When I get a new PC I hope to make a tutorial video on how I use my air assets hopefully you will see my side of things ;) .
The video won't be necessary. I'm sure we ALL get what you're saying, because we ARE using the same tactics, for now at least. We understand the importance of accurate markers and long range shots. In fact, I did this last night on Kashan 32 when I got 5 kills from Hydra runs from 1300m with the apache on North Village.

However, according to your logic, 1 rocket vs 8 rockets doesn't make a difference. BTW, who said the 8 rockets will hit the same place, they will still have dispersion because your moving and you have 2 pylons that are apart by a few feet?

IT ACTUALLY MAKES A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE! I'll tell you why. The reason modern jets got Vulcan guns that fire thousands of rounds per minute is that the jets are so fast nowadays that they can only get a opportunity to aim at the target for mere seconds if not a fraction of a second. In order to increase the rate of hits, they increased the volume of fire. In essence, they are spamming bullets with the Vulcan/Gattling guns.

Same idea with the rockets. Sometimes you only have 1 chance to hit a target, especially the Angle of Attack is very steep. You would want to deliver as much hurt as possible as well as pull out as fast as possible. I don't understand how this is going against your tactics at all? In fact, it will improve YOUR survival rate. Or maybe you just like argue? :-p

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 21:48
by CanuckCommander
jbgeezer wrote:No I wasnt propsing to increase firerate but one pull on the trigger is for instance 30rounds going out the barre without you holding the trigger. The gunner has a small switch on his controlls
You still don't see my point. I don't see the difference it makes if your holding the trigger, or pressing it once for the gun, because it WILL STILL FIRE at the same rate. Holding the trigger for 30rnds at 900rnds/min is the same as pressing the trigger once for 30rnd burst at 900rnds/min.

To the contrary, holding the trigger for 30 hyras/min, is VERY different from pressing the trigger for 30 hydras/2 seconds.

I thought I was pretty clear in my post. Hope you get it now. :-)

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 21:51
by jbgeezer
okay just add a salvo mode for realism, and please canuck, go watch megafactories on nat geo

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 21:58
by CanuckCommander
jbgeezer wrote:okay just add a salvo mode for realism, and please canuck, go watch megafactories on nat geo
Sure, I believed you the whole time. I'm not questioning your information. In real life, aircraft have many functions and selector switches for all kinds of rate of fires for guns, missiles and even FLARES. But I don't see a difference it makes in game. Let me clarify the difference between SALVO and BURST. Your saying the gun has 30 rnd/ 100rnd bursts. I'm suggesting Hydra to be fired in SALVOs.

Let me show you.

LiveLeak.com - Apache Rocket Attack

On the second attack run, the pilot fires a salvo of around 8 rockets.

In PR, I'm not suggesting that the helicopters fire 8 rounds for every press of trigger at the same firing rate as NOW, but rather, for every press of trigger, it fires 8 rockets at an almost simultaneous speed.

Edit,

Link me and i'll watch it :-)

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 22:01
by jbgeezer
I`ve understood you point all the time and I do agree with you, hydra firerate is to slow, play lock on with hydras on A10. 38 missiles gone in no time.

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 22:14
by McBumLuv
CanuckCommander wrote:In PR, I'm not suggesting that the helicopters fire 8 rounds for every press of trigger at the same firing rate as NOW, but rather, for every press of trigger, it fires 8 rockets at an almost simultaneous speed.

Edit,

Link me and i'll watch it :-)
Actually, why not make a mode for 8 rockets to be fired in a burst/salvo mode? Wouldn't make the first mode useless. Maybe have it:

  • Weapon 1: current automatic fire rate
  • Weapon 2: 8 round salvo in semi-automatic "bursts"
  • Weapon 3: 38 Round salvo for when you want some major @$$ kicking :p

Re: Salvo fire for Attack Helicopters

Posted: 2009-01-18 22:14
by jbgeezer
Agree.