Why do bombers

[cav58d]

Why do bombers have external views?  With gun positions alone, they already have a better 360 field of view than any other cat of aircraft.  So whats the reasoning for all the f# command views?

[blkmgc]

Probably mostly for formation purposes. I dont find that they lend any special help in locating cons while flying ingame over using any of the gun positions. But YMMV.

[Warchief]

AS individual who flies bomber this is due to not always being able to see cons. Now on the same token I dont think you should have external views on all bombers only the actual bombers not things like the A-20, Il-2, or SBD for example because they dont really have any 360 degree view. But the other bombers is due to you do have 360 degree view but when you are making a turn or something like that where you can not just hope to your guns to see cons is why even though in reailty your crew would be able to tell you where the cons where at and what they are doing.

[thndregg]

Originally posted by Warchief
AS individual who flies bomber this is due to not always being able to see cons. Now on the same token I dont think you should have external views on all bombers only the actual bombers not things like the A-20, Il-2, or SBD for example because they dont really have any 360 degree view. But the other bombers is due to you do have 360 degree view but when you are making a turn or something like that where you can not just hope to your guns to see cons is why even though in reailty your crew would be able to tell you where the cons where at and what they are doing.

I agree on the A20, the Stuka, and other non-formation attack/bombers. External is not needed, IMO.

[96Delta]

Bombers are manned by a crew.

That means more eyes on the sky than
just a pilot.  With all those crewmembers
eyes scanning for threats the 'plane' has
a 360 view of every area around him.

Thats why.

[hubsonfire]

There's no way to offer a more realistic representation of an the SA of an entire crew without giving away track IR sets to every customer, and allowing buffs to be fully crewed.

Hey... I just had the best idea ever, HT.

[REP0MAN]

I agree with Hubs. I'll email my address to Skuzzy

[Brooke]

I hardly ever use external views as I think they are totally unrealistic.

If I want to look around my bomber, I jump to different gun positions, including to gun positions on different planes in the formation if needed, and look around.  It seems to work just fine, and this is the same view the gunners presumably would have had.

[HomeBoy]

I was surprised to discover there were external views on any of the planes.  I don't think that was the case in AH 1.  Could be wrong there.

I don't have a problem with it really but it does disappoint me slightly because it detracts for the realism a bit.  When I first started playing simulators back in the early 90's, I was coming from a radio control background and therefore wanted to fly everything from the external view.  When I started with AH in 98, a couple of guys really gave me the "dweeb" treatment and broke me from wanting an external view.  Now, I am a full "non-external" convert only to find external views have found their way into AH.

Oh well.  Sometimes I can't keep up with all the changes in philosophy.  

[hubsonfire]

IIRC, we've always had external views for buffs.

[Karnak]

Originally posted by hubsonfire
IIRC, we've always had external views for buffs.

Yes, they have always been there, from v1.00 to now.

[Engine]

I really fail to see how this is an issue. It's a great way to simulate the SA of a multi-manned plane, and it also saves the players some major annoyances. Instead of having to constantly press keys to jump to positions, they can focus on flying, bombing, and enjoying the game.

Who wants to be forced to hit 1-2-3-4-5 every 15 seconds?

[Tango]

Originally posted by Engine
Who wants to be forced to hit 1-2-3-4-5 every 15 seconds?

Skyrock

[Sweet2th]

Originally posted by cav58d
Why do bombers have external views?  With gun positions alone, they already have a better 360 field of view than any other cat of aircraft.  So whats the reasoning for all the f# command views?

What would be the point of HTC wasting 10 hours to fix that for you?

[cav58d]

Originally posted by Sweet2th
What would be the point of HTC wasting 10 hours to fix that for you?

It's definately better than any idea i've seen posted from you to start.

I don't buy into the whole it add's SA for bombers junk.  I'm sure the 19 and 20 year old crews in 1944 would have loved this feature in real life too!  Maybe getting rid of uber 360 views in bombers would actually level the playing field and make bombers work for their kills.  Just as in RL, if a crew was lazy and failed to perform their dutys, the bomber would be attacked without notice.

And lets not forget that the aircraft is controllable from all gun positions in AH