The Evil, Evil HO

[Cajunn]

Once you figure out how easy it is to turn the HO attempt to your advantage you begin to HOPE for the HO attempt. It is also an instantaneous indicator of the level of skill possessed by your opponent. The more they try to shoot, the less skill they possess is a good general rule.

but some that or doing it i wouldn't have expected

[boxboy28]

well we all know HO's are a FACT of the game.....if its 2 guys flying down each others gun sights.........   or one guy who wont break off your nose..............it takes two to make that ho happen.

how many times have you been in the MA for 1-2 hrs and not had that HO oppertunity/chance or ever had to aviod it?.............. to be honest YEP ILL HO you!   but for every one i do HO i avioded 10!


Personally i expect it in the MA...... its the MA...survival of the fittest.


if your in the DA then the code of honor should apply if so agreed upon.


I can Honestly say there aint a dang one who is not guilty..............especiall y if your turning and the shot presents its self!

[DamnedRen]

Once you figure out how easy it is to turn the HO attempt to your advantage you begin to HOPE for the HO attempt. It is also an instantaneous indicator of the level of skill possessed by your opponent. The more they try to shoot, the less skill they possess is a good general rule.

There is a opposite side to your statement. Ever hear of a feint? It's integral to a real dogfight. In this case a feint might just be a HO shot to make the dude "believe" you have no skill. Ever think of that?

Ren

[bj229r]

I try several tactics to avoid them, cant seem to find one that stands out above others--jug has like 18 cylinders all begging to spray oil on my windscreen--
1. When it becomes evident to me that's the tactic the guy's gonna use---he's prolly 2.0 to 1.5 out (I'm slow on the uptake)
2. Most common avoidance is a notch flaps, rollout left, but if the guy's diving, he could mebbe make that shot, land a golden bb with afore-mentioned hizooka
3. If he's even on, sometimes I hit notch, zoom up, start Immel, (depending on me E, and what I think he's gonna do)
4. Sometimes I push stick, come back up and over after he's passed, but they occasionally get me with canopy shot

Biggest thing (I assume) is WHAT range ought I try somethin, sooner, or later?

[DamnedRen]

The guy's coming at you? Why not immediately point 20 degrees off his nose. Offset. You are no longer head on.
As he closes begin a turn back into him to go canopy to canopy. Before the merge (d-400) just pitch up and roll to the outside of your turn and put your lift vector a little ahead of his nose. Be looking at him as he goes by to your 6. If he maintains his turn you should have a nice canopy shot as he comes around as you've significantly decreased your turning circle while he's has grown larger.  If he goes up or blasts on thru just stay level and extend away.

After you've done it a few times it becomes almost natural to pitch, chop, roll, pull, shoot.

Ren
 

[bj229r]

The guy's coming at you? Why not immediately point 20 degrees off his nose. Offset. You are no longer head on.

Thats where I most commonly get popped in such situations--I'm off angle enough that I have no shot, but he can often yank hard on stick, land a canopy shot, claim it wasn't a 'ho' (Which is the shot he prolly intended all along)--I'm assuming I ought be trying this at long range as possible ?

[DamnedRen]

If yer both angling (read pulling g's) he might get an instant snap shot but if you've already begun a pitch by d400 you only show him a
fuselage which is typically out of plane for his shot. While you're looking back you will see the tracers (if he's using them) going by but rarely hitting you.

Ren

[Infidelz]

Please excuse me moot but I couldn't help wondering if you were using the track IR 4 to HO people?

I was wondering if so was there some benefits that you get from it>? Anyone?

I was also curious if there were others using the Saitek X52 to peform the HO maneuver? Anyone?

If yes on either please feel free to chime in. I am very curious about this and didn't want anyone to think I was whining about the hardware.

How about 4 gigs? Any help, I prefer to aim just below the oncoming HO master myself, does the extra memory help?

on the subject of flying online, while evading a P38, who did get some rounds on my plane, though no damage, i found my plane in a slow roll to the left and it was not responding to roll input. I thought my stick was unplugged so I begin clicking on various things on the stick. Everthing responded yet roll was out. Wondered how he got my alerons but no damage. I soon augered in and from the tower selected a new ride. Much to my chagrin, my alerons were not working. I immediately tried my joystick control panel and found the problem. I have no roll control. You may aks and that's ok, what does this have to do with a HO whine thread. I tell you that I am now prevented from HO'ing until I get a new joystick. Anyone have any recommendations? I can't wait to get back to HO'ing.

INiFIDELz

[moot]

Haven't got my TIR to work yet.  I do look around the bars with the fwd view position (snap, not instant) all the time to help me bring the nose to the right position ahead of time on many shots, though.  But as far as TIR goes, I've heard almost nothing but positives from users.  Only downsides that I've heard of are motion sickness and (just 2 people said this) less of a solid sense of where the plane is flying exactly, because you're freely looking around.  The latter can probably be fixed by adjusting the deadband though.

Extra memory helps, but there's many other bottlenecks to avoid, such as not overloading your system (too many skins, hi res pack) and not having too many stray processes wasting CPU time.  This is all covered pretty well in the Hardware/Software and Tech Support forums if you care to check em out.

As far as joystick recommendations, this is covered pretty well in the Hardware forum too. But if anything, go to a store and try out the sticks yourself.  Ergonomics and build quality mean a lot.  The best stick is the one you forget you're using when flying.

[DamnedRen]

I gotta agree with Moot on the TrackIR. If you're looking for immersion that will sure help to do it.
I noted a few misses with it. I like to keep my eye on the dude I'm fighting. The sense I got in a clear canopy plane, like a 51D,
when looking somewhere up is a distinct lack of peripheral vision as to where my planes nose was in relation to the bandit. It's not quite the same as being there in RL. I sold mine for that and a couple other tech reasons.

When I find a decent headset (stereo monitors) that can handle our game I'll probably pick up another TrackIr and try it again.
Couple those two together and IMHO the immersion factor goes way up.

Ren