Author Topic: what happened to the bombers? (Read 474 times)

fishstix128 · « **on:** December 04, 2002, 08:38:13 PM »

I played this game for a bit about a year ago and then started up again about a month ago, and ive noticed that the bombers have turned into balsa wood planes..

What happened to the damage model? I remember when i first started that i could shoot down at least a plane or two before i was taken down. And to make things worse, i cant even kill anyone while being attacked..

Now the best i can do is get the oil damage on my nme and thats about it. Is it just me or has things drastically changed?

jonnyb · « **Reply #1 on:** December 05, 2002, 10:19:53 AM »

It's not just you. The bomber model has been completely revamped as of version 1.10. Specifically, you now have to calibrate the bombsight manually via a series of buttons and joystick movements. Also, you can now fly a 3-ship formation.

As a result, some bugs were introduced. Specifically, damage transfer bugs. You are in the lead ship of the box, and a con opens fire on you, scoring multiple hits. You blow up, but the damage transfers to the next plane you warped into.

fishstix128 · « **Reply #2 on:** December 05, 2002, 10:29:00 AM »

ahh ok cool, yea the calibration part was a bit hard to learn, but the 2 extra drones really makes up for it.

I see now how the damage gets transfered. but even so, it still seems that my first plane is taken down rather quick... even with .50 cons.

Soda · « **Reply #3 on:** December 05, 2002, 10:39:38 AM »

I don't think bombers got any softer, but a host of other changes made them a whole lot tougher to survive in. The calibration thing means you have to basically fly straight and level, which defeats what used to be the maneuvering bomber defense. They also added restricters to limit you from firing through tails/wings/etc... this cut down on the number of guns you typically have to face as a fighter since anything attacking from the rear basically didn't have to deal with the top turret anymore (tail in way). The bomber formation also presents a larger target, so people are opening fire much sooner as even scattered rounds might hit bombers on either side of the center-lead one. Also, the damage seems to transfer around a fair amount, so hits on any 1 bomber may infact put damage into more than 1 bomber (I've seen this, shot the right bomber and had the engine start smoking on the middle one). Finally, while one would think the defense firepower was upgraded because you have 3 rear-turrets (in the example of a rear attack), it doesn't quite work like that. All 3 tail guns are so far apart, horizontally, that convergence is a real problem and typically only the center gun will be hitting anything while the crossing pattern of the two outter bombers makes them mostly useless.

I think it's a whole lot of changes that made bombers the way they are now... and a couple of small changes would likely bring them back into popularity again.

-Soda
The Assassins.

fishstix128 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 05, 2002, 12:14:26 PM »

awsome, ok thanks for the info. I know what you mean about the false sense of security with the added firepower of 2 other planes. The drone shots usually whiz on by. I bet they would be usefull if there were say a an attacker with a wingman and then maybe a couple would hit.

Any idea as to when 1.11 is coming out? i heard early next year but i think it was just a guestimation.

Soda · « **Reply #5 on:** December 05, 2002, 01:56:10 PM »

Actually, a bomber formation with 2 gunners is very tough to attack, and you are correct, convergence isn't a problem them since each gunner can aim his own guns on his own plane. It also tends to make it so the enemy plane is not masked by the same number of guns on each plane (ie, the tail may be in the way for the top gun on the center plane but for the outside bombers it might not be blocked and can fire too). I've seen a couple of times where dual gunners in formations have really caused havoc and tore up planes... all the other stuff though, the damage carrying over and such, still applies. Make sure you set your convergence in the hanger for bombers, most people set it out to the max of 650 I would guess to make you have at least some longer range firepower for dealing with fighters.

When 1.11 comes out is the million $ question. They've been working on it for quite a while, but sort of changed direction with what they wanted to accomplish in 1.11 sometime mid-stream. They've already shown quite a bit of artwork changes (new planes, updated planes) and some new graphics, so we can assume that those parts of the patch are mostly complete. They have mentioned that the focus will be on gameplay balance, or at least that's one item they were working on, and you can see they have still very recently been talking about methods to control some types of play that are generally accepted as "gamey". I'd say we'd be lucky to see anything by years end, though January is probably a reasonable target for the new release... but that's a total guess only based on what I've heard/seen.

-Soda
The Assassins.

fishstix128 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 05, 2002, 02:06:20 PM »

yea oh well.. all we can do is wait

Soda · « **Reply #7 on:** December 05, 2002, 02:26:32 PM »

Correct, though they have in the past been a little more open about progress on patches. This is likely because they used to pop into the MA from time to time and answer a handful of questions about how things were going, and that information spread through all the players pretty quickly. Also, the patches have grown much larger, encompassing more, and thus have taken longer to develop/test.

A lot of players waiting on this patch though, waiting to see if it will offer what they are looking for. The game has changed so much now that there have been such a large number of new players that some balancing issues have come up that need to be addressed. It's all just growth of the game though... honest guess says early next year. Maybe Santa will deliver early though.

-Soda
The Assassins.