Inflight radar needs to be reworked, not gone.

[MANDOBLE]

It is true, 99% WWII planes dont have inflight radar, but they had radios and were informed by land based controllers and by spotter planes. All this information creates a more or less precise picture, but never in real time with dynamic refreshing.

A god idea may be to force the pilot to solicite that info. So, you click on a sector, this sector is marked as selected (highlighted) and then you click on "REPORT" button. In 15 seconds you'll have the static "picture" of that sector. Once you zoom in or out, the zoom is done from the center of the selected sector unless you select the center as your own plane (by a check). The static picture has static red dots indicating contacts (detected by friendly radar of into the visual range of friendy units), but if enough zoom is applided, the dots switch to icons indicating "small plane", "big plane", "CV", "GV", each icon followed by a bearing arrow. With the static picture comes also the sector enemy bars, based on the number of contacts reported into the picture. This way we'll have enemy bars only based on contacts into visual range of friendly forces or detected by radar. Any friendly base is considered as friendly force to check if a con is into its visual range (even having its radar disabled).

If a picture is being processed (into the 15 secs since solicited), no more pictures of that sector can be ordered.

[Fastbikkel]

Yeah great idea man!!

[Pepe]

Outstanding!

I like this a lot. Just add in tower radar, for instant (human) vectoring capability.

Great Idea.

Cheers,

Pepe

[Citabria]

why make things so complicated?

if you simply remove it then players rely on their hunting skills or other players in tower to give radar updates over the radio.


tell me the last time you heard an Aces High player say:


 

bandits 5 miles 3 o clock moving north fly heading 270 to intercept

30 bucks says you've never heard this in Aces High

[Pepe]

Exactly Cit, that's why that feature would be welcome. You would not depend fully on players' cooperative work (yet to see), and yet have sitrep not disturbing the sim flavour. With appropiate delay implemented in sitreps, human vectoring would be crucial for effective interdiction.

Cheers,

Pepe

[MANDOBLE]

Citabria, you have answered yourself.

[Citabria]

example:
you like fighting against AI cv flak or human CV flak?

thats the difference between automated computer generated Ground control radar and player interaction ground control radar reports.

[Pepe]

example: you ask for a computer-generated report, that gets to your cockpit with one minute delay. żDoes it qualify in the same league as CV-otto?

Cheers,

Pepe.

[Citabria]

frankly I dont think you have experienced human GCI reports since you think the computer simulating humans making GCI reports is so much more fun.

I used to think AI in boxed games was pretty slick too. even in falcon 4 it was good, but it was routine and predictable and I have no desire to play boxed games because I find interacting with AI is boring as hell.

[Vulcan]

Sorry Cit but if you flew Nit you'd know I call cons all the time.

Might just be the old WB habit though  

(oh can I have my $30 now?)

 

Originally posted by Citabria:
why make things so complicated?

if you simply remove it then players rely on their hunting skills or other players in tower to give radar updates over the radio.


tell me the last time you heard an Aces High player say:


 30 bucks says you've never heard this in Aces High

[Pepe]

I do agree with that, Cit. AI has to be manteined to the strict minimum needed, and then tamed down as possible. What MANDOBLE suggests is a way to cope with an absolute absence of information. I do not suggest anywhere (I think) that AI reporting is more fun that human vectoring. Au contraire, I KNOW human vectoring is lots of fun, been there, done that, back in WB.

But I think you should not lay behind the fact that you do not allways get all the help you need from your buddies, as you well point.

WB dot radar system beats AH, from my point of view. But it's not perfect. I think adopting some kind of radar system ala WB, combined with this kind of reports would be a quantitative advance leap as for making this sim interesting. You would get no AWACS/JSTARS capabilities, yet the ones fearing they wont be able to find a fite have one instrument to know where they shoud point their props.

Cheers,

Pepe

[MANDOBLE]

We have not enough players to assign 10% of them the role of ground controlers and information distributors. Unless you give them 1000 perks for every half an hour they kept into the tower sending radar reports by radio and recovering visual contacts given by flying players.

[funked]

started another thread.  

[This message has been edited by funked (edited 05-10-2001).]

[lazs]

"
                         bandits 5 miles 3 o clock moving north fly heading 270 to intercept


                    30 bucks says you've never heard this in Aces High"

without dar you may never hear it either.   Then again you may hear it once in a while but it certainly won't be like the tight dedicated control of WWII.   And why should it?  most people are not on for hours and hours at a time.  most have jobs and families and such.  You can't expect them to do the unglorious and boring (but essential in WWII) jobs all the time or even any of the time.

When I'm on i like to get on RW with squadies and find a big fite.  the resultant radio chatter and calls for help and position are 100 times more immersive than any dar modification that could be made.  Just give me more and bigger fites... I'll make my own immersion.   And I won't wreck anyones fun or waste anyones free time.
lazs

[This message has been edited by lazs (edited 05-10-2001).]

[Hooligan]

We don't have players acting as long shoreman in San Francisco bay loading ammo crates.  We don't have players loading ammo belts into the aircraft.  Certain boring aspects of air warfare are best left to the computer.

Hooligan