I sent an e-mail to HTC just now, after witnessing one of the worst abuses of the bomber flight model in this game, and sent in the following grievance. I'm posting it here as well.
I have a major grievance regarding the AH bomber model. I would like to type it out and supply a film clip as an example. I will post on the AH BBS as well in the "Aircraft and Vehicles" forum. Please at least read through it once before discarding or replying, long though it may seem. Thanks in advance for your time.
The 100BG have been pulling some deliberate abuse of the flight models lately. I won't go into some of the other cases, but this one regards the bomber flight model so I will use them, as they are on the film in question.
(link:
http://www.nakatomitower.com/100bg_BSbombers.zipsize: 2.7MB)
Today we found the 100BG running a b17 mission that I DID get on film (for once, I'm glad because I don't record very often). They flew B17s so high that nobody could catch them. I was flying a Ta152, arguably the BEST high altitude performance plane in the entire game bar none, and I could not get a shot off on them without stalling out in the thin air. I could not turn a 180 or even get my nose pointed anywhere near the bombers before they zipped past me in air so thin that astronauts would have been envious. They were flying so slow and yet nobody else could attack them because they were climbing past 35k. I could do nothing but nose down for a burst of speed and take a cheap shot from directly behind.
They were even bragging on channel 200 about it, and taunting people that could not get close enough to shoot at them (note the chatter regarding BBaw's f4u).
This is a blatant abuse/misuse of a flight model that (in this case) probably doesn't take into account players gaming the game. B17s could not fly this high, nor could they float at 100mph IAS (he was doing 204 true, so he must have had the stall buzzer going nonstop) at the top of the world where even the BEST of fighter aircraft gasp for breath.
The bomber flight model is being abused horribly by AH players. Either by taking 25% fuel when historically no bomber ever did so (they topped off for even short range missions), which not only allows them to fly faster in level flight than historically possible, but also allows them climb rates 3x or 4x that of their historical loadout would allow.
On top of that, with no ability to spot 25k bombers until they hit the radar ring, nobody in any plane can climb up to them in the time it takes to stop them from dropping on their target. These bombers often break 300 mph, and at that speed it takes only 5 minutes to cross an entire sector on an AH map. Meanwhile you have only 2-3 minutes from the time they break radar range until they drop.
Level bombers in AH are effectively the equivelant of the B1B stealth bomber. They cannot be detected until it's more than too late, cannot be caught by anybody unless the bombers randomly pass under their noses and if they happen to be sitting in a late war monster plane at 30k waiting for bombers.
Historically they were spotted hundreds upon hundreds of miles away. Ground spotters and radar on BOTH sides could tell when tiny planes approached, let alone giant formations of massive 4-engined bombers. Bombers were reliant upon fuel, it was more valuable than bombs, rations, water, guns, ammo, anything. Damaged bombers would dump everything BUT the fuel. They could not and did not fly at full throttle in order to conserve this fuel. Even on climbout they did not run their engines at full throttle. Full throttle on bombers was takeoff and emergency use only, in the case of the 4-engine-bombers modeled in AH. Whereas historically this gave attacking fighters well over 150-200mph closer rates from behind the bombers' formation, in this game the nonstop full speed, 25% fuel loadouts, and other ahistorical features of AH bombers, even the LATEST and FASTEST warplanes in this game can brag only 50mph closure rates at times. This makes them sitting ducks for the slaved guns in the triple-plane-formation, allowing even a single hit to disable or kill an attacker.
Bombers are such devastating killing tools in this game that only the newest of the newbies dies in them by NOE missions or suicide diving on targets. Even with medium alt ranges (10k is sufficient) they can survive the thickest of furballs and get out the other side and STILL do the damage they wanted to. These are not jet fighters, and yet lancasters have repeatedly flown higher and faster than Me262s can climb. The lancasters can break 32k and fly at full speed, whereas even a high speed 262 cannot climb up to 30k, and if anywhere near this, it cannot make a single 180-degree turn inside a sector's lines without lossing massive amounts of altitude.
Bombers as a whole are being grossly abused, misused, and horrifically twisted from anything resembling Earth's history of flight during the second world war.
Changes are needed, and needed very badly.
These changes could be any of the following, or any combination of the following, or any other ideas not listed which HTC deems valid.
- Mandate 100% fuel on all level bombers regardless of loadout.
- Implement power limits on bomber engines. Perhaps have current "full" throttle become a togglable "WEP" style power setting only allowable for short periods of time
- Have bomber formations automatically show up on maps when they climb past 8k (AAA limit) no matter what the radar status/dar bar/tower up or down status of airfields they are flying over. Have this be a small triangle or chevron to denote formations.
- Reduce the number of guns shooting at the gunner's aim point. Have only that position from the other planes fire (i.e. all 3 tail positions, or all 3 ball positions, but only whatever position the gunner is currently in)
This is a major problem and currently the worst abuse of the flight model as-is for the past few years in AH. Not only would fixing it solve a lot of problems, it would benefit all players (yes, all players) by not coddling one small group of highly disruptive players.
For the same reason we do not have porkable fuel, and the same reason we have a dozen troop barracks at fields now, to stop a small group of players from ruining the gameplay of the majority, we need to put curbs and limits on bombers, which ruin the majority of the fights and gameplay in the current MAs. Further the bomber models are grossly out of balance for historical scenarios or FSO use. Often when matched with their counterparts, the fighters cannot catch the bombers to engage them!
-Krusty
