Rise of Flight

[Ardy123]

That starts to remind me if the good old Red Baron dynamic campaigns. I have always wondered why most sims went back to crappy static campaigns.

yeah, me too, I used to play a lot and I loved the dynamic campaigns, although they tended to get repetitive.

[Lusche]

Red Baron was far from perfect, but that part of it was excellent.  You never knew what you were in for on a mission, even from campaign to campaign.

Not only that. For me one of the most important things was the open end of your missions, just like in real life. Sometimes you rule, sometimes you will be chased back to your aerodrome. But no matter what, unless you died there was always a new day with a new mission.
I was thoroughly demotivated by "campaigns" in other sims where you had to fulfill partly absurd (compared to RL) requirements to carry on, or you were forced to replay the thing. A great battle, 3-4 bombers shot down under adverse circumstances, you barely make it back to your base, but ready to fight another day - do you get a medal? No, "mission failed, try again" because you did not kill ALL the enemy bombers
I was far more happy with one or two kills but adding another day of "survived" to my RB diary. (Now you all know where my AH play style came from )

I don't think I had ever completed a full campaign in the original EAW or Il-2 releases...

[PFactorDave]

Try the Career B mode PFactor, the Campaigns are the old style more scripted version.

Ya I just discovered the Career B mode today.  I didn't realize you had to Login Online.  It's very cool.  I bought the Eindecker so I could start a career at the beginning. 

Question...  If I can keep my pilot alive long enough, will the squadron upgrade to new aircraft as they become available?  And what happens if the squadron upgrades to an airframe that I haven't purchased yet?  Will I have the opportunity to purchase the plane and continue my career?

[Sid]

"Question...  If I can keep my pilot alive long enough, will the squadron upgrade to new aircraft as they become available?" Yes (and hopeful you will also work your way up in rank).

"And what happens if the squadron upgrades to an airframe that I haven't purchased yet?" Don’t know, guess you'll be given a desk job. 

"Will I have the opportunity to purchase the plane and continue my career?" Yes you can purchase a single aircraft at anytime (it doesn't mater if you have a purchased version of the game or the demo).

This post explains how to get started in Career B Career Directions - How to Start a New Career in 1.019/1.020

[PFactorDave]

"Question...  If I can keep my pilot alive long enough, will the squadron upgrade to new aircraft as they become available?" Yes (and hopeful you will also work your way up in rank).

"And what happens if the squadron upgrades to an airframe that I haven't purchased yet?" Don’t know, guess you'll be given a desk job. 

"Will I have the opportunity to purchase the plane and continue my career?" Yes you can purchase a single aircraft at anytime (it doesn't mater if you have a purchased version of the game or the demo).

This post explains how to get started in Career B Career Directions - How to Start a New Career in 1.019/1.020

Thanks for the info

[PFactorDave]

Here's a question for you Sid...

I just had an offensive patrol mission.  I was assigned to be the wingman of a higher ranked pilot.  We take off, I form up on him.  Instead of flying the patrol route, he just does a lazy turning climb up to about 1200m.  Then he just circles our field.  He just kept circling.  I finally gave up on him and flew the patrol alone, scoring two balloons and a Nieuport.  When I completed the patrol and landed at our home field, the guy was still circling the field.

Is this just retarded AI?  Or was I supposed to toss out some hand signals or something.  He was supposed to be lead though.

I hope the AI isn't that stupid all of the time.  I was looking forward to mixing it up while keeping my leaders six clear.

[mechanic]

AI bugs are not too common but do occur like that. Best thing to do is pretend he had engine trouble and go on alone. Most of the time the sorties I ahve done have worked well, the team aspect and actualy knowing which pilot from your squadron you just saw being killed adds a huge element of realism for me. I have felt stinging regret at making mistakes and letting and well known squad mate die.

[PFactorDave]

AI bugs are not too common but do occur like that. Best thing to do is pretend he had engine trouble and go on alone. Most of the time the sorties I ahve done have worked well, the team aspect and actualy knowing which pilot from your squadron you just saw being killed adds a huge element of realism for me. I have felt stinging regret at making mistakes and letting and well known squad mate die.

Thanks Batty.  

Glad to hear that the AI bugs are infrequent. 

I wish I had discovered the CareerB mode sooner.  It really makes the game, in my opinion.  I'm really looking forward to taking my pilot as far through the war as I can manage.

[Nypsy]

The free Unlimited Rise of Flight Demo includes full access to Career B Mode, so you can try it out without making any purchases.

Each sorties result caries forward to the next, medals, promotion, a few days in the hospital, etc, based on how your doing.

Your limited to just the squadrons that flew the aircraft you have purchased (The demo comes with the SPAD 13 and Albatros D.Va for free, although you can add any aircraft you like from the ROF store to the demo version).

Career B Mode was based on calls for something like the old Red Baron, but they have far surpassed it.  

Try the Career B mode PFactor, the Campaigns are the old style more scripted version.

Thanks for that link Sid.
Downloading it now.

[Sid]

Thanks for that link Sid.
Downloading it now.

Your welcome Nypsy

Here's a question for you Sid...

I just had an offensive patrol mission.  I was assigned to be the wingman of a higher ranked pilot.  We take off, I form up on him.  Instead of flying the patrol route, he just does a lazy turning climb up to about 1200m.  Then he just circles our field.  He just kept circling.  I finally gave up on him and flew the patrol alone, scoring two balloons and a Nieuport.  When I completed the patrol and landed at our home field, the guy was still circling the field.

Is this just retarded AI?  Or was I supposed to toss out some hand signals or something.  He was supposed to be lead though.

I hope the AI isn't that stupid all of the time.  I was looking forward to mixing it up while keeping my leaders six clear.

LOL Dave, the usual problem is getting the AI to go home again, they are normally so keen for fight!

Quote from: ROF October News Blog

We also began working on the AI. This is a very large and complex part of ROF and it is one in which we must be careful, so changes will be gradual. First and foremost, changes will be directed towards the general behavior of the AI. Soon your squad mates in the career will go home after they are damaged or injured or when they run out of ammunition. This will make them more "human" and your squad mates will generally behave more predictably. This will add atmosphere and realism to what is happening around you.

The B in Career B stands for Beta, i.e. still being ironed out. it was only released in June so you've only missed a few months.

Quote from: ROF June News Blog

Finally, the main star of this update is the new Career Mode, which was the main goal of this update after months of difficult development. It was a concept in our heads from the very beginning and we are finally able to release it only after 2 years of further development. As you can see a project like ROF is not easy and takes time. This is a very unique mode of gameplay. It has no set beginning or set end and total gameplay time of the new Career is easily few thousand hours. It includes elements from books, diaries, biographies and military history. It creates an excellent foundation or plot, which in addition to your imagination can make a sort of memoir with narrative bibliographic depth and accuracy. Before we began making a WWI sim, when we were game players in the community like you, we were reading memoirs of pilots, imagining all of the dogfights vividly as if we were there participating in each fight by ourselves. The aim of our work in the new Career Mode was to create a sort of "memoir generator" for you. Now you can create unique experiences and complex or simple fates for pilots who can to become legends or simply die in the first air battles under your command. On the other hand, all players of the new Career mode will be united by common conditions and will be able to see each other's achievements as the progress in a squadron. Even with identical initial conditions each pilot’s virtual life will be unique and no two Career paths will be identical.

[Sid]

The free Unlimited Rise of Flight Demo includes full access to Career B Mode, so you can try it out without making any purchases.

Each sorties result caries forward to the next, medals, promotion, a few days in the hospital, etc, based on how your doing.

Your limited to just the squadrons that flew the aircraft you have purchased (The demo comes with the SPAD 13 and Albatros D.Va for free, although you can add any aircraft you like from the ROF store to the demo version).

Career B Mode was based on calls for something like the old Red Baron, but they have far surpassed it. 

I forgot to mention, if your having problems downloading the Free to Play Demo or would like a hard copy on CD, it's included with this months PC Pilot (November/December 2011)

[PFactorDave]

Getting a little frustrated with getting one shot killed by Anti Aircraft Artillery while fighting behind my own lines.  Wouldn't bother me so much, but the friendly fire deaths are tiresome.

[Wmaker]

Been flying RoF quite a bit on the Hellequins server which is great overall. I simply can ever go back to flying against AI ever again, no matter how good the career is. I definately would like to see the career implemented into a stationary multiplayer server somehow, I know it wouldn't be easy but it would basically be the holy grail I think.

[mechanic]

Been flying RoF quite a bit on the Hellequins server which is great overall. I simply can ever go back to flying against AI ever again, no matter how good the career is. I definately would like to see the career implemented into a stationary multiplayer server somehow, I know it wouldn't be easy but it would basically be the holy grail I think.

That would be the holy grail alright. A 24 hour setup like aceshigh but only one life per callsign would be my idea of perfect. you could play as many callsigns as you want of course, but when youre dead you have to start a new one. That would be as close to the real thing as it gets.

[Sid]

Been flying RoF quite a bit on the Hellequins server which is great overall. I simply can ever go back to flying against AI ever again, no matter how good the career is.

I agree, the Les Hellequins Server is by far my favourite server for realistic flying 
The new Career B mode is fun in a different way, but flying against AI is never going to beat multiplayer.

I definately would like to see the career implemented into a stationary multiplayer server somehow, I know it wouldn't be easy but it would basically be the holy grail I think.

Interesting concept, but I have no idea how you would implement this. Have you tried posting your thoughts on the ROF Forum?