Good one Yeager, neither have I but they do exist.
It is no secret that I consider IL2 the best WWII flightsim ever, ONLINE or off, but it is not perfect.
For our purposes here we look at Online play only.
Easymo, a bit hostile there with the feature comment, eh?
You are sort of right though, invisible planes do happen in IL2 Coops.
There is, however, a simple solution and it works.
I have been doing IL2 online almost daily since it was released.
Coop only, dogfight servers are just like AH MA furballs only with more detail.
I encountered the "Invisible Plane Feature" personally for the first time last night.
This will take a minute so if anyone has things to do, go ahead.
OK, after waiting in Hyperlobby for a 14 slot Coop to fill up, (the part that most MMOG folks hate), I as host or as a player launch/have launched, the mission.
It takes a minute to load and then I select the mission and it takes another minute to send it to the other 13 guys(another part most MMOG folks hate).
As players get the mission they show as joined and go to the A/C selection screen and pick a plane.
This is where the Invisible deal pops up.
Say I want the third IL2 listed and the slot is empty but I cannot select it.
Why?
Because easymo, who I see as not having selected a plane yet, his name is still on the list under the planes, not in one, has actually selected that plane.
OK, I see the slot blank, no one else does or 2 other people do(number is arbitrary), if I launch the game at this point I will not see easymo in the game nor will anyone else that saw his slot blank on launch.
Solution?
easymo exits the mission and then reconnects.
Simple and ALWAYS works, when he returns and selects a plane I will see him and so will the others.
Why did it take well over a year for me to actually see....oops not see someone in the game?
Because he was in the plane right next to me, I knew he was there because everyone else could see him and said so.
In the mission I watched as 2 109s, one human controlled, one AI, engaged this invisible plane, they could see him, I could not.
So, for those still awake, yes there is an invisible plane bug in IL2.
Is it common? No
Is there a very simple solution? Yes
easymo, you have an open invitation to join any coop I host in Hyperlobby and IF we encounter the empty slot deal I will insist the person we or either of us or any other player cannot see in a plane slot, reconnect to prove to you that reconnection solves the problem.
I will also (SHUDDER!) turn on icons so when in game we can find him for sure
Disclaimer: I have no clue how the bug manifests in Dogfight Servers but if it were a common occurrance the boards at Ubisoft and SimHq would explode so I gather it is not a big....or even a small problem.
Look guys, AH is amazing, it works well and got my money for quite awhile.
It is MMOG and perfect for you who want that feature, 24/7 world and all, so IL2 will not fill your needs (not yet anyhow but check out Olegs Ready Room at Ubisoft IL2 board for developments), no problem there at all.
IL2 online is perfect for those of us who do not mind waiting for missions and are not worried if there are not 200 others somewhere on the map or the world is there 24/7 for immediate use.
Both have flaws, both do extremely well what they try to do.
For anyone reading here interested in some fantastic, nail biting coops, join me in Hyperlobby any time you take a break from AH, I have DSL and can host 16 with no problem and mayhem and chaos in the air and on the ground is a given.
Was Sunchaser here, am Sunchaser there.
