I agree, apart from the "pretty good" part. IMO it's only pretty good in that you can shoot down things that are trying to shoot you down. To me, it's the main let-down of an otherwise brilliant sim, no doubt because of the ever-increasing abilities, and hence standards we are applying to sims. After a fair while I became tired of the repetetive tactics and haven't flown RoF since.

While it's true that AI can be a weak part of a flight sim, it's not always by the same factor. The new AI for Il-2 4.11 is very good, much better than RoF. I would say the same thing of Falcon BMS even though that's a very different kind of sim.

WWB, thanks. I'd be delighted to know what I'm doing wrong. Small problem--I'm computer illiterate, being brought up in an age before even TV, I take it a track is a flight record
. How do I send and receive it?
Second on reflection perhaps it has to do with my cockpit views. I am only using POV. I have TR5 but cannot use it in the Oz sunlight. As a sop to my aging eyes I use enemy icons. Being a purist, my cockpit view is fixed at around the same position as a normal pilot and I do not use zoom, snap views or external camera shots such as combat camera.. A great deal of the time I rely on the red arrows to indicate roughly where the enemy is. Other than that I fly full realism. I'm setting the height at 3000 and face to face so as not to gain immediate advantage.
So can you help?

I don't think it's your choice of settings as I flew pretty much the same...

3000 meters
Face-to-face
12:00 noon
No External views or padlock.
full real settings w/ engine warm and subtitles.
Standard views (slightly zoomed out)
Using TrackIR5 (but that is not an advantage IMHO - just an immersion bonus)

--No icons here though, and I would suggest this may be the crux of your issues. Chasing around an arrowhead on the edge of your monitor is not using your plane's energy to its best potential to be sure - especially since you do not have "eyes-on" your target to know if he is gaining or losing energy. Has more or less energy than you...or much more information you should be collecting to make better judgments on putting yourself in a better position tactically, let alone getting a gun solution.

I'd be happy to discuss this further with you if you wish in PM or something to not hijack the thread.

S!

Consider using snap views and the zoom function then, or put up curtains so you can use track-ir? You're really handicapping yourself, as those functions are supposed to make up for the inherent limitations of viewing the world through a small rectangle.

I know there's no way I could have achieved the level of success I've had in ROF if I didn't fly with my Track-Ir.

Not even close...

While that may be true for you Copter....TrackIR is still an immersion bonus, not a necessity for success.

...just look at the "ROF Championship" website. Watch the videos, and see some TOP ACES using snap and pan views. No TiR there!

Jus' Sayin'...

Yeah, I know but I just can't maintain situational awareness by flying the hat to change views and flying the aircraft at the same time!

I fly helo's that use a "hat" for normal control inputs and to control the autopilot-but I can turn my head to see what's going on---thank goodness!!

That's all he said in his post.
I'm in the same boat. I never used nor missed TrackIR when flying IL2, even online. While I always thought
it would be nice and intended to purchase it at some point, I never felt hampered by not having it.

RoF was a different story for me, I just couldn't get the hang of maintaining proper awareness with the snap views.
Mostly I think because of that top wing in my face all the time. Track IR has made all the difference to
my RoF experience, and I wouldn't go back.

Look around with your head or use your thumb? No brainier really.

Heya Gambit,

True Dat'

...just like rudder with the Z and X keys of days ago, or throttle with plus and minus.

It's all in what you are used to.

...but I'd hate for other readers of the thread to think they need TrackIR in order to succeed at ROF when they clearly don't.

No Brainers for me these days is HOTAS, 2560x1600 res, TiR, and high-speed Internet.

YMMV