Greetings everyone.

I've started a thread over at 1c dealing specifically with bombers and multi-crewed/multi-engined aircraft (that includes the Stuka and the 110 as well).

My goal is to get some exposure for whatever issues prevent us from effectively flying bombers in the sim and apply some pressure to get them fixed. With the graphics optimizations nearing completion and the fighter FMs being revised, two of the most popular areas of complaint for the majority of the playerbase are close to being addressed for good, so i thought that leaves room to deal with something else that's equally important but usually overlooked.

After all, fighters have no reason to scramble and climb out if no bombers are near

I'm explaining things in more detail in that particular thread so i'll cut the introduction a bit short here, anyone who's interested can read the whole thing over at 1c.

What i'm asking for is for any willing bomber pilots to read that thread, follow the posting guidelines (which are meant to help me combine the information in a time-efficient manner and keep the thread readable for everyone involved) and report:

• whatever bugs they have found
• whatever modeling errors they have found (from simple 3D modelling errors and reversed control animations, to incorrect areas of the FM, inaccurate modeling of aircraft systems and missing loadouts/equipment)
• any suggestions they have that would make flying a bomber a better experience and/or more realistic

Even if you have nothing to add to the list i have already compiled, take a moment to read it and maybe you can answer a few questions that have popped up. Essentially what i'm trying to do is collect any potential issues, test how things work in the sim, get some data on how they worked in real life and compare them so that we can determine what is a bug and what is not.

Thread is over here: http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=32592

It's quite a long read but i've split the introduction from the actual bugs and suggestions list (which starts on the 2nd post from the top), so that you can skim through it with more convenience.

I'll be personally moderating that thread and if enough people show interest it will be stickied too. This is our chance to get our bombers fixed guys, go go go! Also, any fighter boys who know what's good for them will support this effort too...the sooner we can properly get up in groups of 10-20 the sooner you'll get nice fat targets to shoot at in multiplayer

Probably the biggest reason people don't fly them as much on ATAG, is the majority of CoD flyers are online, as the offline experience is underwhelming. And as always, the majority of online players are "dogfighters".

Actually that's quite contrary to what i've seen. There are quite a few ATAG members who are in bombers 90% of the time. There's at least 3 flying blue bombers almost daily(major borris and keller being two i can recall). The people on red team flying Blenheims are even more, i've seen groups of 5-6 but usually during weekends because the players are spread over more timezones. Most of the times however they can also put up a steady 3-ship flight of Blenheims. Also, Dutch, Jimbop and others are the guys who helped me with test data when i was maintaining a dedicated Blenheim thread on 1c and it was that thread that pushed to get it fixed in the latest test patch.

Mind you that's only ATAG members. People from other squads and "freelance" pilots that join in also take bombers often.
I don't know about other servers, but on ATAG you can't win the map without flying bombers and hitting targets. There's no limit to planes/pilots to win through dogfighting alone and there are no Jabo 109s available in the planeset, so people do fly bombers a lot.

5-6 bombers is still a minute number compared to the fighter population. Unless that has really dropped off lately.

The value of the bombers would go up if the bombing results and targets affected the type and numbers of enemy A/C available, same regarding the available airfields for example if the destruction of a certain factory resulted in there being no more spit II's available for an hour until the factory comes on line again, or giving Hawkinge a good pasting put it out of service for an hour and then having to fly from further inland. Imagine concentrated bomber attacks taking out radars so no calls directing to the bombers, then losing airfields and being strangled out of the game! I personally spend most of my time in the 110, oneday I will put some time aside to learn the ins and outs of the big boys but time is limited these days!

Craig

Exactly. These two aspects of the sim feed off of each other. Corrected bombers add an incentive to script a sort of supply system in the missions, while more dynamic missions in turn encourage the use of bombers.

Get your airfield fuel dump bombed and you can only use what you've got in the refueling vehicles around the field and in the tanks of aircraft already fueled. Worse yet, fail to protect your main supply stores and you might have to fly on 87 octane or lose access to specific ammunition types. Get your factories bombed and your rate of receiving new aircraft goes down, have the same thing happen to pilot academies and training fields and the number of virtual lives available to your team takes longer to replenish, etc etc.

A lot of these are possible scripting-wise, even today. The problem is that nobody will spend time to come up with a well-made script like that if it's unrealistically cumbersome to put bombs on a target or the bombers are modeled wrong. So let's fix those bombers

Amen to that! Have the put the JaBo's back in on ATAG? It's been awhile since i've peeked in for more than just a headcount.

I have not done enough time in the bombers to notice any bugs , the 110 seemed fine and was my ride of choice online months back, seemed ok when i didnt have a bandit on my 6

The Italian jobs did have a problem though that may already have been adressed, i could fly through them in my Hurri and claim them as kills, watching them explode without any damage to my plane. Full real settings.