In soviet russia, you don' play the game, game plays you.

Yup, as you guessed this is a rant, so it's pointless to post it on soviet forums where NKVD would immediately send me to gulag, or worse.

Forgive this intro, but I just watched the two seasons of "the attackers" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr-Zz5HbO7Q (russian language but english subtitles, crappy CGI but still highly recommended) two seasons so i'm still immersed in communist era

To the point now, Great Battles has a "career" mode, and it's cool.

Your pilot gets a biography, there are world news available, your wingmen fly, live and die, that's really a good effort.

I don't appreciate that the mission generation takes almost a minute, seems to be done by soviet computers inside soviet russia then scrutinized by NKVD before being sent to my PC, but that's a minor gripe, I could live with it.


What I really can't live with is twofold:

1/AI dialogues are dull, and interface doesn't even allow me to cry for help. On soviet forums Jason stated that he can't do anything about it, but since he acknowledges one can hope that someday.......

2/the subject of this very rant: when I choose difficulty "easy", I want it easy !

Here's my first (and last) mission in "easy" mode.

I and my leader took off as a pair, on a "free hunt" mission (free hunt ? In soviet russia ???? as soon as 1943 ??????). Landscape and clouds were beautiful, the first leg was 60kms over friendly territory, I could assess my navigation sometimes using landmarks, and for once my AI leader was not flying in the cloud layer so I could follow him easily, all in all it was quite promising.

My eagle eyed leader saw something below him, called attack and dove steeply on the same second. I lost him immediately on the green background, his yak green camo doing the job. Since I know how impetuous these AI can be, I stayed above to assess what the odds were. I saw a 109 co alt and immediately faced him to avoid his attack. It took me 3 mins to shoot him down since he used is superior speed quite efficiently ("easy mode", remember ?). Once I had him shot and since I didn't hear anything from my flight lead meanwhile, I assumed he was still alive and went to look for him in the area I lost his plane. I found one then two, then 3 109s, who all went after me at once, so I guess they didn't know either where my flight lead was, or they had him shot and silenced him before he'd say anything. I fought my way into the cloud layer, then to my homeplate, nervously checking my 6 every 15 seconds all the way.

Once at my homeplate, still seeing noting in the vicinity, I decided that landing was the best option, and started my approach. Once on short final, gear and flaps extended, I was surrounded by tracers ! I cleaned the aircraft and fought back. To my horror, I realized that:

1/there were 3 109s attacking me

2/they were oblivious of my airdrome AAA, with reason, since it proved all but efficient.

3/I could not call for any reinforcement with soviet UI, and soviet headquarters had not provided any form of aerial cover to people's runway.

So I fought, exhausted my ammo in killing another 109 in many attempts at high deflection shots (since I had to avoid other 109s fire at the same time). I finally got my wingtip shot while in a high G turn, was sent into a spin and crashed, my fuselage breaking in two parts and my pilot being killed.




So yes, it was entertaining, and I can see how those air gladiators like FB=Viks who used to rule the sky in the old IL2 could appreciate these kinds of flights (he would have shot the 4 109s with 1 press of gunsight each in about 2 mins max), but I chose "EASY" mode, and this is not "EASY" for me, everyone is not FB=Viks !!!!!!!!!!

"EASY" ,to me, would have meant more allies than ennemies, higher skilled allies than ennemies, either ennemies that don't follow me deep in my territory, or get dispatched by my own airfield air cover or AAA, ennemy AAA that is not soo accurate, and so on.



Oh, by the way, if the tone of my post makes you think that only soviet pilots get these kinds of odds, you're both right and wrong. When I play a Tempest on the western front, we usually get air superiority in the numbers, but there is still much, much more german activity than one could expect, and they just love to follow you to the airfield and shoot your defenseless landing wingmen while you fight at impossible odds.


What is your own experience with it ?

Does this happen in every "easy" mission you fly or just occasionally?

It was the only mission I flew recently in a yak.

When flying with a tempest, having ennemy AI follow me at your airfield happens every time they're not shot down at another place.

Only if I come home while my squadron is still busy somewhere, I can land safely.

Or when all ennemy AI assigned to engage us have been shot down.

46 used to be like this too, for quite a long time.

But there, "easy" settings meant easy flights.

After playing a few missions in Cliffs of Dover Tobruk where the enemy refuses to engage you, an enemy that it so aggressive and deadly sounds like a dream! I must reinstall all my BoX titles!

That's drifting OT, but clodo ennemy AI engages me in the campaigns. Not much experience in QMB though, I do remember having shy AI in these QMB skirmishes but that's old memory.

I can bug out much more easily than in BoX, that's true, and ennemy AI never followed me back to my airfield.

My gripe is that in BoX, being harassed over my own airfield is the norm, regardless of AAA or numbers, and friendly AI is no more fighting when in vincinity of airfield, so you're alone vs many.

It looks like NKVD has confiscated your plane's radio..

BTW - Funny reading.

I think this AI "following" you, in true spawn around your airfield when you enter in a given radius, seems a leftover of that original uninspired "grinding for weapons" campaign in what happens the same thing.

Thanks for info Sokol1, do you have any hindsight on wether anyone at 777/1C is currently working on improving career player experience ?

Or are they just building more campaigns for normandy without any improvement ?

I've played a few missions from both sides and started one career but the ai is just shocking imo.

I wouldn't expect any major improvements in career mode. In my experience as a mission builder the AI behaviour needs lot of fine tuning and this just doesn't work in auto-generated missions.

I think I've never played more than 2-3 missions in a career, because the missions were rather disappointing. I would strongly suggest to play one of the better scripted campaigns instead. Some of the worst AI antics can be avoided in scripted missions, given that the mission designer knows how to do it.

I've downloaded a handful of User made scripted missions; Mustang, Lightning, and Thunderbolt and played a few missions in each and they aren't too bad. I have one for the Hs-129 but it is a real PIA to even get off the ground. Go to the Forums and look them up. I find the QMB to be almost impossible to shoot anything down they out fly me no matter what so I mostly just use it for ground attack or familiarization flights.

Well, the Hs 129 was a pure ground attack aircraft, so I do not think it is surprising you would find it difficult to shoot down aircraft in it, or am I misunderstanding something?

I actually have shot down aircraft with it but it is a handful on take off, you need to get the tail up quick or you will be doing donuts

Copy.

Interestingly, I have found a lot of my takeoff difficulties with planes like this have been mitigated with using a VR headset . . . something about the extra depth perception reduce over-controlling, or something, but planes that I could barely get off the ground with a 43" monitor I get airborne as easy as a (RL) Piper Arrow with a VR headset.