Greetings From A NoOb - And A Request (Pilots Needed)

Everything but not IL2 ... say here 'Hello!' ;)
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O'Donovan
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Greetings From A NoOb - And A Request (Pilots Needed)

Post by O'Donovan » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:18 am

What's the craic, lads!

I saw a link to the website a while back, on another site. I bookmarked it but never got the chance to come back and register. Now *looks around* I guess I'm here. Glad that's settled, then.

One of the reasons I -am- here (other than just breathing in the aromas of boiled praties and Guinness) is to look for pilots who want to get into some trouble. I play a game called Battleground Europe: World War II Online.

LINK

It's an ongoing, 24/7 campaign sim, based around the battle for Europe in WWII, had the Blitzkrieg not been successful. Players can take the parts of British or French (Allies) or German (Axis) ground forces (infantry and armor), naval forces (cargo ships, destroyers, and river patrol boats), and pilots (fighters, bombers, or transport planes for paratroopers). It's a complete, combined arms sim, with as realistic performance models as was possible to create. It's played on a 1/2 scale map of Europe...a single map covering over 350,000 square kilometers (over 135,000 square miles), to my knowledge the largest game map there is.

NOW, the game's graphics are more than a bit dated. It's been out since 2001, with some updates, but not enough. It started badly, with the publisher (Strategy First) forcing a release before the game was ready. They then split with the cash, leaving the developers (Cornered Rat Studios, aka "The Rats") holding the bag with virtually no funding. Over the years, bugs have been eliminated and graphics updated, and new funding is making current updates possible. Still, the less-than-state-of-the-art graphics also allow more people on the same (only) game map. You can set the game to show as many players as your system can handle, although visual distance and landscape/buildings keeps the practical number you can see at any one time fairly low.

The one BIG difference in WWIIOL is the immersion. You can get SO involved that you don't notice the time passing. As you're flying, you may fly over ground battles for towns or small parties of infantry searching for enemy forward bases. Be aware...they CAN shoot at you. Ground forces can have AAA (anti-aircraft artillery) at their disposal. They can even shoot a plane down with a lucky rifle shot to the pilot's head, so don't get cocky and fly too low. ;) As a ground pounder, you have to be on the lookout for enemies EVERYWHERE. They can be behind any bush or tree, or sniping from any number of windows. It's an amazing game.

Here's the deal. We need people. Pilots would be nice, but ground and naval forces are needed too. The basic game is free (FTP), which gives the basic tier of equipment (lowest tier aircraft, rifleman), but a "Starter account" subscription is only $4.99(US) per month. That gives you some upgrades as well as two special bonus items or permissions which change each month. The full game is $14.99(US) per month if you sign up for a 12 month easy pay plan. At the very least, grab a rifle and get into some fights or hop into a plane and fly a few missions for free, then see if you like it enough to go further. There's even tactical airpower, where bombers can eliminate enemy factories and cause the flow of enemy supplies to slow down or stop entirely, for a period of time. That can make a HUGE difference to battles.

The game will be releasing on Steam in a few months, and we're expecting lots of new players. If you get started now, you could train and become a member of High Command (HC) by then, should you desire to. HC members decide what brigades go where, how supplies are routed, and what units attack and defend in what areas.

Either way, we need boots on the ground and planes in the air. I play strictly Allied, but it's up to you which side to play and when. You can even switch sides to help even out battles, although there's a 15 minute wait time when switching. If you get ingame, you'll see me as odonovan1. Unfortunately, the naming system doesn't take capital letters, apostrophes, or fadas. *sigh* ;)

Hope to see some Irish presence ingame. Come help teach those eejits how to fight!



Slán,

O'Donovan
(That seems strange to type, as I usually go by "Irish," everywhere. It'd be a bit redundant here though, methinks.) :)
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Re: Greetings From A NoOb - And A Request (Pilots Needed)

Post by O'Donovan » Wed Aug 26, 2015 6:09 am

Nothing, lads?



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Re: Greetings From A NoOb - And A Request (Pilots Needed)

Post by :FI:Nellip » Fri Aug 28, 2015 8:13 pm

Hi O'Donovan
Sorry for the lack of response earlier. Forums are less frequently visited than they used to be. :D
As a squad we have our roots in IL2, and we also fly Rise of Flight and some are active in other flight sims. To my knowledge, and I have been active in this squadron for 12 years, we have never had anyone involved in WW2 online. Our number of active pilots is much lower these days and I doubt you will get anyone keen to try a new sim.
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Re: Greetings From A NoOb - And A Request (Pilots Needed)

Post by O'Donovan » Sat Aug 29, 2015 4:56 am

Sorry to hear that. Just in case anyone is interested, here is a video of a battle a couple years ago. They're hoping to have these numbers back when the game goes on Steam, in the fairly near future. Luckily, they have collisions turned off for aircraft still on the ground. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQLoA7VE7XI[/youtube]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQLoA7VE7XI



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Re: Greetings From A NoOb - And A Request (Pilots Needed)

Post by O'Donovan » Tue Sep 08, 2015 1:42 pm

Well, I was hoping to get at least one or two interested responses. I can't believe I'm in the middle of a bunch of Irishmen not keen to get into a fight.

*hangs head in shame*



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Re: Greetings From A NoOb - And A Request (Pilots Needed)

Post by :FI:Nellip » Tue Sep 08, 2015 9:23 pm

Donovan

Just had a look at the YouTube video on your link. Looks like something I might have played on the Commodore 64 30+ years ago :lol:

Looks aren't everything of course (or so I tell my wife) but this does look a bit dated to say the least. IL2 is a bit long in the tooth these days but it looks a lot more realistic than this. Not sure I would get much suspension of disbelief in WW2 online.

If we could find a sim we can fight in I am sure some of us would be up for a brawl.
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Re: Greetings From A NoOb - And A Request (Pilots Needed)

Post by O'Donovan » Wed Sep 09, 2015 3:21 am

:FI:Nellip wrote:Donovan
Just had a look at the YouTube video on your link. Looks like something I might have played on the Commodore 64 30+ years ago :lol:
Looks aren't everything of course (or so I tell my wife) but this does look a bit dated to say the least. IL2 is a bit long in the tooth these days but it looks a lot more realistic than this. Not sure I would get much suspension of disbelief in WW2 online.
If we could find a sim we can fight in I am sure some of us would be up for a brawl.
Well, as I said in my first post, the graphics are dated, but that also helps keep all the players (can be thousands at one time) on the same campaign map. They're being improved and updated, as are other systems, as funds are available. However primitive they are, they're still WAY more advanced than what was on a C64, and I'm sure you know that. That was not an appropriate criticism. Besides, graphics aren't everything. How many people play games every day with cartoon style graphics and get totally involved? They've done pretty well in making accurate damage and flight models. Take off in a Spitfire I and startle yourself the first time you nose over into a dive and the engine cuts out for a moment. It's carbureted instead of fuel injected, so negative Gs interrupt the fuel flow. I had a "HOLY S**T" moment when I realized they'd even modeled THAT into the Spit I's flight characteristics.

And in what other game can you fly a plane over possibly thousands of players battling for cities, attacking forward bases, having tank battles, manning live anti-aircraft guns, all at the same time on the same map? Feeling frisky? Dive down and strafe an enemy forward base or do a couple passes on some enemy positions in a contested town. Beware though, some lucky rifleman can take you down with a single shot to your pilot, through your canopy. It doesn't happen often, but it has.

You can fly fighters or fighter bombers, or fly light/medium bombers on strategic level bombing missions against enemy factories, to slow down their war production. That keeps their units from being fully resupplied as quickly and can turn the tide of battle. This is all on a 1/2 scale map of Europe. There's nothing else like it. Don't mention Heroes & Generals, btw. That's an arcade game. This is a legitimate sim.

Give it a try. You have nothing to lose but some time. If you get tired of flying, grab a rifle and get dirty. ...or get into a tank...or a river patrol boat or destroyer. Just remember to keep your head down.



-O'D

p.s. It's O'Donovan, btw...not Donovan. Thanks.
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