Who wants to learn to soar like an eagle, bomb with the accurracy of a pigeon crapping on a parkbench, dogfight like a pit bull in a matadoor outfit(oley)!? Well then let me know because I am announcing the opening of Gib's ACMS or Air Combat Manuevers School! Many have asked for me to provide a bit of training in use of the army's greatest tactical and strategic assest - The Air Corps. Hoo-Rah!
Mouse users are welcome but I am telling you now that if you REALLY want to do well in planes, get one with a twist stick since a mouse is just not as good as a joystick with a tophat switch(8 way thumb button on top - see pic below). Also, the training assume you do have a joystick with rudder control(twist stick), trottle, and tophat so be forewarned as it were. I use this and it has everything you need, joystick, throttle, tophat:
http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... DYQ8gIwAg#
I don't have a complete plan or syllabus but will work on one. I plan on checking with the powers that be if I can get access to the trianing server to set up maps and whatnot to take padawans in and instruct them on the power of the dark side
For our our brave and willing brethren across the pond to be able to attend it will be 12 noon - 1pm Central time on Sundays(that's 6-8 to 7-9 for you Euro dudes right?). I think I can run this "school" a few times ever now and then with the number of session being 2-4 off the top of my head). Most of the time it will be practice on the day's lesson plan since learning to do 1 thing at a time well is better than throwing everything at you at once. Tenative syllabus as follows:Session 1: Situational Awareness; Always wear your fancy top to the party
This session will will need to go in game and map your 4 views to the top hat button on the joystick. Use these 2ndary settings for these cams:
F9 - Inside vehicle --> top(hiting it alternates between inside the cockpit/ transparent cockpit(latter is view to use)
F10 - Outside facing ahead --> right
F11 - Outside facing behind --> down
F12 - Cam-chase -- left
Unfortuneatly, the way the programmed BF controls, they did not allow for the top hat to be the equal to a mouse look, which is what it should have been but that for air combat sims I guess so this is the next best thing IMO.
Notes/Why for:
You must be able to do what pilots call, "Paddelocking the target" so you need to be able to switch views fast to keep the bogey in sight and plan which manuver to execute based on the bogeys vector. I have to verify the above config since Im going off of memory right now so it might change when i get on tonight and look. Students goal in this session is to keep their selected enemy in sight usinging the views while manuvering with their target to try and get into a firing solution(above and behind your target). You will be paired off with one another and each of you will be twisting and turnning to try and get in the enemy's blind spot while keeping him in sight.
You might say, geeze Gib, why such a boring lesson? Well, if you can't see your opponenet, how are you going to kill him? All the fancy named manuvers we will cover(Split S, Immelman, Hi-G and Low-G yoyo's, etc...) aren't worth a can of beans if you can't first know your blind spots in the views. Since most dogfights are really chance encounters, you need to find the enemy before he spots you! This is real life dogfighting advice/training that they do in the air force.
Also situational awareness training will aim to teach students to keep aware of their altitude(for what manuvers are possible and not lest you decide to lawn dart into the ground), using terrain to their advantage(cover and stealth), and to start memorizing AA and APC, MG nests, and Tank spwans(for avoiding/attacking) on all maps. On these weapon systems remember that a gray dot that WAS there and is NOT NOW usually means someone is in that AA gun!
What do you all think of this and the plan? More to come!
Gib
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