DGoeij
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Post by DGoeij on Sept 22, 2013 13:02:43 GMT
A virtual one and a Mk I at that, but I has earned it by flying rickety little biplanes for a few days, so it's mine! Taking a Swordfish to the air was fun though, although I have yet to get into a map where I can aim that big torpedo it carries at something. This games also has later models Spitfires, I've already unlocked two Hurricanes, so I can't complain with all the WWII plane geekism this game can satisfy. The Soviet air force at some point gives you access to the Sturmovik. For the Yanks it's the B-25 I really want and later the magnificent B-17 (Duh!). Right now I have reached level 3 in the USAF, so am allowed to fly around with the PBY Catalina. The Germans have all the well known ones, Bf 109 and Bf 110 and very late on the Fw 190. Also the Ju-88 and the He-111 can be taken to the skies. Many of those I had as plastic models I glued together as a kid, so it's really fun. It looks pretty good for a free online game. I have to do it on the lowest settings to have a good gaming experience, but still perfectly fine. I earned access to the RAAF decal the other day, so guess what those beautiful wings of my first Spitfire are showing off in flight.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Sept 22, 2013 13:09:21 GMT
It's a QANTAS spitfire!
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Post by Alvamiga on Sept 22, 2013 19:06:44 GMT
Are Minecraft man and his horses sitting about through all this?
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DGoeij
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Post by DGoeij on Sept 22, 2013 21:18:46 GMT
I haven't seen much in the way of people or horses down below. But yeah, the digging isn't happening much. There's only so many hours in an evening really. I've heard rumours about working on Monday too.
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Post by Alvamiga on Sept 23, 2013 7:06:15 GMT
Minecraft man will have a sad and the horses will get abducted by Tesco if you keep this up...
I think in all these references that you have not actually mentioned the name of this aeroplane game. I would not have time to play it at the moment and I expect it'd make my PC shudder, but it'd be interesting to have a look at screen-shots and so on.
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Post by whollygoats on Sept 23, 2013 13:31:34 GMT
Heh...Another 'plane geek', here.
I'm not much of an online gamester, though.
Although I like the Aussie adaptation of the British roundel (as well as the Kiwi and Canuck ones), the running red 'roo didn't obtain official status until 1956, and then only for fuselage roundels. Wing roundels with the running red 'roo wouldn't appear until 1965. If they ever appeared on Spitfires, the planes would have been in very low active service.
Me? I have an abiding interest in the RAF Coastal Command of WWII. I also have an interest in transport aircraft, the Douglas Dakota (C-47/DC-3) and the Lockheed Constellation being the prime examples. I'm a scale modeler, myself.
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DGoeij
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Post by DGoeij on Sept 23, 2013 17:49:10 GMT
It's called War Thunder, still in beta I think and iirc they will add ground verhicles and ships to be controlled by players as well. I have as of yet not spend a dime on it and not sure if I would want to at this stage. You can speed up the experience points gathering and adding of upgrades to planes by spending real money, as opposed to in game points. They do play a bit loose with historical accuracy in terms of paint jobs I think, but do try to make the actual 'flying' somewhat correct. But I couldn't resits putting that on both wings of my first spit. Combat and bombing is entertaining and challenging, even in the 'arcade' setting. Slow turning for bombers and other larger planes, very short turn circle for the biplanes and in terms of stalling speeds and the difference between turn fighters and the boom and zoom types etc. It's funny to outturn a more modern fighter in one of those tiny biplanes and put a few bursts into their engines. It demands more of you in the ' full realism' and ' Historical Battle' settings. I've been playing mostly the 'arcade' style, where you won't have to worry about your wings being ripped off by going too fast in a dive or blowing up your engine by revving it too excessively. Else those matches would be over rather quickly with the way people go about it. Plenty still hit the terrain (and each other) as it is. I would like to have another go at torpedo bombing at some point. Those Swordfish look nice. But the first ship I sunk in an actual match was with a Beaufort. Iirc you can strap torpedo(s?) on a Beaufighter as well, but haven't unlocked that one. Really liked the 16 bombs you can drop in one go with a Catalina, I actually hit several ground targets in a single run for once. I did have to put the graphics on minimum to have a decent gaming experience, but it still looks fine. Then again, I'm playing on a basic laptop.
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Post by Alvamiga on Sept 23, 2013 18:05:15 GMT
I still prefer my Helicopter Sim; Enemy Engaged.
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Post by Fr. Gruesome on Oct 1, 2013 20:22:38 GMT
There's a Kentish beer called Spitfire. It's very good ...
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DGoeij
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Post by DGoeij on Oct 2, 2013 10:26:51 GMT
Yesterday I downed a Bf109 with my Spitfire. :historygeekgrin:
I also now have access to higher level German planes and I got a Ju-87, complete with single large bomb under the fuselage and a shrieking siren when going over 400 km/h into a dive to drop said large bomb.
And a Bf110, which on its very first outing I managed to blot a Hurricane out of the sky. More geekygrins.
Need level 5 with the Americans to get access to the A-20 Havoc. That one is fast alright, look forward to taking it out myself.
I also managed to take my trundling Beaufort bomber out into an alpine region map. The mission there is to bomb incoming ground forces weaving through narrow valleys. Unfortunately, I still had the plane equipped with a torpedo from a previous mission... That was a bit silly. Note to self: dropping torpedo's on tanks is not working.
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Post by Alvamiga on Oct 2, 2013 18:23:34 GMT
Isn't flying for the Americans and the Germans frowned upon?
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DGoeij
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Post by DGoeij on Oct 2, 2013 19:28:47 GMT
Nah, in the simple gaming world of the arcade battle it's one happy family, both sides get to mix up all sorts. You do play one nation per session, taking your 4-5 preselected planes with you. In Historical Battle it's more accurate, so Axis against Alies and paired off according to the proper Theatre (so RAF vs Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain one for instance). I haven't even bothered with Full Realism, not that much of a pilot and it's designed for joystick control if I read things right. I don't even have one of those. Those heavier fighter/attackers like the Bf110 and Beaufighter are good fun though. If you keep an eye out for when to go in and when to hang back, you can pick off your targets in no time with those nose-mounted guns and cannons. And I'm getting a bit better at bombing from altitude, although still tricky. Dive bombers are good fun, but vulnerable once pulling up. As you would expect.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 2, 2013 20:00:58 GMT
Yeah...The Ju-87 Stuka became a liability once it was pitted against decent fighters (as was the Bf-110). The FW-190, though, was supposed to be one of, if not the, best fighter of the war. Evidently, it came to be known as 'the butcher bird'.
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DGoeij
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Post by DGoeij on Oct 2, 2013 20:22:38 GMT
The creators seem to know that too, that one does not become available until you reach level 8 or 10 or so. Iirc, the Bf 110 even got fighter escort in the later stages of the Battle of Britain. Although the arcade battles make things a little easier overall and plane differences are a bit nerfed, you still can't turn like a dedicated fighter in one of those. It's hit (hard) and run or bomber hunting, both of which it does pretty well though. For me as such, I'm simply not that good anyway.
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Post by JoeP on Oct 3, 2013 9:56:04 GMT
There's a Kentish beer called Spitfire. It's very good ... I had a couple of pints of Spitfire with Leesifer last night (Lees has occasionally posted on EF I think though def not recently). OK maybe 4 pints.
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Post by Fr. Gruesome on Oct 3, 2013 10:14:16 GMT
Good, innit ... (Can't find ikon for tipsy grin)
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Post by JoeP on Oct 3, 2013 10:18:24 GMT
Innit bruv, like
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DGoeij
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Post by DGoeij on Oct 3, 2013 18:08:28 GMT
Restecp! Yo.
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Post by Shake on Oct 5, 2013 18:34:34 GMT
Sounds pretty cool! I may have to check this game out!
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 5, 2013 21:49:13 GMT
I'm a member of a couple of scale modeling boards. The game is being heavily promoted in ads on both sites. It looks like the player can do later, jet propulsion, weapons platforms as well (the F-86 Sabre is the promo selection).
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DGoeij
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Post by DGoeij on Oct 6, 2013 8:59:19 GMT
I must admit that playing around in a somewhat realistic setting with planes that I build models of as a kid is what got me into it and is keeping me in so far. That Sabre would take a while to collect the ingame experience and points. I think thit is level 13 or so. After a few weeks of a lot of playing, I managed level 5 in 4 out of 5 factions. I haven't even played the Japanese at all yet. I must admit I'm having a jolly good time with the A-20 Havoc right now. It is, even in Arcade, quite a bit faster than most other planes on that tier and unless someone times their dive really well or I bugger up too much, it's very hard to get caught in a full on barrage of gunfire. And do not get in front of it, there's 4 20 mm cannons pointing that way. The back gunner helps too for those wandering in range for a short bit. Now I just need to get better at this low level bombing thing. I keep missing quite a bit. Making that zooming in and out a bit pointless as of yet. Now that I'm getting access to a wider variant of types and getting a bit better, it is getting even more entertaining. Had good fun with the Events feature. It's new and it restricts the battle to what was happening around this time of year supposedly. Although I got to fly in the Battle of Midway, so that does not make much sense. Anyway, you only get one plane for the battle, have to properly get off the runway (or carrier, even more fun), fly to the target zone (go for coffee once airborne) and no in air reloads. So the first few times I was a bit miffed with myself for missing my torpedo run. Or the very first time, where after 6-7 minutes of approaching the darn destroyer, some Zero comes out of nowhere and with its very first pass knocks out my pilot... Had a few more goes and it does give you a lot more points for hitting something. I managed to sink a boat, land on the airfield of Midway, reload repair and even get back up in the air a few times. Second run then tends to end in a death by flak barrage from angry ships, but still.
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DGoeij
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Post by DGoeij on Oct 7, 2013 17:51:56 GMT
Sounds pretty cool! I may have to check this game out! It as been a bit of a time sink, but at least a very entertaining one. Haven't played and StarCraft II for a while now. Even Minecraft is taking a back seat, although I have been fiddling with that.
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Post by DGoeij on Oct 24, 2013 18:31:58 GMT
I haz a B-25. Been able to upgrade it a bit, but still working towards unlocking 1000lbs bombs on it, which should aid me in putting big holes in enemy airfields. Higher tier planes are good fun though, 20mm cannons and upwards make big holes in the opposition in rapid time. This and the moving to Oz is making me a bit sparse over here though.
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Post by DGoeij on Nov 23, 2013 10:58:00 GMT
Moving to Oz was making all time a bit in short supply. Since I managed to get my comp logged into the Parentberrie household wifi, I tried my game and it runs decent enough. I have put some real money into it and used those points to purchase one Wirraway and two Boomerangs. I now haz Royal Australian Air Force for realz. The Wirraway has two small 7.7mm guns pointing forward and a gunner with a single one in the back and this lack of firepower tells. It does carry a respectable bomb load for a single engine at such low level in the game, so I guess I'll have to use it in that role. two 500lbs and two 250lbs bombs do a fair amount of boom if aimed right. The Boomerangs are nice though. 2x 7.7mm is not much, but add 2x 20mm cannons and a nice turn circle and various planes are in for a bit of a nasty shock.
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 23, 2013 19:02:36 GMT
From the European theater to the Pacific. The Japanese fighters might be nimble, but one round in the fuel tank and they go *poof*, up in flames.
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DGoeij
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Post by DGoeij on Nov 23, 2013 22:17:19 GMT
So far I think I have mostly had scraps with Britsh planes, one German and a Soviet Su-2 and a P-40 that wanted to get into a turn fight. The arcade mode is mixing it up all over the place. I have flown these things over Alpine meadows and artic circle maps. The Japanese aren't all that popular in this game, but I have been playing them. Their fighters are indeed nimble, but vulnerable. I have yet to gain access to the infamous Zero, as in lower tier you can only play with the seaplane variant, with these heavy floaters underneath. Even then it outturns a lot of the other nation's fighters though, that is funny to do. The Ki-45 series is an odd duck. Twin engine sort of heavy fighter, the later models have a single 20mm and a 37mm cannon installed. Limited ammo for both, making it pretty good to intercept bombers with. Especially since in these arcade battles it's everyone pretty much on their own, so no formations and no escort for the medium and heavy bombers. Teamwork has its limits here. The bomb-load on their bombers is pretty abysmal though. Bit annoying if you want to put a dent into anything other than a few odd trucks and some AA positions, the lightest ground targets in the game. But those go up in flames if you strafe them anyway, making the early Japanese bombers a bit pointless really. Torpedo bombing is what most of them seem to be able to, but that is a very dangerous job. Enemy fighters all coming in from high up while the ships are blasting away at you...
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Post by tangent on Nov 23, 2013 23:09:26 GMT
Before the advent of dual-controlled cars, we always reckoned that learner drivers ran on kangaroo juice when they jumped forward and stopped and jumped and stopped while learning to use the clutch.
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DGoeij
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Post by DGoeij on Nov 24, 2013 9:34:06 GMT
Heh. I'm currently running on the opposite with Mumberries old car, as that one is an automatic.
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DGoeij
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Post by DGoeij on Apr 22, 2014 11:37:11 GMT
We all know now how that went...
Anyway. Unfortunately this game is officially still in 'beta', ie development (while happily accepting paying customers of course), which for some of these free to play games seems a good way to radically alter things now and then. Possibly in an attempt to get people to put money in, but it just puts me off really. Not all changes are for the better in terms of game enjoyment. They seriously changed up the progression system in December and getting access to new planes felt like a job after that. Not a good thing in something I attempt to get fun out of.
I'm still taking planes out for a spin now and then, but perhaps a bit more lacklustre then before. Can't put my finger on it. There's a new update out this month, which promised to improve things a bit, not sure if it did yet.
I did manage to unlock my first B-17. But not enough points to train a crew for it. Matches seem to be over a bit too quick atm for my taste, odd glitches, repair time for some planes seems excessively long, right after the end of a match you get a pop up regarding the upgrades you just unlocked, which is annoying if you just want to see how you did in the last match. That stuff is housekeeping and should be done after imo. Little things that all add up I guess.
It still looks nice and I get to play with WWII planes, so there is that.
Am looking forward to having a go with my new Flying Fortress, as soon as I saved up the training cost that is, so there's that.
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Post by Alvamiga on Apr 22, 2014 19:12:56 GMT
I got myself a helicopter game on previous visit to Mooseland, but being a Windows application, it is now refusing to work with my monitor, graphics card, sound card or something. Get the usual kind of "Blah! Didn't work!" error!
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