It would be a major buff to air. G2A lobby would correctly diagnose it as a bait-and-switch tactic to increase the skill floor on lockons and then with-hold or minimize any promised damage buff to lock-ons that would supposedly compensate for it. The current air-game also penalizes people who prefer and use joysticks.
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/ps2/index.php?threads/changes-to-air-on-pts.240825/ Srry, no one actually answered your question...but this post shows upcoming air changes, and don't think will be long before moved to live server. Oh, check out this no hud scythe video by joshino, very cool. https://forums.daybreakgames.com/ps2/index.php?threads/video-no-hud-dogfighting-air.241309/
The omniversal afterburner wouldn't be a separate option choice. The current afterburner would simply change to become an omniversal afterburner. Otherwise the fighter-style combat would be a niche combat style compared to the VTOL and RM maneuver which would still dominate because it's available in every single loadout option while the fighter-style would only be available if you forcibly equip the omniversal afterburner. Yes, TTK needs to be adjusted as well to be lethal. I didn't outright say it, but I did say that a single AA source with the skill should be able to curbstomp an aircraft. And it would be both a buff and a nerf for air: Aircraft would finally be capable of competing in G2A heavy area's, which is a massive buff to the current gameplay. But at the same time the new G2A weapons should be lethal enough to get an equal amount of aircraft kills as A2A combat does. Considering that currently 2 noseguns put together can rival almost every G2A weapon put together, that's a huge buff to G2A weapons, and a supposed nerf to air. But don't worry: Since you can actually play the game while you are getting destroyed it should be a much more enjoyable experience. Just like tanks will have to constantly fight hard to survive against all the AV sources (of which there are a lot more, and a lot more lethal one's as well as a lot more scenario's where you can't escape). Also consider that with the proper changes there should be almost as much aircraft fighting in the air as ground vehicles on the ground, so an increase in G2A weapons shooting down aircraft would only mean that the fight actually becomes combined arms and that survival from G2A weapons could mean using your fellow aircraft to tank some damage. Let's add something to that: 0 to 1 skillpoint = 10 power gained. 1 to 3 skillpoint = 10 power gained for 20 power total. 4 skillpoint = 5 power gained for 25 power total. 5 skillpoint = 2 power gained for 27 power total. While you get more power as you progress, you get less power in return for gaining higher skill. Otherwise you get a system where the average player simply cannot compete in any single way since the power they gain with learning is insignificant compared to the power of a high-skill player. The current VTOL system does not readily look like it can help you. If a high-speed fighter maneuver can't help you, why should a VTOL maneuver? But with an omniversal afterburner players would be more likely to use it. We already know that players know about hovermode since every single new player who used an aircraft long enough to not crash it instantly has done some A2G by hovering about a fight. Just taking off and landing again will learn them the possibility of hover mode. But with an omniversal afterburner the use of hover mode in combat would be more readily apparent: You can break much more powerfully than before, for instance when fleeing from your opponent you can fly right behind a rock, hit that afterburner brake, twist in the air and be greeting your pursuer with gunfire as he rounds the corner. The knowledge that you can safely be going 200Km/H in a second flat will help them use this more often in combat and this way learn that VTOL combat is a viable tactic, especially if they try to emulate the already existing VTOL combat styles they see with the help of the improved afterburner. Objective: Pull ESF Information: Move to an aircraft terminal. These are indicated with <aircraft terminal picture> on the map. Follow the objective marker on your screen to find one. <Objective constantly updates to show the nearest aircraft terminal to the player> <objective complete> Objective: Kill 3 enemies in an ESF Information: ESF are combat aircraft with lotsa abilities and firepower. Go use it. <objective complete> Objective: Go in hover mode (use <S key> to brake until you are below 30km/h) and kill 3 enemies. Information: Hover mode allows you to move around like a helicopter. It can be used offensively against both air and ground if used right. While in hover mode your landing gear is also extended and you can land safely for repairs or re-arming your vehicle. <objective complete> I think that would already stop the entire problem of using tutorials. Additionally you could learn the player in one tutorial how to use the alt-key to gain a mouse on-screen. You could add a small video tutorial link behind the objective for those players who really can't figure out the simple commands I just wanted to make my point clear: You showed in the post itself (and this one) that you are fully capable of handling the discussion in a good way, yet you kept throwing in a few derogatory comments and self-centered idea's through that didn't suit the discussion or the rest of your post.
And we would have more players and less skyknights = win-win But Wrel is an idiot and succumbed to salty sky vets lobby campaign. Because instead of asking the 99% (or even 100%) of the games playerbase that ARE NOT SKYKNIGHTS, he decided to only listen to the organized lobby of the 1% salty sky vets. So here we are with the same old gank squads and the same old salty aces camping warpgates and ganking lowbies with impunity for days on end. GG The only time I pull an ESF is to ram it into said skyknights, at least they did not take that away from us.
Ok doc, this saved me some money I would like to add to your omni afterburner idea: a) it will make the current ESF top pilots quit the game (similar to the flight controls change some previous patch, but even harder) b) it will make aiming next to impossible Let me point out b). Omniburners = hectic, very unpredictable movement. Current airgame most essential skill = aiming (i assure you that if newbies would be able to hit better, they would maybe not quit the airgame that fast) => So aiming will become even harder, and moving around in an ESF will become a no-brainer. Can't really befriend with that idea. But as a +, it will be a more intuitive experience and easier to learn. Oi, another air hater. Why not just remove the airgame entirely? But wait, you just said you would go back in an ESF (except ramming) if you weren't pounded so hard by the so called "skynights"? So by removing the "skynights" from the game, you would actually from time to time finally be able to use the ESF to get from A to B to your next groundfight? lul oh boy oh boy ... *facepalm*
You should ask yourself why would they quit? This would be a massive improvement to the air-game. It's no different than adding new vehicles and weapons. They enhance the options you have. If these top pilots quit even though the air-game has just become far more intricate then they were only in it for the superiority and OP factor rather than for the fun factor. And if those type of people leave? I want to say good riddance, but the game should actually still cater to them. And the more expanded air-game would still offer many of those feelings for superiority... It will just be the next generation of top players who can have them since these "traditionalists" have quit. Aiming is the only problem here? Really? There's a million ways that can be solved! How about making aircraft noseguns deterrents... No? Well how about we go for some more balanced and fun solutions. For instance: If you hit less than before but you want to keep something akin to the current TTK's, then the damage for hits needs to go up. This increases the importance of getting the drop on your enemy, but should you fail then you have to keep hitting them to keep their FS and auto-repair from undoing your work. Alternative: make it easier to hit your opponent. For instance by increasing the bullet size so that it will hit your opponent faster, or adding a tiny flak/coyote range (as in 0,5m maximum, that does far more than you might think) to the weapons. Besides that I think you are missing the fact that with a more intuitive experience as well as higher control of your aircraft you can hit your opponents more easily. So the added maneuverability would work both ways: Easier to dodge, easier to get your enemy in your crosshairs again.
No, no, yes, no, no, maybe, garf woot I can't be bothered engaging in these long forum discussions. I grew way too tired of them in the past, and still do. There are just more important things. If you are a future game designer, then good luck, especially to your test team
Translation: *Sobbing* An ESF is not a jet. *insert crying sounds here* It's not fair! *more crying soud* I want every game to be the same! *long desesperate cry* *sobs slowly fade out* -Translation Over-
If they made locks-ons do damage propertionally to the skill required, I suggest this formula: Skill-Required * 10 = damage on ESF in % So, assuming a lock on, the forumula would go like so: 0*10 = 0 Lock ons would now do a grand total of 0 damage, for the exact amount of skills required to use them!
Hello Jawarisin! No single argument whatsoever as usual I see? And personal attacks is the only refuge you have again? Well glad to see you still belong in kindergarten.
I was going to say something similar - just 2 SG's working together on comms will see any AC off. I LOL every time they hover and line up to shoot then I start shooting and they turbo into the ground
I wanted to touch on this though I'm not a new player. I quit PS2 about 18 month to 2 years ago and never really got into the air game. Coming back, I've recently started using air more and find it unintuitive. Having played combat flight sims pretty much since I was a kid, I'm no stranger to flying but one of the biggest issues I have with PS2 is that I half feel like I'm still in an FPS when I'm flying which means I often point up when I wanted to point down. I think that steams from the the way the AC handles. When I roll, I expect to turn just like an ac, not yaw for practically every maneuver. Like you said, I also know I need to know how to remap my keys. I'm already thinking that pitch should be on my keys and not my mouse but I need to experiment. Then there's the certs. Since I prefer the ground game and just started a new character on NC on Emerald, I'm going to concentrate on certing ground things first. When my friends and I all came back at the same time, we recognized we needed a few hours before we adapted to the game play or got used to it again. So a lot of time was spent dying and dying to BR 120's - so I can take a bird up but I know there's far better pilots than I am and not only that, just like a brand new character, I'm not on a level playing field (Koltyr was a lot of fun though LOL). So this gives me a dilemma. Where do I cert? The obvious answer is to cert into the stuff I enjoy which I'll get a faster cert gain from. I could spend the certs into aircraft but then I'm thinking a) better pilots b) by bird is under powered making it even harder to tackle a) so why not just wait - that doesn't really do a lot for the airgame though tbh, I don't see a bunch of dogfighting, just lolpodding until I show up with my SG.
Yeah and their response is to keep spawning in the spawn room rather than pull 10 max units and 10 SG's and hit back. A quarter of that number is all you actually need. Any air taking more than 3 seconds of fire from a SG is out of there. I remember when PS2 first started and Libs used to dominate ground and everyone complained yet nobody spawned AA units. It looks as though the same might be true now.
You might need 1/4rth of the G2A numbers to counter it but you also need the forces to keep you safe.(This is actually false, every single air-Zerg that I've seen that was met with heavy G2A resistance could withstand the G2A bombardment and actually fight back hard, it's just that in regular play aircraft come piecemeal... And still manage to **** up the game for the ground the moment G2A is barely used). Add to that the fact that G2A is boring, does not reward skill very much since at best you steal more kills from other people who also damage the opponent, but the G2A weapon sitting closest to the exit route will in general get the most kills at the expense of the rest, and G2A stops being useful the moment the already not-much-used aircraft stop comming. As a result most people would rather keep doing their normal battle and pray someone else picks up the G2A weapons to protect them rather than shoot themselves in the foot by taking up the G2A weapons and completely nerf themselves for the time they use G2A weapons, then after they were successful (if they were successful) they have to abandon their G2A weapons... And they don't know exactly when that is. You could make 6 aircraft flee and destroy 1, then have empty skies for an hour and sit there doing nothing more but be a target for everything on the ground. You could also abandon your G2A weapon and have an aircraft breathing down your neck by the time you swapped gear, you can't know how many aircraft might attack, which know that there's G2A weapons there and which will avoid it or not. G2A weapons need to be multifunctional and ever present. Flak weapons could for instance have a slight concussion effect on ground vehicles, slowing their turret rotation and maximum speed. This helps the G2A weapon defend itself without having to steal the job of other vehicles and become a useful and wanted support vehicle. G2A weapons could also double as anti-infantry, especially the Skyguard could fulfill the role of anti-LA weapon or as the go-to weapon to take out long-range infantry AV nests, but this ofcourse requires either an alternative fire-mode with a tiny COF or that the COF of Skyguards are tightened up anyway. Most vehicles should have a light AA weapon mounted on top, this can be a lethal canon that fires a few high-skill-required shots to give the aircraft some danger or a weapon that nerfs the aircraft's mobility or locks up his abilities and sucks afterburner fuel. Those non-lethal weapons would make it harder for the aircraft to hit you, especially if you try hovering about which usually gives you an easy time hitting any ground units, and increase the danger if the aircraft is attacked while in the nerfed state, not to mention the danger of hitting the ground since they can't pull up fast enough. The same should count for infantry. They should have the option to select a loadout that allows them to defend themselves against aircraft and/or vehicles without specializing out of what they want to do (in general: Kill more infantry). Preferably most of these are non-lethal again and simply increase their chances of survival, as well as make combined-arms a much more dangerous and important feature where the infantry moves up to nerf enemy vehicles and the vehicles move in to annihilate stuff.
Yes positioning is key or you're not going to shoot anything though saying that, I'll still shoot at render range if they're attacking - even a few hits can scare them off. Last night on Indar there was a big battle against NC and TR and TR had a butt load of air up. I got a few kills though the air wasn't really over where the battle was raging for some reason - in those instances, the quad cannon does ok on Sunderers and lightnings. I did see of a crap load of esf's though and saved some lives. Were were getting A and B capped at one point though we had 52% pop but we pushed it back and then pushed on to take the next region - it was one of the best battles I've been in since I've played with regards to how the flow of battle went. My performance was ok, not the best I've had tbh but the experience of the battle was really good and I did take a few moments here and there to watch things. Kind of getting off point now lol...
I had this with a mate ages ago but we were on comms, he was damaged, esf on his tail I told him to fly over my SG and that was enough to save him. Obviously, comms aren't reliable but why not a "mayday" call that highlights your bird or somehow tells other units you're in trouble and need saving?
