I really like dogfighting in games that allow aircraft. However, dogfighting isn't very fun in PS2. It has nothing to do with the mechanics of how the planes work or how they feel to control or anything; it has to do with the other pilots that, even though they have decked themselves out for dogfighting with their airframe, their anti-air weapons and practicing those barrel rolls... They still want to just kamikaze as soon as they start to lose the upper hand. I understand why, though. Just last night I was patrolling the skies in my Scythe, looking for mossys and reavers to engage. I finally find a nice big sortie with plenty of air on my side as well as on the enemy's. Things were quite hectic, and eventually I accidentally climbed into an enemy Lib. It was then that I noticed that you get a bonus for RAMMING in jets! Oh, sure, you can get like 150 XP for just killing the aircraft with your guns, but hey, let's just get that extra 50-60 XP killing ourselves into that guy's plane and just spawn another one. Oh and this is not just a general bonus you can get with anything; you don't get a RAMMING BONUS (actual text shown on the extra XP gain) when you ram a tank into another tank to kill it. You don't get a ramming bonus for even ramming a plane into a tank. You only get the ramming bonus if you ram your plane into another plane. I see this as a problem. No one likes people ramming their jet; even the ***** who ram other people don't like others ramming into them. So why is there a bonus for doing it? I could see this being okay if it was a tactical decision. "Do I want to waste my plane? I may not have the resources to get another one." <- SHould be something that crosses a player's mind when they decide to kamikaze. With how easy resources are gained and how low the cool down timers can be made with little effort, there is never real reason to worry. Just ram your plane, get more XP than using the guns, spawn another plane and repeat.
You will find that the flight mechanics in this game is a bit daunting for others trying it. Some can't control how they end up crashing into vehicles by accident, and you will also find the same is true with the ground vehicles. I fight the mechanics of how the Tanks and the Lightnings handling reverse turns to be annoying as well because they treat the tanks like wheeled vehicles versus tracked vehicles in reverse and with little traction so the tanks don't turn properly if you have any forward or reverse momentum.
What about ramming? I've blown up other tanks/sunderers (and aircraft) with my Sunderer/Prowler and gotten PLENTIFUL ram bonuses. You get ram bonuses for blowing up turrets with your tanks, ram bonuses for smacking into a Drop Pod before it lands. Always.
From a defensive stand point, I will attempt a ram if I am heavily damage. To me this just makes sense. 1 of 2 things is going to occour. 1.) I die he wins 2.) we both die I choose to take you out with me.
Accidents happen, yes; especially when you have like 50 guys flying around a rather small base. But I am talking about the jokers that purposely ram when they have full health, just because they can't maneuver to get behind another fighter to shoot them. See a lot of people ramming into Gals and Libs with both fighter and gunship have full health; this does nothing by send both vehicles flipping through the air uncontrollably. I was testing it after I noticed the ramming bonus for my aircraft; I never got a ram bonus for ramming another tank with mine. There could be two reasons for this: 1) Ramming bonus only applies to occupied vehicles; the tanks I ended up destroying by ramming had the driver bail out before I rammed their tank. 2) There is no bonus except when ramming aircraft with other aircraft.
when it looks like im going to get killed by another ESF i do crazy maneuvers and try and get back as deep as possible into my own terrirtory - every inch i can pull him into our zone is another inch he has to fight himself out of i dont ram intentionally because i also think its pretty lame but having a bonus for it is even worse
Just today I made a conscious decision for the first time to ram someone. I had him to 50% health, but then he turned the tables. He was without a doubt a superior pilot compared to me. Once he realized where I was he figured out how to out-fly me to get behind. I was going to lose the encounter. So I made a calculated risk. I had more HP since while he now gained the upper hand I still hadn't taken a lot of damage from him yet. So I flipped back and came in at him for a close pass. I pulled back and dove under his tail. I got the kill, and all the bonuses that went with it. The ram took me to being on fire. I dove for the ground, got out and got off a quick repair to get into the green before jumped back in and making a dash for safety. I used it as a last resort against a better pilot. It was my last option really. It was.... satisfying. But all in all, I can say that the preservation of my plane is always job #1. I too see a lot of the same pilots ramming over and over again. I see the same TR guy on my server, it's like clockwork, if I see him go up... he's running into someone. It's like his go-to move. I don't get it.
I do have to admit, we got bored one day fighting on Indar, and went looking for 'something new' to do.. After a short discussion over TS, 8 of us grabbed Galaxies, while 2 jumped into Reavers, as anti-air-patrol, and we climbed to 985, and headed into the fights.. There we were, 8 fat stock Galaxies, over a tech plant, that just flipped to the enemy, no high enemy air.. operation 'Whale-Force' started getting bored... Then it happened, below us on the tech plant air pad.. could it be? was that an enemy Gal that just spawned?.. Where is it going.. wait is it turning back? It is... Landing???.. BELOW US!!... KAMIKAZE TIME!!!! It was a race.. 3 Galaxy's did a wing over, and went straight down.. first the Gal was there, then the red Dorito over it.. then the description.. then the poor pilot's name, and... wait it's LOADING!! holy freaking god! dive faster.. 8/12..9/12...10/12..11... Full!!! I didn't think I would get it, as I was 2nd, but at the last second.. a newly spawned Lib popped up, and our lead Gal slammed straight into it. I was next, and jumped at the last second. Dunno what happened to the 3rd, but I watched as the last 5 dove onto turrets.. We were laughing in TS, as the kills kept scrolling.. while we waited to re-spawn.
You go 15 kmh slower going straight up vertically and 15 khm faster going straight down. This is one of the slightly realistic mechanics you can figure out that sort of relates to real air combat.... Cough Cough * altitude *. I won't give away my trick maneuvers, but wikipedia air combat maneuvers and you will find a couple that actually work in the game.
So this is what ruins dogfights for you? It's incredibly easy to avoid, just saying. If somebody is trying to ram you, just maneuver around them. I still think the cheesy lock-on mechanic is the most frustrating thing about flying right now, by far.
Actually you get a Ram bonus from ramming a galaxy/liberator into everything. Its like how you get a Roadkill bonus from hitting an Infantry with anything. You also missed the extra points you get, you get the kill, the ESF kill, Ram bonus, and a Vengance bonus (because you both kill eachother at the same time (killing your killer)) So 150 + 175 + 60 + 40. I know someone who deliberately flies his decked out galaxy into everything (All Aircraft, Tanks) and usually survives (thanks to the armour) Usually when we are trying to lock a continent and the enemy keep peeking with ESF's and Lib trying to take the point closest to their sheild then retreating to Invulnerabilty. Whilst this is a lame tactic, it can be really frustrating to a good pilot. If they have just spawned a fresh aircraft and then get rammed, (even though they get the points if the Rammer dies) they are on a cool down from getting back in the Air. It also works when locking a continent pretty well, as they give up on trying to get Air support out and our tank line can hold.
It turns out, the ramming bonus is only granted if you kill the pilot of the vehicle along with the craft itself. This is why I never saw it for ground vehicles; everyone always bails when they're about to die.
