Aircraft addons

[Wonder 0]

Aircraft addons have been popping out like crazy, and addon makers have come up with all kinds of new features to make planes more realistic: countermeasures, ECM jammers, HUDs, bitching bettys, and new stuff never stops coming. What do you think about plane addons in OFP?

[DestroyerX 0]

I like planes.

[Wonder 0]

I think of OFP as an all-branch light military simulation, where fighters are no less important than tanks or infantry. A lot of people whine about the lack of realism with the flight model and limited viewdistance. As a flight sim fan, I too agree that the realism level is a long way from even the simplest of flight sims, but IMHO the biggest problems is the AI handling of planes. AI planes can only land on ONE runway on the whole island, and some planes don't seem to land at all! Furthermore, AI has a tendency to crash too often, especially when bombing or strafing. Despite all this I like the idea of a spec ops guy lasing a target for a strike package, while a tank platoon mops up, and a SAR helo on standby for downed pilots

[AngusHeaf 0]

I love a good fighter or bomber as much as the next guy but if it doesn't bring anything new to the table for multiplayer then I'm not interested. Impressed, yes. Filled with respect for the creator, yes. Going to make aversarial multiplayer (2 team) missions with them, no. Multiplayer is well served by the two planes that are included in OFP. They have faults that I think should be fixed through the skillful hands of some of these badass addon people but overall they do the job reasonably well.

Most people don't think of multiplayer (2 team) when doing mods and that's fine. But for the last few of us active squads out there still playing online every night I see little need for things like jets with AA missiles that are just lock-n-fire, or yet another bomber that drops the same types of bombs. Lasering targets is great and I'd like to see that included far more. But ultimately planes in OFP are restricted by the engine, the island size, huge killing potential against a rather small ground force, inability to get hit by more than one AA missile and live, and they are best suited in my mind in a very limited capacity for CAS and long CTI games.

Keep up the great work on the addons though. Some of them are really killer looking. And when you're done with that fancy new jet, make something smaller for OFP multiplayer like realistic bunkers, earthen hangers (for those new jets) that need heavier bombs to blow up, bridges, roads, new islands, craters, berms, camo nets, more buildings, a decent bradley, a fixed A10, giant electric poles, and all that little stuff that makes missions more realistic!!

[Jamesia 0]

I voted for the bottom one. but meant to vote for the one second up

[pang 0]

well, i appreciate every good addon, whether its a civilian car or a good plane/bomber.

but i voted the 3rd option, because it makes a lot more sence -to me- to use helos instead of planes.

only think of the viewdistance or the mp game performance as an example...

having planes in an 900m viewdistance map is plain senceless: you´d only see it for 5seconds.

if you have 4 players flying a (fast) plane, most server connections cant handle the massive input of the planes current postions, which mostly results in lag (jumps).

but since there are so many planes out yet (lets say about 5 of them are of top-quality, not to name them, you know them ) people wanna play with them and sometimes its great to see a plane drob its payload close to your position.

but i beg all plane- addomakers: for gods sake, please stop making US planes!

i know, i know, they look so cool and so on, but what OFP really needs is ADDON-BALANCING!

so try to more concentrate on the east side. there are so many cool planes being made in russia, so why not make a good enemy for the already ingame west ones?

[maddogx 13]

Exactly! I'd love to see some nice Russian planes like a SU-47 Berkut. I voted the top option BTW.

[theavonlady 2]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (MadDogX @ 29 April 2003,22:19)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Exactly! I'd love to see some nice Russian planes like a SU-47 Berkut.<span id='postcolor'>

*cough* *S-37* *cough*

As for me, there are practically no missions being made for all the great planes. Anyone see any exciting missions with Hudson's F18 lately?

[pang 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (theavonlady @ 29 April 2003,21:29)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><span id='postcolor'>

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">As for me, there are practically no missions being made for all the great planes. Anyone see any exciting missions with Hudson's F18 lately?  <span id='postcolor'>

i once made a 2player coop mission, which also uses the mt-lb pack and the ita_aircraft bunker addon.

it has one bug, that needs fixing. i´ll either post it in the "usermissions" forum or PM you, if it´s final  

sry for beeing offtopic, so back in topic

[Sole 0]

OFP is, imo, best for ground units, ofcourse there are sea and air units, but the way I feel they should stay in 'contact' with ground warfare, like for ships only being base or support vehicle and aircraft only attacking/supporting ground units.

I see dogfighting the same as naval battle's, sure, its possible and maybe fun, but not really OFP-ish..

but then again, that is just my opinion..

[danelectro_dc 0]

planes are cool, but a pain because of the fog distance you can barely see them ever. Plus the maps are too small to have a f-16 zipping around at 600 mph. I'm a fan of vit's and mailman's addons, i like vits MiG-21, its fairly agile and easy to use in 3rd person w/ free look on.

[Shashman 0]

I voted for the second option, as I don't think having fast interceptors like the MIG-25 is suited to OFP.These types of aircraft are used for long range interception and seeing as the islands in OFP are too small, it's kinda pointless.I'd like to see more CAS/Ground attack aircraft like the SU-22 or improved A-10 or lower performance aircraft like the MIG-21. I REALLY WANT AN SU-22!!!

[Major Fubar 0]

I don't mind aircraft in OFP, but to be realistic, they hardly ever seem to get used in most missions.

[Guest]

I agree with Maj Fubar...

its just too impractical for game balance reasons to have all these fighter jets...

I think DKM's OV-10 bronco is the ideal CAS aircraft for OFPs enviornment and engine capabilities...

[Guest BratZ]

Yes,to me the DKM Bronco is still the best plane out.

I was also highly inspired by it

I like jets here and there,but I don't think OFP is wide enough for that,the older planes fit in better and OFP does have a very high flight ceiling

It is based on modern warfare and obviously is the reason for this post, but what is modern warfare without planes

Whether to spy,deploy or destroy

[5hole 0]

I have to say that the fast movers with all the bells and whistles, while showcasing some cool features, are about as useful as a football bat. The FM in OFP just plain sucks and there's no getting around it.

However, calling down a pair of those fast movers, piloted by AI, to drop a couple sticks of napalm on Charlie's sorry ass, well that's another thing entirely

So, I'm just as happy with mediocre "beta" jets as I am with with the fancy ones, 'cause they all look the same at 50m and 200 km/h and I rarely fly them myself.

Now where's my Skyraider?

-5hole

[furia 10]

I love planes and helos for OFP, however I have voted for the CAS option since this game does not allow for a good aerial compat at high speeds neither have the aerodinamics that are relevant on aerial dogfight with high perfomance planes.

We do need good cargo haulers such C-130 plus helos such BAS MH-47 and so.

What we need is "low level aviation" since high perfomance jets for Air superiority are really usseless on OFP.

Maybe having a well modelled jet such Mig-27/23 or F-16 or Tornado that can be used on a grougnd attack role could be good if the aerodinamic issues are handled.

[Othin 0]

I really enjoy the newer airplane addons with ECM and all of the other neat features. It's fun to try to fly into the larger city on the Afghan map against ZU-23s, ZSU-23/4s, SA-13s, and AA men. But that's the thing. Aviation in Flashpoint will always be related to the ground in someway. Whether it be bombing missions, IADS suprression, or CAS it will somehow interact with the ground.

That being said, DKMs Bronco and Commanche, BASs Little Birds and MH-47e, and Hawks MI-26 are superb examples of how aviation in Flashpoint can become more then a plaything.

I think the next step for the Flashpoint aviation should be the short range cargo transports. It would be nice to see a C-130, AN-12, and AN-26/32 with some of the features we've seen on BASs MH-47e.

Anyways, my vote went for the CAS option.

[havocsquad 0]

I was tempted to click the 2nd one, but I felt I had to say #1 was the most right answer for me.

Hey, to those that are complaining about not many missions are made for Aircraft, take a look at my Fighter Campaign Demo mission, read the recent postings for updates, I forgot to text edit an addon out of the mission.sqm that isn't used, so I had to post the links on the topic to the downloads needed to play it.

Here's the link to the topic in user missions:  Fighter Campaign Demo Mission

Not trying to go offtopic here, but letting others know that I am putting out a Fighter Campaign to increase the numbers of TRUELY fighter missions.  It has some grunt work for those who gotta have tanks and SOFs (A little of everything), but the vast majority is Aircraft operated.  I also plan to incorporate recent new aircraft addons to replace some old ones that are currently used for the campaign and then release the campaign.

That's why I made it, so it would "Hopefully" increase the popularity and support for great Aircraft addon makers, and also provide a very fun campaign for others to play.

Anyways, if I'm too much offtopic here, I'm sorry but I felt the need to let those that posted here to know about this.

Later all.

Mr. Hitman

[silent_64 0]

We realy need a sierra-uniform 27 (SU-27) And a good F-15! But planes have started to evolve lately, the Sea Harrier, and i think that planes will reach the level of detail as the choppers have reach within 3-4 months! And I hope to see Aircraft studios ONLY makeing aircrafts!

[lpdotcom 0]

I'm in love with planes I voted 1, however the standard vulcan and shilka struggle with the new type of fast fighter bombers, some decent SAM launchers are needed to even the playing field.

[Guest BratZ]

Hmm ,I don't have the same impression of OFP's flight model?

Why would you say it sucks? Its better than for instance BF1942 (asides the tailgunner issue)

I do however have the same thoughts on jets,they arent very useful in OFP for flying around.Altho OFP has a HUGE flight ceiling , jets are too fast.(OFP2 with larger maps tho maybe)

Good things about OFP flight model :

HUGE flight ceiling

Planes use fuel

Models can be very nice

Multiple ammo types including locking missiles

jet or prop design

features can be added to top alot of other flight sims

multipart folding landing gear (does BF1942 Corsair gear fold properly ,nope)

planes capable of radar

planes can be made to carry oodles of soldiers

realistic bombs (asides some settings)

multitude of animation possiblities

OFP already has radio chatter

working gauges

addons can be adjusted for attack priority

ground targets are hard to see (like in real life)

Bad points:

No tailgunners and only one firing point for guns

Planes shake before even started

Some geometry problems

Now what flight sim are we comparing to? Cause I want to point out what sucks on those

And these are just my opinions,I been playing and flying in OFP since it came out

Another thing that impressed me is in OFP you can be dogfighting for example 3000m in the air,people on the ground can hear you and hear the shots (like in real life)

But they cant see whats happening unless you come within visual range of ground people (I like this!

And ground targets being hard to see also makes for realistic bombing runs as you would normally send in a scout anyways to pinpoint the target

[Guest BratZ]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (pang @ 29 April 2003,21:06)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">but i beg all plane- addomakers: for gods sake, please stop making US planes!

i know, i know, they look so cool and so on, but what OFP really needs is ADDON-BALANCING!

so try to more concentrate on the east side. there are so many cool planes being made in russia, so why not make a good enemy for the already ingame west ones?<span id='postcolor'>

Hmm I am trying to think of some complete US planes? Jets yes but I still can't think of too many US planes?

The OV Bronco (very nice plane and fits OFP most perfect)

And Marcels Piper Cub

My Beta Corsair isnt complete so cant count that,so where are all these US planes?

Please make some US planes !!! And stop making jets

Asides the fast flying in small spaces I never fancied jet sims much,most dogfights are a radar blip,a a missile lock and you prolly wont ever even get close to the enemy ,how boring.

Altho I like planes in general, I prefer the prop planes

I like some dogfights ,especially ones you may have to repair,rearm and refuel,now thats fun

[PitViper 0]

anyone remember Gimbal's attack cessna's?

I had lots of fun with those.

[Guest BratZ]

Oh yes I had lots of fun with those, and I think we all hopped in the A10 when we first got the game and got lost within a minute

Thats another good point about OFP's flight model

No actual boundries