pooroldspike

I thought everybody used a joystick to fly planes and helis?

Tip- Once you've got it configured, take a screenshot of the config assignments for reference in case you need them again in the future..;)

I've logged over 3000 hours on the AA3 multiplayer servers, and I suspect some players might be cheating by using mods that give them an edge over the rest of us poor slobs. Is such a thing possible or am I being paranoid? In particular it seems they have x-ray vision through tall grass , bushes and shrubs, which therefore provide no cover to us behind them, grrrr...

This is how the list looks on my screen when I click "Recent', but many of those servers I haven't played on recently, so why are they there? Also what are the red and yellow stars for? Ideally to reduce clutter I'd like to cull out the servers from the list that I never play on, can that be done?

Ok thanks..:)

If you mean a tank, don't forget that even if the tank hasn't fireballed it might still have been damaged, for example a jammed gun. Yes you're right about BI's annoying habit of tweaking things, for example after a recent tweak, firing the Titan unlocked will see it veer off and miss at extreme range (around 3000 metres) whereas before it used to ride the crosshairs all the way to the target. (I never fire locked because the tank will pop smoke to blind your missile the instant you lock it up) Next best tank killer is the Vorona, it hits about as hard as the Titan but will only ride the crosshairs to about 2000 m before veering off. As regards shoulder-launched AT weapons against lighter armour, don't laugh but my weapon of choice is the dear old RPG-7, its only got crude iron sights but the rockets fly VERY fast and with hardly any gravity drop out to about 300m, and you can't miss a stationary or slow-moving target..:)

You just have to treat it gently like a woman when touching down..:) To its credit the Blackfish is very hard to shoot down with standard RPG/Alamut/MAAWS/PCML-type launchers, I like to taunt the enemy by slowly orbiting the objective at low level to deliberately draw their fire and take launcher hits, it must infuriate them seeing their rockets hit me but having no effect whatsoever..:) However it's a cumulative thing and after about 3 or 4 hits several damage panels have started turning red, so at that point I zoom off to the repair base..:)

It took me months to find the correct Blackfish VTOL keys by trial and error and by trying new key assignments because Bohemia messed it about in new game updates. For the record- to takeoff I select auto-vector, hit Q to get the nacelles pointing straight up, go to 100% throttle, as soon as the wheels leave the ground select manual vector and pull back the stick to go up like a rocket at 45 degrees. To land- reduce speed from very fast, by selecting auto-vector, hit Q several times to get the nacelles pointing straight up, throttle to 0%, hold the airbrake key. When speed drops to less than 200 kts, increase throttle to about 25% to ward off a sudden stall. Start praying as you juggle the throttle to avoid dropping like a stone. The beast will maintain height if the throttle is around 65%, anything less than that will see it descend. I usually touch down with about 40% throttle which gives a nice firm rate of sink, and a forward speed of walking pace, but don't touch down at less than about 30% throttle or it might explode. Even so, it's still a beast to fly, I still crash and explode in multiplayer through pilot error about 1 flight in every 6 (a bit like playing russian roulette), but my excuse is that getting hit by AA shells and getting locked up by SAM's and fighter planes is kinda distracting..:) PS- I'm still trying to get the flaps to work by trial and error..

Most planes have an airbrake (or 'speedbrake') which comes in useful if we want to bleed off speed in a hurry. For example I can't get the flaps key to work properly in the Blackfish yet, so I chop the throttle and keep my finger jammed on the airbrake key to bring the speed down fast, and I also throw in a few steep s-turns to impress my team-mates on the ground to bleed off inertia, the big heavyweight thing is full of it. We Blackfish jockeys are an elite on the KOTH servers, I love to see my teammates little legs running out of spawn to climb aboard. One said once- "I hope the pilot knows what he's doing", and another said- "Relax, PoorOldSpike is at the controls"..:)

Why speak online anyway? I've put in over 3000 hours on the King of the Hill servers and although I've got a mic I've never plugged it in, I just get on with concentrating on playing instead of yapping.. Anyway if I've got something important to say, I can simply type it in if I have to, for example if my tank gunner is swinging the gun in all directions like a crackhead as we move, I type in "WATCH YOUR FRIGGIN FRONT!" Likewise if I'm transporting paratroops in a heli and they're slow to jump as we arrive at the objective and flak is coming up, I type- "JUMP YOU NUMBNUTS!"

I haven't got any chopper mods, but if I had, I'd flight-test them in the editor by trial and error, pressing keys to see what does what. Alternatively I'd flight test them inside the game in the server by keeping to a relatively safe area so I don't get shot down while I'm learning it. I'd probably begin by pressing the F key to cycle through any weapons it might be carrying such as cannon, AT missiles, AA missiles.

Well I've put in over 3000 hours on the KOTH multiplayer servers and have had plenty of goes at assorted chopper types with assorted weapons, and below are my findings as of May 2018, (I presume playing AA3 offline in single-player mode will produce the same results?) AA launchers vs choppers- one missile hit will usually bring down any chopper in the game IF- repeat IF- you can get a lockon AND IF your missile isn't decoyed away by chaff/flares! (It's harder to lock up gunship-type choppers because presumably they've got some built-in stealth properties) Generally speaking, I'd estimate that your chance of downing a chopper is only about 25% for each missile launched, and if you weren't carrying many, they soon run out. Navid 9.3mm MG- I love this baby more than I like AA missiles, so it's my preferred anti-helo weapon! It's ammo loadout (in KOTH) is 4 x 150-round mags and the trick is to hose down choppers with sustained fire (keep the trigger held down for an entire 150-round mag without a pause) and the chance of downing a chopper at low-to-medium range and altitude is about 70% for transport choppers and 50% for gunships. Range has an effect so don't waste ammo shooting at far-away choppers or high-flyers. PS- even if you haven't brought a chopper down, you might still have forced it to return to base for repairs. Bazooka-type rocket launchers, e.g. RPG's- Yup, they can make mincemeat of choppers IF you can get a hit, and that's the problem because they're not lockable (unless new DLC's have introduced lockables), so you have to use your eyeball alone to get a hit which is bloody difficult, so forget it unless they're flying lowish, slowish and close-ish. AT missile launchers - yup that's what I said, antitank missiles such as Titans can down choppers, (I've done it myself) BUT, and it's a big BUT, they have to be hovering stationary or near-stationary or you don't stand a chance of getting a hit. The AT won't lock on to airborne choppers but no sweat, just fire and keep your crosshairs on the chopper and the missile will fly down the crosshairs and toast it even at very long range. (If a chopper lands, you CAN get a lockon because your AT launcher will now classify it as a ground target hehe) Small arms are not renowned chopper killers, but you might as well have a squirt at choppers if you like (preferably on full automatic) and maybe you'll nobble the pilot or inflict some damage, especially against weaker transport choppers. However, sniper rifles can kill chopper (and Blackfish) pilots with one shot and down they go , (it's happened to me more than once, grrr...) Grenade launchers vs choppers- I've had the occasional pop at nearby airborne choppers but have never managed to hit one, however if they've landed and are within reasonable range you can hit them fairly easily but it might take more than one grenade to do it. Same with hand-thrown grens, it might need two or more to trash the chopper. PS- As I mentioned, I've been playing almost solely on the AA3 KOTH servers for the past few years, but if anybody can recommend any other fun servers I'd like to give them a try too..:)

Forget that fancy stuff, just get a cheap simple joystick to start with and you'll be running rings round von Richthofen in no time. Heck I've got a brandnew super-duper spare joystick that I never use, it's yours for free if you come over to Plymouth UK to pick it up..:)

Yeah we old farts can run rings round todays snot-nosed snowflake kids, I'm currently Level 123 (Elite) on the King of the Hill multiplayer servers because I've got my sh*t wired tight..:) Here's me leading my human "Iron Man squad", I tell my recruits- "Stick with me if you want to live!"

I ran several pages of underwater tests with guns, mines etc here which might interest you- Example screenshot- https://forums.bohemia.net/forums/topic/165403-weapon-tests/?page=5

Hi, what's age got to do with anything? How old are you anyway? I turned 70 the other day and still feel 18..:)

I bought Tanks DLC recently and just wonder if there are any new keys I need to know about above and beyond the standard game keys, is there a list somewhere? For example I found out by accident that Ctrl-R starts/stops the Nyx (Recon) radar spinning. PS- what does the radar DO anyway, does it just spin for eye-candy purposes?

If you use a mouse for heli and plane control you'll soon be up sh*t creek! Ask your parents for cash for a joystick, and if they refuse tell them you're going to join the local street gang and run wild! They'll soon cough up..;)

Yeah I wish Boh would stop messing Arma3 about with new upgrades all the time because not only do they bring new glitches but they change the whole way the game plays, making all older tutorials and screenshots obsolete! PS- I was kicked off the KOTH Deathwave server 4 months ago for alleged "Spawn camping" and haven't been able to get back on so I presume its a permanent ban, yet I FRIGGIN WASN'T SPAWN CAMPING! I remember I ambushed a Strider full of enemy so maybe a snowflake KOTH Admin was on board and was one of them I toasted, and he went into 'pout and sulk revenge mode', haha..:)

Thanks mate I tried it and you're right, the trick is to use the keyboard for throttling like you said and not the joystick throttle lever..:) I also fly in external view so I can see how the machine is sitting in the air and get better situational awareness than if I was cooped up in the cockpit. I can now fly the Blackfish and Xian reasonably well, takeoff is easy but for landing they both need fierce concentration as you have to carefully juggle nozzle angles and throttle settings to overcome their massive inertia and they're still a lot harder to land than before the infamous patch 1.70. To make matters worse on the servers you're continually getting your concentration broken on the landing approach by an insane cacophony of warning beeps as enemy SAM's and jets are locking you up, they can sense you're a sitting duck and go into "feeding frenzy" mode..:)

It happens to me and everybody sometimes, for example I joined a KOTH server only this morning and after two minutes I was kicked without any reason given, maybe an Admin kicked me to make room for his pal to join, ha ha..:)

Right, it can't scratch tanks, but it might damage light AFV's, and it can puncture armoured car tyres..:) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PS- everybody, I've still been grounded with the Blackfish and Xian VTOL's since patch 1.70 year ago, despite watching youtube instructional vids and trying in vain to contact somebody who can tell me how to fly them. The main problem is that they only seem to have two throttle settings, 0% and 100% with nothing in between! For example when flying something like a standard Mohawk chopper, thrust can be increased/decreased simply by moving my joystick throttle lever up or down a few notches to get a desired intermediate setting such as 25% / 50% / 75% etc, but with the Blackfish and Xian the throttle immediately goes to 0% or 100% no matter how gently I move the lever. I've put in 3000 hours on the King of the Hill servers, and in the past the skies there used to be full of Bfishes and Xians, but now the skies are almost empty of them because most people including moi can't fly them. Occasionally some brave soul will have a crack at it but usually ends up strung up on wires or in a treetop!

I only play on the KOTH servers and if I get kicked the message always says why, it's usually because the game is full up with players. Are you sure your KOTH kick message doesn't say why? What exactly does your kick message say?

Sometimes occasional buildings in the middle or far distance are plain white without any textures, and the textures only appear when I get closer. This hadn't used to happen, so have Boh tweaked the graphics or what? I've tried configuring every graphics setting under the sun but no matter how much juggling I do, the issue remains, any advice?

I haven't installed any mods for the past 6 months, and as the issue only began a few weeks ago it can't be mods that are causing it. In fact I'm not into mods very much at all, I play mostly vanilla with just a few stock DLCs like Karts and Choppers.