My Rant on Air-to-Air Combat

[BirdKiller]

I've been flying for a long time since BF2's demo came out and I have to agree with Flares that aircrafts in BF2 is fairly balanced. I have engaged many dogfights and find that it depends on the type of aircraft (Fighter or Bomber) you're flying and the pilot's skill and tactic of dogfighting. No aircraft is underpowered and no aircraft is overpowered, it's simply depends on the pilot.

And Flares, thank you for posting how to do that manuever, i've been trying to "mimic" that manuever for some time but with absolutely no confirmation or verification of how. I simply slowed down and tried to manuever but resulted in failure. I suspect you need the joystick with the throttle at 50%, or is it possible with the keyboard?

[colony]

The J-10 is a crazy jet. When i do look behind mode just hearing the sound it makes breaking through the air at those high speeds is cool :p

But other than that, the balance is mostly the bomber planes are slower/less agile but can bomb better/easier on ground targets and bases, while the fighters own the bombers in combat.

You just gotta be smart like flares said.

[menace-uk-]

hmmmmm the tread starter is wrong i play with a few freinds now and again and most of them played the previous bf games and i have only played bf2 there all better pilots than me but i cant seem to shoot them down unless im in a usmc plane i think its personal preference actually if your in aplane you dont like you wont perform as well as you might in a plane you do like(maybe)

[Flares]

And Flares, thank you for posting how to do that manuever, i've been trying to "mimic" that manuever for some time but with absolutely no confirmation or verification of how. I simply slowed down and tried to manuever but resulted in failure. I suspect you need the joystick with the throttle at 50%, or is it possible with the keyboard?

I use a Wingman Logitech Force Feedback stick m8. The old big one... I'm not very good at explaining how I do things. I just go by feel. However, I always slow down when chasing people in a fight. Bombers fly slower anyway, so you let them get ahead, then increase throttle and use burners as necessary to pull in *very* close in behind. I usually leave the missile hud off, wreck them with guns, then finish off with a missile if the guns haven't done the job already. If you're too close for a missile lock, ease off the throttle again and let them get ahead an extra few metres.
Fighters usually fly around on full throttle or use burners immediately when engaged, thus losing their spare thrust. Again easing off the throttle and turning under and into them until you're behind then throttle up and use the burners you've saved to accelerate quickly. (Low Yo-Yo) If you're going faster than your prey, and turning with them, slow a bit, aim up and around them and then use burners to get on their tail. (High Yo-Yo).

The page below has examples and diagrams of air combat manouvres. The high and low yo yos are the ones I use most in BF2. The high G barrel roll has worked for me also. Pulled off a perfect HGB last night. Being persued by an Su34 in an FA/18. Ended up right on his tail, close enough to spit at him, unfortunately we were both low, I wasn't paying attention and hit the ground along with him...

http://library.thinkquest.org/3142/manuv.htm

[smegger]

i hate how when i'm right behind someone, locked on, and fire my 2 missles, all they have to do is turn right,left, or pull hard back to go up, and they can evade my missles :/

i think it sucks..

lol mate. its not meant to be easy, you got to remember that they dont want you to hit them, therefor they are going to put up a fight.

[PunisherUK]

I seem to be better in the J10 then any other plane

[1Sgt.Kenny-R2K]

Ok let me ask you somthing..

""NOTE, you as*hats who think they know it all, that I said pilots of equal skill. This means they would not be able to juke another. Right.""

If they cant juke each other then it's more about who locks on to who first, since they're "equal skill" right??

[ThyNecromancer]

I think planes should just be taken out of the game. They are too over powering.
Only a plane can beat a plane. Sometimes a helicopter can...sometimes...
Ground forces stand no chance.

[colony]

take out aircraft? you are nuts

[1Sgt.Kenny-R2K]

I think planes should just be taken out of the game. They are too over powering.
Only a plane can beat a plane. Sometimes a helicopter can...sometimes...
Ground forces stand no chance.

Of course only a jet can kill a jet unless it crashed or is going to slow.

But thats like saying Take out artys they're to strong only C4 can kill it

[PhoeniX_0]

I think planes should just be taken out of the game. They are too over powering.
Only a plane can beat a plane. Sometimes a helicopter can...sometimes...
Ground forces stand no chance.

I think that it will bet better if stingers were improved so that they will hit planes

[BirdKiller]

I use a Wingman Logitech Force Feedback stick m8. The old big one... I'm not very good at explaining how I do things. I just go by feel. However, I always slow down when chasing people in a fight. Bombers fly slower anyway, so you let them get ahead, then increase throttle and use burners as necessary to pull in *very* close in behind. I usually leave the missile hud off, wreck them with guns, then finish off with a missile if the guns haven't done the job already. If you're too close for a missile lock, ease off the throttle again and let them get ahead an extra few metres.
Fighters usually fly around on full throttle or use burners immediately when engaged, thus losing their spare thrust. Again easing off the throttle and turning under and into them until you're behind then throttle up and use the burners you've saved to accelerate quickly. (Low Yo-Yo) If you're going faster than your prey, and turning with them, slow a bit, aim up and around them and then use burners to get on their tail. (High Yo-Yo).

The page below has examples and diagrams of air combat manouvres. The high and low yo yos are the ones I use most in BF2. The high G barrel roll has worked for me also. Pulled off a perfect HGB last night. Being persued by an Su34 in an FA/18. Ended up right on his tail, close enough to spit at him, unfortunately we were both low, I wasn't paying attention and hit the ground along with him...


http://library.thinkquest.org/3142/manuv.htm

I suspected people pulling off that manuever used a joystick, the closest I can get is by not pressing on the W or S key (Speed up and down) and then turning. I'll try this when I get back to my new home where my computer has a joystick. And it's somewhat surprising that manual listed some of the manuevers I use such as the Yo-Yo and less complex Vertical Scissors .

Also, I believe the aircrafts in this game is strong because most pilots only know the basics of dogfighting and the AA defenses are not as threating as it was in BF:Vietnam (SA-7 and ZSU) and BF1942 (Flak guns). I really wish there was some kind of flak gun firing proximity-fused projectiles with a large blast radius. Of course, the helicopters will hurt more from this than the jet aircrafts.

[MrChris_CJ]

usa needs the f22 raptor!!! but the f35 is seriously underpowered imo....

[stormwolf]

I think planes should just be taken out of the game. They are too over powering.
Only a plane can beat a plane. Sometimes a helicopter can...sometimes...
Ground forces stand no chance.

How about taking BF2 out of the game.
This way I could spend my time cursing the server browser and loading unexisting maps.

[AGM-114]

I've noticed that negative g maneuvers don't seem to affect the pilot so I employ these once in awhile just to throw off the attacker. However, the plane seems to respect the physics so it won't go as "hard" in that direction. For example, roll left then push forward on the stick. Sometime you can get the attacker to break in the opposite direction, sometimes not.