Is it just me?

[Wildfowler]

Is it just me or kills harder to get in IL2 46 than in CFS3 (Excepting OFF Kills are very hard there!)
I am not running one sim down or boosting the other but I have noticed in IL2 it's not that the aircraft are harder to shoot down but it is alot harder to get into a shooting position, and whats more staying there!

[denisch]

I have no problem with getting in the "kill" position, it makes the sim challenging. But what I find is that the .50 cal. machine guns on the U.S. fighters lack punch, seeming to have the striking power of .30 cal.s, while the 20 mm cannon are devastating. Maybe it just the range I fire from but it sure takes alot of .50 cal. ammo to bring down an enemy.

[Dimus]

If you manage to coordinate your gun convergence distance with the timing of your shooting, a salvo of 6 .50s or even 8 .30s concentrated on one point on the target will be as devastating as the hit by a 20mm cannon. The problem is that it hard to do and often the hits from the .50s or the .30s are spread on the target surface with little effect. On the other hand, if one or two 20mm shells manage to find the target, they explode and bring it down.

[Nausicaa]

There is a small add on program around (can't remember the name right now) that will show your hit rate in percentage after a mission. I had it for a while.
You will be suprised how little you actually hit, especially with heavier ammo.

[Nausicaa]

PS: When I changed from CFS3 to IL2, one of the first impressions I had was that it is a lot harder to hit someome in IL2. In my opinion, one of the important factors is that you get no hit messages like in CFS3 (they help a lot to stay on target), second, tracers are much less good to see (especially in daylight) and third, deflection shooting is a lot harder in IL2.

[stansdds]

Set your convergence to no more than 300m for .30, .303, and .50 caliber machine guns and don't try to use them at ranges beyond 300m. Il2 models not only trajectory, but energy as well. Cannon rounds are explosive shells, machine gun bullets are basically solid slugs and the longer the shot, the less energy and destructive power they retain.

[HundertzehnGustav]

The boss +1
fiurth, in Cfs3 you have a point based damage system that IMMEDIATELY affects plane behaviour. Be that engines, wings, controls, ...
In Il-2 a plane section has to show damage/take several hits in order to make the plane act differently.

[Wildfowler]

Thanks for the replies.

It's not hitting the aircraft so much as positioning. In Il2 the AI seems to react more swiftly giving you less time to get into a killing position.

I must agree that the lack of hit messages in IL2 does take away a shooting aid but I am very sure in a WW2 aircraft no message came up to let you know you had hit someone! In IL2 I rely on seeing the debris flew off to know I am scoring hits.

I flew today in a French 406 against some BF109-4's. I managed to get on the tail of one who I think was heading home, opened up and then...he was gone!!! he did a quick roll and pull back on the stick and before I knew it he is on my tail!

I was very impressed and had plenty of time to reflect how impressed I was as i floated down on my chute!!:costumes:

[Skywolf]

This is what I really enjoy about Il-2. The AI Pilots are almost like real pilots. Except that I have run into a few stupid ones.

[Fortiesboy]

Set your convergence to no more than 300m for .30, .303, and .50 caliber machine guns and don't try to use them at ranges beyond 300m. Il2 models not only trajectory, but energy as well. Cannon rounds are explosive shells, machine gun bullets are basically solid slugs and the longer the shot, the less energy and destructive power they retain.

Is this Il-2 you speak of? If so, how do i set these convergences,please.
i.e how do i find the gui page where to do it
TIA

[stansdds]

Il2, convergence is set in the "Arming" screen before you start a mission.

[rutgerbadcat]

I was very impressed and had plenty of time to reflect how impressed I was as i floated down on my chute!!

Yes..I've even compiled grocery lists while mulling and hanging about who that A-1 was...lol

[Fawlty]

Sorry couldn't figure out how to delete a msg

Fawlty

[Magic merlin]

I'm not 100% positive on CFS3 facts but I beleive that CFS3 registers hits differently than in IL-2. In Il-2 you have to have individual bullets hit the plane. as they would in real life. I'm pretty sure that in CFS3 there is a slight bubble that costitutes as a "damage area" so if your bullets enter that bubble the damage is applied to the aircraft. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[Nausicaa]

There are indeed damage boxes "around" planes in CFS3. They are quite big in the stock game, while they have been reduced in later add on planes. In IL2 the bullet has to actually hit the plane to do damage.

In CFS3 there are several indicators that you have hit someone, first quite ridiculous effects, like flashes, explosions, smoke, enormous fires, etc, second the "hit messages" that make it easy to stay on target, and third the totally exxagerated visibility of tracers in daylight. Last didn't get any better in most addons that claimed to be "real", but actualy worse. On a sidenote, CFS3 only models one style of tracers. When you install a new effect file it will be applied to all planetypes and nations. IL2 models the tracer style of different gun and ammo type and nations. Hitting someone in full daylight with small caliber, like early war british machine guns f. ex. can be very hardly visible in IL2, especially at greater distances. Wooden planes are the worst. When you put a hundred holes into a wing like that it can go almost totally unnoticed.

[Skywolf]

I play Il-2 a lot along with CFS2. in CFS2 you could edit a file so that there was less chance of coliding or hitting an enemy aircraft. I know you have to edit this file if you want to play CFS2 online.

[miamieagle]

All I know is that all this Sims have their positive points and their less dedirable points. Over all they are very well done and enjoyable!:ernae:

[Nausicaa]

Thats true, and I got a little bit carried away in my post. It's because this particular point, meaning the little invisible "helpers" in CFS3 is one aspect I dislike about the sim. There are other very good aspects though.