Tell us why BoP is WAAAY better than Battlefield 3
 

Sure it looks great, but I been wondering what the flight physics are like in the air combat parts of Battlefield 3? Is it just another shooter with wings, or do you realy get to fly the thing? I'm asking the question here because you guys know what a real flight game is, I already know what the Battlefield fanboys think :P

From what ive heard the jets are more realistic than Ace Combat AH anyway.
Also ive read some forum posts on the internet where people claiming to be master helicopter pilots on Bad company 2 are conplaining how difficult and different the helicopter flies in Battlefield 3. This is because BC2's helicopters were like flying a hot air ballon, BF3's helicopters are more realistic and closer to the control in Apache air assault. I'm looking forward to seeing newbs crashing all over the place lol.

Still for a real flying expierence nothing on console is going to come close to gaijin's games.

BoP for flying is better than Battlefield 3. The jets are ok, but don't expect a full fledged flying simulator type experience like BoP.

I prefer the helicopters to the jets at this point. Heli's are hard to fly at first and i've found that changing the controller layout options for the heli's to 'Legacy' settings (instead of the default) helped a whole heckava lot. To the point of not being able to fly them to being pretty decent at flying them.

I feel like they deliberately gimped the controls for jets in BF3. Even with the options to reassign the controller, nothing feels comfortable to fly. Maybe they did it to keep people from getting too good with them. Ive played all of the current console flying games and BF3 doesnt offer similar controls to any of them.

Also, even on the bigger maps in BF3, I feel constrained. The space they give is impressive if you are on foot or a ground vehicle, but in a jet it feels like you are caged up. Not enough room to attack and extend.

All that being said, I freakin love playing (and flying) in BF3. Its just not a flying game per say.

Loving the game so far!!

Just about to unlock the Air to Ground laser guided missile for the jet :D then those pesky tanks can watch out!!

The jets are fairly easy to fly to be honest, great fun though and the gatling gun if on target can do lots of damage.

The helicopters are the hard ones to fly. They do take a little skill,but they are devestating when used correctly.

Have to watch out for pope sneakily joining your games though and trying to kill you in a tank.... ;)

Haha like you've never done that. Anyway it was wolfbane driving not me. I'm lost at the moment in BF3. I join your game and everyone is like a 30 rank already (i'm still not up to 30 on Bad company 2 after a whole year of playing)and there is me on 2 rank with the basic starting kit getting blinded by fricking torches and lasers non stop. And my character keeps creeping along when i want him to stay still because the non existent dead zone they have implemented goesn't suit my 5 year old controler with sloppy sticks from hard IL-2 flying :evil:. I'll get the hang of it no doubt and they will fix those blinding daylight torches and other bugs, might have to buy a new controler though :(.

I do love the new helicopter control , once I set the sticks up as southpaw its almost exactly the same as Apache air assault just a bit easier and infinatly better than Bad company 2's anti-gravity ufos.
I just wish I could get to fly them in a multiplayer game as there is always some berk that can't fly for toffee snapping them up every time.

Hey Pope, try joining a server that doesn't have a lot of players in it to get a chance at flying. There's hundreds (thousands?) of servers usually available and you'll find as you scroll down the list you can find some halfway empty ones.

Thanks. I never would have thought to do this. I really need to get more time in for the upgrades.

I use the alternate button layout with the default sticks. I've never been able to pitch/roll with my left thumb, it just feels unnatural. I prefer the choppers over the jets and the new chopper controls feel much better than Bad Company 2.

StiC

Thanks Rich, thats a great tip. I will try that.

I have noticed one really stupid control design flaw and oversight which does rather hamper my performance. Who was the nutbar that decided to put the freelook on the pitch and roll stick without any way to redesignate it. Even more dumb, if you use southpaw stick setting (aka Ace Combat, Birds of Prey, and pretty much every other flying game's default stick layout, so thats a large amount of people) you need two left thumbs!! one to press the d-pad down to shift the left stick to freelook and another to use the left stick.

So not only can you not look around while maneuvering (a key flying skill), but If you want to look around at all you have to contort your left hand or take your right hand off the right side of the pad and use your right thumb to press the d pad.

It pretty much makes the freelook useless. LOL and we thought BoP's press in stick shift to freelook was bad. Compared to BF3, BoP's freelook is a god send.

It requires alot of team work, with out team work then your team will crumble and lose, as well as abuse ach other haha. Isn't that right pope? ;) hahaha

I'm always amazed at your group of friends Foz, they act like they hate each other and hate every game they play. I really don't like Max's attitude.

You get used to it, that's why we all just kept laughing, because he gets really annoyed and it's comical listening to the excuses haha.

Always somebody else to blame for him Not being able to shoot straight hahaha.

On a lighter note....

That's f18 of mine was causing you some problems ;)

Arrrghhh. Thats what I hate about unlocks that give you abilities over newer players. Its a right pain to not only be new at the game, not knowing any of the maps but to be totaly out gunned by longer time players aswell. I mean who in real life would take a Warplane into combat armed only with a cannon, no radar and no defensive counter measures and take it up against a fully armed highly effective enemy? He'd get shot down in seconds, and thats exactly what happens to me.

Thats what i like about BoP's unlocks, they were difficult but fair. A Hurricane can still win even against the most difficult to unlock plane.

Hopefully private matches will be patched in to help boost unlockables.

StiC

Thanks for the responses everyone. It sounds like the flight controls are sorta goofy, but at least you do get rudder, aileron and elevator yes? Do they work with legit flight physics (like, gravity? LoL) or is it a simple point and shoot like 99% of the other games out there? I been thinking about maybe renting this one but then I heard that you only get to fly in the online multi player, and that’s not even available from rentals :shock: I’ll probably pass this one up completely LoL

Still patiently waiting for Birds of Steel.....

the last thing i want to do is fly in bf3.I played bf3 and a dogfight broke out is like saying I was playing Il2 and a firefight broke out.

Thats a bad example isn't it? You spend most of your time in Birds of Prey on the ground with the firefighters desparatly trying to put out your flames :-P


+1

I have to admit I do enjoy flying in this game. 99.9% of the dogfights involve use of the cannons only as the heat seekers just get countered by flares. The flight psychics work well enough though. Go to slow and you will stall and fall out of the sky. I'm enjoying it. It works particularly well with a friend in your team using the laser designator to mark targets for you. All in all I'm loving it. Feel at home in the air or on the ground. I do think anyone who has the slightest bit of interest of knowledge of aerial combat will prevail though. Half the people playing just fly around as fast as the can. Easy kills though I guess so I shouldnt complain.

This is mainly a fps though not a dogfighting game do we should really take that into consideration. A great game all round though. Especially when pope is on the other team and your trying to sneak around so you can get his dog tag ;) haha.

But like the rest of you, I patiently wait for BoS and the chance to once again roam the skies in the hurricane or the mossie :D

You knifed me?? When? :confused:

laser designtor? is that yet another unlock or are you talking about the back button marking? The multiplayer really is backwards when you think about it. I mean in singleplayer you expect the game to get harder as you progress through and better your skill. These multiplayer unlocks are the oposite. New people in jets have nothing but a gun and nothing marking any enemys or anything. Where as people who played the game from the launch (like you foz) who had an easier time with less high ranked people trying to kill them when they were new. now have a much lower difficulty in killing people thanks to all the unlocks.

I have more than 150 jet kills and consider myself pretty good, though I've seen some people with well over 400 kills already.

I use the cannon almost exclusively. Air-to-air missiles have become mostly useless against other jets as more people have unlocked flares. I do well enough with the cannon anyway.

I only use air-to-air for helicopters. A hovering chopper is much tougher to take down with the cannon, though it's possible. The air-to-ground missiles are almost useless and cause little damage. Rocket pods are about the same, but can be semi-useful on ground strafing runs. The A-10 and the Su-25 have good cannons for ground strafes but the F/A-18 and Su-35 seem weaker.

The physics are ok considering what the game is. I still prefer Birds of Prey and can't wait for Birds of Steel, but it's fun to show off my flying skills with my friends that don't play flight games. They keep asking how I'm so good (especially when I'm on the other team) and I tell them I have plenty of practice in real flight sims. Same with the choppers, which handle closer to Apache: Air Assault than Bad Company 2.

Flying is getting to be a bit of nuisance though because more and more engineers are carrying stinger anti-air missiles. Plus the attack choppers have amazing anti-air capabilities and range. That's not to mention how most jet pilots jump out before the jet goes boom after you shoot it down. They jump out and you don't get credit for a kill. Very annoying.

I'm working on the air warfare medal, which takes 30 air warfare ribbons. Each ribbon takes six air kills in round, which is very difficult when jet pilots keep jumping out. I'm relying on chopper kills to get me there. It's easier with choppers, though you still have to worry about stingers, the other choppers, jets with cannons that literally knock your chopper on its side, and the indestructible anti-air cannons in every base.

I've been flying less since getting the first service star with the jet and the fun is hit or miss on the ground. The game is still fairly buggy and there's a lot of things I'd like to see changed. Some of my friends are threatening to quit playing, which will be disappointing since I think the fun outweighs the annoyances.

This should interest the purists.

When playing on hardcore servers you are locked to the cockpit view. This includes tanks and jeeps as well. I just wish there was a better way to track targets.

StiC

At least on 360 you can push down on the D-pad and use the right stick to look around. It's a minor improvement on BoP's awkward free look, though it still limits your maneuvering ability.

I prefer flying in regular mode largely so helicopters and tanks can be spotted and I can contribute to their destruction. They're much more difficult to pick up visually on hardcore while lining up a strafing run.

I find myself relying on the air radar quite a bit in normal (I don't use the external view much, if at all for any of the vehicles) and it's a must in hardcore.

BF3 is a really sweet game, not perfect but I love it for the team aspect.

The jets are easy to fly, I just changed the settings to lefty and they're like BOP. So far i have about 140 kills and all unlocks.

Choppers are more difficult than BFBC2 but once you have them sorted they're pretty easy to fly as well.

In the 48 hrs I've played BF3 I've yet to see a jet dominate a or change the sway of a battle in favor of one team or another. An ace chopper pilot and gunner on the other hand are game breakers and can be devastating.

Great game and i won't say BOP is better than BF3 because they're too different games. Flight sim v's FPS with a small flying element, they're not even in the same ball park to compare. BF3 is my fav FPS to date - BOP my FAV flight sim besides the original IL2 when I had a rig to run it.

I thought I'd mention a pretty awesome I moment I had playing BF3 a week or so ago.

I was hot on a Su-35's tail on Caspian Border, doing what I do and gunning the fellow down. We were going vertical with full afterburners when I got the disabled vehicle notice. I was probably within 10 meters, still going vertical, when he tried to eject. The body bounced off my F/A-18's canopy and I was credited with a road kill. Easily my favorite video game kill ever.

You obviously didn't read my earlier post pointing out the flaws of the freelook design lol. Oh and it's a SU-33 :P

Doesn't the Su-33 have forward canards? The Flanker in BF3 doesn't have canards.

Yes, sorry you are correct its an Su35BM. I figured that because you take off from a carrier it would be the naval version (Su-33). But then since when did the A-10 take off from carriers? :rolleyes:

Reading about the Su35BM and how advanced and capable it is with the thrust vectoring engine nozzels, its funny how the crappy super hornet has the same performance in game when in real life it would be absolutly crushed in a dogfight.

You don't ;) haha.

Only the US team has a carrier. The Ruski's have -

Kharg Island - Roadside (SU33/Frogfoot)
Caspian Border - Airfield (SU33/Frogfoot)
Operation Firestorm - Airfield (SU33/Frogfoot)

Your right about the A-10 on the carrier though. Not right!! But then again i've seen a hercules land on a carrier.... so its possible perhaps haha.

I do think your looking into a little to much though mate. Its just a game :P

I was just happy I didn't have to ride in a F-35, though apparently that's going to be included in the first add-on.

Reading about the F-35B a few days ago after the US marines bought all our retired Harrier GR.9/9A. The Marines now expect to be using Harriers well into the 2020s! I'd much rather fly a harrier in the add-on but oh well :( unrealistic again lol