External view on dedicated server.

[Tbone81]

Hi.

Is it just me or is using external view making it much easier to track your enemy while dog fighting?

I like to be able to see my aircraft from the outside, but it seems to me that it is also a great unrealistic advantage.

I find it really hard to keep track of my enemy while sitting in the cockpit, frustratingly hard actually. But isn't that the way it should be?

Ps. I´m not trying to tell people how they should run there servers, its just a thing i noticed while watching other people dog fighting.

[Ataros]

ATAG and Repka #1 servers do not have external views enabled to name a few. You can check server settings before joining.

[335th_GRAthos]

Originally Posted by Tbone81

Hi.

Is it just me or is using external view making it much easier to track your enemy while dog fighting?

I like to be able to see my aircraft from the outside, but it seems to me that it is also a great unrealistic advantage.

I find it really hard to keep track of my enemy while sitting in the cockpit, frustratingly hard actually. But isn't that the way it should be?

Ps. I´m not trying to tell people how they should run there servers, its just a thing i noticed while watching other people dog fighting.

Personaly, I believe that "External view - Enemy" (showing external view of your plane and tracking the nearest enemy airplane) is an unfair advantage.

External free view by itself (showing external view of your plane only) is an advantage but, of limited practical use because it can not be used effectively during a dogfight (when you need to have your hands on the throttle and stick manouvering the plane, you have no extra hand to scan the horizon with the mouse trying to track the enemy plane manually).

Unfortunately in my opinion, there is no way to turn off "External view - Enemy" while allowing "External view".

~S~

[Jugdriver]

Try the full real servers where you can't get external views. As you say it is hard to track people with the cockpit on, but is is very rewarding when you do and get the kill. I think for the most part you are going to find people either fly Full Real, or Open Pit with externals, there is not much in between (with the excetion of Closed Pit servers that have icons but I have not seen one in COD)

One thing to keep in mind if you fly in servers where the cockpit is always on, I would would get a Tracker IR if you dont have one. There are a few people who are masters of the POV hat, but most pilots on the full real servers are using Tacker IR's or similar devices.

JD
AKA_MattE

[Blackdog_kt]

I've been flying with externals on in single player since forever but i don't use them for a practical advantage, it's mainly because i like being able to pause the game, switch to the target and watch the damage model at work, or for looking at the pretty pictures and snapping screenshots

That being said, it does tend to make you pick up bad habits but still, whenever i go online i like to fly without externals/icons. The reason is that while i have an easier time keeping track of the enemy with externals and icons, so do they.

Everyone knows where everyone is at all times and this tends to force gameplay into a series of dogfights, effectively cutting off a big part of the actual engagement: positioning, stalking the target and manipulating the element of surprise to your advantage.

There's more than one ways to skin a cat and i'm all for having extra options to suit everybody so i don't pretend to be superior just for flying with a bit harder difficulty options. I just found out way back in the first IL2 title that flying on a server without externals/icons is actually much easier to get kills because you can surprise people.

The way i see it, if you want to focus on the purely maneuvering aspect of the fight (who is the better stick and all that), flying with externals and icons is the way to go because maneuvering is the entire fight with those settings enabled. If on the other hand you like to be able to surprise your targets and work for the kill in terms of preparation and not maneuvering while accepting that you too will be surprised and shot down by someone you didn't see, flying with cockpit views only is your best bet.

In terms of head tracking now, i was using a trackIR 4 until it stopped working and now i'm using freetrack (same principle but with a webcam and some free software, so it's much cheaper).

My advice is to go for freetrack if you have a webcam and see if it suits you first (some people get dizzy or can't get used to head tracking), then if you like it, you want the extra precision and you are willing to spend the money you can get a trackIR set.

Hope it helps

[Tbone81]

Thank you all for the great answers

I already have a TrackIR, but i have a really hard time anyway, guess i will just have to learn.

Nobody promised that it would be easy

[conio]

I wish external view was allowed when the plane is in the ground and 0 speed. That way we could inspect our own damage after (crash)landing