Do bomber crews do anything?

[Feathered_IV]

Hi chaps, and congrats to all who are already flying Cliffs of Dover.

There's one question I've always wanted to have answered, as it is one of those things that would really make it a truly next-gen sim for me. It's about the multi crew aircraft and their function in the game.

In Il-2 and every other sim I can recall, AI crew members are really only there for decoration. Gunners sit with their hands clasped in prayer as the gun works on it's own. Navigators, flight engineers, wireless operators and bomb aimers are just wooden dummies that do nothing at all. Maybe if a sim goes really crazy they might swivel their heads a bit, but thats about all.

Is Cliffs of Dover any different?

What I'm hoping to find out is

Gunners: Will gunners call out distant aircraft, ships or vehicles. Will they cry out if wounded or report visible damage if it is taken. Oleg said AI was modelled to show fear etc. Is this visible in any way apart from gunnery accuracy? Do they tell you when to corkscrew, break or bitch about the cold.

Bomb Aimers: As well as the appropriate actions above. When flying a bombing mission and flying over the initial-point, does the bomb aimer take up position and give you the "left-left... steady" until the target is reached? Does he drop the bombs, call it when he does and close the bay doors?

Navigators Do navigators navigate in CoD? Can you hit the TAB key to open a menu to communicate with your navigator and AI crew? Do they give you a course to the next waypoint when you ask for it or remind you if you wander off course. Can you request they give you a fix on your current position or give you an ETA to target?

Flight Engineers Also wondering if flight engineers manage engines or offer advice on nursing a damaged one. Do they monitor fuel. Can you order one into a turret if the gunner is hit?

Wireless Operators These guys are pretty important too. Can they receive messages or send by wireless and morse. Will they engage electronic countermeasures or counter jamming?

If anyone can spare the time to share their experiences with crews in CoD so far it'd be much appreciated. Some manner of crew interraction would be fantastic in a proper next gen sim and would go along way to countering that feeling of being alone that one gets in multi crew aircraft. Who knows. Might even put the immersion factor through the roof.

[Sauf]

I tried one twin engined bomber and my pc just froze, had to kill the game in task manager Dont know if its the same for everyone else.

[cato_larsen]

No freeze here.
I have tested them all in single flight. Dunno if they do anything though as it was a single flight, but I do recon they fire when needed??? Bombing I dont know.... But anyway. Best way to fly a bomber is online with online people. Man... Thats is so giving when you get it right.

Well I guess best way is in real life, but I dont see that happening for me anytime soon

[Zorin]

I do find it rather akward to see the crew members frozen in positions unrelated to the cockpit they are in. One video showed the Ju88 cockpit and the pilot grabbed thin air instead of the stick.

Lets hope a patch will fix this in the future cause just having the latest flight gear on doesn't make them look any less weird if they are frozen in odd postures.

[Blackdog_kt]

I would really like to see some kind of crew interaction like the one described. I just don't expect it to be on the initial versions we'll be getting, but down the road.

The encouraging thing about it all is that we may be able to have our own custom-tailored solutions for this. According to the manual there is built-in scripting support and the documentation for that will come some time after release (maybe as part of the SDK in a few months?).

That would really be a big step forward, even if we don't have the speech sound files to go along with it. I mean, if i can have a navigator who gives me ETA to next waypoint or provide steering instructions to an arbitrary point i click on the map, or gunners that call out contacts and i can instruct on how to use their guns, i will be so excited that i can certainly overlook the lack of speech audio files. As long as i can program the AI crewmen to do their job in a realistic manner, i don't mind much if they respond through on-screen text only.

[T}{OR]

If nothing else, having a control over your gunners would be a must IMO.

Something along the lines: "engage only incoming bandits vs. all nearby bandits" & "fire in short burst (save ammo) vs. fire at will"...

[Fritz X]

Originally Posted by Langnasen

Having checked out my co-pilot in the Ju88 and noticing he had no legs I don't expect him to be doing anything other than bleed to death. Or ask for a wheel-chair.

Aw, they included Lt. Dan in the game? Can't wait to find Forrest and Bubba...

But yeah, no crew animation, sadly.

[Blackdog_kt]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i think the original purpose of the thread was to discuss what kind of mission specific function can the AI crewmen perform, not their animation.

I mean, Feathered was probably not asking "can you see the gunners hold the guns", but "can the gunners tell me useful things a real gunner would tell his captain". Sorry if i misunderstood, it just seemed to me that this is more about how to "use" the AI crew and less about their animation.