1C Team Questions and Requests (closed)

[Sutts]

Type of improvement:
Engine and prop sound improvements

Explanation of proposals:
At the same RPM, an engine under load will sound quite different to an engine under less strain. Listen to the change in pitch of your car engine when starting to climb a hill while maintaining the same RPM. You can hear that the engine is having to work harder. The same is true of aircraft. This effect is obvious when exercising the prop on an aircraft on the ground - as the pitch becomes more coarse, biting more air, the engine has to work harder and the engine note changes. The RPM reduces because the engine can no longer deliver enough power to maintain the new pitch.

At the moment, when coarsening the pitch, it sounds like the throttle is just being pulled back to reduce the RPM. It should sound like the RPM is being forced down due to increased engine load caused by the coarser pitch.

I think to summarise:
1. an engine should sound different under higher loads than when under lower loads, given the same RPM.
2. an engine should sound different at higher power settings (boost) than at a lower power, given the same RPM.

At the moment in CloD I can add +5 of boost while maintaining a constant RPM and the engine sounds exactly the same. The sound only changes when I allow RPM to change.

Also, the sound of the props biting the air should be more obvious. I live close to an airfield and can hear the props being exercised from several miles away. They make a very distinctive beating noise as they are forced to bite into more air. Hard to explain I know but adding such an effect would give a real sense that the prop is biting real air and not just spinning in a vaccum. It does sound rather impressive too when running up on the ground.

Benefits:
More realistic sound experience, greater variety in engine tone and the player gets a greater awareness of the energy state of the engine.

[Sutts]

Type of improvement:
Improved CEM

Explanation of proposals:
CloD is so close to full real startup that it is a real shame we can't use the primer and parking brake. Please consider implementing these to make the package complete.

Benefits:
Increased immersion and the feeling of having a real engine up front that can be temperamental if flooded etc.

Would be great if number of primes was dependent on outside air temp, temp of engine etc. Too many priming strokes for the conditions and you risk failing to start or having a stack fire. Too few strokes and the engine catches but fails to continue and must be restarted. I really hope you can add this when things become more stable - I know others feel the same. As this is pre-start code I don't feel it would have a performance hit.

Having a parking brake would really help when warming up the engine and testing the prop. At the moment I need to keep my finger on the brakes as the aircraft turns slowly otherwise.

[III/JG53_Don]

Originally Posted by Sutts

Type of improvement:
Improved CEM

Explanation of proposals:
CloD is so close to full real startup that it is a real shame we can't use the primer and parking brake. Please consider implementing these to make the package complete.

Benefits:
Increased immersion and the feeling of having a real engine up front that can be temperamental if flooded etc.

Would be great if number of primes was dependent on outside air temp, temp of engine etc. Too many priming strokes for the conditions and you risk failing to start or having a stack fire. Too few strokes and the engine catches but fails to continue and must be restarted. I really hope you can add this when things become more stable - I know others feel the same. As this is pre-start code I don't feel it would have a performance hit.

Having a parking brake would really help when warming up the engine and testing the prop. At the moment I need to keep my finger on the brakes as the aircraft turns slowly otherwise.

I want to add sth. to this idea: Is it possible to doubleset the brakes for the planes which dont have a differential left/right toe brake in the axis menue? In german planes its just great that you can handle the brakes left and right with my rudder pedals. For Hurricane/Blenheim etc I had to assign a new button for it. Would be great if you can response the "general brake" for british planes through the pedals as well

[robtek]

Type of improvement:
Improved CEM

Explanation of proposals:
CloD is so close to full real startup that it is a real shame we can't use the oil pressure to know the max. rpm's during warm-up.
The oil-pressure must change with the oil-temperature

Benefits:
Increased immersion and the feeling of having a real engine up front that can be damaged by too high rpm's during warm-up etc.


I.e. in the manual for the DB601A, a and B the warm-up rpm limits are described as follows:
keep the rpm so low that 6 bar oil pressure are not exceeded.
Something similar will excist for the merlin engines, i assume.

[Octocat]

Type of improvement:
API Method to send radio commands.

Explanation of proposals:
Add API method for sending radio commands from the script.
Like SendRadioCommand(AiActor actor, RadioCommand command), where:
actor - AiAirGroup or AiAircraft;
command - enumeration of radio command types;

Benefits:
Mission designers can use this feature to build more interesting and live environment.

EDIT: *** This post about controlling AI behavior through radio commands API ***

[Sutts]

Type of improvement:
More realistic/dynamic engine temperature model

Explanation of proposals:

For full realism I'd also like to see the following factors affect engine operating temperature please:

altitude (colder air at altitude = cooler)
airspeed (more air through radiator = cooler)
radiator obstructions (like lowered landing gear leg on spit)
mixture (richer mixture = cooler)
boost (lower boost = cooler)
rpm (lower rpm = cooler) WE HAVE THIS ONE

Also radiator flap setting should affect speed and yaw.

In addition, the early marks of Spitfire had a single radiator that was partially obscured by a landing gear leg. This made in necessary to takeoff reasonably quickly and avoid lengthy taxying.
It would be nice to feel the same urgency to avoid overheating on the ground as the real pilots did in the battle. Currently, I can run at high throttle on the ground for long periods without any overheating problems.

Some interesting notes from Spit II manual:

The coolant temperature is controlled by a thermostatic control (automatic) and a radiator flap which regulates the flow of air through the radiator, but which cannot be fully closed. The position of the radiator flap affects the lateral trim of the aircraft (the radiator being under the starboard wing) and can usually be kept in the closed position during cruising flight.

ACTIONS AFTER TAKE-OFF
Close the radiator shutter (unless a high power climb is done, when the lever should be a little forward).


Benefits:
Greater need to watch gauges and manage engine. Improved immersion - you feel you have a real engine up front.
User experiences the same problems that pilots of the day had to face. Increased tension before takeoff.

[droz]

Type of improvement: Aircraft SDK
Explanation of proposals: The ability to create and use aircraft from the community, with a multiplayer option with the server allowing what aircraft can be used.
Benefits: This allows for the continued longevity of the series, much in the way the original IL2 is going with it's unofficial mods.

Some time ago, it was said we will have the ability to do this, back when Oleg was in charge. The question is, is this still the plan? It should be. Allow the community to grow the same way IL2 has, but with some sort of actual in game support to make it easier to implement.

[Sutts]

Type of improvement: Spit II Mixture Operation

Key points:
1. Currently impossible to use +2.5 boost on lean mixture at 2650 RPM (maximum cruising value specified in manual for 87 octane). Maximum possible is currently +1.1 boost.

2. Mixture should have a direct effect on the temperature of the oil and coolant - at present it has no effect.

3. Smooth engine operation is possible at extreme boost levels +5 upwards. These are way above the maximum permissable on a weak mixture and from what I've read should result in severe detonation - rough running and eventual engine damage.

Explanation of proposals: I've been experimenting with the auto-rich / auto-lean mixture settings on the Spit II. My original Mark II manual states that auto-lean cruising should be possible at 2650 RPM up to +2.5 boost on 87 octane and up to +4 boost on 100 octane fuel.

I'm not sure which fuel is being modelled for the Spit II but I guess 87 octane since boost only registers up to +8 and not +12 as mentioned in the manual.

I'm finding that I can't use more than +1.1 boost without the engine starting to miss. This is at sea level. As you climb the boost must be backed off to keep the engine running smoothly - I'm no pilot but this seems logical enough - higher altitudes = less air so mixture becomes richer and starts choking the engine.

I'd like to request that mixture is tweaked to allow me to operate according to the manual please.

I'd also like to see an effect on oil and coolant temperatures when switching between rich and lean mixtures.

It is also possible to operate very high boost settings on lean mixture (way above the maximums in the manual) without any signs of detonation or engine trouble.

Benefits: More accurate mixture behaviour allowing user to fly by the manual and obtain higher boost settings in a lean cruise. Introducing effects of mixture on engine temps would make engine management more interesting and varied.

Thanks

[Sutts]

Type of improvement: Boost cutout mechanism

Explanation of proposals: The boost cutout switch/knob in the game simply allows the throttle to be moved further forward to higher boost levels. In the real aircraft this was not the case. The real switch immediately removed the restriction on boost for the current throttle setting - allowing boost to surge without having to adjust the throttle at all.

This means that even if the throttle isn't at it's fully forward position, a surge in boost is still likely when the switch is flicked - as any current restrictions on boost will be removed.

Benefits: More accurate boost behaviour. This is also better for the player since at the moment if the throttle is fully open when the switch is operated, the lever must be moved back and then forwards again to achieve the higher boost.

Thanks

[robtek]

I don't know if this was posted already, but here we go:

Type of improvement:
Gameplay /Handling

Explanation of proposals:
Gunners at all and the Ju87 rear gunner especially are too difficult to handle.
The vertical mouse axis is inverted and can't be changed.
The "lens-mount" moves definitely too slow, compare with the same mount shown in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlJlOQcDAhE

As a improvement i'd recommend to use a qualifier key with the mouse-movement to steer the mount (lafette).

Benefits:
Added realism through easier, more realistic handling