Hi, I'm a new member

[Blade1889]

Hi, I've just joined the forum and thought I'd introduce myself.

I've just bought IL2: BOP for the Xbox 360 and plan on playing it for the first time this evening.

I was just wondering which difficulty people would recommend starting on?

I'm pretty much a novice at flight sims but want to play IL2 in realistic mode as it sounds like Arcade mode doesn't give you the full experience of the game.

Would people recommend me starting in Arcade and working my way up to Realistic or just jumping straight into Realistic?

Can't wait to give the game a go. It looks stunning from the gameplay videos I've seen

Cheers

[Ancient Seraph]

Introduction threads are popular these days . Welcome to the forums!
Hmm, it's difficult. I've played IL2 on the PC before, so I could jump to realistic right away, but I've no idea how it feels for someone with no experience.
I think the best thing to do (since you'll eventually want to play Realistic) is just go through the campaign on Realistic. Here is a thread about sensitivity settings for different aircraft. It's pretty important, since it's very tricky to fly with sensitivity full.
What will happen to you:

• You'll stall. Probably a lot at the start, especially if you haven't set your sensitivity yet. Adjusting the sensitivity will almost eliminate this problem, without losing much of your rate of turn.
• You'll spin. Not too much I think, but it'll happen. You can follow the on-screen instruction to get out of it. These basically come down to this: ailerons (roll) in direction of spin, rudder (yaw) in opposite direction of spin.
• You might not hit a damn thing. This might be the only reason to start on arcade a bit. It's tricky to shoot an aircraft in flight, since you have to aim a bit in front of it to actually hit. In arcade you'll see a 'crosshair' in front of your target, indicating where you have to shoot to hit it. This problem will be very annoying at the start, but you'll get used to it.
• You might get shot down, a lot. In multiplayer that is. When I started playing IL2 on the PC I couldn't see anyone coming, and got shot from every angle possible. Just ignore this, keep on practicing and don't give up. You'll get the hang of it. And remember: no one is keeping track of deaths.

I'm not sure if this is what you wanted to hear, and after reading this again I'm wondering why I actually wrote this. It sounds like I'm trying to scare you away with all this doom-talk. I'm not. Once you get the hang of it it's the most glorious and memorable experience ever (sort of..). Please do not feel intimidated .

[Blade1889]

Cheers for the advice Ancient Seraph. I really appreciate it

Sounds like I'm going to need to do quite a lot of practicing before I get the hang of things!! Still, I believe the game has a training level so hopefully that will help.

Plus I quite like the fact that if you find you're totally rubbish at simulation or realistic there's always the arcade mode.

Fingers crossed I won't need that though!

[Ju-87]

I got this game just recently and I've already played through the campaign on realistic. Single player is pretty fun, but on the other hand I haven't found a single game online that isn't arcade.

In my opinion realistic difficulty isn't too hard to start out with. Just remember to turn down the sensitivity in options if you stall all the time - shouldn't be necessary for some planes though.

I used the training mode to fool around, and get the feel of different planes. Just pick a bomber as your enemy and set the AI to Rookie... He won't be able to shoot you down in a million years, so you're free to roam around. Helps alot!

[Blade1889]

I've heard a lot of people talking about reducing the sensitivity to help in not stalling, so think I'll play around with that to start with, and take your advice on fooling around in the training mode too Ju-87

[House MD 221B]

move BOTH sensitivities ALL the way to the RIGHT, then move BOTH 11 clicks to the LEFT. And it's nigh on impossible to stall / spin, unless you overly jerk the rudder as well as the ailerons.

And once you get better, you can introduce 1 click to the right until you find what's perfect for you.

[InfiniteStates]

Originally Posted by Blade1889

I've heard a lot of people talking about reducing the sensitivity to help in not stalling, so think I'll play around with that to start with, and take your advice on fooling around in the training mode too Ju-87

I've been playing this game since it was released, and still go into training to find a sensitivity level for a new plane I want to fly in simulation.

For most planes you only need to adjust elevator sensitivity, but for planes with little stubby wings it might help to adjust both.

Turn both sensitivities up to full, then bank 90 degrees left or right and pull full back on the stick. If it stalls, go into options and reduce elevator sensitivity by one notch. Rinse and repeat until it doesn't stall.

As mentioned, each plane varies (e.g. I find 2 or 3 notches works for BF109-G6 where as 6 or 7 notches are required for the Spitfire MkII).

Just don't forget to turn them back up to full if you join an arcade game! lol

And if you want a realistic or simulation game, but can't find any, make one. Eventually you will get people join. There are a lot of players that prefer these modes so will join one if they see it...

[Blade1889]

Well I had my first go on the game last night and I've got to say..... wow!!!

The graphics were stunning and the feeling of shooting down a rival plane was great!

I have to say that you guys are right about the Arcade mode. It's just far too easy and doesn't feel realistic.

I've got one more training session to do (Air combat II I think?) and then I can unlock realistic and simulation mode.

I loved doing the bombing training mission where you take-off, bomb the ground targets and then have to safely land too. I felt like I'd really accomplished something.

Now bring on those Nazis!!

[Ancient Seraph]

Good to see you're enjoying it! Hope we'll see you in the Sim skies some day .