How do I fly online?

[Janosch]

Well, the settings of those servers are way too arcade. Open cockpit and glaring icons aside, allowed external views and padlock is a horrible combination; it's absolute poison. What separates these servers from complete toy servers is that the aerodynamitic options (stalls etc) are checked, planesets and maps are good.

The best servers for 4.11.1m stock are as follow:
=gRiJ=dedicado: If you're looking for realistic airquake server, this is it. Both sides share the planeset, though. Icons are limited, and it's a good enough compromise.

OREL_War: Semi-historical maps and planesets. Player's own externals are allowed. Limited icons. Planesets are generally good, but would need trimming on some maps. Has too much AI planes, and sometimes not enough spawn airfields. Pacific maps are a missed opportunity, planesets & bases are limited.

CIEL_de_Querre: Oddball dgen(?) dogfight server that changes the actual map every 6 months or so. Currently it's desert map. Good settings. Cons: airstarts, AI planes.

Fight club: I'm not supposed to talk about fight club, but it has good settings, planesets and maps for the most part. Realistic and historical. This server isn't found on HL. Limited icons.

Vinni Puh: Not on HL. Like gRiJ but semi-historical planesets and a little more space to maneuver.

On the whole, icon dotrange settings that prevent teamkills but allow surprising the enemy are solid gold. Solid gold!

[nic727]

ok, I understand. A couple of years ago, before I restarted to play, there was a server with realistic setting, but now there is not a lot of people in this kind of servers. The servers I named have about 20 people or 40 depending of the time you play.

[Bearcat]

Yes Janosch all that may very well be.. but that is not the server for the guy who wrote this post.

I have the il2 Sturmovik 1946 for PC, and I would like to fly online, the problem I have is : I have no idea what IP address I need to fly online, patches, etc..
Last time I flew the game was at home sometime in 2008 or 9?...anyway, I suck, finally after weeks of frustration crashing at every take off, I managed to get airborne, and scored a couple of kills before crashing and making hundreds of nice greasy spots all over Russia, after that, it went downhill, even the rookies can kill me at 500 miles with a sling shot, I would like to get online to have "flying lessons" from someone with enough patience not to fall from his/her chair laughing and learn the fine points of flying and shooting, heck even my 9 year old daughter flies better than me

All he will get flying online with the settings you mentioned and the servers you mentioned is a target on his back and a lot of frustration. Petro hit the Nugget's Guide in my sig and give yourself about 30 days .. then get online at HL and find a server that suits your needs.

[IceFire]

Originally Posted by Janosch

Well, the settings of those servers are way too arcade. Open cockpit and glaring icons aside, allowed external views and padlock is a horrible combination; it's absolute poison. What separates these servers from complete toy servers is that the aerodynamitic options (stalls etc) are checked, planesets and maps are good.

BTW: Battlefield1 uses those settings because they are POPULAR The server is partially filled every weekend. So, maybe not so horrible. Just in your opinion.

There is also Battlefields2 and 3 with more difficult realistic settings but nobody joins except for Dedicated Bomber Squadron sorties on the weekends.

I'd suggest the OP stay away from any online server until they are really familiar with flying and operating the aircraft. We have guys who join where it's obvious they haven't done anything with the game until just that moment. We can try and help them but if they have no mechanical idea on how to fly it's just going to be a disaster for them and probably some angry regular pilots to boot if there are crashes.

Start with the Nuggets Guide and do Straight from the Farm. Once you have some technical proficiency you can get to the real fun online. I know I dabbled in the quick mission builder for quite a while before I decided to go online. Sometimes its just good to doodle around, drop bombs, fire guns, do all that wacky stuff that you probably shouldn't do online.

[Fenice_1965]

What separates these servers from complete toy servers is that the aerodynamitic options (stalls etc) are checked, planesets and maps are good.

This is not exact IMHO. From another point of view what separate those (or at least some of those) servers from full real server is the presence of external views, padlocking options and realistic navigation.
I can speak for Skies of Valor because it is the one I know better.
It has historical missions with realistic planesets, in cockpit view, realistic bomb fuzes and ILS systems on, FM is full switch. Missions are objective based, pure dogfight is not the way to win the maps.
I do not want to enter in the abused debate "full switch vs rest of the world", but can show the results of a discussion about settings change in that server.
Take in consideration that in that occasion I was promoter of a switch towards more difficult settings, so I cannot be considered as one in favour of arcade settings.
BTW these are the reasons of those who promoted the original settings.
1) Padlocking options are enabled because asked mainly by no track ir users, because they feel handcapped compared to those who have tracking devices.
2) Padlocking options are enabled because asked also by ground pounders, because they feel that identification between friends or foes is too much difficult without F7 against some kind of targets, expecially tanks.
3) External views are preferred by lone flyers. In a completely closed cockpit there's a greater advantage for those who are already integrated in community and fly team speak linked, because they increase their situation awareness in a decisive way.
Even if my tastes go for more difficult settings, I think that those points are valid and worth of consideration.
No track ir users and alone flyers may have more satisfaction in a contest like that.
Ground pounders are handcapped, from another point of view, by the fact that they are easily trackable with external views and this kills their survive chances, expecially in narrow maps. Their life is strictly linked to fighter cover.
Apart from these arguments, as Icefire stated, "relaxed" settings are popular, Skies of Valor is normally filled with players and always with a good population. Relaxed servers attract occasional players, while others rely often on organization of a specific community. Many full real servers have peaks of population in certain occasions and are empty in others.
Obviously there are many good reason to prefer a full switch server, but if you recognize yourself in some of the points I stated above, those servers can be the best choice to feel at home, until you will not feel the need of something different.

[Snake]

You can mention here, also, grijdedicado server!

[Janosch]

Interesting points! Not entirely unfamiliar, either. Generally speaking, for a relatively new player, there's no guarantee that having relaxed settings is going to make the (online) game any easier. Why? Because opponents will also have the advantage of those settings. I'm not saying that everyone takes advantage of them, but it's possible. AI opponents are another matter - as far as I know, they don't care if icons & padlock are enabled or not. And so on.

Originally Posted by Icefire

I'd suggest the OP stay away from any online server until they are really familiar with flying and operating the aircraft. We have guys who join where it's obvious they haven't done anything with the game until just that moment.

Sound advice. I'd like to add (again) that AI opponents are radically different from humans players. This pretty much applies to any game out there.

Originally Posted by Fenice_1965

1) Padlocking options are enabled because asked mainly by no track ir users, because they feel handcapped compared to those who have tracking devices.

Imho acknowledging that handicap should lead to adjusting of tactics or buying the trackir. I fly without trackir, and yes, it gets difficult in certain situations. However, people have played online sims before trackir was invented. If they could do it, why couldn't everyone else?

2) Padlocking options are enabled because asked also by ground pounders, because they feel that identification between friends or foes is too much difficult without F7 against some kind of targets, expecially tanks.

This probably applies to situations where friendly and enemy ground forces are close to each other. Well, one solution that doesn't require F7 is for someone to fly recon, or learn the target locations by heart. Also, seeing which way tanks fire (if they do) can help with identification.

3) External views are preferred by lone flyers. In a completely closed cockpit there's a greater advantage for those who are already integrated in community and fly team speak linked, because they increase their situation awareness in a decisive way.

Again, externals (with or without padlock) potentially increase awareness of lone pilots and squad members, too. It's not like only lone fliers with handicaps reap the benefits of server settings.

Every now and then you encounter e.g. a trio of Focke Wulfs that fly together, one booms & zooms and others cool their engines. Even if it's me who's being targeted, I wouldn't dream of asking for easy settings. What good would it do, anyway? There's always another solution, as long as there's at least another airfield available

My main concern is that arcade-esque settings make the game more limited. Planes have different cockpits and thus cockpit visibility is one point to consider when choosing a plane, making the game more complex. Externals (and padlock) plus open cockpit chip away from the richness of the game. Full icons pretty much take away the possibility of surprising the enemy.

Despite all the difficulties, I enjoy this game when it has suitably realistic settings, even if I have a plastic stick, no track ir or teamspeak. And for lone flyers like me, there's still the option of dragging enemies to teammates, some of which may very well fly splendidly together.