4.13 development update discussion and feedback

[mark_009_vn]

Originally Posted by majorfailure

Are you sure it is low speed turn fighting? AI F4Fs do turn fighting vs. A6M, but at speeds where an A6M has trouble following because of the increasing control stiffness. They use their roll advantage a lot - at high speeds the Zero's roll rate is strongly reduced- and as Aces usually they best you if you try to follow - if you ever enter a rolling scissors maneuvre with an AI Ace F4F at speeds above ~400kph -you are already dead.

Well I fight high and slow (if that makes sense to you...), so 400 is the maximum speed I usually get mid combat since the Sakae doesn't accelerate well pass this point... In reality the AI are more then gladly to cut throttle, set take-off flaps, and deliberately bleed E in order to turn fight at even slower speeds... AI particularly love to bleed E in rolling maneuvers, they almost always chop throttle and open full flaps to cause an overshoot... this might work against a P-38, but against the Zero, a masterful piece of art in quick acceleration and deceleration..................

The main strength of the Zero is rapid acceleration, quick climb, and control sensitivity in said climb (perfect combination for a spiraling climb)... So as soon as Hellcats/Wildcats/Corsairs made any attempt to turn fight at ANY speed, the Zero (players and AI alike) can easily gain altitude and E advantage... This means AI Hellcats are much underprivileged because their AI patterns are not capitalizing the advantages of the in game Hellcat... This is a problem from the original game as well...

It is not uncommon for Rookie AI Zeros to score a favorable kill ratio against Ace AI Corsairs, even though Zeros were supposed to be inferior in both plane and skills... In reality, against people well flown Hellcats and Corsairs preys upon Zeros.

This makes it particularly tough for me as a person who enjoys offline custom missions to recreate the sense of futility of struggle of real life Zero pilots. Especially if one can kill Hellcats and Corsairs in droves...

In contrast, I've once fought FW-190s in the stock Blinding Sun campaign and the experience has been exceptional, the 4.07 AI was smart enough to keep E and avoid turn-fighting my Yak... The LW creates a sense of absolute dominance in the campaign, which is exactly the kind of experience the campaign makers are trying to deliver... Unless AIs are correctly tuned to use American Navy planes correctly, many custom made campaigns for the game are not expressed to the fullest...

(Note: I haven't tested to see how 4.12 AI handles the FW much... They still seem to obliterate me pretty well, but I felt the difficulty fighting them is reduced... or is that simply because my skills have improved?)