Capture the flag - An online time waster!

[Krt_Bong]

Your poll choices are kinda off center but if something like this would be implemented I'd say that both sides should fly Su-26's with paint job to match the side ie. Red/white and Blue/white, Flying through the hanger is pretty cool but having an altitude limit would be a great way to keep it close to the deck and stealing the flag back would have to be implemented in a non-violent way so as to keep it "fun", perhaps getting within feet of the flag carrier and using the gun button to take it. When you get close enough a text prompt would show on screen that you are in range to steal it and the flag carrier would get a similar message that "pilot name" is attemting to steal the flag. Really it could make for some interesting manuevering and aerobatics.

Originally Posted by Krt_Bong

Your poll choices are kinda off center but if something like this would be implemented I'd say that both sides should fly Su-26's with paint job to match the side ie. Red/white and Blue/white, Flying through the hanger is pretty cool but having an altitude limit would be a great way to keep it close to the deck and stealing the flag back would have to be implemented in a non-violent way so as to keep it "fun", perhaps getting within feet of the flag carrier and using the gun button to take it. When you get close enough a text prompt would show on screen that you are in range to steal it and the flag carrier would get a similar message that "pilot name" is attemting to steal the flag. Really it could make for some interesting manuevering and aerobatics.

I think the SU-26 would be a good option, but I'd still want to have access to fighters for a more action packed version. Bombers would be cool as well, harder to get though the hanger, slower, but they take more damage and have better defensive armaments.

Altitude and map limits would be a definate must as well. Last thing you'd want is a 109 hitting the roof or some guy in a Spit deciding it would be fun to fly 50km north of the action.

An artificial altitude limit would probably be fairly easy to implement, too. Do something like write it so that when the game mode is CTF and a plane goes above say 2500m AGL the engine starts choking out the same way it does when a hurricane starts pulling negative Gs.

[Revvin]

I'd like to see some sort of territorial game mode. If we had big maps maybe something like Warbirds had many years ago where you bombed an airfield's AA/Fuel/Hangars then the server announced it was down and you had to land on it quickly, it became quite an artform ducking in under enemy fire and landing with your gear up to make the landing as quick as possible.

[TheGrunch]

For a bit of fun, I really like this idea. Bonus points if there's a server variable that chooses whether the flag sits on the ground/ floats in a lifeboat on the surface of the sea when the flag-carrier is shot down, or resets to the original hangar, depending on how fast-paced you want it to be.

[Blackdog_kt]

Originally Posted by White Owl

There's a time for fanatically faithful historical re-enactment, that can be a lot of fun, and then there's a time for just playing around in cool airplanes with your buddies. Good idea.

My sentiments exactly, if not much else it would definitely help display to our fiends that we sim fans are not all freaks obsessed about science and history but like to have fun too. Now i don't really care what my gamer friends think of my taste in games, but i'm planning to do a demonstration for CoD at one of our small lan parties as soon as i have it installed on my PC and such fast-paced competitive gaming modes would be a very good way to get them interested.

I have already managed to bring one of them back to flight sims and his girlfriend is apparently interested too, plus there are two more guys who are very much into WWII history but think that learning to fly simulated aircraft is too difficult. They sure have no problem coping with complex real time strategy games on the PC or racing games like gran turismo 5 on the PS3 however (which, to my amazement, actually seems on the sim side of things if you disable the driving helper tools), so i'm planning to show them that you can learn flight sims easily if you are willing to scale down the difficulty a bit and turn it back up as you gradually become familiar with the basics.

Having an action packed multiplayer mode like this and giving it a go on some server with relaxed difficulty settings would be a perfect way to get them to try it out.

I see you guys are running wild with this, there's some excellent proposals and variations on the original idea.
The Su-26 non-combat version would be a lot of fun, mainly due to everyone flying the same high performance aircraft with no means to disable the enemy (the outcome would rest completely on piloting skill and squeezing every bit of performance out of the aircraft).

I also liked the idea of altitude and zone limits, the options to have the flag respawn back in the hangar or be left in the position it was dropped (imagine trying to pick up a flag inside a valley with enemies on your tail, flying 20m or less above ground at 400km/h) and finally, the bomber version.

It would make for some massive laughs having fully crewed bombers by human players trying to pass under a bridge or hangar while exchanging broadsides with their gunners

[TheGrunch]

Ram the opposing Su-26 to get the flag? Really brings a whole new meaning to Red team and Blue team for an Il-2 game, doesn't it?

Also, I agree, the bomber version sounds excellent. Ponderous. I love that word.

[Ralith]

This does indeed sound awesomely fun. I hope we can see it happen! Perhaps if the game had some sort of powerful scripting support this—and many other creative game modes—could be easily authored by the community and bundled into custom maps.

[mazex]

Great idea - and I also like the one Revvin proposes to copy the old Warbirds concept that works really well in all it's cheesiness Take out all ground defenses and fly a Ju52 with paratroopers to capture it Everyone else stole the concept from BF 1942 so why not steal with pride?

I think that MG has some new multi player modes up their sleeve though, and they can't all be realistic ones. For us with kids and a work that never ends it can really be hard to find the time for a "full real" co-op flying in formation for 30 minutes and then get shot down the first thing without even noticing where the enemy came from - realistic but painful if you just have 30 minutes for some online fun