Friday 2010-08-06 Dev. update and Discussions

[swiss]

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

The player keeps on, until the AI gunner cuts in again "bandits on attack run,permission to open fire?". The player pops up the command menu again and selects entire flight->gunners->fire at will. He could order aimed fire, so that gunners only fire when they are sure they'll score hits, but that lets the enemy get closer as well, or he could even order barrage fire, so that the gunners try to deter the enemy from getting closer by spraying up a wall of fire.

You got historical records to back that up?

How should the Captain command a gunner 30 yards away?
I would think it was up to the gunner to decide when to open fire on enemy planes.

Maybe s.o. knows how this worked in RL?

[ChrisDNT]

@Swiss

Usually, I don't answer to fanboys, as what they say is always totally useless for a dev team.

But just to say that I play IL-2 since day one, that I have sent along the years enough documentation to the dev team for being written in the game credits and that, of course, I still think IL-2 is the best WWII aviation simulation up to now.

So no need for me to be cheaply patronized by some unknown a**licker like you to be taught about what this sim is.

[swiss]

fanboy?
me?
lol

sent along the years enough documentation to the dev team for being written in the game credits

So I guess I'll have to address you with "Sir" from now on.

you to be taught about what this sim is

Obviously: You don't. You wouldn't complain if you did.

I still fail to see the relationship of sending in historical documents and basic knowledge of programming.
Oh, and don't forget to move rock back over the hole when crawl back in.

[robtek]

@swiss
for a pilot in command the usual way to communicate his orders to another crew-member
is by using the so called INTERCOM, short for "INTERnal COMmunication".
That is also used by the radio-man to communicate external communications to the pilot in command.

[Blackdog_kt]

Originally Posted by swiss

You got historical records to back that up?

How should the Captain command a gunner 30 yards away?
I would think it was up to the gunner to decide when to open fire on enemy planes.

Maybe s.o. knows how this worked in RL?

I don't have historical records for all kinds of bombers, i was just giving an example as to what constitutes a "drooling" example of game mechanics that doesn't have to do with graphics. It's just an example of things that people would go "ooh....ahhh....niiiice" if they saw the new engine able to do

What few things i do know about commanding a crew has to do with the B-17. Correct me if i'm wrong but most of the multi-crewed planes like bombers had separate channels for voice communication and i can't imagine a 1940s era bomber without at least an intercomm.
For example, on the B-17 the radio operator would set a frequency to talk with the rest of the flight/bomber group, or anything else the captain ordered him to do (eg, talk to the escort fighter leader, home base and so on).

I think that only the pilots and radio operator could talk on that frequency, or maybe the bombardier too (ie, radioman and officers only). There is a switch in the B-17 cockpit that toggles between intercomm and radio, so that if the pilot wanted his microphone output to be directed to the bomber group he would switch to radio, but if he wanted to talk to the crew he would switch to intercomm.

I guess that gunners couldn't talk to other bombers and they only had intercomm output. As for incoming sound, i don't know for sure. What is almost certain is that the gunners could certainly hear the intercomm of their own plane all of the time, as they used it out to call out contacts and coordinate their defence. For example, a fighter moving from left to right aft of the bomber's wing line...the left waist gunner would call it out and shoot at it, but he would also alert the tail gunner that the fighter is about to enter his field of fire so that he could fire at it too. Maybe they could also hear radio calls from the captains/radiomen of other bombers as well, maybe not, or maybe the radioman could control what the non-officer members of the crew would hear, but intercomm sound was on 100% of the time between all crew members to help them defend their aircraft and coordinate in the mission.

So, in that sense, all it took to command a gunner 30 yards away (for example, if the pilot wanted to talk to the tail gunner), is flicking the switch to intercomm and speaking on the microphone.

[swiss]

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

What few things i do know about commanding a crew has to do with the B-17. Correct me if i'm wrong but most of the multi-crewed planes like bombers had separate channels for voice communication and i can't imagine a 1940s era bomber without at least an intercomm.

Communication is not the problem - the different sight is.

The gunner would have to describe the situation to the captain.
Now Imagine 4+ gunners simultaneously ...

I hope the captain was female, talk of multitasking.


I'm still referring to the fire at will thing...

[Avimimus]

Originally Posted by swiss

You got historical records to back that up?

How should the Captain command a gunner 30 yards away?
I would think it was up to the gunner to decide when to open fire on enemy planes.

Maybe s.o. knows how this worked in RL?

I know of at least one case where a frustrated Lancaster pilot dove to attack an anti-aircraft battery and ordered his gunners to start strafing via the intercom.

Similarly, in night-ops it was the gunners who gave the order on when to initiate or halt evasive maneuvers (as it was the gunner who could see the enemy after all).

I suspect that most aircraft had considerably co-ordination between pilot and gunners (and navigators who would spot enemies and keep track of them etc. etc.)