I'd be grateful if pilots could pop in & give feedback while it's in development. I'm particualrly looking for gameplay bugs.
POINTS SYSTEM
A compehensive point scoring system that tracks virtually every object in the battle is available. The system has the following features:
Players can view their personal or army's points tally using the custom (TAB-4) menu.
Each item in the battle is assigned a points value. eg. Aircraft have more points than an AA unit, which is worth more than a single vehicle etc.
Points are awarded when an object is destroyed/killed.
Points are awarded proprtionaly to the amount of damage caused to the object by the player. eg if you do 50% of the damage you will be awarded 50% of the object's points value.
Non-primary target objects (targets of opportunity) have points.
All objects destroyed contribute to an army's total points scored irrespective of who or what destroyed them.
Points for objects that are damaged/destroyed/killed by non-players like AA units assigned to a 'miscellaneous' catagory and are added to the army's total score.
Points for objects damaged by friendly fire (friendly kills, AA hits etc) are assigned to a 'miscellaneous' catagory and are added to the opposing army's total score.
STATISTICS
Detailed game statistics are availabe via the custom (TAB-4) menu.
Personal Stats -
Individual (personal) points scored - Points for destroying target objects and aircraft, as well as other targets of opportunity.
Number of air kills - The number of enemy aircraft downed by the player. Half-kills and whole kills only apply.
Number of ground kills - The number of ground objects destroyed by the player.
Number of aiperson kills - The total of Ai & human person kills, including Ai & human pilots, gunners, navigators, bombadiers etc.
Aircraft losses- Shows the number of aircraft destroyed by aircraft type.
Number of ship kills - The number of ships the player has destroyed.
Aircrew losses - These stats are listed for all air crew (Ai & human pilots, gunners, navigators, bombadiers etc.) in the player's army. Stats for the opposing army are not availabe for viewing.
MIA's - Total of human & Ai pilots missing in action. Air crew that bail out over water are initially listed as MIA. The MIA numbers may change over time as aircrew are confirmed as killed in action or as prisoners of war.
KIA's - Total of human & Ai aircrew killed in action. Includes pilot kills, gunner kills, parachutes not opening etc.
POW's - Total of human & Ai pilots taken as prisoners of war. Air crew are taken as POW's if they bail out or crash-land in enemy territory. If they land within 10km of the front line they have a small chance of escaping & not being captured.
Shipping losses- Shows the number of ships destroyed & their approximate total tonnage.
Battle Points - Total points for red & blue armies in the battle. Includes points scored by humans & Ai's (pilots, AA guns etc).
Number of players - Shows the number of online humans players in each army.
AIRCRAFT TRACKING UNITS
Tracking enemy aircraft movements was pivital to Battle of Briatin operations. Aircraft tracking was achieved by use of radar, aerial & ground observations. The following radar units have been implimented to simulate various aircraft tracking techniques used during WW2. This radar simulation is quite complex & life-like.
GERMAN FREYA RADAR
Germany developed Freya radar in 1937. Freya radar was highly accurate in determining aircraft numbers & altitude. Although more advanced than the English Chain radar, Freya sufferered from serious deficiencies including patchy coverage & a poor & uncoordinated reporting & response system.
Freya Radar has these features:
The radar will accurately report the number & altitude of enemy aircraft. This reflects the more advanced nature of Freya.
Freya will report enemy aircraft irregularly reflecting the patchy coverage & uncoordinated manner of German radar use during the Battle of Briatin.
Freya maximum range is about 60km.
Effective range varies between 50km & 60km. ie Any given radar sweep may vary in its range, reflecting variation due to weather etc.
Freya radar projects a upward angled beam above the horizontal. Effective minimum height therefore, varies depending upon the distance from the radar to the target.
Freya radar is an outward-looking radar, it does not report enemy aircraft over France even if the aircraft are within it's operating range.
A radio announcement is made when enemy aircraft are sighted, & aircraft information is posted in the chat bar.
An enemy aircraft icon will appear on your mini-map screen giving the number of aircraft sighted, their approximate altitude & the in-game time of the sighting.
Icons will remain on the mini-map for about 3 minutes after the sighting is made & are only visible to players of the same army as the Freya unit.
Freya units can be destroyed by straffing or bombing.
A destroyed Freya radar unit ceases to operate.
CHAIN HOME RADAR
Chain Home radar (CH) was the code-name for the ring of early warning radars around the English coastline. The system was not able to detect aircraft at low altitude & was used in conjuction with the Chain Home Low (CHL) radar system. Although inferior in accuracy to Freya radar, the English radar formed one part of a well coordinated air defence system.
CH Radar has these features:
CH units are located mostly along the coastline of southern England. They can be distinguished by their in-line array of 3-4 large towers.
CH radar will report the number & altitude of enemy aircraft, but numbers & altitude may vary slightly from true altitude/numbers. This reflects some of the inaccuracy in the CH system.
A radio announcement is made when enemy aircraft are sighted, & aircraft information is posted in the chat bar.
An enemy aircraft icon will appear on your mini-map screen giving the number of aircraft sighted, their approximate altitude & the in-game time of the sighting.
Icons will remain on the mini-map for 3 minutes after the sighting is made & are only visible to players of the same army as the CH unit.
CH radar is an outward-looking radar, it does not report enemy aircraft over England even if the aircraft are within it's operating range.
CH has a range of about 190km.
Effective range varies between 130km & 190km. ie Any given radar sweep may vary in its range, reflecting variation due to weather etc.
CH radar projects a upward angled beam about 15 degrees above the horizontal. Effective minimum height therefore, varies depending upon the distance from the radar to the target. eg. at 5km from the radar the effective minimum height is 1,400m, at 10km from the radar the effective minimum height is 2,600m, at 20km from the radar the effective minimum height is 5,300m, at 40km from the radar the effective minimum height is 10,700m, at 70km from the radar the effective minimum height is 18,750m, and so on.
CH units can be destroyed by straffing or bombing.
A destroyed CH radar unit ceases to operate.
CHAIN HOME LOW RADAR
Chain Home Low (CHL) was the code-name for the ring of early warning radars around the English coastline. The system detected lower flying aircraft than the CH system & was used in conjuction with the Chain Home Low (CH) radar system.
CHL Radar has these features:
CH units are located mostly (but not always) along the coastline of southern England. They can be distinguished by a single tower & nearby buldings with smaller radar units on top.
CHL radar will report the number & altitude of enemy aircraft, but numbers & altitude may vary slightly from true readings. This reflects some of the inaccuracy in the CHL system.
A radio announcement is made when enemy aircraft are sighted, & aircraft information is posted in the chat bar.
An enemy aircraft icon will appear on your mini-map screen giving the number of aircraft sighted, their approximate altitude & the in-game time of the sighting.
Icons will remain on the mini-map for 3 minutes after the sighting is made & are only visible to players of the same army as the OC unit.
CHL radar is an outward-looking radar, it does not report enemy aircraft over England even if the aircraft are within it's operating range.
CHL has a range of about 46km.
Effective range varies between 36km & 46km. ie Any given radar sweep may vary in its range, reflecting variation due to weather etc.
CHL radars can detect aircraft as low as 500 feet (150 meters).
CHL units can be destroyed by straffing or bombing.
A destroyed CHL radar unit ceases to operate.
OBSERVER CORP
Observer Corp (OC) units simulate the Royal Observer Corp , a civil defence organisation operating in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December 1995. The OC played an important role in tracking aircraft movements during the Battle of Britain.
The OC has the following features:
OC units are located throughout southern England. They can be found along the coast and in or near towns. They appear as a circle of sandbags containing a map board & heightfinder object.
OC units will constantly scan the skies in a 360 degree arc around themselves looking for enemy aircraft within range of the unit.
OC unit range is about 10km, but varies depending upon time of day & weather.
OC unit accuracy (the number number of aircraft sighted & their altitude) may vary slightly from true numbers/altitude.
A radio announcement is made when enemy aircraft are sighted, & aircraft information is posted in the chat bar.
An enemy aircraft icon will appear on your mini-map screen giving the number of aircraft sighted, their approximate altitude & the in-game time of the sighting.
Icons will remain on the mini-map for about 3 minutes after the sighting is made & are only visible to players of the same army as the OC unit.
Observer units are ground units similar to AA batteries (but they do not fire at aircraft), they can be destroyed by straffing or bombing.
A destroyed OC unit ceases to operate.
OBOE RADIO NAVIGATION (available soon)
Radio transponder technology was developed during WW2. OBOE was a British aerial blind bombing targeting system that used a radio beam to guide aircraft to their target. Blenheim bombers are equiped with a simulation of the OBOE blind bombing radio navigation system.
OBOE has these features:
Pilots can turn OBOE off & on using their pitot heater switch.
OBOE calculates a navigation vector from a base unit in southern England to the designated target.
Navigation information is displayed in the pilot's HUD display.
The HUD shows the distance left or right of the straight-line vector from the base unit to the target. The pilot is able to position the aircraft so it remains in the centre of this beam.
Drift left or right of the navigation beam & the display will tell you how much correction is needed to get back on track.
When the pilot is close to the target, a 'countdown to bomb-drop' timer will also be displayed. The countdown takes account of the aircraft's speed & altitude to calcuate the precise moment when to drop your bombs for maximum effect.
With practice, this system is very accurate in putting your bombs in the pickle barrel, even at altitude.
VEHICLES
You may find many different types of vehicles moving throughout the battlefield. There may be mobile civilian & military vehicles in towns, on roads, or at airfields or other locations. You may also encounter goods or passenger trains. Take care taxiing, landing etc as vehicles may be in the area. Naturally, enemy vehicles are always targets of opportunity.
WEATHER
Weather is turned off for pre-beta testing. In due course the weather will have more cloud & wind to simulate some of the poorer weather during the Battle of Britain.
AERIAL RECONNAISSANCE
Aerial reconnaissance is the collection of information about the disposition of enemy units, and about the status of possible targets by aircraft. This is usually achieved by aircraft over-flying areas of interest & reporting observations or taking photographs. A reconnaissance system has been built to simulate the scouting and observation activities of WW2 recon units.
AI Planes - Some Ai bomber aircraft are designated as recon planes. Recon planes may or may not have a fighter escort. When a recon plane reaches it's objective, it radios back to base to report the objective's status. To simulate this action, a message will appear in the player's HUD display and an icon will appear on the mini-map showing the objective location, status & time of the recon event.
Human Planes - (testing at this time) Players may recon enemy objects such as target objectives, AA units, observer corps units, vehicles, factories, etc. Just fly over the object & use the (TAB-4) custom menu 'Recon object' option. The nearest object in range will appear as an icon on the mini-map in a similar manner to Ai Plane recons.
Reconnaissance features:
Recon icons are only visible to players in the same army as the aircraft that perfomed the reconnaissance .
Recon icons show the enemy object's status at the time of the recon, and not necessarily it's current status.
Recon icons for mobile objects (like vehicles) shows their position at the time of recon & not necessarily their current position
Recon icons for fixed (stationary) objectives remain on the mini-map until an objective is reached or the object is destroyed.
Recon icons for mobile objects are removed from the mini-map after 30 minutes.
A new recon event will update the mini-map icon with the target's current status & position.
AI FLIGHTS
At this stage I have Ai flights for both sides spawning about every 10-20 minutes. This will be changed during development to suitably compliment human gameplay. The number of Ai aircraft in any given flight is randomised. Don't expect to run into the same number of aircraft that you encountered last time you played the mission. Bomber flights may or may not have up to nine (or more) escorting fighters. Pair-up, use a wingman or fly with others as a team.
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11-10-2012, 08:09 PM
) - but you don't get points for this 
Linear Mode
