15th winter flying IL2 Sturmovik.

[Jumoschwanz]

Forgotten Battles was still very much an eastern-front flight sim. I remember one well-know online pilot quit after FB came out, he said they ruined IL2 and made it too easy! I was sad to see him go.

Other guys dropped out because they just did not have the talent to fly it online and not get shot down over and over. In the early days of IL2 flying hard settings was very popular, much-much more so than it has been in the last seven or eight years.

It was still a very popular flight sim as the Pacific Fighters and IL2 46' add-ons were released.

In the early days it was funny how certain aircraft were popular and flocked to as they were found to have an edge. In the original IL2 the La-5fn was the go-to aircraft as it was very fast and did everything well.

Maybe some will remember how incredibly popular the Hurricane IIC was for a long time, it turned very well and had it's four very effective cannons, and in early patches it was a bit too fast. Since we were not mature and doing much energy fighting it was hard to beat.

I remember when the P-40 first appeared it would suddenly explode when it was dived above a specific speed. I actually used this in combat making inexperienced or greedy P40 pilots dive after my 109 if they got on my tail.

Aviar and CrazyIvan always had servers up in the IL2 and FB days. There was the great GreaterGreen hard-settings server that was always very-well populated. Then for a long time War-Clouds and Spits vs. 109s appeared. I think GreaterGreen was probably the best-run server of all the old Hyperlobby servers, it was the most fair and professional.

I know there were other popular servers but my memory is fading. I guess I should start writing names of servers and old pilots down before they are lost forever.

I think it was JV44 Rall that was always the best and most renowned FW190A pilot, and I remember there was another well-known pilot that was one of the first to start doing "zoom and boom" flying. GR142 Astro and Pipper were two guys who used to get into Yaks and cover each others six so well they would stack kills up at will as long as someone was dumb enough to get low and slow with them, and there were lots of takers. Astro and Pipper did cry a lot when someone Z&Bed them though...

ROSS was the name of one of the early VVS squads who specialized in flying Yak fighters, and they were generally damn good at it.

I will have to look at some of the old Tracks I have saved from ten and twelve years ago to see if it sparks my memory.

Thanks to those who have chimed in! Please share some old names and memories of battles you had.

[dimlee]

Some names sound familiar...
When I cleaned my bookmarks recently I have found Greatergreen (inactive for many years) and few others. It was good in both versions (or were there three?) with nice community and no or very little abuses. I do remember happy boys on Yak3s. I loved that plane but converted quickly to P39, probably due to hidden masochistic inclinations - ah, those unrecovable spins...

Vulture The Great (VTG) was one the most funny and friendly place to fly. Crimea map with running time (including nights) and "non-flyables" operated with outside views.

Dedicated coop servers developed in more mature years were real breakthrough. It was so cool to meet AI in online fights.

When I reinstalled IL2 after many years of "retirement" and launched IL2 Connect program I realised that not less than 2/3 of my favorite servers have gone.

[Skid]

Originally Posted by Jumoschwanz

I think it was JV44 Rall that was always the best and most renowned FW190A pilot, and I remember there was another well-known pilot that was one of the first to start doing "zoom and boom" flying. GR142 Astro and Pipper were two guys who used to get into Yaks and cover each others six so well they would stack kills up at will as long as someone was dumb enough to get low and slow with them, and there were lots of takers. Astro and Pipper did cry a lot when someone Z&Bed them though...

<raises hand>
I was dumb enough!

Wow. GR142 Astro and Pipper. Haven't heard those names in ages. Turnfighting and stallfighting with GR142 Astro and Pipper down in the snow. In a LaGG-3 IT no less. Many, many fights. Got better after a time and lots of deaths. I don't remember the server. JV44 Rall used to drop in quite often as well. I remember the havoc he'd cause. I wonder if it was in MOH_FOX's nightly dogfight server... or some other I flew in nightly while waiting for FOX to start his server.

Skid
AKA MOH_SKID

[dimlee]

I think it was Greatergreen server... There were at least 2 of them, one was with ext views and "non flyable" planes.

[Skid]

No, I don't think it was. I'd flown in Greatergreen but I don't remember doing the low furball thing there. I was flying a 109 by then. External views? Non-flyables? I usually did not frequent servers with those settings.

[Marabekm]

Well I think a few things happened.

The first is most players on hyperlobby now, all want to jump in the cockpit of something with cannons, jam throttle forward and take-off in whatever direction they are pointing. If its more than a 3 minute flight before their guns are firing its to long. Even the bomber pilots are the same way, and there better not be any AAA at enemy targets. Its all about points, and how quickly and easily to get them.

But because these are the majority of players, the servers cater to their wants and needs. And I don't blame the servers. You need fliers, so do what will attract the most players.

Speaking of servers, the so called historical ones are a joke. Did the map builders do their research for missions on these servers? The answer is an apparent NO. But again it comes down to players. There is a common misconception that for aircraft to "balanced" that each side has to use aircraft from same year. And that on say January 1st of 1943, all aircraft referred to as being from 1942 ceased to exist. I really wished there was a way to remove year entirely from aircraft name.

Also a lot of the servers are not updating game to latest version. Choose to be mod friendly instead.

See there a almost no options remaining for the players that 1.) Enjoy flying just as much as combat. and 2.) Like hard settings. 3.) Don't use mods.
So these players have either moved on to something else, or fly offline.

Not trying to tell anyone how to play. Its a game, play however you want.

[Janosch]

Originally Posted by Marabekm

The first is most players on hyperlobby now, all want to jump in the cockpit of something with cannons, jam throttle forward and take-off in whatever direction they are pointing. If its more than a 3 minute flight before their guns are firing its to long.

Fortunately, Hyperlobby is not the whole picture, and several non-cannon planes get their share of playtime, too. Also, there's always at least one player who invests more than 3 minutes into, say, positioning their planes tactically in the vertical matrix. Usually, it's enough to keep things interesting.

Even the bomber pilots are the same way, and there better not be any AAA at enemy targets.

From what I've seen, bomber pilots often ignore the threat of AAA altogether. But they're irrelevant anyway, at least on dogfight servers. Ground pounders who actually destroy AAA, especially on airfields, now that's a different story!

Its all about points, and how quickly and easily to get them.

No, because you can't do anything with points - they are just a byproduct of something else. I think most players are enlightened enough to understand this.

But because these are the majority of players, the servers cater to their wants and needs.

Settings-wise, I think some servers cater to what they imagine players' wants and needs to be. As for maps, having a diverse mapset could be one solution - some maps could be built with a quick action formula, others could have some distance between airfields. Or, you can just have multiple bases on the same map.

[Jumoschwanz]

It is a year later already. I have not flown online at all over the last eight months, having too much fun doing things outside in the sun with friends.

The guy that runs the server I mostly flew on for the last half-dozen or so years has got cancer bad, and that is all I will say about that for now.

Hyperlobby looks more dead than ever. If it and this forum is not taken down for lack of interest this winter maybe I will shoot a few of you down over the next three or four months somewhere while the snow is falling.

S!

[dimlee]

Originally Posted by Jumoschwanz

It is a year later already. I have not flown online at all over the last eight months, having too much fun doing things outside in the sun with friends.

The guy that runs the server I mostly flew on for the last half-dozen or so years has got cancer bad, and that is all I will say about that for now.

Hyperlobby looks more dead than ever. If it and this forum is not taken down for lack of interest this winter maybe I will shoot a few of you down over the next three or four months somewhere while the snow is falling.

S!

Sorry to hear about your buddy.

I just counted 20 servers online. Yet not many players. Gone are the days of 24-32 slots busy all night.

[dimlee]

2nd server of Greatergreen with non flyables. I have preferred more "realistic" settings as well, but where else you could hunt for B-17 on your Bf-110 . It was before AIs were introduced into online gaming.