Are player numbers enough to justify getting controllers to join in?

[Fess]

Hi,

I spent years playing WW2 online combat sims.  Airwarrior, Fighter Ace, Aces High.  I stopped a few years ago mainly because the numbers in Aces High had dropped to a level where there was not enough critical mass to promote combat.  I got rid of my gear.

Thinking about getting back into it all but need to know that dropping $2k on new controllers is not going to be wasted money chasing ghosts in empty arenas.

How are the numbers?  How frequent is combat?  Australia east coast.

Thanks in advance.

Edited February 21 by Fess

[Gutholz]

Hi

2k just for controllers or including new PC?

IL2 is an older game at this point but it still seems plenty active to me and gets updates.

I am in EU timezone but online at pretty random times, morning,night, afternoon. There are always some people on.

I mostly fly on Combatbox Server, it has online statistics on website, see screenshot. A map runs for 2 hours and during that period around 30-100 people are on.

Not everyone is online for the full duration but should give an idea. Frequency of combat depends on what you are trying to do. Even on a full server you might sometimes not see enemies for a while - which can be good luck if you are a bomber or bad if you want to intercept enemies.

There are also groups that fly in organized events on public or private servers but others might know more about that.

[Dash,Polder]

Numbers aren't really the issue these days, it's can you find a group of regulars you can team up with.

Going solo in an even quarter full server won't be a very pleasant experience.  It's not an easy sim to master in the arena of multiplayer.

There's a lot more depth and complexity going on over old IL2, and it's about to get deeper with Korea.  Good times.

Looking at it in terms of numbers will probably depress you, but does the game scratch your air combat urges.  In my gangs case, every Friday evening and many a weekend night.

[MaxPower]

The server browser is mostly empty servers except a couple of popular ones.

[Fess]

17 hours ago, Gutholz said:

Hi

2k just for controllers or including new PC?

 

 

just the controllers, PC is easily able to handle this.  At least in here I got a reponse which is better than DCS where a supposed active Aussie squadron with 50+ memebers did not manage a reply in 3 weeks.

I tried IL2 many years ago but was fully into Aces High then and it is always hard to switch away from whay you know.  Thanks for the response.

10 hours ago, Dash,Polder said:

Numbers aren't really the issue these days, it's can you find a group of regulars you can team up with.

Going solo in an even quarter full server won't be a very pleasant experience.  It's not an easy sim to master in the arena of multiplayer.

There's a lot more depth and complexity going on over old IL2, and it's about to get deeper with Korea.  Good times.

Looking at it in terms of numbers will probably depress you, but does the game scratch your air combat urges.  In my gangs case, every Friday evening and many a weekend night.

Numbers are not an issue as in there is activity in an Aussie time zone?

Going solo is bad because you will get ganged or the lack of active comms with other players will see you searching for activity rather than being involved in it?

I am pretty sure I will be 95% fighter focussed.  Cannot imagine doing much in the way of bombers.  I guess that is why I am asking around the different games.  No point in getting a good HOTAS for it to collect dust because there is nothing more to do than look at scenery

[Fess]

7 hours ago, MaxPower said:

The server browser is mostly empty servers except a couple of popular ones.

Are the popular ones open to all or are they locked to squadrons or passworded for those in the 'in crowd'?

For the populated ones, is there enough activity to keep me intersted or is it a case of fly for 30 and fight for 1?

[MaxPower]

As far as I know, Finnish Virtual Pilots and Combat Box are both very awesome and open to everyone.  I hear about them often, but haven't played on either of them.  I fly on Beginner's Arcade Server by The Gang because I can just drop in and drop out and it has AI opponents.  I like this 'just do whatever you want' game mode better than the SP game.  I encounter people on there every once in a while but it's not normally populated.

[Gutholz]

3 hours ago, Fess said:

just the controllers, PC is easily able to handle this.

 

Ok wow, you are starting the from the high quality end then 🙂

If you are undecided then you could start with a basic joystick and throttle and try out the game with a small invesment?

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Numbers are not an issue as in there is activity in an Aussie time zone?

At the time of this post it is early afternoon in Australia? Some servers show online players on their website, for example check https://combatbox.net/de/online/ and the mission results history during your "play times." Atm 32 players are online, which feels decently active with the type of missions and size of maps they run. 

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For the populated ones, is there enough activity to keep me intersted or is it a case of fly for 30 and fight for 1?

 That depends on playstyle and server. But generally I think in a flight sim it is natural to spent time on flying.🙃

I started last christmas, so my experience is limited and it could be totally different for others. My prefered mission is to bomb stuff with fighter-bombers so I always fly towards objectives while trying to stay undetected, drop my bombs and make an escape. If I sum up taxing, takeoff, return-trip and landing that can add easily up to 10-15 minutes while the time over target might be limited to a handful of strafing runs.

There have been times where I was flying around and suddendly I was shot down without really having noticed the enemies. Some people fly in very well coordinated groups. Other times I checked the recording and enemies passed without us noticing each other. Sometimes I was flying around to find some tank convoy or bombers that were reported in some area and never found them. To some this might sound boring but I think it is just realistic and this "fog of war" makes it interesting. Tracers and flak are visible from long distances so if you fly towards that then you will find some quick action. It is also a quick way to get killed.

My impression is: When joining a server, full or empty, it is best to cooperate a bit with other people.I watched a youtube on video where a squad was doing a bombing on a public server, complete with coordinated fighters and everything. During the whole video which ran for an hour or so, some random guy in text chat was complaining about he was flying around for so long and saw nobody else and how boring everything was.

In long term it seems best to find one of those groups (via discord for example) But I also had success to just follow random unknown people at take-off. There must be some  bomber crews who were initially happy seeing me as fighter cover and then got seriously disappointed. 🫠

[Dash,Polder]

The comparison to yesteryears flight sims isn't quite straight up, there's a whole lot of people who tap into the other side this sim offers, the bomber and ground assault side of the house.  The very thing that keeps Finnish and the Combat Box populated.  In order to offer that side the maps have a broader front, scattered targets and objectives, thus greatly enlarging the world over older sims. 

Guys who enter alone solely to hunt expecting instant combat will initially be sorely disappointed, they don't know how to find action, most players won't directly engage in it without an advantage.  The new player can't tap easily into a team or network for the experience and knowledge to understand what is really going on.  It can be like watching paint dry to most beginners for long periods of time trying to hunt, and than a sudden and violent end out of no where.

But you are right in your assessment of a long term investment, if you are willing to invest the time there are hidden gems in this series, cause she's loaded beyond just dog fighting.  In many cases it takes someone else to show you the way.  You can't really understand the art of firing rockets till you see a master in action putting them right trough bunker doors with every shot, or killing a tank with a thousand pound bomb smashing it kinetically before the bomb ever even detonates.  

Don't think Aces High was famous for attacking moving trains, armored columns, or ships, there's a depth to this game and it's only going to grow with Korea.  You can have your cake and eat it too, many a ground pounder excels in fight their way in and out, so fighter ace beware, for our guys it's like getting paid twice to do a single job.  

 

[Fess]

Thanks all for your inputs.  Went with the VKB Gunfighter, Throottle and pedals.  Will be a bit of a journey to knock all the cobwebs off then start on the rust spots  😁