New to the game

[Toker-67]

Firstly i would like to start by saying hello all, i am brand new to this game and to flight sims in general (although i played pilot wings. and G police back in the day)
I have just picked up the IL2 Complete edition and i have a few questions so here we go.....

1. Were there meant to be instructions included in the box ? all i got was a 8 page fold out control's guide and a disk, no instruction booklet.

2.I also purchased a Saitek Cyborg evo joystick and i dont know what controls to map to it (what are the main controls i will be using all the time while i am flying)

3.Whats with the map, it's huge and it take's up nearly a quater of my screen (is there anyway to make it smaller ?)

4.My graphic's card is not supported on the list and when i click custom i get a box with all kinds of settings that i dont understand, i should be able to play at relatively high settings, so how do i set it up so all settings are maxed ? (also no 1280x1024 mode)

5.Where is the best place to start in the game ? single missions, pilot carear, or build my own missions (although i have no clue how to do this)

6.So many planes to choose from, what would be a good choice for a noob like me ? (something easy to fly)

7.If i click on mutiplayer nothing happens there are no servers listed ?

8.The version of the game i have is supposed to include Forgotten Battles, ACE Expansion pack and pacific fighters, but there is no mention of 3 different game types to choose from (are they all combined ?)

9. Do i need to patch the version i have ?

Sorry if these are noobie questions, but i really want to get the most out of the game, any help you can give will be much apreciated thanks.
And blame TX-Cuda cos he's the one who sent me here lol

Toker-67

 

[TX-EcoDragon]

Hello and welcome to the TX-Squadron website, and what is quite certainly the finest WWII combat simulation ever, and one of the all time best flight sims in general! 1. I don't think any of us have the complete edition, but in usual fashion there is probably a PDF on the disk(s) that explains things in greater detail. After clicking on "My Computer" just right click on the drive that contains the game disc and click explore. If you don't find it, please feel free to ask any questions you may have! The Readme also covers the basics of setting things up.2. The essentials that should be readily at hand on the controller are: -Hatswitch-snapview (better than panning which takes too long)-Flap extend and retract on two buttons that are easy to get  to while maneuvering.-Trigger-you have Weapon 1 which is usually machine guns, Weapon 2 is usually canons, 3 is rockets, 4 is bomb release. Typically the trigger is mapped to the MGs and the canons are mapped on a button. The rockets and bombs can mapped too if you have the buttons for it.-If you have a second hat switch put aileron and elevator trim on that, if not, keyboard is fine.If you have extra buttons, mapping boost (W key) is important in many aircraft. I'd put that higher on the priority list than mapping bombs, which I don't mind dropping with the keyboard.3. I don't think you can make the map smaller, but you can move it around by clicking and holding with BOTH mouse buttons on the edge (that sort of frame) around it. I have mine moved off the screen a little to get rid of the frame portion of the view. Some people move the map down over their instrument panel so it doesn't block the outside views, me, I just have the map view button mapped on my joystick and only pop the map up for a second at a time so it doesn't matter where or how big it is.  Also, if you didn't yet discover, you can scroll the map my left click and dragging, and you can zoom in and out by right clicking. 4. The list should have a "Maximum settings" preset. If you had listed your card I could better guess, but if it's higher end, you can absolutely run max settings without issues. Some of the advanced settings for the "perfect" water etc are in the conf.ini, and we can talk about that later if you wish. There is no 1280*1024 because that is not an accurate square resolution, if you do the math you will see that. 800/600=1.33, 1024/768=1.33  1280/960=1.33, 1600/1200=1.33, 1280/1024 is 1.25 so round things are actually ovals, squares are actually rectangles etc. Use the 1280*960 and you will be pleased I think. If you NEED to use 1280x1024 or any custom resolution you can by manually editing the conf.ini, though I wouldn't suggest this unless you have a very unusual monitor setup (like three wide).5. I pretty much only play online, and never really did get into offline play, though it's a better idea to start offline since you can better control the adversary! The Quick mission builder starts you in flight with some air and ground targets of your selection. This is a fine way to try out new airplanes and such, or just warm up your gunnery skills, but it lacks the depth of the single missions, career, or coops. It also lacks the ever important ground operations which for you right now are good to practice. The fastest and BEST way for you to learn proper operations is to come online, and get a little flight training from the veterans, though the game does include training missions they aren't as good as having someone there to give you input.6. The generally noob friend planes are the, Spitfire series, the LA5-LA7 series, also the the I185, I153, and I16. The thing that most new people have trouble with is overcontrolling at lower airpseeds, and energy management. These planes are forgiving in these regimes (and others). That said. there is good reason to quickly move into whatever plane type you think you want to fly eventually (if there is one) because there isn't much point in practicing in a Spit if you want to fly the Ta-152. My personal opinion is that if you want to fly against very good online pilots you need to learn the best tactics to do it, and flying down low yanking and banking isn’t it, and these “easier” planes reward that sort of flying. Get in a 190A4 after becoming a Spitfire Ace and you will be turned into canon fodder right away. Learn good 190 tactics and you will eat people alive if you fly a spit, it doesn’t work the other way around very often. Of course they are ALL newbie friendly because you can just hit refly, so try them out, decide what sort of flying style you enjoy and stick with one plane for a little while, the best thing is, you can fly all of em whenever you feel like it! 7. You must get Hyperlobby to find most of the online community, or All Seeing Eye. Get hyperlobby here: http://hyperfighter.sk/8. The combined installation adds each game's functionality to the overall install so while PF is also a stand alone game, you have all the PF functionality combined with the Eastern Front aspects of the rest of the series.9. The latest version of the game is 4.05, when you load check your version number in the lower left corner of the screen. 4.05 actually is another Addon, so if you are at 4.04 there is a purchase required to get to 4.05 I'm sorry to say. That said there are still 4.04 servers around online, though most people are at 4.05.The ideal situation is for you to get on TeamSpeak, and we can go aver any specifics you have questions about. I can be on most evenings, just say the word.I'm also more than happy to meet up and give you an introduction to basic flight procedures as well as fighter tactics.Good luck, and have fun, we look forward to flying with you!S!TX-EcoDragonBlack 1TX-Squadron XO

[TX-EcoDragon]

Oh, I spaced out on mentioning it, but if you want to get on our TeamSpeak server we have a 24/7 dedicated public server at 69.56.198.2If you don't yet have Teamspeak you can get it at http://www.goteamspeak.com/Of course you will need a mic.S!TX-EcoDragonBlack 1TX-Squadron XO

[TX-CUDA]

Hey Ya'll....Toker is a friend of mine from over at the {FEAR} Clan and we have been playing COD/UO for a while. He's got a hotrod Alienware box and I know that he can fly anywhere that we can..Both of us have had some serious troubles with the last Microsoft updates....they killed  COD/UO. He did something like four reformats and re-loads all to no avail. I have tried everything that I can think of and also can't get the darn thing to play more than 45-60 seconds without locking up....so I suggested going back to IL2, which he had already ordered. I fired off a server the other night and was able to talk him off the deck...before his ISP cratered. They had just bumped his speed up to 8megs DL I think and were in the process of tweaking it. In between working too many hours of OT down here because of the flooding south of Houston...and the re-loads of games...and going back to different restore points trying to get UO back...I now am having some serious TeamSpeak troubles. I have sidetone in the headset but no TX. The light comes on when I key the mike...but nothing on his end.I remember I had this problem once before with this AudigyZS Pro soundcard and I think it was either Eco or Rahman that talked me through the fix. Sure could use some help once again as I want to get the comms fixed so I can talk while I fly! I have a new vid card that made the game really come alive but need to get the comms back up so I can give Herr Toker some tips and advice on how to get some kills. Any Ideas?Plese send Help...I'll trade either BBQ or Veggies!TX-CudaMinister of Information

[TX-CUDA]

...BTW Eco...I already told him that the best planes to fly are the BOMBERS!!! To Heck with you go fast pilots!!Just kidding of course!RED1 NEEDS ESCORT!TX-CudaMinister of Information

[Toker-67]

Thankyou EcoDragon, indeed the user manual is on the disc as a pdf, as to the graphics i have everything set to the highest and it looks ok, but from the screenshots of the game i have seen it could look a whole lot better, my card should be able to handle it, 3rd one down in this linkhttp://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Nvidia_AGP_Graphics_Cards.htmlthe rest of my system is in this sigI have been having a go at the single missions and i am able to take off, i might look like a drunk hippo when i do, but at least i can get airborn.Shooting anything down and landing are a different story, but i am amazed at how different the planes feel to fly, some of them i was doing twists and turns and generally chucking em about, but try it in others and you end up in an out of control spinning spiral, it's great stuff and i think i will really enjoy this sim.As soon as TX-Cuda gets his rig sorted, it would be great if we could hook up, i have teamspeak and a mic so thats cool, Cuda was able to set up a server that i could connect to, and i know he's ready to get flying again.Anyway's thanx for all your tips and the warm welcomeTokerEDIT: Damn Cuda you must have been typing that as i was lol

[TX-EcoDragon]

Also be sure to run in OpenGL mode, then you can set quality to Perfect. Be sure to force in your video card settings Antialiasing and Anisotropic filtering, with your setup you should be able to run 4-8x on each one without issue. You can also set higher quality water effects by going into the conf.ini, but water=1 is probably best for you, it still is the "Perfect" water, but it doesn't use the pixel shader 2.0 capability, if you want that you can try higher water settings (up to 4), each setting is unique, it's not a linear sort of increase so you should try water=1,2,3,and 4, don't assume 4 is highest quality. S!TX-EcoDragonBlack 1TX-Squadron XO

[TX-CUDA]

Herr Toker is coming along quite well! I lit off a server last night and we flew for a good bit. Helped him get his binds set and we took out some ground targets with various A/C. I was wondering if I was going to have to go to FRY's and try to pick up a decent joystick...but have found that just using my old Wingmaster after a year or so she seems to be cleaning up. Heck, if i can get my 190A-6 back on the deck with a crosswind it's better that it was a year ago! I think that taking a break has done me well...I find that going back to FPS shooters has made me appreciate the flight sim much more....Excellent eye candy with the chance to send them down in flames just seems more appealing now....TX-CudaMinister of Information

[TX-EcoDragon]

You guys should get on TX TS, I'd love to fly with you again Cuda, and I'd like to meet Toker!S!TX-EcoDragonBlack 1TX-Squadron XO

[LW_Tornado]

Hit me up when you gents get IL2 froggy, specially you Rock an Brett, you both have my MSN, and im patched up to date and still fly occasionally, and would LOVE to "re-learn" the inverted flat spin If at all still possible theses days lol.T

[TX-CUDA]

Hey Herr Tornado!! Glad to see Ya dude! I have to tell ya'll after taking an extended leave of absence to go the FPS route...and having both COD/UO and COD2 give me serious troubles in the last few weeks it was a welcome change to get back into IL2. I had forgotten how nice it was to look out of the cockpit and view the clouds and scan the horizon for those dreaded dots! I have lit off a server several times and Toker and I have flown for several hours.He's picking it up pretty fast but my next project is to get him to land without taking the gear off....(SAME HERE!!). One thing I have found out is I might not have to go out and pick up a new joystick as with use this one seems to be knocking the cobwebs out so to speak. Still not up to par as I remember but getting better. I'll send him the IP for TX Comms if I catch him on here tonight and we'll have to hook up. I miss hearing Eco getting into those long rants about "Dihedral Co-Planar Lift Characteristics"...Heck, I could grab a beer,have a smoke, feed the cat(s) and still not miss when I was supposed to say "Could you repeat that in English PLEASE"!!!!!Seriously guys, I look forward to flying with Ya'll again and I am sure that {FEAR}TOKER will be glad to join up with us on some server and get some tips. TX-CudaMinister of Information

[TX-EcoDragon]

Awwww. . . Cuda I miss you too. . .S!TX-EcoDragonBlack 1TX-Squadron XO

[TX-Copper]

Well, as usual, i'm always the last to pop in on anything new posted here, so i'll start off by saying welcome to the TX site Toker...glad to have you check in.You certainly came to the right place in my opinion, as we are fortunate to have some of the best people around in this community for helping new arrivals to the game...as you can see by Eco kicking in right away to help out.  If anyone knows the game and all things flying, it is him.  You want bomber knowledge?? Look no further then Cuda, and the venerable Tornado....::waves to T::  Everyone is is pretty darn good at all things IL2.  You want to learn how to get shot down...crash...miss bomb targets, over shoot your opponant, or be everyones point cash cow, then talk to me...im the team expert.This post has also refreshed my desire to hop back in and start up the 'ol 109 G6/AS and hear that supercharger howl.  Miss those bomb blasts and smoking rounds that this game is great for.  I'll hang up BF2 and Battlefield 2142 for a while and and use my CoD2 disks for what they are best for...coasters, and fly into the sunrise again.  Won't be easy with the bambino, and going to Winterpeg in a few days for a family funeral, but you shall see me on comms and in the skies.P.S....don't know if anyone mentioned it yet, but download hyper lobby as well for a great server connection point.http://hyperfighter.sk/Notice the dl link on that page???  >