Looking for help from TX with a DF style war

[PF_Coastie]

S! TX Squadron, I love your site, its very nice. I have yet to try your server, but I will soon. I really like your thought process regarding team play in DF servers. That brings me to my point.

I am the XO of PF (Phantom Fighters) squadron. We are an independent allied squad that has been together since the RB3D days. My CO and Air General have been discussing trying to put together a RB3D style war. We want to use the DF maps so we can respawn. We have some good ideas but would very much like to pool all available resources to get this going.

 The basic idea is: Build a map (perhaps crimea) with some manmade objects for targets(factories, columns, ships, etc...)The war would be set up in stages set to historical times of the war with year specific planes available. There would be a limited amount of each plane, so once they are used up you must fly something you may be less comfortable with.

 The first segment would be set to say 4 hours. (just think, four hours of flying, no restarting missions, no waiting, just flying a well organized team effort) It would be RECON ONLY.

 One plane would be designated as a recon for each side and only a certain amount allocated. Other fighters would escort the recon runs to actually take photos of targets. These photos must make it back to base to count. It can be very exciting just on the recon nights.

 The second segment would start the war. This is only after the air marshalls from each squad review all the photos and fine tune the map. It would be scheduled weeks in advance to give all available squad members a chance to make time for 4 to 6 hours of flying.

 That is the very basic concept. I would really like to know if you guys would be interested in pooling some ideas and perhaps meet on comms some night to talk.

Thanks for listening.



Coastie
XO Phantom Fighters

[TX-Zen]

S~ Coastie,Thanks very much for posting on our site. I think TX would be interested in an objective based approach to the game and we'll discuss it tonight at our weekly training. I know for sure that GR142/Sammie would be almost certainly be interested in such a concept, he and I have talked about in the past. You might make a post on his site at:http://greatergreen.com/il2 in the IL2 general discussion forum. GR142 is composed of a great group of pilots and have been a great factor in the community. I think you will find them receptive to the idea as well. Thanks for taking the time to post the idea here, I will let you know what TX thinks after we discuss tonight. S!TX-ZenBlack 6TX Squadron CO

[PF_Coastie]

Rgr that sir,  Thank you for the reply. I will post at Grg also. I have brought up the topic at UBI gen forum on several ocassions but cant seem to get anyone who would really like to get involved in development.  We are a fairly small squad with limited resources. You guys have a dedicated server and a wonderful website. I am sure you have some very handy talent in all areas.  Looking forward to hearing from you on your squads decision. Thanks,CoastieXO Phantom Fighters

[TX-EcoDragon]

Sounds like fun to me! I love the idea of flying an online map of realistic dimensions, without sortie after sortie of df'ing mayhem within 3 mins of base. I have been interested in incorporating map and visual refference/compass based navigation (Pilotage/Ded Reckoning) and perhaps even Intrument flight into a map. I think that these maps could be great grat fun, and would also give a nice feeling of accomplishment (or perhaps defeat) to those who participate.  Much burden will of course be placed on the map makers. . . not too long ago Kingsnake started a thread about getting members of TX to agree to make maps for particular historical events, and using fairly extensive, and hopefully realistic amounts of ground targets and objects. . . Pretty cool. . but hard work!S!TX-EcoDragon

[PF_Coastie]

S! Eco,  As far as making the map goes; I am going to start out keeping it relatively simple. Perhaps not historically accurate either. My main focus will be good FPS to start with. That is why I am working on the Crimea map. No real large cities but plenty of bases and area. My Air General (Rory O'Moore), Is very good with the historical stuff, so he is going to help me out on that as well as any other history buffs that would like to contribute. I just want to start it out pretty basic so as not to get in any pissing matches on whats historically correct and whats not. Then after some test runs we can fine tune all we want. I pride myself in making maps that are fps freindly. My DF servers always run 40-70 fps in moderate action(even the mountain map!) with a mid to high end machine.  One of the biggest heartaches I foresee is the settings. My squad prefers medium settings, CP option/friendly only icons/externals.  The only one that is a must is externals. It is needed to verify destroyed targets. The others can be agreed on by the squads involved through a vote. The CP option is usually to keep fps up for M8's with low end machines who can use all the fps help they can get.  Keep the input coming guys, Much appreciated.CoastieXO Phantom Fighters

[TX-Zen]

I don't think you will see a major objection to the settings you proposed, except possibly the open cockpit. TX flies with either on a regular basis but if you are going for objectives, I personally think the open cockpit will detract from the realism to some extent. For sure TX is very open minded about settings though, we alternate locked pit and superman view on our server for the benefit of the public. I think we're off to a good start but I am also interested to hear what Sammie has to say, he's very keen on this idea. Thanks again for bringing this up Coastie, feel free to contact any of us with suggestions, requests or ideas. I think we would also be interested in helping you host the missions themselves at some point. On a preliminary basis, I would have to say that the OC3 will remain a full time combined arms server but in the past we have locked it down for special events and would be willing to do so for this as well. I would naturally prefer to see the gameplan for what will take place and have the TX leadership evaluate and contribute to the plan before fully committing the server, but its safe to say now that you have sparked interest and have a receptive audience. Does your squad have a website? In the interest of helping you promote your concept we'd be happy to link to it and help steer the community your way. Salute!TX-ZenBlack 6TX Squadron CO

[PF_Coastie]

WOW! Thats gr8 Zen, thanks for the encouragement. We do have a site: http://www.artjunky.com/phantomfighters/default.asp We also have a public forum. We hardly ever use it but I will start a thread there on this and inform the squad through our private forum to check the public more often. Here is the link: http://www.sqhq.net/a_ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=forum&f=19 This is just too gr8. I just hope the wife and job cooperate to give me time to work on this! lol. I was really hoping for a more usable DF map in FMB when FB came out. It would be so nice to have the ability to designate targets in DF maps. But, since it was not implemented, I am not going to wait any longer. It is time to make this concept a reality. Thanks again guys,CoastieXO Phantom Fighters