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View Full Version : IL2 COD Campaign - Can someone very briefly explain what to expect please?



TerryW
Jan-14-2016, 08:09
Hi,

I am struggling a little bit with campaigns. I think it may be because my expectations have been set by playing too much Falcon4 BMS. In F4, you start a campaign and the war is "on". The campaign engine will run quite adequately without your assistance in any way.

Whenever you select the campaign, it will progress, in the background, completely under AI control. If you watch the battle-map, the war unfolds as you watch. Normally, you select an airbase on the map and fly the aircraft available on that base. When you leave the campaign, you save it and it will be "frozen" until you open it again.

If you are looking at the mission rota between sorties, and your base is being approached, you will get scrambled to respond. If your base is bombed and "knocked out" you lose the ability to make use of that base until it is repaired. You have to switch base. If all the rest of your flight has been downed you have to fly without AI buddy support (tricky). If the AWACs has been downed you lose high-cover. If the FAC is out of action you have to find targets on your own and without help.

Victory is achieved when one side or the other hits victory criteria. Forces get depleted and re-supplied all the time. Ground forces are always on the move and pushing forward.

So, what happens in IL2? I started a campaign. Flew the first mission and not much else. Will I be able to rejoin it again? Is there a "war" going on in AI or is it just a set of single missions stitched together? In other words, it is pre-determined what happens (No AI campaign engine).

Thanks in advance.

Terry

1lokos
Jan-14-2016, 08:24
In IL-2 (including the "crossbred" one) campaigns are static, just a bunch of single missions through a give war period, without influence in then (in the "crossbred" just a bunch of unrelated and repetitive Quick Missions).

For il-2 1946 are some 3rd. part semi-dynamic Campaign Generator, but for CloD - due his "death at birth" - only inconclusive trials are made, like the generator incorporated to the game by TF 4.0.

To be fair the only "Combat Flight Game" that have something similar to Falcon is the ancient Red Baron...

TerryW
Jan-14-2016, 12:51
Thanks very much for that. That will save me ages of messing about looking for things that don't exist.

I would recommend Falcon 4 to anyone that wants an immersive campaign experience but you fly a computer with a jet engine not a kite (if that makes sense). It is all about learning modern weaponry rather that being a "knight of the sky".

TerryW
Jan-15-2016, 03:31
Sorry to be a pain. . . I am persisting with the IL2 campaign but I can't find anyway to save the campaign at my current position (in the campaign).

As I don't get more than an hour to play per evening I keep having to restart at the beginning.

I can't believe that there is no "save" button so I must be automatic or I am doing something really stupid. NB I am running right to the end of each mission until I see the "type esc to end mission" message appears. Whenever I restart the campaign, it starts from the beginning of the first mission again. I can't see any way to select "the last campaign".

Nobody would design the software/user process-flow this way so I must be messing something up or ignorant of some setting or other.

Can someone help please. . . .

Thanks in advance.

T

Cybermat47
Jan-15-2016, 07:20
Sorry to be a pain. . . I am persisting with the IL2 campaign but I can't find anyway to save the campaign at my current position (in the campaign).

As I don't get more than an hour to play per evening I keep having to restart at the beginning.

I can't believe that there is no "save" button so I must be automatic or I am doing something really stupid. NB I am running right to the end of each mission until I see the "type esc to end mission" message appears. Whenever I restart the campaign, it starts from the beginning of the first mission again. I can't see any way to select "the last campaign".

Nobody would design the software/user process-flow this way so I must be messing something up or ignorant of some setting or other.

Can someone help please. . . .

Thanks in advance.

T

Hang in there, I'll be able to help, but I need some sleep now.

TerryW
Jan-15-2016, 07:47
I am hanging. You get a good nights kip. . . .

1lokos
Jan-15-2016, 10:11
Sorry to be a pain. . . I am persisting with the IL2 campaign but I can't find anyway to save the campaign at my current position (in the campaign).


If by this you mean, fly from A to B in a give mission, then save, next day start on B, AFAIK this is not possible, not in CloD or others il-2's.

What the game have (to "save time") is time compression (2, 4, 8, 16X), but dont have the "disable when enemy is near" what can ruin your mission if not stopped in the right time.

TerryW
Jan-15-2016, 12:17
Hi,

What I am saying is that: I start a campaign, and because I only get an hour to play, I just about get through to the end of the second mission. My expectation is that when I restart the campaign, I can start from where I left off. So, I expect it to start at the beginning of mission 3 next time I start.

I think you might be saying that when you start a campaign, you cannot stop until the very end of the last mission. I think that I'd need to leave the PC on and have the game running for weeks. Doesn't sound plausible.

NB Whilst on the subject of campaigns, BOB2 WOV has a full campaign engine. I am not sure if that will run under windows10 but then IL2 was a bit difficult to get to run but is reliable enough when you solve the riddles.

1lokos
Jan-15-2016, 13:26
I think you might be saying that when you start a campaign, you cannot stop until the very end of the last mission. I think that I'd need to leave the PC on and have the game running for weeks. Doesn't sound plausible.


No, if you have finished the 2nd mission, next day you start with the 3rd. What I say is that you need finished (successful or not) every mission before turn OFF the PC.

Anyway, try CloD with this: http://ns1.mission4today.com/index.php?name=Downloads5&file=details&id=132


BTW - On BoB:WoV II: http://www.simhq.com/daily-news/battle-britain-ii-wings-victory-update.html

TerryW
Jan-15-2016, 17:37
1lokos,

I have spent a few months working BOB2 v2.12 about 9 months ago. The campaign engine is similar to the one found in Falcon4. Quite sophisticated. I found that after 9 months play, it was getting a bit repetitive. The mission profiles were a bit uniform. You take off, shoot down some bombers, return home. Once you learn to operate the standard mission profile it gets too easy even with the realism turned right up. Also, BOB2 doesn't have the fabulous clickable cockpits of ILS (or Falcon4 actually) and the graphics aren't as detailed. When I got back into an F16 campaign (which can takes many months to complete) I realised how repetitive BOB2 was. IL2 COD simply doesn't have a real campaign engine. It is as simple as that. If you want to try out some WW2 aircraft it is fantastic. But, that is its strength and its limitation.

I guess it is back to Falcon 4 for me. Many thanks to everyone for all the help.

Wolf
Jan-15-2016, 18:26
1lokos,

I have spent a few months working BOB2 v2.12 about 9 months ago. The campaign engine is similar to the one found in Falcon4. Quite sophisticated. I found that after 9 months play, it was getting a bit repetitive. The mission profiles were a bit uniform. You take off, shoot down some bombers, return home. Once you learn to operate the standard mission profile it gets too easy even with the realism turned right up. Also, BOB2 doesn't have the fabulous clickable cockpits of ILS (or Falcon4 actually) and the graphics aren't as detailed. When I got back into an F16 campaign (which can takes many months to complete) I realised how repetitive BOB2 was. IL2 COD simply doesn't have a real campaign engine. It is as simple as that. If you want to try out some WW2 aircraft it is fantastic. But, that is its strength and its limitation.

I guess it is back to Falcon 4 for me. Many thanks to everyone for all the help.


Not true and I am and always will put falcon 4 at the top for dynamic campaign. I would just say that one has just not been written for CLOD YET.

Cybermat47
Jan-16-2016, 00:21
Tell me, when you finish your final mission for the day, do you click the 'Next' button in the bottom right corner of the debriefing page?

TerryW
Jan-16-2016, 07:15
I'll go check. I wouldn't be at all surprised if I were doing something stupid. . .Yep, I click the next button. It takes me to the next mission. This is great if you have the time but I rarely get more than an hour at a time. I could leave the game running with a note on the PC saying "do not turn off". What I really need is a "save for now so that you can come back later" button. If you are seeing a "Save" button please let me know. I may have some config issue or maybe permission issues that is not revealing the button.

TerryW
Jan-16-2016, 07:43
Not true and I am and always will put falcon 4 at the top for dynamic campaign. I would just say that one has just not been written for CLOD YET.

If a dynamic campaign engine is developed I'd be straight back. A combination of IL2s flight models, aircraft and BOB2's dynamic campaign engine would be fabulous. The requirements are already specified for the developer. Just copy whatever BOB2 does but do it using COD planes, damage modelling and flight models. A winner . . . .

TerryW
Jan-16-2016, 09:49
I just tried the Team Fusion Campaigns. They have a "SAVE" button. Yippee. . .

This seems more like it.

TerryW
Jan-17-2016, 11:32
I don't know if anyone is following this but, just in case, the original campaign has issues by my reconning but the Team Fusion Campaign is spot on. Not functionally sophisticated as per BOB2 WOV maybe but the planes are harder to fly (and keep flying). It feels very realistic as far as the reports I have read from veterans goes. It gets my vote. :)