The DangerDogz CloD Server - Suggestions - Remarks - All Welcome!

[DD_FT]

As of May 13th 2021 the DangerDogz CloD and Tobruk servers have been shutdown, and will not available anymore!

Hello All...

The DangerDogz Cliffs Of Dover server has been around for a while now, and available to whoever wants to connect to it.

Short intro:
Its goal is simple - Keep it simple, and Have Fun.

There are no <RR or <TL or other scripting or functions. (And there won't be any in the future)

It runs one basic map. This runs for 4 hours, then it restarts. At every restart, the season (winter, summer, autumn) and start time are being randomly determined.
The server randomly loads 'sub' missions - out of a set of 174 currently - that are all AI, most are Blue, some are Red. The timing in between loading these missions is also randomized. (Somewhere between 8 and 10 minutes). Some of these mission were created by No.401. Thanks for those!

In this setup, you kinda never know what's gonna happen next.
All this random stuff can lead to some clear skies over SE England for a while, but it may quickly change to a completely swamped area.

There are lots of bases to spawn from. Not all a/c types are available on all bases.
Note that some Red spawn points have HOT in their name, meaning you get a running engine all warmed up in your a/c of choice. (Hawkinge even has both: Zoom in on the map, the left hand spawn point is HOT, the right hand one is not.)

In this thread, you are invited to:
* ask questions regarding the server ... but keep it simple please.
* suggest changes / improvements... but keep them simple please.
* report issues or problems ...
There's no guarantee your questions will be answered - and your suggestions may not get any follow up. Issues may or may not get fixed.

As it's an unmoderated server, there's no point whatsoever in reporting any behavior on any pil2ot that is acting in there.

Have Fun!

[ATAG_Noofy]

Hello FT,

Let me kick this one off.

First of all thanks for the DD server. It is being much appreciated, and the numbers are here to show it.

I think it is complementary to the more "serious" servers such as ATAG and TWC, and provides an excellent alternative for those who are looking for a quick / no headache blast, or a good warmup before jumping on the "real thing".

It is a good environment for beginners as they can relatively easily locate the zones of conflict and jump into a dogfight. This being said, I recommend to all newcomers to also do the other servers in order to improve their ability of playing more tactically, thinking where to locate opponents, how to approach them, etc. Working in teams is a nice to have on DD (going alone against the 119's is suicidal), but it is a must on the other servers.

Again what we appreciate is the simplicity, the relative ease to locate the battle zones, and last but not least the quality of the players.

In terms of remarks/suggestions from my modest perspective I would say the following:

(1) A hotspot would also be appreciated for the G.50's since it is the only Axis plane (to my knowledge) that requires a long warmup time. It is frustrating to have to wait on the ground until this FIAT engine warms up enough to take off, especially when the fight is in the vicinity of French Point, or when you know that your mates are in trouble and you want to rush to their rescue.

(2) the random AI missions seem to be an overkill. The number of AI planes could be limited imho. There is no point sending dozens of planes together. I have the impression (but it could be only my end) that this causes lags or undesirable "stroboscopic" effects proportional to the number of AIs in the air.

(3) there seems to be a bug whereby planes freeze in the air after a bailout, and stay there until the player has respawned. Planes can remain hanging there for a long time if the person does not respawn immediately (toilet break maybe?). Also It seems this only happens with Red planes (unless the Red teams sees the same with the Blue planes, I don't know).

(4) why do the red corvettes hate Wyssant so much?

(5) the airfield icons seem to be on a lower layer than the icon of the last plane who spawned there. When trying to select the airfield it is difficult to hover the mouse to the point that selects the airfield instead of the last plane... (not sure my description of the problem is clear?)

[DerDa]

First of all let me say a big 'Thank You!' for the DD server.
I have been a regular for years and always enjoyed it very much.

The pre-warmed Beaufighters are just great!

Until some months ago DD was a quiet, more relaxed alternative to ATAG.
Not too many human experts but lots of reasonably skilled AI.
This gave you the chance to practice approach, gunnery, bombing and avoiding hostile fighters when seriously outnumbered. All this was actually what I used to enjoy most: when I had half an hour or an hour to spare I could hop into DD, do some practice and have a lot of fun. In contrast, flying alone or for a short time on ATAG wasn't enjoyable because you most of the time you did not find an enemy, but suddenly an enemy found you ...

Now (since Blitz?) things have changed a lot. The numbers of human players on the server are soaring. The big furballs of human players that I tried to avoid on ATAG are now to be found on DD. No idea why.
This is nice for DD and well deserved, but (strictly) personally I see it with mixed feelings. My preferred planes are the Beaufighter (which is rather useless in furballs) and the Blenheim. If I want to continue style of flying that I'm used to on DD, I have to carefully avoid the hotspots of action, cruise somewhere in the hinterland and hope for AI raids to come along. Low level- and skip bombing is getting almost impossible.

Still I do hope that the numbers of players keep high (and also rise again on ATAG), but please do not reduce the number of AI raids, in order to stay complementary to ATAG instead of competing.

As always it's the diversity that makes things most attractive.


S!


DerDa

[Erpr.Gr.210_Mölders]

Could you please add also the Bf 110 C-4/N to the aircraft that can be selected so fighting against Spitfires II and Beaufighters becomes extremely hard, thanks!

[DD_FT]

Could you please add also the Bf 110 C-4/N to the aircraft that can be selected so fighting against Spitfires II and Beaufighters becomes extremely hard, thanks!

Bf 110-C-4N? Never knew it was in there, but will add it. Thanks for suggesting it!

[DD_FT]

First of all let me say a big 'Thank You!' for the DD server.
I have been a regular for years and always enjoyed it very much.

The pre-warmed Beaufighters are just great!

Until some months ago DD was a quiet, more relaxed alternative to ATAG.
Not too many human experts but lots of reasonably skilled AI.
This gave you the chance to practice approach, gunnery, bombing and avoiding hostile fighters when seriously outnumbered. All this was actually what I used to enjoy most: when I had half an hour or an hour to spare I could hop into DD, do some practice and have a lot of fun. In contrast, flying alone or for a short time on ATAG wasn't enjoyable because you most of the time you did not find an enemy, but suddenly an enemy found you ...

Now (since Blitz?) things have changed a lot. The numbers of human players on the server are soaring. The big furballs of human players that I tried to avoid on ATAG are now to be found on DD. No idea why.
This is nice for DD and well deserved, but (strictly) personally I see it with mixed feelings. My preferred planes are the Beaufighter (which is rather useless in furballs) and the Blenheim. If I want to continue style of flying that I'm used to on DD, I have to carefully avoid the hotspots of action, cruise somewhere in the hinterland and hope for AI raids to come along. Low level- and skip bombing is getting almost impossible.

Still I do hope that the numbers of players keep high (and also rise again on ATAG), but please do not reduce the number of AI raids, in order to stay complementary to ATAG instead of competing.

As always it's the diversity that makes things most attractive.


S!


DerDa

You are very welcome!

Indeed, things have changed a lot. I do not know why, but no problem, I do not want nor need to know.

The increased numbers of people on the server are the reason I put this post up. To get some feedback ... well that worked out okay... Cool.

I do get your mixed feelings - I have the same. Some time ago, I could take off in my Hurricane, and go look for intruders, this could be a formation of AI, which I - or rather we - could attack and as a group, or maybe one or two human piloted 109's who were willing to get into a turn fight with the Hurricane. Yes, great fun to be had.
And now, many more 109/110 pilots showed up, that do not want to go into a turn fight. WTF Result: furballs ... Not saying they should not be there, it's all good fun, but as you state: Things have changed!

But rest assured, if there's really an issue with big flights spawning in, and like the server running out of umph because of it, only then we might consider reducing the AI flights. For now, nothing will change regarding AI flights. As a tip I'd advise you to keep an eye on radar messages - but you probably are doing that already... due to the nature of all stuff being random in the server, there's not a lot we can really do to help you here: we could try and add more bomber missions heading for London via any route besides heading NW from France over Hawkinge - but the chance you will be able to intercept them would still be kinda slim.
I do appreciate the remark, and I will seriously look into this: currently the focus is all on the area SE of Hawkinge - we do need more variety there... sorry, no, elsewhere than there!

Competing with ATAG? No way, that's definately nót what we are after!

Thanks for your input!

[Erpr.Gr.210_Mölders]

Some tips that may help you:

(1) A hotspot would also be appreciated for the G.50's since it is the only Axis plane (to my knowledge) that requires a long warmup time. It is frustrating to have to wait on the ground until this FIAT engine warms up enough to take off, especially when the fight is in the vicinity of French Point, or when you know that your mates are in trouble and you want to rush to their rescue.

During the warming up phase keep the rads fully closed and raise a bit the throttle. This should reduce a bit the " waiting time ". ( But be carefull to not roast the engine in the meanwhile! )

(2) the random AI missions seem to be an overkill. The number of AI planes could be limited imho. There is no point sending dozens of planes together. I have the impression (but it could be only my end) that this causes lags or undesirable "stroboscopic" effects proportional to the number of AIs in the air.

Everything that spawn seems to always create a slight stutter ( about 1-2 seconds ) and I think that this is how the game works independently to the PC used to play. Agreed with you about the number of the AI raids that should be slightly reduced in my opinion.

(3) there seems to be a bug whereby planes freeze in the air after a bailout, and stay there until the player has respawned. Planes can remain hanging there for a long time if the person does not respawn immediately (toilet break maybe?). Also It seems this only happens with Red planes (unless the Red teams sees the same with the Blue planes, I don't know).

Confirmed. Experienced the same. I do not know if this could be a game or server bug.

(4) why do the red corvettes hate Wyssant so much?

Because we're the mighty Luftwaffe! The RAF can't stop us so they are trying to find alternative ways to keep us away from the " Albion's land "!

(5) the airfield icons seem to be on a lower layer than the icon of the last plane who spawned there. When trying to select the airfield it is difficult to hover the mouse to the point that selects the airfield instead of the last plane... (not sure my description of the problem is clear?)

A quick solution ( also if not surely handy ). When you decide to spawn in a certain airfield several times in the briefing menu zoom the map at the max level possible on the white airfield marker. This renders a lot more easy not selecting the blue one/s ( or rather the AI plane/s spawned there )

[ATAG_Noofy]

During the warming up phase keep the rads fully closed and raise a bit the throttle. This should reduce a bit the " waiting time ". ( But be carefull to not roast the engine in the meanwhile! )

Tried all that. Does not make a noticeable difference. Besides if the Reds have hot spots then the Blues should too as a matter of fairness...

Everything that spawn seems to always create a slight stutter ( about 1-2 seconds ) and I think that this is how the game works independently to the PC used to play. Agreed with you about the number of the AI raids that should be slightly reduced in my opinion.

I meant to reduce the number of AI aircraft sent in the air together (which is what seems to cause the lags), not the number of AI raids which is fine with me otherwise. Plus as DerDa said in his above reply, some people are looking to these AI raids to practice bomber shooting. But again, 10-15 bombers should be enough per raid as opposed to several dozens as I have counted (estimated?) at times...

A quick solution ( also if not surely handy ). When you decide to spawn in a certain airfield several times in the briefing menu zoom the map at the max level possible on the white airfield marker. This renders a lot more easy not selecting the blue one/s ( or rather the AI plane/s spawned there )

Yes, this is what I do. However since this issue does not exists on the other servers then perhaps it is an easy fix?

[Erpr.Gr.210_Mölders]

Yes, this is what I do. However since this issue does not exists on the other servers then perhaps it is an easy fix?

I do not think so...on the other servers this " problem " it's not so noticeable due to the fact that there aren't so many aircraft spawning\landing...

[DD_FT]

Hello FT,

Let me kick this one off.

First of all thanks for the DD server. It is being much appreciated, and the numbers are here to show it.

I think it is complementary to the more "serious" servers such as ATAG and TWC, and provides an excellent alternative for those who are looking for a quick / no headache blast, or a good warmup before jumping on the "real thing".

It is a good environment for beginners as they can relatively easily locate the zones of conflict and jump into a dogfight. This being said, I recommend to all newcomers to also do the other servers in order to improve their ability of playing more tactically, thinking where to locate opponents, how to approach them, etc. Working in teams is a nice to have on DD (going alone against the 119's is suicidal), but it is a must on the other servers.

Again what we appreciate is the simplicity, the relative ease to locate the battle zones, and last but not least the quality of the players.

In terms of remarks/suggestions from my modest perspective I would say the following:

(1) A hotspot would also be appreciated for the G.50's since it is the only Axis plane (to my knowledge) that requires a long warmup time. It is frustrating to have to wait on the ground until this FIAT engine warms up enough to take off, especially when the fight is in the vicinity of French Point, or when you know that your mates are in trouble and you want to rush to their rescue.

(2) the random AI missions seem to be an overkill. The number of AI planes could be limited imho. There is no point sending dozens of planes together. I have the impression (but it could be only my end) that this causes lags or undesirable "stroboscopic" effects proportional to the number of AIs in the air.

(3) there seems to be a bug whereby planes freeze in the air after a bailout, and stay there until the player has respawned. Planes can remain hanging there for a long time if the person does not respawn immediately (toilet break maybe?). Also It seems this only happens with Red planes (unless the Red teams sees the same with the Blue planes, I don't know).

(4) why do the red corvettes hate Wyssant so much?

(5) the airfield icons seem to be on a lower layer than the icon of the last plane who spawned there. When trying to select the airfield it is difficult to hover the mouse to the point that selects the airfield instead of the last plane... (not sure my description of the problem is clear?)

Thanks for that Noofy! Your general analysis of the DangerDogz server is spot on... It is what is goal is...

(1) Will do, it's an easy fix - I never realized the G50's needed a warm up!

(2) You could very well be right there... I'm still tuning the frequency of the AI flight spawning in... but as stated, there's a lot of randomization going on, so this is rather difficult to tune. In the end, it's our server, and regularly, the Dogz do take off as a group, and if and when we do like to have the opportunity to intercept lots of enemy bombers. So, still observing this, not changing anything ... just yet.

(3) Confirmed! That is a bug. Not sure whether it's a TF job to fix it, or a DD one (scripting). Both Red and Blue 'suffer' from it. I will look into it.

(4) Why? Because it's close by? Not really sure what you mean ... Do you want a different and more peaceful spawn point for the G50, like in the vicinity of Paris? I can move it, no worries I will add the G50 to other bases, would that be of help? Oh darn, you'll probably want them to be HOT as well - more work for me!

(5) I get what you mean, and this has been tuned already for the Red side: I will move the spawn points a bit to the NE of the airfield - you'd still have to zoom in a bit, but it should help you. (An alternative I'd like you to think about: Fly Red side, as it's been fixed over there!)

Thank you very much for the feedback!

[Bonditaria]

Please add HurricaneMkI_dH5-20_100oct. Thanks!

[DD_FT]

Please add HurricaneMkI_dH5-20_100oct. Thanks!

Will do!

[ATAG_Noofy]

Thanks FT for your quick replies

(4) Why? Because it's close by? Not really sure what you mean ... Do you want a different and more peaceful spawn point for the G50, like in the vicinity of Paris? I can move it, no worries I will add the G50 to other bases, would that be of help? Oh darn, you'll probably want them to be HOT as well - more work for me!

Nah, don’t bother. It is just that since I mostly take off at Wissant, they seem to always be on my way shooting at anything that passes above them. Also often bombing me on the ground while warming up (but since a hotspot will be added...). I did not pay attention at whether same blue corvettes exist on the other side (i.e. so near the coast and also bombing airfields). If so then it is a fair balance. In any case they give us a good reason to start the map cycle with JaBos and try to bomb the nuisance.

(An alternative I'd like you to think about: Fly Red side, as it's been fixed over there!)

Just kidding of course. I am still in my learning curve and do not want to diversify too much at this early stage. Still trying to improve my skills on the 109, 110 (thanks SKG 210_Mölders), and G50 (thanks DRock), mainly deflection shooting, but also learning to fly to the limits of the envelopes (damn G50 flat spins...).

When I first started I tried planes from both sides, but the Spits and Hurries seemed too easy to fly in comparison to the Axis planes, so I decided to start with the most challenging ones... There will come a day when you see me on the other side for a few sorties...

[Erpr.Gr.210_Mölders]

There will come a day when you see me on the other side for a few sorties...

Sure? Are you really so eager to be transferred to the Stalingrad front with immediate effect?

[ATAG_Noofy]

Sure? Are you really so eager to be transferred to the Stalingrad front with immediate effect?

No no Mölders, please!
Anyway the Stalingrad front will not start before a year or two...
Besides, I have a plan: when I fly red in the future I shall only do so when you are not on duty.
Unless you want to share the experience. I am sure you'll do wonders in a Beaufighter...