Campaign feedback

[bpremus]

Hi, I gave zone 5 a try, playing one mission a day and just finished it up. As requested in graduation, here is my feedback:

Learned a few new things on the way and overall had fun. DCS AI being DCS AI would occasionally hit the hardeck or do some other stupid thing (my wingman included). This was my second campaign after Fear the bones so to be honest i did not know what to expect, it was supposed to be realistic but i think i carried over some fear the bones vibe so just wanted to make sure my name / score was always on top, and ofc i had to buzz the tower... 

Giggled a bit when listening showtime on a way back hearing bandits *** my competition, and jester making joke.  

Next in queue is speed and angels

[Reflected]

Hey, congratulations on graduating! Remember, it's not a competition - unlike in the movie

Yeah, lately the DCS AI cannot see the ground and crashes quite often, I reported this to ED already because it happens in all kinds of missions.

 

Good luck with Speed & Angels!

[jmarso]

Finished it today and really enjoyed it, although not as much as Fear the Bones and Speed and Angels. If I had to rank them, it's be S&A 1, FTB 2, and Z5 as #3. Not a slam, as all three are really good. 

 

I did find a couple of things frustrating about Zone 5. Since the AI wingmen are totally scripted and show up as different groups, you can't do anything with them as a section or division lead. They are going to do their own thing, and you either conform or not. It would be nice when the player is lead to be able to actually control them via the flight menu in terms of formations, actions, etc. Most of them time I just did my own thing in the engagements, trusted them to bag a kill or two, or at least keep the bandits occupied until I could shoot them.

 

In the exposure mission, mention was made in the brief of the bandits' radar having a poor look-down capability. I tried to exploit that, going at them on the deck, but I had to do it alone. It worked in the end and we bagged them both pretty quick, but it would have been better with a cooperating wingman.  in a 2 or 4 vs UNK, anytime I wanted to maneuver for something like a pincer or what not, I was YOYO. In the end, it mostly felt like I was 1 VS the world and my flight wingmen were there to be missile sponges. I know they were making kills at some points, but it was a free for all, ultimately against the DCS AI. Nothing to be done about that part, I know. In the big furballs I would simply edge to the outside of the bandit cloud, take the one farthest to either end, extend that direction for a bit at the speed of heat and then turn back in to re-engage. Usually by that time the rest of the fight had devolved to utter chaos.  Any time I could use F10 to turn a section loose on the bandits, I just did it and hoped for the best. 

 

I know something like this is hard as hell to make work with the ME. For me it would be impossible. Great job all around to the Reflected team for what they accomplished here. I really enjoyed 'debriefing' these events in TACVIEW after the fact. The entertainment-to-buck ratio here was WELL worth it. Kudos! 

 

Oh, and I gunned the guy on event 10. Not quite as artistically as Hoser Satrapa's famous pic, and I put 8 G's on the jet, but at least I got 'im!  

Edited January 2, 2024 by jmarso

[Reflected]

Thanks for the feedback! I see what you mean. In DCS if you tell the AI to fight, you lose control, it’s all core AI behavior from then on. Especially in complete missions like Zone 5. If you reduce the mission to bite size tasks like S&A you have more control but you lose other aspects. 
 

This is exactly the area where I’m working on some major improvements for my Topgun 1969 campaign, to be able to cooperate with the AI as a team and choosing gameplans. 
 

on the other hand, things are happening so quickly, so I don’t want to overwhelm the player with radio menu navigation either. 
 

In the end, the less you control the AI, the more replayable and random the engagement will be, and that’s kind of a strong point of Zone 5. 
 

but again, my F-4 campaign will be in between the two for the very reasons you described. 

[draconus]

11 hours ago, Reflected said:

Topgun 1969 campaign

But there were no flying Tomcats then, makes no sense

[Lt_Jaeger]

10 minutes ago, draconus said:

But there were no flying Tomcats then, makes no sense

Phantom, baby, the phabulous Phantom.

 

Looking very much forward to it.

Edited January 3, 2024 by Lt_Jaeger