Two pilot attack helis

[The_Pharoah]

hi guys

 

quick question - the two choppers produced for DCS to date (KA50 and UH-1) are essentially single pilot helis (yes even the Huey...which you can fly solo). The upcoming Mi8 will be similar I'm guessing.

 

Assuming we move towards a dual pilot helil (AH64, AH1Z, etc), how exactly is it going to work? ie. how do you go from two pilot (as IRL) to single pilot and still manage everything? you'll end up flying a bird with an empty space in front of you where the gunner is s'posed to be. Unless they implement actually having two players in the one a/c in MP which would be good, however what happens if you want to fly it on your own?

 

You could possibly:

 

- have it similar to the Huey (autopilot as you man the gunner controls)

- put the chopper in auto hover whilst you man the gunner controls (like the KA50)

- have a AI gunner who mans the guns only (you could possibly 'mark' the target like you do with the KA50 which the AI gunner could fire on) whilst you fire the hellfire or rockets, or some variation of the same

- have a proper multiplayer a/c where you have two players filling each slot ie. one as gunner, one as pilot only. That would work perfectly when flying with squadmates...not so much when flying in a pub server without comms like TS3 (anyone flown an attack heli with an idiot in BF3? you'll know what I mean)

 

anyway, interesting to see what they come up with.

[Lucas_From_Hell]

I believe RAZBAM (who are doing a F-15E and T-2 Buckeye, and later on a Tornado GR.4 and A-6 Intruder) said for single player it'll be either AI controlled (similar to the UH-1), or one person handling both if you want to.

 

From the amount of two-seater planes and helicopters in the works, I believe they're working towards implementing a number of players flying the same aircraft (the VEAO team discussed it in one of their BAe Hawk threads, try reading through them to see if you can find something). It is, however, pretty complicated as noted various times by loads of people (one reason being how people's connections would handle so much information being exchanged at such a fast rate; GGTharos did an extensive post on it but I can't link to it; perhaps check posts by him to see if you find it).

 

IMHO, when they implement it, the biggest problem with multiplayer aircraft will be coordinating it well (particularly if you're with someone you're not used to flying with), and trying not to kill the person next door during an attack run or while they try to evade SAM/AAA :D

 

I believe they'll keep the AI/single player approach optional for multiplayer because, as you noted, having an idiot (or anyone else, sometimes) on your backseat or giving you a lift can be the worst of experiences. Similarly, being a rookie with a pretty aggressive (as in aggressive flying, not angry :D) pilot who's logged hundreds of hours can make the experience a bit too shakey.