Padlocking missiles is not cheating!

[NoCarrier]

Pretty simple. If padlocking hasn't been expressly disabled server-side, people using it are playing by the established rules and thus not cheating. Padlocking may not be to everyone's taste and not very realistic, but the same can be said about respawning, custom loadouts, flawless Teamspeak comms and three minute turnaround times, to name but a few "cheats."

[ENO]

^ Well put.

[dooom]

Pretty simple. If padlocking hasn't been expressly disabled server-side, people using it are playing by the established rules and thus not cheating. Padlocking may not be to everyone's taste and not very realistic, but the same can be said about respawning, custom loadouts, flawless Teamspeak comms and three minute turnaround times, to name but a few "cheats."

 

indeed.

[311Gryphon]

Interesting stuff.

 

I wouldn't say that padlocking enemy missiles is "cheating" since you have that option in the game without some kind of glitch or mod. However, for me personally, anything that isn't an option in real life at least FEELS like cheating and thus it is.

 

For instance, I despise tags. My friend always has them on and even though it makes things a little easier I hate having them on. For the same reason, I wouldn't padlock missiles as that's not an option in real life.

[PFunk1606688187]

Pretty simple. If padlocking hasn't been expressly disabled server-side, people using it are playing by the established rules and thus not cheating. Padlocking may not be to everyone's taste and not very realistic, but the same can be said about respawning, custom loadouts, flawless Teamspeak comms and three minute turnaround times, to name but a few "cheats."

 

Well this is basically the written rule versus the principle argument.

 

The thing that people like myself are trying to say is that padlocking has a nature which is very different than custom loadouts or respawns. It directly improves the performance of the pilot in a way which is external to the capabilities of the aircraft. On paper its supposed to represent the pilot staring at something without looking at his controls, but in practice people will use it more like an avionics suite that doesn't exist on the aircraft.

 

All those other possible "cheats" don't really do this. Also, most of the other things you mention are not terribly unrealistic in the actual operation of the aircraft at the critical moment of action. I'm all for conceits that speed up the downtime that real pilots experience, and most people see these as helpful in getting people to the action faster. Once you're in the midst of the action however, this is when something being a cheat just fundamentally changes how the game is played. Custom loadouts or not, TARS or not, doesn't really change how target acquisition works. Padlocking however does.

 

You can say all you want about "well if the server allows it" but thats not really the conversation. The OP obviously is talking about it being cheating in the context of its principle nature as interpreted by people, not whether an admin is allowing it. Arguing it from that perspective is basically trying to change the conversation from being about padlocking to being about what you define cheating as.

 

The question is simply - is padlocking an excessive deviation from the realism most of us are trying to get out of the game? This thread is clearly not about server administration, at least not primarily.

[GGTharos]

Using padlock is cheating yourself out of learning to have SA. If you don't have TIR or something like it, ok - it's a lot more bothersome to look around without it for sure.

[NineLine]

Using padlock is cheating yourself out of learning to have SA. If you don't have TIR or something like it, ok - it's a lot more bothersome to look around without it for sure.

 

 

Ah, "cheating yourself"... best wording yet... Its not cheating in game, its an aid, like a racing sim might auto-shifting. And I agree as well, without some sort of head tracking, I can understand how someone might need this, but then you are cheating yourself out of the joy of TrackIR... go buy it! :D

[Exorcet]

The only kind of cheating is breaking established rules. Padlock is only cheating if it is expressly forbidden in the server. In offline single play, cheating is not possible.

 

Padlock does represent a pretty unrealistic capability that probably should be disabled if the goal is simulation though. I do not have TIR, but will not use padlock. My HOTAS hats are good enough for SA without breaking reality.

[NineLine]

As I have never worried about it before, is this something that can be disabled on a server? I dont know that I have ever seen an option to shut it off.

[GC1993]

Sorry to ask - could someone explain what "padlocking" means please?

[NineLine]

Its an auto tracking aid in DCS World.

 

Sorry to ask - could someone explain what "padlocking" means please?

[PFunk1606688187]

Sorry to ask - could someone explain what "padlocking" means please?

 

The real life definition has already been provided, but its sim equivalent functions as pressing some keystroke to receive a locked view in the direction of whatever you've told the game to padlock for you. To padlock a missile means your view is locked with the missile in its centre, as it would be with anything else.

 

Edit. ninja'd

[GC1993]

The real life definition has already been provided, but its sim equivalent functions as pressing some keystroke to receive a locked view in the direction of whatever you've told the game to padlock for you. To padlock a missile means your view is locked with the missile in its centre, as it would be with anything else.

 

Oh... I didn't think you could do that lol

[NoCarrier]

Eagle Dyanmics could do padlocking the way Falcon does it, and have the padlock view snap only to objects that are in the center of your view. The players who want it will have their padlocking, and the padlock adverse will have the knowledge the padlock user at least put some effort into it.

[peter]

My 2c. Its not cheating. There are so many other aural and visual cues you get in a real cockpit rather than sitting in front of a computer screen with a track IR on your face. And if you dont own a Track IR padlocking is even more necessary.

[Shaker]

I have nearest AC mapped as well as the missile padlock. I just like the theatrical aspects of it. Also with AI who can see you virtually anywhere, though the latest release I have had some success losing them, I think it is cheating myself but at the same time you are compensating for their advantage. PvP I think it should be full real no externals no padlocks. The biggest "cheat" and the one I personally cannot stand are tags. Any youtube video where tags are used, I simply have a hard time watching.

[PFunk1606688187]

My 2c. Its not cheating. There are so many other aural and visual cues you get in a real cockpit...

 

Like what? ;)

[Exorcet]

And if you dont own a Track IR padlocking is even more necessary.

Even without TIR it's completely unnecessary.

 

I don't have TIR, but I've been able to defend myself against EOS guided R-73 shots from my 6 O clock without any previous knowledge of enemy aircraft about, no AWACS, and no wingmen looking out for me.

[PFunk1606688187]

I used to play IL-2 1946 online for years before I got a Trackir, and while I was shot down about 70% of the time, and the other 30% saw me doing some terrible shooting, when I did go down in flames I was usually pretty aware of who was doing it to me, thanks to the POV hat.

 

Frankly it takes more effort to set up a decent Trackir profile that doesn't make you want to kill yourself than it takes to get used to using POV hat snap views to clear your tail.

[verana_ss]

As I have never worried about it before, is this something that can be disabled on a server? I dont know that I have ever seen an option to shut it off.

 

Yes, by unchecking the settings in the option menu on the server side.

[NineLine]

Cool, I never really worried about it before. I can see how it could offer a somewhat unfair advantage even over TrackIR

 

Yes, by unchecking the settings in the option menu on the server side.