Highest Reputation Content

EDIT:  22 November 2012 2:50PM Pacific Time (yes, Thanksgiving Day)

This update is HUGE!  All of the images are now up-to-date, most of the old content has been removed, new content added, and the organization is much more in line with the current World of Tanks manual.  Hyperlinks were added all over the place, so people can jump to exactly what they're looking for.  Also, the manual revision name will reflect the build number the game is currently in, so it's even easier to know if you've got the current manual.

Yes, I do understand that there's only a "Getting Started" and "Basic" section to the manual.  Rest assured, more will be added coming up soon!  Enjoy everyone!!

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Welcome to the "un"official site of the World of Warplanes Game Manual!  This manual has been designed to help new Beta Testers understand the basic concepts of the game.

Anyone can benefit from this manual, from World of Tanks veterans and flight sim enthusiasts to absolute newcomers to computer gaming.  I highly recommend utilizing this manual for reference if you have any questions regarding the game.  Many questions can be answered by searching the manual's PDF bookmarks.  (If you're not familiar with PDF bookmarks, download the latest version of Adobe Reader here:  Adobe PDF Reader)

This manual will be in a consistent state of upgrade due to the unknown nature of update content until it's released.  Therefore, some information may be out of date.  If you have any recommendations as to what you'd like to see in future revisions, please leave a reply!

Enjoy!


Update history:

0.7.0 - Initial version.
0.7.1 - 27 November 2011  20:15 UTC
0.7.2 - 03 March 2012 06:40 UTC
0.7.3 - 04 March 2012 07:05 UTC
0.7.4 - 04 April 2012 05:57 UTC
0.7.5 - 14 June 2012 17:10 UTC - massive update.  Too many items to list.
0.3.4 - 22 Novermber 2012 14:50 PST - complete update, overhaul, revision, spit-polish, you name it.

0.1 - 9 October 2012 19:10 UTC - added Quick Reference Card



You're the man Crash! Keep up the good work.

CrashTailspin's Guide to Successful Heavy Fighter Operation

Hey everyone!

This guide was written to give players some tips, hints, and tactics to get the most effective use out of their heavy fighters.  Note:  I said Heavy Fighters, not "bombers".  These aircraft were not specifically designed to fly straight and level like a heavy bomber.  With their speed and potent armament, they excel in high-speed slashing attacks against even the most armored aircraft.  However, this speed and firepower comes at a price:  reduced maneuverability.  The following information will help you maximize your heavy fighter's strong points while minimizing its weaknesses.


Rule 1:  GET ALTITUDE!
At the beginning of a match, nearly all aircraft start at very close to the same altitude.  Most players choose to remain at the altitude they start at, too.  However, gaining altitude at the beginning of a match gives you several advantages, especially in a Heavy Fighter:

• It gives you a better vantage point of the battle map.
  
• It allows you to better choose which target you want to attack.
  
• It acts as stored energy (since diving converts altitude into airspeed).
  
• A diving attack gives an enemy less of an opportunity to mount a counter-attack

An efficient method of gaining altitude is to enter a boost-assisted climb at a constant airspeed.  This allows you to gain altitude without reducing your most important asset - your speed.  However, you do not want to exhaust all of your boost in the initial climb.  I recommend using at most 50% of your boost.  This allows you to attain a respectable altitude while conserving the rest of your boost for potential egress climbs (more on that later).


Rule 2:  PICK AN APPROPRIATE TARGET
Once at an effective altitude, targets will start to appear.  You may be tempted to engage the first target you see, but I would advise against it.  Look around first and determine which target would be best to engage first.  Here's a few characteristics of proper targets to engage first:

• Aircraft which are unaware of your presence or are currently occupied.  Tell-tale signs of this are aircraft flying in a straight line or on a ground attack run.
  
• Aircraft that are weaker and / or have less firepower (think Japanese fighters / I-16s / lower-tier fighters).  Tehese fighters can typically be destroyed in a single pass and at longer range (due to your cannon) if engaged early and adequate hits are maintained.
  
• An aircraft carrying ordinance.  External ordinance weighs an aircraft down and adds drag, reducing its maneuverability and top speed.  Also, these aircraft are more likely to be focued on attack ground targets, taking their attention away from incoming enemy attackers (see previous tip under this rule).

Occasionally, you will encounter fighters at your altitude.  If this is the case, stop boosting (if you are - you want the most time for your guns to be on-target), aim true, fire as soon as the lead indicator shows up, don't let off the trigger, and plan to break off early if you don't take out the target in time to avoid a collision.  ALWAYS ATTEMPT TO AVOID A COLLISION!  You don't do your team any good if you die in a head-on collision.

Rule 3:  ATTACK IN A HIGH-SPEED PASS / AVOID THE TURNFIGHT
Once you've chosen an appropriate target, it's time to start your attack run.  From your altitude advantage, dive down on your target, and open fire once they're in range.  Here's some tips to achieve maximum damage to the (hopefully) unsuspecting target:

• Try not to overshoot!  Heavy fighters are fast, but you'll do yourself no good if you pass your target before you destroy it.  To avoid this, reduce your throttle (if you have a joystick), or flat-out idle your throttle (keyboard / mouse users) to avoid gaining too much airspeed in your dive.  Also, every aircraft has an "effective speed range".  Overspeeding this range makes the aircraft sluggish to respond to control inputs, potentially causing you to dive right into the ground (and that's bad).
  
• Once you're in range of the target (your lead indicator gets brighter), start firing and DON'T LET UP until you either destroy the target or egress from the attack.  Enemy aircraft left at 1% health can still deal damage.  Better to finish them off then to leave them damaged.
  
• Try at all costs to stay out of a turning engagement.  Heavy Fighters are large, heavy aircraft - nowhere near as light or nimble as their Light Fighter or Carrier-Borne Fighter counterparts.  As such, they cannot turn as well, and are easy prey if caught in a turning engagment.

Rule 4:  EGRESS THE AREA IN A CLIMB
After your attack run, it's time to get out of the engagement, get some range from the enemy, so you can turn around safely and re-engage.  Here's some tips to effectively re-engage with success:

• After your attack run is through, enter a climb at about a 45 degree angle (it doesn't have to be perfect).  This helps accomplish two things - DISTANCE FROM THE ENEMY and ALTITUDE ABOVE THE ENEMY.
  
  • Too steep of a climb doesn't provide enough distance from the enemy (and reduces your airspeed too much).
    
  • Too shallow of a climb doesn't allow for enough altitude above the enemy to re-engage in a diving attack.
• Once the area is clear (typically ~2,400ft / ~800m from the previous target) and no other enemies are immediately near, turn to either re-engage or pick a new target and repeat the process.

Rule 5:  FIGHT ON YOUR TERMS
Eventually, you WILL get an enemy on your tail.  However, do not fret.  There are several tactics which work particularly well against enemy pursuers:

• If you've got boost (and you should), USE IT!  Enter a fairly steep climb and hit the boost.  Most fighters have only half the boost duration that Heavy Fighters do, and are somewhat slower as well.  This combination allows you to pull away from an enemy in a climb.  Enter your boost climb, and once the enemy is around ~2,400ft / ~800m, turn around to re-engage your new target.
  
• If you're out of boost, get some altitude while keeping as much airspeed as you can and find some friendly fighters.  The F7 key is the default macro for "Clear My Tail!", and puts a little "SOS" above your aircraft for friendlies to see, letting them know that you've got an enemy on your tail, and need some help shaking him.
  
• If friendlies are in short supply, try to find some friendly ground targets.  Friendly targets quite often have at least one (and sometimes multiple) AA guns, which can damage the enemy.  The friendly base is full of them, and when loitered over, can significantly damage (or even destroy) an enemy fighter.
  
• Remember, whatever you do, AVOID A TURNING ENGAGEMENT!  As previously stated, Heavy Fighters don't work too well in a turning battle.  If you see an enemy attempting to lure you into a steep turning battle, get into your egress climb, boost away, and if need be, completely avoid engaging the more maneuverable fighter.

Rule 6:  BOMB EARLY, BOMB QUICKLY
Let's review a couple concepts in regard to external ordinance and ground attack concepts (for a better review, check out my Guide to Successful Low-Tier Attack Aircraft Operation):

• External oridnance (i.e. Bombs and Rockets) add additional weight and drag, reducing maneuverability, acceleration, and top speed.
  
• Heavy Fighters are NOT armored like similarly-tiered Russian Ground Attack aircraft
  
• Heavy Fighters do not receive as much camoflage bonus a Ground Attack aircraft when they fly at low altitude
  
• A Heavy Fighter's optimum altitude is typically not low-level

With these concepts in mind, it's beneficial for Heavy Fighters that are carrying bombs to rush to the target they're attacking, drop their bombs, and then do what they do best - fast, slashing attacks.  If you're carrying bombs and looking for targets to hit, here are my recommendations:

• Get to your optimum altitude and gain airspeed.  This gets you to your target faster than diving to the deck, where your aircraft doesn't operate as well.
  
• Stay at altitude until you find a target to your liking.  Once you're close, enter a dive until you see the bomb reticule on-target.  Once on-target, drop your bomb (or bombs), find a new target, drop your bombs again, and regain altitude.
  
• ALWAYS BE AWARE OF ENEMY FIGHTERS!  Even though you're at altitude, you're typically going to be flying in a straight line, which makes you an easy target.  If you see an enemy approaching (other than head-on), do not be afraid to dump your bombs and run.  Staying alive outweighs dying after taking out a single ground target.

TO SUMMARIZE

Use speed an altitude to your advantage.

Avoid entering a turning engagement.

If using bombs, get to your target early.

Remember, each battle is different.  What works in one may not work in another.  These rules and tips are general in nature and are not meant for any specific engagement.

Good luck, and happy hunting!

Good day my fellow forum dwellers. I am Heh, your friendly forum spammer and whale biologist. In this episode of "Heh's biology report on WoWP's fascinating creatures", we're gonna show you the slowest, biggest, and most graceful creatures of the aerial kingdom: sky whales.

Sky whale taxonomy:

 

Sky whales (Caleum Ceti), are big, slow lumbering creatures gracefully roaming at low altitudes in the WoWP maps. Like their marine counterparts, they tend to eat krill, but they only eat dead, highly oxygenated krill processed by ground targets. The sky whale will tend to use its teeth to chew the krill in either big chunks or rapid bites, depending on the sky whale's age. In order to move, sky whales use a powerful nose muscle that propels them forward at a graceful speed, except for the royal whales that we'll explain later. Due to metal birds flying all around, the sky whale needs to defend itself. Since it's too colossal in size and weight to evade them properly, they usually grow up with a dorsal defense system.

Sky whales tend to poop on big targets as well. A sky whale's poop is extremely explosive and radioactive, and some sky whales tend to poop to save their hides, much like a skunk. They also carry 8 explosive thorns at their child stages, which are usually not used, but some like using it to eat metal birds, as their taste is twice better than krill.
The glorious floating whales have 4 main evolution stages, from stubby clumsy newborns to healthy calves to fully grown adults. Those of royal blood are special, but we'll explain them later. Here's all 10 sky whale evolution stages at your fingertips:

Newborns:

Newborns are named TShes, which mean Ticklish Shy fellas. They tend to be only tickled by the planes they face and have to bite at a faster rate than piranhas! There are two varieties, which are very much the same:

TSh-1: Those are the first sky whales, and tend to be only a few days old with two fins. They have no teeth at first, but then they get their piranha bites as they grow up. Because it is a TSh, it tends to be quite a clumsy little thing, always struggling to turn. It loses poop storage organs for stronger teeth at one point, as well as for a stronger nose muscle. There have been rumors about it having thorns at that age, but it is considered a myth.

TSh-3: At this stage, they gain a single fin instead of two, and get 10 teeth that double in power afterwards. They also get a stronger dorsal defense system and regain their poop organs. That is the final stage of newborns for all sky whales.

Calves:

Calf life is very long in a sky whale's life. In fact, most sky whales are actually teenagers! They tend to develop incredible damage systems, better defense systems, and even fully destructive thorns. They tend to have closed backs at that point.

LBSh: After a painful moulting, the TSh loses its teeth and regains sharper ones, though not as potentially destructive as the tiny teeth in the TSh stages. It also gains more powerful poop. The most important development here is the access to some sort of turning ability though. This is the first Odontoceti, which are characterized by their HUGE teeth. The ones with shredding teeth are Mysticeti. All sky whale stages start with a Mysticeti stage except the TSh, IL-10 and royalty stages.

IL-2: Now the sky whale sheds its dorsal defense system off for much sharper teeth that take giant chunks out of ground targets. The sky whale also gains incredible agility compared to its younglings, and has incredibly thick skin impervious to tiny metal bird teeth. It relies on friendly metal birds to help it stay afloat, as its daddy and mommy are far away. It also gains its adult thorns at that point.

IL-2 t: After a painful post-moulting moment of paranoia, the sky whale is rewarded with a very dangerous dorsal defense system. Even though it keeps the same teeth, it loses them right after getting the DDS, which is frankly the same as the old one in its TSh-3 stage, and also losing its first teeth. However, it also gains VERY dangerous poop too. And thicker skin. It's a very formidable foe to any metal bird, but loses part of its newly found agility.

IL-8: Now the sky whale is in its preteen stages, and develops a VERY dangerous DDS. And has bigger teeth. It's an evil evil foe for anyone that stands in its way, unless it's a swallow. Swallows are the main enemy of every single sky whale, only being scared off by the great Moby Dick (tamed and trained by yours truly) and outran by royal whales. The IL-8 stage is just one of two teen moulting processes, and sacrifices all mobility for much larger teeth and stronger blubber, making it part of the Odontoceti suborder.

IL-10: This is another moulting process a sky whale can go through if it hates the immobility of the IL-8 stage. The sky whale then becomes faster and the most agile sky whale of all stages. It's still a Mysticeti and is usually neglected due to how slow it grows and how it isn't as armored, but it's still a fearsome evolution with the NR teeth, capable of dealing the same degree of damage the TShes dealt to the enemies around them. However, unlike the IL-8 stage, it has access to the NR, which helps it grow to a fully well-bred adult sky whale faster.

Adult whales:

All of them are notable by their big heads. Hell, all of them are actually so alike that we call them IL-20s.

IL-20: In this stage, there's a GIANT leap in sky whale puberty. It's even the end of sky whale puberty, as out comes a fully grown sky whale. It gains an extremely powerful DDS called the NR. At this stage, some sky whale riders name them. Adult sky whale poop is massive and can wipe an HQ out with just one poo. An adult sky whale's teeth change from the shredder teeth in its adolecent stages to the biggest teeth in whale growth ever. The most popular sky whale of them all is the legendary Moby Dick, with his trusty tailgun named Ivan.

That marks the end of common sky whale growth. However, some whales are royal whales named IL-40s.

IL-40: This whale returns to grinder teeth, relegating it to a Mysticeti, but this time, they are all on the nose of the whale. Its thorns are seemingly similar to the old ones, but they have a larger blast radius. The main thing that characterizes a royal whale though is the change from a nose propelling muscle to a powerful gas sac, located near the tail. The gas sac allows the king whale to move a lot faster than a commoner whale and also glide at high altitudes. Also known as the King Whale. However, Moby basically hates royalty. He prefers a democratic system.

IL-40P: This is the final stage of sky whale royalty, also known as the Emperor whale, which Moby hates even more because once again, he prefers democracy. It is also known as the pig whale, mainly because of its nose. Even though it's laughed at by the other sky whales because of the nose, the Emperor is still the scariest sky whale ever. There are less teeth, but they're all more powerful to the point of dealing more damage and having more precision than the King whale. The speed is absolutely ridiculous, capable of outrunning most sky dolphins. But what characterizes it is the EXTREMELY thick blubber. Nothing has thicker blubber than the Emperor. With all these aspects combined, the Emperor whale is truly the most dangerous sky whale on the field, and should be treated with absolute caution and should be taken out immediately before it annihilates every ground target.

Mutant whales:

When I went back in here, I discovered new kinds of sky whales not in the normal sky whale tree. I'll call them mutant whales.

Pegas: A baby whale, similar to the TShes. Anyway, it has a single tooth that's remarkably powerful when playing with baby sky dolphins, and quite decently thick blubber. It lacks a DDS, but it can carry poop sacks at such a young age. It is also the most agile sky whale in existence, though a lot less agile than baby sky dolphins, which are extremely agile.

BSh: This one was part of the LBSh stages, but it developed the traits at such a young age. The strange thing about this creature is that it's STRICTLY a Mysticeti unlike the LBSh, which is an Odontoceti. While the DDS is also poor, it has the remarkable ability to drop a lot of poop. We people at the Bureau of Aeromarine Biology thought that the record holder for most poop was the skorca in the Fw 57 stage, but the BSh poops more, even though its poop is smaller. Not one creature poops more than the BSh.

Sh-Tandem: Also known as the ShT whale or the Tandem whale. This is by far the most intriguing discovery I've seen. It's strikingly similar to the BSh, but it has one thing that sets it aside: it has a tail on the bottom. This was an atrocious design that shocked the BAB. Now, it has a more powerful nose muscle, but it carries the same amount of poop as the LBSh. But this is not the weird part folks. The weird part is that it can perfectly imitate a SKORCA. The Tandem whale has the climbing ability of an I-16 sky walrus, thus causing massive shock to those that try energy fighting. The mobility is also tied with the Pegas, but the Tandem is a tier 5. Thankfully it lacks proper teeth, as it would scare every sky whale if it had LBSh teeth. Overall, the Tandem is the weirdest sky whale to glide in the skies of the WoWP universe. An absolute beauty.

Now, let's talk about whale blubber:

-Sky whales are hunted by Swallows for their thick blubber, which is basically a very powerful growth accelerator. Some sky whales have been known to eat their own kind, mainly the legendary Moby.

-Apparently sky whale blubber tastes like crackers, while royal sky whale blubber tastes like honey-coated waffles.
Now, this is the story of how I met Moby Dick, and the story behind him:

One peaceful day, an alpha player was talking to me about finding a sky whale to ride. I always doubted them back in the day, cause I was always a mobility lover. But then, I saw a little sky whale sitting at a shop. He seemed lonely as no one picked him, so of course I adopted him. Had to trade in a cookie for him. And then, I took him out for a walk, then I saw metal birds all up in the air, of the biplane ethnicity. I then commanded him to stay down and smack ground targets, then I noticed, at a pretty young age, his anti-air potential. That's when I had a goal: To make the greatest whale of all time, and ride it.

So I was training my good old Moby all the time, till when I made him poop by accident and I watched a monoplane disintergrate behind him. I then discovered that sky whale poop CAN have the range to beat up people chasing him for blubber. That was in his little IL-8 stage; you can just imagine how cute and curious he was back then. :3

At his adolecence, Moby started to hate other whales. That's when he neglected my usual orders and then punched a younger whale down to the floor. I then found out that Moby had an EXCELLENT talent when it came to beating up his own kind, and then it evolved to effectively beating up anything in front of him. My Moby was starting to no longer be the calf I raised, but a legend.

When he became a beautiful and very graceful sky whale, he had a pretty white color. Then I noticed he could knock out the fastest enemies, sometimes even ALPHA ACES (sometimes) down with his bigger poo. Then I found that his tailgunner was all drunk (no duh, as always), so I took that tailgunner to rehab, and that's where Ivan's famous accuracy came from. Do not tell me how he became sober. Then when Moby had his big teeth, he loved eating up P-51s that are stupid enough to hit ground targets. Then, inspiring from Corsairs in the wild, I taught him how to aim his rockets. Somewhat. And then, he started to FARM metal birds, laughed at everyone on his tail at low alt, always pooped on carriers, making their captains yell at him all the time. And then, he scored his signature triple ace, with a double ground ace, and then he was in the history books, incarnated as Moby: The Whale Whaler. He sits quietly in the hangar nowadays, but I still love him.

And that guys, is how I met Moby, and also the end of my documentary.

Supreme edit to relieve everyone:

How to make the DDS work to your advantage:

We know, the DDS is extremely freaking drunk on vodka and all. However, there's a way for a skilled sky whale to cope with that. Basically, it moves its dorsal fin in a way to move AWAY from the enemy (or yawing). For some odd reason, it seems that the DDS aims where the plane is, not where it WILL be due to weird sky whale anatomy, so if one whale yaws away, it might just lead the DDS teeth stream TO the enemy bird's next location, and so it gets magical results. I've never noticed it since as an Ace Combat addict, I'm very very used to yawturning, but then I stopped yawing back when I still played really, and by god the shots didn't connect that well. Then some adult skorca (I remember his name, but I'm not telling you incompetent fools) tried attacking me, and when Moby yawed, 50-75% of the burst kept connecting and he went down surprisingly fast. The reason why it works when you go in a straight line is because the enemy is ALSO forced to fly in a straight line to damage you, and so there is barely any leading needed, and so the shots connect better.

Sky whale camo: It's as existent as Manbearpig. Really.

Edit: GODDAMMIT WG STOP UPDATING SO FAST
This here is an actual guide, just in documentary format.

HolySchiff,

 

We had a great fight in the Pacific. You did well to try your best for your team and it ended up with you and I over our Teams HQ. I've never seen a Blenheim F do what you made it do , and we had an intense minute of combat while you tried to take my Bristol Down.

You did well for your team, and you did well to do your best, and for that I decided it would be nice to give back since you are still learning the heavies.

 

Enjoy the new BF110-C6, it should be shiny and waiting for battle when you log in next.

I hope to see you again, on the battlefield.

 

-Wolf

 

Psyrenn

StormTroopr

CrashTailspin's Guide to Successful Low-Tier Ground Attack Aircraft Operation

Hey everyone!

This guide is written to give players a few hints, tips, and tactics to getting the most out of their first few Russian Ground Attack aircraft.  These aircraft have a playstyle that's different from most other aircraft.  They're large, slow, and significantly less maneuverable than other aircraft currently in-game.  However, this does not mean that they don't play an important role on each team.  I'm here to explain how to best utilize these aircraft in order to achieve more kills, and in doing so score more wins.


Rule 1:  Get LOW and Stay LOW!
In Build 0.3.4, aircraft concealment with relation to altitude was introduced.  The closer an aircraft flies to the ground, the more it's concealed ("stealth mode").  This effect is greatest for Ground Attack aircraft, and least for fighters.  The lower you fly, the more you're concealed (starting at 200m off the ground).

The best way to take advantage of this is simple:

• As soon as the battle starts, start diving for the deck.  Not only will this get you camouflaged faster from enemy pursuit aircraft, but it will also give you a slight increase in airspeed, getting you to the enemy targets faster.

Also, if you proceed to an enemy target at a low altitude, you give the enemy AA guns less of a target to shoot at, in contrast to a high-altitude level bomb drop, where all of your aircraft's underside is exposed.

In addition, a high-flying Ground Attack aircraft is an easy target to pick off for a wandering fighter.  Also, most GA aircraft have very poor rear gun depression, which means that fighters can attack from below and not have to worry about taking damage from a tail gunner.  Place that same GA aircraft at low altitude and now the fighter has to worry not only about the tail gunner, but also smacking into the ground.

REMEMBER:  Unseen is safe.  Try to stay that way.


Rule 2:  Choose an approach route and STICK TO IT!
Before the battle starts (or as soon as you spawn into battle), survey where you're at, where the enemy Headquarters is (denoted on the minimap by a flag inside a red circle), and determine what route you're going to take to get there.  Typically, a route along the outer parts of the map will keep you (relatively) safe from roving enemy fighters, and provide enemy ground targets to take out along the way.

Here's the big thing - DO NOT get caught up in an early dogfight! You effectively remove yourself from the entire battle if you attempt to chase an enemy aircraft, no matter how tempting it is.  You're here to DESTROY GROUND TARGETS.  Go do that.

Tip 2a:  Attempt to take out the Headquarters AT ALL COSTS

The Headquarters (or Aircraft Carrier on some maps) is the strongest and most heavily guarded enemy target on the map, and for good reason:

ITS DESTRUCTION NETS 3 SUPERIORITY POINTS AND REDUCES ENEMY AA GUN ACCURACY

Your primary goal should be to survive long enough to take out this target.  A 3-point swing in supremacy points could be enough to cause your team to gain the advantage, and at the very least inaccurate enemy AA gun fire helps out the entire team from taking any additional damage.

As previously stated, the Headquarters is strong - usually at least 3 times the HP of other ground targets.  If you've got large bombs equipped, one well-placed bomb should take it out.  However, if you have lighter bombs equipped, you may need to use two bombs, and even then have to come around on a strafing run to completely take it out.

Tip 2b:  Use ordinance APPROPRIATELY

A Ground Attack aircraft can only carry so much ordinance (bombs and rockets), and as such it should be used judiciously.  Most GA aircraft can take out a target in one pass with only their guns.  However, the use of guns will break your "stealth mode" and allow enemy fighters to spot you much easier.

Herein lies the trade-off:  do you use your ordinance early and maintain concealment, or do you save your ordinance and use your guns to take out targets as you proceed to the headquarters?

The answer to this varies with situation.  If there's a lot of enemy fighters overhead, I tend to use ordinance.  However, if I don't see any enemy fighters nearby, I'll typically use guns only, saving the bombs and rockets for a later time.  

The IL-2 is an exception to the rule.  With 8 rockets and 4 bombs, it's got ordinance to spare.  With the IL-2 I typically wait until I'm about 3,000ft (1,000m) away from a target, then fire one rocket while I strafe it with cannon, repeating this process to as many targets as possible while still proceeding to the enemy Headquarters.  This allows a player to conserve the IL-2s ordinance while still keeping the cannons cool enough to take out targets in one pass.  However, in a Tier 5-7 match, ground targets are strong enough to require multiple rockets AND cannon fire to destroy it in one pass.

Tip 2c:  AVOID CIRCLING A TARGET prior to the Headquarters

If you attack a ground target but fail to destroy it, keep on flying toward the enemy HQ.  DO NOT TURN AROUND!

Why?

Simple:  every time you attack a ground target, that enemy's minimap pings the location of the ground target you just attacked.  By turning around to re-attack it, you're giving the enemy more time to "fly to the ping", find you, and take you out.  Also, by loitering in one spot, you're delaying the destruction of the enemy Headquarters.

Once enough enemy fighters are destroyed, loitering an area to destroy all the ground targets is permissible, so long as the remaining fighters are not nearby or pose a threat to you.

Rule 3: If attacked, Fight on YOUR TERMS
Eventually, every Ground Attack aircraft will take some sort of enemy aircraft fire.  This does not have to mean an instant death for the GA pilot.  Here's some tips to survive (and even thrive) in an aerial engagement:

Tip 3a:  Ask For and Find HELP!

In-game Chat Macros are wonderful things.  They're a quick way to place a chat message to your team and also place a symbol over your aircraft visualizing what you've requested.  The default "F7" key is "Clear My Tail!", with an "SOS" symbol placed above your aircraft.  The "F4" key is "Cover Me" as well.  A combination of these will let your team know that you're in need of fighter support.

If the Headquarters is destroyed and you're out of ordinance, a viable option is to head towards friendly fighters and AA guns.  Any extra friendly firepower in a fight is a good thing, and closing the gap between you and your teammates can help shorten the time it takes to get those guns on target.

Tip 3b:  Maneuver SMARTLY, but not EXCESSIVELY

A maneuvering aircraft is harder to hit than an aircraft flying straight and level.  With this in mind, a GA pilot should keep changing direction.  Bobbing and weaving or a horizontal scissors maneuver (sharp change in the opposite direction when the enemy pursuer changes theirs) gives your tail gunner the most time to engage the enemy.

However, do not attempt any steep pitch attitudes.  You will NOT out-climb an enemy pursuer, and your aircraft generally does not have enough power to climb (at a reasonable speed) for an extended period of time.  What will most likely occur is a stall, which makes you an easy target.  This completely goes against Rule 1.

You can use your slow speed to your advantage in some cases.  If an aircraft of lower tier is chasing you, and your tail gunner has a clear shot, you can actually SLOW DOWN to draw the enemy closer and potentially overshoot you.  The closer the enemy, the more damage your tail gunner can do.  Smart maneuvering and a low airspeed can keep the enemy close enough for the tail gunner to hit while minimizing the amount of damage you sustain.

Finally, try to avoid engaging enemy aircraft AT ALL with ordinance equipped.  A ground attack aircraft has poor maneuverability in general, and any ordinance still equipped will bring down the aircraft's maneuverability even more.  Simply dropping bombs or firing rockets to get rid of them to dogfight should be the absolute LAST RESORT possible.  If there's a ground target still standing, your ordinance should be used on that if at all possible.

To summarize:

Get low and stay there.  Stick to your route.  Take out targets enroute to the enemy Headquarters.  Take out the Headquarters, whatever you do.  Don't pretend to fly like a fighter.  Stay alive!

Remember, each battle is different.  What works in one may not work in another.  These rules and tips are general in nature and are not meant for any specific engagement.

Good luck, and happy ground target killing!

4/1/14:  Ok, there is a newer way to install mods.  This has been around since 1.2.1 and I have been toying with it to make sure that it works correctly.  This newer method works with the same concept as Hyruun's XVM mod that still uses the res_mods folder but uses a pkg file with the modded files inside that pkg.  This way allows to mod w/o having to unpack other files into the res_mods folder.

 

Currently, I will have my Mod Compilation and Camera Mods updated for 1.2.3 and will slowly work on the other mods as standalone.

 

 

My compilation are various mods that I use from the Russian Forums plus some that are my own work.

 

DrSinister Mod Compilation

 

Installation:

  1. Download "DrSinister Mod Compilation with XVM.zip" and upack in WoWp root directory.
  2. Play the game.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Individual Mods

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Authors of each mod are listed with the Mods.
Also some of the descriptions I put in are the Russian descriptions that I have Google Translated so bear with the broken English.

 

All these mods are Standalone or Standalone with XVM (which includes Movable Radar, In Hanger Clock, In Battle Clock)

With the way mods are done now, to mix and match can be a pain.  Unless you have the proper File Archive program to individual add the files as a mix and match, your best bet is to just PM me the ones you want to mix and match and I will piece it together and send you the zip file of the files you want.

 

******************************************************************************************************************************

DrSinister Camera Mod - Author: DrSinister

DrSinister Camera Mod with XVM

Spoiler

******************************************************************************************************************************

Hootorez Camera Mod - Author: Hootorez

Hooterez Camera Mod with XVM

Video

******************************************************************************************************************************

Zapperguy Camera Mod - Author: Zapperguy

Zapperguy Camera Mod with XVM

Video

******************************************************************************************************************************

Alternate HUD Arrow Markers - Author: Hootorez

Alternate HUD Arrow Markers with XVM

http://imgur.com/rmo2CIx

******************************************************************************************************************************

Gradient Colored Variant 3 Attitude Indicator Ver. 2 - Author: DrSinister

Gradient Colored Variant 3 Attitude Indicator Ver. 2 with XVM

This mod changes the Variant 3 Pitch Ladder Attitude Indicator.

******************************************************************************************************************************

Red Bullets - Author: DrSinister

******************************************************************************************************************************

 

As I update each mod, I will pull them out of this spoiler.

Out of Date mods:

Spoiler

Ok, this'll be my big all encompassing guide to skinning. To help make it easier to read I'll just go through the process, stopping to explain bits as I go along. Please note: Do read the entire thing, there's some important notes at the end. Anyway, on with the show.


Necessary Software
First off , you'll need some sort of photo editing software that is capable of working with .dds files. The majority of editing software doesn't come WITH the capability of editing .dds files, and for those you will need plugins. Some that come to mind are Gimp, Paint.net and Photoshop, Gimp and Paint.net being freeware and Photoshop costing, well... a lot. Here are a few links to guide you to the proper software:

Gimp (the actual program): http://www.gimp.org/
Gimp (the .dds plugin): http://registry.gimp.org/node/70
Photoshop (the .dds plugin): https://developer.nv...adobe-photoshop
Paint.net (the actual program): http://www.getpaint.net/ (Direct .dds support, does not require plugins)

Obviously I can't link you to the actual program Photoshop, as that's what we call pirating, and that is bad. There may be a trial version however.

You will also need a program to extract the .dds files from the .pkg files that the game uses, as well as repackage your modified .dds files back into the .pkg files. The only ones that come to mind for me are 7zip and Winrar, 7zip being open source software and Winrar being a payed for program, but having a trial time period that you could use. Here's link for those as well:

7zip: http://www.7-zip.org/
Winrar: http://www.win-rar.c...nload.html?&L=0

For the rest of this guide everything you see will be done with Photoshop and Winrar, as that's what I use, though I'd imagine the other programs work pretty similar. Installing everything should be pretty simple so I'm not going to go through that process.

Locating the .dds Files
First off, after you've got your necessary software installed (if you didn't already have it), your going to need to locate the .dds files for the plane you want to skin. For this guide I'll be using the Bf 109 G, since it's the only plane I've FULLY skinned so far.

Navigate to where the .pkg files are located (mine are a little different since I didn't install in the default location, but you'll get the idea) and copy it to, for example, your desktop.


Next, change the file extension from .pkg to .zip, and select yes when it gives you the warning about changing file extensions. (A note on this: Alex mentioned that you do not have to change the file extension, but that you can simply extract the files using whatever extraction software your using.)


Now, using the extraction software we've got we simply extract the files. I always use the "extract to (insert file destination here)" method, as I find it's the easiest, and I can always move the folder/files around afterwards.


Now we've got all those folders with all those .dds files. (Mind you I've got some extra .psd files from previously working on skins.)


Editing the .dds Files
Let's go ahead and open the GR11_BF109G_hangar file (default skin file). You can do that by opening it through your photo editing software or, since we installed the .dds plugins, simply double click the file. (You may have to right click the file, select properties, and make whatever program your using the default for this to work, and if you do if makes life much easier.)


Once the program starts up and the file opens you'll get a little box like this. Make sure you open the file at the default sizes.


Now you've got your skin open in your photo editing software and your free do play with it as much as you want, just make sure you don't rotate it, or it will look all sorts of weird in game because nothing will match up right. Then when your done playing around with it, simply save it over the currently existing .dds file.


When you go to save it you'll get yet another dialogue box like this. Make sure you've got everything set like I do in this picture. (It's all default so I'd imagine Gimp users can just leave everything defaulted.)


Repackaging the .dds Files
Now we go ahead and open our extracting/packaging software, locate, and open the games .pkg archive.


When your locating the .pkg archives within your extracting/packaging software you'll have to make sure it's looking for all file types, as the .pkg files may not show up otherwise. Once you do that you'll be able to see the .pkg file.


Now, still within the extraction/packaging software, we navigate to where the .dds file is located.


Now you'll click and drag the .dds file you modified pretty much anywhere in the folder you have open with your extraction/packaging software, with the exception of into one of those top three folders.


Now you'll get one last dialogue box. Make sure you have everything set like I do. (Aka: The default way.)


That's it, now your ready to go fly your pretty new plane!

Final Notes (Notes with dates have been added at a later time, just putting the dates there to make new ones easier to find.)
Please note that you should not have WoWP open while doing all this. Aside from the demand on your computer, you won't be able to repackage your .dds files if it's open. It should also be noted that you need to back up your original .pkg files in case you mess anything up.

I have heard that some planes are not skinnable. I however have not yet run into this problem, though I have not skinned every plane in the game, so you may come across one that you can't. I have also run into problems with blanking out the country insignia, kill markers, unit numbers, and the other common files. The last time I tried messing with them I broke something or other and had to resort to reinstalling to fix the issue. (My fault for not backing anything up.)

4/15/2013
It does not SEEM that changing the image size of the .dds file affects the skin, at least not increasing it, as long as you go in multiples rather than decimals. For example, I was able to 4x the size of the P-51A skin with no problem, albiet a huge file size. Another note on that as well, keep in mind if you do increase the size of the image, the greatly increases the size of the file, therefore decreasing game performance. Testing it on the 51A, when I 4x'ed the image, the file size shot up to roughly 30mb, though it does look better. Just something to keep in mind.

I take no responsibility for broken games. Modding any game is a risk, but if you do it properly everything should be fine.

Have any questions? Feel free to ask. Also, if there is any way I can improve this guide, please do let me know, as this is an ongoing project of mine.

Lastly, a big thanks goes out to DrSinister for helping me figure out how to get skins to work in WoWP.

I had posted this in another thread and decided it is probably better used as its own thread.

Here is a crash course of using the new axes graphs to adjust for sensitivity/precision and getting the joystick properly setup for the game.

Note: I will be showing how to adjust the axes via the yaw axis because this is the only axes I have still linear.


Basic Overview of the Joystick Settings

First thing you need to press ESC, click settings and change the control scheme to Joystick.  (if yours is bugged and shows all joystick or another control scheme, then select through them till the Adjust Joystick Axes button appears.)  Now press the Adjust Joystick Axes button (button encase in red in picture.)


This will bring up the Axes graphs, each axis has its own graph, Roll, Pitch, Yaw, Thrust and Boost (green section), how the game reads your stick (orange section), deadzone and invert axis (red section), and what axis to set for each axis in game (blue section).


Make sure that the orange section reads your joystick all centered, if this is not the case, then exit the game and re-calibrate it via Windows Game Controller screen.  (Google this if you can not find it for your Operating System.)

Now for each Axes on the left, make sure that each one has the proper axis assigned to your joystick (blue section).  Also make sure that it is not set as Axis # (Default Controller), inside the (  ) should have your Joystick Name, like it does for my Extreme 3D Pro in the yellow section of the picture.


You will also notice that there is no sensitivity slider anymore. this is done via the graph.

How to read the Graph

This is what the graph looks line in default state:


The bottom of the graph (horizontal plane or the yellow line) is the representation of the physical joystick positions (or %).  Each graph line represents 5 points in a scale of 0-100 points.
The left side of the graph (vertical plane or the orange line) is the representation rate of roll, pitch, or yaw (or %).  Each graph line represents 5 points in a scale of 0-100 points.

Setting up the Curves

Each graph has 8 movable points, green section, you can add (left clicking anywhere on the graph) or remove (right clicking the point) from the graph and 2 stationary points (0 and 100 and are not displayed). Note: In default state only 1 point is displayed.

In a default state, the graphs shows a 45 degree line from 0 to 100.  This is also known as a Linear curve.  What this represents is that all points are 1:1.  For example, if my joystick is at 50% axis then the game will roll, yaw or pitch the plane 50%.


Now with the picture above you will see a non-linear curve. I have plotted 3 points, 15%, 25% and 35% of the Joystick Position, also these points are at the 5%, 20% and 35% of the Rate of Pitch, Roll, Yaw.

What does this mean? Well, what it means is that when my joystick is at 15% of the axis the game will represent the rate of pitch, roll, or yaw at 5%, at 25% joystick axis at 20% and at 35% joystick axis at 35%.  This also will lower the sensitivity of my joystick at these said points because they are not outputting the same % as what my joystick is positioned at.

Basically how you will look at the graph is anything below the 45 degree line will lower the sensitivity and anything above the 45 degree line will raise the sensitivity.

Also you will be doing a lot of tweaking of the graph at this stage till you can find a curve that will work for you.

Examples

The picture below will show how I lowered the rate by 5%, which is pretty much still a linear curve just adjusted lower.


What this curve below achieves is that from 0 to 35% it reduces the sensitivity of the rate of pitch, roll, or yaw near the center of the joystick, this also will allow more precision tuning of the plane at the center of the joystick.  Then after 35% its the same linear 1:1 curve for the remainder of the joystick positions.


Now my curve that I use looks like this:
(do not look at the additional points that I have in my curve, this is advanced modding of the xml to get more then the 8 points to adjust, I am just using my curve itself as an example)
This is my old curve.

This curves overall has a slight lower sensitivity.  In the center of my joystick its lowered to where I feel I have the best fine tuning for me then it rolls back up in sensitivity around 30-50% of my joystick then it rolls down in sensitivity again after 50% to about 99% to give me even more fine tuning at this point (this would be used more in a turn fight because this is roughly where my joystick is when I am lining up a shot) then at 100% stick it gives me the full rate of pitch or roll.

My new curve as of 4/17/13, both pitch and roll are different curves now:



Well I hope this helps explains the graphs a bit.  I am not sure if I went enough in detail.  If you have any questions just leave it here or PM me.

Having played a lot solo before and after release, and since I would say the majority of the player base plays solo the majority of the time, I thought I would share some general tips I've learned from facing the best pilots in the game or picked up on the forum from those same pilots.

 

Plane selection:

 

The current meta in 1.1 still dictates that a solo player who expects to carry games regularly should select a high altitude fighter. You need to limit the number of enemies that can target you at one time, particularly when heavily outnumbered. I prefer light fighters because when attempting a hard carry (i.e. heavily outnumbered) you can get back into the attack quicker and they typically conserve energy better than heavy's, giving you more ability to escape, more options to limit damage taken and more escape options, even after multiple attack runs. Heavy's I have a harder time carrying with against long odds (unless the enemy is cooperative), but they can tip the balance faster since they kill much quicker.

 

In the middle tiers where most of the full battles take place on our server, the strongest lights are arguably the 109B, 109E (sans cannons), P-51A and P-51D. These planes have some of the highest speeds, energy retention, altitude limits combined with good manuverability. They are maxed for BnZ, which is the only consitent tactic for pulling off the hard carry.

 

You generally want very full games when playing solo, as it gives the enemy more targets and it's harder for you to get singled out. You may even get the cooperation or mistakes needed to crack a uni flight solo with more teammates. This, for me, means playing the majority of games in the middle tiers and playing daily for doubles in the higher ones or possibly during peak hours depending on how the queues are running. Tiers IV and VI generally give the best MM and the two planes I've identified (109B and P-51A) can hold their own when down tier, but it depends on the evening and who's playing, sometimes it's an even higher tier that gets the better MM. MM can only work with what it has, so try to get into that groove of where the best games are running.

 

Tier IV is a good training tier until you brush up on your BnZ, as the number of enemies that can climb well are few (meaning threats to you are fewer), pilot skill is generally lower, the 109B is very good even against Tier V's. Tier IV receives preferential MM meaning you'll be high tier more often. Tier V is harder, as you're regularly bottom tier. Tier VI will drop against Tier V fairly often but does get pulled up regularly too.

 

Pre-battle strategy:

 

I generally do roughly the same thing at the start of every battle. Climb at the start using boost at about a ~60 degree angle, taking care not to get too far towards the enemy's side. After I'm done boosting, I'll level off and continue to climb at an angle that allows me to maintain or even gain a little airspeed until I'm well into my red zone. This usually puts me above and behind most of my teammates. I find this useful as they will spot and sometimes engage the enemy first, distracting them. I'll also generally select a larger group of friendly's to follow. Use the Alt key and make sure you're following heavy's at altitude or lights. If you know other players on your team are good, try to find them and follow them (at least initially, it's difficult without different coloring once the battle is joined) as they're the most important to keep alive and the most likely to return the favor.

 

Target Selection and Positioning:

 

This game is primarily about positioning. Get on someone's 6; they'll have a hard time shaking you. If they do shake you, or you them, it takes time and energy. With short games, you don't have time to dicker around dodging fire and burning energy and solo, you rarely will have someone to clear your tail for you. So try not to get engaged by an enemy, particularly early on and with an energy deficit. Situational awareness is key. Try to get ignored early on and bait enemies into climbing up well into your and their red zone if you have the better energy position. If you see many planes at altitude and you're alone, turn around and find a better time to attack them when you have a better position. If you can't outrun them, at least bring them down in altitude.

 

Select a target that is a threat to you first. Heavy's at altitude, other mirror fighters or other high altitude fighters are priorities. Try to kill them quickly, as early damage and numbers are more helpful to your team. If you can clear a friendly tail, do it. Even if your teammates don't kill anyone, they're useful as distractions to the enemy. If everyone is down low turnfighting, take out the climbers first.

 

Think of the battlefield like layers on a cake. Eat the top layer first before dropping down to the next. Don't give up your altitude advantage unless your sector is completely clear of high altitude threats first, then alway prioritize regaining altitude. Think of your own survival and escape opportunities before attacking. Survive first and foremost. You can't do damage when you're dead. Usually, your escape is up, so make sure you have a very good energy position vs. the enemy before dropping down.

 

The vertical BnZ is the primary effective tactic in a light like those I've identified early. Whether mouse or joystick due to view limitations and spotting mechanics, it's harder for a player to keep and eye on you when directly above. The joystick can't see straight up unless the player is in a 90 degree turn and using the free look mouse is problematic while manuvering. The target lock window is only somewhat helpful and only functions if they actually have you locked.

 

If players want to point their nose up to take a look at you or even better, chase you, this causes them to lose energy, making them a floating target. Take advantage of this with your attacks. Bait your enemy into chasing you upwards and stalling if you can, it makes for easy kills. The worst thing is when a bunch of enemies are down low circling and won't take the bait and you're badly behind on supremacy, not because they're hard targets (they're usually sitting ducks) but because it usually takes more time and energy to kill someone who's not cooperating by stalling out and it's harder to dodge fire if they all stick together. Also, It's typically your death knell if you continue to overshoot your targets with your dive after a BnZ. Pull out early so you can conserve more energy and make another pass.

 

Spotting mechanics favor attacking from above and behind. Try to split-s onto a target instead of going head on whenever possible. It gives you longer on target and you aren't as likely to collide or take return fire. If they see you and point their nose up to attack, bait them upwards. If you can't get a top shot, try for the flank. Shooting from directly behind someone does the least damage. Make sure to hold your fire until inside of effective range if your target is not aware of your presence, you have a better chance of killing them in one pass as they'll have less chance to evade. I've survived many times because I immediately take action when tracers start flying or I hear impacts. Don't continue to chase that target you're attacking, dodge the incoming fire.

 

Throttle control:

 

Some planes carry too much energy to turn in their optimal range. Some even have a dip in thier turning curve at the right speed range so they turn faster at a specific speed than anywhere else. Make sure to use the throttle control (or even speed brake) and properly timed use of flaps to tame the speed if caught in a turnfight. Manual flaps and speed brake work well too to give yourself more time on target in a dive if you can spare the energy. A small amount of boost (~1 sec.) timed after a small amount of speed brake (~1 sec.) will often give a tighter turn than the plane should be capable of under normal circumstances, depending on your speed of entry. Often, just a little speed brake or throttle reduction is enough by itself.

 

Equipment and Perks:

 

Equipment that should be first - polished covering. Optical gunsight is really only a nice to have on fighters with wing mounted guns. Everything else isn't that critical.

 

For Perks, view range and engine guru first, then crack shot after that, take your pick really.

 

Manuevers:

 

The most effective manuevers are the hammerhead (stall turns to kill enemies dumb enough to chase you up- really in WoWP due to the stall mechanics, you're better off completing a tight loop and not stalling completely at the top), barrel roll (for avoiding fire) and yo-yos (to get inside of a slower fighter's turn when you have more energy). Most other manuevers IRL don't work in WoWP. Scissors lead to rams fairly often.

 

Consumables:

 

Engine restarter and Av gas always. Then pick either Fire ext. or med kit depending on your perks. Fire ext. is probably more useful, getting wounded in a DE or US plane is rare.

 

Ammo:

 

I don't find that using anything but silver ammo (AP or I) is neccessary. I've played thousands of games running everything with AP without feeling disadvantaged. Solid core and HE are better, but only marginally so and not enough to typically swing a game.

 

In Closing:

 

I hope this helps newer players. It will probably be old hat to the veterans. I know it's general, but it's impossible to convey specifics for every possible situation.

Pilots!

We figured since our collection will continue to grow, it would be nice to have all our Youtube videos in one spot.
So we will post them all here from now on!

Thanks for watching!

~Hathore

THIS IS A RE-POST TO EXPLAIN MYSELF TO A NEW GROUP OF PEOPLE. It's a year later and test results show that short term memory, hand to eye coordination, multi-tasking, dyslexia, and 3D spatial thinking skills are all down dramatically. I can't 3D model anymore either. Sucks

 

Greetings,
I'm Mac Myers.... aka SkyWolf__WM..... and I'd like to offer an apology of sorts to some great people.     At least the ones who read the forums. Everyone should however.
I'm apparently making people feel like poop or fed up with me because I rarely (now almost never) Flight up and have also turned down some offers to join a couple of Clans. I DO appreciate the offers, but my play is just too erratic. I'm also erratic on the Forums as well I'm told.
So what's with me? Who TH this guy hanging out on the fringe of everything?    Always saying "
Is he a Lone Wolf? A James Dean like Rebel without a clue? A  hidden force for good (think incompetent Batman)? Is he a snob? Is he Antisocial? A narcissistic anal pore? A Masked man? An  enigma, wrapped in a riddle, surrounded by bacon and mystery?
No.... That ain't it.
Here's the actual reason why:
I was not so recently diagnosed with a Terminal Degenerative Brain Disease which makes me dumber by the minute and will kill me in 2-3 years. It also makes me tense and cranky at times.   
I have found solace in Religion and the comforting embrace of the FSM.    I was also quite brilliant to begin with so most people who don't really know me can't tell I'm down 20 who the heck knows IQ Points.
It's not that much fun most of the tine but the complete lack of fear (of anything), the complete lack of regard for my well being or the social mores, as well as the lack of impulse control (like posting this at all)  is awesome, Incredibly Liberating. It does on occasion get me RO'd here cause I can be a bit...uh... "Direct" (Spelled d.o.u.c.h.e.y).
If you rag on the WoWP, whining like a 4 year old at the Kmart, and offering no positive criticism/suggested improvements in the game then I will imply that you are a dim bulb and will speculate that your parents were not married at the time of your birth..... or something a bit less palatable.
My game play at times (probably most times) is terrible as I have little to no short term memory,  can't multitask (I can either watch who I'm killing or watch my 6 but can't really do both very well).
I am  dyslectic, CSS, I forget which buttons are what on my Joystick, and recently can actually get turned around on the Asian ALMOST ANY map, get lost in the fog, and lose all SA. I can barely watch myself much less a  Wingman(men). I lose track of them 8 seconds after the battle begins.
I don't feel that I would be a consistent "win" for a team or Klan as I often fail to fail to suck. So I suck in silence.. accepting my lot in life and drinking Ice Tea so strong that it would give Si Robertson heartburn.
I love this game and will probably stop have stopped playing the other two Sims I fly as I find the complexity an annoyance rather than a challenge now.... I also think Warthunder is a dooky but I'm sick of talking about it.
Sometimes I'm okay or somewhat near okay. Of course okay for me would send most people screaming like a banshee, running voluntarily into a padded room.
I'm working on a bucket list of inane things.... mostly stuff I've done before that I would like to do again. Like failing to have a terminal illness or bungie jumping.  Much of it concerns food apparently..... Specifically eggs over easy with bacon and hash browns or home fries,  fried up in bacon grease along with some toast to soak up the left over greasy egg yolk.  I mean like what? It's bad for my health?
Also....
Life's a female hound and then you are me.
Once Mac never back.
If you call me Big Mac then it just means you've never seen me naked.
TMI?
Sharing too much?
You feel weird and really uncomfortable now?   
Tough poop, walk it off. If I can joke about it so can you. 
So to recap: Thank you for the offers, sorry to annoy those who ask, I like bacon, the FSM... I am failing to fail to suck, I R stoooopuder that I used to be, I'm not very good at WoWP but really like playing it anyway.
Regards,  
Mac "SkyWolf" Myers
Last known surviving member of the 1980's Widow Maker Squadron.  
PS: I don't expect people to reply to this... it's for informational purposes. 

Thilix

Hello Pilots!

 

Who is this guy?

Some of you guys may remember me from pre-release but if not you should get to know me over the next month or so.

My name is Mugsy, well my name is Brian but people have been calling me Mugsy since I was 15. It's more than a gamer tag, my girlfriend's grandma calls me Mugsy. 

I have been with Wargaming for a couple years now, I started my tour of duty on World of Tanks and learned a great deal about how to listen and learn from our community. I was responsible for World of Warplanes from the end of Closed Beta until release, then I transitioned into the Specialist role where I craft server-side events, specials, Premium Shop bundles, and now the missions.

 

Why are you writing this?

Recently, we had a change in staffing, Tadaah has moved on to other endeavors and I am going to be more hands on with the community while a new Community Manager is selected. I expect that it will be a month or so for a new person to be introduced and brought up to speed. Which also means I have a month or so to do everything I can to improve the quality of life in our community. But, obviously I cannot do this alone. Not only will I rely on Gunlion, Alo8ght, Pizzastorm, and our brothers in the Spanish and Portuguese communities - I will also need your help.

 

Really, we just met you and you are asking for things?

Fair enough phantom bold voice. Before I am audacious enough to ask for something, let me tell you what I will do for you.

I will work to :

• IMPROVE COMMUNICATION - I want to see meaningful communication, hard ball questions being answered and lines of direct communication opened from you to our devs
• find cool ways to showcase our community and community members
• make it easy for people to work together on projects that will benefit everyone (for example guides, videos, streams, mods, skins, fan site kits, and more)
• increase staff/player interactions with random battle contests, hangout streams, and more personal content pieces
• MAKE IT FUN - this forum should have a lot more to offer than petty arguments, we should be sharing our passions, talents, hobbies, creativity, and humor
• EMPOWER - you should feel heard, appreciated, and capable of introducing ideas, content, projects, and impacting your community

 

Sounds good but what about the game's development?

Also a fair question, though this particular wall of text was aimed at resolving the issues in our community, that is obviously tied to the state of our game. Basically, here is an overview of what is happening behind the curtain: Our updates tend to alternate between content and features. Features are big things like clans, eSports tools, end game content, additional game modes, and our recent mission system. Content includes new nations, aircraft, premium aircraft, equipment, consumables, and those kinds of in game...content. Yes, I used a word in its own definition, lay off me phantom bold voice. 

 

As each update drops we'll have a stronger and stronger game that will appeal to more and more people. We will get behind each of these additions and really get the most we can out of them. In the coming months you will see a very big push to improve optimization since the system requirements are pretty high for a Free to Play game. The good news is that your input can really help shape how these features and content take shape. I can speak fairly confidently on this subject because when I disappeared from the forums at release it was to really become the NA development advocate. I would reappear every update and sometimes in between to ask for input, feedback, and suggestions. I would then discuss your thoughts with Publishing and Development Producers, the Development Studio Heads, and Designers. 

 

If you are listening then why are there still overpowered planes?

While we are taking note of balance feedback, and you will see it being adjusted in updates it cannot be the focus at this time. Especially because we are still changing broader mechanics which will end up having a ripple effect on balance anyway. We could get the table all set up perfectly but it won't last if we end up changing the table cloth. Yes, horrible figurative language is my gift. However, as mentioned above, I want to make the quality of life better and better so let's start identifying the worst offenders and pushing to get them brought somewhat into balance with the rest of the group.

http://forum.worldof...8281-omg-so-op/

 

Ok, you have won me over, Mugsy you are surely a king amongst men.

Actually, I think it is "among men" but thanks, Boldy. So can I ask for my favor now?

 

Aye.

Haha that's like a Viking "yes", maybe the most powerful of all affirmatives. So, I want to accomplish all the things I said above but I need your help. I need everyone to communicate clearly about what they need, want, volunteer to contribute, identify things that aren't working, and let's collectively take ownership of our community, find ways to make it better and better, and have faith. I know people are feeling frustrated, neglected, uninformed, and those of you who have been here for a long time might be feeling worn out. But I earnestly believe that we can fix our problems and set things up to get better and better. I think I have done good by this community in the past and I hope you can bet on me again.

 

I will be in touch with a more specific outline of how we can start.

 

 

 

Hello Pilots,

There is some understandable confusion around the 1.2.2 Micropatch details so I would like to detail the patch notes here:

 
Interface:
The display of the plane research availability by pressing the right mouse button in the predecessor's plane research window did not consider the need for additional module research if there was enough experience for research without it. 
Paint (Camo) could be purchased without player confirmation if he was switching between menus.
Predecessor-plane's experience was not considered in the research confirmation window (right mouse button in the Tech Tree).
Plane research availability was displayed (right mouse button in the Tech Tree) when there were not enough experience for research.
The wrong sum of experience needed for the research was displayed in the research confirmation window when there were not enought experience.
Research confirmation button in the plane research window remained active even if there were not enough experience.
The experience of the plane-predecessor was not mentioned in the plane research window.
 
Chat:
Switching the player off the client when entering, if he has more than 100 chat contacts .
Possibility to create more than 10 channels using key combo Tab+Space.
Blocking the channel context menu and "invite a player" function after the group re-naming.
Flight channel turned out to be expanded (opened) after returning from the battle.
IF a flight had 3 members, including flight creator - "Invite a player" button and invite from the context menu of the flight channel remained available.
After pressing RMB on the private channel closure icon the LMB function was inactive and it was impossible to close the private channel.
If the settings checkbox "Show players online only" was marked and after re-logging into the client - friends online were not displayed.

 

I don't understand why an article wasn't posted on the News Portal but I will investigate and ensure that for future patches we provide these details in advance.

Going into a battle in a Tier V plane, and you get a Tier VII match.  Over the chat window, someone starts whining about MM being 'unfair'.  You know instantly that that guy has lost.  In his mind, he cannot win; so he won't.  A self-fulfilling prophesy.
Two questions arise:  

• Is it you doing the whining?
  
• If not, is the loser on your team?

If the answer to both is "no" you're in pretty good straits.  If yes to the second; you and the team have to pick up his slack, and whomever else he has demoralized.  If yes to the first: this post is for you.

Strategery.  Tacticalness.  Planz.

All have to change based on the situation.  Your plan should never be: fly the way the game points me until I see a plane then try to shoot it down.  If that's your current plan, reassess.

Being top tiered is not a key for success; it simply means you can survive more mistakes.  Your equipment can make up for you pulling a stupid.

Being bottom tiered is not a recipe for disaster; you simply must avoid or minimize mistakes, because your equipment cannot pick up the slack for poor decision making.

So, first off, what do you need to know?  Here's how I do it:
Situation

Mission
<p>

• Going to climb to get altitude and linger over our base.  During this time I watch the minimap for where the enemy has most of its planes - I'm going the other way.  Need to stay near our blob and avoid theirs.  Priority targets include base sneaking mid-low tier bombers, and their escorts if any.  After that, I will go where we have a numeric advantage and assist in the swarm.

Execution
<p>

• When high tiered, I don't mind fighting the enemy up front, but this time I'm staying back, watching the map and flying high.

Administration and Logistics

Command and Control

And what do you know... It worked.
TL;DR - change your tactics to be much more conservative and maximize your advantages (AA, Turning Ability, Situational Awareness) when low tiered.  Minimize mistakes; your equipment cannot cover for you making stoopid decisions.
Profanity
6h RO issued
~GM/Mod Teams

Salutations, Pilots! Today I'd like to introduce you to your new CM; talk a bit about the World of Warplanes community policy moving forward; and touch on the state of the game and address some of the bigger topics of discussion within the community. 

 

I won't keep you in suspense, your new World of Warplanes Community Manager is: me! Since joining Wargaming in late 2013, I have been inspired by the passion all of you have for World of Warplanes: your devotion to the game, your creativity, and your willingness to help strengthen the community through your actions as players. I feel amazingly connected to this community, and it is my honor and privilege to step into the role as your Community Manager. My goal is to ensure that you are having an amazing experience revolving around World of Warplanes, and I want to give everyone an overview on what you'll be seeing coming up. (Basically, "What are you going to do for us, gunlion?")

 

Transparency

Players today are wanting more than ever to be clued in on the how's, why's, and when's of a game's development, from learning about how game mechanics work, to the thoughts behind a design decision, to finding out when the next update is coming and what's going to be in it. Over the past month we've been giving players a lot more peeks behind the curtain with World of Warplanes, through the Developer Blog, Dev Q&As (those March answers are coming!), and with WG being a more active presence on the forums. We're going to continue this trend of insight, information, and involving our players into what's going on with World of Warplanes. 

 

This also means that when issues arise, we're going to be communicating clearly and openly with you to the best of our ability. While there may be technical and confidentiality limitations on what we are able to divulge, we're going to keep you informed and apprised, and we're going to squash the false perception that our players' concerns are going unheard. (More on that a bit later.)

 

Community Events

At its core, World of Warplanes is an amazing multiplayer aerial combat game, and it's only going to become better as more content and features are added. From the community side, we're going to be giving our players more options on how to play within the game that won't require any (or at least not much) development time. You're already seeing the beginnings of that with the Escort Battle Encounters event, giving players additional, optional in-game goals separate from missions that provide some great rewards and shake up the standard battle mode. Expect more WG-run events in this vein, as well as some really cool things coming up that we'll be putting in the hands of our players that will give you and your friends brand new ways to play the game. 

 

Game Issues

Now to the real meat and potatoes:

 

"As the Community Manager, what are you going to do--or what CAN you do--to alleviate some of the issues with the game, such as chat, the matchmaker, population issues, and game balance?"

 

There's this negative perception I've read in the forums where our players feel they are not being heard, and if they are, that it has no impact. I dislike that perception. It's wholly untrue, but I understand where it comes from: there are outstanding issues that the community has frustrations with that need to be addressed, and I think I can be open enough to say that until such time as they are addressed, that perception is unfortunately going to remain. The development team is very keyed in to issues that affect our players, and as Community Manager I will be working to make sure that we're being honest in how we talk about these issues, as well as making sure these issues are accurately represented to the developers. As Community Manager, think of me as your advocate to put forward your concerns with their due gravity and importance. 

 

2014 is going to be a great year for World of Warplanes. We have a lot of things coming down the pipe that I think deserve their own posts (also, with respect to transparency, sometimes we have to hold things close to the chest until we're prepared to announce them!), but I want to thank everyone again for your continued support, enthusiasm, and patience. Stick around, because big things are coming, and we want to share them with you. 

 

o7

Hello denizens of the forums!

 

Today I'd like to discuss gun convergence vs gun dispersion, and the effects we'd see in-game. First, I'll talk a little about gun dispersion, which we currently see in-game, and then I'll talk about gun convergence which is the way it was IRL. 

 

Gun Dispersion:

Currently we see gun dispersion in-game. Gun dispersion is based on a gaussian dispersion which means your bullets fan out in a 'cone' pattern starting from the moment they leave your guns. This effectively gives you a 'shotgun' effect at mid to long distances.

 

Pros:

Gives players with a little less aiming ability a greater chance of dealing damage over time at longer ranges.

 

Cons:

Results in skill playing less of a role in aiming.

Reduces the effect of maneuvering to avoid gun solutions.

 

Neutral:

Guns are effective from 0m to maximum range.

 

 

Gun Convergence:

Gun convergence is the standard method used to achieve a usable weapons platform for aircraft with wing-mounted weapons. Pilots would find a range at which they liked to open fire, and have their ground crews push the guns in or out to make all of the weapons 'converge' at a certain point for a fixed difference. This gives the weapons a 'triangle' firing pattern at ranges closer than the convergence distance, and an inverted triangle at ranges further than the convergence distance.

 

Pros:

More player customization. Players should be able to set their weapon convergence range to suit their play style.

Weapons are not as effective at ranges greater than convergence.

The  'flat' weapon spread makes evasive maneuvering more viable as bullets will not have any up/down scatter.

Pilots who learn to use their convergence range to their advantage will be able to use their weapons more effectively if they maintain the correct range.

Pilots who pay attention to their opponent's convergence ranges will be able to take better evasive action. (using range as well as maneuvers to avoid an opponent. If you get out of the convergence range, the opponent can only hit you with 1 wing's worth of guns.)

Rewards players for learning a skill in-game.

 

Cons:

This system is a little more complex for the beginner. Nothing a quick 'flight school' episode can't handle though.

Makes aiming equipment irrelevant for wing-mounted weaponry.

 

 

My Suggestion:

Add gun convergence to aircraft with wing mounted weapons. Make it user-customizable. Get rid of dispersion for wing-mounted weapons. Keep dispersion for nose-mounted weapons, but change it to a normal distribution and make the cone a lot smaller. 

 

 

Cheers!
Glenn

Take this as you will i truly hope people have fun in this game these are my thoughts.

 

1. No promotion of any team work via game mechanics. Everything from a statistical standpoint minus win percentage is a solo venture.

2. MM needs ALOT of work from having 1 ga on a team, to having multiple ga's on a side and no heavies to counter on the other. Having multiple flights on one side.  Not to mention the tier spread planes are rarely balanced in their own tier let alone 2 tiers higher. People want to be able to contribute so they feel as their time is not wasted.

3. Unoptimized maps leading to huge fps drops when close to ground leads to more frustration.

4. Game being released too soon from chat, clans or maps seems like this was grossly mishandled with the player base to deal with it.

5. A severe lack of any type of competitive games easily 80% of all games are decided in 2-3 minutes or less. For whatever reason that seems to be the game model wanted from Wg.  Win, lose then reque and repeat Ad nauseam. It ends up being 6 people chasing the last kill or you being chased by 6. This ended up being a huge drain on me personally game by game the fun taken out by these i never like winning games like that and i surely didn't like losing them like that either.

 

Anyways i wish everyone the best and hope you have fun. I wanted to give a few thoughts on how i felt instead of just bolting. If you feel differently post here and let them know.