Please help with a few missions (long)
 

I got the game about a week ago for PS3 and I'm addicted. I have the Thrustmaster Hotas stick; I can't imaging how hard the controls would be on a regular controller. Anyway, there are a couple missions I can't get over the hump on, some of which I know have been discussed.

First is the initial "single mission" in the Battle of Britain, called Manston. I play in Arcade mode because I have a lot of trouble in Realistic (tried it-- I'll play in this mode after I beat Arcade). There are 8 Bf109s that I have to take out, and as many have mentioned, the rest of the flight/wingmen aren't very helpful. The best I've done is 5 kills, but the mission always ends in exactly 4 min 54 sec. I can't destroy that many aircraft in that little time. Any tips on how I can do this? From what I've read, Realistic mode drops the enemies to only 4 bogies, but I still won't be able to shoot them down in 5 min. Are my wingmen better in Realistic?

The second single mission giving me trouble is the one in which I have to inspect 3 airfields. I have a couple problems with this; the airfield on the top right is easy to land in because it's a very long strip. However, after I stop, the engine cuts out and I can't throttle up anymore. That's essentially like losing one pilot. The second airfield is MUCH shorter and seems to be grass; I have a lot of trouble even seeing where it starts and ends, and because it's so short and I have no brakes, I always roll off into the surrounding field and crash. End of mission. How do I land on these short fields? The thing that I hate about this mission is that it takes almost 5 minutes just to get from one field to the next, very annoying.

Finally, the third mission is in the Russian campaign-- yes, the Hornet's Nest. I read the 3 or so threads about this, and concluded that the only way to beat it is in Realistic mode. Is this really the case? I've shot down 12 Ju52s and still lost the mission, I've read about how some guys shot down 30 and still lost! The wingmen help a lot in this mission, but still not enough. I've tried shotting rockets into the bomber formation but it didn't work. Is the strategy to send the flight to one formation, while I head to another formation? Is it possible to beat this in Arcade mode?


edit: one more thing-- the Hotas stick has a HUGE deadzone in the throttle, at 55%. Any way to remove this? I'm less distracted by the deadzone in the stick.

Well in regards to your second problem, the actual problem is that your playing in arcade; and of course the lack of brakes. If you really cant play in realistic, which is much easier due to the physics at landing (even easier in sim because you have control of flaps) then dont touch down till your at 110 mph, practice this on the largest airport.
When it comes to the airfields, always, ALWAYS do a fly-over before attempting a landing, note that the bottom left airfield's main strip runs from west-to-east and I believe the other is south-to-north; simply fly over to verify its the airfield, then fly over again and line up correctly.
Of course, the main problem you have is the lack of brakes which i cant get over, your gonna find it hard to find space to turn around. When turing increase throttle to 20% to pickup speed, then once you hit 15 mpg reduce to 13%.

Any questions, let me know.

Landing in Realistic is easier than in Arcade? :confused: When I played the tutorial in Realistic, it took me 6 tries before I could land successfully, and even then it was a rough landing. I guess I need to slow down a lot. So your throttle still going when you touch down?

The inspect airfields done the same thing to me. Here,s the key. You don't have to stop. A touch and go will do. In landing, these airplanes in the game will glide for one hellava long way in arcade. They won't stall. Come in at a shallow angle and chop the throttle early in the pattern to 0. keep the nose pointed at the beginning of the runway. When you've got the angle right. don't try to fly it, just let it glide and it will fly itself. Just keep the nose pointed at the runway. Right before you get to the runway, give it a little up elevator, level it out, and let it gently touch down bt itself. The rudder works real well in turning the plane. Leave the ailerons alone. Basically, let the dang thing glide itself right in. They will go realy slow. I can almost land on a dime in Capture airfields. Just takes some practise. And remember, you don't have to come to a complete stop. Just make sure you hit the end of the runway and give yourself enough room to work with. Speed (or lack of it, I should say)and using all the runway are the keys.

In Stalingrad, you have to shoot them down as fast as you can. Period. Keep using the WEP. Screw the engine and your mates. Tell them to attack the targets in the beginning and then forget about them. They are useless. Haul ass from one yellow target marker to the other. There are 3 JU52's in each flight. Here's the key. They all fly right at you. They are going the opposite direction. Don't take them head on or you'll waste too much time turning around and chasing them. Come at them from the left or right and turn in behind them as the get close. Get close and slow down to their speed. DONT PASS THEM UP. Click on a target and hose him. The second he goes, click the next target. Point the nose at him (rudder works extremely well here) and hose him. Ditto with the third target. They don't take much damage. Heal over and haul ass for another yellow target on the map. Repeat.

1) Its trial and error, make sure you use your wingmen effectively, issue them commands to attack the primary targets (D-PAD down, then up) it will soon come to you relatively easily :)

2) Switch to the control pad!! the problem is the joystick. It doesnt have a brake, so you'll take an entire runway to stop. Dont worry though, this issue is being addressed in the patch. If your engine is cutting out though, it prob means you've struck the prop.

3) All i can suggest for this is you look up how people on this forum have done it (as you already have checked :) ) thats the best advice i can give you, its a tough nut to crack but with patience and luck you will get it done.


Need any more help then just post and we'll do what we can to help.

I've read that one guy used rockets in the HOrnet's Nest mission. Anybody else have success with this? I tried, didn't do much.

Also, in Arcade, it seems like there are more than 3 Ju52s per bunch. Maybe 3 per group, but there are 2 groups per wave. Based on what you guys are saying, I think Arcade has 2x the enemies in some missons as there are in Realistic.

on the whole i found the wingmen to be pretty damn good!! they helped out alot.

I wouldn't bank on it. :) That guy got real lucky I think, Air to Ground rockets aren't meant to take down transports. :) The Ju planes are pretty tough though, they take a while to down even with the firepower on your IL2.

Manston Mission and Hornets Nest. I found it easier to do these missions in 'realistic' since there are only half as many enemy a/c in this mode.

The Inspect Airfields I found difficult too untill I went to the Northern airfield first and then to the other two flying south. The runways lined up far better on approach. I watched my rate of descent and touched down at about 100mph all guns firing and at about 40mph used rudder. Never tried the touch and go as I didn't know that would be acceptable.....Doh! Rather than fly to the airfields I practiced a few touch downs on any suitable fields as soon as the mission starts, theres quite a few and it helped me fine tune my rate of descent and speed.

rockets work extremely well in realistic ( I found it easier to beat than arcade because there are less planes) To use the rocket get close to the JU-52 and fire off a couple. If you are close and they are in your sight reticle, one rocket blows them up nicely. The key is to be pretty close when you fire.

Yeah! I mean it's harder in the sense you need to get used to how the plane acts under stress and etc, the controls are much more touchy but (and this is from my experience not actual game knowledge) it seems arcade is designed to be faster paced, the planes move faster, accelerate faster, etc etc; Heres my approach to airfields:

As I said earlier, fly-over and lineup, then fly out till your about 8-10 k/m away and about turn, as the airfield comes into view reduce throttle to 40% till your speed hits 120 mph, you should still be level at this point. As you become about 2-3 k/m from the field and you have it in plain sight, drop gear and slowly decrease your alt and throttle till your speed is 100 mph and your lined up, just slightly above the ground. Just before you get to the start of the field, drop throttle to 0% and maintain only the smallest possible amount of height from the ground, let your plane touch-down by itself when it cant maintain alt anymore. Ideally this should be at 80 mph.

To get through Hornet's Nest:

) Be fast and efficient. Try not to depend on your wingmen too much. You've gotta get the transports before they land.

Try to hit them from the top or bottom which maximizes their profile. They're easier to spot if you are around 1500m or so, but make sure you're flying top speed if you fly that low. If you time it right, and keep some separation between your flight paths as you approach them, you can gain altitude while turning, set your flaps and end up on a perfect lead pursuit going slightly faster than the target. Then attack from 9 to 3 or top to bottom with a weave pattern, aiming at the body and engines; or set up under the target, jinking to stay out of the gunner's cone, and shoot a bunch of rounds into the side of the plane. You'll probably be shot down if you do this too much, but you'll beat the clock.

Free Hunt is even harder to beat, but you'll see that when you get to it.

Your wingmen are likely to ignore you, so if they all swarm on the same target as you, pick another one.

the wireless controller-aviator layout is the best by far for being able to keep track of the target.

) to land: there's no wheel brakes except on the controller> standard layout. It's hard to look around with that layout, but it's the only one with automatic brakes, and there are no manual brakes in the game (yet). You can slow faster by applying elevator to drag the tail wheel, but this makes you more likely to tip over also. For the inspection mission I just used aviator layout, then switched to standard after setting up the approach.

Do you aim the rockets in the middle of the formation or at a bomber directly? Also, how close should I get? I've found that the rockets explode spontaneously even if they don't hit something, but that happens a few seconds after firing.

I finally beat the Manston and airfield levels... a lot of work! But I can't get the Hornet's Nest. I tried it several times in Realistic, still harder than I thought. :confused:

One more quesiton about Hornet's Nest-- why does my engine lose power in Realistic sometimes? I know the engine was never hit by gunfire... it just seems to lose enough power so that WEP stops working, and even with the throttle at near 100%, I still don't have enough power to climb at all. It keeps on telling me that I'm about to stall, then I dive to pick up speed, but even then I can't climb at all. Does overdoing WEP burn out the engine?

Also, since I've beaten every single mission in the Battle of Britain, I figured that this would unlock the single missions for Stanlingrad... but no. How do I unlock those single missions? Do I have to beat Hornet's nest (and the rest of the Russian campaign) to do it?

Yes, using WEP for a pro-longed period of time burns out the engine entirely. If your finding that your losing power and do not have enough altitude to climb at a high rate, climb at a lower rate until your about 5k feet high, at this point due to the thinner air the plane can maneuver and climb at a higher rate.

In order to play the single missions for Stalingrad you have to complete that chapter in the campaign. Also regarding firing missiles at bombers, aim for the fuselage of the aircraft, biggest target. Ideally you want to shoot the engines, take one out and they will either limp home or lose the wing in the process.

Also, in Hornet's Nest you should never need to use WEP for more than a minute or so at a time. Use it when you're flying towards the transports, but make sure leave some separation so you'll be within gun range as soon as you turn. Start turning before they pass, and you'll end up in a perfect firing position with a low closure rate. Don't use WEP when you're shooting at them unless you have to.

to hit them with the rockets, fly above or below, and faster than the transports, get some lead on them and fly toward that lead, then fire the rockets from as close as possible.

You can also fire a rocket shot from directly behind them, if you're close enough, but don't spend too much time on their 6, and don't fly slower than them, or you'll lose a lot of time.

switching between controller layouts is the only way i could pull a few landings. I have a success avg of about 50% landing this way (so didnt succeeded the inspect airfied mission yet)... I still have the tendency to tip over at about 40 mph. What an I doin wrong here? Too much stick making the back wheel digg? Too much brake? Combo of both?

I also fly using the aviator layout on the wireless controler b/c it is easier to look around. Only prob is no zoom (sometimes hard to diff friends from foes at a distance), no brakes and less throttle control (always comes back to 55%). This last thing can be a life saver tho cause it makes it easier to spare ur engine in longer missions.

The flipping is caused by a bug in the game which is supposed to be fixed by the patch, if one comes out.

Will it be fixed? I haven't seen any confirmation about that, just people asking and hoping..

Will it even come out? Theres been no real confirmation of that either!
But yeah your right, there hasn't been any word on whats being addressed, it just seems to be such a large problem that many people complain about, it would seem like a bit of a mistake to leave it out.

i heard the patch was done and ready but it was now up to PS and microsoft to have a look at it i guess b4 they realease it on their network (not an official source tho). Didnt kno this was being adressed in the patch.

if and until they fix it, you can usually avoid a flip if you remember to ease off on the elevator as your plane starts to slow down.

I've managed a couple landings at Dover with aviator by centering the stick when the plane gets below about 70kph and then extending stopping distance by yawing left and right.

It still takes the entire runway though, so I had to turn around and take off in the other direction. I haven't managed the entire inspection mission with just aviator layout.

finally managed to do that inspection mission (thanks silence!!!)
Ok so the trick to land on sim is to do a soft touch (as any normal landing) with speed between 120 and 150 km/h and throttle at about 30% (faster is possible but can make for quite a bumpy ride and crash).

When both front wheels have touchdown and plane is steady, ease off on all controls, raise the landing flaps, bring throttle down to minimum (without braking) so the back wheel touches down. Wait for speed to drop to 100 km/h then put the brakes full on and hold them until the plane come to a complete stop. You'll still hit that "bump" at speeds of 40-60 km/h but the plane wont tip over. I've managed to do some quite short landing this way, being able to take off in the same direction on even the shortest runways...rudder being stuck to the left is a killer when taking off again tho :( so watch out for that

Edit: I usually fly with the aviator settings on the control pad so I have to change it to the wireless control settings whenever i have to land b/c 1st option doesnt offer pecise throttle and braking control

mh im going crazy in this airfield inspection mission.

im flying it on sim mode and have done these three landings,but the mission doesent end.is there a second goal in this mission?

thanks for your help

It's a bit weird. For me it only worked to make a full stop landing, then it gave the message: <airfield name> inspected, or something similar. If you don't get that message, it doesn't count.

yes,its weird for me too,it said on the radio that everything seems ok on the fields and the blinking point on the map disapeard from it and there is nothing more to do.just a few hurricans flying at high level.strange not?

and a other strange thing,when i press the circle buton for the map,the plane always makes crazy things

Hmm, that's odd. It's been a while since I've done the mission, so I can't really help more than I have.

About the map thing: in some single missions, when you open the map you can cycle through the planes in your flight. This means you can fly in any plane in your flight (I believe it's two in that mission) by using the up and down buttons/joystick (not sure which one it is on the PS3). This also means that as soon as you switch to map view, AI takes over control of the plane you were flying. So when you're in map view, AI has control over all the planes in your flight.

ok,no problem.

how endet your mission?did you had to to something else?

Not as far as I can remember.

there might be a bug in this missions tho.
it happened to me once where i landed in all 3 airfield, they stopped flashing on the map but still the mission continued for no apparent reason.
Just do it again (i kno it sucks), the mission should end as soon as you come to a complete stop on the last runway

cheers

Not sure if anybody else tried this in Hornet's Nest: Instead of attacking the transports I went the other way and found the airfield and tried to bomb/strafe the crap out of it before the they got there. It doesn't work - still lost the mission. :-P

This happened to me in a different mission. It was because I wasn't flying with the pilot at the top of the list the mission didn't end until I switched back. Also flying with a pilot who isn't top of your alive list will make your plane bank hard when you press the map because it is trying to get into formation behind your top of the list pilot.

Oh and whatever you do don't press the map button while stationary at the end of an airstrip. when you come back out of the map the AI takes over your plane and runs it off the end of the runway into a ditch/tower/trees.

Doesnt sound to good lol.

Wait a minute, what brakes, or do you mean throttle to zero/full elevator? Keep throttle above zero until you hit 100, or is there a brake on standard layout?

Raising the flaps totally makes sense, I shoulda thought of that

I usually can't land that slow, I use an old sixaxis and the left stick won't center, so there's no deadzone at all. can't hold the plane steady enough when a slight movement can cause a stall. Most planes I have to touch down at about 170-180. I'm gonna get a DS3 as soon as I can find one for a good price

when using wireless controller layout with the control pad, u can apply brake by holding the R stick all the way back. this kinda sux tho cause i usually fly with the aviator layout so i have to switch between layout if i want to land.

so keep throttle above or at zero until u hit 100, and then full brake on and dont touch the elevator, just let the back wheel touchdown by itself

And for low landing speed, try n use ur landing flaps (duh) and trim as much as u can during approach, at some point if ur lined up ok, u wont need any stick input and will control the rate of descent with the throttle only.