Co-op comment
 

Will the Channel map coop problem be fixed to allow us to use it as originally intended? No further plans for co-op addition or changes


Looks like ATAG or offline will be the only place to fly. It's a shame they've cocked the co-op bit up so badly for those squads that do co-ops a lot. Can only hope a 3rd party developer fixes it for the future.

Hood

I do not intend to diminish the need for a good coop revision....

....but we have successfully devised ways to use "dogfight" server as coop missions. We all meet on TeamSpeak and log into an internet conference room. In the conference room is the mission briefing written out and also a map with intended path, objective and other intelligence....the leader discusses all aspects of mission and brief....we then meet in the game "Lobby" and everybody announces when their "waiting for battle" screen appears in the game. The host then starts the mission. Missions are setup to allow time for us to prepare our loadout (per the briefing room discussions) and taxi to our start positions. Leader then checks that all are a go and we take off.

It works very well....host server is password protected so we do not get any non-squad members during our official missions....if someone has issues on take-off, they are able to re-create their plane and catch up. In my opinion, it adds more realism than the old 1946 coop lobby system.

But then, I understand that the community is missing the "jump into a coop game" via Hyperlobby of old. Our system may not work so well for ad-hoc type coop missions....they have to be pretty organized.

You are organised AND communicate with each other AND you co-operate with each other to achieve your mission goals.

Sounds good to me! With those three elements you should blitz most dogfight servers and the unorganised rable within.

If you or any of your squad mates has the time you should write up a commentary of one of your missions. (with screenshots ;) ) Sounds like fun.

What I can add to Marmusmans post is. Now we are in a briefing room, where we mission are read and we go to map and draw the flightpath. All know what to do, loadoud ect ect...

When missions loaded and we have the screen "waiting for battle" we can press "Plane" There you can set the ouatout for your plane. When all are rdy host press START BATTLE and you can select flag and base. Then your aircraft are shown and you just perss CREATE.

Done and it is allmost as the old coop stile. More realistic with taxing and starup.

The minus is, that you cant do this on HL or with people and that cind of flight.

Hope that help some of you together with Marmusmans post.

It was always man's advantage to adapt to new environments and strive for perfection in them.
Regretfully it is much easier to lament the loss of ones well known environment, even if it wasn't perfect also.
Just a thought.

All lies, there is no coop in Cliffs, I am reliably informed.

How do you fill up the empty planes with AI? Say the mission sports 16 fighters and 8 bombers. You don't know if 10 or 16 squad members will join the flight.

Even if you can cope with the interface problems there is the AI that spoils the coops experience.

The AI is unable to interact properly with human client players: They will not recognize the take-off of the human client player and thus either stay on the ground (if human client is in front of them) or circle around the airfield (if human client is behind them).

The only workaround is to enable AI control after take-off ...

Our missions are not set up that way....even when we used IL-2:1946...we do not use AI planes within our main flight....though friendly AI planes are used in separate flights of their own.

For CloD, we spawn in just like a Dogfight server. I am no FMB expert, but I believe that our home airstrip is entered as a "base," as opposed to individual planes. There are no friendly AI at our home base. We do interact with friendly AI, there may be a flight of AI bombers that we meet up with at some designated location given within our pre-flight briefing room. Or AI fighters as additional support.

As Robtek mentioned, it is just a matter of coping with what we have and creating creative solutions to make it work.

RE: AI - our mission makers have had a lot of success tweaking the AI settings (not mod, but using different combinations within the FMB AI slider bar settings). While the AI is not up to modded (or even non-modded) 1946 standards, they give us quite a good fight now. I even had an enemy fighter chase me back to base in France from across the channel....several months ago that was unheard of, LOL!

Does it not seem though that 1C/MG have somehow construde to make all elements of this game so counter intuative and complicated to put people off completely?