Battlefield Nation Forums - View Single Post - Issues, Answers and a little bit of a rant to help you!

Karsten · 09-04-2002, 04:57 PM

Reading some of the posts I wanted to respond. I figured instead of spredding little pices all over I just sum it all up and post it here. So hold on to your hat and read on.

You have PROBLEMS

Slow game performance - the game is power-hungry RAM IS VERY IMPORTANT

My Hardware is not supported - Face it... things move on for the better of the Game this had to be done.

Ships are not visible - The Server you are playing on can't handle the load (is configured for to many people)

Can't hit people / lag - Multiple problems
a; Server is under-powered
b; The person you are trying to get is on a crappy connection
c; you are lagging
d; all of the above.

No Team play - I guess that is luck of the draw. But I have played servers that have a great team spirit and the battle is really waging.

Some ANSWERS

Face it... the NET CODE... is not bad at all. Right now there is just to many people playing with underpowered hardware. Be it the connection the server is on, you are on or the guy you trying to shoot is on. If the Net code where bad I wouldn't have had plenty of great game nights. If you have a low ping and your game runs crappy the server is underpowered! This is and will be one of the biggest problems for a while! People that will go to LanPartys will see this most likely first hand real fast.

Don't complain that your Hardware is not running it. Guess what... things have to improve and development has to move forward. I can remember the same arguments from the time when the first games came out that where 3d accelerated ONLY. What a moan and groan that was. I am glad it happened then, and I am glad this is happening now. It's for the better. If you can't afford a new 80-90$ card that can run the game I am sorry, but then go play another game.

The no Team play issue will go away with the full Version, at least to some extend. Then there will be serious Servers and People that will learn really quick that you need one another. Make no mistake about it. A team that works together will absolutely slaughter the unorganized n00bs, that stand on the carrier and wait for planes. This has to be the most Team play centric Game yet. There is a LOT of things we have not seen yet work together.

MY LITTLE FACT SHEET

Planes are highly over rated.

If I sit in a Flak and you in a plane you better know what you are doing (approch low; pull up and drop the bombs; go low very quickly again). When I played on the server yesterday that had a good game going I spend quite a bit time guarding the north side (Allied) of the Island. I used the Flak extensively and with devastating results. If you where lucky enough to make it over my position once you counted your blessings... I don't think any plane survived a second pass.

Artillery is highly underused.

Guess what, driving the destroyer around the island and shelling the Airfield directly is highly ineffective. It even says so in numerous Readme's. Drive it just out of sight of the island and work together with a Scout and you have a deadly combination. One that will give the Allies a real headache and make you a prime target.
Same goes for the Allied side of Artillery. I have yet to see the shore gun at the Airfield between the island used in the beginning. Yet it is one of the more powerful guns and is perfect for defending the rush up the middle by a landing craft to take the Airfield.

Ships are worth defending.

Please... please play as Engineer every now and then and bother to fix the ship and man the Anti-Aircraft Guns. Why stand on the Carrier and wait for a plane when you watch for the 7th time how an Allied plane is making his bombing run. Guess what, the carrier goes down you will not man a plane PERIOD.

Mines are not used enough.

One of the most underutilized tools has to be the mines and explosive charges. Partly because people are too under organized and to many n00bs are playing. But also partly because people are not reading up on what stuff does!
How easy it is to prevent the "Mad Jeep Charge" by the opposing team by mining the entrance to a base. "But then my Tanks or vehicles can't get out" I hear you say?! Guess what, you can drive over your own mines... but VERY SLOWLY! I tested it and it works. Just inch yourself over them and you are fine.
Remember, if you lay them and die... they are gone as well.

The Scout is a SCOUT.

There is a reason why the Scout is called Scout and not Sniper. First and foremost he is there to spot. Again... see my point about Artillery, pity the Team that will have a crack Sniper that doesn't know that he is a Scout first!

Real Teams will Rule this Game.

For a lot of people this game will prove very frustrating very quick. Team play is a must if you have any kind of ambition and want to win. I don't think we have barley seen the tip Iceberg so far regarding what a good team can do.
Combined Arms will absolutely dominate. 4-5 Infantry, 2 Tanks, 1 Medic, 1 Engineer and a APC that all know what they are doing... pity the Team that will face a Group that knows how to repair, heal and defend the Tanks from the Grenade lobbing.

Serious Servers will have a high Re-Spawn delay.

It's simple and I said it before. This game lives for Team play. If you play on a server with a high respawn time (40-60 sec) it is simply a more tactical server that tries to foster team play. Don't moan and groan about it. Think... make use of it. With respawn times like that it makes sense not to blindly charge. It makes sense to try to stay alive and hide. It makes sense to bring/be a medic or engineer along into battle. It will make the whole combined arms concept o much more of a sticky point.

Guarding is worth while.

What we are seeing so far is a lot of Parachuting and grabbing spawn points. A team that knows how to post guards will just laugh at that tactic. Forward points need two or three guards. Backpoints at least one that is able to call for help and get it quick.

Communication is your life.

At first the communication part seems clumsy and at the most it is used to ask for a pickup right now. With people learning and playing more as a team the appropriate use of your F keys will be a must. Learn them and listen to them. If you don't listen to each other as a Team... you are not much of a team.

Training is a must.

We all been there... we all started at one point. "How do you take off"? "How does the Artillery work"?
Do yourself and the Team you are playing with favor. Take the 5-10 minutes and read some faq's and the read me file!
Start your own local Server and learn how to fly. You don't need to be in a mad scramble for a plane only to crash it. Just take 10-20 minutes and learn by yourself. You have the choice of plane and plenty of time to take off. Play with the Bomber and figure out how to hit things. Then play with the Torpedo plane (One of the hardest to master). Know this... 4-5 Torpedo's ON TARGET can sink a destroyer! 6-8 will do the trick on a carrier. And that is not using the Torpedo as a Bomb... which looks pretty and all but does next to no damage.
If you want to know how the Artillery and indirect fire works... play as Scout and use your Binocs by selecting them and then hit fire on a target. Jump in a jeep and haul to a gun. You just spotted for yourself and only need to right click while in the gun. There is your target. There is quite a bit of help out there to figure out how to use the big guns effectively.

Give your Teammates a lift.

If you ride in a jeep and you see someone hauling through open terrain offer him a ride by at least slowing down next to him. While annoying if the person doesn't take your offer, it is well made up by the people that are thankful not to have to hike to a far far away place.
Same goes for you if are on the receiving end... take the ride when you see someone slow down, or at least hit F1-F2 (Negative) to let the driver know you are fine taking a hike.

Kill score means nothing.

Face it... if someone plays as a Mechanic or Medic his score will be low. And rightfully so, it is not his job to go and try to kill stuff with the rifle. He is there to support. If you are hung up on the end splash screen that shows your score you better of going back to CS. Give your support team some love, without them you'd be nothing! To bad nobody has come up with some score that shows the effort by these workers of good will! Thanks guys!

I hope this helps a bit. Post your comments or your criticsm. I am open for all.

Karsten (AKA Black Thunder)

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

Since I talked about some things you can learn. I post two of the most helpfull posts here. Thanks to the guys for writing them up

Written by Swedish Chef

Here's a little clarification on how to direct artillery fire.
BTW, any onshore battery or ONLY the destroyer's rear guns can be used for directed artillery fire.

First, once a scout calls for artillery support and you happen to find yourself in the back turret of the destroyer's gun you'll see an icon in the shape of a rocket blink over the "health status" bar (green bar indicating the health status of the ship).

- right click mouse button (or use your alternate fire key)
- you'll see a crosshairs with a yellow indicator on the top and to the left, as well as a "tank" icon in an arrow. The crosshairs show the exact spot that is to be bombarded.
- move your mouse left or right to move the TOP yellow indicator left or right to align the arrow to point to the middle of the reticule (crosshairs).
- move the mouse up or down to move the left yellow indicator that will give you the trajectory height!
- fire a shot (press left mouse button - or primary fire key) for a test volley.
- you'll notice that if you correctly aligned the arrow to point towards the center of the crosshairs, the shells will land either short or long of the target. Now's the time to tweak the shot.
- move the mouse up or down (depending if the shells landed short or long) to zero in on the target (represented by the crosshairs). Only move the left indicator up or down VERY little because at a distance a small movement up or down will make a big difference.

There you go!!! That's directed artillery fire. Keep in mind that the back turret of the destroyer has to be in a position to be able to shoot at the target. If the destroyer is facing forward to the island and the back turret is pointing towards the open sea, there's no way to move the turret to face the island so you can't shoot at the island.

The BEST strategy is:

(1) to park the destroyer offshore, far enough so that the onshore gun batteries can't really see the boat. Park it so that the back turret faces the island. This also prevents Allies from swimming to the destroyer and sabotaging the ship.

(2) Keep the destroyer on the side of the island where your team (Axis in this case) have captured flags. Directed artillery fire will not be as effective at close range! That way you can blast any emplacement on the far end of the island without the Allies knowing where the bombardment is coming from

(3) Wear the "engineer" kit to fix the boat once in a while if an Allied plane(s) should damage your ship..

(4) Yell and bitch at anyone moving the ship. There's a tendency for ppl to get on the ship and start driving it directly to where the action is..... Many times ppl beach the ship and then it becomes quite ineffective.

Hope this helps

Chef
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Written by Creeper

About Torpedo's

I'm amazed how few people know how to use the torpedo's correctly. Here's how:

1. They are not bombs, dropping them directly on the decks of the carrier and destroyer do very little damage.

2. Don't drop them over shallow water (the water you can see the ocean floor under) The torpedo's don't have those special wooden fins like in Pearl Harbor, so they'll just hit the bottom.

3. Torpedo's have mass and momentum when you drop them so if you drop them from too high an altitude or too steep an approach, they can sink so deep before they reach their target ship, that they will pass right under it. I recommend you fly a mere 10 meters above the water surface and come in from far enough away you can line up properly. Wait till you are about 50-100 meters away from the target, flying parallel to the surface and over deep water before dropping the torpedo.

The game is so detailed I've managed have one of my torpedo's sail under the destroyer but hit the aircraft carrier.

Torpedo's do a lot of damage if they hit so you'll know you are doing it right when you sink the destroyer in only 5 or 6 hits or the Carrier in maybe 10. (Haven't gotten an exact count yet)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks Creeper!

09-04-2002, 04:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
Karsten Corporal Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 178	Issues, Answers and a little bit of a rant to help you! Reading some of the posts I wanted to respond. I figured instead of spredding little pices all over I just sum it all up and post it here. So hold on to your hat and read on. You have PROBLEMS Slow game performance - the game is power-hungry RAM IS VERY IMPORTANT My Hardware is not supported - Face it... things move on for the better of the Game this had to be done. Ships are not visible - The Server you are playing on can't handle the load (is configured for to many people) Can't hit people / lag - Multiple problems a; Server is under-powered b; The person you are trying to get is on a crappy connection c; you are lagging d; all of the above. No Team play - I guess that is luck of the draw. But I have played servers that have a great team spirit and the battle is really waging. Some ANSWERS Face it... the NET CODE... is not bad at all. Right now there is just to many people playing with underpowered hardware. Be it the connection the server is on, you are on or the guy you trying to shoot is on. If the Net code where bad I wouldn't have had plenty of great game nights. If you have a low ping and your game runs crappy the server is underpowered! This is and will be one of the biggest problems for a while! People that will go to LanPartys will see this most likely first hand real fast. Don't complain that your Hardware is not running it. Guess what... things have to improve and development has to move forward. I can remember the same arguments from the time when the first games came out that where 3d accelerated ONLY. What a moan and groan that was. I am glad it happened then, and I am glad this is happening now. It's for the better. If you can't afford a new 80-90$ card that can run the game I am sorry, but then go play another game. The no Team play issue will go away with the full Version, at least to some extend. Then there will be serious Servers and People that will learn really quick that you need one another. Make no mistake about it. A team that works together will absolutely slaughter the unorganized n00bs, that stand on the carrier and wait for planes. This has to be the most Team play centric Game yet. There is a LOT of things we have not seen yet work together. MY LITTLE FACT SHEET Planes are highly over rated. If I sit in a Flak and you in a plane you better know what you are doing (approch low; pull up and drop the bombs; go low very quickly again). When I played on the server yesterday that had a good game going I spend quite a bit time guarding the north side (Allied) of the Island. I used the Flak extensively and with devastating results. If you where lucky enough to make it over my position once you counted your blessings... I don't think any plane survived a second pass. Artillery is highly underused. Guess what, driving the destroyer around the island and shelling the Airfield directly is highly ineffective. It even says so in numerous Readme's. Drive it just out of sight of the island and work together with a Scout and you have a deadly combination. One that will give the Allies a real headache and make you a prime target. Same goes for the Allied side of Artillery. I have yet to see the shore gun at the Airfield between the island used in the beginning. Yet it is one of the more powerful guns and is perfect for defending the rush up the middle by a landing craft to take the Airfield. Ships are worth defending. Please... please play as Engineer every now and then and bother to fix the ship and man the Anti-Aircraft Guns. Why stand on the Carrier and wait for a plane when you watch for the 7th time how an Allied plane is making his bombing run. Guess what, the carrier goes down you will not man a plane PERIOD. Mines are not used enough. One of the most underutilized tools has to be the mines and explosive charges. Partly because people are too under organized and to many n00bs are playing. But also partly because people are not reading up on what stuff does! How easy it is to prevent the "Mad Jeep Charge" by the opposing team by mining the entrance to a base. "But then my Tanks or vehicles can't get out" I hear you say?! Guess what, you can drive over your own mines... but VERY SLOWLY! I tested it and it works. Just inch yourself over them and you are fine. Remember, if you lay them and die... they are gone as well. The Scout is a SCOUT. There is a reason why the Scout is called Scout and not Sniper. First and foremost he is there to spot. Again... see my point about Artillery, pity the Team that will have a crack Sniper that doesn't know that he is a Scout first! Real Teams will Rule this Game. For a lot of people this game will prove very frustrating very quick. Team play is a must if you have any kind of ambition and want to win. I don't think we have barley seen the tip Iceberg so far regarding what a good team can do. Combined Arms will absolutely dominate. 4-5 Infantry, 2 Tanks, 1 Medic, 1 Engineer and a APC that all know what they are doing... pity the Team that will face a Group that knows how to repair, heal and defend the Tanks from the Grenade lobbing. Serious Servers will have a high Re-Spawn delay. It's simple and I said it before. This game lives for Team play. If you play on a server with a high respawn time (40-60 sec) it is simply a more tactical server that tries to foster team play. Don't moan and groan about it. Think... make use of it. With respawn times like that it makes sense not to blindly charge. It makes sense to try to stay alive and hide. It makes sense to bring/be a medic or engineer along into battle. It will make the whole combined arms concept o much more of a sticky point. Guarding is worth while. What we are seeing so far is a lot of Parachuting and grabbing spawn points. A team that knows how to post guards will just laugh at that tactic. Forward points need two or three guards. Backpoints at least one that is able to call for help and get it quick. Communication is your life. At first the communication part seems clumsy and at the most it is used to ask for a pickup right now. With people learning and playing more as a team the appropriate use of your F keys will be a must. Learn them and listen to them. If you don't listen to each other as a Team... you are not much of a team. Training is a must. We all been there... we all started at one point. "How do you take off"? "How does the Artillery work"? Do yourself and the Team you are playing with favor. Take the 5-10 minutes and read some faq's and the read me file! Start your own local Server and learn how to fly. You don't need to be in a mad scramble for a plane only to crash it. Just take 10-20 minutes and learn by yourself. You have the choice of plane and plenty of time to take off. Play with the Bomber and figure out how to hit things. Then play with the Torpedo plane (One of the hardest to master). Know this... 4-5 Torpedo's ON TARGET can sink a destroyer! 6-8 will do the trick on a carrier. And that is not using the Torpedo as a Bomb... which looks pretty and all but does next to no damage. If you want to know how the Artillery and indirect fire works... play as Scout and use your Binocs by selecting them and then hit fire on a target. Jump in a jeep and haul to a gun. You just spotted for yourself and only need to right click while in the gun. There is your target. There is quite a bit of help out there to figure out how to use the big guns effectively. Give your Teammates a lift. If you ride in a jeep and you see someone hauling through open terrain offer him a ride by at least slowing down next to him. While annoying if the person doesn't take your offer, it is well made up by the people that are thankful not to have to hike to a far far away place. Same goes for you if are on the receiving end... take the ride when you see someone slow down, or at least hit F1-F2 (Negative) to let the driver know you are fine taking a hike. Kill score means nothing. Face it... if someone plays as a Mechanic or Medic his score will be low. And rightfully so, it is not his job to go and try to kill stuff with the rifle. He is there to support. If you are hung up on the end splash screen that shows your score you better of going back to CS. Give your support team some love, without them you'd be nothing! To bad nobody has come up with some score that shows the effort by these workers of good will! Thanks guys! I hope this helps a bit. Post your comments or your criticsm. I am open for all. Karsten (AKA Black Thunder) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since I talked about some things you can learn. I post two of the most helpfull posts here. Thanks to the guys for writing them up Written by Swedish Chef Here's a little clarification on how to direct artillery fire. BTW, any onshore battery or ONLY the destroyer's rear guns can be used for directed artillery fire. First, once a scout calls for artillery support and you happen to find yourself in the back turret of the destroyer's gun you'll see an icon in the shape of a rocket blink over the "health status" bar (green bar indicating the health status of the ship). - right click mouse button (or use your alternate fire key) - you'll see a crosshairs with a yellow indicator on the top and to the left, as well as a "tank" icon in an arrow. The crosshairs show the exact spot that is to be bombarded. - move your mouse left or right to move the TOP yellow indicator left or right to align the arrow to point to the middle of the reticule (crosshairs). - move the mouse up or down to move the left yellow indicator that will give you the trajectory height! - fire a shot (press left mouse button - or primary fire key) for a test volley. - you'll notice that if you correctly aligned the arrow to point towards the center of the crosshairs, the shells will land either short or long of the target. Now's the time to tweak the shot. - move the mouse up or down (depending if the shells landed short or long) to zero in on the target (represented by the crosshairs). Only move the left indicator up or down VERY little because at a distance a small movement up or down will make a big difference. There you go!!! That's directed artillery fire. Keep in mind that the back turret of the destroyer has to be in a position to be able to shoot at the target. If the destroyer is facing forward to the island and the back turret is pointing towards the open sea, there's no way to move the turret to face the island so you can't shoot at the island. The BEST strategy is: (1) to park the destroyer offshore, far enough so that the onshore gun batteries can't really see the boat. Park it so that the back turret faces the island. This also prevents Allies from swimming to the destroyer and sabotaging the ship. (2) Keep the destroyer on the side of the island where your team (Axis in this case) have captured flags. Directed artillery fire will not be as effective at close range! That way you can blast any emplacement on the far end of the island without the Allies knowing where the bombardment is coming from (3) Wear the "engineer" kit to fix the boat once in a while if an Allied plane(s) should damage your ship.. (4) Yell and bitch at anyone moving the ship. There's a tendency for ppl to get on the ship and start driving it directly to where the action is..... Many times ppl beach the ship and then it becomes quite ineffective. Hope this helps Chef ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Written by Creeper About Torpedo's I'm amazed how few people know how to use the torpedo's correctly. Here's how: 1. They are not bombs, dropping them directly on the decks of the carrier and destroyer do very little damage. 2. Don't drop them over shallow water (the water you can see the ocean floor under) The torpedo's don't have those special wooden fins like in Pearl Harbor, so they'll just hit the bottom. 3. Torpedo's have mass and momentum when you drop them so if you drop them from too high an altitude or too steep an approach, they can sink so deep before they reach their target ship, that they will pass right under it. I recommend you fly a mere 10 meters above the water surface and come in from far enough away you can line up properly. Wait till you are about 50-100 meters away from the target, flying parallel to the surface and over deep water before dropping the torpedo. The game is so detailed I've managed have one of my torpedo's sail under the destroyer but hit the aircraft carrier. Torpedo's do a lot of damage if they hit so you'll know you are doing it right when you sink the destroyer in only 5 or 6 hits or the Carrier in maybe 10. (Haven't gotten an exact count yet) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks Creeper!