General questions from somebody who might buy this game

[rbuchner]

Hello,
Im considering buying this game due the realistic aproach, so I have some Qs for you guys.

Are there enough servers with lots of players to choose from?

Are those servers locked for somebody with higher pings (like an auto kicking feature?). Im in Brazil, so my ping goes higher than 150. Usually I dont even enter on a server which pings show a above 200 number, but this narrows my options a lot.

Will a joystick (not anything too fancy) do the trick? Im afraid of buying something expensive and lter find out this game is not for me...

Will enemy and friendly planes show a red/blue label next to them, so we can discern friend and foe? I hate it!! It just kills the game for me... If yes, too bad.

Is there any count/tracking, like other games have, that shows your level of experience?

Can I buy it online (not the actual DVD) and download it? Dvd is not available in my country (at least the latest version)

So far, thats my questions, thank you.

RBuchner

[Brain32]

Are there enough servers with lots of players to choose from?

Yes!

Are those servers locked for somebody with higher pings (like an auto kicking feature?). Im in Brazil, so my ping goes higher than 150. Usually I dont even enter on a server which pings show a above 200 number, but this narrows my options a lot.
Yes many servers have autokicking feature for high pingers, however if you are below 400 you should be fine, although ofcourse the lower the better, 150 is not an issue at all, I have 165-170 towards my favourite server...


Will a joystick (not anything too fancy) do the trick? Im afraid of buying something expensive and lter find out this game is not for me...
Joystick is a must have, I strongly suggest you aquire one that features rudder axis(twist stick would be perfect) and hat switch. Later on if you get hooked you will know what to look for...


Will enemy and friendly planes show a red/blue label next to them, so we can discern friend and foe? I hate it!! It just kills the game for me... If yes, too bad.
Depends on the server, but most servers based on higher difficulty setting do not feature those labels and some don't feature any kind of icons at all, when you klick on a server in hyperlobby it usually has nice description of difficulty settings.


Is there any count/tracking, like other games have, that shows your level of experience?
You mean stats, yes nearly every "bigger" server has stats, I would dare to say all have them, but maybe there's one or two which don't lol


Can I buy it online (not the actual DVD) and download it? Dvd is not available in my country (at least the latest version)
I'm sorry but I don't know about this but I'm sure somebody will answer that for you soon enough...

[ephemere1962]

Originally posted by rbuchner:
Are there enough servers with lots of players to choose from?
Yes... plenty


Are those servers locked for somebody with higher pings (like an auto kicking feature?). Im in Brazil, so my ping goes higher than 150. Usually I dont even enter on a server which pings show a above 200 number, but this narrows my options a lot.
There is a lag auto-kicking feature, that can be activated by hosts. Some do activate them, some don't.
You can't know except asking the host.


Will a joystick (not anything too fancy) do the trick? Im afraid of buying something expensive and lter find out this game is not for me...
Yes
.... but if you really enjoy this game, one day or another you will buy a good Hotas, ruder pedals and TrackIR.... http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
It's not necessary to play, but it enhance gaming experience.


Will enemy and friendly planes show a red/blue label next to them, so we can discern friend and foe? I hate it!! It just kills the game for me... If yes, too bad.
It's host choice to activate icons or not. on HypperLobby, you can know in the game info (before entering the game) if the host has activated or not this option.
There are plenty of online wars, coop and dogfight room without icons on HL.


Is there any count/tracking, like other games have, that shows your level of experience?
Usually not... but:
- with some dogfight rooms, statistics are kept on some associated website.
- If you enter an online war, all player statistics are stored on the website, associated with some awards like grads and medals.


Can I buy it online (not the actual DVD) and download it? Dvd is not available in my country (at least the latest version)
No
But you can buy IL2 1946 on many commercial websites, and they'll ship the DVD to you.

There's only 1 version of the DVD... there is one additionnal patch that you can download.

[Jaws2002]

I'm sure somebody will answer that for you soon enough...

.



This guys will most likely ship you the DVD. I got mine there too.
http://yhst-12000246778232.stores.yahoo.net/ilst19.html

http://yhst-12000246778232.stores.yahoo.net/ilst19.html

Give them a call or e-mail and find out. I know they shipped the game for US military personel based in far east, so they most likely will find a way to sell you a copy.

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

You can buy it online and download it from the ubi store but I would highly recommend getting the DVD shipped to you if you can. It can be a pain if you have to reinstall for some reason and there are some "unofficial" resources out there that if you choose to explore will not work with the downloaded version. We're not allowed to talk about those "unofficial" resources here but I hope in this case I won't get jumped on for the allusion since I'm offering advice on a purchase.

[Crash_Moses]

I recently created a small difficulty rating chart for servers on Hyperlobby. It's not perfect and a bit subjective (I hope to update it once I reaquire a decent broadband connection) but it might help give you an idea of where to start.

Hyperlobby Server Difficulty Rating Chart (http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/23110283/m/8981091526?r=8981091526#8981091526)

As said previously a ping anywhere from 0 to 400 should be fine. I've even successfully played on-line using dial-up but it took some serious tweaking to make it reliable. You should be just fine.

[M_Gunz]

Originally posted by rbuchner:
Im considering buying this game due the realistic aproach, so I have some Qs for you guys.

I hope you have realistic expectations of computer and games and don't expect too much.
We have many who do expect whatever their imaginations are capable of and it's refreshing to
see what otherwise dull people are capable of imagining.


Will a joystick (not anything too fancy) do the trick? Im afraid of buying something expensive and lter find out this game is not for me...

You can get by with keys for rudder but you won't be able to coordinate your flight much at
all. With a twisty stick (twist for rudder) you can but it's a pain that throws one axis
off, if not all three to some degree. You can build pedals for far less than cost but that's
some work and may either take another stick or being able to solder 2 cheap electronic parts
and crimp a connector -- it depends on you. I haven't done so in over 10 years and that was
for work I was paid to do, it's Boy Scout Merit Badge simple which for some is rocket science.


Will enemy and friendly planes show a red/blue label next to them, so we can discern friend and foe? I hate it!! It just kills the game for me... If yes, too bad.

Don't go onto servers with Icons then. No Icons, none of that shows.


Is there any count/tracking, like other games have, that shows your level of experience?

It shows the experience others may have at stealing your kills. Disregard it.


Can I buy it online (not the actual DVD) and download it? Dvd is not available in my country (at least the latest version)

Best you name your country and see who tells you where to buy first.
A lot of people here have been surprised that way.
Do you really want to download then find out how to back what you get up, it is possible.

[rbuchner]

thx everyone for the replies!

RBuchner

[mrwafro]

I've noticed that most people on the forums dont know this.

Direct2Drive.com has il2-1946 for download, and there is no need to backup with them, they store your purchase indefinitely, so you can re-install anytime... it's how I got the game

[Choctaw111]

Welcome to Il2, the best, most realistic WW2 combat flight sim on the market. How much spare time do you have, because I foresee all of your spare time going into Il2...and then some http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif You really will love it that much.

[M_Gunz]

You should also check out FreeLook -- LINK (http://freelook.org/)

It lets you use a cheap webcam and some lights to make the sim pan when you move your head.
OTOH you can spend real $ on TrackIR.

[Zeus-cat]

Check out the Nugget's thread http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/23110283/m/9121094645 for a lot of good information about the game and the servers. This thread also mentions my training campaign (see the link below). The game doesn't really come with much training, so my capmaign is a great place to start once you get the game. My campaign assumes you know almost nothing about flight sims.

Feel free to come here and ask questions; there are a lot of nice people here.

[rbuchner]

Hi, thats me again...

How about joysticks? which one is suitable (on the budget market, please...)
In Brazil, everything is waaaay more expensive than in US or EU, due to high import taxes.

Thanks

[TheFamilyMan]

I started off flying IL-2 with this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826102204) joystick. IMHO it has everything you need to get started, it's not expensive, it's XP friendly and works well with IL-2. A step up would be one of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826102002) which requires more work to set up, but gives you a lot more control options.

I'm current using this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826102004) with this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826607001) now that I'm hooked. IMHO they provides an ultimate IL-2 experience (yeah I know, I forgot the pedals), but unfortunately they are an expensive luxury. Enjoy!

[Tbag_13]

I started with the Saitek evo which is a very good stick for only few bucks.

[Xiolablu3]

Originally posted by rbuchner:
Hi, thats me again...

How about joysticks? which one is suitable (on the budget market, please...)
In Brazil, everything is waaaay more expensive than in US or EU, due to high import taxes.

Thanks

Do you have a gameport on your soundcard or motherboard? If so then get yourself a Microsft Force Feedback Pro off Ebay. They can be had for a really cheap price, purely because gameports are rare these days.

http://www.businessweek.com/1997/50/art50/bw5045.jpg

They work fine with WinXP as long as you dont use a USB>Gameport connector (the force feedback wont work if you use one of those)

If you dont have agameport, then you can buy an old SOundblaster live! with a gameport off ebay for a few pounds/dollars (mine was £2). You dont have to use it for sound, you can turn the sound features off and just use it as a gameport, and use your existing (maybe better) soundcard for sound. Although the SOundblaster Live does an OK job for sound, and its better than onboard sound.

Basically, if you are willing to put in a bit of effort to get it working, or you have a gameport anyway, then the MS FF Pro, is a great stick, at a VERY cheap price. Mine was £5 from Ebay Mint condition and boxed.

If you are not very tech-savvy, then you are probably better getting a new USB stick.

This one looks quite nice, not sure about the price however, some sites say £30, which is pretty good :-

http://www.thrustmaster.com/product.aspx?ProductID=94

[Pigeon_]

I'd go for the cheapest twist handle stick you can find. That way you don't spend a lot of money on something you might not even like, but if you do like it, you will have some fun with it for a couple of months or even years. You can always upgrade to something else later on.

The Logitech Extreme 3D pro is a good choise.

[M_Gunz]

Originally posted by Pigeon_:
I'd go for the cheapest twist handle stick you can find. That way you don't spend a lot of money on something you might not even like, but if you do like it, you will have some fun with it for a couple of months or even years. You can always upgrade to something else later on.

The Logitech Extreme 3D pro is a good choise.

I had one of those but I don't consider it worth any $40.
Less than 2 years of moderate use and it was sloppy and loose, never real tight from start.
Before that I had an M$ Sidewinder Pro that my 'new' 2001 PC and W98 would not see, so I gave
it to another gamer from my old Delphi forum and bought the Logicrap POS stick.

There is/was a good thread here on the Saitek AV8R but I wait for reports on durability.

BTW most all these sticks need cleaning from time to time so you might get a 'broken' stick
working fine. But don't bother if it's loose.

I was fortunate to have extra $ saved when I found an X-52 on sale. What I like about those
is that the position is read from magnetic sensors that dust does not get into like pots.
There are many other parts that dust will eventually get in but until the stick physically
wears out (it will eventually) I get precision on positional reads.

[major_setback]

Originally posted by mrwafro:
I've noticed that most people on the forums dont know this.

Direct2Drive.com has il2-1946 for download, and there is no need to backup with them, they store your purchase indefinitely, so you can re-install anytime... it's how I got the game

I have always had my doubts about this sort of purchase .

How do they store your identity? If you move adress and/or get a new computer (or your computer dies) how do you prove you made a purchase???

You may have the same credit card number, but would they be willing to send you another game to a different adress??

I purchase a lot of games via Just Flight, and they give discounts for every purchase. I had accumulated lots of discount points a few years ago, then I changed my computer...I lost all the points (worth at least one new game), and despite my efforts to get them reinstated by contacting their support I didn't get them back!!!

[rbuchner]

thanks for all the input, guys...

One more factor that I haven't thought before: I'm left handed.

As I coul notice here, impossible to find a joystick that suits my needs...

The logitec one, here, it would cost me not less than 90 dollars!

I will keep looking...

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

Originally posted by rbuchner:
thanks for all the input, guys...

One more factor that I haven't thought before: I'm left handed.

As I coul notice here, impossible to find a joystick that suits my needs...

The logitec one, here, it would cost me not less than 90 dollars!

I will keep looking...

The saitek Evo is reversable for lefties! If you're in the states look here: http://saitekusa.stores.yahoo.net/recprod.html , they have the evo for $15 u.s.!

[rbuchner]

Unfortunately, Im not in the States, Im in Brazil. And the store doesnt ship overseas.
How much would it cost to send a package like this, from the states to Brazil? any estimate? or anywhere I could get that estimate?
If anyone could help me, we maybe do this transaction via paypal. I send the money, someone buy it for me, and put in the mail to brazil.. But for this happen, I have to be sure that it would cost less for medoing this, than buying here...

thanks

[AlGroover]

Do a search for reports on the Logitech stick. Mine lasted 2 months before the potentiometers failed. I have just had to replace my Cyborg evo after 4 years of daily use. You can use wheel controller pedals as rudder pedals if you want to. Buy a second hand wheel if you can. Condition unimportant as long as the pedals work ok. Use your mouse to control view. This will give you a good budget setup.

[ImMoreBetter]

I'm left handed.

Never stopped me from flying with my right. If anything, it helps. Much easier to manage the keyboard with your good hand.

[M_Gunz]

Originally posted by rbuchner:
Unfortunately, Im not in the States, Im in Brazil. And the store doesnt ship overseas.


Sounds like a business opportunity, perhaps you can talk a local store into it, if someone you
don't know about yet hasn't already. You have a chance to be active or not.

I had a friend in Sweden who longed for hot peppers or sauce. I mentioned that I got mine at
Asian Grocery stores and when he checked, sure enough they were there in Sweden too. At that
point the US had nothing he wanted and could not get at home!