I'm 5 missions in and several hours into the research for my new Yak based campaign and after building the 5 missions so far I'm a bit curious as to what others thing about the difficulty level.

In Green Hearts: Kurland the difficult I consider to be quite high. You had 2 or maybe 4 Fw190s against quite a few Russian aircraft. In this campaign its the other way around....to simulate the large battles that 434 IAP went through at Stalingrad I'm adding several wings to the battle at once. The challenge in reverse is that you have large numbers of lesser capable planes against similar although typically smaller numbers of better 109s.

The planned package will include missions flying the Yak-1, Yak-7B (1941), Yak-7B (1942), and Yak-1B. The earlier Yak-7B and the Yak-1 are somewhat hopeless against the 109F-4 and the Yak-1B can just barely keep up in a fight against the 109G-2...

So...any thoughts regarding difficulty and how interesting these kinds of aerial battles will be?

This is a good topic to discuss as I've often wondered how difficult a campaign should be.
On one hand you can try to recreate missions as historically accurate as possible which can be difficult and the player gets frustrated and gives up.

OR on the other hand you make it less difficult for the player to not get frustrated and to continue with the next mission.

My thoughts are, I want to make things as close to real events as possible. Even though the missions might be difficult for some (newbies or pilot novices) it will at least be a challenge for the more experienced players.

The newbies/novices can always practice and try to get better to accomplish the mission. And if the mission is just too impossible to accomplish then there's always the "instant success" button (whatever it's called) to get past it.

If you balance the larger numbers of Russian planes with low AI against smaller German numbers with higher AI, it should work out well, but you'd need to test the missions to see if the Russians totally overwhelm the other side or not, the AI can be unpredictable.

Well when I make missions and play other peoples' campaigns I like them to be challenging but not too challenging. It's tough to find that sweet spot.

quote:

the Yak-1B can just barely keep up in a fight against the 109G-2

You think? At sea level they are almost exactly the same speed, and the Yak is pretty easy to fly. Higher up the Yak would have trouble though.

Speed at low level is similar...its the other aspects of handling and the AI's impeccable co-ordination in most turns and climbs that makes it a challenge. In the meantime its going to really hurt when a G-2 shows up against a Yak-7B...fortunately we have the 1942 model which is closer to the Yak-1B.

A catch 22...the other thing is I don't want the player to be too powerful. In one of my missions the balance hangs by a thread. Alter the numbers or the AI levels a bit and suddenly the player is seriously beating down the AI. In one playthrough I scored 5 kills in a Yak-7B. The next time with a few tweaks I scored 1 and the AI ganged up and shot everyone down in short order.

Frustrating to figure out the correct balance

I would go with what Ba5tard5word said,high number of VVS planes with low AI, and lower numbers of Luftwaffe with higher AI, and it should balance out.

I've found that when I'm in a situation like this, being on the side of quantity over quality isn't bad. Your squadron turns into cannon fodder, though.

Difficulty is hard to pin down, because what one thinks is easy is tough for another.

For instance, I thought the difficulty in Green Hearts was high, but not so much that I didn't want to play it. And, at the time, I had very little time with the 109A-8, but I made it through with a couple of missions that I had to do over again. Also, you made it quite clear that the object was to survive, not rack up kills. That campaign is not forgiving to those that don't pay attention to that important piece of advice.

As far as interest goes, I'm all over a Yak campaign, but you know that.

My policy on this is to try to ensure that dogfights have a reasonable length rather than a particular outcome.

I tend to think that if someone has had a good dogfight, they're not so bothered if they are on the winning side, or get shot down.

Instant death is the most frustrating thing. Although I do prescribe instant death every so often.....

I'm starting to get the hang of how to do this campaign (each one is a little different)...and its starting to come together.

I've built mission 7 of approximately 15 or 16 missions. Lots more work to do before this really comes together...some of your comments have been REALLY helpful so far.

I know what you mean Phil about the interesting dogfight. I've redone entire missions in the past to try and setup a air combat scenario that was interesting. I try and make them both visually and tactically interesting wherever possible.