Dogfighting Questions

[Lanzfeld]

Can someone explain to me what I should be doing when my boys get into a dogfight? Does the AI control the speed or should I do that? For example when 12 of my wildcats take on a bunch of zeros should I set my flight to max speed for the boom and zoom or does the AI ignore that during a dogfight? Is this meant to be a hands off thing because the speeds my wildcats choose is not very smart. I assume the zeros are staying at their best speed for turning but I really don't know. It is strange because sometimes it seems they change speed own their own after I set it. I am using the Reworked AI for Air Mod.

[magicteri]

Yes you can change the speed of aircraft in dog fights. I do it all the time. You can even assign a fighter to attack a certain aircraft.

[albrightwillie0]

I ran a few tests of equal number fighter engagements in which I either micro managed them or let AI control and AI had better results every time.

[cswiger]

Originally posted by albrightwillie0:

I ran a few tests of equal number fighter engagements in which I either micro managed them or let AI control and AI had better results every time.

On the bright side, your management made a difference, albeit a negative difference-- this implies different micro-management might result in a positive improvement over the AI.

[Lanzfeld]

Originally posted by albrightwillie0:

I ran a few tests of equal number fighter engagements in which I either micro managed them or let AI control and AI had better results every time.

Very very interesting

[HenryPigLatin]

Generally you're best off letting the AI dogfight. Every now and then I will switch plane targets, if a plane has moved around to the open or if a bunch of mine are all ganged up on one.

[Andy]

Dog fights are so irritatingly bad . Can't do deflection shots ( You just get a clicking sound ) and the AI on your side never takes evasive action . Speaking of Boom and Zoom , it's a pity you don't have that option , as the Japanese planes are more manoeuvrable in turning dogfights.

[Lanzfeld]

Originally posted by Andy:

Dog fights are so irritatingly bad . Can't do deflection shots ( You just get a clicking sound ) and the AI on your side never takes evasive action . Speaking of Boom and Zoom , it's a pity you don't have that option , as the Japanese planes are more manoeuvrable in turning dogfights.

Yeah that is why I asked if maxing out my wildcat speed manually has any advantages?

[MizuYuuki]

Originally posted by Lanzfeld:

Originally posted by Andy:

Dog fights are so irritatingly bad . Can't do deflection shots ( You just get a clicking sound ) and the AI on your side never takes evasive action . Speaking of Boom and Zoom , it's a pity you don't have that option , as the Japanese planes are more manoeuvrable in turning dogfights.

Yeah that is why I asked if maxing out my wildcat speed manually has any advantages?

I don't think it helps much during a dogfight with the Wildcat (285 kn max) vs the Zero because in the game the Zero (288 kn max) is slightly faster. However, it does help with the Kittyhawk (305 kn max) which is available in the War in the Pacific mod. The AI will reduce the aircraft's speed in certain situations, so you have to manually increase it every so often.

Rather than trying to outplay the AI tactically in a dogfight which you can easily do if you pause the game repeatedly, I take an operational approach which is based on my own testing which shows that with a numerical superiority of about 25% the Wildcat will usually defeat the Zero. 4 vs 3 is iffy because you might lose a plane on the initial pass, but 12 vs 9 for instance is a pretty sure win for the Wildcat. For me, using numerical superiority and letting the AI handle the tactics makes the game less tedious and more enjoyable.

However, there is a problem with fighters intercepting bombers. The bombers will go into a tight turn, and the AI doesn't take a proper angle of approach to bring the fighter's guns to bear on the bomber until it is too close to the bomber, so the AI breaks off the attack. Since the AI doesn't perform deflection shooting, the fighters eventually get shot down after making multiple attempts to get on the tail of a bomber. I don't have a solution for this other than to not intercept bombers, but rather wait until the bombers trigger an attack on ships in which case they will fly in a straight line toward the their target ship and are easily shot down by fighters.

[Koztaz]

If you guys are using Pacific Campaign I solved all the issues with the airplanes and their attacks with my mod

[Lanzfeld]

Originally posted by Koztaz:

If you guys are using Pacific Campaign I solved all the issues with the airplanes and their attacks with my mod

This mod is different from the "Air AI" mod that comes with TTE?

[Jimbob]

Aircraft have been broken in this game since the get-go. Major disappointment for a campaign in which naval air-power played a pivotal role.

[Koztaz]

Originally posted by Lanzfeld:

Originally posted by Koztaz:

If you guys are using Pacific Campaign I solved all the issues with the airplanes and their attacks with my mod

This mod is different from the "Air AI" mod that comes with TTE?

Compleetly. The AirAI mod spams more planes against the player on the tactical map, which is a good thing. I reworked how planes dogfight, bomb, use torpedoes and intercept each other, including bombers. Try turning your bombers in circle and see how long will they last this time. Or how easy is for a battleship to dodge air dropped torpedoes. Planes don't need any babysitting or speed ajustments. Just press attack and enjoy the battle.

[Lanzfeld]

Originally posted by Koztaz:

Originally posted by Lanzfeld:

This mod is different from the "Air AI" mod that comes with TTE?

Compleetly. The AirAI mod spams more planes against the player on the tactical map, which is a good thing. I reworked how planes dogfight, bomb, use torpedoes and intercept each other, including bombers. Try turning your bombers in circle and see how long will they last this time. Or how easy is for a battleship to dodge air dropped torpedoes. Planes don't need any babysitting or speed ajustments. Just press attack and enjoy the battle.

That sounds wonderful. Can I use it with the AIR AI mod or only one or the other? I would hate to lose the steep dive angle of the Air AI mod.

[Koztaz]

The steep dive is included and is, even steeper and more accurate, difference is it starts at the standard 1000m. All the planes are deadly now. Both yours and AI. Make sure you have escorts all the time!

[Lanzfeld]

Originally posted by Koztaz:

The steep dive is included and is, even steeper and more accurate, difference is it starts at the standard 1000m. All the planes are deadly now. Both yours and AI. Make sure you have escorts all the time!

Thank you so much I look forward to trying this out.
Question.....Why the "suggestion" paragraph on your mod page and what does it do? Why not include it in the mod?

Thanks again! This will hold me over until TFA.

Hmmm....does nott seem to work with JUST the TTE Mod. nonstop loading screen when entering tactical

EDIT. Yeah tried several times with just the TTE mod. It wont load in tactical air battle.