Tips and Advice for BOBII Newbie's or Novices Flight Sim'ers

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Buddye
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Tips and Advice for BOBII Newbie's or Novices Flight Sim'ers

Post by Buddye »

I had a very frustrated Novice who purchased BOBII at another forum. This is the advice I offered him at the time. I offer this information here in hope some other BOBII interested Novice players or buyers will come along and read it. I also hope some of our outstanding community will offer some New/Novice tips to this sticky thread.

Hi NOVICE/NEWBIE, welcome to BOBII, and sorry for any disappointment and frustration you have experienced. I have been there myself when I was new. I hope you will stick with it as the rewards are significant for player interested in history, WWII, A/C , flying, and BOB. The game simulates each and every day of the BOB in the campaign and you can play on either the RAF or LUF side but you must learn to fly, shoot, and control the game first.

The game has a learning curve even for the very experienced flight simulation players (100's of features and options with over 200 key commands) so controlling the game takes some time and effort. The features are explained in the Users Manual (located in the BOBII folder in the Docs folder) for the GUI (Graphic User's Interface), options in appendix A, and Keys in Appendix H. You will need to scan and read the User Manual.

Take you time as BOBII is more of a hobby (if interested) than a simple game. We like to think of BOBII as "The BOB Time Machine" where you can get the closest feeling possible to a real life BOB pilot fighting in the BOB that any simulation can provide.

Yes, a Newbie Guide would be outstanding but the game is being maintained and update by an all unpaid volunteer group called BDG (see other sticky threads for BDG information). We do not have the people to do another document. Most all information about the game is in the Users Manual but I do agree the information is not directed at the new flight Simulation player. Actually, all Flight Simulation games are that way in my experience.

I will give you a few tips but the best thing is for you to come to the A2A forum (if you are reading this then congrats you made it) and meet the community and ask questions. Our community is a G rated and very mature group of BOBII fans who will gladly help you with your questions, concerns or comments.

BTW, I recommend reading all the sticky threads on both the technical forum and the General forum as they contain some very useful information.

Now for Buddye’s Newbie Tips (or BoBII for beginners). This is how I started my grandson out on BOBII but I hope many players will add their Tips to this thread in the future.

First, try to set you game up for Novice.

Options->Sim , set flight model = Novice

Second, Go to your BOBII folder (where the game is installed) and find a file called the BDG.txt (Appendix A in the Users Manual). Double click on the Bdg.txt file to open, or open it with NotePad so you can edit it (be sure to save your edits). Find and set the following Bdg.txt parameters (use the find under the edit for Notepad):

Novice_AI=ON #Only valid in Instant Action missions
Novice_Target_Size=ON #Note: Larger target for easy kills (practice or testing)
Novice_Gunnery_Predictor=ON # NOTE Must padlock target to see predictor, switch to view F8 to practice

Also for a bit more punch for your bullet hits:

Player_Stronger_Bullets=ON #NOTE Only the player has the stronger bullets (not the AI)

The Novice_Gunnery_Predictor will require you to padlock a target (the enter key is a toggle for ON/OFF padlock) but it will help you learn to shoot (and deflection shoot) by showing the "lead" (a big red X to shoot at).

Stick to the Instant action Missions (Turkey Shoot, 1-on-1, and single fighter against single bomber) until you get comfortable with flying and shooting. It seems that most people keep interest if they are flying and killing AI A/C.

Then you can slowly back off the Novice setting one at a time.

If you are really not interested or you do not have the time for learning how to control BOBII then you should consider other games which are simpler to play.
Last edited by Buddye on 23 Dec 2008, 17:54, edited 2 times in total.
Buddye

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stalkervision
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Post by stalkervision »

Buddye.."Stick to the Instant action Missions (Turkey Shoot, 1-on-1, and single fighter against single bomber) until you get comfortable with flying and shooting. It seems that most people keep interest if they are flying and killing AI A/C."


good advice. start with these! Then dip into single historical missions. This will get you familiar with the game and you will have a lot of fun. I still play them a lot, No two missions are ever the same! 8) If you take BOB as the whole package at first it is very intimidatng! :)

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Buddye
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Re: Tips and Advice for BOBII Newbie's or Novices Flight Sim'ers

Post by Buddye »

The BOBII learning curve can be a bit high. Here is the order of learning I recommend but take your time (BOBII is a hobby to many and not just a game):

1. learn to fly well and get around the map
2. learn to control the sim's keys, options, features, and setting (use the users manual)
3. master combat in Instant Action (using skills from #1 and #2 above) and learn the BOBII padlock system (or TrackIR system). Fly and practice on the Instant Action missions (including the large Historic missions)
4. Master the campaign (the top of the BOBII ladder and the most rewarding, IMHO) Skills learn in #1, #2, and #3 will pay big dividens so you can focus on learning the campaign. You can play either a Single Player Campaign (where you are just a pilot) or the commander campaign. Completing a BOBII campaign is super and winning a campaign is the best which can be done for both the RAF and LUF.
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Victor Bravo
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Re: Tips and Advice for BOBII Newbie's or Novices Flight Sim'ers

Post by Victor Bravo »

Thanks for this, it's what I needed. I'm getting a little better at shooting the lone bomber in Basic Training.I get a lot of smoke and bits flying off of him but I haven't shot him down yet.
I don't think I'll mess with the notebook suggestions you give as my computer savvy isn't that good.
If I have one question it is why is there no training for landing?
Another thing I have learned from this sim is the skill that these pilots of the time had. No heat seeking missles, automatic targeting etc, just sheer seat of the pants flying and intinct.
It does make you wonder though how much luck played in hitting someone. It would be interesting to know how long these battles took.
Thanks again.

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Buddye
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Re: Tips and Advice for BOBII Newbie's or Novices Flight Sim'ers

Post by Buddye »

Hi Victor,

Welcome to BOBII and the BOBII forum and community.

Shooting was a skill few mastered and few pilots were Aces. Most got close before shooting.

We do have a Instant Action Basic Training Mission for Landings. We also have some good videos you can watch.

Take your time and enjoy the BOBII "Time Machine".
Buddye

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Re: Tips and Advice for BOBII Newbie's or Novices Flight Sim

Post by SsSsSsSsSnake »

thanks Buddeye,will be installing later today i hope,1st time for me so i appreciate your help and others.

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Buddye
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Re: Tips and Advice for BOBII Newbie's or Novices Flight Sim

Post by Buddye »

Hi and welcome to the BOBII forum and community.

I hope all goes well for you as well.
Buddye

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Re: Tips and Advice for BOBII Newbie's or Novices Flight Sim

Post by CrisGer »

Thank you for the helper post and I look forward to learning the ropes here, much appreciate the things to focus on and will proceed.
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Re: Tips and Advice for BOBII Newbie's or Novices Flight Sim

Post by Snuffy »

You forgot one very important piece of advice.

Its a game, try to have fun. :)
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Re: Tips and Advice for BOBII Newbie's or Novices Flight Sim

Post by Phantom of the Ruhr »

Spitfire and Hurricane take off and landing tips for Newbies with minimum budget ( joystick, no other accessories ).

These tips are for new players to be able to take off and land using manual throttle without knowing the finer points of flying. Control surface trims are zeroed by default and don’t need touching at this stage. You can play with those later !

Rightly or wrongly this is the way I do it and it works for me.

Firstly I have the mouse in my left hand (X&Y set for views) with the scroll wheel controlling prop pitch, joystick in right hand for everything else. Left hand mouse took me a week of practice but now it's even more natural than the right.

To start, set throttle to 15% open.

Prop pitch fully fine (all the way back)

Fuel on, both mags on. For speed right click in and out of VC to hit buttons either side especially the Hurri.

2 pumps on the primer and as you hit the start button, offset the torque with a bit of right rudder and aileron.
Release brakes, ease pitch fully forward while controlling aileron and rudder.

Ease in throttle to 95% also controlling rudder and aileron.

Tail lifts at about 55mph and torque decreases.

I hold her down and don't unstick until about 95mph

The reason is that a higher takeoff speed gives you more manoeuvrability early, important for ground attack exercises.

Once airborne, wheels up, adjust throttle and pitch.

The most important instrument is airspeed, watch it like a hawk, it takes practice to understand prop pitch but basically course gives you more grip up to the point where it begins to slow you down. You can use fine pitch in a dive to also slow you down.
____________________________________________________________________

Landing;

First find the field(radio if you can't see it.)

Having ascertained the wind direction, fly abeam the field on the opposite heading.
Watch your compass as you turn onto the wind heading and you should then see the field in front of you. Keep an eye on altitude, I use a target altitude of 500' and descend from that. ( flat turns can be difficult at first and remember that with a plane on its side, the rudder performs the function of elevator.)
The main problem I had with landing was judging the distance. Initially, it's better to make a longer approach and keep nudging the throttle to keep it flying.

Prop pitch fully course( more grip to accelerate should you need to.)

Open canopy ( This game is so good that the open canopy actually slows you down, you may wish to leave it closed on takeoff for increased speed ).
Throttle back, speed drops to 140, flaps down and gear down. Target touchdown speed is about 80.
Small throttle increases just to ensure that you don't drop too low.

As wheels touch the deck and you're certain that you'll stay down, pitch to fully fine to help with the braking. 50mph and you can start stabbing the wheel brakes to bring you to a stop.( With pitch fully forward until touchdown you have the grip to accellerate and go around again.)

The Spit is more slippery than the Hurri and you may find that on approach your airspeed is too high to get flaps and gear down. If you don't want to do a go round you can waggle the rudder to scrub off some speed. This is why I find 500' to be the maximum height as I start my approach, any higher and the glidepath is too steep and you'll come in too hot and high.

If you train at Tangmere you can taxi to the pub for a couple of well earned pints( Tea from the wagon at Kenley just doesn't cut it.)

Here's my flying, so if you think it sucks, you can ignore all I've just said !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo9kFCYPH8E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmkldnwhOCA

Happy flying and remember a good landing is one you walk away from.



Circuit training;

Select a field with a nice long runway like Tangmere.
To position yourself at exactly the right place to make an approach, here's how I do it.

In order to make a circuit and position for approach, the start point is the end of the runway at Tangmere. Just before you take off look at your compass and write down on a pad the heading of the runway, you may have to move a bit to make sure the plane is straight.

Whatever that heading is, add or subtract 180 to give you a figure less than 360 . So you have two headings written on your bit of paper.

What you do now is take off, fly straight for a minute and then turn left and fly an extended oval.

The reason is that if you fly that oval on compass headings and do the same rate of turn at each end of that oval you will put yourself on exactly the point in the air from which to start your approach (with 0 wind. 3mph wind makes little difference).

So the first heading is the outbound takeoff heading then do a gentle left turn onto the second heading(the return or opposite heading) don't climb above 500'. and keep the speed down to about 160 remembering that at low speed a turn will reduce your speed further so compensate with throttle.

The plane wants to climb in the turns so offset that with rudder so that you don't climb above 500’.

You will see Tangmere go past on your left side. When adjacent the place on the runway that you started from, fly straight for about another minute and then use the same rate of turn as your first. Watch the compass as you turn onto the first heading which you wrote down on your piece of paper. As you come onto the first heading you will see the runway ahead and then follow the landing procedure above.

These tips were originally written for Badger but now amended for any player.

How NOT to take-off a Hurricane;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbI8js2ANv8

Time wasted opening and closing the canopy would have been better spent ensuring fine pitch and applying more right rudder and aileron to stop the torque swing.
Still shooting at an ME110 after two people have jumped out of it....is a waste of bullets :roll: (even if we like to see them burst into flames !)

How NOT to land anything;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsU1d1eeHIg

This Squadron Leader Rex should have given himself a longer approach ( when downwind, if the the field is visible over the shoulder, the approach is too short)
On running into the dip at Manston, continuing to brake was a case of irremovable digit :D
He improved his looks with a bent nose and lived long enough to shoot down a lot more of the Luftwaffe :wink: .
POTR
"Only birds and fools fly and even the birds don't fly at night"
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