You will likely get pwned at least for a little while when you go online as you've probably learnt bad habits from the AI flying offline. Go online as soon as possible, the sooner you do, the sooner you'll have an oppurtunity to see how human pilots do it.
Hyperlobby is the most populated of the game lobbys that have a chat function. Download the client from the link and install it.
You'll need the merged version patched to the latest (currently 4.01m) to find the most games, they're in the Forgotten Battles room at Hyperlobby.
remember, the first step towards recovery is admitting you have a problemPosted Thu August 25 2005 18:18
I love this game, I almost want to blow work off, to just fly, and KILL, lol. I'm practicing on single player, then I'm gonna hit the net, where should I go first, so I don't get OwneD??
but seriously, i'm a newbie too...but here's a few things i've discovered on my own or "found" thru this forum
1. don't burn out your engines...when not in combat fly at 70-90% engine power w/ your radiator open
2. speed is life. don't get into long, protracted dog-fights (turn and burn)...this eats up your forward momentum. Instead use "boom and zoom" (ie, gain the height advantage, dive on your enemy, kill/incapacitate him, repeat)
3. never fly w/ 100% fuel load out. 50-25% is plenty. when in doubt, use drop-tanks if possible...just be sure to ditch them once the bad guys show up.
4. keep your wingman alive...even if that means giving up that bandit you've spent the last few minutes setting up.
5. flak kills...be sure you are 3000-5000 meters above it (unless your job is to kill AA batteries, at which point attack the guns which are not firing at you...and be sure you don't approach head-on as this makes life easy for the gunners)
6. remember the mission...if your job is to escort bombers don't get caught up to long w/ enemy fighters ( i suppose this is more or less a personal taste thing...if you are trying to rack up kills leave the bombers to their fate {hey, its only a game})
7. get good at one or two planes first. i've found that, due to their high level of automation, american planes are a little easier to get the hang of.
8. know your enemy. download the "Hardball Air-craft viewer". its a useful tool in comparing strengths/weaknesses of various planes http://www.airwarfare.com/Sims/IL2/i..._files.htm#010 (ps: you can find it about 1/3rd of the way down the page)
9. comb the web for info....or just check-out
http://www.airwarfare.com/index.htm...go to the il2/fb/pf section....there are tons of articles, tutorials, and a great faq section
hope this helps! i wish i could take credit for the above hints, but the truth is that most of it has been imparted to me by the great folks on this site!![]()
oh...and also give this site a look-see
http://www.vulch.clara.co.uk/manual.html