BF2: This game still fun?

[sinij]

I'm a helicopter pilot in BF2 and let me tell - it takes two good people to get results out of it. If you are dominated on a map by helicopter - well if there wasn't helicopter to fly you would be dominated that round by people flying that helicopter anyways, just in a different ways.

It is very easy to make flying helicopter a pain in the ass - while single AA turret is lousy, two of them where people jump in last minute instead of sitting in them are deadly. RPGs are also effective but you need practice hitting flying things (tip: always aim higher). HMV turrets also very effective. M95 snipers work well - camp take-off site and kill pilot by headshot, if you do it while its in the air whole thing crashes. Other helicopter also work well - you should use laser-guided missile to 1-hit other helicopter. If there are planes on the map - just ram helicopter repeatedly (if you can't manage to shoot them down with A2A), its fairly easy to eject and ram and get 'suicides' for helicopter pilots.

Again, helicopter is a team machine and it takes team effort to kill it.

[Engels]

I just played the BF2142 demo multiplayer. What is the big deal with it? It seems only marginally better than bf2, but the graphics aren't exactly awsome or anything.

[Miasma]

I stopped playing halfway through the beta of 2142.  I used to be pretty excited about it but that quickly wore off when I got to actually play it.  I think plain old bf2 is better.

Oh, and in-game ads suck, especially in futuristic settings.

As for the graphics, no they aren't any better.  It's the exact same engine as bf2, this is more like a very elaborate mod than a new game.  It even still has the same bugs that are in bf2, plus they added a whole bunch of new ones with the titan mode.  By the middle of the beta only about 7% of the servers had games running because everyone had stopped playing due to the game breaking bugs.  I hope those have been fixed but knowing Dice/EA...

Edit: And Stray, I don't know if you only played during some patch where missiles could actually do something against jets or if you were playing on a server where the pilots didn't know how to throttle to full speed or what.  They are completely, totally worthless against jets.  Jets move faster than the missiles, they are usually out of range before you even get a lock.  And the very best target for jets are AA, as soon as they see someone in there they immediately bomb it.  Everyone else knows that AA is a joke against jets.

[stray]

I haven't played regularly in awhile, but it wasn't like I was playing an "easier" version of the game. Everyone bitched about jets from the get go. They didn't listen to me then either, even when I posted and linked to my AA stats on this site.

....

Sure, jets move fast. That's why I said to lead them.

Besides, the problem with jets is not their speed, but their ability to drop decoys. And if you depend too much on the locking system and/or taking your time, you'll fall for that trap.

Then again, sometimes it's easier just to wait for them to drop decoys before you really attack.

Generally though, you should only get your locks for a split second, then lead them real quick, and fire off your missles at once. Not one at a time.

You'll need three or four hits to down them (depending on what other damage they've taken). If you hit them even once in that first barrage, they will, almost every single time, fly towards you head on (thus making it easier to target them). Fire all your missles again. Don't hesitate. Your missles will get to them quicker than the time they have to close in and bomb.

If you're on a map with ships, it's almost too easy. The ships' AA guns are far superior. And even if the fight is taking place mostly on land, and you're all alone out in the water, the jets always swing by your way.

[edit]

I'm sloppy today.

I'm sloppy every day.

[Viin]

I like flying jets and helicopters, but both are very fragile.

Since I suck at bombing, I usually spend all of my jet flying time taking out the opponents jets. This isn't hard, just takes a little bit of skill and practice. Some of the most fun I've had is fighting against another team that has a couple of good dog fighters.

Helicopters are a pain.. I like flying them but they are very easy to crash. They are also very weak in the armor department - the machine guns mounted on trucks can take me down to half armor before I have a chance to get out of the way (unless I'm already moving at a good clip). And anyone who knows how to fly a jet even a little can take you out right away - I usually hear the warning but by then it's too late, flares don't always help.

I will also play AA on the ground, using the mounted AA missiles. These work awesome on helicopters. Not so well on jets (as mentioned, takes 4 hits and they are usually gone by the time you reload after the first 2), but it most definantely gets them out of the area... sitting in one for more than a couple mins is suicide though, so you gotta jump out and run away while waiting for him to come back around.

(And I've been playing most nights for the last couple of days, so this is on the most recent patches).

[Tale]

the machine guns mounted on trucks can take me down to half armor before I have a chance to get out of the way

Yeah. I have never bothered learning to fly properly in BF2 even though I have a decent joystick. I enjoy the ground game too much. A regular part of my ground game is taking out helicopters with those truck-mounted machine guns. It's exciting to do - I know good places to park my truck so they are unlikely to see me, then I wait "till I can see the whites of their eyes" (until the chopper is too near to escape fast) and then I open up with the big gun. The pilot can't really tell where the bullets are coming from, flies around in a panic trying to get out of the way, then either dies or has to fly home for repairs. If a Harrier is flown too slowly I can also take it out with the truck-mounted guns.

Therefore on public servers I tend to lack respect for pilots on my own team. Wannabe pilots who queue up at the airstrip teamkilling each other for access to the next jet are scum. They steal my truck to get to the airstrip, taking away my anti-aircraft weapon and hurting their team. They die 20 times to the guy that strafes the airstrip, then steal my truck again. And they never capture or defend flags, which is the essence of the game. If I'm on a team of wannabe pilots, I end up cursing them and frustrating myself with solo defenses of vital flags, and being overrun by the 30 enemies who are working together on the ground and not queuing for planes like my team.

[Akkori]

I play every day, and I have to say Sky, you might be underestimating the effect of jets and OVERestimating the strength of anti-air stuff. The only time I have ever taken a jet out with the stingers is if it is not at full strength. I have never gotten off two salvo's (4 missiles) one one jet. Every decent pilot has all AA sites memorized and can be there and bomb the shit out of it inside of 15 seconds. Chaff from both air vehicles is ridiculously effective. I have better success against helo's, but only marginally.

And yes, there are WAY too many people who sit aroudn the airfield bickering about who is going to fly next. Its not uncommon to see 4 to 6 players camping the airfield waiting for 2 jets and one Apache. As a commander, this is frustrating as hell, and I have even suffered a weak moment and arty'd my own airfield out fo frustration (to get the enemy Spec Ops guy who was sneaking around, of course).

I love the big maps, and have learned to just accept it. In my bf2combat.net clan, I am pushing hard to get our air wing up to speed to keep the enemy air off our backs. Alltogether though, I have fun, and thats all that matters.

[stray]

I'm Stray, not Sky ;)

I'm not under or overestimating either one. Nothing I'm saying is meant to downplay jets. Sure, they tough, but I know that I have and can knock them down.

I think you're the one downplaying things. Saying jets are tricky is one thing, and I can almost understand that......But you've extended your gripe to helicopters as well. You make AA sound completely worthless -- And it's bullshit. Helicopters are like sitting ducks. I've had matches where I've knocked down choppers one after another after another. And unlike jets, they're more unstable when hit. Sometimes I don't even have to knock them down completely because of this.

[WayAbvPar]

AA works fine on helicopters, especially since the patch when they dialed down the hit points in the choppers. Jets are still nearly invulnerable to the AA emplacements. As Akkori said, any decent pilot has all their locations memorized. Add in the fact that they can get lined up and moving toward it at full speed, appear on the horizon, and kill the emplacement before the emplacement can lock makes it pretty dicey. Also- the emplacements light up with a giant fucking 'Shoot Me' sign whenever you sit in them.

I have had much more success with the AA vehicles, but still die far more often than I get kills. Shoulder-fired AA would keep the pilots from just lazily flying the same route, bombing the AA back into the Stone Age 4 milliseconds after it respawns from the previous bombing. There is a reason the good pilots have like 30-1 K/D ratios on air maps. That is just clownshoes.

[Viin]

And yes, there are WAY too many people who sit aroudn the airfield bickering about who is going to fly next. Its not uncommon to see 4 to 6 players camping the airfield waiting for 2 jets and one Apache. As a commander, this is frustrating as hell, and I have even suffered a weak moment and arty'd my own airfield out fo frustration (to get the enemy Spec Ops guy who was sneaking around, of course).

Yah I hate that. Even though I like flying around, I won't sit around waiting for a chopper or jet - I'm almost always in spec ops gear so I'll go have some fun shooting bad guys. I switch games if there's more than 1 or 2 people just sitting at the airbase waiting for a flyer. On air carriers people are really bad about that, but I hate driving those boats too.

[sinij]

My favorite thing to do is to fly transport helicopter to carrier with a sniper kit and M95, parachute out, boobytrap ladders and sit there sniping pilots that get into planes and helicopters. Sniping pilot that just got into helicopter or plane is SO EASY.

[Sky]

When I was in a 1942 clan, I'd spend entire matches just kicking and teamkilling planetards (airstrip campers) and banning them if they returned and camptarded again. Toward the end that was more fun than playing, some days.

I don't have problems with aircraft, they just don't impact the ground game much. Choppers can if there's a good team flying, but they're also more vulnerable. Jets a joke, a way to keep armor from being too overpowered. They contribute very little for the amount of people involved (camptards) and I generally ignore them. They fly over, big booms, run in and cap flag and duck into cover again.

[sinij]

Planes, especially 2-seaters, can be devastating. Good team that watches flags and knows how to not only bomb 'locks' but also bomb areas are plain simply deadly. I have seen maps won by excelent pilot with competent bomber making it very hard to cap any flags.

[WayAbvPar]

Speaking of- can anyone direct me to a decent tutorial for using the LGBs? I get lucky every once in a while and get a few kills, but it seems to be independent of any input I give it  :-D

I have never gotten my joystick to work, so I don't fly, but I like to be a bomber (in planes) or a gunner (in choppers). I am reasonably good in choppers, but still working on the planes bit.

[Viin]

LGBs just go where you point them. So you have to keep the reticle on the target.

Bf2 doesn't have a buddy/friend system does it? How do you find out what server folks are playing on?

[Yoshimaru]

X-Fire?

[Zetleft]

X-Fire?

Yeah, pretty much.  And I log into the f13 ts server when I play but its usually empty. 

[Sky]

Haven't played since I got SF (when the new BF2 map was released) and got spanked to fuck and back. Got into Gothic 2 and now CoV, but BF2 is always a good in betweener game.

[Akkori]

http://www.game-monitor.com/GameSearch/bf2/BattleField_2.html
Try this site...

The guys in my clan all use the same pre-name tag, so it finds everyone in the group. But you can search for names too. I tried Xfire, but I dont like having anything running in the background that I dont *have* to have.

[Viin]

That's a cool website. Maybe we should all wear an F13 tag?

[WayAbvPar]

We could start an F13 clan I suppose...so we can get pwned together!

How long were you on the server before you joined my squad last night, Viin? I saw your name as commander and did a doubletake, and then you joined me the next round. Nice flying in the F-15, btw! My goal is to get all the aircraft medals and ribbons without ever actually piloiting =P

Had one of those 'THIS is why I game' moments last night. Defending the Hotel in Sharqi peninsula. Heard a sniper firing from the building across the street (nearest the road/water). I went around the back side of the building, and saw him laying there, sniping around the corner. At first I thought I would just knife him, but I decided on a more amusing way. I rolled a grenade to him PERFECTLY- it rolled about a foot in front of his face. Not sure if he actually saw it or just heard it, but watching him leap to his feet in a futile attempt to get away and then getting fragged made my entire night. I wish I had a battle recording of it...HILARIOUS.

[Viin]

I wasn't on too long before I took the commander spot, maybe 15 mins.

Some nights I have a lot of fun playing, other nights I get pissed off because nothing is working for me and some stupid admin kicks me because I accidently rammed a helicopter while I was strafing it in an F18. Sheesh.

Where do we setup a clan at? Or a way to add a tag to your name without creating a new account?

[WayAbvPar]

You can add a tag to your handle at the login screen (there is a blank above your login name). I don't know if there is any registration or anything for being a clan.

[Akkori]

That website just tracks the account nicknames I think. So there is no need to set up an official "clan" to use it. Sorry if that was not what you were aksing, heheh. I just happen to be in one (bf2combat.net) and we use it to see who is playing public servers so we can join them there. The game is a LOT more fun when you know that all the guys around you on the clan tournament server are mature. Jets are still a apin in the ass, but at least the ground game is better too.

[climbjtree]

I play a lot of Point of Existence, but I'd be willing to play a lot more vanilla BF2 if you guys want to get a group together to play. Squads with a lot of teamwork make me love the game. Squads with no teamwork make me not want to play so much.

[Sky]

When I was playing in a clan, bf1942 was an entirely different game. Incredibly better, I give clan play a 100%, I love it. Pub play is about 50%, I can barely stand to play most days.

Just spawning at the airfield and being able to jump in a plane (I was a pilot for the clan) was nice. Having coordinated tactics on a 16v16 game is transcendent.

[WayAbvPar]

Kills
Total & Streak    12,000 / 31
Per Minute    0.478
Per Round    7.609
Deaths
Total & Streak    12,136 / 17
Per Minute    0.483
Per Round    7.696


Arrrgh SOOOO close! I have heard that kills with arty count here (as global kills), even though they don't count for scoring purposes. Can anyone confirm or deny? I will eventually get to 1:1 anyway, but commander would be a quick way to do it.

[Akkori]

Here ya go...

[climbjtree]

I saw a lot of this last night:

WayAbvPar [G3] [f13] climbjtree

[Sky]

Heh.

[Furiously]

Doubleheh.

[rk47]

Couldn't get knife badge :( so no promotion.

[Sky]

I think this puts any doubts I am a casual gamer to rest :P

[sinij]

WHat is IP of f13 BF2 server so I can log in a nd pwn you with unfair helicopters.

[sinij]

Couldn't get knife badge :( so no promotion.

Try knifing people. I got gold badge by just shanking snipers.