S3 Series

New map up and summary on main site - http://www.squadselectseries.com

Frame 1 saw a low turnout with some issues with TS, private arena and forum passwords not working. Hopefully these will be cleared up by frame 2 and we can see a better representation of the actual S3 numbers.

Allied forces lead with a combined Beaufighter and heavy P38 attack on F42. The initial attack was met by Ki61s but the high P38 escort was too strong and held them away from the lower strikers. They did disrupt the attack forcing many P38s to drop their bombs. A second sortie later resulted in the field being closed. It will remain closed for the rest of the series.

The second Allied attack was on F62 with a few B24Js helping but the primary attack was by Beaufighters followed by a last minute strafing by P38s that closed the field just seconds before the T+160 deadline.

The Japanese are behind in points 64 to 45 but can still make up the difference if they play it smart and do not go toe to toe with the superior Allied forces. They must pick away at the juggernaut, look for the unsupported attacks and conserve enough forces so the Allies do not have a clear run of it in the last hour of each frame. Easier said than done but that is where victory lies. The Allies just have to continue to pound away at the Japanese forcing them away from the more lucrative targets and shipping lanes. They need to use their superior fighter aircraft and just wear the enemy down so their bombers can have it easy hitting targets later in the frame.

The front has moved in the west and now all bases north of that line can be used by the Japanese except for F42 and F62 which are closed. To declare a Rabual Raid the Allies must announce it no later than Wed of this week.

Pilots listed as KIA from Frame 1 - if they were flying a 1st Line a/c they must now fly a 2nd line aircraft for 1 frame.

23rd Fighter Group, =htmn=
23rd Fighter Group, boinkd
352nd FG The Bluenosed Bastards of Bodney, chicdg
352nd FG The Bluenosed Bastards of Bodney, redsgt
352nd FG The Bluenosed Bastards of Bodney, todzla
352nd FG The Bluenosed Bastards of Bodney, tracer
416 RCAF The Lynx, -deak-
416 RCAF The Lynx, barvic
416 RCAF The Lynx, sunrae
416 RCAF The Lynx, swede-
416 RCAF The Lynx, swede-
416 RCAF The Lynx, yukone
416 RCAF The Lynx, yukone
417 RCAF The Windsors, beaver
475th FG Satans Angels, fepper
4th FG, -light
4th FG, -navy-
4th FG, elviss
JG 51 Mölders, -prime
JG 51 Mölders, easyed
Knights who say Ni!, berkut
Knights who say Ni!, okdoc-
Night Stalkers, muskyz
Tainan Kokutai, -sakai

Good Luck in Frame 2.

Notes:
1. Some complaints about the new icon system using feet rather than 100 yds.
2. There may be some issues reported with using wingman and no GPS.
3. Freighter hit bubbles continue to take a toll of low level strafing attacks.
4. Private arena may have limited those taking part in the frame.
5. Forum passwords have not worked for a few still trying to figure out why.
6. Constructive feedback is always welcome as there are a host of changes from last year all of which can be fine-tuned I am sure.

Icons

Personally I like the extra numbers in the icon range but here is a proposed solution.

Don't force the icon range numbering and let folks choose. If you remove the arena setting each pilot may choose his icon range.

Default is Icon range divided by 100 which results in icon range displayed in hundreds of yards.

the command is .iconsdrange <divisor>

So if you type .iconsdrange 1 you will get undivided yards (four digits representing yards to target)

If you type .iconsdrange 3 you will get feet to target (four digits representing the feet to target)

If you type .iconsdrange 300 you will get hundreds of feet to target (2 digits)

For metric types you can do .iconsdrange 109 and get an APPROXIMATE hundreds of meters to target (the lack of significant digits makes this slightly inaccurate)

And if you don't like any of that .iconsdrange 100 sets it back to what you are used to.

Using the Bomber Link and NO GPS

I researched the complaints and discovered the map was not draggable when you logged into the bomber link to log in. I asked SPINDZ if he could fix that yesterday. He did and it is in the mandatory update (along with some minor FM fixes I did Monday. I will list those later). This should resolve all of the issues with using bomber wingman. The map is draggable and zoomable and the AI wingmen show on the map (Yes, that isn't quite right in No GPS but not totally unrealistic as bombers had navigators) You still must have some clue where you are so you can drag the map to the right area to zoom in on your wingmen. I tested this yesterday in the S3 Arena after update and it works fine.

Freighter Collision Bubble

Jman and I both looked at the hitmap for the freighter and it is all WELL within the confines of the art. We also both talked to SPINDZ separately and he knows the issue and it is net lag. These collisions do not happen offline.

A SOLUTION would be to turn collisions off in the S3.

A partial solution would be to randomize collisions on and off in S3 using a script forcing folks to be careful but reduce the number of collision deaths due to net lag.

FM Tweaks

Ki61 and Ki 43 added "preset rudder trim" It wont allow hands off flying in cruise with the autopilot off but it reduces the right rudder required.

Fixed Ki43 flap system per Jugggo. Two notches only. 30 degrees max.

Reduced temperature rise rate in almost all series aircraft so there is a bit more time before WEP burnout of the motor. This better reflects the cushion between Stated limits and actual damage occurring.

To address some notes:
Note 1: Even if someone changes the icon to yards, whenever the GPS comes on it will change it back to feet. The command to change the icon range is .iconsdrange 100 (where 100 is the divisor and makes the icons look like the previous icons everyone is used to).

Note 2: Dawger and Spindz have a fix in. Please update and test.

Note 3: Boats do weird shit in the game...see video's in another thread. Pull off Early and don't overfly if possible.

Note 4: Sqd CO's please email your squad and let them know the procedures to find the arena (listed below for easy cut and paste).
For the S3 arena do the following:
-Load game.
-When looking at splash screen with selections on right side, hit / key to open buffer and type .privatearena s3
-Hit Go Online.
-You should see only the S3 arena (two selections--one for bombers and one for fighters).

Note 6: Feedback:
- Put the arena public and prevent the loss of those who don't read forums.
-Icon ranges--Might want to consider putting it to the old style and let people select the new style if they so desire.

Link to other thread:
http://www.squadselectforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1513
There is nothing wrong with the boats per say,There is no mast to collide with,
As Dob's videos show, the ships move around a lot (2-3 ship lengths)
Give them lots of room and wait for internet providers to give us more bandwidth,



My 2 cents:
I love the idea of a private arena with no gate crashers. A list of allowable handles that can get in, (read "guest list" if your on the guest list welcome to the S3, if your not on it a message will pop up telling you the requirements to get in.)
No more gate crashers and a dedicated group of players that have some idea of what they're doing and what it's all about,
But I think it best to leave it public as too many changes only confuse everybody and complicates what is already very complicated.

Too many changes all at once is never a good idea for a community such as ours.
The average human hates changes of any sort, Warbirders hate change even more.

Resolved for axis users ... If anyone on the allied side has this issue let me know. I will need to talk to Jabo and possibly reset the allied PW.

Love the new distance icons. That way you can actually tell if the a/c is getting closer or farther away.

Think the major issues are resolved. Note to bomber pilots that you must read the rules about your use of AIs and formations. They are not terminators sent off to die alone but important parts of your unit. I will change the number of AI back to 3 so you can fly a nice diamond or vic formation with 100ft separations.

Thanks for the above. Very good inside the S3 changes.

(S)

Juice

Really cool, I noticed the preset rudder trim when flying autopilot with power OFF. The autopilot compensates for it by yaw +7 (Bf109G-6) and yaw +8 (ki-61c). Big thanks Dawger for putting time in to give the airplanes, that don't have manual rudder trims, a preset trim just like the groundcrew did IRL. Takes a lot of stress off your wrist when cruising/climbing by hand without autopilot on a twisty-stick. (realism junkie here ). Also helps in combat as you'll be fighting your torque less at low speeds.

<S>
/Robert
XO 4th FG

Ah..maybe that is why it never bothered me:) Autopilot junkie....hand fly when its time fight:)