The Soup Nazi's Guide for Becoming a Successful Pilot
1. Purchase a joystick.
This may be an issue of opinion, but I know that purchasing a joystick has helped my pilot skills immensely. There are quite a few models and brands of joysticks available at Best Buy, CompUSA, etc. My best advice to you is to go to a store that has all of the joysticks on display so that you can actually see for yourself how each joystick feels and responds.
In my experience, I started with a Logitech Freedom 2.4 Cordless Joystick. Product Details at Logitech.com. This proved to be a completely worthless investment and I urge you all to not purchase this joystick. First of all, the joystick is powered by AAA batteries and goes into "sleep mode" after 2 minutes of inactivity. So if you're hiding out at an enemy airfield and waiting for one of their planes to spawn, you will have to remember to wake up the joystick before hopping into the plane. If you forget, you will just sit there... waiting to get shot out.
The second annoyance about the Logitech Freedom 2.4 Cordless deals with the general longevity of this device. I used the joystick, on average, only about 1 - 2 hours per day, yet the joystick decided to become uncalibrated and "pulled left" anytime I attempted to fly. This is a well-known product issue and many of Logitech's customers have discussed this on their Customer Support forum.
So when my cordless joystick decided to stop working properly, I decided to purchase the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Product Details at Logitech.com. I've been using this joystick heavily for the past 3 months without any problems. And, since it's not powered by batteries, it doesn't go into sleep mode after 2 minutes of inactivity.
I have not tried any other brands or models of joysticks for Battlefield 2, so I have no opinions on anything outside of the two I tried from Logitech. My best advice is to purchase a joystick that feels like it has been made durably and has a throttle slider and a twist handle. These two features are a must-have for Battlefield 2.
2. The Pursuit
Many pilots I fly against exhibit the same behavior patterns. The majority of them flies around with their missiles armed and looks for ground targets. When they approach a ground target, they quickly switch to their bombs, release them, and then finally switch back to missiles. This is not a bad idea, in and of itself, but there is a lesson to be learned here.
Never, and I do mean never, chase an enemy plane down with your missiles locked on them. Using a temporary missile lock to quickly identify friendly or enemy air targets is a much smarter routine to get accustomed to. Once you are sure that another airborne jet is an enemy, switch immediately back to your bombs so that they will not be in missile lock. If a pilot doesn't know you're there behind them, there's a far greater chance of you blowing them away.
And because they can't as easily find out they're being followed in this manner, there is a far greater chance of getting much closer to them than you might have had otherwise.
My method:
a: Fly with bombs armed until I spy other aircraft
b: Quickly switch from bombs to missiles and back to bombs to "scan" whether or not the target is friend or foe
c: With bombs armed, proceed to pursue the bogey.
d: I will not fire one round at my prey until I am right on their tail and they are leveled out (for example, going in for a bombing run or re-arming their weapons at an airbase)
e: Once these criteria have been met, I let lose with my machine guns to damage their plane as much as possible.
f: They normally become frantic at this time and fly extremely erratically. But most people are pretty predictable, they will head for their base to repair as quickly as they can. I Take this as an opportunity to slow down and hang back a bit. I follow them as they go in for repairs and then I let lose the rockets.
g: Repeat a.
Do not conform to the ways of the majority of pilots. With this method and lots of practice, I guarantee that you will end up shooting down many more bogeys than before.
3. The Chased
No matter what you do, no matter where you fly, chances are that someone's going to see you flying and attempt to shoot you down. But hopefully with a little help and guidance, you won't be getting shot down nearly as often.
The hardest planes to shoot down are always piloted by people who are unpredictable. Flying from the carrier to bomb a base and back to the carrier and back to that same base over and over again is hardly unpredictable. Chances are highly likely in such a situation that someone is going to catch on to your methods and chase you down with guns blazing. In order to make yourself an unpredictable target, you will need to learn to fly at different altitudes (low, medium, high) at any given time. If you continually climb and fall while making sharp turns, you're far less likely to be shot down by enemy missiles.
The pilots I always get frustrated with (while pursuing them) are these types of pilots. I try to follow their erratic patterns from nearly scraping the ground to high up in the heavens only to plummet in a different direction. Trying to follow such a target is annoyingly difficult without losing patience and letting them know you are there.
Never release your flares without first checking behind you to see what caused the missile lock. Too often I experience pilots who let their flares fly as soon the missile lock alarm goes off. Flares take a long time to re-arm. Don't let yourself be vulnerable to this folly.
Flares are great at diverting enemy missiles, but it's important to know when to release them. If you're going in for a bombing run or repairing/re-arming your jet, those are great times to release the flares since you will be flying level (and as such are much more vulnerable to enemy fire) during that time.
If you find yourself without flares and you have a steady missile lock, you're going to have to do everything you can to shake your attacker. This means quick, tight turns (be sure to utilize your rudder, not just the yaw while turning) are going to be required to keep the missiles from hitting you. Generally what I do is switch to a different camera angle so that I can see the missiles coming and adjust my flight path accordingly.
Know your terrain. This is so important that I shouldn't even put it in this guide, right? Wrong. Each and every map has some sort of terrain that can aide you in shaking that pesky bogey. Cranes, mountains, buildings, even water can be used as obstacles that will make you harder to kill.
a: Kubra Dam, for example, has a shaft in the base of the dam that is the perfect size for flying jets through. My advice for aspiring pilots who wish to attempt this feat is to practice offline first.
b: Dalian Plant has mountainous terrain that you can use for cover (not to mention flying in and out of the nuclear smokestacks)
Do not always fly full-throttle. If you are being chased closely, back off the throttle making either the attacker pass by you or force them to also back off. If they pass by you, you have now become the attacker- not the attackee.
4. Bombing Runs
The little dangly line under your sights actually does mean something when your bombs are armed. The "pipper" will help you know when your plane is flying level and approximately when to release your bombs. If you release your bombs while the bottom of the pipper line is over your target, you will normally score a direct hit. That is, of course, if you are not flying full-throttle and you are flying level. After you release your bombs, switch to another camera angle to check whether or not you actually hit your target.
Unfortunately Battlefield 2 isn't the most realistic flight simulator on the market, so the pipper doesn't work as accurately as we hope, but it's much better than nothing.
Dive bombing is another method of assailing your targets with bombs. You start by flying at a high altitude and scanning the area for ground targets. Once you spot one, you make a dive for that target and release your bombs while you are flying downward. Once you release, you pull up out of the fall and fly away unscathed. The only problem with this method is that sometimes you can't tell whether or not a ground target is an enemy until it's too late.
5. Copilots
Pilots of SU-34's and F-15's: this section is for you. You fly a two-seater aircraft that carries enough firepower to take out many ground targets at once, so please remember to use these aircraft in this manner. Too often I hop into a copilot seat of one of these jets only find out my pilot wants to chase Mig-29's and F-18's. If you haven't noticed, the heavy bombers aren't as fast or maneuverable and weren't built for being dogfighters. If you want to dogfight, use the appropriate equipment. Please.
Copilots have the ability to fire Air-to-Surface missiles from the F-15's and SU-34's. If the pilot flies slowly and high enough, the copilot can rack up some serious points by taking out one ground target after another. And, by flying at high altitudes, they are less susceptible to being hit by Surface-to-Air missiles. A common problem is that a pilot will forget about the copilot and not give them the time they need to appropriately lock on and fire a missile.
6. Conclusion
If you've made it this far and have been practicing all of the methods that I've discussed, I think you'll find yourself all around as a much more successful pilot. You will, most likely, strike fear into the hearts of all those that are against you because you will be harder to shoot down and you have the ability to sneak up on them without them even knowing you're there.
Hopefully you will have found this guide helpful and that it will make you a better pilot than you were before. If you already knew all this stuff and have more to add, let me know and it'll be added.
1. Purchase a joystick.
This may be an issue of opinion, but I know that purchasing a joystick has helped my pilot skills immensely. There are quite a few models and brands of joysticks available at Best Buy, CompUSA, etc. My best advice to you is to go to a store that has all of the joysticks on display so that you can actually see for yourself how each joystick feels and responds.
In my experience, I started with a Logitech Freedom 2.4 Cordless Joystick. Product Details at Logitech.com. This proved to be a completely worthless investment and I urge you all to not purchase this joystick. First of all, the joystick is powered by AAA batteries and goes into "sleep mode" after 2 minutes of inactivity. So if you're hiding out at an enemy airfield and waiting for one of their planes to spawn, you will have to remember to wake up the joystick before hopping into the plane. If you forget, you will just sit there... waiting to get shot out.
The second annoyance about the Logitech Freedom 2.4 Cordless deals with the general longevity of this device. I used the joystick, on average, only about 1 - 2 hours per day, yet the joystick decided to become uncalibrated and "pulled left" anytime I attempted to fly. This is a well-known product issue and many of Logitech's customers have discussed this on their Customer Support forum.
So when my cordless joystick decided to stop working properly, I decided to purchase the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Product Details at Logitech.com. I've been using this joystick heavily for the past 3 months without any problems. And, since it's not powered by batteries, it doesn't go into sleep mode after 2 minutes of inactivity.
I have not tried any other brands or models of joysticks for Battlefield 2, so I have no opinions on anything outside of the two I tried from Logitech. My best advice is to purchase a joystick that feels like it has been made durably and has a throttle slider and a twist handle. These two features are a must-have for Battlefield 2.
2. The Pursuit
Many pilots I fly against exhibit the same behavior patterns. The majority of them flies around with their missiles armed and looks for ground targets. When they approach a ground target, they quickly switch to their bombs, release them, and then finally switch back to missiles. This is not a bad idea, in and of itself, but there is a lesson to be learned here.
Never, and I do mean never, chase an enemy plane down with your missiles locked on them. Using a temporary missile lock to quickly identify friendly or enemy air targets is a much smarter routine to get accustomed to. Once you are sure that another airborne jet is an enemy, switch immediately back to your bombs so that they will not be in missile lock. If a pilot doesn't know you're there behind them, there's a far greater chance of you blowing them away.
And because they can't as easily find out they're being followed in this manner, there is a far greater chance of getting much closer to them than you might have had otherwise.
My method:
a: Fly with bombs armed until I spy other aircraft
b: Quickly switch from bombs to missiles and back to bombs to "scan" whether or not the target is friend or foe
c: With bombs armed, proceed to pursue the bogey.
d: I will not fire one round at my prey until I am right on their tail and they are leveled out (for example, going in for a bombing run or re-arming their weapons at an airbase)
e: Once these criteria have been met, I let lose with my machine guns to damage their plane as much as possible.
f: They normally become frantic at this time and fly extremely erratically. But most people are pretty predictable, they will head for their base to repair as quickly as they can. I Take this as an opportunity to slow down and hang back a bit. I follow them as they go in for repairs and then I let lose the rockets.
g: Repeat a.
Do not conform to the ways of the majority of pilots. With this method and lots of practice, I guarantee that you will end up shooting down many more bogeys than before.
3. The Chased
No matter what you do, no matter where you fly, chances are that someone's going to see you flying and attempt to shoot you down. But hopefully with a little help and guidance, you won't be getting shot down nearly as often.
The hardest planes to shoot down are always piloted by people who are unpredictable. Flying from the carrier to bomb a base and back to the carrier and back to that same base over and over again is hardly unpredictable. Chances are highly likely in such a situation that someone is going to catch on to your methods and chase you down with guns blazing. In order to make yourself an unpredictable target, you will need to learn to fly at different altitudes (low, medium, high) at any given time. If you continually climb and fall while making sharp turns, you're far less likely to be shot down by enemy missiles.
The pilots I always get frustrated with (while pursuing them) are these types of pilots. I try to follow their erratic patterns from nearly scraping the ground to high up in the heavens only to plummet in a different direction. Trying to follow such a target is annoyingly difficult without losing patience and letting them know you are there.
Never release your flares without first checking behind you to see what caused the missile lock. Too often I experience pilots who let their flares fly as soon the missile lock alarm goes off. Flares take a long time to re-arm. Don't let yourself be vulnerable to this folly.
Flares are great at diverting enemy missiles, but it's important to know when to release them. If you're going in for a bombing run or repairing/re-arming your jet, those are great times to release the flares since you will be flying level (and as such are much more vulnerable to enemy fire) during that time.
If you find yourself without flares and you have a steady missile lock, you're going to have to do everything you can to shake your attacker. This means quick, tight turns (be sure to utilize your rudder, not just the yaw while turning) are going to be required to keep the missiles from hitting you. Generally what I do is switch to a different camera angle so that I can see the missiles coming and adjust my flight path accordingly.
Know your terrain. This is so important that I shouldn't even put it in this guide, right? Wrong. Each and every map has some sort of terrain that can aide you in shaking that pesky bogey. Cranes, mountains, buildings, even water can be used as obstacles that will make you harder to kill.
a: Kubra Dam, for example, has a shaft in the base of the dam that is the perfect size for flying jets through. My advice for aspiring pilots who wish to attempt this feat is to practice offline first.
b: Dalian Plant has mountainous terrain that you can use for cover (not to mention flying in and out of the nuclear smokestacks)
Do not always fly full-throttle. If you are being chased closely, back off the throttle making either the attacker pass by you or force them to also back off. If they pass by you, you have now become the attacker- not the attackee.
4. Bombing Runs
The little dangly line under your sights actually does mean something when your bombs are armed. The "pipper" will help you know when your plane is flying level and approximately when to release your bombs. If you release your bombs while the bottom of the pipper line is over your target, you will normally score a direct hit. That is, of course, if you are not flying full-throttle and you are flying level. After you release your bombs, switch to another camera angle to check whether or not you actually hit your target.
Unfortunately Battlefield 2 isn't the most realistic flight simulator on the market, so the pipper doesn't work as accurately as we hope, but it's much better than nothing.
Dive bombing is another method of assailing your targets with bombs. You start by flying at a high altitude and scanning the area for ground targets. Once you spot one, you make a dive for that target and release your bombs while you are flying downward. Once you release, you pull up out of the fall and fly away unscathed. The only problem with this method is that sometimes you can't tell whether or not a ground target is an enemy until it's too late.
5. Copilots
Pilots of SU-34's and F-15's: this section is for you. You fly a two-seater aircraft that carries enough firepower to take out many ground targets at once, so please remember to use these aircraft in this manner. Too often I hop into a copilot seat of one of these jets only find out my pilot wants to chase Mig-29's and F-18's. If you haven't noticed, the heavy bombers aren't as fast or maneuverable and weren't built for being dogfighters. If you want to dogfight, use the appropriate equipment. Please.
Copilots have the ability to fire Air-to-Surface missiles from the F-15's and SU-34's. If the pilot flies slowly and high enough, the copilot can rack up some serious points by taking out one ground target after another. And, by flying at high altitudes, they are less susceptible to being hit by Surface-to-Air missiles. A common problem is that a pilot will forget about the copilot and not give them the time they need to appropriately lock on and fire a missile.
6. Conclusion
If you've made it this far and have been practicing all of the methods that I've discussed, I think you'll find yourself all around as a much more successful pilot. You will, most likely, strike fear into the hearts of all those that are against you because you will be harder to shoot down and you have the ability to sneak up on them without them even knowing you're there.
Hopefully you will have found this guide helpful and that it will make you a better pilot than you were before. If you already knew all this stuff and have more to add, let me know and it'll be added.
Last edited by The Soup Nazi (2005-10-03 11:00:36)