-=Flight in 2142=-
As most of us have figured out, the learning curve for the aerial vehicles has dropped immensely in BF2142. Despite this, when I take to the skies I still find it incredibly easy to take people out. Within this guide are many tricks I enjoy using when I fly, and I find that most of them work fantastically 90 percent of the time.
keyboard, joystick, game controller, mouse?
Flight within this game can happen in a multitude of ways. I’ve found that the easiest way to do it is with the keyboard, and as such this guide is oriented towards that setup.
Because of the uniqueness of the aircraft in this game, a joystick seems to be a poor choice, as does a mouse.
Many maneuvers are much easier to perform with a keyboard, in part because you have two different control surfaces. However, using pedals and a joystick may work fantastically as well. The mouse is, in my opinion, the worst choice one can make when taking to the skies. It’s extremely clumsy and unwieldy, and I recommend you stay away from it. I have yet to attempt to use a game controller, but if I get around to it, I’ll let you know how it goes.
The Basics
There are two types of aerial vehicles in 2142, the Gunship and the Airship. As you probably already know, the Airship is for transport and the Gunship for attack. This guide will focus mostly on the gunship, but will brush slightly on the Airship solely for completeness.
The Airships
BTR-20 Yastreb
The Gunships
Type-4 Doragon
The Type 4 is the PAC’s Air Mobile Multipurpose Platform (AMP). Although it has the slimmer profile, the Doragon seems to be the least maneuverable, although the two are of equal speed.
UD-6 Talon
The Talon is the EU AMP. unlike the Type-4, which has two stationary engines and one vectored thrust engine (located on the bottom and back, respectively), the Talon has two hulking engines mounted on the side that swivel, similar to the Harrier Jet.
Both the Gunships and the Airships feature an Active Defense (AD) mechanism, rather than flares.
Statistics
Both airships feature 1500 hundred hit points, the largest of said value in the game.
Gunships
For comparison, sizes of the Gunships.
Basic Knowledge and Tendencies of the Vehicles
Similar to Battlefield 2’s Attack Helicopters, the Gunships are extremely versatile vehicles that should not be wasted.
Both of these vehicles fly like a jet, but handle like a helicopter. They are capable of a slower, powered hover, which usually leaves them with the same top speed as an airship (approx. 250 km/ph), or a swift, powered flight of about 600 km/ph.
There are four basic meters on the HUD which are extremely important to flight in this game:
1. Jet- This indicates what direction your thrust is pointing. It has two different positions: upper or bottom left. It will default to upper left when you have zero thrust, which occurs when neither the W or S key is depressed, or, if you prefer a joystick, when your throttle control is centered. This indicator is the lighter grey of the two.
2. Thrust- Located on the same bar as the Jet indicator, this indicates airspeed. This indicator is the bright white of the pair.
3. Asc/Dsc- Located opposite the Thrust/Jet meter, this is a basic indication of your Angle of Attack. This is replicated in the center of the HUD.
4. Compass- Basic directional equipment, this is essentially useless, except for the occasional compass-based vocal order or direction.
Another key aspect of these vehicles I found extremely interesting involves the pilot’s homing missiles. Unlike in BF2, whose hellfire missiles fired in an alternating left-right pattern, they now fire in a half left, half right configuration.
The Talon fires its first five missiles from its left cannon, and follows up with five from the right. The Doragon fires five from the right, then five from the left.
This means one must adjust his aim one time, rather than four in BF2.
Another extremely important aspect of these missiles is their complete lack of splash damage. This means they are essentially useless against infantry, and like the rest of the game, seems to be designed to encourage teamwork.
The gunner controls two weapons in this game, just like in BF2. He has both a TV missile and a mounted gun, both of which can be deadly in the right hands.
Unlike in BF2, where the TV missile was controlled by pointing and clicking, 2142 uses a simpler system in which the gunner must just move his mouse to adjust aim.
However, do not let this deceive you. This missile, because of its intense speed, is extremely hard to control and is pretty useless against aerial vehicles.
Like in BF2, the mounted gun is deadly against infantry and light vehicles.
Tactics, Tactics, Tactics
Most of you have probably skipped ahead to this section, rather than read the entire thing, and that’s fine with me.
Like Battlefield 2, if you learn only one tactic it is this one: cover.
The AD system is about as useless as flares, concerning choppers on sharqi. It does not block EMP missiles fired from the mounted AA or that from the battle walkers, which are your greatest threat. Therefore, one must be able to violently throw the chopper behind whatever he can, be it a hill, building, bush, or whatever.
A successful pilot must also know when to fight and when to run. Is that kill really worth it when you barely have enough Health to limp back to the airfield? No. its better to give up that one point and get six more in five minutes than to die. In this case, fly fast, low, and use as much cover as you can find.
Alternatively, you can try flying extremely high instead. The flight ceiling seems to have much less of an effect in this game, (if any) and you seem to be able to fly to a more or less limitless height. Be warned, though. When you reach a high enough altitude, you see nothing but grey. This makes it hard to figure out which way is what, and it can mean death by out of bounds very easily.
Like a pilot in BF2 knows, to survive most encounters, one must utilize his views to reach the upper ranks.
If you know what has a lock on you, what direction it’s coming from, and what weapons it has, your chances of survival increase tenfold. As well, switching views makes it much easier to follow somebody through tough maneuvers.
One thing most pilots do not realize is just how focused they become on a target. This often means they are not paying attention to themselves, and they often attempt to follow their opponent through a maneuver they cannot replicate. One must be aware of where all AA, all walkers, all gunships, etc. are at all times, or at least have an idea.
Aerial Escapades
Perhaps the most important section of the guide, I bestow upon you all of my knowledge and techniques for surviving an aerial encounter.
The most important thing to know is when to fire, and when to wait. Although these missiles lock on to your target, if it’s too far away, or changing direction when the missile approaches, you’re going to miss. Nothing is more frustrating than firing eight missiles and seeing them wrap around your target like wrapping bow. Wait until he’s flying relatively straight, slow, or hovering to fire those missiles.
Like Dogfighting in BF2, your priority is first to break the missile lock, and then to ditch your opponent. The simple way to do this is to utilize cover, and this is often most effective against ground vehicles only, as is flying high.
In my absolute honest opinion, what you are about to read is the greatest knowledge I can bestow upon you concerning flight in this game.
My absolute favorite tactic in dogfighting involves a certain amount of randomness, however, it relies heavily on skill and knowledge of the terrain and map to work.
The greatest way to ditch, and often kill an opponent is this: The Slingshot
1.) The first step is to flight straight up in the air, until you have changed direction. At this point, you should hit and hold your S key to kill thrust for about 1.5 seconds.
2.) Resume thrust and finish and begin to finish your loop.
3.) Pick a direction, left or right, and hit and hold that arrow key furiously. When you come out of your loop, you will see one of two things: the ground, rushing straight at you, or the map turned slightly to the side. Either of these effects is desirable.
4.) This is the tricky part. Rather than bail, as your instincts tell you, continue to mash down on the arrow keys (down and either left or right). The final, and beautiful effect, as its name implies, is a slightshot. At a certain point, your craft will accelerate through this maneuver at an extremely fast rate, and it will finish this loop in about a quarter of the space the rest of it took.
The Slingshot, in action
for whatever reason, the video hangs at the beginning. just tap the little slider icon and it will keep playing.
As you can see in the video, the slingshot can be used with or without the loop, but the loop makes it much easier to ditch other pilots, as it gives you a split second in which you are out of their view.
An important thing to remember with the slingshot is the basic fundamentals of its workings. The reason it works the way it does is because it points your thrust in such a way that’s literally throwing you at the ground, until it pulls out, which creates a physical force that literally throws you around in your selected direction. What this means is that if you’re not careful, you could end up in a maneuver that you can’t pull out of.
As an added twist, you can hit your S key just before the maneuver happens, which can change the maneuver.
Experiment with the S key, using it at different times and different places within the maneuver can throw your enemy off completely, and, often, land him in front of you, rather than behind you.
One final note on the slingshot: for whatever reason, the Doragon seems much less inclined to pull this maneuver than the Talon. While the Doragon will still do it, it’s to a much lesser extent than that of the Talon.
Killing Stuff
At this point, we’ve mastered the basics, maneuvering, and turning tail. you’re now ready for the fun part: killing.
It’s important to remember to pick your targets wisely. Although that airship full of enemy soldiers makes for a juicy piece of steak, the Doragon hovering next to it should be first in any pilot’s priorities.
Some Important Numbers
In 2142 everything is equal, at least when it comes to hitpoints.
Tanks, APCs, and airships all take at least 10 direct hits from the pilot’s missiles to kill.
Mounted AA and AV, as well as cars, take three direct hits to kill.
Gunships need at least 7 shots, although you’ll probably fire more than that.
Stunningly, the walkers need at least 19 shots to kill, assuming full health. If you encounter a walker, therefore, it’s usually best to run, unless you have an extraordinarily good gunner.
unlike bf2, a direct hit from the TV missile will do 31 damage to the tanks, meaning that it takes more than one shot to kill them. however, in the past i have hit them from behind with a TV and killed them with a single shot, so its likely that its now armor dependant.
Strategies for killing
The basic maneuvers for taking out enemies remain the same as the choppers from BF2.
The most important thing to remember is the circle strafe. To perform this move, hold your S key, and pick a direction. Hit the equivalent with both hands. Let your gunner reap the benefits.
For vehicular kills, line up, start spamming like mad (try setting up your alternate attack key, and hitting both at the same time) and hope all your missiles go in. make sure you move in quickly, and from behind, as most of the vehicles out there can spell impending doom for a gunship easily.
What you see, and what your gunner sees:
So you’ve been EMP’d, and you don’t know what to do?
the first step is to try to figure out where the shot came from and if it can hit you with its guns. If the answer is yes, bail. If the answer is no, follow these steps.
The next thing to do is to assess your airspeed and height. If you’re low and fast, bail. If you’re moving slowly and have a good amount of HP left, stay in. If you’re high, stay in, period.
Next, figure out what you’re going to hit when you come down. If its purely ground, stay in unless its rocky terrain and you’re low on HP. If you have trees, buildings, anything, you should probably bail unless you’re going to be moving extremely slow and will be extremely low when you connect with them.
The final thing to assess is whether or not there are any other enemies to take you out when you hit the ground. If the answer is yes, your best chance is to stay in your vehicle, unless you can bail well out of their effective range.
The basics of flight in this game are very similar to that of BF2. As I learn more, I’ll update here. If you catch any mistakes or have anything to add, pm me. I’ll toss it in and give you full credit.
A final disclaimer:
The ideas and facts, media, etc. expressed within this guide are mine, except where quoted. Reproduction is allowed, but ask first.
Update List
-Added Size comparisons.....11/21
-Added View chart.....11/21
As most of us have figured out, the learning curve for the aerial vehicles has dropped immensely in BF2142. Despite this, when I take to the skies I still find it incredibly easy to take people out. Within this guide are many tricks I enjoy using when I fly, and I find that most of them work fantastically 90 percent of the time.
keyboard, joystick, game controller, mouse?
Flight within this game can happen in a multitude of ways. I’ve found that the easiest way to do it is with the keyboard, and as such this guide is oriented towards that setup.
Because of the uniqueness of the aircraft in this game, a joystick seems to be a poor choice, as does a mouse.
Many maneuvers are much easier to perform with a keyboard, in part because you have two different control surfaces. However, using pedals and a joystick may work fantastically as well. The mouse is, in my opinion, the worst choice one can make when taking to the skies. It’s extremely clumsy and unwieldy, and I recommend you stay away from it. I have yet to attempt to use a game controller, but if I get around to it, I’ll let you know how it goes.
The Basics
There are two types of aerial vehicles in 2142, the Gunship and the Airship. As you probably already know, the Airship is for transport and the Gunship for attack. This guide will focus mostly on the gunship, but will brush slightly on the Airship solely for completeness.
The Airships
BTR-20 Yastreb
UD-12 ShepherdPlanetbattlefield.com wrote:
• Similar to its EU counterpart, the UD-12 Shepherd, the BTR-20 Yastreb armored air transport is a slow-moving, easily visible target best limited to personnel pick-up and delivery. In contrast to the Shepherd, the PAC Type 20 substitutes Self-Limiting Explosive Reactive Armor (SLERA) for the UD-12's electrically charged scheme and complements the arrangement with an alternative Triplex synthetic material. Like the EU air transport aerodyne, the Yastreb is also vulnerable to attack with only two personnel-scaled assault weapons at the passengers disposal.
To summarize the above, the airships are large, blundering shoeboxes that you should try to avoid when you can find alternate means of transportation.planetbattlefield.com wrote:
• The UD-12 Shepherd was developed with a single purpose, to convey military personnel into the combat arena, dropping soldiers via spherical, quick-drop escape pods. Slow moving, but direction flexible, the Shepherd draws on a marriage of multi-source jet propulsion and hover technology to travel long distances at a mid-level altitude. The UD-12 is shelled in composite, electrically charged armor lined with Nomex fiber and relies on two medium-caliber, bipod mounted automatics to repel assailants.
The Gunships
Type-4 Doragon
The Type 4 is the PAC’s Air Mobile Multipurpose Platform (AMP). Although it has the slimmer profile, the Doragon seems to be the least maneuverable, although the two are of equal speed.
UD-6 Talon
The Talon is the EU AMP. unlike the Type-4, which has two stationary engines and one vectored thrust engine (located on the bottom and back, respectively), the Talon has two hulking engines mounted on the side that swivel, similar to the Harrier Jet.
Both the Gunships and the Airships feature an Active Defense (AD) mechanism, rather than flares.
Statistics
Shot and Zoom statistics refer to the passenger controlled guns, as does heat add when fire, overheat penalty, cooldown, and damage.2142-stats.com wrote:
Airships
Shots per minute 900
Magazines -1
Shots per magazine -1
Zoom period 0.33
Zoom factor 0.33
Shot speed 900
Minimum damage 1
Damage 50
heat add when fire 0.01
coolDownPerSec 0.5
overheatPenalty 1.5
Armor(HP) 1500
hpLostWhileUpSideDown 350
hpLostWhileInWater 400
18
criticalDamage 226
timeToStayAsWreck 10s
mass 10000
Both airships feature 1500 hundred hit points, the largest of said value in the game.
Gunships
Unlike the Airships, the Statstics here refer to weapons controlled by the pilot, which are unique in that they home in on enemy aerial vehicles.2142-stats.com wrote:
Shots per minute 60
Magazines 6
Shots per magazine 10
Reload time 1
Minimum deviation 0.25
Maximum distance 450
Shot speed 175
Minimum damage 1
Damage 250
heat add when fire 0.02
coolDownPerSec 0.2
overheatPenalty 1.25
Armor(HP) 1000
hpLostWhileUpSideDown 350
hpLostWhileInWater 400
18
criticalDamage 101
timeToStayAsWreck 10s
mass 3500
For comparison, sizes of the Gunships.
Basic Knowledge and Tendencies of the Vehicles
Similar to Battlefield 2’s Attack Helicopters, the Gunships are extremely versatile vehicles that should not be wasted.
Both of these vehicles fly like a jet, but handle like a helicopter. They are capable of a slower, powered hover, which usually leaves them with the same top speed as an airship (approx. 250 km/ph), or a swift, powered flight of about 600 km/ph.
There are four basic meters on the HUD which are extremely important to flight in this game:
1. Jet- This indicates what direction your thrust is pointing. It has two different positions: upper or bottom left. It will default to upper left when you have zero thrust, which occurs when neither the W or S key is depressed, or, if you prefer a joystick, when your throttle control is centered. This indicator is the lighter grey of the two.
2. Thrust- Located on the same bar as the Jet indicator, this indicates airspeed. This indicator is the bright white of the pair.
3. Asc/Dsc- Located opposite the Thrust/Jet meter, this is a basic indication of your Angle of Attack. This is replicated in the center of the HUD.
4. Compass- Basic directional equipment, this is essentially useless, except for the occasional compass-based vocal order or direction.
Another key aspect of these vehicles I found extremely interesting involves the pilot’s homing missiles. Unlike in BF2, whose hellfire missiles fired in an alternating left-right pattern, they now fire in a half left, half right configuration.
The Talon fires its first five missiles from its left cannon, and follows up with five from the right. The Doragon fires five from the right, then five from the left.
This means one must adjust his aim one time, rather than four in BF2.
Another extremely important aspect of these missiles is their complete lack of splash damage. This means they are essentially useless against infantry, and like the rest of the game, seems to be designed to encourage teamwork.
The gunner controls two weapons in this game, just like in BF2. He has both a TV missile and a mounted gun, both of which can be deadly in the right hands.
Unlike in BF2, where the TV missile was controlled by pointing and clicking, 2142 uses a simpler system in which the gunner must just move his mouse to adjust aim.
However, do not let this deceive you. This missile, because of its intense speed, is extremely hard to control and is pretty useless against aerial vehicles.
Like in BF2, the mounted gun is deadly against infantry and light vehicles.
Tactics, Tactics, Tactics
Most of you have probably skipped ahead to this section, rather than read the entire thing, and that’s fine with me.
Like Battlefield 2, if you learn only one tactic it is this one: cover.
The AD system is about as useless as flares, concerning choppers on sharqi. It does not block EMP missiles fired from the mounted AA or that from the battle walkers, which are your greatest threat. Therefore, one must be able to violently throw the chopper behind whatever he can, be it a hill, building, bush, or whatever.
A successful pilot must also know when to fight and when to run. Is that kill really worth it when you barely have enough Health to limp back to the airfield? No. its better to give up that one point and get six more in five minutes than to die. In this case, fly fast, low, and use as much cover as you can find.
Alternatively, you can try flying extremely high instead. The flight ceiling seems to have much less of an effect in this game, (if any) and you seem to be able to fly to a more or less limitless height. Be warned, though. When you reach a high enough altitude, you see nothing but grey. This makes it hard to figure out which way is what, and it can mean death by out of bounds very easily.
Like a pilot in BF2 knows, to survive most encounters, one must utilize his views to reach the upper ranks.
If you know what has a lock on you, what direction it’s coming from, and what weapons it has, your chances of survival increase tenfold. As well, switching views makes it much easier to follow somebody through tough maneuvers.
One thing most pilots do not realize is just how focused they become on a target. This often means they are not paying attention to themselves, and they often attempt to follow their opponent through a maneuver they cannot replicate. One must be aware of where all AA, all walkers, all gunships, etc. are at all times, or at least have an idea.
Aerial Escapades
Perhaps the most important section of the guide, I bestow upon you all of my knowledge and techniques for surviving an aerial encounter.
The most important thing to know is when to fire, and when to wait. Although these missiles lock on to your target, if it’s too far away, or changing direction when the missile approaches, you’re going to miss. Nothing is more frustrating than firing eight missiles and seeing them wrap around your target like wrapping bow. Wait until he’s flying relatively straight, slow, or hovering to fire those missiles.
Like Dogfighting in BF2, your priority is first to break the missile lock, and then to ditch your opponent. The simple way to do this is to utilize cover, and this is often most effective against ground vehicles only, as is flying high.
In my absolute honest opinion, what you are about to read is the greatest knowledge I can bestow upon you concerning flight in this game.
My absolute favorite tactic in dogfighting involves a certain amount of randomness, however, it relies heavily on skill and knowledge of the terrain and map to work.
The greatest way to ditch, and often kill an opponent is this: The Slingshot
1.) The first step is to flight straight up in the air, until you have changed direction. At this point, you should hit and hold your S key to kill thrust for about 1.5 seconds.
2.) Resume thrust and finish and begin to finish your loop.
3.) Pick a direction, left or right, and hit and hold that arrow key furiously. When you come out of your loop, you will see one of two things: the ground, rushing straight at you, or the map turned slightly to the side. Either of these effects is desirable.
4.) This is the tricky part. Rather than bail, as your instincts tell you, continue to mash down on the arrow keys (down and either left or right). The final, and beautiful effect, as its name implies, is a slightshot. At a certain point, your craft will accelerate through this maneuver at an extremely fast rate, and it will finish this loop in about a quarter of the space the rest of it took.
The Slingshot, in action
for whatever reason, the video hangs at the beginning. just tap the little slider icon and it will keep playing.
As you can see in the video, the slingshot can be used with or without the loop, but the loop makes it much easier to ditch other pilots, as it gives you a split second in which you are out of their view.
An important thing to remember with the slingshot is the basic fundamentals of its workings. The reason it works the way it does is because it points your thrust in such a way that’s literally throwing you at the ground, until it pulls out, which creates a physical force that literally throws you around in your selected direction. What this means is that if you’re not careful, you could end up in a maneuver that you can’t pull out of.
As an added twist, you can hit your S key just before the maneuver happens, which can change the maneuver.
Experiment with the S key, using it at different times and different places within the maneuver can throw your enemy off completely, and, often, land him in front of you, rather than behind you.
One final note on the slingshot: for whatever reason, the Doragon seems much less inclined to pull this maneuver than the Talon. While the Doragon will still do it, it’s to a much lesser extent than that of the Talon.
Killing Stuff
At this point, we’ve mastered the basics, maneuvering, and turning tail. you’re now ready for the fun part: killing.
It’s important to remember to pick your targets wisely. Although that airship full of enemy soldiers makes for a juicy piece of steak, the Doragon hovering next to it should be first in any pilot’s priorities.
Some Important Numbers
In 2142 everything is equal, at least when it comes to hitpoints.
Tanks, APCs, and airships all take at least 10 direct hits from the pilot’s missiles to kill.
Mounted AA and AV, as well as cars, take three direct hits to kill.
Gunships need at least 7 shots, although you’ll probably fire more than that.
Stunningly, the walkers need at least 19 shots to kill, assuming full health. If you encounter a walker, therefore, it’s usually best to run, unless you have an extraordinarily good gunner.
unlike bf2, a direct hit from the TV missile will do 31 damage to the tanks, meaning that it takes more than one shot to kill them. however, in the past i have hit them from behind with a TV and killed them with a single shot, so its likely that its now armor dependant.
Strategies for killing
The basic maneuvers for taking out enemies remain the same as the choppers from BF2.
The most important thing to remember is the circle strafe. To perform this move, hold your S key, and pick a direction. Hit the equivalent with both hands. Let your gunner reap the benefits.
For vehicular kills, line up, start spamming like mad (try setting up your alternate attack key, and hitting both at the same time) and hope all your missiles go in. make sure you move in quickly, and from behind, as most of the vehicles out there can spell impending doom for a gunship easily.
What you see, and what your gunner sees:
So you’ve been EMP’d, and you don’t know what to do?
the first step is to try to figure out where the shot came from and if it can hit you with its guns. If the answer is yes, bail. If the answer is no, follow these steps.
The next thing to do is to assess your airspeed and height. If you’re low and fast, bail. If you’re moving slowly and have a good amount of HP left, stay in. If you’re high, stay in, period.
Next, figure out what you’re going to hit when you come down. If its purely ground, stay in unless its rocky terrain and you’re low on HP. If you have trees, buildings, anything, you should probably bail unless you’re going to be moving extremely slow and will be extremely low when you connect with them.
The final thing to assess is whether or not there are any other enemies to take you out when you hit the ground. If the answer is yes, your best chance is to stay in your vehicle, unless you can bail well out of their effective range.
The basics of flight in this game are very similar to that of BF2. As I learn more, I’ll update here. If you catch any mistakes or have anything to add, pm me. I’ll toss it in and give you full credit.
A final disclaimer:
The ideas and facts, media, etc. expressed within this guide are mine, except where quoted. Reproduction is allowed, but ask first.
Update List
-Added Size comparisons.....11/21
-Added View chart.....11/21
Last edited by Ender2309 (2006-11-21 17:53:23)