What is something you wish you knew before committing to BMS
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That was so addictive
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@aviationplus I wished I had bought bitcoin in time, it would have had a profound effect in building speed
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@airtex2019 said in What is something you wish you knew before committing to BMS:
I feel like thereâs a ton of nuts-and-bolts stuff to learn about being a wingman in MP, that you canât learn from SP with AI, or practice in the BMS training mission walkthroughsâŠ
Include
Formation flying
Tactical Turns
A2A combat
BVR grinder tactics -
@fish44 said in What is something you wish you knew before committing to BMS:
@airtex2019 said in What is something you wish you knew before committing to BMS:
I feel like thereâs a ton of nuts-and-bolts stuff to learn about being a wingman in MP, that you canât learn from SP with AI, or practice in the BMS training mission walkthroughsâŠ
Include
Formation flying
Tactical Turns@Fish44 Formation flying takes some practice and there are plenty of videos explaining that takes small deliberate movements. I would have to say it is more of pulsing the stick in a direction rather than moving the stick.
YouTube is your friend use it there are videos talking about most of the stuff you are listing there, I even have a few that I created.
Keep it up and do not get discouraged.
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@airtex2019 I can defiantly see the disconnect between players who have played in MP and others who have not. This is why when I create a training mission with someone who has never been online before I have them log in about 30 minutes earlier than everyone else to get them set up with logging in.
With that being said it will be there first time in a MP so everything that comes with MP they have not been introduced to yet so it will take some learning there as well. This is why it is good to have 1 on 1 training with people or for them to watch a lot of videos on YouTube and read the manuals.
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@aviationplus
I have no issues with formation flying, but while you can set up the AI and follow, it does not substitute what a human lead will do while, for example, you are in a finger tip formation, and required to stay close. I learned to AAR back in FF5 days, but only when I flew with other humans where both lead and trail were concentrating of formation did i truly get to understand the nuances of formation flying. This canât be learned from watching youtube and flying SP alone. -
I wish Iâd known that flying in multiplayer was far easier than flying alone. Trying to babysit AI, or even keeping formation when you canât ask âlead, say airspeedâ or âwhere the hell did you go?â is so much harder than speaking to someone.
Not to mention that Falcon Lounge makes it so easy to get into MP without committing to a squadron (thanks, Max!) and the community especially on Discord is quite welcoming and understanding.
Also, while I like reading the manuals, I understand they can be daunting. But you donât need to know everything - go through the Tutorial manual and fly along with the missions in-game. You donât need to RTFM back-to-back to get in the air - but itâs an incredible reference for debriefing after a sortie and trying to understand what went wrong or how to do better next time.
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@orffen I second that - MP is so useful - thinking back to getting a start 1.5 yrs ago I wish Iâd known that WIFI is useless for MP (in my context anyways, even a very fast connection).
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@awmk1 My WIFI is great, no lags, no CTD, smooth as silk (even if a lot of guys saying otherwise)
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I also wish I had some 1 on 1 training from someone. Showing me what I need to know and work on. It is very hard to start something like BMS without guidance.
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@orffen said in What is something you wish you knew before committing to BMS:
I wish Iâd known that flying in multiplayer was far easier than flying alone. Trying to babysit AI, or even keeping formation when you canât ask âlead, say airspeedâ or âwhere the hell did you go?â is so much harder than speaking to someone.
Not to mention that Falcon Lounge makes it so easy to get into MP without committing to a squadron (thanks, Max!) and the community especially on Discord is quite welcoming and understanding.
Also, while I like reading the manuals, I understand they can be daunting. But you donât need to know everything - go through the Tutorial manual and fly along with the missions in-game. You donât need to RTFM back-to-back to get in the air - but itâs an incredible reference for debriefing after a sortie and trying to understand what went wrong or how to do better next time.
Absolutely flying in MP is where you really start to learn but it can be overwhelming while in a mission. I highly recommend training lower stress missions with someone.
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Many of the post thus far relate to MP learning. Learning MP BMS before you start your journey with BMS seems a bit strange. My number one thing I wish I had known was how much cash was going to flow out of the bank because I love it so much. seriously, if I was to tell someone new to the sim would be, be prepared to study. However or whatever that means to you. Reading, watching videos (which we didnât have 10-20 years ago), and conversing with fellow virtual viper drivers. Many come here, maybe not expecting plug,play, fire missiles, but the amount of material is quite overwhelming at first. Get into a learning frame of mind, or youâll be ringing the bell and pissed off.
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Simply getting BMS (and all previous versions back to Falcon 4.0 retail box version with printed manuals) was the easy part.
The hard part has been coming to terms with the fact that investments in good flight hardware, which costs money, will pay off in the form of a greatly improved flying experience. You just canât expect great results with a 20 dollar joystick. So dig out your wallet. Itâs time to go shopping for flight controls that are worthy.
So, I wish Iâd know in advance how much my purchase of Falcon 4.0 was actually going to cost me. The sim itself wasnât expensive, but a good throttle, joystick, and rudder can put a 20mm hole in your wallet. And thatâs if you donât go for a more elaborate cockpit sim setup.
It can be an expensive rabbit hole.
Iâm about to drop a few more hundred dollars on VR.
âMy callsign is Buzzbomb and I am a simoholic.â
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I agree on both counts (though my callsign is âhooverâ )
In order of importance Iâd place a decent HOTAS setup first, then followed by head tracking (which thankfully has become very affordable with homebrew clips, opentrack and a cheap ps eye cam or the delanclip package⊠donât waste money on trackIR just because itâs sadly still a household name in flightsims )
Also you can emulate an ICP and some basic MFD extraction using an android tablet (I think by now everyone interested in IT has one lying around somewhere) using komurcuâs MFD server.
Next step for me was rummaging through the cellar for an old 19" tft that I could velcro the thrustmaster mfds to (those have become horribly expensive, but I have no idea why), then I set up YAME64 for extraction, also putting some other helpful gauges on the 19" monitor which I place in front of my main screen, that helped a lot.
I think this will get you a decent âdeskpitâ for a round 500âŹ, depending on which parts you already have available.
o used warthog hotas: 300⏠(set up an ebay notifier)
o head tracking: 60⏠for delanclip package / 20⏠homebrew
o 19" monitor: 50�
o Android tablet: 100� Use an old phone?
o TM mfd frames: ??? âŹBut again Iâd say the HOTAS is the most important item so you can learn playing your âpiccoloâ as the saying goes⊠then add head tracking and get used to that.
All the best,
Uwe
PS: I can put the 19" to the left side of my main monitor and lean it against its former monitor stand when not in use for BMS and it serves nicely to watch some stuff on with half an eye while doing something else.
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@aviationplus said in What is something you wish you knew before committing to BMS:
For me it would have to be understanding that everyone does not have the same baseline of training and standards. This makes it a little harder to fly with players you donât normally fly with.
To counter that reading publicly available documents help with that baseline training, so that everyone is literally on the same page. I am talking specifically towards brevity terms, tactics, radio etiquette, and proficiency in the F-16. Everyone has their own way to learn and I see the importance of training to make sure every pilot is at the same level ready to move on to the next.
YouTube is your friend and it is the best place to easily find procedures and examples of multiplayer flights. It takes a lot of time and effort to fly in BMS with others especially when they are above your skill level. This is why watching YouTube is important because your lead doesnât not have the time to teach during a mission and the homework that is taken in the free time will do wonders for future missions.
Tell me what yours is.
Keep flying and everyday try to learn something new.Common standards are too complicate for people who are not professionals but I do get what you mean.
At the end, it is quite difficult for them too. Between different squadrons they use even different terminology and symbols to be different and have a bit of secrecy between squadronâs members.
But definitely, they have some common standards.
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Not exactly the theme of the thread, but kinda important for old school people coming back. Since Iâm an original Falcon 4.0 binder owner, what I wish I would have know before I committed to BMS to trust the development team and their commitment. I think a lot of us that lived through the Hasbro shutdown, the endings of RP, eT, SP, FF, OF, VO, CO, RV, AF, OIR, etc. had to learn to not freak out on new releases when bugs popped up or our pet features werenât included. We had been conditioned that every release could be the last even though it has continued to live on. BMS has the helm (as it really has for most of the time) and you can just sit back, enjoy, and know Falcon is in good hands!
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I guess I hadnât even realized it until this topic, and I had to check my original Microprose Falcon 4.0 box with all manuals, CDs, etc, but yes, it is one with a spiral binder manual in it. I guess thatâs the OG Holy Grail of Falcondom?
My Cougar has a 3000 series serial number. That makes me a second wave adopter, at most? I also have a second throttle I picked up cheap. Its serial number is kind of special: 30000. I wish I had a second stick to keep as a spare.
No other game I ever bought has stayed on my games shelf this long. I thinkâŠ
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I wish I knew how much a free sim would cost⊠- BTW, those paper templates on the MFDs are for my WWII sims⊠in case you were wondering.
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@aviationplus One of the best things you could do would be to join a Virtual fighter wing, theyâll provide a level of training and consistency while youâre learning the sim. The tough part is finding the VFW that matches what youâre looking for.
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@icer said in What is something you wish you knew before committing to BMS:
I wish I knew how much a free sim would cost⊠- BTW, those paper templates on the MFDs are for my WWII sims⊠in case you were wondering.
Hmm, theyâre too small to make out, but I guess they say âdonât shoot until you smell Sauerkrautâ?