More+About+Views-Knegel




 * More about views in game by Ralf Knegel**

Some more thought´s regarding viewsystems!!! (this got written for a other forum, if i refer to my signature, read my post regarding Key/Stick setups above instead). What is a good working viewsystem?? A good working viewsystem make me able to look around like with my own head, from the pilotseat position(inside the cockpit)! Why a good working viewsystem is most important?? Cause a pilot with a 'stiff neck' cant be a good fighterpilot at all! Is there a viewsystem that provide the same possibilitys like my head/eyes provide?? Not realy, but we can get pretty close to it(in Aces High even closer). Since EAW seems to be somewhat a 'Flightsim kindergarden', at least i see many real Flightsimnewbes comming here, and cause its a old EAW tradition to bring rookis fast into a good skillevel( to get worthy oponents and/or content campaignplayers ), see the need to explain specialy the 'snapviews' more exact. Unfortunately its very difficult to explain all this, without to leave open questions, on a messageboard. In the old EAW times such things got explained online, there its much easyer to answer questions. Back then we was much more Veterans than rookis, so this wasnt a real problem, but today there are only a few people online, who dont get limited by their viewsystem. This people have by easy a much higher skill than all others, only cause a working viewsystem! Most people dont see that, and so the myth of a incredible talent get born! If you click to the last link in my signature you can read important things about most viewsystems and more, but much to often i take notice that people get limited by their bad or less good viewsystem, rather than by their skill, although they are online for a half year or longer. Some people realy try to play with almost impossible viewsystems, probably cause they dont know a better one. Mouseview is the only 'bad' viewsystem where i can see a agrument to use it, althought it limit the skill much!! Mouseview feel somewhat natural and it allow 'no icon gaming'. The easyest way to keep track to a oponent is of course padlock, but since many get disoriented by padlock, or cause they see the 'radar cheat' behind padlock, they try to find other viewsystems. I think this is pretty homourable, but unfortunately most dont seems to ask others(at least not me and not here in the forum) for help and so they stuck sometimes with realy unplayable viewsystems. I saw people using only horizontal views, or only frontview and rearview, the rest with the mouse, or the headswitch as mouse, or they use the NUMpad keys, where the snapviews are located by default(spiderman says hello ) etc. Who dont like padlock, isnt willing to accept the 'mouseview handycap' or dont have the money for Track IR(read more about it in the last link of my signature), need to use the SNAPVIEWS!!! The Snapviews represent for sure the most powerful viewsystem!! What are the snapviews?? The 'snapviews' consist in 9 differen buttons, every button alone represent one viewdirection (front, front right, front left, right, left, rear, rear right, rear left, 90° up). If you push one of this button, the view snap to the fitting direction and if you leave the button, it snap back to the frontview. So if you leave your hand from the keys, you always get the frontview back! This is very important to keep orientation!! MOST IMPORTANT regarding the smapviews is, to know that you can combine the 'snapview 90° up' button, with any of the horizontal snapviews, to a 45° up view!! Example: Push 'snapview right' + 'snapview 90° up' at same time and you will get = 'snapview 45° up right'. So you can look to every possible viewdirection by using this 9 buttons. Where to program the 9 snapview buttons?? The 8 horizontal 'snapviews' goes to the 8 way headswitch(POV). EAW.ini [Remappable Keys] SNAPVIEW FRONT=POV_hat_Forward SNAPVIEW RIGHT FRONT=POV_hat_Forward-Right SNAPVIEW RIGHT=POV_hat_Right SNAPVIEW RIGHT REAR=POV_hat_Back-Right SNAPVIEW LEFT FRONT=POV_hat_Forward-Left SNAPVIEW LEFT=POV_hat_Left SNAPVIEW LEFT REAR=POV_hat_Back-Left SNAPVIEW REAR=POV_hat_Back The 'snapview 90° up' goes to a button on your stickbase, which you can reach by easy with your forefinger, without to leave the throttle slider(this one is also very important for a good dogfight!). SNAPVIEW UP=Joystick_Btn_7 With this viewsystem, you can look around while fighting!! To be able to make a skillful dogfight with icons, its very useful to place 'flaps up' and 'flaps down' on the right side, next to the POV, 'select all guns' and select next guns' left to the POV and 'target closest enemy' and 'target next enemy' onto the stickbase, close to the 'snapview up' button, so that you can reach them with the midle or ringfinger, without to leave 'snapview up'. THIS and ONLY THIS buttons are needed to get the best out of your talent while a dogfight!!! If your stick have more buttons 'target closest friendly' and 'target next friedly' are good to be able to find your wingi and so to help him or to let you help by flying to his direction. Its also good to keep the own bombers in sight. To enhance the number of 'stickbase buttons' there is a simple trick! Simply place your keyboard close left in front of your stickbase, so that your throttle is close to the arrowkeys!! In this way you can reach the arrowkeys, the numpad block and the '6 key block'(page up/down, insert, del etc) by easy. If you have a Saitex X45 or X53, you will have enough buttons. Why the Snapviews are the most powerful viewsystem?? 1. The snapviews work in almost all flightsims in exact the same way. 2. The snapviews allow no icon gaming(this is a very challenging and immersive way to play). 3. The static viewdirections of the snapviews overcome the orientation problems caused by the unrealistic smal wideview, cause they allow to keep always track to the exact position/direction/situation of your own plane in relation to the enemy and earth!! Only snapviews make exact flying possible!! (dont use external views, its much more difficult to calculate/estimate your own course in relation to other planes and the ground from outside than from inside the cockpit, next to that externals are real immersionkillers). 4. Snapviews allow to keep awareness of the whole battle, not only of the current padlocked target! Is it realy possible to look around like with my own head? Yes, for sure!! You 'only' need to program your neckmuskles to your fingers. Of course this can take some hours, but if you once got used to it, its a real revelation!! If you think all the hundrets(maybe thousands) of 'full real'-'IL-2 FB/PF'-players are masochistic idiots, who fly around like a blind duck, you be wrong!! Even in IL-2, where the 'no icon/padlock/external' gaming is in my opinion unrealistic difficult, the snapviews still provide a good playability. Iam pretty sure, that with the view/key system above also a medium talented player can get a remarkable skill! In cooperation with padlock it even easyer to get a god skill! And who say 'to win isnt all, iam happy with what i have', should go to a knit group! Greetings, Knegel -- november 2009 ammended by RAF_Roy added Knegel's posts from the SimHQ EAW forum sticky "EAW & FORUM ESSENTIALS " []

Hello! Many newbes complain about unstable planes in EAW, while others talk about very stable gunplattforms, here are some tips to get a good stable but still most agile plane. If your plane wobble badly, never fly strait with somewhat strange sidewardmovements, you probably need to edit one entry in the EAW.ini. This isnt difficult!! You can find the EAW.ini in the EAW-directory(the folder where your EAW got installed, its maybe called C:\Microprose\Europeanairwar\ ). You can open the eaw.ini with 'notepad', by doubleclicking to the ' eaw.ini '. You need to edit this line : Windows Joystick=0 to Windows Joystick=1 After this the joystick should work better! But thats not all!!! EAW only have one sensitivity-slider for all joystick-axis, and this slider have only one 'best' position!!! You can find the slider if you start EAW, then 'configure game', then go to 'controlls' (dont mix it up with the camera-sensitvity-slider )

1.) You need to test if your joystick act in the usefull range of the EAW-joystick-sensitvity-slider. If your joystick is to aggressive by default, you can set the EAW-joystick-sensitvity-slider to minimum, but the planes still will stall to easy and are unstable gunplattforms. On the other hand, if your stick is to less aggressive by default, you can set the slider to max, but your planes rarely will stall and dont will turn very tight. 1. Start EAW and set the slider to the left side(min), take a 109E4 and pull the stick backward, if the plane is very stiff and stable, all is ok. If it still stall easy and turn tight, you need to reduce the aggressivity with the Joysticksoftware, if your stick dont have such a software you have a problem here. 2. Now set the slider to the right side (max), take a 109E4 and pull the stick backward, if the planes stall very easy all is fine. If the plane still is stiff and have problems to stall, you need to use the sticksoftware to enhance the aggressivity, if you dont have a sticksoftware, you have a problem. First if 1. and 2. is ok, you can go on!

2.) Setting up the EAW-joystick-sensitvity-slider to the 'best' point. Here you need to know that the EAW-Flightmodels provide a max turn and rollratio and sideruddervariation for all planes. If a joystick is more aggressive as needed, the planes dont turn and roll better than the maximun, but they get more unstable, on the other hand, if you make the planes to stable by reducing the sensitivity (EAW-joystick-sensitvity-slider more left), you lose turn and rollperformence, thats why there is only one best point for the slider. 1. Start EAW, set the EAW-joystick-sensitvity-slider to max (right side), 2. Take a 109E4, fly close to the ground and make turntests with help of a stopclock. Fly with full power and turn most tight without to stall. The best is if the hud-display always stay yellow. The E4 should need roundabout 16sec with 225km/h in 100m Alt, and it should stall very late while a constant turn! 3. Reduce the sensitivety (slider left) step by step and test by test, until the plane start to lose turnperformence (normaly thats if the plane stop to spin, even the elevator got moved maximum backward). I for myself like to fly with a bit more stable plane and give up a bit turnperformence, most its more usefull to avoid a spin or blackout than to turn a bit more tight, a less sensitive setup is as more a advantage as higher the plane fly, cause there the planes stall earlyer and lose turnperformence!! If you use one of my realismpatches (EAWrp2.2), probably you need to push the slider a bit more to the left side than for default EAW1.2!

May this help!!

Greetings, Knegel

Hello, since there are so many newbes online the last weeks, i thought i write a little letter to help this people to get a bit faster into it. I know how frustrating it can be to get shot down without a chance all the time. Even though i was already very experienced when i came online(2,5 years EAW offline, and some more years other flightsims + x-wing), i got into bad trouble again the Online-Veterans, this Veterans often had the same skill like i have now, so it was pretty hopeless for me, so i know how frustraiting it can be(actually in the beginning i thought there is a big cheat going on, cause i couldnt believe how easy they got me. ). My problem was missing experience and tactical knowledge. Most of the old Aces was very nice and often made traininglessons with newbes to share their knowledge, in the hope to get better oponents and so a higher challenge and more fun. Ok, training is one part to get a good skill and so to get more fun, the 1st Step is the setup, and here i saw horrible things lately!! Here i must say that i be sure, that its most important to have the chance to win a game, to keep the fun up. Someone who only get shot down, without a bit of a chance to strike back, lose the fun after short time or must be a 'bit' masochistic. You need to be aware that noone can get good without a playable setup!! Noone will ever be able to play in a good way if he only have the front and rearview, while to the other directions all is dark!! Noone can get good, if he dont know to use the Hud-display(icons) in a good way. Some dont know to switch through the different targets and only know the 'T' button to target the closest enemy, to find a wingi, and so to make teamplay is impossible then(at least if icons are not dissabled for all)!! Or if the player cant use the flaps or the map or the zoom etc, all this options are needed to be able to get better. This is the minimum what a personel setup need to provide: 1. The player need to be able to look around, to spot and to keep the target in sight. 2. The player need to be able to switch from target to target. Closest enemy, next enemy, closest friend and next friend is the minimum what the player need!! 3. The player need to be able to use all controll´s 100%(i dont talk about the skill here, i mean the controllvariation), like Elevator, Aleron, Siderudder, Trottle, Flaps, Undercariage, Droptank release, choose Bombs/Rockets and release them.

To 1.: Here EAW, like most other Flightsims, provide more than one possibilitys. 1.) Padlock(in combination with front/rearview) This is often the best solution for newbes and people without a 8-wayheadswitch or Trac-IR, cause it provide a simple setup and the user dont need to learn to follow the target. Padlock often confuse in the beginning, but with the right setup and after some hours usage this will stop. 1st you need the 'Target Buttons' good reachable. In the beginning, if you dont play teamgames, 'Target closest enemy' and 'target next enemy' are enough. Now you need 'Padlock current target' also good reachable. This button troggle padlock on/off, so if you get confused you can push this button and the sight will switch back to the frontview, so you can find back the orientation. Also important is the 'snapview front' and 'snapview rear', this buttons dissable the padlock as long as the button get used, if you leave the button, the padlock switch back to the current target. This setup is very effective, need relative less training to get used to it, but limit the player to the usage of icons/target-butons(what is good enough in the beginning). 2.)Mouseview: Some people simply use the mouse to look around, and some are very effective with this setup. The disadvantage is that one hand is mainly blocked then, so its not easy to keep sight and to reduce the power for example. The advantage is that you can play also without icons in a 'full real' mission, it work in almost all fightsims in the same way and that you can keep sight to more than one target, at same time. With a Saitec X45 or a similar sticks, where is a 'mousebutton' on the left throttle-unit(next to many other buttons), which u can use with the left thumb, the Disadvantage is gone. I think this setup need a 'bit' longer to get used to it and so to get good. S! to the people who are good in this.

3.) Snapview´s (NumPad) By default the snampviews are programmed to the Numpad, and there you need spiderfingers to use them in a good way, but its of course good possible. The disadvantage is the same like with the Mouse, one hand is mainly blocked, but spiderman of course can handle this. Also a S! to the people who be good with this setup. 4. Snapview´s (Headswitch) Here you need to program the 8 horizontal snapviews to the headswitch of your Joystick, which of course have to be a 8-way-headswitch then. The 'snapview up'(NumPad 5 by default) you need program to one of the buttons on the stickbase. So you use the headswitch with the right thumb and the 'Snapview up' with the left forefinger. Now you need to program your Neckmuscles to the fingers, then you can look around like with your head(in steps thougt, but fast). To program the neckmuscles to the fingers need some weeks hard training, but once done, this setup feel very realistic. The advantages are mainly the same like with mouseview, but it have one important advanatge more. Due to the fixed, not moving different viewdirections(45° front/up, 125° rear/up as example), you can overcome the problem of the smal wideview, which hinder you to keep orientation. If i look 45° rear/up(or to any other direction) with snapviews, i know exact the position of my plane in relation to my viewdirection and so in relation to the ground, also if i fly a P51 without frames. With mouseview, but specialy padlock, you fast get disoriented, cause you dont have sight to your plane due to the smal wideview. This make exact flying nearly impossible or at least very difficult. The disadvantage of the snapviews is that you only have the fixed viewpositions, this is bad if you wanna play without icons and zoom in to identify a planetype. Then often you need to move the whole plane to keep the target in sight, cause while zooming the wideview get even smaler. TrackIR TrackIR actually use the Mouseview, but you control it with your head. This probably feels most realistic, but the biggest advanatge is that you have one hand total free. I never did try this, but i know people who swear on it, but they did need long time to get used to it, cause you need to keep the head always fixed, cause a smal move already let the view move. Normaly they use buttons to dissable the mouseview if the target is in the frontwindow, cause only with a total stable view its possible to Aim good. The disadvantage is the price. Ok, this are the mainly used viewsystems, they all can get used in combination with each other, what often provide the most effective Systems. Who wanna play online need one of this viewsystems to keep his own fun and the fun of the others up!! (I dont know anyone who like sitting ducks as targets in EAW and who have fun to fly often with a blind Wingi). To 2. Since we often play with icons, the player need to be able to switch from target to target and wingi to wingi and sometimes from groundtarget to groundtarget. Of course this is pretty unrealistic in WWII, but it help to overcome sightproblems and specialy for newbes and snapviewers this is the only way to play. To 3. Be sure that you have calibrated your joystick and that you realy can use all Stick-Axis to 100%(Read here some posts above). Then you need to know that planes often turn better with usage of the flaps, so you should be able to use the flaps nextby. I have programmed 'flaps out' and 'flaps in' to two buttons right next the headswitch, there i can use them fast. To be able to start the engine and to remove/extract the gear is most only important while a groundstarted mission. Rockets shouldnt get used online cause many get a frozen screen, also if others shoot the rockest, but its necessary to know to use the bombs while a interdict.

Here is my personel setup and some tips, maybe other can post their personel setup in this theatre to help. I have a simple cheap Joystick, no pedals etc. The Joystock have a Siderudder in form of a 'Twist'(the stickgrip get twisted right and left), a throttle slider it have, a 8-way headsitch and 9 buttons (2 left and 2 right of the headsitch, one trigger, and 4 on the stickbase,Logitech wingmen extreme 3D, and some MS Sidewinder-typs have the same setup) and i have a shiftbutton to use the base-buttons double. I use normaly only the snapviews from inside the cockpit, never i use externals in fight!! Only from the Pilotposition i can calculate the course and position of a target in a easy way(like in reality). Here are the important buttons of my EAW.ini setup: (Please note latest EAW.exe may use EAW.ini settings slightly different) [Remappable Keys] FLIGHT CONTROL=Joystick CAMERA CONTROL=Mouse RUDDER CONTROL=Rudder THROTTLE CONTROL=Throttle FRONT VIEW=Joystick_Btn_6 SNAPVIEW FRONT=POV_hat_Forward SNAPVIEW RIGHT FRONT=POV_hat_Forward-Right SNAPVIEW RIGHT=POV_hat_Right SNAPVIEW RIGHT REAR=POV_hat_Back-Right SNAPVIEW LEFT FRONT=POV_hat_Forward-Left SNAPVIEW LEFT=POV_hat_Left SNAPVIEW LEFT REAR=POV_hat_Back-Left SNAPVIEW UP=Joystick_Btn_7 SNAPVIEW REAR=POV_hat_Back SNAPVIEW INSTRUMENT=NUMPAD0 PADLOCK CURRENT TARGET=SPACE PADLOCK CLOSEST TO CENTER=DELETE COCKPIT ON/OFF=DECIMAL TRACK VIEW - NEXT PLANE=F9 TRACK VIEW - PREVIOUS PLANE=F10 FREE CAMERA VIEW=F12 ZOOM BUTTON=Mouse_Btn_1 ZOOM IN=Joystick_Btn_3 ZOOM OUT=Joystick_Btn_2 PAN CAMERA UP=UP PAN CAMERA DOWN=DOWN PAN CAMERA RIGHT=RIGHT PAN CAMERA LEFT=LEFT RUDDER FULL LEFT= START ENGINE 1=ALT E START ENGINE 2=SHIFT E THROTTLE ENGINE 1 UP=ALT UP THROTTLE ENGINE 2 UP=SHIFT UP THROTTLE ENGINE 1 DOWN=ALT DOWN THROTTLE ENGINE 2 DOWN=SHIFT DOWN FLAPS UP=Joystick_Btn_4 FLAPS DOWN=Joystick_Btn_5 WHEEL BRAKES ON/OFF=Joystick_Btn_11 LANDING GEARS UP/DOWN=Joystick_Btn_12 FIRE SELECTED GUNS=Joystick_Btn_1 FIRE SELECTED WEAPONS=RETURN SELECT BOMBS=W SELECT ROCKETS=R RELEASE DROP TANKS=SHIFT D TARGET NEXT ENEMY=Joystick_Btn_9 TARGET PREVIOUS ENEMY= TARGET CLOSEST ENEMY=Joystick_Btn_8 TARGET NEXT FRIENDLY=NUMPAD2 TARGET PREVIOUS FRIENDLY=NUMPAD1 TARGET CLOSEST FRIENDLY=NUMPAD3 TARGET NEXT GROUND=NUMPAD6 TARGET PREVIOUS GROUND=NUMPAD4 TARGET BEST GROUND=NUMPAD5 TARGET CLOSEST RUNWAY=Joystick_Btn_13 DESELECT TARGET=BACK FLIGHT INFO DISPLAY ON/OFF=ALT F TARGET INFO DISPLAY ON/OFF=ALT T TARGET DIRECTOR DISPLAY ON/OFF=ALT D TARGET BOX DISPLAY ON/OFF=ALT O TARGET ID DISPLAY ON/OFF=ALT I TARGET RANGE DISPLAY ON/OFF=ALT R RADIO MODE=TAB CHAT MODE=GRAVE PILOT MAP=Joystick_Btn_10 AUTOPILOT ON/OFF=A WING LEVELER ON/OFF=SHIFT A BAIL OUT=ALT B You need to know that my Keyboard is placed up/left close to my Stick, so i can easy use the right side of the keyboard(NumPad, Arrows, etc) without to leave the throttle and the 'snapview up', so i have roundabout 30 buttons for my left hand available.

Training!! When i cam online i already was used to my preferred viewsystem, so i dont had to work on that. Total newbes of course 1st need to find and to get used to their setup( i did need 1 year to find a good setup wthout help, so please read and find your setup ). As long as they dont have a good setup or dont be used to it, they should mainly make coops vs AI´s, there they have a chance and the wingi can have fun to protect the newbe and to give him tips. Its in no way possible to make coordinated teamgames without that all players have a good setup, so the funfactor will be very low again human people. Basic tactic-tips and often made mistakes: 1st rule: Stay fast and/or high(keep your energy up)! A fast plane is a difficult target and only a fast plane is able to evade attacks!! So if you be lower than the oponent, stay fast! Altitude is the same like Speed, its only a different kind of energy. To follow the rule 'Stay fast and/or high' you need to avoid to turn in horizon, cause there you only lose speed and dont get a altitudewin, so the stage of energy get down. Make a upturn or a downturn, then you change the direction with less Energylost. While a downturn you lose Alt but also gain Speed, and you dont have to pull hard to change the direction. While a upturn you gain alt but lose speed, but a slow climbing plane cant lose much Energy while turning, so also here you change the direction with less energylost!! The often made biggest mistake is to turn hard if you be much faster than the enemy, while the enemy is behind you. The result will be that you make a turn with a very big Radius and very high speed, while the enemy make a slower turn with a smaler radius, but both planes will need the same time for 360°, so the much slower plane can follow the faster and the fact the his bullets, if he shoot, will cross the course of the faster and more outside flying enemy, can be deadly. So if you attack a slower plane, go strait after the attack and gain distance before the next turn, maybe with a smooth upturn + roll to avoid the bullets that the slower plane probably will shoot. A slower plane of couse need to turn or roll if he is under attack. If you be in a close turnfight, and you fly the turnfighter(Spit1a vs Me109E4 maybe), dont forget to reduce power, cause even you can turn more tight, you cant do that if you be much faster than the enemy, so also here the same like above can happen. Overshoot or not overshoot: If you attack a enemy, you have to choose between this two possibilitys. If you overshoot, its possible that you be to slow and so the enemy get into shootingposition. If you dont overshoot, by reducing power, its possible that you miss the right moment to give power again and so the enemy get the chance to outaccelerat you, or the enemy simly have a better turning plane, so he can easy turn behind, while you 1st need to accelerate again. It need much experience to find always the right choise, if you overshoot, you need to be much faster thats for sure, specialy in EAW1.2, where 1200m kills are possible. So in a turnfighter its often better to stay behind the enemy, but if the enemy have a wingi, thats of couse very dangerus, so check your 6! At least all is on the edge, and need a good reacion and much experience. But for sure you cant do any sencefull manouver if you cant keep the enemy in sight or if your plane maybe dont have 100% power due to a wrong calibration, or if you never can use the flaps or if you cant 'target' your wingi or a other than the closest enemy. May this help, specialy to stop the myth that my skill is somehing special(actually the half of my squad is same good or better than me and so are many old EAW players and now FB players).

Greetings, Knegel -- Some more thought´s regarding viewsystems!!! (this got written for a other forum, if i refer to my signature, read my post regarding Key/Stick setups above instead). What is a good working viewsystem?? A good working viewsystem make me able to look around like with my own head, from the pilotseat position(inside the cockpit)! Why a good working viewsystem is most important?? Cause a pilot with a 'stiff neck' cant be a good fighterpilot at all!

Is there a viewsystem that provide the same possibilitys like my head/eyes provide?? Not realy, but we can get pretty close to it(in Aces High even closer).

Since EAW seems to be somewhat a 'Flightsim kindergarden', at least i see many real Flightsimnewbes comming here, and cause its a old EAW tradition to bring rookis fast into a good skillevel( to get worthy oponents and/or content campaignplayers ), see the need to explain specialy the 'snapviews' more exact. Unfortunately its very difficult to explain all this, without to leave open questions, on a messageboard. In the old EAW times such things got explained online, there its much easyer to answer questions. Back then we was much more Veterans than rookis, so this wasnt a real problem, but today there are only a few people online, who dont get limited by their viewsystem. This people have by easy a much higher skill than all others, only cause a working viewsystem! Most people dont see that, and so the myth of a incredible talent get born! If you click to the last link in my signature you can read important things about most viewsystems and more, but much to often i take notice that people get limited by their bad or less good viewsystem, rather than by their skill, although they are online for a half year or longer. Some people realy try to play with almost impossible viewsystems, probably cause they dont know a better one. Mouseview is the only 'bad' viewsystem where i can see a agrument to use it, althought it limit the skill much!! Mouseview feel somewhat natural and it allow 'no icon gaming'. The easyest way to keep track to a opponent is of course padlock, but since many get disoriented by padlock, or cause they see the 'radar cheat' behind padlock, they try to find other viewsystems. I think this is pretty homourable, but unfortunately most dont seems to ask others(at least not me and not here in the forum) for help and so they stuck sometimes with realy unplayable viewsystems. I saw people using only horizontal views, or only frontview and rearview, the rest with the mouse, or the headswitch as mouse, or they use the NUMpad keys, where the snapviews are located by default(spiderman says hello ) etc. Who dont like padlock, isn't willing to accept the 'mouseview handycap' or dont have the money for Track IR(read more about it in the last link of my signature), need to use the SNAPVIEWS!!! The Snapviews represent for sure the most powerful viewsystem!! What are the snapviews?? The 'snapviews' consist in 9 differen buttons, every button alone represent one viewdirection (front, front right, front left, right, left, rear, rear right, rear left, 90° up). If you push one of this button, the view snap to the fitting direction and if you leave the button, it snap back to the frontview. So if you leave your hand from the keys, you always get the frontview back! This is very important to keep orientation!! MOST IMPORTANT regarding the smapviews is, to know that you can combine the 'snapview 90° up' button, with any of the horizontal snapviews, to a 45° up view!! Example: Push 'snapview right' + 'snapview 90° up' at same time and you will get = 'snapview 45° up right'. So you can look to every possible viewdirection by using this 9 buttons. Where to program the 9 snapview buttons?? The 8 horizontal 'snapviews' goes to the 8 way headswitch(POV). EAW.ini [Remappable Keys] SNAPVIEW FRONT=POV_hat_Forward SNAPVIEW RIGHT FRONT=POV_hat_Forward-Right SNAPVIEW RIGHT=POV_hat_Right SNAPVIEW RIGHT REAR=POV_hat_Back-Right SNAPVIEW LEFT FRONT=POV_hat_Forward-Left SNAPVIEW LEFT=POV_hat_Left SNAPVIEW LEFT REAR=POV_hat_Back-Left SNAPVIEW REAR=POV_hat_Back The 'snapview 90° up' goes to a button on your stickbase, which you can reach by easy with your forefinger, without to leave the throttle slider(this one is also very important for a good dogfight!). SNAPVIEW UP=Joystick_Btn_7 With this viewsystem, you can look around while fighting!! To be able to make a skillful dogfight with icons, its very useful to place 'flaps up' and 'flaps down' on the right side, next to the POV, 'select all guns' and select next guns' left to the POV and 'target closest enemy' and 'target next enemy' onto the stickbase, close to the 'snapview up' button, so that you can reach them with the midle or ringfinger, without to leave 'snapview up'. THIS and ONLY THIS buttons are needed to get the best out of your talent while a dogfight!!! If your stick have more buttons 'target closest friendly' and 'target next friedly' are good to be able to find your wingi and so to help him or to let you help by flying to his direction. Its also good to keep the own bombers in sight. To enhance the number of 'stickbase buttons' there is a simple trick! Simply place your keyboard close left in front of your stickbase, so that your throttle is close to the arrowkeys!! In this way you can reach the arrowkeys, the numpad block and the '6 key block'(page up/down, insert, del etc) by easy. If you have a Saitex X45 or X53, you will have enough buttons.

Why the Snapviews are the most powerful viewsystem?? 1. The snapviews work in almost all flightsims in exact the same way. 2. The snapviews allow no icon gaming(this is a very challenging and immersive way to play). 3. The static viewdirections of the snapviews overcome the orientation problems caused by the unrealistic smal wideview, cause they allow to keep always track to the exact position/direction/situation of your own plane in relation to the enemy and earth!! Only snapviews make exact flying possible!! (dont use external views, its much more difficult to calculate/estimate your own course in relation to other planes and the ground from outside than from inside the cockpit, next to that externals are real immersionkillers). 4. Snapviews allow to keep awareness of the whole battle, not only of the current padlocked target!

Is it realy possible to look around like with my own head? Yes, for sure!! You 'only' need to program your neckmuskles to your fingers. Of course this can take some hours, but if you once got used to it, its a real revelation!! If you think all the hundrets(maybe thousands) of 'full real'-'IL-2 FB/PF'-players are masochistic idiots, who fly around like a blind duck, you be wrong!! Even in IL-2, where the 'no icon/padlock/external' gaming is in my opinion unrealistic difficult, the snapviews still provide a good playability.

Iam pretty sure, that with the view/key system above also a medium talented player can get a remarkable skill! In cooperation with padlock it even easyer to get a god skill! And who say 'to win isnt all, iam happy with what i have', should go to a knit group! Greetings, Knegel ---