BoBII 2.10 Manual Final

Contents
Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual
CONTENTS
Manual Layout Developers Notes What has changed since update 2.09? CHAPTER 1
OVERVIEW Installation Getting Started
1 3 4 6
6 7 9
CHAPTER 2
THE IN-GAME GUI MENUS AND CONTROLLER SET UP THE MAIN MENU Instant Action Campaigns Load game Replay OPTIONS IN DETAIL MORE GFX CONTROLS Key Mapping and Expanded Descriptors: RETROs Controller/GUI FAQ: SIM Flight Game Mission Views Field of view: Game (advanced)
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11 12 13 13 13 14 19 23 26 26 29 36 37 40 42 44 46 49
CHAPTER 3
INSTANT ACTION MISSIONS Basic training Advanced training Dogfighting Ground attack Interceptions Historic Additional information
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57 58 59 59 60 60 61 61
Contents
CHAPTER 4 SECTION A: CAMPAIGN

Campaign Screen Screen Control Icons Luftwaffe Campaign Tutorial Part 1: Using Directives Part 2: Following Raids from the Campaign Map Part 3: Authorising and Editing Raids Part 4: Flying Part 5: Reviews RAF Campaign Tutorial
67 67
67 69 75 77 81 88 96 97 99
SECTION B: Campaign Tactics

RAF Fighter Campaign Tactics Section II RAF Route Manipulation Luftwaffe Campaign Tactics How to play a Single Squadron Campaign
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114 128 134 147
SECTION C: THE SINGLE PILOT CAMPAIGN

Heinkills guide to the Luftwaffe SPC
154
172
CHAPTER 5
FLYING THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN AIRCRAFT THE AIRCRAFT CONTROLS Flight controls Engine controls The major flight and engine controls THE INTERACTIVE COCKPITS ENGINES AND PROPELLERS STARTING THE ENGINE, TAXIING, AND TAKE-OFF GENERAL CONCEPTS COCKPIT SCREENSHOTS, TAKE-OFF AND LANDING CHECKLISTS AND RECOMMENDED SPEEDS Spitfire 1a and 1b: Hurricane 1a and 1b: Messerschmitt Bf109: Messerschmitt Bf110 Junkers JU87 Stuka PRIMER STROKES: FLYING COMBAT MANOEUVRES FIGHTERS OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN Advancement of the AI in the game
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180 180 180 183 187 188 188 193 197 197 199 201 203 206 207 209 215 225 231
A Spin is a beautiful thing
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CHAPTER 6
MULTISKIN 2.10
241
241
CHAPTER 7
MULTIPLAYER Overview Preliminary notes Starting Multiplay Create game Death match scenarios Team play scenarios Quick missions Join game Game selection screen Ready room Multiplay unique options Ending a multiplay game Multiplay debrief Technical Help and Setup
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249 249 249 250 253 254 255 256 256 258 258 262 263 264 264
CHAPTER 8
BATTLE OF BRITAIN REMEMBERED
269
269
CHAPTER 9
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
276
276
APPENDIX A: The BDG.txt File APPENDIX B: Cockpits

SPITFIRE HURRICANE BF109 BF110 STUKA
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309 310 311 312 313
APPENDIX C: Keycards, Padlocks and Views

KEY CARDS PADLOCKING SYSTEM & THE VIEW KEYS:
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314 317
APPENDIX D: Radio Commands APPENDIX E Patch Revision History APPENDIX F: AUTOGEN function in the BDG.txt APPENDIX G: BDG_Values.Maneuvre Testing codes for Activating fprintf
321 323 323 375 379
Contents
APPENDIX H: CPS_Bombers Keymapping Guide
NOTES ON FK_ SERIES OF DEFINABLE COMMANDS SPITFIRE Mk1A/1B HURRICANE Mk1A/1B Bf109 Bf110 Ju87 SPECIAL NOTES FOR Bf109 & Bf110
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381 383 384 385 387 389 390
Index
442
Manual Layout
Manual Layout
Chapter One contains an overview, followed by full installation instructions and a Quick Start list that will get you off the ground and flying in the minimum amount of time. Chapter Two describes the function of the in-game GUI Menus, details the Replay facility within the game and Controller set up. Included are full descriptions of the various Options configuration screens. There are more configuration options available. Appendix A contains VERY important information on the BDG.TXT file, which is similar to the config or settings file you find in other games. Collectively, the ingame GUI menus and the BDG.txt file allow you to set all of your preferences for the game. It is very strongly recommended that you look at Appendix A in conjunction with Chapter Two or you may miss out on additional settings that you might want. Chapter Three lists the available missions in the Instant Action section of the game. These are individual scenarios that put you in a variety of flying and combat situations. The layout of the Instant Action screens is described in full. Chapter Four details the game's Campaign system. The first section covers the general functionality of the campaign and tutorials for running the Campaign from the perspective of a Luftwaffe Commander and a RAF Commander respectively. This is followed by a section on tactics and how to win both the RAF and Luftwaffe campaigns, and how to run a Single Squadron Campaign. Chapter Five is a large chapter dealing with flying and the aircraft available to fly in Battle of Britain II. Section 1 lists the available aircraft controls in the simulation. Section 2 shows cockpit layouts that can be manipulated in 'interactive cockpit' mode. Section 3 focuses on engines and propellers. Section 4 shows how to start your engines, taxi and takeoff. Section 5 concentrates on solo and formation flying. Section 6 deals with combat manoeuvres. Section 7 provides technical summaries of the major aircraft in the game. Finally, there is an expanded discussion of AI improvements and flight model changes in the game and an excellent section regarding the SPIN capabilities and user-adjustable spin parameters for same.

Chapter Six covers the new Multiskin feature which was added in v 2.05. Multiskin adds authentic squadron markings, emblems and color schemes which were actually used in the RAF and Luftwaffe planes involved in the Battle. Chapter Seven covers the new Multiplayer Beta capability in some detail. It is hoped that by releasing this code as a work in progress the player community will help take it forward and improve it. Chapter Eight The Battle of Britain Remembered, is a historical perspective of the battle by author Dilip Sarkar. Chapter Nine notes the game credits, acknowledgements and technical support details.
Developers Notes
Developers Notes
Back in the year 2000, Rowan Software created a game called Rowans Battle of Britain. A dedicated online freeware group called the Battle of Britain Development Group (BDG) further improved the original core game. Battle of Britain II Wings of Victory 2.06 was the result of BDG and Shockwave Productions (now called A2A Simulations), and was the last official update. Since then the BDG has continued to release freeware updates (now up to BDG_2.10) that improve and build upon the great foundation laid out by the original developers. Rowan Software may no longer exist, but their legacy still remains. In some ways their light is now shining brighter than ever. Today, Battle of Britain II is everything the original was and more. Never have we played a flight simulation with such in-game atmosphere and delivered it on top of one of the most ambitious, historical re-creations of a living, strategic theater. The world is vast, yet detailed down to a single building or ammo shack. The action is real and with consequences as you watch events unfold on a grand scale. You may be flying back from a huge battle and just by chance stumble upon a friendly flight going out on a mission, or perhaps an unknown enemy en-route to complete their mission. The enemy makes tactical decisions like, is it worth attacking them at this point, or should we carry on? Weather affects the ability of planes to be spotted from the air and from the ground. If you just want to jump in and have fun playing all sorts of missions, fly Instant Action missions. These missions play out differently all the time. If you want to be part of the campaign, playing consecutive missions as a single pilot in a squadron, choose the Single Player Campaign. Or take full control of the skies in the Commander Level Campaign which lets you command either the RAF or Luftwaffe air fleets, and fly in any engagement you can see on the campaign map. Whatever you do, it is our truest hope you have fun with our game. All we hope is you, our customer, experience some of the magic weve been experiencing and excitement weve had while weve been making Battle of Britain II Wings of Victory.
What has changed since update 2.09?

Quite a lot really! Mixed Skills within Units (Squadrons/Staffeln) Within squadrons, pilots can have differing skill levels from novice to hero, a more realistic situation than previously where all pilots in a squadron had the same skill level. Updated Flight Models The changes in this update reduce over-controlling while countering slipstream effects during takeoff, and moderate the tendency for the nose to wander side to side due to inadvertent small rudder inputs in the heat of battle. Reversals in roll direction during scissors-type manoeuvres can be flown noticeably more cleanly. New ground models and terrain Now over 400 authentic period ground models, with extensive work on hand populating the coastline between Dover and Portsmouth. Brand new High Res Terrain textures (64x original BoBII resolution) with new areas updated, for example Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters now fully modeled. 3DGauges Immersion for pilots who like to fly by instrument has been greatly improved with fuel, compass and other items fixed in fighters. Multiskin We now have every single bomber including Ju87s uniquely coded and marked with historical accuracy. Ju87 model has been updated. Auto Gen for Trees and other objects (work in progress) The player can adjust the forestation of the landscape to suit the power of their PC. Sheep, cows and haystacks can be autogenerated! Multiplayer beta Up to 8 players can now play online using a beta version of the code. This feature is very much a work in in progress that is being released to the player community to help drive further development.
Developers Notes
There have also been multiple stability and bug fixes. Credits Yet another wonderful team effort across all times zones and nationalities. The passion and dedication of the team continues to humble us. We don't do this for the pay, merely for the love of a shared passion. There are dozens of people contributing to the various versions so far. Please see past release notes following for previous versions. Specifically regarding Update 2.10, thank you to: Coders: Buddye, Osram, Eric Flight Model (FM): Blue Six, Eric Models: Creation, conversion- Ben, Geoff, Simon. Textures: Ben, Bader, Stickman, Hylander_1715 Gauges: Eric, Blue Six, Stickman, Smokin256 Multiskin bombers: Aces Landscape: PV, Bader Guides/Illustrations- Stickman, AlexCraig Testing/General- Trumper, Borton, Aces, Prem Holdaway, Chumleigh, Heinkill, JamesB, PV, Stickman, SeaVee and, as ever, Scott from A2A, for allowing us to camp out at the A2A Forum and for general support.
CHAPTER 1
OVERVIEW
he Battle of Britain started on July 10 th, 1940. It was the beginning of a campaign by the German Luftwaffe to destroy the defensive capabilities of British Fighter Command. The ultimate aim was a seabased invasion of southern England in an operation codenamed SEALION. It was recognized that air supremacy was vital if that operation was to succeed. Although there were expectations in Germany for a quick victory, the air campaign lasted for well over two months. The battle went through a series of phases, which culminated in a major air battle over London and southern England on September 15, 1940. That event is still celebrated in Britain as 'Battle of Britain' day. Two days later German plans for Operation Sealion were abandoned. Battle of Britain II Wings of Victory will completely immerse the player into the combat experiences of a WWII fighter pilot as well as a fighter wing commander. As the commander on either side you will have a strategic overview of the conflict using authentic campaign maps. Using these maps and your own cunning, you can make the key decisions throughout the entire campaign. Some of the Luftwaffe's 1,000 aircraft raids are reproduced, affording a unique insight into what it might have been like flying against or with, such numbers of aircraft. In 'Campaign' Mode the player can select one of four starting points to enter the air war. The campaign begins with attacks on British coastal shipping by the Luftwaffe, who then move on to attacking radar installations, coastal facilities and airfields. This is followed by concentrated attacks against the RAFs major airfields and aircraft factories, which lead on to the final showdown during the 'Blitz' of London in September 1940. The specially designed INSTANT ACTION missions take the player from 'Basic Training', which involves starting the engine and learning to take off from a grass strip, to the more advanced areas of formation flying and dogfighting. A number of historic missions are based on actual engagements, and these culminate in a massive simulation of the final raid of the war on September 15th 1940 - Battle of Britain Day.
Overview
Installation
Installation Instructions:
To install Battle of Britain II, please make sure that you follow the instructions below. 1. Insert the CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive. If the game proceeds to autorun then go to step three. Click on the START button on the Windows taskbar and select RUN, followed by BROWSE. Select your CD-ROM drive after clicking on the down arrow to the left of the LOOK IN box. Double click on the file named SETUP.EXE followed by OK. A welcome message will be presented. Click on the NEXT button to continue and follow the installation instructions.
2.
3.
Uninstalling Battle of Britain II Wings of Victory:

If you wish to remove Battle of Britain II from your system we suggest that you use the add/remove programs properties box. Look for Battle of Britain II under the installed software list and select the ADD/REMOVE button. Follow the on-screen instructions.
Options settings and your PCs capabilities:

Generally speaking, PC-based flight simulation games can be very demanding on a PC systems capabilities often to a greater degree than other game genres like first person shooters. PC flight games generally play best on systems with a strong CPU, lots of fast system RAM, a good video card with a bare minimum 64MB (strongly recommend 128MB or higher) of memory, a fast hard drive, etc. Because there is a great variation in the power of one PC over another, there is no single set of variables that are intended to work well across the board for all PCs. It is important for the player to understand the specifications and capabilities of his/her PC and set the game options (discussed in Chapter 2) accordingly. Although Battle of Britain II Wings of Victory is based on a core developed in the late 1990s and released initially in 2000, the games code was written with a view towards the future - anticipating the continued advances in PC capabilities. With a powerful, modern PC that is capable

of running the game at the higher eye candy settings, the visual quality and game play can be stunning and far greater than what was possible at the time of the original game release. Your video should be fully Direct X 9.0 compliant for BoB2 to work properly. Older non-DX9.0 compliant video cards may have visual anomalies or not work at all. Important: Anti-aliasing and Vertical-Sync are NOT in-game menu option items. If your PC is strong enough, it is recommended that you enable these in your video card driver settings in order to take advantage of the significant visual enhancements to the game these settings can provide. Search the net with the keywords anti-aliasing and V-sync for more information on what these settings do for games. It is very strongly recommended that you ensure that all of your PCs device drivers are fully updated to the latest available versions and you are using DirectX 9.0c or higher. There have been at least 4 updates to DX 9.0c although for some inexplicable reason Microsoft did not change the file name with each revision. Disabling anti-virus, anti-spyware and any non-essential background programs often also improves performance, especially on older, less capable systems. The user should understand when selecting the various options that there is generally a trade-off between enjoying maximum eye-candy and smooth game play and high frames per second. There are many tips and tweaks and how to guides available on the Internet that one can do to their PC that often can result in gains in performance. Visit the A2A Simulations forums at: http://a2asimulations.com/forum for many community suggested tips and the latest patches. Other flight sim forums often also contain general tips for improving a PCs performance that are universal and apply to almost any game. Disclaimer: The game producers and developers do not specifically endorse or recommend any such system changes and modifications. If the user does make such changes they do so at their own risk. You should not make changes to your PC system if you do not have a full understanding of what you are doing.
Overview
Getting Started
Quickstart
1. 2. Install and load the game as referred to in the installation section above. You will be presented with the Main Menu of the game, which allows you access to every area of the simulation. The Main Menu is described in detail in Chapter Two. Select OPTIONS from the main menu. The OPTIONS screens allow you to configure a wide range of details that relate to your display, sound and control capabilities. Select the Controller option - the third from the left at the top of the screen. Ensure that you have selected an appropriate input device. We strongly recommend that you use a joystick with this simulation. Select Continue at the top right corner of the OPTIONS screen to return to the Main Menu. Select the Instant Action option at the top of the main menu. This option allows you to fly in one of twenty-eight pre-designed missions. The default first scenario is a Basic Training mission involving your plane taking off. Using the radio buttons you can change your aircraft and airfield. If this scenario is too simple for you, by all means choose something more advanced. You may, however, find the Historic raid on September 15th 1940 a bit too much at this stage! Click on the Fly option at the bottom of your screen, and once you have noted which squadron you have been assigned to, select Fly once more in order to load the simulation. Assuming that you have chosen the Basic Training Take-off scenario, you will be on a runway ready for take-off. Release your left and right wheel brakes using your , and . keys (comma and period), set throttle to 100% (hit the 0 key or set your joystick throttle to full) and as your Spitfire picks up speed gently pull back on your joystick. You may find it more comforting initially to use the Outside View, which provides a third person view of your aircraft (hit the F6 key or use the 4th button on your joystick). Control is now in your hands!
3.
4.
5. 6.
7.
8.

10. If you wish to pause the game while in flight, press P. For more information on how your aircraft is performing during a flight, press I. Your Altitude, Heading, and Wind speed will be displayed in the lower left corner of your screen. Use the joystick to control your aircrafts attitude and direction when flying. Pull the joystick back and the nose of the aircraft will rise and you will start to climb. Push the joystick forward and the nose will drop and the aircraft will begin to dive. Moving the stick to the left or right causes the aircraft to roll in that direction. To turn, gently move the joystick left or right to roll the aircraft into a bank and then ease the stick back to the center. Extreme or sudden movement of the stick can cause the aircraft to stall or spin. If you do not have a throttle enabled on your joystick use the number keys to control the engine power settings (1 key for idle, 0 key for maximum). See Chapter Five for more details on flying. 11. Once you have mastered the basic controls, you can end an Instant Action mission at any time by selecting the key combination <ALT-X> keys. A combat report will be displayed at the end of the mission, which will summarize what happened during the mission. Select BACK to return to the Instant Action mission selection screen.
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Overview
CHAPTER 2
THE IN-GAME GUI MENUS AND CONTROLLER SET UP
he first section of this chapter deals with the contents and function of the Main Menu and the various sub menus within it. These collectively are referred to as the In-Game GUI (Graphical User Interface) menus. Not only does it describe each available option in general terms, but also it provides the key information for the Load Game and Replay facilities. There is a detailed description of the available OPTIONS screens, which allow you to configure the game to suit the specifications of your PC, including your sound card and game controllers. Section two deals with the Simulation configuration screens. The final section is a How To on setting up your controller/joystick.
IMPORTANT:
In addition to the in-game GUI menu items described in this Chapter 2, there are many user-adjustable options that can be altered via the BDG.TXT file. The BDG.txt file is described in detail in Appendix A. The BDG.TXT file, is a critical additional component of the user-adjustable game options. Collectively, the in-game GUI menus and the BDG.txt file allow you to set all of your preferences for the game. It is very strongly recommended that you look at Appendix A in conjunction with this Chapter 2 or you may will likely miss out on additional settings and features that you will want. Collectively, between the in-game GUI menu items and via changes to the BDG.txt, the player can configure Battle of Britain II to their desired level of detail, authenticity and complexity. This allows a great deal of flexibility for the player to configure the game to best suit the capabilities of their PCs individual specifications. It is important for the user to understand that some, but not all of the items in the in-game GUI menus and the BDG.TXT items may overlap and vice versa. Before making any changes to the BDG.txt file, we STRONGLY suggest you make a backup copy of the file (i.e. copy and paste the file in the same folder and then rename it OLD_BDG.txt). In this way you can
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revert back to default settings if you wish. In a worst case, the file can be safely deleted and it will be re-generated with default settings the next time you run the game. If you have not done so already, please take a moment to read the section OPTIONS SETTINGS AND YOUR PCs CAPABILITIES on page 16 of this manual before continuing.
THE MAIN MENU
The available Main Menu options are laid out as follows: Instant Action Campaigns Load Game Replay Options Credits Quit Contact Us Multiplayer
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In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up
Instant Action
The Instant Action option takes you to the Instant Action selection screen, where you can set up one of the twenty-eight single missions available within the game. These are limited, pre-designed scenarios which vary from simple tasks such as take-off and landing through formation flying and dogfighting, to taking part in one of six historical missions based on their major engagements during the Battle of Britain. As is the case throughout the simulation you can choose to take part on either side. The Instant Action section is described in greater detail in Chapter Three.
Campaigns
The Campaigns option lets you play on either side during the Battle of Britain. You can take the role of the commander where you will have at your disposal all of the RAF or Luftwaffe resources that were available at the time. The campaign can either be played straight through from its beginning in July 1940 until the climax on September 15th, or can be started at the beginning of any one of the four 'phases' of the battle. Chapter Four details the campaigns and provides tutorials for both the RAF and Luftwaffe sides. The campaigns themselves have an extensive help facility that describes the function of every option available to the player.
Load game
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The load game facility allows you to load in a Campaign game that you have previously saved. You are only offered the option to save your game during the Campaign section of Battle of Britain II. The Instant Action missions cannot be saved. From within the Load Game screen, first select RAF or Luftwaffe at the bottom of the page (RAF is already selected). Then select the saved game of your choice from the list, and then click on Load at the bottom of the screen to restart your campaign at the point where it was saved. If you wish to return to the Main Menu without loading a saved game then select the Back option at the bottom of the screen. Campaign games can be saved in three ways: 1. Use the filing icon to open the filing dialogue with both "load" and "save" tabs, then either select a game to overwrite from the list, or enter a new name. Then click the SAVE icon. 2. After clicking the close icon to exit you will be offered a chance to save the current game. The process is then effectively the same. 3. The game "Auto Save" is generated every time you enter the frag screen on the way to flying a mission. The "Auto Save" entry in the list of saved games will always be in the situation just prior to the last time you entered the campaign mode
Replay
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The replay feature allows you to access footage that you have taken while flying. RECORDING There are several ways to record footage. The simplest is to set the Gun Camera option in the Sim Config/Views screen to On. This will record the mission from start to end. Setting this option to Trigger will record when the player shoots or drops a bomb. The recording will stop shortly after the player has stopped firing, and for one minute after a bomb has been dropped. The player can also toggle the gun camera on/off by using the C key. Both this and the recording on trigger will concatenate recorded pieces during the same mission together into a single replay file for that mission. It is possible to throw away all current footage and begin again by pressing the X key. SAVING In Instant Action missions, when the mission has ended the player returns to the Debrief screen. There is a replay option here, which allows the player to save and/or view the footage from the mission he has just flown. To save the footage, select an existing file to overwrite, or type a new name in under current file and click on Save. You will need to delete the name of the existing file, before you enter a new name for your current recording. To view the recent mission, click on View. During the Campaign, click on the replay icon on the main toolbar on the map screen. This will give the player the option of saving and viewing footage in the same way as for Instant Action missions. REPLAYING To replay footage that you have recorded, either select the replay option from the Main Menu, or use the replay icon on the map toolbar in the campaign section of the game. If you choose replay from the Main Menu, the replay screen is displayed. On the replay screen, you should select the desired footage. A list of previously saved replay files will be displayed, to view one, click on the name so it is displayed in current file and click on View. The simulation 3D system is then loaded, and a set of 12 icons and a running bar are displayed at the top of the screen. When a recording is being replayed, a line moves along the running bar to indicate the current position relative to the start and stop positions. The two other lines on the running bar are for Start Marker and End Marker. The default position for these markers
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is at the start and end of the running bar. These markers allow you to select significant footage. Right-clicking the screen with the mouse enables freelook panning. Starting from the left icon, the functionality is as follows:
Rewind to the previous marker
Rewind to the previous block. The recording is saved in discrete blocks. Forward/Rewind through the blocks is a quick way of moving around the recording.
Rewind one frame (only available when paused)
Play/Pause
Forward one frame (only available when paused)
Forward to the next block
Forward to the next marker
Save the marked block
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Reset markers to the beginning and end of recording
Exit replay
Set the Start marker to the current position. Setting this to after the End marker moves the End marker to the end. Set the End marker to the current position. Setting this to before the start marker moves the start marker to the beginning. The icons can be selected using the keyboard number row (1 for the first icon, 2 for the second icon etc. up to -and = for set beginning and end marker) or the mouse pointer (so long as the interactive cockpit has the mouse allocated to it in the controller preferences). In addition to the controls provided by the icons, most of the usual view keys are available using the function keys. FREE LOOK and other views: Right-Click the mouse in order to unlock your viewpoint and pan it with your mouse. ZOOMING IN/OUT THE VIEW: Zoom in/out with the numpad plus or numpad minus keys. To zoom at a faster rate press SHIFT+numpad plus or SHIFT+ numpad minus keys. Zooming can also be achieved with the mouse scroll wheel. MOVING THE CAMERA POSITION: Use ALT+V to move the camera position from you plane. You can thus fly the camera to different areas using the zoom in/out keys discussed above instead of just having the camera locked near your plane. This is useful for example to place the camera on the ground and capture screenshots or FRAPS videos (see FRAPS below). Cycle between different camera locations using ALT+V including a nocockpit view of your plane. Press F6 to revert back to chase view from outside the plane. Cycle to views of different A/C with CTRL+I. Hit enter
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to return to your planes view. SAVED REPLAY FILES are stored in the VIDEOS folder as .cam files. The file sizes are not large and can be shared with other BoB2 owners. Simply send the .cam file as an email attachment and the recipient can place them in their own VIDEOS folder and view your flight using their games replay mode. These .cam files can be safely deleted if the user wishes. LIMITATIONS OF THE REPLAY FUNCTION: Currently, no cockpit views are available, because they are not part of the recording. Neither will you be able to hear the sound of your own engine nor any radio messages that were received during the mission. These may be added in a future upgrade. If you would rather not see the function icons during your replay, an add-on is available whereby these are removed from the screen. You will still see, however, the start, end and progress markers in the top left-hand corner of your screen. You can continue to use the keyboard number row to control your replay. FRAPS: Many Battle of Britain II community users have reported excellent screen video and audio capture results with a program called FRAPS. FRAPS allows full video and sound capture of any 3-d game and also includes a screenshot and FPS benchmarking utility. FRAPS with only the screenshot and FPS utility are freeware, however in order to have the video capture function one must purchase the full version of FRAPS. More information on FRAPS can be found here: www.fraps.com DISCLAIMER: The producers and distributors of Battle of Britain 2 have no affiliation whatsoever with FRAPS.
OPTIONS
The OPTIONS screen in the Main Menu gives you access to various menus. These can be used to select your preferences for the display, controller and sound preferences. The selections you make will be determined, to some extent, by your PC hardware. Once you have made your choice of preferences they are saved when you exit the game. A full description of the OPTIONS screens is presented in the next section of this chapter.
CREDITS
Select the credits option on the Main Menu to view the team that put Battle of Britain II together. Select your left mouse button at any stage to return to the Main Menu.
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QUIT
The quit option leaves Battle of Britain II and takes you back to Windows.
MULTI-PLAYER
This beta test-feature was enabled for Update 2.10 in order to allow the player community to try BOBII Multi-player and contribute to its further development. It is a work in progress.
CONTACT US
Select the Contact Us option to open up your default web browser and connect to the Battle of Britain II web site. You will already need to be connected via your Internet Service Provider if you are to connect successfully. The web site contains information regarding the latest news on the game. See also www.a2asimulations.com
OPTIONS IN DETAIL
The PC menus have four main pages that relate to the preferences associated with your PC setup. You can move from page to page using the four active areas at the top left of the screen: GFX (graphics) More GFX Controls Sound
TECH NOTE: If you find that you are no longer able to play the game and are unable to change the options to a safe set the configuration file can be deleted. The file is \Battle of Britain II\SAVEGAME\SETTINGS.CFG.
GFX
The GFX menu contains the following options:
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Display Driver This combo-box holds the 3D drivers on your PC that Battle of Britain II has detected. The displayed driver is the one that is currently selected. Use Windows Desktop Resolution (recommended) On some systems, BoB II works better if the resolution is the same as that for your desktop. This is achieved by switching this setting to ON. This will set both the 3d Resolution and the Campaign Resolution to that of the windows default desktop. When this setting is selected, those two options will no longer be available. If you have freezes or crashes, set this option to OFF and set the 3D and campaign resolutions individually. 3D Resolution These are the range of resolutions that your current display driver can use to display the 3D simulation section of the game. IMPORTANT: The latest LCD/TFT flat monitors have a native resolution (for example 1280x1024), which is the optimal resolution for that particular monitor. The monitor can often display resolutions other than its native resolution but doing so will often not fill the entire screen or the monitor will stretch the image to fill the screen (which may result in a distorted image). If your PC desktop is not already set to the native resolution try setting BoB2 to whatever your LCD/TFT monitors native resolution should be.
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Most players should then set the game option Use Windows Desktop Resolution to ON. Campaign Resolution These are the range of resolutions that your current display driver can use to display the Map in the Campaign section of the game. Gamma Level Every 3D video card and monitor setup produces a different brightness and contrast output. The Gamma Level option allows you to set the monitor output to a level of your taste without altering your standard monitor settings. Choose lower options to darken the image or higher options to brighten it. Ground Shading This controls the shading of light on the ground. Light shading takes processor time; so if that is a concern, then turn it off.
Item Shading Item shading can be turned ON, Off or Reflections. On/Off controls the light shading on aircraft and other moving objects. With Reflections selected, the in-cockpit canopy and instrument glass will have reflections, which fade out depending on the angle to the sun. Mirror If turned ON then a cockpit mirror will be drawn if present in that aircraft model. Water Detail Using this option, you may vary the quality of the sea graphics. If the frame rates on your system are struggling, you will need to set this to Low. Refer also to Appendix A of this manual where via the BDG text file you can change the colour of the sea to suit your preference. NOTE: Older 3D cards that do not have built in DX9 support, such as Nvidia 4000Ti series, can not render the high detail ocean and one will see only a black (Nvidia) or white (ATI) space instead, so you must therefore use LOW water detail. Weather Detail LOW, MEDIUM or HIGH With weather effects at LOW and MEDIUM there are either sunny skies
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or a simple cloud base there will be NO poor or inclement weather. If Weather detail is set to HIGH individual clouds will be displayed and there will be Poor and Inclement weather - depending on the individual mission weather parameters. These weather conditions and clouds are realistic, but have a SIGNIFICANT impact on the frame rate on slower machines. Set this option to LOW if your frame rates are too slow. In the Instant Action and Campaign settings (NOT in this Weather Detail section), there are several available descriptions of weather - described below: SUNNY = A clear, cloudless sky perfect flying weather. FAIR = sunny skies with very light, high level clouds that are neither thick or dense not nearly enough to attempt to hide in. POOR = Overcast skies with thicker, denser, patchy nimbus clouds that are lower to the ground, in addition to the higher cumulus clouds. One can fly into the thickest of these clouds and no longer be visible to friend or enemy. The base of the thicker nimbus clouds is at about 3,000 feet altitude. INCLEMENT very overcast, rainy skies with even thicker and denser clouds and fog. The bases of the thicker nimbus clouds are also at about 3,000 feet altitude. One can further tweak the cloud settings in the BDG.txt see Appendix A of this manual.
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MORE GFX
The More GFX page menus contains the following options: Filtering This option displays a choice of the following: None, Bi-Linear, TriLinear, All, Anisotropic 2X-16X. These filtering settings increase the quality of image-mapping. The "all" setting enables multi-textured dithering effects and may not be supported by all cards. Any of the various Anisotropic-filtering levels will include the multi-textured dithering effects. Anisotropic 16X gives the best visual quality, especially with the terrain as it is drawn out. The higher the level of Anisotropic Filtering applied, the clearer the textures will appear, but the greater the strain on your graphics card in filtering the image to produce the clearer representation of textures. Also, at very high levels of AF the clarity of distant textures may be unrealistically high. NOTE: If your graphics card supports it, you may also wish to adjust Anti-aliasing within your graphics cards driver settings (not via in ingame GUI or the BDG.txt). The higher the level of Antialiasing applied (usually in steps of 2x, 4x, 6x and 8x), the progressively smoother the image, but the greater the strain on your graphics card in recalculating the image to produce these smoother images. Vertical Sync (a/k/a V-sync) is another video driver setting that can significantly improve visual quality in
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vertical lines when panning from left to right. Smoke Effects This option toggles smoke special effects and early morning fog banks. Texture Quality Texture quality has a considerable effect on the displayed frame-rate for slower machines but improves the quality of certain aspects of the 3D, especially the cockpit view. Routes The display of small roads, rivers and rail lines can be turned on or off with this option. A/C Shadows When this option is turned on then aircraft shadows are visible on the ground. Item Shadows This option toggles the visibility of ground shadows for objects other than aircraft. Horizon Distance With LOW Horizon enabled, the ground detail does not extend as far into the distance, but the frame-rate is improved. MEDIUM displays a little farther into the horizon. HIGH draws the horizon distance at the farthest setting with less haze or fog but at the greatest penalty on FPS. High will not be available by default if your video card cannot run with a z-buffer of greater than 16 bits. This feature may require a color depth of 24 to 32 bits depending on the graphics card and adapter.
Object Quality (previously called Terrain Mesh) Ranges from Minimum to Maximum. The lower the level of detail the closer one must be for an object to be drawn at a high level of detail. Selecting the lower ranges will result in higher frames per second. You will still get high quality objects but they will not be drawn until you are closer to them. The higher levels will draw objects at high detail levels from a greater view distance. The higher levels require a stronger video card. G Effects With the effects of G (gravity) turned on, then it is possible for you - the
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pilot - to blackout and red out, depending on the manoeuvres you make. Injury Effects This toggles the display of injury effects if the pilot is hit. White Outs The white out option toggles the display of sun glare on and off. Ground Object Density The settings available are Minimum, Medium, High and Full. The higher the setting the more objects will be capable of display but the greater will be the effect on your fps. It is also possible to reduce the load on your system by deleting non-required objects from your ObjectAdds folder using, e.g. Notepad. Note: If you have Town and Forest Raises turned on, then you should set this to Minimum. This will leave the original ground objects, which existed before those included in the ObjectAdds folder were added. If you want to include as many of the new ground objects as you can, then you should turn Raises off. Particle Density Adjusts the level of smoke and special effects from explosions and detonations. The settings available are Low, Medium, High and Full. The higher the setting, the more spectacular the effects, such as explosions but also the lower the fps. For present day PCs, even state of the art ones, consider leaving this at MEDIUM as the current PD special effects were designed on a medium setting. Higher levels will mean more spectacular effects and explosions but again, at a trade off of frames per second on slower machines.
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CONTROLS
At the end of this section is a very useful FAQ put together by Retro, which includes detailed photos of various operations step by step. The Controls page offers EXPRESS and CUSTOM options with custom Key Mapping available for each. For most people with a single joystick, EXPRESS should set things up so you can fly. If you wish to further customize your keystrokes, buttons, or sliders, or if you will be using multiple controllers (i.e. a joystick and separate throttles or rudder pedals) select CUSTOM.
Key Mapping and Expanded Descriptors: When Key Mapping is selected, click on one of the command lines on the left and an expanded description of what the command does appears below as follows:
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CUSTOM: Clicking on the In-Game Axis brings up the following options: Deadzone Most of the options below have independent dead zone settings. The dead zone is the region at the center of the stick where no control input is provided to the aircraft. The player can choose to set the deadzone to Small, Medium or Large depending on the quality of the hardware being used. Generally speaking, for a joystick that centers well, and produces a signal that is steady and with little noise, a small deadzone is appropriate. However, if, when the joystick is released, it does not zero exactly or the signal continues to vary, this can be compensated for by selecting a larger deadzone. You will need to
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find the best arrangement by trial and error. Saturation (default NONE) Reduces the maximum throw of an axis. If set to large, moving the axis 3/4ths to the extreme position is read by the game as a full movement. Reverse Simply reverses the axis. Filtering (default MEDIUM) Smoothes out joystick movements by eliminating spikes
Use For FF If you have a 'force feedback' joystick then you can tick this box. If your controller is not force feedback enabled then this feature will be grayed out. You can also disable or select force feedback levels for each of the following effects: Gunfire -transmits vibrations caused by the guns on your aircraft. Buffet - transmits vibration caused by buffeting if you are near the stall condition, close to an explosion, or close to the speed of sound (unlikely). Aerodynamic - causes stiffening of the controls at high speed. Airframe - transmits vibrations transmitted through the airframe from the ground - i.e. when you are taking off or landing (or crashing).
Rudder This provides control of your rudder, which yaws the aircraft in flight, or steers the rear wheel when taxiing. Throttle The throttle provides control for selecting the desired engine power. When this combo is set to keyboard, the row of numbers on the main keyboard can be used to select the throttle level in 10% increments There is a second box for the Bf110, which has two throttle levers, one for each engine. When this second combo is set to keyboard, the two throttles can be controlled either together or individually. In flight, pressing E will cycle through the available engine to control - both together, port engine only or starboard only. Prop Pitch The propeller pitch controls the angle of the propeller blades. This can be used manually, just like the gearbox in a car, to maintain the correct engine speed or the computer can control it automatically. When
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this combo is set to keyboard, SHIFT+9 gives maximum prop pitch COARSE (and therefore lower rpm) whilst SHIFT+0 gives minimum prop pitch FINE (and higher rpm). SHIFT in combination with the -and + keys will increase and decrease (respectively) the propeller pitch by smaller increments (having the opposite effect on the rpm). RETROs Controller/GUI FAQ:
I want to quickly configure the one controller I have, and be done with it:
You want to use the Express mode. Just go into the controller options, select your joystick and that is. Exit the page by clicking one of the buttons in the bar on top of the page, click "ok" when the game asks you if the changes should be saved and fly.
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I want to setup BoBII so that it takes input from multiple controllers:
In this case you need to use the "Custom" screen. Enter the controller options, press "Custom" and you should be presented with a table showing, in the first column, the available in-game axis, and in the second column the associated "real" (physical) axis on your joystick(s). Should look like this:
. If you own a Force Feedback stick, you will see the FFB options at the bottom of the screen, provided you have FFB playback enabled as follows:
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Mapping in Game Axes: IMPORTANT: When configuring multiple controllers you do not set up each controller separately, you enter all the axes in the same screen. In order to map a device to an in-game axis, you click on the second column of the axis you want to map to and then move the device you want to map. IMPORTANT: At this step when selecting the axis you wish to assign, you MUST move ONLY the desired axis on your stick! DO NOT move your mouse or any other axis, as the game will recognize that as the newly assigned axis! The game should pick it up. If you reconsider and do not want to map anything to that axis, or if the game picked up the wrong axis, click the "Clear Axis" button. It should look like this:
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Finally, after the axes have been assigned, you can change their properties by selecting the in-game axis (click on the first column in the table), the associated axis details should pop up on the right side of the screen as follows:
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I want to invert one of the in-game axes: In the custom controller screen, mark the in-game axis you want to change, then the axis properties should pop up to the right. Then just select the deadzone. Click the "Reverse" button to change the direction. I want to change the deadzone of one of the in-game axes: In the custom controller screen, mark the in-game axis you want to change, then the axis properties should pop up to the right. Then just select the deadzone. Please note that throttle, prop pitch, FOV and zoom axes do not feature a "deadzone" property. I want to un-map one of the in-game axes: In the custom screen, mark the in-game axis that you want to free and then click the "Clear Axis" button. The button is in the middle bottom of the screen, the following picture shows it:
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Just what is "saturation" anyway? Think of saturation as a "deadzone at the end of the axis range". For example, the joystick may not be able to reach the minimum value that it reports to the game, either because of some physical limit or because of old potentiometers etc. So for example you could never reach the theoretically possible minimum pitch because your joystick just cannot reach this value. Saturation just makes the joystick report its maximum (or minimum) value even if it has not yet physically reached it. Drawback of bigger saturation zones is a steeper axis ascends, i.e. the stick will get more sensitive. What is "filtering" supposed to do? This property is primarily supposed to help with "spiking" on some axes, caused by old potentiometers (something most joysticks encounter when they get older). It's a low pass filter that averages the joystick's input over multiple frames. The higher this is set, the smoother the input will seem, the downside is that the input will also get more sluggish. Generally, only use the higher filtering values if you actually need them. Youll know you need them if you open your Windows Control Panel>>Game Controllers>>Properties, and see the yellow circles jumping around (spiking). If you dont see the spiking, the planes will respond much faster to control inputs with the filtering set to LOW.
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I have remapped a control command but it does not stick. If you try to map or remap a command and find it is not reflected in your game experience, ensure the following: That you have saved the changes, and exited to the main menu before flying a new mission That you do not have multiple keys or joystick controls assigned to the same command. This can confuse the game, and the result is that none of these keys or buttons are active. If you see multiple keys assigned to the same command, clear it entirely and then remap.
SOUND
The sound page contains the following options: Sound Driver The sound driver box displays the currently selected driver, along with other drivers available on your machine. UI SFX Volume This setting determines the volume of sound effects in the user interface. Ambient SFX Vol This setting controls the volume of the ambient sound effects in the non-
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flying sections: e.g. office sounds in the 2D Map Room. Radio Chatter Volume This setting controls the volume of the radio chatter while flying and in the 2D Map Room. Engine Volume Controls the volume of the engine noise. SFX Quality Allows you to set the quality of sound effects to low or high.
SIM
The Sim configuration menus have four main pages of preferences associated with the setup of the simulation when you are flying. You can move from page to page using the four active areas at the top left of the screen: Flight Game Mission Views
There are also two options at the top right of the screen. PC takes you to the PC Config screens, discussed in the section above. Continue either takes you back to the Main Menu screen or back to the GFX to continue your flight. All of the configurations options are displayed within 'combo' boxes. These can be manipulated either by selecting the down arrow on the right hand side of the box (and then choosing from the list within the dropdown menu that is displayed), or by clicking on the main part of the box (and cycling through the available options one at a time).
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Flight
The Flight page of the Sim menu contain the following options: Flight Options Minimum, Low, Medium, High, Maximum, Custom Setting this box will change all the options below to 5 pre-configured difficulty levels. For instance, minimum uses the Novice flight model with most of the options turned off, and maximum will set up the full flight model with the options set up to give full realism. If you manually change the options below, then the Flight Options box will show "custom".
Flight Option Flight Model Engine Management Prop Pitch Control Power Boost Wind Effects Wind Gusts Airframe Stress Torque/Slip Streaming 109 Fuel Capacity Minimum Novice Auto Auto On Off Off Off Off Realistic Low Realistic Auto Auto On Off Off Off Off Realistic Medium Realistic Auto Auto Off On Off Off Off Realistic High Realistic Auto Manual Off On On Off On Realistic Maximum Realistic Manual Manual Off On On On On Realistic
Items shown in italics cannot be changed within the selected Flight Option.
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After selection of a Flight Option, individual settings may be varied to suit your preferences by changing Flight Option to Custom. Flight Model Realistic, Novice There are two flight models available that can be used to control the way in which the aircraft flies. The 'realistic' model allows the player to experience all the flight characteristics of each aircraft such as the stability, control responses, stall and spin characteristics. The 'novice' version provides accurate performance modeling of the aircraft but keeps it within the normal safe flying envelope. This second model allows the player to fly a very stable version of the aircraft without worrying about stalling or spinning. In addition to selecting Flight and Flight Model (FM) options in the ingame menu GUI as discussed above, there are now additional Flight Model options, which can be adjusted via the BDG.txt file - see Appendix A of this manual. IMPORTANT: See also Chapter 4 for important note on Flight Model settings when alternating between Campaign and Instant Action Missions. Engine Management Manual, Auto The game offers the player the chance to use many of the engine controls present in the real aircraft. These include such things as Magnetos, Fuel Cocks and Starter Buttons. This allows the player to take control of the engine management, just like the pilot of a real aircraft. These controls may only used with the 'interactive cockpit'. Due to the complexity involved, no keyboard control is provided in this mode. This option is not available if the novice flight model has been selected. If you wish to fly the aircraft without worrying about the management of the engine, select Auto and the computer will control the engine and fuel systems automatically. Prop Pitch Control Manual, Auto This allows the player either to control the propeller blade angle manually, or to let the computer automatically control the propeller, based on the engine speed and the throttle setting for the engine. The automatic system will always attempt to provide the player with the most power appropriate for most flight and combat conditions, but it will not necessarily allow effective windmill braking or propeller feathering (see also Chapter Five).
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Power Boost This option allows the player to increase the power of the engine in order to give an advantage during combat. If the power boost is Off, the power produced by the engine will be realistic. When switched On, the engine will produce approximately 50% extra power, which provides the player with increased speed and climb performance. Wind Effects The wind is modeled at all altitudes and it varies in direction and strength on a day-to-day basis. The wind will affect the take-off, cruising, bombing and approach of all the aircraft in the game. This option allows the wind to be turned off completely. Wind Gusts If the wind effects are switched on, then random gusts are also modeled and their strength depends on the weather conditions each day. This option allows the player to switch gusts on or off. Gusts will not occur if Wind Effects are switched off. Airframe Stress The aircraft and their pilots are subjected to very large forces during combat and aerobatics. Although the structure of the aircraft is very strong, aircraft were known to break up in the air, especially when pulling out of steep, high-speed dives when the aerodynamic forces on the wings and tail section can be very great. The effects of these large forces are modeled in the game and if the player puts too much stress on the aircraft it may break up. These effects can be switched off and there will be no danger of the player damaging the aircraft as a result of very high G manoeuvres. Torque/Slipstreaming The effects of the propeller, such as the torque reaction in the fuselage, the effects of the rotating slipstream on the tail surfaces and the gyroscopic effects of the large diameter propeller are all modeled in the game. These affect the handling of the aircraft both on the ground and in the air, but can be difficult for an inexperienced pilot. This option allows the player to ignore all of these effects and consider only the thrust produced by the propeller in the flight model. 109 Fuel Capacity Realistic, High The Messerschmitt Bf109 has an internal fuel tank with a capacity of 400
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liters. This limited the range of the aircraft, restricting it to only 20 minutes flying time over British soil before it had to turn home. This had significant tactical implications for fighters escorting bombers to targets in England and often meant that the fighters had to leave the bombers before they had reached their targets. An external auxiliary fuel tank with a capacity of a further 300 liters was provided for the Bf109. This was made of molded plywood, and tended to leak significantly with a danger of catching fire, making these tanks very unpopular with the pilots. In order to model the increased range which could be achieved with the increased fuel capacity, without the dangers of the plywood tank, the player can choose to increase the effective capacity of the internal fuel tank (to 700 liters) by switching this option to High.
Game
The Game page of the Sim menu contains the following options: Weapons Realistic, Unlimited When the Unlimited weapons option is selected weapons will be automatically reloaded when they are emptied. If the weapon selection is set to Realistic, the setting still can be over-ridden in the 3D game by using the reload cheat key command: Ctrl + R. Vulnerable to Fire
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When turned off enemy fire will not damage your aircraft. Ground Collisions When enabled, collision with the ground will damage or destroy your aircraft. Midair Collisions When enabled, collision in midair with other objects will damage or destroy your aircraft. This option also includes collisions with 3D ground objects such as buildings and vehicles. If you require more realism but do not wish to include collision with ONLY friendly aircraft, then set this option to On but then you must ALSO tick the No Friendly Collisions box within the Advance/Game Option. See under the Adv. tab. Accel Off Tactical, Engage This setting relates to the use of accelerated time during the game. When the trigger is set to engage, your aircraft will drop back into real time only when you are directly threatened and enemy aircraft can fire at you. If the trigger is set to tactical, then real time is reset much earlier in the encounter. This will give you time to engage the enemy at a tactical level and allow you to gain height or manoeuvre, so that you may be able to achieve tactical dominance. Target Size Altering this setting affects the apparent size of a target and thereby the ease in hitting it. High makes the aircraft one large target, but this can make it harder to bring down as all hits are distributed across the entire aircraft. A low target size means the player must aim more carefully, but can bring the enemy down by concentrating fire on a particular part of the aircraft. As default it is therefore set to Low. Autocanopy The autocanopy function only applies to the player aircraft with automatic canopy movements (Spitfire, Hurricane, JU87). The Messerschmitt BF109 and BF110 have manual canopy. Autocanopy operates the following way if set to ON: 1. 2. When taking off the canopy is open. When the gear comes up after take-off the canopy closes (trigger the gear coming up)
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3. When landing and the landing gear comes down the canopy opens (trigger the gear coming down)
The canopy will not operate during flight unless the player hits the key command to open the canopy - O by default. The player can still operate the canopy during flight anytime he wishes even if autocanopy is selected to ON by pressing the O key. Aircraft Names This option displays the call signs of friendly aircraft and the type of enemy aircraft, below the aircraft. If you feel you need to use this facility occasionally, then you are advised to set it to On. You may then toggle the names display on and off during flight, using the T key. The toggle T key will not function, if you have turned this setting to Off.
Mission
The Mission page of the Sim menu contains the following options: LW Skill Modifier Minimum, Low, Medium, High, Maximum This setting determines the skill level of the Luftwaffe in a campaign setting. At medium, the true skills of the squadrons will be used. At minimum and low settings the skills will be reduced and at high and maximum settings the skills will be increased. You .may wish to increase
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the LW skill when you are playing LW commander and reduce it if you are playing the RAF commander. RAF Skill Modifier Minimum, Low, Medium, High, Maximum This setting determines the skill level of the RAF in a campaign setting. At medium, the true skills of the squadrons will be used. At minimum and low settings the skills will be reduced and at high and maximum settings the skills will be increased. You may wish to decrease the RAF skill when you are playing LW commander and increase it if you are playing the RAF commander. Luftwaffe Tactics Historic, Optimum The LW tactics can both follow history and take notice of the orders passed down from Berlin, or they can follow a more optimal route. For example, in the more optimal game plan, the one-month convoy phase will be curtailed and the highly successful airfield phases will be extended. This option primarily affects the RAF commander. Luftwaffe Intell Historic, Accurate The LW were plagued with poor intelligence on the precise use of various factories and airfields and had to run many reconnaissance missions to get accurate damage assessments. When playing as a LW commander it is useful to be able to get accurate information. Map Plotting This option primarily affects the RAF commander. When this option is on, Map plotting will be represented historically and flights that have been temporarily lost on the radar screens will stop moving. When the option is off, the map plotting will always be fully accurate. Auto Vectoring Auto vectoring determines how the aircraft in your Group will react during combat when you are flying as the leader. When Auto Vectoring is on, the other pilots will determine how they should react automatically. When Auto Vectoring is off, you will be offered a range of sensible choices. Selection should be made using either the number keys or the mouse pointer. If a choice is not made within a few seconds then the options are removed and the other pilots will make their own choices. Very important additional information regarding Auto Vectoring:
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http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7526
Views
SEE APPENDIX C OF THIS MANUAL FOR KEY COMMANDS AND EXPLANATION OF THE PADLOCKING SYSTEM AND THE VIEW KEYS
The Views page of the Sim menu contain the following options: Restricted Views When turned on the player is restricted to the cockpit view. Peripheral Vision When Peripheral Vision is on, you will notice RAF and Luftwaffe identification symbols near the edges of the screen. These represent aircraft that would be in the peripheral vision of a real pilot. The standard setting presents a much smaller field of view than human vision, but this standard may be varied using the BDG.txt file - refer to Appendix A of this manual. Auto External When turned on and when 'inside padlock cockpit' has been selected, the
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view will automatically change according to the position of the target. If the target is in front of the player, then the inside view is presented. View Mode Select Panning, Fixed Views This controls how the number pad arrow keys respond. If panning is switched on then pressing a key will produce a smooth pan. If fixed views are switched on then key presses will jump straight to a new view. The NUMLOCK key also toggles this selection in game. These controls will be over-ridden by TrackIR if that device is being used. Padlock When Visible When this option is on, padlocking is only possible when the target is in view. When off, the object has to be in visible range but not necessarily in view, before it may be padlocked. Info Line Off, Flight info, View info The 'info line', which is at the bottom of the screen when flying, can be in one of three modes. Flight info mode gives flight-specific information about your speed and altitude. View info mode tells you which views you currently have enabled. If the info line is turned on then the last spoken radio message will also be displayed for a few seconds. Units Imperial, Metric The selection determines the units displayed during the game. For instance, in imperial units speed is displayed in miles per hour, while in metric units speed is displayed in kilometers per hour. Gun Camera Off, Trigger, On The gun camera can either be off all the time, on when the trigger is pressed, or on all the time. When Trigger is selected, the camera is not switched off immediately the trigger is released. The amount of time that the trigger is left on after releasing the trigger depends on the ordnance selected. So, for example, the camera is left on longer after a bomb release than when firing cannon/bullets. The X and C keys can over-ride this option. This facility can be used to create a video of your complete Mission. If this is a usual requirement, then On should be selected. If you do select On, then sections of your mission can be excluded by using the Gun Camera Toggle key C, e.g. if you just wish to record take-off, action and landing. If you do turn it off, remember to turn it on again when you
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want to continue recording!
Head Up Display Virtual threat indicator and artificial horizon instruments are available to help you to retain situational awareness during combat. These instruments are designed to compensate for the fact that in a simulation you do not get the same feedback during combat, as would a real pilot. A real pilot has full peripheral vision and feels the effect of gravity. When turned on, the Virtual Threat Indicator is displayed on the top left of your screen. It shows an isometric perspective of a 360-degree circle of view. Any threats are marked as vertical lines. They show the angle of the threat relative to your aircraft and the relative importance of the threat (height of line is proportional the size of threat). The artificial horizon is the same as is found in most aircraft.
Field of view:
The above Field of View menu is accessed from the Adv. Tab. Most of the FOV options are self-explanatory they allow the user to configure the FOV for various toggle options. The smaller the FOV, the more zoomed in the view.
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Small Field of View Using SHIFT+F9 you can focus your cockpit view to this preset value. This value is a slice of the normal cockpit view. Basically, the value you enter, (the default is 25 degrees) is the degrees around the centerline of your aircraft that your view is focused to. This view is extremely useful for those pilots who do not use aircraft text labels in order to zoom their eyesight and to make an aircraft identification. Medium Field of View Accessed using the SHIFT+F10 key, this is the same function as Small Field of View, only it accesses a middle cockpit view. Consider this the default cockpit view, especially if this value matches the Initial Field of View. Large Field of View Accessed using SHIFT+F11 this has the same function as Small Field of View only with as much of the cockpit displayed as possible. This view can lead to problems if the number becomes too large. As the Large Field of View value gets larger (default is 70 degrees) the program has to force all the objects on to the screen. This may cause a fisheye view where objects in the middle of the screen are larger than normal, and objects at the edges of the screen are smaller. If this happens and you do not like the Effect simply lower this value. Small-Toggle and Large-Toggle Values Use the Shift+F12 key to toggle between these field of view values. Maximum and Minimum Field of Views You can toggle between the two values you set here with SHIFT+F12. In the 3D game, keys for zooming the FOV or zooming in/out are: CTRL+ NUMPAD+ or CTRL+ NUMPAD- (zooms entire FOV in/out) NUMPAD + or - (zoom of object in/out when in external view only overall FOV is unchanged) SHIFT + NUMPAD+ or (fast zoom of object in/out in external view only overall FOV is unchanged) Initial Field of View This is the cockpit field of view value you will see when you first enter the cockpit. Padlock the target at the centre of the screen
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NOTE: In order to see the padlock diamond once an object has been padlocked, press SHIFT+T. This only toggles the drawing of the diamond on or off, not the actual padlocking of objects. Padlocking the target in the middle of your screen has been implemented. Its use is quite easy and is activated with the single keystroke of S. You will see a red box outlining the padlock area; if the aircraft is in that box then it will be padlocked when the S key is released. Use of this function is not recommended if there is more that one aircraft in the outlined area. If you pick up the wrong one, you will have to hit the ESC key to return to the non-padlocked cockpit view and then hit the S key a second time. In keeping with the variability of all options, the size and nature of the box drawn while pressing the S key can be user defined described below. Padlock Center HDG and Padlock Center Pitch NOTE: These options will only have an effect if Draw Padlock Centre Box is selected in the advanced GAME GUI option menu. The user can define the height and width of padlock box using Padlock Centre Hdg and Padlock Centre Pitch. The Padlock Centre Hdg (Heading) is a wedge that extends horizontally from the centre of your current view. So if the value is 10, there will be a wedge of 20 degrees off your current heading in that the Padlock Centre will work The Padlock Centre Pitch is a wedge that extends vertically from the centre of your current view. If that value is 10, there will be a wedge that extends 20 degrees from the plane your wings form, in the direction of your lift line. Combining these two values will create a padlock pyramid that extends out from the centre of your current view. With the two variables you can manipulate the size of that cone. For example, if you make the Padlock Centre Pitch larger than the value of the heading, you will create a rectangle that will pick up targets along the lift line as you are pulling into them. To use this function in both the mouse and keyboard panning modes, you must hit the Control+S keys. This will realign your view to the forward view and you should no longer use the panning method you were using before. Example: You want to go from mouse panning to keyboard panning; hit Control+S. You will go to the forward view and
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can now use the keyboard for panning and the padlock centre will work. The PC_USING_KEYBOARD line in the bdg.txt file can be manually changed to set a default for this value. If you are using TrackIR, you need not do this as both mouse and keyboard input are neglected.
Game (advanced)
The Game page of the Advanced Menu contains many options that are also configurable using the BDG.txt file (see also Appendix A). Track IR related sections of this menu screen are described together at the end of this section Pan Speed Factor: Determines the panning-speed in the 3-D world (this includes the photo screen in the campaign!) Default value is 1, so a value of 2 would double the regular panning speed. It also affects the speed of rotation in death views. EPI Radius and EPI Y Radius: These two values change the size of the Enemy Position Indicator. The default ratio of Radius to Y Radius is 5 to 1. The numbers are in pixels. NOTE: The default key command to show or hide the EPI and the Artificial Horizon indicators is H. Gun Convergence Yards: Permits you to set the distance where your bullet streams will converge. Default distance is 250 yards.
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Debug Output: This variable tells the program to send output to a file used for debugging. Do not change it unless asked by a (cue drum roll) BDG coder. This option can slow your game down tremendously if set to other than zero. Artificial Horizon Size: This setting determines the size of the Artificial Horizon. Default value is 50 (pixels). NOTE: The default key command to show or hide the Artificial Horizon and EPI indicators is H. Friendly/Enemy Label and Infoline Text Colours Click on the down arrow beside each box to obtain a selection of colours to suit your requirements. If you wish to use a colour of your own design, then select Custom. You will need to use the bdg.txt file to insert your colour codes. Skip in-game Videos: The initial Battle of Britain video, Quick Mission videos and Campaign videos are very interesting the first time you see them. After that they can become a nuisance so prevent them running by ticking this box. NOTE: The initial BoB Video video is not currently functional as of the 2.04 game release, the other videos are. No Engine Cut Out: Enables/Disables the engine cutout British fighters experienced when they entered a negative G dive. NOTE: This feature only works if the complex engine management is enabled in the FLIGHT GUI menu screen. No Stall Horn: Activating this checkbox disables the warning stall tone that is played in Spitfires when flying with less than 25% engine power. No Padlock Head Bob: If this is selected, there will be no head bobbing while you are in padlock. Head Bobbing: If this option is enabled, your virtual head will move in response to the G-forces that youre pulling with your aircraft. Your screen will move with no panning inputs from you, this feature works independently of the Blackout/Whiteout/Redout effects your pilot may experience. Draw Padlock Center Box: BoB II allows padlocking a target that is within the padlock box. Hit and hold down the S key to draw the box. A red box will be drawn on the center of the screen (if using TrackIR or your hat switch to pan around the sky the padlock box will move around
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on the screen at whatever direction you are looking). Whatever plane is within the padlock box will be padlocked once you release the S key. It is not recommended using this function if there is more that one aircraft in the outlined area, if you pick up the wrong one, you will have to hit the ESC key to break the padlocked target or hit, hold and then release the S key repeatedly until the specific plane within the box that you want is padlocked. See also Padlock Center hdg and Padlock Center Pitch in the Field of View game GUI menu. Preload Standard: Enables program to load standard .bin files during mission generation. This removes some of the stutters seen during action when these files are loaded. No Friendly Collisions Ever been frustrated when you make that initial break into an enemy formation and you collide with one of your wingmen? Well until now the only way to avoid this was to turn off mid-air collisions, resulting in less realism. Now you can activate the no friendly collision, while leaving on the main option for mid-air collisions. This will prevent your taking damage from a friendly aircraft; yet still kill yourself when you impact that Ju-88 at a combined speed of 700 knots. Please note that you are still vulnerable to your wingmens bullets! Cont/Quit Quickmission/Campaign With this enabled, when you land your aircraft after a mission within Instant Action or the Campaign, a window will pop-up asking if you wish to continue or quit. A checkmark here means the window will appear. Leave it unchecked if you wish to continue automatically until you press Alt+X. Text Reminders Enabling this option will display a message reminding you to perform certain actions, e.g. to hit ALT+X after you die or to hit the break release before take off, when flying Realistic. Auto Preload: When you fly a quick mission for the first time, the computer remembers what files it was required to load during the game play and writes this information into a file. The next time you fly the same mission, these files are preloaded. This reduces the hiccup or stutter that occurs when the file would be loaded during your flight in 3D. The whole process is totally automatic and currently only works with quick missions. We recommend setting this to ON.
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Fix Keyboard/Rudder: Fixes an error to allow the keyboard to fully deflect the rudder to the same degree a joystick would be able to. If you use rudder input from a joystick, rudder pedals, or twist grip, do not enable this feature. High Res Landscape: This option needs a good graphics card, preferably with 128MB memory or more. It uses the highest available resolution landscape textures. Enable Auto Gen: Enabling this option will start the Auto Generation of objects in the 3D world. NOTE: If this option is selected, ensure that the Town and Forest Raises option is disabled in the MORE GFX gui menu. Enable EPI: This toggle shows enemy position indicator (EPI) on the upper left of the 3d world screen. This switch is independent of the ingame show HUD key (H by default). With this you can disable the EPI, but still have the attitude indicator showing in the upper right of the 3d screen. Please note that you cannot display the EPI if the Head Up Display on the Sim/Views screen is disabled. Track IR: Enables or disables the use of Track IR. This is only available if you have Track IR and launched it prior to launching BoB II. NOTE: You MUST launch TIR before launching BoBII for it to be functional in-game. Track IR VE Z Axis Mode: Only visible if one has Track IR and has launched it prior to launching BoBII. Options are: Z axis mode or FOV mode. If using Track IR with Vector Expansion on it is recommended to set this to Z axis mode. What is the difference between Z axis mode and FOV mode? Z axis mode lets your eye point zoom in and out to close objects, for example the instrument panel, but does not zoom in more distant objects or alter the overall field of view. Similar to real life in your car, when you lean forward the dash seems to look a little larger but cars in the distance do not really zoom in to the same degree. FOV mode alters the entire field of view, making everything both near and far objects appear larger and closer. SeaVees Track IR BoB2 Tutorial: A comprehensive setup guide for use of TIR specifically with BoB2 including a custom TIR profile:
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TrackIR is a hardware device that picks up your physical head movements and translates them into movements of your virtual head. For more information visit www.naturalpoint.com If you do not have one of these devices sitting on your monitor, you can safely skip this section. BoB supports both normal mouse emulation and native mode of the TrackIR device. It is however strongly recommended that you use the native mode. There are a few things you have to do to make the native TrackIR Interface work: Download and install the latest TrackIR interface software (which can be obtained from http://www.naturalpoint.com )
TrackIR. -> Advanced -> Game settings or in the bdg.txt directly.
If you play as pilot and use the native TrackIR mode, the mouse is unused (but can of course be mapped to the view pan you just wont be able to adjust the view while TrackIR is active). However it is NOT recommended setting the interactive cockpit to the unshifted mouse, as it will activate itself as soon as the mouse is moved even slightly, and cannot be deactivated. If you play as gunner, you have two separate inputs: Either the joystick or the mouse moves the gun. Even when playing with TrackIR, you can still "mark" things with the padlock functions like padlock centre, padlock enemy, padlock friendly, padlock ground object etc. If you have the target diamond switched on, the padlocked object will be marked with this symbol. So, for example, you could mark a plane that you think you damaged, but is not emitting smoke. Even in the chaos of a big melee, the diamond will always show you that aircraft. You can either let padlock move your head - just like padlock does in all non-TrackIR simulations - or you can move the head with TrackIR and
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visually search for things. You can switch between these two possibilities in the Advanced -> Game settings screen. See below. One note for users of NaturalPoint 2.0 software: the software defaults to mouse emulation mode and you must press F8 once to set it to enhanced mode before starting BoBII. Please note that the NaturalPoint software by default takes over the set Hot Keys. To avoid conflict with BoBII keys, you should either deactivate these keys in TrackIR or re-define them to one that is not used by BoBII. TrackIR Vector Expansion (Six Degrees of Freedom 6DOF) This option must be ticked to enable this facility. Versions 3 upwards of TIR can have the facility to look, not only from side-to-side and up and down, but also to zoom or peer forward, e.g. look ahead over the nose or alongside the fuselage through the open canopy. Imagine a camera mounted on a tripod. The camera is your viewpoint, the position of your virtual eye. In 6DOF, you can look up/down, left/right lean (roll) left/right but ALSO move the viewpoint itself you can raise or lower the camera on the tripod up or down and move the tripod itself to the left or right, to the front or back or lean it in and out. This is known as six degrees of freedom, 6DOF or Vector Expansion, VE. This allows you to lean into the cockpit, lean around cockpit support struts, raise your head up in the cockpit to peer over the cowling, lean out the open cockpit window, etc. A short 1 minute video of TIR with VE on in BoB2 is here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2051208934938168866&hl=en
In 4 DOF, with NO vector expansion, the viewpoint (your virtual head/camera) is still mounted on a tripod but the tripod is cemented into the ground and can not be moved. The camera can also not be raised or lowered. From that fixed point in space you can look up/down, left/right but that is all. Switching between 6DOF and 4 DOF using the Gunsight View command: While not listed in this GUI menu, there is a key command, SHIFT+NUMPAD ENTER which toggles the Gunsight View. This toggles on/off between 4DOF and 6DOF when using Track IR with VE on and locks the players view to the gunsight. Padlock overrides TrackIR
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This option governs whether or not Padlock will override your TrackIR view-input. If it is not checked, you can still use the padlock keys to mark objects with the targeting diamond, whilst you are free to pan around using the TrackIR. Most TIR users leave this OFF since they use their own head movements to in effect follow a padlocked plane rather than allow the padlock to do it for them. Please note that many wingman commands require the subject of the message to be marked by the targeting diamond e.g. the Help command will make your wingmen attack your marked target only.
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Instant Action Missions
CHAPTER 3
INSTANT ACTION MISSIONS
his chapter deals with the options that are available when you choose Instant Action from the Main Menu. Instant Action allows you access to any of the twenty-eight specially designed single missions in the game. It is the easiest and quickest way in which to jump into an aircraft and fly. In order to make the most out of the Instant Action missions you will first need to make the appropriate adjustments using the in-game GUI OPTIONS menus and if necessary the BDG.txt file. The default settings for the game are often appropriate to the less experienced user, so if you are an experienced flyer you may well wish to select more challenging preferences. There are also other Novice settings that can be adjusted. These are discussed in detail in Chapter Two and Appendix A. You may also wish to learn more about certain aspects of flying authentically modeled World War Two aircraft. In that case you will find a great amount of useful information in Chapter Five. This chapter covers the default missions which ship with Battle of Britain II Wings of Victory. When you tire of these, a number of users have created alternative Instant Action mods, which can be downloaded from the BOBII forum at A2A Simulations website http://www.a2asimulations.com/forum
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INSTANT ACTION
Choose the Instant Action option from the Main Menu and you will be presented with the Instant Action screen. On this screen all of the details of your Instant Action mission can be set up. At the top of the screen there are two combo-boxes that allow you to choose your Instant Action scenario. The upper box divides the scenarios up into six basic types, while the lower box allows you to choose between all of the missions available with that type of mission. The basic mission types are as follows:
Basic training
Five basic missions to ease you into the art of take-off, landing and circuit training. Take-Off Practice engine start-up and take-off. Landing Landing practice from final approach. Circuits Practice a circuit around an airfield and land.
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Squadron Take-Off Learn how to take off in squadron formation. Squadron Landing Learn the art of squadron landing and communicating with your wingmen.
Advanced training
These five missions move you up to the more advanced art of complex flying and landing problems. Follow the Leader Attempt to follow your squadron leader and see if he is able to lose you as he tries to throw you off his tail. Formation Flying Maintain your position in formation while your leader puts you through a series of course changes. Checking The Udet Buoys Patrol over English Channel buoys Free Flight A free flight allowing you to familiarize yourself with the landscape near your home airfield. Landing - Engine Failure With an engine that has stopped operating you must perform an emergency glide landing. Landing - Heavy Damage Make an emergency landing with a heavily damaged aircraft.
Dogfighting
Actual combat training with several different customizable dogfighting scenarios. Go on your own, or set up multiple aircraft engagements with either side having the advantage. Turkey Shoot Shoot down a plane you are tracking from behind. One on One A straight fight against one determined opponent.
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Random Advantage A British squadron is vectored against a Luftwaffe fighter sweep. The tactical advantage at the start is changed randomly. RAF Advantage The RAF squadron is positioned at the rear of a Luftwaffe fighter sweep with the clear advantage. LUF Advantage The Luftwaffe fighter sweep is positioned behind an RAF squadron.
Ground attack
Get the practice youll need to fly for the Luftwaffe against the varied types of ground targets that can be found in the Campaign. Dive Bomb Attack Luftwaffe bombers initiate a dive-bombing attack while their fighter escort deals with RAF fighters scrambled in response. Anti-Shipping A Channel convoy is under attack from dive-bombers. Low Level Attack German aircraft have approached a coastal target at low level to avoid detection by radar and are now initiating an attack.
Interceptions
When encountering enemy aircraft youll want to have plenty of practice with the different techniques of interception. Particularly when it happens in a dynamic campaign. Lone Fighter vs. Lone Bomber A fully laden bomber against a single RAF fighter. Front Attack Against Bombers Two RAF squadrons positioned ahead of an enemy bomber force and escort. Rear Attack Against Bombers Two RAF squadrons positioned behind an enemy bomber force and escort. Scattered Attackers, Scattered Escort Two RAF squadrons are separated and up against two Luftwaffe fighter
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squadrons defending an enemy bomber force.
Historic
Eleven scenarios based on actual historic engagements that took place during the Battle of Britain. These will provide the ultimate test of how much you have learned in the previous training missions. July 19th - End of the Defiant The day before the Boulton-Paul Defiant was removed from service. August 13th - Eagle Day The start of a new phase of the Battle - attacks on Fighter Command airfields. August 12th - Raid on Portsmouth and Ventnor RDF station August 15th Raid on Short Bros. Aircraft Factory August 15th - Black Thursday Morning The morning of the largest surprise raids of the Battle of Britain. August 15th - Black Thursday Afternoon 88 Dornier 17s on a massed raid over England. August 18th Airfield Attacks Kenley August 18th Airfield Attacks South Coast September 9th - London Heavy raids launched against South London. September 15th - Battle of Britain Day Two massive raids over London that sees the climax of the Battle of Britain. September 25th Raid on Filton Bristol Aircraft factory
Additional information
Underneath the Instant Action mission choice there are four radio buttons and each of them bring up further information about the selected scenario: SCENARIO Provides a textual description of the chosen mission.
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PARAMETERS The parameters radio button gives access to four boxes that allow you to edit the basic parameters of the mission detailed below. Target Area Defines the type of area where the action takes place - for instance airfield, docks etc. Sometimes you are not allowed to edit the location type, at other times you are provided with a choice. I.D. Defines the specific location - for instance, the specific airfield etc. Weather Choose between clear, patchy cloud, low cloud and high cloud. Time Choose between dawn, morning, afternoon and dusk. Name Choose your call sign by selecting the name and editing. LUFTWAFFE or RAF Clicking the Luftwaffe or RAF radio button provides information on the groups of aircraft from either side taking part in the mission. Each panel listed shows details for a specific squadron / staffel unit. They are: Duty / Target
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Aircraft icon The aircraft icon can be clicked and highlighted to specify which unit you want to fly in. This icon is non-selectable if the aircraft type is a non-flyable, such as the Defiant. Aircraft type This combo-box allows you to alter the aircraft that the unit will use. You are limited to choosing another aircraft of the same type that can perform the same duty. For example, if the unit initially has a Dornier Do17 assigned then you can only change it to another medium bomber type (He111 or Ju88). Sometimes a mission will force a specific aircraft type and no other types are selectable. Number of flights You can change the number of flights within the unit. The total number of aircraft is dependent on the type of aircraft. For example, Spitfires, Hurricanes and Ju87s operate in flights of 3 aircraft, Me 109s operate in flights of 4 aircraft and all the medium bombers (He111, Do17 and Ju88) operate in flights of 5. So two flights of Spitfires comprise six aircraft while two flights of He111 total ten aircraft. Selecting 0 flights means that the unit does not take part in the mission. Some missions will not allow units to be disabled in this way, or restrict the option completely. Altitude You can set the initial altitude of the unit. Sometimes the field will be blank and cannot be altered. This is because the unit is closely escorting a previous unit (one that appears above it) and shares its altitude. Skill Sets the average overall skill of the pilots within the unit. A note about historic missions: These missions are large, consisting of many units attacking numerous targets over a large area. As an example, take the Aug 13th Eagle Day. When you change the details in the first unit panel of the Luftwaffe, you are actually changing the details for each of the 3 Staffel units that make up 1 Gruppe. You are only able to fly in the lead staffel if you select the aircraft icon. There are two choices at the bottom of the Instant Action screen: BACK
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Returns control to the main Menu. FLY Takes you to the so-called 'Frag' screen, where you are shown your unit, aircraft, duty and call sign. If the settings are acceptable to you, then chose FLY at the bottom of the screen. This will then take you into the Instant Action mission itself. You may also choose to enter the Sim Config screens for any last minute tuning, or to return to the Instant Action screen by selecting BACK. The 'frag' screen is laid out as follows: Unit The list of the staffel or squadron units taking part in the mission. Aircraft The major aircraft comprising the units taking part in the mission. Duty The duty of the aircraft in the mission. Callsign The callsign of the leader of the unit.
Below this list is a bank of pilot slots corresponding to the current
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highlighted unit. This is automatically set to the unit you selected on the Instant Action screen. The arrangement of the pilot slots shows the flight formation that will be used in the air. Your player name should appear automatically in the lead pilot slot. You can change your position within the squadron / staffel by clicking another pilot slot. You can view other units by clicking different unit lines at the top of the screen (if there are any). If you lose track of your current pilot selection then hit the Return to Player button. The unit containing your pilot will be selected and displayed. The end of an Instant Action Mission You may exit a mission at any point by pressing the <ALT-X> keys. Once a mission is completed, you will be presented with an on-screen menu containing the options 'Continue' and 'Stand down' (exit) with a key prompt for each. Press the appropriate key to continue flying or exit the mission. The menu will default to 'Continue' after a few seconds and will not appear again - in this case, you must press the <ALT-X> keys when you are ready to exit. A mission is deemed completed for a variety of reasons. For a take-off for combat mission, either destroying all enemy aircraft or allowing any remaining bandits to stray too far out of range will trigger completion. Once you have completed an Instant Action mission, successfully or otherwise, you will be presented with a full Combat Report. The combat report details the mission you have just completed, particularly location and casualty information. At the bottom of the report there are four active areas: Back This returns the player to the Instant Action screen. Report Displays the combat report. Diary Displays the combat diary, with more details of the mission that has just been performed including the number of intercepts and the number of losses. Replay This allows the replay of any material recorded by the gun camera during the mission. Click on Replay to go to the replay file selection screen. This allows you to name the most recently selected footage, or to choose a file
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from the box of previously saved replays. Select Back to return to the Instant Action screen. Select Save to save newly taken footage. Select View to view saved footage - this takes you back into the 3-D system and provides you with a replay facility as detailed in Section One of Chapter Two.
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Campaign
CHAPTER 4
SECTION A: CAMPAIGN
Every dialogue box displayed within the campaign section has an associated help file that fully describes the function of the contents of the dialogue box. The relevant help file can be accessed by clicking on the question mark at the top right corner of any box. You have the option to print out the help file at any time.
Campaign Screen
The campaign map, with a set of icons in the top right corner of the screen and five toolbars, generally dominates the campaign screen: The time toolbar The main toolbar The map toolbar The scale toolbar The teletype toolbar The layout of the toolbars and the function of some of the icons is slightly different depending on whether the campaign is being played as the RAF or the Luftwaffe.
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The Map The campaign map is capable of displaying the entire area of the Battle of Britain campaign, from northern England to northern France, based on original Ordnance Survey data from the period. The largescale map can be displayed at 4 major levels of magnification, from 400 miles square down to a 50-mile square area. At a finer level of detail the map becomes a continuously scaleable down to a scale of 2 miles square. The zoom level is easily adjustable and the map may be scrolled, either using the scroll bars at the right and bottom sides of the map, or by clicking and dragging with the left mouse button while the pointer is over the map portion of the screen.
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Campaign
It is possible to change the map zoom by one of three methods: 1. by using the scale toolbar (see below). 2. by clicking with the right button while the mouse pointer is over the map and choosing either the 'zoom in' or 'zoom out' option. 3. rotating the wheel on a Microsoft Wheel Mouse (or similar) while the mouse pointer is over the map. If the mouse wheel zoom doesn't work initially, then try clicking on the map first.
Screen Control Icons

The fixed set of icons in the top right of the screen offer the following functions: Quit Return to the Main Menu.
Toolbar Control This gives access to the toolbar dialogue box. This box allows the player to select which of the five toolbars will be displayed on the screen at any one time
Size Toggle between full screen and maximized displays
Right Click
Right click while the mouse button is anywhere apart from the campaign map on the campaign screen and a menu system that duplicates the functionality of the
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toolbars will open.
Context Sensitive Help

Every dialogue box that is displayed within the Battle of Britain campaign has an associated help file. The help file explains the function of every element and option within the dialogue box. To access help left click on the question mark at the top right of any dialogue box.
Main Toolbar
The main toolbar consists of nine square notebook icons (eight in the case of the Luftwaffe) at the bottom right of the screen. The name and function of some of the icons varies slightly depending on whether you are playing the campaign from an RAF or Luftwaffe command:
Luftwaffe Icons RAF Icons
Aircraft Allocation The aircraft allocation dialogue box shows where the nation's current aircraft production is destined and what is required. There is a line of information for each type of aircraft under production.
Luftwaffe Resources or RAF Resources The resources dialogue shows the location and strength of each Geschwader or Squadron available to central command. Geschwader Lists or Squadron Lists The Geschwader and Squadron lists provide more detailed information about strength and battle readiness of the aircraft at your disposal.
Weather The weather information box shows the day's weather forecast for southeast England.
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Campaign
Review The review summary box shows all of the major information about the campaign and the known state of RAF and Luftwaffe resources.
Pilot Info The pilot info icon brings up the pilot logbook.
Target List or Asset List The target/asset list details all of the major British assets in the south of England.
Mission Folder The mission folder lists all of the missions that have been planned for the day. It shows all missions that have been authorized and that have been flown and completed. All missions are cleared from the folder at the end of each day.
Hostiles List (RAF only) The hostiles list dialogue lists all the raids that have been detected for the day. As soon as a raid is detected it is added to the list, so it is in chronological order.
Map Toolbar
The map toolbar consists of the seven telephone icons just below the map view: Thumbnail Map Click on the thumbnail map icon to bring up the thumbnail. The red rectangle indicates the area covered by the main campaign map.
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Zoom Level The zoom level displays two user-definable levels of zoom on the campaign map.
Zoom Toggle Clicking on the Zoom Toggle icon toggles between the two user definable zooms that are set in the Zoom Level dialog.
Directives Toggle The Directives Toggle icon is used to toggle the appearance of the directives dialogue box. If the telephone icon is on the hook the directive dialogue box will not appear. The directives dialogue, which by default appears at the start of each time period, allows you to build up missions automatically.
Map Filters The Map Filters dialogue is used to control the icons and lines that are drawn on the main campaign map.
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Campaign
Filing Click on the filing icon to display the filing dialogue box, which is used to save and load campaigns. You can save or load a campaign at any stage of the game.
Replay Allows you to replay footage from in-flight cameras that have previously been recorded. See Chapter Two Section One for further details.
Scale Toolbar
The units shown on the toolbar scale are either imperial or metric depending on the selection under the units option in the Sirn Config menu. If imperial units are selected then the scale is displayed in nautical miles. Kilometres are used if metric units are selected. The scale is fully dockable so that you can move it around the map. The scale can be forced to display horizontally or vertically. If the scale is currently vertical, then click and hold on the top portion of the scale above the origin and drag it to the desired location.
One method of altering the map scale is to click and hold with your left mouse button over the map toolbar. Select a location at the bottom of the scale and move the mouse upwards to decrease the map resolution. Select a location at the top of the scale and move the mouse downwards to increase the map resolution.
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Teletype Toolbar
The teletype toolbar is just below the map on the left hand side of the screen. It displays a summary of the last three Messages received by central command. The originating location is on the left side of the message, followed by a message on the right. Click on a message to open the Message dialogue and see the full body of the message.
Time Toolbar
The time toolbar is located at the bottom left hand side of the screen. The Teletype section of the Time Toolbar shows the current date, time and acceleration rate of the game. Click in the teletype area to display the clock. The control icons below the teletype section determine the flow of the campaign:
Game Speed Icon This opens the Time Control dialogue box.
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Campaign
Pause Icon The pause icon pauses the game. To resume a paused game you must click on the Play Icon or Accel Icon (described below).
Play Icon The play icon plays the game in real time, where one game second takes one real second (this is the default setting).
Accel Icon
The game will run at the accelerated rate determined by the settings in the Time Control dialogue. The accelerated time can range from x0, when the game is paused, through xl, which indicates that the game is running in real-time, to x600.
Luftwaffe Campaign Tutorial

Command Briefing
You are in command of Luftflotte 2 and 3 in northern Europe. In preparation for the forthcoming invasion of England, an operation codenamed Sealion, you will engage RAF Fighter Command and achieve air supremacy over the skies of south east England. In early July 1940 you have 3 Geschwader, totalling about 300 aircraft under your command. Over the next few weeks this will rise to 24 Geschwader. All told, you will have over 2000 aircraft under your command. You are limited to scheduling missions for a maximum of 90 staffeln at any one time. In pursuit of your campaign objectives, you will plan missions on the map display. The full range of Mission Types can be designed. You can either design a mission personally or just set the overall parameters and let your staff complete the details by using 'directives'.
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You are also cleared to fly missions in Messerschmitt 109, Messerschmitt 110 and Junkers 87D 'Stuka' aircraft. In addition you can act as gunner in any of the three medium bombers: Junkers 88, Dornier 17 and Heinkel 111.
Luftwaffe fighter and bomber rendezvous coordination

There is a design element in the Luftwaffe (LW) campaign which not all players like. The fighters sometimes race off to their rendezvous point and do not wait for the bombers they are supposed to be escorting! The late arriving bombers are left alone to be attacked by the RAF with no escorts. This mirrors real life issues in the Battle which often prevented escorts and bombers from successfully rendezvousing, but for some players, it happens to frequently in this game. There is a workaround for this. One needs to drag and move the Fighter Rendezvous waypoint near to the Bomber Rendezvous point. See Stickmans instructions for how to do this including screenshots here:
Overview and Luftwaffe Organisation

It is estimated that the RAF are left with about 50 fighter squadrons after their losses in France earlier in the year. The British also have limited production capacity. At this stage there is no firm intelligence on the major aircraft production locations. Most of the RAFs fighter squadrons are assigned Hurricanes. Some squadrons do have the more modern Spitfires. Both fighters are inferior to our Bf109, however the Spitfire does seem to have the advantage over the Bf110. You should develop a strategy so that the RAF can be attacked in the air and on the ground. The Luftwaffe organisation bears no resemblance to that used by the RAF. Two of the Luftwaffe's three Luftflotten are involved in the battle. The headquarters of Luftflotte 2 is in Brussels, while Luftflotte 3 are headquartered in Paris. Each Luftflotte consists of a number of Geschwader. A Geschwader is a unit of about one hundred aircraft all of the same type. Each Geschwader consists of up to 3 Gruppen and each Gruppe is made up of up to three Staffeln. A complete fighter Staffel will
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Campaign
have three Schwarme of four aircraft each. Bombers normally fly in Kette of threes in a Vic formation. Our understanding of the state of British intelligence is as follows. The RAF has built radio masts on the English coast. Their purpose is unclear, however there is a strong likelihood that they form some sort of aircraft detection and control system. The RAF seems able to intercept raids successfully. However there has yet to be a significant test of their capabilities. It seems likely that the RAF fighters are under some kind of Ground Control System that relies on the information relayed by the radio masts. Experience shows that this is a difficult and inflexible method of operation and so there is some merit in leaving the radio masts intact. This will mean that the RAF will continue to attempt to use their system even when they are overwhelmed by superior forces.
Part 1: Using Directives

Overview
Each day is split into three time periods - morning, midday and afternoon. You are given the chance to make major strategic decisions at the start of each period. As the Luftwaffe Commander, you hold the initiative. The RAF must react to the raids that you will be making over the south of Britain. Once your own Luftwaffe raids have left the ground you cannot issue any more direct orders to them. You can only watch the progress of raids on the map and, if you wish, choose when to take a place in a cockpit, to take a more active role. So that the process of ordering raids is not too complex, a mission directives dialogue box is displayed at the start of each time period. Directives automatically generate missions based on a broad set of instructions from you. Once you have configured the directives to reflect your broad strategic plans, complex raids will be generated without requiring much more interaction from you.
Setting Directives
For this tutorial we will use the Eagle Attack phase of the battle. From the main menu screen, choose the Campaign option pick the Eagle Attack' phase of the battle. As you first enter the campaign screen you will see the directives dialogue box. The help screen for directives, accessed by clicking on the question mark at the top of the dialogue box, is available for all screens displayed during the campaign.
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The time is 6:30 a.m. on the morning of August 12, 1940.
A certain number of aircraft are available to you, representing an accurate reflection of the resources available to Luftflotte 2 and 3 at this stage of the war. The losses and damage sustained by your aircraft during the campaign, combined with the rate of Luftwaffe aircraft production, will determine how the number of available aircraft varies as the days progress. A gruppe can fly one mission per day. You can reserve a percentage of your gruppen for missions in a specific period. At this point, say we wish to increase the number of gruppen available for raids in this first morning period. Click the down arrow in the Bomber Allocation Mid-day box until it is zeroed. Increase the allocation for the morning period so that it reads 50%, and set the Ju87 setting to 'maintain %'. The section that dominates most of the directives dialogue is used for aircraft allocation. It shows how many gruppen are being directed to attack British targets of a certain type. Some default entries have already been made at the start of this time period. Let's start afresh, by hitting the 'REST ALL' button at the lower right of the screen in order to zero all aircraft entries against targets. We wish to send our Ju87 Stukas to attack Radar (RDF) targets. Find the aircraft allocation cell for Ju 87s and RDF targets. Click the up arrow until 5 Stukas are assigned. 5 gruppen of Ju87 have now been made available for missions against RDF targets. Note the way
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in which Luftwaffe aircraft are organised - one gruppen generally represents 36 fighters, or between 27 and 45 bombers. These vulnerable Ju87 dive-bombers will need some escort. Follow the RDF row along to the Bf109 column. Assign 5 gruppen of Mel09's by clicking the up arrow five times. We want the Mel09's to escort the Stukas closely. Follow the RDF row along to the % Tied field and increase it to 100%. All escort fighters will now fly in close formation with the bombers. It is worth pointing out that the % Free slot lets you specify how much of the escorting force will be flying detached escort this means they will be flying the same route as the bombers but will be flying ahead, behind or above them by some distance. If these two fields do not add up to 100% then the difference is used for Return escort -these fighters will meet up with the bombers as they return from the target area. (If you wish, you may also determine how these escorts fly relative to the bombers by altering the 'Attached Escort' section further above in the directives dialog.)
Click on the Tick on the top right of the box to confirm the campaign orders that you have given. You are now shown a list of
proposed missions generated from your directives. Targets have been automatically chosen based on priority and gruppen assigned according to availability. More Missions can still be added to this list (and, of course, missions can be changed or deleted). Hit the cross at the right of the proposed missions dialogue box to go back to the directives set up. Let's assign some of our twin-engined medium bombers to attack airfield targets. On the airfield target row choose 4 He 111 bomber gruppen. Also, assign 3 Bf109 and 1 Bf110 fighter gruppen as escort, on the same line. We can make half of the fighters fly in close, attached, escort while the rest fly return escort. Click on a mission, then tasking, and in the % tied box set the allocation to 50%. The strafe box should be ticked, which means that fighters will strafe the target if the opportunity presents itself.
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On each row to the right of the bomber allocation cells you will find the 'size per target' field. This determines how many aircraft will form each separate mission. This in turn affects how many raids will be launched. Since airfields are large area targets we will send 2 gruppen to each target by setting the size field to 2 gruppen. (RDF and convoy targets can often be dealt with using smaller sized raids.) Ensure the other 50% are used as return escort. This will make sure that your bombers have cover on their return across the channel. It is not recommended to use detached or free escort. These can better be described as frie jagd or fighter sweeps, and the RAF will largely ignore these. As your purpose is to engage the RAF, fighter sweeps have limited value unless you want to fly these patrols yourself as a player. You will notice that the 'Missions' column - the number of raid missions that are being proposed - has dropped from 4 to 2. Two raids will be launched against airfields with these directives. The two Heinkel bomber raids will be flying separately to different targets. We can force them to fly together as one raid that will split as it nears the target area. This is a useful tactic for confusing the British defence network. On the airfield line, increase the 'Secondary' target field from 0 to 1. This means there will be one additional target for each raid. Notice that the number of missions has now dropped to 1. So, with these directives, a raid of 4 He 111 gruppen will be launched, and it will split in half near the target area so that two separate airfield targets can be attacked. The automatically chosen targets are likely to be geographically close since the '2nd' target option is chosen. Click on the tick button at the top of the directives screen to see the new set of proposed missions. The first raid has 120 bombers, escorted by 144 fighters, involved in a raid on two separate targets. Click on the tick at the top of the proposed missions box to confirm
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these missions.
Part 2: Following Raids from the Campaign Map

Overview
You are now looking at the campaign map screen. Click on the pause button near the bottom left hand side of the screen, so that we can take our time to understand how everything is laid out. When time is progressing normally you will see the markers representing your raids move across the map. You will receive warnings when most vital events occur. The campaign map screen is divided into a number of areas: 1. The campaign map, in the upper left, dominates the display showing southern Britain and northern France. The map is scrollable (use the scroll bars or click, hold and move with your mouse) and scaleable (click and hold on the scale on the right hand side, or use your mouse wheel, if you have one). Using map filters you can determine how much information is displayed on this screen. At this stage you will see that your directives have already generated a lot of information! 2. The main toolbar is on the lower right of the screen. It displays 8 'folder' icons (9 in the case of the RAF) that relate to all of the relevant campaign specific information you can display and the commands that you can make. 3. Above the main toolbar is the map toolbar. The icons on the map toolbar allow you to modify all aspects of your map display. There is also a game save facility under a telephone icon on the map toolbar. 4. On the lower left of the display is the time toolbar, displaying the campaign time and game play speed controls. 5. Above the time toolbar is the teletype area, where important Command centre messages are displayed as they are received. 6. At the top right of the screen there are three overall display controls. Including a quit icon that allows you to quit the campaign and return to the main menu of the game.
The Map
In the area of northern France on the campaign map you will see a number of tall boxes with yellow, red and blue horizontal bands. These 'tokens' represent the
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raids that you have generated from the directives screen. These tokens were actually part of the RAF plotting system during the war and were used to keep track of known Luftwaffe raids. We have adopted it for use by the Luftwaffe itself in this simulation, so that Luftwaffe raids are always displayed in a consistent fashion, whichever side you choose to play on. The top, yellow bar shows the raid ID number, using ROO1 for the first Luftwaffe raid of the day The red band shows the number of aircraft involved in the raid. The bottom blue band shows the altitude of the group in thousands of feet or metres (depending on the default system of units chosen). A raid marker only shows the position of the aircraft forming the head of the raid, which in a mixed mission would be the main bombers. It does not show the escort aircraft, as they move from their airfields (often different to the bomber airfields) to form up with the main raid. Later, we will learn how to use a modern plotting system to track all aircraft in a raid (and this is in fact recommended for highest gameplay satisfaction as it is easier for the player to choose which unit to frag into and fly using individual icons for each staffel, because the yellow, red and blue Raid Markers show a general position of both fighter and bomber formations, which in reality can be spread over many many square miles). Moving waypoints raid
When a raid is created, and before it takes off, you can manually move any of the waypoints by clicking and dragging it around the map. Those that are important are the fighter rendezvous waypoint (you can move it to optimise rendezvous) and the fighter dispersal waypoint, which you can move closer to the bomber egress waypoint if you want your Return Escort to meet your bombers earlier in the raid.
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Managing Time and Warning Messages

Look at the time toolbar panel, showing the date and time, at the bottom left of the screen. The two buttons on the right hand side of this toolbar set the simulation to play either on 'normal' time (where one second of game play is one campaign second), or 'accelerated' time (where one second of game play is a larger number of campaign seconds). Click on the leftmost 'game speed' button to display the game speed 'control' box. This dialogue allows the accelerated time button to be configured and also allows the setting of preferences for when warning messages are displayed during a mission. The first bank of four options at the top of the game speed control box configures the accelerated speed for different campaign situations. Note, for instance, that the default 'nonraid' speed is 300. This means that if you run the game in 'accelerated' play, then for every second you are watching the simulation there will be five minutes of campaign time, so long as you are in 'non raid' mode. The game runs in 'raid' mode once any active Luftwaffe raid is detected by British Radar or by the Observer Corps. Configure the 'Normal time' feature on the lower part of this box by ticking the boxes for small and large engagements. This setting means that accelerated time will be slowed down to normal time when any form of engagement arises. Select the 'Fly' tag at the top of the box and ensure that 'offer take-over on event' tick boxes are selected under the 'All' column in the engagement and ground attack rows. These settings determine when during the campaign you will be offered a chance to fly. All tick boxes should be de-selected if you simply wish to follow the entire campaign
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from the perspective of the Commander. Close the dialogue by clicking the tick in the top right corner.ow, it's time to get the raids we have created under way. Hit the accelerate button. You will see that time accelerates rapidly while the elements involved in the raid take-off and form up. Once a raid has formed and is en route to England it will be picked up at some point by the British Radar net and the game speed will drop to fifteen times normal speed. The raid tokens, representing each raid, move along the route of the main raid group and will eventually either be intercepted by the RAF or will reach their target.
Understanding and Acting Upon Warning Messages

A warning dialogue will be displayed at the
start of any engagement, offering you the opportunity to takeover. This means you can get into a cockpit of an assigned aircraft in the engagement and fly this part of the mission. We will do that later! At the moment - pause the game by hitting the pause button on the time toolbar panel. Hit cancel on the takeover dialogue to decline the chance to fly. You will see your last three messages on the teletype screen below the map. Click on the teletype and the full log will appear. Examine the most recent transmissions carefully to understand what has been happening. Close down the message box when you are completed.
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The Mission Folder

You will find the mission folder icon within the main toolbar at the bottom right of the campaign screen. Click on the icon to open the folder. The mission folder shows a full breakdown of the raid(s) that were generated from your initial directives.
Look at the first raid - R001. There are four lines associated with this Heinkel bombing raid. The first line shows the information about the Heinkel bombers carrying out the strike, including take off time, expected time over the target and the name of the target. The status field lets you know how the raid is organised at this moment. For instance, 'forming' means that the raid has yet to pull its separate elements together and set out to the target area. Target Area' means that the raid is within range of the target or actually carrying out an attack. The RAF field shows you how many British fighters are currently engaging the raid (if any) and the tally shows the current number of kills against the RAF by the raid as a positive number and the number of losses as a negative number. The two lines below the level bomb description of the Heinkels shows the information for the attached and detached Messerschmitt escort sorties that protect the bombers. Use the scrollbars to view all of the elements of the missions in progress. The buttons at the bottom of the mission folder allow you to re-task and alter the routing of any raid, so long as it is not in
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progress. We will approach those topics later on. Click on the tick box at top-right of the dialogue when you are ready to proceed. Note that you can also access the mission folder at any time by clicking on any of the raid tokens on the campaign map. The mission folder will be displayed with the appropriate raid marked in red. Now, hit the accelerated time button and hit cancel on each takeover warning message that appears. Watch the raids as they move to the targets, attack and then turn back. You will see that some new tokens appear on the campaign map during these raids. These are RAF tokens, which signify individual RAF patrols, which will have been launched in response to your raids. They are displayed with white and blue bands. When your raids have landed the period will continue until it ends and the directives dialogue will appear again for the midday period. We previously reallocated all the aircraft from the midday period to the morning, so we have no aircraft available at this time. This is not quite as alarming as it sounds. While the RAF is given a break, it also allows the Luftwaffe time to regroup and gain some rest. And we will take a look at how to debrief the missions we sent out in the morning.
Summing Up After One Period of Raids

Hit the pause button and close the directives box. Open the mission folder. The raids from the morning period are still listed. Note that the status for most of them will be set to 'complete', which means that they have
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returned and landed. Highlight the line for the first raid. Hit the 'Gruppe' button (at the bottom right of the box) to see details of the lead bomber gruppen that made up this raid. The Gruppe dialogue is split into three panels. Each panel contains details about one gruppe. Three gruppen make up one Geschwader.
To see how the selected gruppe performed during the raid, access the gruppe's mission diary by clicking the 'Details' button at the lower right of the geschwader box. In the gruppe diary box, if you click on 'view single', then you will get a very detailed breakdown of the raid debriefing. All of the other gruppen involved in the same raid can be accessed from this screen. Look at the target and result field to see if the raid managed to reach the target and inflict any damage on it.
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Also look at the Enemy Losses to see how many RAF fighters intercepted the raid and how many of those fighters were knocked out by the gruppe. Close down all gruppe and mission folder windows and go into accelerated time until the end of the mid-day period. Since no Luftwaffe aircraft are set to fly there is no significant action at all during this time. When the next time period (afternoon) starts, the directives box is displayed once more. Pause the time button at this stage.
Part 3: Authorising and Editing Raids

The directives tool is very efficient for quickly setting up missions using numbers and types of aircraft that you prefer. The targets that are automatically assigned for each type of target are taken from a list ordered by priority. Relative priority is determined by a number of things; for instance the target's perceived value to the opposition - fighter command as well as the amount of damage already sustained by the target are important. For this reason, in this stage of the war for example, British airfields that house bombers are less important to the Luftwaffe than airfields servicing fighters. You may decide that targets should be best approached in an order different to the one generated automatically by a directive set. In this section we will learn how to authorise our own individual missions and learn how to alter the details of those raids. First, we should start with a clean slate. Click on the 'REST ALL' button and click on the tick at the top right corner to close the directives box with no proposed missions. Go forward to close the proposed missions box. All available aircraft are now ready for us to allocate manually.
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The Target List
Click on the target list button - which is second from the right on the lower main toolbar. The target list displays every possible British target on a number of pages. Each page has a list of targets for one distinct target type according to the selection of the 'tab' at the top of the box. The list is ordered by absolute priority to the Luftwaffe war effort.
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Find Gosport airfield and click on its entry in the box.
To get more information about this target click on the 'details' button at the bottom of the dialogue box. This opens a 'target dossier' with the heading Gosport AF. Click on 'centre' to centre the airfield on your campaign map and click on 'zoom' three or four times. Your map will be centred on Gosport airfield. Targets appear as round icons on the map. Different colour icons are displayed for different target types. Airfields are green. If you cannot see any airfields being displayed on your map, find and select the map filter icon on the map toolbar.
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Click on the 'airfields' tick box, making sure that the box is checked before leaving the map filter dialogue box. The exact location of the Gosport airfield should now be identified on the campaign map by its icon. If a target suffers damage, then a red outline is displayed around the icon. A red cross on the icon means that the target is considered to be destroyed and non-operational. Select any target icon on the campaign map to bring up its information dossier. Currently we have very little information in the dossier for this target. Its status is unknown and we have no idea how much damage it has sustained (we haven't flown a raid against it yet so it's safe to assume it is undamaged). The available intelligence is restricted because we are playing the campaign with the same handicaps as the Germans at that time. There is an option on the Mission Page of the Sim Config menu for Luftwaffe Intell (igence). It is possible to change this from 'Historic' to 'Accurate' and have constant up to date and accurate intelligence for all the targets. This makes the campaign a lot easier when playing as the Luftwaffe and very difficult when taking the role of the RAF commander. For the moment, let's stay with the default 'Historic' setting. The information in the dossier will be updated after you have raided the target. This information comes from the Bomber crews who watch their bombs fall on the target. You will find that their information is often biased. From the bomber's viewpoint the damage can seem quite spectacular but on the ground it is a different story. The bombs may be hitting buildings or areas that have no real value, or the damage they cause is quickly repaired. The damage report in the dossier quickly becomes out of date. To get an accurate and up to date report you must periodically
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dispatch reconnaissance aircraft to the target. Reconnaissance aircraft take detailed photographs of the target (the photo option becomes available), which are analysed by skilled intelligence officers. They will give a more accurate assessment of the damage to a target. They will note any aircraft types in residence at a field and update their classification of the field correspondingly. Airfields that were part of Bomber or Coastal command that played no real part in the battle were commonly mistaken for fighter command stations. These mistakes can be recognised through the use of reconnaissance. Such aircraft are mainly deployed against airfields and radar sites. You can request a reconnaissance mission against a target by clicking the 'Reconn' button on a target dossier or by using the automatic feature on the directives dialog.
Authorising a Mission
Say we want to create a mission against Gosport Airfield as a target. Select the 'authorise' button at the lower right of the target dossier. In turn, the mission folder is now displayed. Scroll down to the latest mission to be
assigned, at the bottom of the mission list. A new raid will have been added to the list, with Gosport AF as a target. It has been set up using a standard mission profile. Let's now take a closer look at how this raid is put together.
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Editing the Task

Select the first line of the new raid (it will have a bombing mission type) and click on the 'task' button at the bottom of the mission folder. The task dialogue is split into five separate pages that afford you great flexibility in altering the profile of this new raid. The 'summary' page gives you an
overview of aircraft types and numbers that have been assigned, and allows you to make sweeping changes to those broad parameters if you wish to. For example here the raid escort has been suggested as 50% attached and 50% detached or free. It is strongly recommended you change this to 50% returning escort to ensure your bombers do not have to fly home unprotected.
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Click on the 'bombers' tag to set up the major attack force. By default, one staffel of bombers is assigned and on the bottom list you will see the name of the assigned bomber unit. Click on the 'next available' unit three times and you will see the number of allocated bombers increase from one
staffeln to two guppen. Automatically the computer tries to assign gruppen from the same Geschwader, but if it cannot then the unit dialogue box comes up and you can manually select which gruppe you wish to choose. You can change a unit you have already added by clicking on the unit name. The unit select dialogue will be displayed and you may select a new unit. You can also change the target for a unit by clicking on the target name. The easiest way to choose a new target is to select a target icon on the main campaign map. Since the gruppen all make up the same main raid, any new targets will be secondary ones, and the raid will split up after it has formed. Close the task box and return to the mission folder. Note that once a raid has taken off further task editing cannot be performed. While you are on this menu, look also at the field Attack Method. Here you can choose between Level and Bomb in Trail bombing. Gameplay experience has shown In Trail bombing gives the best spread of bombs in a target area, while Level bombing gives the best concentration.
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Editing the Route

With the original raid leader unit highlighted in the mission folder, select the 'route' button on the bottom of the box to display all of the 'waypoints' on the route. Waypoints are the significant map locations where important
mission events and direction changes occur - ranging from take off to the entry into the target area. It is possible, through this screen, to insert new waypoints. The major waypoints cannot, however, be edited. Full details of the meaning of waypoints are described in the help file in the route dialogue box. If you look at the map screen you will see that the route of your selected bomber group has been highlighted in white. Waypoints are displayed as rings. The fields you will most often play with here are altitude and Initial Point. By setting up multiple raids to attack the same target at the same time, one at low and one at high altitude, you split RAF interceptors and make it harder for the RAF. Or by setting up a raid to hit the same target from another direction 30 minutes after the first, you might catch the RAF on the ground and refuelling after intercepting your first raid!
Map Filtering
It was mentioned earlier that raid tokens on the campaign map are a representation of those used by the RAF during the Battle of Britain. We have a modern alternative that allows you to see more detail - more detail than would have been possible at the time. Click the 'map filters' icon on the map toolbar, and select the 'aircraft' tab. You will observe that 'authentic plots' are currently selected. Tick the option for 'one icon per Gruppe'. A small icon will appear on the map for every Luftwaffe staffeln that is in the air. You will need to zoom in to
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distinguish the individual staffeln flying in gruppen formation. Extra information about each icon is displayed as a hint when the mouse is rested over it. This level of detail is almost essential if you like fragging into fighter staffeln for dogfighting. It is not much fun to frag into a raid and click on a fighter unit which is returning to France because it is low on fuel. For best results you need to be able to see where on the map the individual fighter unit is. This does not reflect historical reality, where the commander only had a general idea where all his airborne units were in time and space - but is the best compromise for full gameplay enjoyment.
Part 4: Flying
Now, click on the accelerate button. As the campaign progresses you will eventually be given a 'takeover' warning message when the RAF intercepts one of your missions or a ground attack has started. Click on the 'fly' button. Control will now move to the 'frag' screen, where you can select your aircraft from the raid that has been intercepted. It is also worth noting
that it is possible to fly any aircraft from any raid that is in your mission
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folder at any time. Simply select the raid component of interest in the mission folder and click on the 'frag' button on the lower left of the screen. The frag screen displays every gruppe involved in the chosen raid. Choose which unit you wish to join by selecting its name from the list at the top left of the screen. The flight configuration of the unit is graphically displayed on the lower part of the screen. You will note that fighter gruppen are organised into three 'schwarmes' of four aircraft. The name of each schwarme leader and the call signs of the other pilots, are identified. The actual formation of each schwarme is displayed (according to the assigned configuration in the task dialog). Bomber gruppen are generally formed from three ketten, comprising three bombers each. To assign yourself to a particular aircraft, simply select one from the list. You will note that your name replaces the name or call sign of the pilot that was there. You may make last minute alterations to the flying configuration of the simulation by selecting the 'Sim Config' option at the bottom of the screen. See Chapter Three Section Three for more details and, of course, you can click 'Back' to return to the campaign. Select fly to get into your cockpit! (If you have selected a Kampsgeshwader medium bomber squadron, though, you will be sitting in the gunner's position during the flight.) If you have chosen a unit in contact you enter the 3-D you should get straight into the action. If you drift away and are not under immediate threat then hit the TAB key to enter four times normal acceleration. The auto pilot system will take over and guide you to the area where you should be. When you decide to stop flying, hit <Alt-X> to return to the map and select the time Pause button. All plots on the map will have moved since you entered the 3-D. At this point you could accelerate time again and choose to fly in any other situations that arise, but for the moment let us review our progress in the campaign.
Part 5: Reviews
Open the review dialogue by clicking the review icon on the main tool bar. This dialogue shows you a breakdown of Luftwaffe and RAF aircraft strengths and RAF target statistics (the same dialogue is available when playing as the RAF but from the RAFs viewpoint). The dialogue is broken down into pages. The strength and aircraft pages let you see how your crews are performing and show the current losses and replacements
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of your aircraft. The targets page is very important as it shows you how your attacks against target types are fairing. The claims page shows a breakdown of kills against the RAF and the enemy page shows an estimation of the current number of RAF fighters based on losses and manufacturing intelligence. Be aware that any numbers relating to claims against the RAE aircraft availability and manufacturing rates are estimates and may vary wildly in accuracy!
Managing Resources
This is not so much of an issue for the Luftwaffe as their manufacturing facilities are not under direct threat. However, it can become a problem if your aircraft are shot down in large numbers. You have the following dialogs accessed from the main tool bar to manage and view your resources Aircraft Allocation This shows the current manufacturing output and which units are the next to be replenished. Luftwaffe Resources Each page lists the number of aircraft in each Gruppe of each Geschwader. If the number of aircraft in a Gruppe is bracketed then that Gruppe is not available for duty in this period, either because it is already flying or has flown a mission, or because it is resting due to losses. This will have an impact on the number of raids generated by directives. Geschwader list This lists Gruppen in detail according to the options you have chosen, for example listing by Geschwader type or Category.
Day End Review

Each 'day' ends at 20:00 hrs. The day end review screen will appear listing news items from each day. The news will usually be
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general assessments of progress so far and updates on the proposed invasion date. More valuable than this summary, is the information in the Review dialogue (accessed with the button at right). Use this dialogue to get a more accurate update on how many of your own, and enemy aircraft have been damaged, and destroyed. While the individual split of Hurricane vs Spitfire kills is effected by fog of war, and often unreliable, the totals column is usually quite accurate, and a good gauge of how the campaign is progressing.
RAF Campaign Tutorial

Command Briefing
You lead RAF Fighter Command charged with the duty of defending the air space over the United Kingdom. Specifically you must defend your country from the invasion force building up on the continent of Europe. You must ensure that Fighter Command remains an effective force throughout the summer until mid-September 1940 when bad weather begins to eliminate the risk of invasion. You have 53 fighter squadrons at your disposal: 34 have Hurricanes and the rest are equipped with Spitfires. All told, there are over 600 aircraft in your command. You are limited to scheduling missions for a maximum of 32 squadrons at any one time. In pursuit of your campaign objectives, you will respond to threats as they appear on the map display. This map shows the result of collating intelligence about enemy movements from various sources including the RDF and ROC. It is possible to define both patrol and intercept missions. Patrols can be redirected to threats when they are in the air. You can either design a mission from scratch personally or just set the overall parameters and let your staff complete the details using 'directives'. (In the following section we will generally call all missions patrols, for brevity.) You are cleared to fly missions in Spitfire and Hurricane fighters.
Overview and RAF Organisation

Your role as an RAF Commander is quite different from that of a Luftwaffe Commander. The RAF is on the defensive. You must react to
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incoming raids by scrambling fighters, yet always holding enough in reserve so that you have cover when you most need it. Unlike the Luftwaffe, the RAF plans few missions at the start of each time period throughout the day, other than standing patrols over convoys or other vulnerable assets. You'll scramble squadrons as and when you feel it necessary throughout the day. It is expected that during the course of summer 1940 the Luftwaffe will be able to allocate up to 2000 aircraft to prepare for the invasion of England. They have codenamed Operation Sealion'. Initially you can expect to be confronted by Junkers 87D Stuka dive-bombers and the formidable twinengine Bf110 fighter. Later in the campaign you will encounter heavier bombers like the Dornier 17, Heinkel 111 and Junkers 88. The single engine Bf109 will act as escort to the bomber formations. It is vital that you don't damage the integrity of Fighter Command by over committing your forces. Obviously it makes sense to respond to threats against Fighter Command assets. On the other hand, defence of other assets should be limited to the minimum that is deemed to be politically acceptable. Fighter Command consists of four Groups: 10, 11, 12 and 13. Each group is assigned a geographical area rather than a specific set of squadrons. Squadrons can move from group to group to fulfil the objectives of Fighter Command. Although a squadron can have more pilots and aircraft assigned to it, a complete squadron in the air consists of twelve aircraft. You have 53 fighter squadrons at your disposal: 34 Hurricane and the rest are Spitfires. All told, there are over 600 aircraft in your command. 11 Group covers the southeast of England and so it is in the front line. 12 Group is in central England and 10 Group is to the southwest. Both these groups are actively involved in the Battle. 13 Group is stationed in the north of England. Squadrons in 13 Group do not take part in the Battle; they use the time in the north to recuperate. 10, 11 and 12 Groups are further divided into sectors, which are again based on a geographical area. Each sector has its own control room at an airfield in the sector from where ground controllers 'vector' RAF fighters to their intercepts. Either Radio Direction Finding (RDF) methods or the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) gathers most of the intelligence about enemy movements. RDF methods are now universally referred to as RADAR. Fighter Command had two coastal systems in operation during the Battle of Britain. The Chain Home (CH) system was capable of detecting aircraft at
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a distance of up to about 150 kilometres (90 miles), but this reduced by about 30% for an aircraft at 15,000 ft. The Chain Home Low system was developed to overcome this limitation. This type of radar had a range of about 30 kilometres (20 miles) at low altitude. Neither system could be used to track aircraft once they had passed by the system and flown inland. The job of detecting aircraft over England fell to the Royal Observer Corps. Groups of two or three people were stationed all over the south east of England and they reported all aircraft movements to a central station. This system worked remarkably well however heavy cloud did have a large effect on its effectiveness. All the information generated passed through a filtering stage so that the information presented on the map was consistent and as error free as possible. This is the information that you will see presented on your campaign map.
RAF Directives
Note that to avoid repetition, many of the topics covered in the Luftwaffe campaign tutorial section are assumed to be understood by the reader when discussing the RAF campaign.
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From the main menu screen, choose the Campaign option and request a campaign as the RAF Commander during the 'Eagle Attack' phase of the battle. At the start of the morning time period on August 12th 1940 you are presented with a directives dialogue box. You'll notice that it is substantially different from the Luftwaffe directives dialog. It is more concerned with defining how missions will be launched later if the situation and need arises, rather than specifying missions to launch immediately. The Luftwaffe will be leaning towards raids into mainland England at the start of this 'Eagle Attack' phase. Radar installations, coastal airfields and docks will be their preferred targets.
Setting up Patrols
In the 11 Group Squadron section there is a Holes in Radar' setting. This setting allows you to set aside a number of squadrons to patrol those areas in the coastal radar net that are not covered. If all of the Radar sites are working correctly then there are no holes in the coverage. One squadron will cover each hole in the net. Hit the tick to confirm your directives. The 'Proposed Patrols' dialogue is displayed, showing the patrols that are planned. Click on the tick box to get started.
RAF Response Markers

The battle is now under way. You will see your patrols represented on the map as one token for each squadron. These are representations of the tokens used by the RAF during the war. The top white bar shows the number of aircraft in the patrol, and the blue bar at the bottom shows the current altitude in thousands of feet or metres - depending on the default units setting. The square lollipop' above the top of the token displays the squadron number. There can be more than one lollipop above a p patrol, as more squadrons are added. If you click on an RAF token the mission folder will be displayed and the proposed route to be taken by the patrol will be highlighted on the campaign map. A round lollypop indicates that only part of a squadron has been launched. The colour and number of lollipops correspond to the call signs of the sections. If you wish to see more closely where a squadron that has been scheduled for patrol is located, then highlight one of the patrols listed in the mission folder and click on the 'squadron' button at the lower right corner. The squadron details are displayed as part of the airfield dialogue
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relating to where the squadron is located. Select the 'general' tab for the airfield at the top of the airfield dialog and click on the 'centre' button at the bottom. The airfield will now be centred on your map display and you can zoom in to see its precise location. Again, you may choose to change these icons to display individual units, for better tactical decision making.
Authorising Scrambles
As the day progresses, the Radar net (assuming it has not been knocked out) will detect a build-up of Luftwaffe raids over France. Sometimes the raids will be detected late as they cross the channel into southern England.
As soon as a raid is detected you will be asked whether you wish to set up an intercept patrol. Select the 'Ok' button and a scramble response mission will be automatically generated as soon as possible - usually within a few minutes. The Task button will 1 do the same thing but opens the relevant dialogue to edit the mission before it leaves the ground. We will learn more about this later. There are also occasions when you will be asked if you wish to take over control of aircraft in intercept situations. At this stage you should decline the offer.
Mission Folder
Open the mission folder on the main toolbar (screenshot on following page). Each line shows the details of an RAF patrol mission. The order number is a unique identifier for today's missions, starting with FOOl identifying the first RAF patrol of the day. The squadron column displays the relevant squadron number and, in brackets, the number of aircraft from that squadron involved in the mission. The status field shows the current state of action of the squadron. If the status shows 'At 30 mins', then the squadron is at a low state of readiness, prepared for take-off in thirty
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minutes. Some squadrons will be 'forming' after take-off - in other words still manoeuvring into their patrol configuration. If the objective is a place name, then the squadron's mission will be to patrol that asset or area.
If the objective is a four-character identifier, then the objective is a Luftwaffe raid. In the case of a raid, its currently known size and status are displayed along with the raid's target and status if it has been confirmed. Luftwaffe raids have an H prefix, and the three digit identifier gives the order of Luftwaffe raids detected during that hour of the day, for example, the third raid detected after 7:00
Altering Mission Profiles

Missions that have yet to take off can be re-'tasked' by selecting the task button at the lower part of the mission folder. Re-tasking allows you to alter the numbers of aircraft in a mission, the squadrons they come from as well as the fine details of fighter attack methods. It is a very precise tool. The target can only be changed after takeoff by using the Revector function. Revectoring a mission in flight allows you to alter the target. Click on the ReVector button and then select a new target on the campaign map. A target can
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be any Luftwaffe raid. Patrols over radar will be automatically vectored against any threats that come close to the radar site. Patrols over other assets will only automatically vector to defend their asset. As a player you may decide that it is quicker to re-vector a patrol to a raid than it is to scramble an intercept from the ground.
Routes
You will find that the dialogs and controls relating to route management are very similar to the Luftwaffe but there are some differences. A special 'estimated location' waypoint marker is displayed on the map route for missions assigned to intercept an incoming raid. This shows the location where the interception is expected to take place given the raid's current course.
Tracking Raids
As the campaign progresses and more raids are launched you will be put under increasing pressure. You must develop a strategic and tactical picture based on the events developing before you. There are different tools available to aid you in keeping track of the enemy raids: 1. Watch the map. Always keep your eye on the campaign map. Raid icons, once raids are on the move, have large arrows next to them showing the last reported heading of the raid.
2. Use the intelligence teletype. This provides the nerve centre for all intelligence information. After a time, the campaign map can become cluttered with Raid and RAF response markers. There's always the danger that as Commander you will lose track of a raid or underestimate the threat it poses.
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3. Use the Hostiles List. The hostiles list is a modern tool (unavailable in the 1940s) that helps you keep track of all raids and responses. Open the 'hostiles list' dialogue by clicking either on a raid token on the map or on the hostiles list icon at the left of the main toolbar.
The hostiles table lists all of the Luftwaffe raids that have been detected. Each line shows the current information that has been gathered about the raid. The columns at the end of each line display the number of RAF aircraft currently flying out to intercept the raid, the number currently in combat, the number returning to base and a running tally of losses for each side. Obviously a major raid with no planned response is potentially a very serious threat. This list is very useful as it lets us see an overview of all the raids and therefore make sure that they all have adequate responses. Raids that are inbound or in the target area pose more of a threat to your assets than those that have dropped their bombs and are going home. Click on a raid and you can automatically 'authorize' an appropriate response to the raid. The fine details of the authorised response can be tuned in the mission folder, which is why the mission folder is displayed once the 'authorize' button is selected.
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Debriefing Sorties
Once a squadron has returned to its home airfield, details of its sortie become available. Highlight the squadron in the mission folder and select the squadron button at the bottom right to display the squadron dialog. Click on the 'details' button to display the squadron diary and full details about the sortie just completed.
End of a Period
At the end of the morning period the directives dialogue will be displayed for the midday session. Pause the game briefly, so that you can review the outcome of the morning's action. Select the 'review' icon on the main toolbar. The review box contains all of the details about your current air force strength. The aircraft tab displays the numbers of damaged and
destroyed aircraft and the assets list will show the accumulated damage to all major asset types. A glance at the most recent teletype output will also help you to keep track of the recent key events. You will need to use the information you have gained to help plan your strategy for the next session. At the end of each day of the campaign - after the third period of the day there will be a summary of important events and some video footage. Then it is on to the next day Occasionally you will notice that you'll be offered to skip a particular session because of foul weather. Normally, you should do so. In bad weather it is unlikely that there will be enemy action and you need to conserve your resources and gain some rest.
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Detecting and Intercepting Raids

It is possible for raids to slip through the radar net, avoid detection or confuse controllers if: The radar picture is confused due to too many overlapping raids. A raid comes in at low level. The raid consists of few aircraft. Cloud cover obscures the raid from the Royal Observer Corp who then have to rely on sound location equipment. The raid splits in the target area. The raid uses a dogleg and does not reveal its intended target until the last possible moment.
Managing RAF Resources

If you select the 'resource' icon in the main toolbar, you'll bring up the RAF resources display box. This displays ALL of the aircraft available to the RAF according to group - the major organising principle of RAF fighter command. Each group is divided into a number of geographical sectors and you will see that the RAF resource list for each group is divided by sector. Each sector's squadrons are controlled from one sector control station, which is listed at the start of each row. If you look at the map of England at lower levels of zoom you will notice that the map is divided into the individual sectors, identified by a different sector letter. These are the sectors referred to in the resources listing. You can also identify the extent of the four major RAF groups, divided by solid black lines at the lowest zoom level on the campaign map. During the battle, if the buildings housing your sector operations are knocked out then all airfields in that sector are affected until new operations can be established at a new location.
The Importance of Squadron Readiness

There are various readiness states that a squadron can be at which determine how quickly the squadron can get off the ground (if at all) once they receive an order to scramble. The states are described below: Released: The squadron has been released from duty for this period and is not expected to fly. The pilots will be resting and recuperating. While released, the squadron's morale will slowly increase, which will increase the squadron's category after a while. At 30 mins: The squadron is ready to be called on to fly during this period. It will take 30 minutes to prep the aircraft when the order to scramble
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comes. It is still quite stressful for the pilots waiting for the call to arrive at any moment. At 5 mins: The aircraft are fuelled, armed and lined up with the pilots nearby. On the scramble order, it will take 5 mins for the pilots to get into the cockpits, start their engines and get away. At 2 mins: The pilots will be sat in their cockpits with the engines running. You must be careful not to leave a squadron 'at 2 mins' for a great length of time as it uses valuable fuel and will tire the pilots. Changing the state of readiness can have a major impact on the effectiveness of your fighters but you must ensure you do it in the right circumstances. For example, squadrons based to the North of London, which are tasked with protecting the capital, would be best kept at 30 mins or even released if the Luftwafffe is busy attacking targets along the Southern coast. Conversely, when London is being blitzed, those same squadrons should be kept at '5 mins'. You can see the current readiness state of a squadron by viewing the squadron page of an airfield dialog. You can then request a new readiness state using the relevant control. The change will take time, so moving from 'At 30 mins' to 'At 5 mins' will take 25 mins. When you make the change it will say 'to 5 mins' to warn you of the transition. Requests to squadrons that are 'released' will not take effect until the next period. If you click on the sector control station you will bring up the 'tote board' for that sector. This is an authentic representation of the style of display used by the RAF during this period. The lights show the readiness of each squadron in that sector.
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Managing Aircraft and Pilots

It is important to keep a watch on your squadrons. A squadron that is continually asked to fly missions without rest will suffer from low morale and fatigue. The squadron category (A. B. C) gives you an insight into the fighting ability of a squadron. When this reaches Category 'C' it is definitely time to pull the squadron from combat to rest. Use the Squadron List dialogue accessed from the main tool bar to view the details of all your squadrons. The list of squadrons can be filtered using the controls at the top of the dialog. Click on a squadron line and open its details dialog. At the top of the dialogue page you will see an option for requested readiness that you can use to change the state and below it a report of the current readiness. Setting the squadron readiness to 'released' means that the squadron is not expected to fly and can take time out to relax. They will slowly recuperate. The 'Rest if option at the top of RAF directives automates this process. Squadrons are released from duty if their category or number or aircraft drop below the level you specify. Each time a pilot is lost he is replaced. But, you will notice that the overall average skill and morale of the squadron will drop to represent the arrival of an under-trained novice. The morale of the squadron leader has a great impact on the remainder of the squadron. While flying, the rest of the squadron are concentrating on formation flying with the leader, so it is down to him to lead them into the best position and spot the enemy.
Transferring Squadrons
You will find the need to transfer squadrons to different airfields during the course of the campaign. There are various reasons for doing this: There are not enough squadrons in a particular sector to deal with concentrated raids against it. A squadron is non-operational (Cat C) and must be moved to a quieter airfield to rest and recover.
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There are 2 main ways of transferring a squadron by using the Directives dialogue or the Airfield dialog. Directives: The Front Line airfields option at the top of the dialogue allows you pull your squadrons back or move them forward through three bands of airfields: North London, South London and Coastal. The default is 'Coastal' airfields. If you change this to 'South London' then any squadrons on coastal airfields will be pulled back and relocated at available airfields in North and South London. South London is the new front line. This is a dramatic and sweeping change so use it in the right situations. For example, make South London the front line if radar is out and Coastal airfields are getting hammered, or if London is being raided. The transfers will take place at the end of the current period, so during the period the squadrons will still be available for duty. Airfields Dialog: At the bottom of the squadron page of this dialogue are two combo boxes. You can select a Group and then select an airfield within that group to transfer to. You can only move to airfields that have space to accommodate further squadrons. There are also restrictions when trying to move squadrons out of Group 10 and 12, as the controllers for those groups must have a minimum number of squadrons available at all times. Any requested transfers will take effect by the start of the next period. The squadron will still be available for duty during the current period. 13 Group: You can move units out of 13 Group to fill vacant airfields, but you can only move units back into 13 Group if there are 2 or fewer squadrons based there. It is however worth moving non-operational units to 13 Group as they recover morale faster there. 13 Group has a player limit of max 3 squadrons, which was enforced to prevent an RAF player from moving all his units north, out of Luftwaffe range a strategic option that was not politically possible for Dowding to contemplate in 1940. Naval fields come under the jurisdiction of Coastal command. Others are Bomber command or training fields only used by your fighters when making emergency landings. The Luftwaffe acting on poor intelligence will often attack your Naval and Bomber airfields. This is good and bad -
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it means less attacks against fighter stations but the loss of other staff and resources.
Assets and Production

To get an overview of the state of your assets open the asset list dialogue from the main tool bar. This is similar to the Luftwaffe's target list. Docks An industrial and commercial target, docks are not repaired within the time frame of the battle. You cannot simply hold your fighters back and let the docks take a pounding. If too much damage is sustained then the Prime Minister and his cabinet may well step in to order your replacement as Commander. Convoys The coastal transports were kept in operation in the early phase of the Battle to show to Germany and the world that England stood defiant in the face of the Luftwaffe. Towards the end of August it was accepted by those in command that the battle for the Channel was lost. Ships were no longer paraded up and down the south coast. The cost in lives of crewmen and pilots and of aircraft and ships was high. As with Docks, if you neglect to provide adequate cover for the convoys then your removal will be requested by the Government. RDF If Radar is knocked out then mobile units can be brought in to cover the gap but they are not as efficient. Factories The most important factories are those used to manufacture components for fighter aircraft and those that actually assemble the finished fighters. The number of fighters that can be assembled is restricted by the output from the component factories. The vulnerability of these sites is recognised early in the battle and preparations are made to disperse production throughout workshops in the nearby areas. Open the asset list and view the Factory page to see all your factories and their production type. Find the Woolston Supermarine factory and open its dossier by clicking it then the details button. The dossier will tell you the current weekly production capacity for that factory. Damage to the factory will diminish its output or stop it all together. Other factories make components for or assemble bombers, which play no part in the battle. Finally, there are Industrial factories that play no part in aircraft production but are a vital part of the nation's resources.
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Airfields The airfield type shows the command that the airfield comes under. Fighter Command airfields are the most important as these are used by your RAF fighters.
The Ultimate Objective

Operation Sealion, the invasion of Britain, is planned for September 1940. The date is flexible based on the success of the Luftwaffe. If Luftwaffe air superiority is not secured by September 15th then the invasion will be postponed indefinitely. German command requires that the RAF is diminished as a fighting force and has insufficient fighters to counter the Luftwaffe over the Channel and landing areas. If the Luftwaffe believes that they have accomplished this then the invasion date may be brought forward. You will be informed of these events in the End of Day news.
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SECTION B: Campaign Tactics

In the previous section we looked at how to run a campaign. Now we will look at how to win a Luftwaffe or RAF campaign!
RAF Fighter Campaign Tactics

The following RAF tactical guide was written by Wesley Wildman Netcher and has stood the test of time. Many Thanks! The following sections look at how to use the 2D map to set and layout your campaign moves to maximize your chances to thrash the Hun above Britains blue skies. The following deals with the deployment of basic tactical units squadrons and flights. Lets keep it simple and straightforward. Interception generally moves through the following phases: i. ii. iii. Readiness Deployment Engagement
Lets go through them one at a time. i. Readiness The single most important commodity you have in the campaign is not airplanes or even pilots it is TIME. A good commander knows ahead of all else how to manage time. The more time that elapses between the first detection of a hostile plot and your response getting airborne, the less chance you have of effective interception. The campaign models the RDF system available to you in 1940 pretty accurately, therefore, use it to your best advantage. The player must manage their squadrons and pilots. Poor quality squadrons do a poor quality job. Use the readiness tools available to you and release squadrons whenever it is practical to do so, especially during periods of poor weather. Release your hardest pressed units, as even a few hours will improve their moral and condition. When you need them, they will be at their best if given the opportunity to rest. Try setting minimum
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rest if options in your squadrons menu or in the directives each time period. The squadrons will then be rested automatically if they fall below the minimums the player set. Next, replace badly battered units, but do this with caution. As it was in reality fresh, and hence inexperienced units will suffer correspondingly higher casualties in their first few combats. Use the directives menu to set standing patrols only over convoys or other high priority targets, otherwise do not use the programmed responses and cancel automatic scrambling. If left to the computer the player may as well press the exit button now. At the beginning of each day set a minimum number of squadrons to at 2 minutes using the squadron readiness tab. Depending on what stage of the campaign you are at, this should be a number that you are satisfied constitutes your minimum response. Too few will weaken your response, too many will tire your squadrons. Alternate the squadrons at 2 minutes readiness throughout the day so that the task does not always fall on the same units. Do not forget you will need both Spitfires and Hurricanes where possible; the rest of the squadrons should be left at 5 minutes readiness. Responding to the raid requires time, so set the game non-raid speed at a level you are comfortable with. You can do this in the Game speed tab in the lower menu. Do not set it so high that events move so fast that you cannot control them. On this menu you can also set favourite squadrons, and take over options. The most important option is the take over on raid forming. You must know as soon as a raid is detected and react quickly. Set the time to pause on raid detection. As time moves on during the day, try and anticipate events. If the weather is fine and no serious raids have come your way in the first two periods, it is likely that you will have busy tea-time. The AI plans its raids in 3 periods but raids may overlap. One option is to get patrols up early. Patrols are a gamble, they may be a waste of time, but if you use common sense they may often be priceless. Standing patrols over convoys and coastal patrols are of limited value but are necessary, both to protect assets and keep your computerized senior officers happy. Dont overdo them or they reduce your ability to react when serious threats do materialize. But from the Eagle Attack phase setting up small standing patrols over light ships in the channel can provide a quick reaction force which will peel away fighter protection
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while you scramble other squadrons. The above considerations fall into the readiness category. Once a raid is detected your chance to affect the battle due to management of squadron readiness is limited. ii. Deployment Once a raid or series of raids is detected, we now move into the deployment phase. The game should now automatically click into normal time, or paused depending on the setting the player chooses. The raid marker shows the information available to you about the raid forming on the other side of the channel. Its raid number, strength, and height are recorded here in that order. One important note that the raids height is at present, and that this may well change. Historical raid markers also only show the head of the raid, that is, the position of the bombers. The fighters may or may not be present there, or at the height indicated. Fighter information can be viewed, to do so you need to switch the markers to show individual gruppes or staffels in the map filters folder. Raid direction arrows may also be useful to you in determining where to setup your patrol areas. While the game is in normal speed, take a few moments to assess the threat that this raid (or raids) represents, a lone recon aeroplane is easy to deal with. If you want to intercept it, and you should, click on the raid and then click authorize from the hostiles dialogue that is bought up. The AI will usually assign a flight of 3 aircraft automatically from a suitable airfield. Stopping recon aircraft when possible should be a LOW priority; so uncheck this option in the directives. Otherwise, study the information and gauge the threat accordingly. The raid will initially show as forming and no target data may be available yet. However, the relative position of the raid will give you an idea of the general target area. For example, a raid forming over Normandy is not likely to engage a target on the east coast. Nothing should be ruled out, but common sense should give you at least a fair idea of where it is headed. The size and composition of the raid is the main precursor. Composition may show aircraft type and other information, such as if escorts are present or not. After gauging the degree of threat presented by the raid and having decided to intercept it, the time to deploy against it is now. On average, a raid will take between 15 and 30 minutes to form and reach typical targets in Southeast England. A patrol will average (depending on its readiness state) between 10 and 20 minutes to prepare, take off, and
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reach 15000ft within its sector. The time for the players patrol to reach an acceptable altitude is why time is so important. The time to decide the tactical details of the interception is now, not when your aircraft join combat. By then it is too late. First, get your patrols up. The RAF Patrols section below has detailed instructions on how to do this. After determining, or guessing, where the raid is headed, place your patrols in a holding position close to the anticipated path of the raid, but not on it. These can be target airfields, RDF stations, or preferably towns. Towns can be displayed by bringing up town and village markers up on the map from the map filters folder. The tactical positioning of your squadrons is important; too far forward and they may not be able to respond to changes of direction by the raid, too far back and they may not be able to intervene at the best moment. If the patrols are too far apart they cannot support each other, too close and they make a tempting target for the free escorts. The key is not to think in terms of horizontal lines, but in terms of a chessboard, or a quadrillage, now expand that into a 3D chessboard. Most of the time aircraft travel in straight lines, but they are able to move more or less infinitely within this huge 3D chessboard. The total number of aircraft to put up depends on the resources you have available, are prepared to commit, or the size of the raid. A large interception force may not necessarily produce better results than a smaller one, but will offer the enemy more targets. Generally, if you commit forces in the ratio of 1:3, that is a safe balance between under and over commitment. The overall quality of your force and your tactics will make a much more telling effect than sheer numbers. The mix again depends on what is available. You may already have committed forces to another raid and be short of Hurricanes or Spitfires, but ideally you need a balance. The Spitfires are superior performers to the Hurricanes, but the latter are better bomber killers. The Spitfire is an Air Superiority Fighter and is best suited to taking on the escorts. Using paired squadrons is often the best policy, but beware that a large time penalty in deployment is attached to their use. The RAF Patrols section below describes the time penalty for paired squadron deployment. The best use of paired squadrons is in anticipation where the time is available. The time needed to deploy wings, 3 to 5 squadrons, is rarely available.
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The patrol height depends on the height of the raid; try not to let the computer assign default altitudes (e.g. the one you assigned to the last patrol). Height is the most important factor of a successful interception and is one the player can and should control for every patrol. Typically, bombers will come in at around 15000ft, but this is not always the case. It is possible to have your intercepting fighters too high as well as too low. This depends on the relative position of the escort. If you place Hurricanes at 24000ft to intercept He111s at 15000ft and the escort is at 18000ft, your Hurricanes will become embroiled with the escorting fighters before they can get at the bombers. Spitfires generally need to be higher, 18 20000ft is a good compromise. But beware, if there is a free escort assigned to high escort or ceiling, they may get bounced. Assigning your Spits to a higher altitude to counter this possibility may result in them missing the raid altogether. If you have more than one Spitfire squadron up, try setting different altitudes for them, for example at 18000 and 21000ft. This tactic will pay a dividend later during the actual interception. As you place each patrol, set the parameters under which you wish them to engage, set Hurricanes to prefer bomber targets and Spitfires to fighters. Set the tactics with caution, if you leave the default as use Vics your squadrons will attempt to use the old Fighter Command Fighting Area Attacks while remaining in tight vee formations. This is practically suicide if defending fighters are around, and not far short of it if they arent. Historically, the use of 3-plane Vics in very tight formation was in use early in The Battle but was quickly discarded. Dive and Zoom is best used from high altitude but is of limited effectiveness on bombers because your fighters are spending so much time going up and down they put minimal lead on the target. Line abreast or line astern are extensions of the Area Attacks described above. These tactics will produce bomber kills with the drawback of reduced ability to respond to fighter interception. Line astern, however is useful in breaking up bomber formations since the aircraft will follow each other in rather than dissipate their attacks across a wide area. Head on tactics are extremely useful against bombers, but only if you get your squadron into a position from where such an attack is possible. If you fail to do this, the interception that relies on this method alone will fail. Individual is the most versatile method and about the only method that you can use against fighters.
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As you assign a squadron at 2 mins, bring another to 5 minute standby to take its place. In this way, you maintain what all good commanders keep, and that is a reserve to deal with the next threat. Once you have ordered your patrols into position, place the game back into accelerated mode at a moderate pace. The raid should have formed and begun moving into your airspace. Within a very short period of time events will have moved on to the point where it is not possible for you to get further units into the air in time to have an influence on this raid. Therefore, do not be tempted to waste assets if you find that the raid is bigger than at first thought. Use whatever assets you can, standing patrols in the vicinity or other assets allocated to another raid if necessary, but bringing up more units to engage this raid is now pointless and wasteful. The deployment period for this raid has now past, there is only time now to engage the enemy. TALLY HO! PROCEDURES FOR CAMPAIGN TASKS The procedures section is a guide, not on the strategy for deploying your squadrons, but a how-to guide for making the campaign inputs you want. RAF Patrols This tutorial is designed to give the basics of setting up a patrol over a chosen destination. Patrols are a basic tool used to cover convoys early in the campaign; they can also be used as rapid response combat air patrols, or CAP, to respond to Luftwaffe raids. The one draw back to patrols is they have a limited time on station, or flying, and then the squadron must rest before going up again. Patrols with Directives First, let us look at the DIRECTIVES screen that is shown at the beginning of each time period. This screen lets you lay out broad orders to your controllers. The screen has several vital areas that directly effect which raids are intercepted, what is patrolled and by how many aircraft. The use of this screen is one of two ways to set patrols:
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Figure 1. Directives Screen Section 1 deals specifically with 11 Groups squadron, as you remember 11 Group is in the southeast of the island and endures the most of the fighting. Three options set patrols over different objectives. Holes in radar send aircraft to fly patrol when the Luftwaffe knocks out part of the radar coverage. Over convoys sets a constant patrol pattern over convoys as they come up the channel and into the harbor, with replacement squadrons scheduled to fly over the convoy as the previous squadron returns to base, or RTBs. This provides coverage of the convoy 100% of the time. One word of warning, check to see how many convoys are in the area. If you schedule six squadrons and there are three convoys, then all three convoys will have coverage for as long as two squadrons are available, roughly two hours total. The possibility of leaving the convoy unprotected could then arise, remember allocate enough squadrons to cover all convoys in the area.
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Coastal is different and gives you an interesting patrol pattern. If you call for six coastal patrols, you end up with six patrols at the same time flying over radar stations that are still active. These patrols are spread up and down the coast of merry olEngland. The one draw back to this is there are no follow-up patrols scheduled; this is a one-shot deal per period. Section 2 deals with the size of patrol the player is sending out. Squadron or less implies that only one squadron, generally Hurricanes, will be assigned to fly the patrol. Paired squadrons have two squadrons, Hurricane and Spitfire, assigned to fly the patrol. The drawback to paired squadrons is that it takes longer to assemble and fly to the patrol, (or intercept). The squadrons take-off, then form on each other, and then fly to the patrol area. Squadron or less - the squadrons take-off and immediately fly to the assigned patrol area. Big Wing is an even larger formation that suffers from the same inherent problem of assembling the squadrons into the big wing before moving to the assigned patrol area. The advantage, of course, is that once that formation is in the air and a raid is spotted the player now has a powerful force to counter the raid. Patrols set manually The second method of initiating patrols is using a manual method. The manual method allows the player to set specific targets that receive patrols and is frequently used to have aircraft in the air ready to vector onto incoming raids. Setting the patrol starts with the player deciding on what the patrol is to guard. I have chosen the Dover CH towers, (see Figure 2 below). This screen is also the INTEL screen accessed from the mission folder.
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Figure 2. Location Intel Screen Assigning a patrol is as simple as clicking on the Patrol button in the window, which brings up the screen in Figure 3, the Mission folder:
Figure 3. Mission Folder
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The outlined line shows that patrol F001 is being flown by 32 Squadron with 12 aircraft. The patrol is currently on the ground readying aircraft and will fly to Dover CH for patrol. All of this can be modified without starting another patrol order by clicking on the Task button, which shows the screen in Figure 4, the task summary screen:
Figure 4. Task Summary Patrol Modifications Task Summary The summary above shows that currently one squadron of Hurricanes is going to fly a patrol over Dover CH. This screen allows you to change the number of aircraft assigned, but clicking on the 1 Squadron line. In effect, you are making this patrol a Paired Squadron that was discussed earlier, with the penalties of a paired squadron. You can also change the squadron assigned, as shown above, from a Hurricane squadron to a Spitfire squadron if desired. For this tutorial, I changed the number of squadrons assigned to two. The player can then modify Hurricane orders by clicking on the Hurricane tab outlined. This will bring up Figure 5 (below), the Tasked Hurricane orders. The Hurricane orders screen allows you to change three separate areas concerning Hurricane deployment, use and unit. Figure 5 shows the preferred target of your assigned Hurricanes. I prefer to have the Hurricanes go after the bombers, if possible. This does not override the AI in defensive measures, although I cannot say with absolute certainty that with Bombers chosen the AI wont ignore fighters to concentrate on
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the bombers. Another problem is Me-110, with their ability to carry bombs, yet still be classed as a fighter. If the raid is all Me-110s this is not an issue, but if there are Me-109s and Me-110s then the possibility of the AI to become confused does exist.
Figure 5 Tasked Hurricane Order, preferred Target Options Figure 6, shows the options for the Hurricanes attack method. I have not studied this extensively, except to know that Vic is not a formation to stay with if possible. Each attack method has an advantage depending on target type, the one problem with this kind of control; you may inadvertently corner the AI into a bad decision with these options.
Figure 6. Tasked hurricane Order, Attack Method Options
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Last, but by no means least, is the ability to pick which Hurricane squadron you want to fly the patrol, click on the names squadron, outlined in red above. You will then see Figure 7, the Hurricane squadron list:
Figure 7. Hurricane Squadron List Choosing a squadron is as simple as double-clicking on the squadron you want to fly. One note of caution, this screen does not remove squadrons who are currently unable to fly due to other restrictions. You can easily assign this patrol to a squadron that just returned from a sortie and is unable to fly for a period. A double-check of squadron status after leaving the orders area is a good practice. The easiest way to do this is from the Mission Folder screen, highlight the squadron assigned to the patrol and hit the Squadron button in the lower right. You will see Figure 8, the squadron readiness screen.
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Figure 8. Squadron Readiness This shows you the squadron is on the ground because the required line does not say IN AIR. It shows 16 aircraft available and they are ready to fly, from the status line. All of these options, except squadron status, are duplicated under the Spitfire tab. The one thing to remember is if you have only one squadron assigned and it is a Hurricane squadron then the Spitfire screen will not work. You can visit the screen, but none of the options, Attack Method, Preferred Target, and Squadron will respond to mouse clicks.
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As stated earlier, this tutorial increased the number of squadrons to two, one Hurricane and one Spitfire. After all the changes were completed, the new task summary screen looked like the one in Figure 9. The new task summary shows that a squadron of Hurricanes and a squadron of Spitfires will be flying patrol over Dover CH. One note, the campaign engine will try and bring squadrons from the same airfield as the first choice, so if you do not want both squadrons from Biggin Hill AF to patrol at the same time, remember to go to the aircraft tab and change squadrons.
Figure 9. New Task Summary
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After closing all the windows, you will then see Figure 10, the final product. Squadrons 32 and 610 from Biggin Hill AF ready for an hourlong patrol over Dover, now jolly good luck then!
Figure 10. Patrol Map on Screen
Section II RAF Route Manipulation

This tutorial will build upon the knowledge we gained from initiating a patrol and move into manipulating the route that the campaign starts with. First, I accomplished a patrol over Dover Chain Home station with a patrol from 43 Hurricane squadron out of Tangmere AF. The route information is displayed by opening the Mission Folder, highlighting the 43 Squadron line and clicking on Route. Figure 1 shows the procedure to reach the waypoint screen shown on Figure 2.
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Figure 1. Process to Reach Waypoint Screen
Figure 2. Route Waypoints I have cut and pasted several images together to give all the information available. The player can move the mouse cursor over each waypoint to view the white labels designating what that waypoint is. The route screen has three tabs; take-off, main route and landing, which I have placed in the same picture for informational purposes.
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Reviewing the information, we see that 43 squadron is taking off at 06:52 and will arrive at the initial point, or IP, 24 minutes later at 07:16. Last tutorial I mentioned that when you have paired squadrons or big wings, the aircraft had to take-off and marshal before moving to the IP, which lengthened the response time. The waypoint labeled Fighter Rendezvous is the waypoint that those aircraft will circle until everyone assigned to that task arrives. This is why larger aircraft formations take longer to respond to a raid, they must all arrive at the waypoint and climb to 15,000ft before moving to intercept the raid. Often the player will want a different time for his patrol, this allows you to sit down and plan an entire days patrol. The player can assign four squadrons to patrol Dover CH and by manipulating the Time on Target, or ToT, for the IP of each patrol ensure four hours of continuous coverage.There is one thing you can change at every waypoint and that is altitude, the only place to change time is at the IP of the route, double clicking on the circle that is Waypoint: initial point brings up the screen in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Waypoint Information This screen and the zoomed in map screen give the player some valuable information. First, for those players who use the ground to navigate from
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take-off to landing, you can see the IP is near an airfield for easy identification. If the player navigates like this, waypoint can and should, be moved to easily identifiable ground points. Second, the IP screen shows a lot of information: Alt, ft: ETA: REL to ToT: Altitude in feet the waypoint is Estimated time of arrival at the waypoint in campaign time Relative time to IP. If negative that means the waypoint should be reached BEFORE the IP Time remaining before the tank runs dry, I cant confirm but I assume it is at a cruise setting for the throttle and not at 100% throttle. Battle will reduce this time Used for German bomber planning, gives you a time for battle over the IP Compass direction from last waypoint, if you use manual navigation
Fuel:
Escort Fuel: Bearing:
The Alt, ft and ETA both have red arrows in their box, signifying that they can be changed. Figure 4 shows changes made to lower the altitude from 15,000ft to 14,000ft and change the IP arrival time to 08:00.
Figure 4. New IP Waypoint Information Notice how the fuel time went from 51 minutes to 52 minutes, this is due to the fact that your not climbing to 15,000ft thereby saving your pilot
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some gas. Of course, if you change the time you arrive on station, you have to change the timing on the rest of the waypoints. Figure 5 shows you the new take-off time to meet the 08:00 patrol time.
Figure 5. New Take-off Time The take-off time has moved from 06:52 to 07:35 to meet your new IP requirements. The last item to change is the actual waypoint position itself. If you look at Figure 2 you can see the patrol area is 2-3 miles long in a north south direction, not the most optimal direction to stop raids from France. Moving the waypoints is as easy as left-clicking on the waypoint and dragging it to its new location. Words of warning, moving certain waypoints, most notably the IP, will cause all waypoints to change. While seemingly a random choice of the computer it is not. Moving the IP causes all other waypoints to be moved in relation to the Waypoint: Estimated Location waypoint and the new IP position. Think of it this way, when you move the IP, the target egress point and the patrol area need to move to still patrol over the target the player has selected. To overcome this move the IP first and then move the rest of the waypoints to the position desired. Figure 6 shows how I moved the patrol area to a better position:
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Figure 6. New Waypoint Positions
These are the basics for manipulating the route for a task. Remember that this only changes the route for 43 Squadron. If you had a Spitfire squadron joining them, the player would have to go to the mission folder, highlight the Spitfire squadron and follow the same procedure. Otherwise, your Spitfires will arrive 30 minutes before your Hurricanes will. Winning the RAF campaign (2009 additional notes by Heinkill. Warning: will not appeal to historical purists!) To win the RAF campaign you must ensure that you preserve your capability over Group 11 airspace. You cannot afford to let too many squadrons reach Category C (non operational) status. If you do, the battle will be lost. It is more important to preserve aircraft and pilots, than it is to protect airfields, ports and factories. Unlike Dowding, you will not be sacked for letting the Luftwaffe through, so make the most of this and pick your fights carefully. The following tips will help you achieve RAF Victory:
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Ignore recon patrols. Ideal patrol size is six aircraft. Scrambling and assigning multiple 6 aircraft patrols from different airfields is quicker and more efficient than scrambling one Big Wing. Meet the enemy with as many aircraft as you can muster (you can rest when you are dead). Unless you are a good pilot, dont fly as a squadron or flight leader. The morale of an RAF unit is dramatically affected by the loss of its leader so if you frag in as leader and die, that unit will suffer disproportionately compared to if you frag in as a wingman. If in doubt, dont intercept. It is better to let a heavy raid hit its target, than to meet it with inadequate force. But try to get any aircraft on the ground in the path of an incoming raid out of the way no point having them destroyed on the ground. Rotate depleted low morale units out of 11 Group, and fresh full strength units in. Dont get emotional. Abandon coastal airfields such as Manston, Lympne, Tangmere and Westhampnett once they are put out of commission. Dont return units to them when they are brought back on line, it isnt worth it. Keep those units in the airfields around London and use them to create standing patrols over coastal fields instead.
Luftwaffe Campaign Tactics

This section was written by Stickman and Heinkill with learnings from many Luftwaffe campaign players. The Luftwaffe (LW) Campaign is very difficult to win, as it was historically. The following tips have been crafted to help you to victory. Know your history Remember that the directive for the 'Luftschlagt um England' was to reduce the RAF capacity to disrupt a seaborne invasion of 134
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England. This meant eliminating it as an effective fighting force, rendering it unable to cover the potential landing areas of the South East of England.
Important concepts: readiness, and morale The sophisticated campaign game engine balances several very human elements to determine how your campaign is progressing: Readiness: RAF and LW squadrons are assigned readiness categories depending on their leader and pilot morale, which are driven by level of experience, and pilot/aircraft strength or losses. A Category A squadron has high morale, experienced and rested pilots, and sufficient pilots and aircraft. At the other end a Category C squadron is non-operational, with poor morale, novice and fatigued pilots, and insufficient pilots or aircraft to remain combat ready. Morale: this is driven up or down by several elements, over which the player has strong influence. - Loss of squadron leader. If you kill the RAF squadron leader (or as LW leader, lose yours), squadron morale plummets. This is very important in deciding how you will fly the 3D dogfights, either as squadron leader, or as a wingman. Novice pilots who are getting killed in many engagements should NOT fly as squadron leader as their loss will bring down their staffel morale dramatically. The opposite of this is that if you can identify the RAF squadron leader visually (usually aircraft letter A in non-multiskin default installs, or the first aircraft in the RAF VIC formation) you should target them and call your staffel to attack them. - Fatigue. Units gain morale if they rest during a game 'period' (eg 0600-1100, 1100-1600, 1600-2000) and lose morale if they are forced to fly for consecutive periods. As LW commander you therefore want to keep the RAF airborne, and tire them out.
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- Loss of aircraft/pilots: Morale plummets if the squadron or staffel is reduced to less than 12 available aircraft or pilots. RAF production facilities are very effective at replacing lost aircraft, able to replace more than 100 losses per day. Pilots are more critical, but pilots who are shot down (and not killed) over land are given a higher chance of returning to their unit than those shot down over the sea. Remember and refer to these concepts, when you consider the strategy advice below. Phasing is important There were four phases in the Battle, and you can start your LW campaign in any of these. However, consider the Convoy phase as training - you do not have sufficient resources to make a real impact in this phase. Only from Eagle phase onwards are you provided with the full might of Luftflotte 2 and 3. Winning from Convoy or Eagle Phase is very difficult. The only infrastructure damage to the RAF is light damage to one airfield. The RDF system is fully functional, all squadrons are at readiness, British aircraft production is at full capacity, and morale is good. Starting a campaign at Convoy or Eagle phase is best recommended for campaign veterans. Winning from the Critical Phase is the best way to start for campaign beginners. RAF infrastructure has been damaged to historical levels at this period, with aircraft and pilot numbers critical, and many 11 Group airfields damaged, while Luftwaffe resources and morale are still high. Starting a LW campaign at this phase gives the best chance of a quick success. Blitz period gives you very little time to achieve your objectives before the Sealion deadline of mid September. Luftwaffe resources are constrained due to losses, and your morale is lower, meaning that if you incur further losses in your campaigning, you will lose units to poor morale. Blitz phase is also only recommended for LW campaign veterans who really want a challenge. 136
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How the game defines LW victory As air superiority is the ultimate objective, the game AI constantly tracks how many Category C (non-operational) units the RAF has. When this reaches a (secret) pre-determined level, the LW player wins and Operation Sealion is initiated. You are rewarded with a stirring video of German Troops marching through London. It is just as important to understand that you do NOT win by just by destroying all Group 11 RAF airfields, or just reducing the total number of RAF aircraft available. You MUST reduce whole squadrons to Cat C, or wipe out most if not all Fighter Command airfields. (TIP dont forget those in the north of Group 12). If you fly, you increase your kills While it is not the case in the RAF campaign, it is absolutely the case in the LW campaign that you must jump in the cockpit and fly well, and often, to win the Battle. This is because the losses the RAF experiences in 2D campaign map level are much lower than you can achieve at 3D cockpit level, flying as a squadron leader or wingman, and directing your staffel's targets. The game uses a 'proportionate response' model which mirrors air warfare doctrine of the time, meaning that one RAF squadron will be met by one Luftwaffe staffel, irrespective of how many fighters you have in your escort. The rest of your escort will stay with the bombers. In a 2D engagement of squadron vs staffel, the RAF will only lose on average 2-3 aircraft per squadron. These low numbers are easily replaced, and remember that pilot losses are low if the kills occur over England, not over the Channel. However at 3D cockpit level, you can wipe out or degrade entire RAF squadrons through good leadership, or tactics.
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1. Set your 2D map to show aircraft icons, not the square red/yellow/blue raid plots. You need to be able to see what your individual staffelen are doing. 2. Dictate the terms of engagement: Frag into a staffel which is close to a dogfight or RAF unit, but not currently engaged. In this way you can control the merge, pick out (padlock) the RAF leader and target him (tell your staffel to attack him with the R-3-HELP command). 3. Increase the odds: If you see on the 2D map one of your units engages an RAF squadron, choose another unit to frag into, and as squadron leader fly towards the dogfight you saw on the map. Goering will not approve of your leaving the bombers, but you may suddenly find you have 2 staffeln vs 1 RAF squadron, and those are odds that Von Clausewitz would approve of! 4. Shoot to kill: You want to kill pilots more than aircraft. Shoot for the cockpit, not the airframe. It is more valuable to get one pilot kill than two aircraft kills where the pilot parachutes to safety. And kills over the Channel are more valuable to you than kills over land, so if you have a choice of 3D fights, choose Channel fights. This is war. Choose your bombing targets well Ironically, you want the RAF to attack you. Only by meeting them in the air, can you reduce them to Cat C. You might be lucky in an airfield raid to catch them napping on the ground, but this is a rarity and you cannot plan your campaign strategy around it. The following step by step approach will help you draw maximum numbers of RAF defenders to the slaughter... Ignore the RDF (radar) stations: Intuition tells you that you should try to blind the RAF first, to give your bombers a better chance. But think of the bombers as bait. You want the RAF to see them! The sooner the RAF intercepts your raid, the better chance you
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have of shooting them down over the channel. You can leave the RDF stations completely unmolested. Use multiple small raids: It may be tempting to send armadas across the channel, but the proportionate response system, and your own physically limited ability to frag into 2-3 dogfights per session, means there is no point to large raids. Further, you want to keep the RAF flying to fatigue them, so if they must respond to multiple raids, they are required to call on more squadrons to respond. The ideal size for a raid is 1 gruppe of fighters, escorting two staffeln of bombers (set to 'bomb in trail' for maximum effect). First Priority targets: Woolston Supermarine factory located on the Itchen River and SW London Hawker factory (you need to ensure you enable the map to show production facilities). You will see on the SW coast a cluster of 3 factories, of which one is the main Spitfire production facility at Woolston. Knocking this out, and keeping it out, will halve Spitfire production. You should also attack the Brooklands Hawker factory in SW London to reduce Hurricane output. It is also possible that the Gloster Aircraft factory at Hucclecote, Gloucestershire should be attacked as it was historically a Hurricane production facility, but it is a long range raid, and I have not been able to confirm that attacking it reduces Hurricane output. Second priority targets: Once this is done you can turn to the RAF airfields. Using the small raids of 2 staffeln strength, you can inflict light damage on airfields, and may catch RAF squadrons napping. But you will not render the airfield unservicable and force the squadrons there to Group 13. A red circle around an airfield will tell you it is damaged, and when the circle disappears, it is operational again and you can target it again. One of the most satisfying raids to fly in the BOBII campaign is a Zerstorer raid on an RAF airfield, which catches the RAF on the ground! But drop your bombs and go for the aircraft, not the buildings!
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Victory is not guaranteed, go North young man/woman/thing Destroying Group 11 airfields is not enough. You must demonstrate mastery of the skies sufficient to allow an invasion which means you must be able to mount raids against the most northerly of 12 Group airfields and destroy them too. Make sure you hit Wittering and Digby and other far north 12 Group fields or the RAF may be able to carry on the fight against you. (Don't worry about the icon representing 13 Group in Scotland, it is notional, you can't attack it!) Remember, the RAF Commander can win his campaign merely by surviving fleeing to fight another day if he doesnt like the odds. The Lufwaffe Commander must seek the enemy out, deny him his airfields, force him into the air, and then destroy him. Stickmans FAQ for the Luftwaffe campaign 1. Why do the Escorts fail to form up with my Bombers? Now, I hear some of you saying, "Well, this happened quite frequently in real life." I say, "80% of the time? I think not!" It has ruined enjoyable LW Campaign play for many players. I found a work-around, but this will entail some mission planning on the part of the player but improves the odds of a successful rendezvous. The player needs to move the Fighter Rendezvous Way Point back to the Bomber Rendezvous Way Point, in a nut shell. Here I a set up a Raid against Manston. One Gruppe DO17s with one Gruppe Emils. The game generates these Way Points. Bomber Rendezvous Way Point is blue dot. Fighter Rendezvous Way Point is red dot. As you can expect, with this planning the two shall never meet!
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To get them to form up together before the coast, I do this: 1. I drag the Bomber Rendezvous Way Point back a few miles, from the given point, blue dot. You need not do this all the time, but when fighters are far forward, and bombers deep back inland, I find it makes them form up better. Sometimes just dragging the Fighter Rendezvous Way Point on top of the given Bomber Rendezvous Way Point, the fighters still race ahead. 2. I drag the Fighter Rendezvous Way Point on top the Bomber Rendezvous Way Point.
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In this case, the fighters reached the Rendezvous before the bombers, and went ahead until the bombers reached Rendezvous, and then popped back to and with the bombers. OK. I planned this only once, and they formed up well, first try. Let us consider the Fighter Dispersal Way Points, and Bomber Dispersal Way Points, here, also. My observation shows that the fighters, when returning, always fly to the Bomber Dispersal Way Point, before going home. For that reason , with Attached Escorts, I always move the Bomber Dispersal Way Point up to where I want the fighters to disperse. Usually I drag the Fighter Dispersal Way Point at the same point. If you get a Bingo Fuel Limit warning, moving the Bomber Dispersal Way Point closer to the fighter home field may save enough fuel to let the planned mission go ahead. In the above pics, Bomber Dispersal Way Point is purple dot, and Fighter Dispersal Way Point is orange dot. =============================================
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2. Why do my Recon missions turn into Bombing missions? I can provide some insight on this problem. It crops up when either you or the Directives try to issue ordes for a Recon and there are no more Do-17s available to fly the mission. The game will then assign the mission to a Stuka, He-111, Ju-88, or a Me-110. If you go ahead and fly the mission with one of these alternative plane types then it's game over as far as recon missions are concerned. After this, any attempt to assign a recon will result in a bombing mission even if the mission folder lists it as a recon mission. There is no way to get the game to go back to setting up recons, that I have found. This problem is most common the first couple of days into a campaign when you only have 3 Gruppen of Do-17s to work with, KG 76. Rowan used DO17's intead of making a dedicated Recon plane type. KG 76 represents the Recon Aircraft used. Only set up recons when there are Do-17s available as shown in the Resources folder. I never use any others except KG 76 for recon. This problem can also occur latter in the campaign if you have used the Do-17s heavily for bombing missions, used them all up, then try to assign a recon. I never, ever, begin flying any mission until I check the mission folder first to make sure that no Recon missions have been assigned to any plane other than a Do-17. This is one of the reasons I make a unique saved game at the start of each day. If I screw up this or something else goes bad, then I don't have to trash the entire campaign.
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============================================= (Heinkill note: If you have are flying to a target, you may as well bomb it as take photographs of it! Info about the target is updated in the same way after either bombing or recon missions.) 3. Using Photo looks crashes me to desktop! This is an old bug. We have tried stomping on this damned cucaracha, but he is as elusive as he is evil! It is related to Campaign screen resolution settings is all we know for sure. For me, it has only happened when I choose Campaign resolution of 1280xWhatever. At higher or lower resolutions, it always has worked. If you wish to view the Photos, and you CTD, then you must change your Campaign resolution setting to one that works. Each new Campaign phase where I want to see the Photos, I change my normally preferred Campaign resolution of 1280x1024@75 to 1152x864@75, view the Photos, exit Campaign, change settings back to where I like them, Quit, and start the new phase normally. This stinks, I know, and we are sorry that this cockroach is still in the house. Note! You need not look at the Recon Photos, as all damage info is listed in the Target windows. ============================================= 4. Bombers always seem to hit the same area on an airfield target. 1. Airfields have numerous Targets, but there is one that I call "The Main Airfield Target". This is usually just in front of the Large Hangars, on the field. This is where all bomber types will try to lay bombs. 2. For level bombers, use different approaches to the target, that is, try approaching the target from different directions to place bombs on different areas of the target. 144
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2a. Try "bomb in trail" formation versus "level bomb" to place bombs differently. 3. For Stukas and BF110s, they will usually only hit near this Main Airfield Target. Once all of the big hangars are destroyed, I do not send them to bomb that airfield anymore, and try to spread out bombs will high flying level bombers. ============================================= 5. Are Detached Escort fighters useless? Yes, as escorts. DETACHED ESCORT units will not help your bombers, unless you lead them yourself in 3D. The Detached Escort may better be called Fighter Sweep. Otherwise, they fly to Patrol Way Points 2 or 3 times, go back home and play with your French ladies while you are getting your ass shot to pieces! If you lead them in 3D and go hunting, then you may well do some damage to fighters that are coming to attack the Raid you are mission attached with. The 2D RAF interceptors and Patrols will always ignore these Detached Escorts. They never rise to the bait! To make these Detached "Sweepers" effective, you must Lead them yourself in 3D. ============================================= 6. Why do Emils always fail to engage the enemy as Attached Escort with my bombing BF110s? They never do, that is true. I think Rowan coded the BF110s as fighters, even when they are on a bombing mission. An escort fighter formation is not coded to go to the rescue of another fighter formation. So for these raids to be effective you must lead the Bf109 staffeln yourself and attack! 145

Attached Escorts follow certain rules to engage threats to the bomber formation they escort. In the words of an Emil pilot, " Screw those Ace BF110 prima donnas! Fancy pants fighters don't need our help!." Observation concerning a full Gruppe of BF110s on a bombing mission. 1. The lead Staffel ( these are always what I call the Veggies : Tomatoes, Cabbages, and Leeks) always provide Escort duty for the BF110 Gruppe. -- If the Gruppe is intercepted, they always jettison bombs, peel off and attack the interceptors. The other two Staffeln will bomb the target, and go home. If attacked by two enemy Squadrons at once, the 2nd Staffel will jettison and engage the 2nd threat. -- If the Gruppe is not intercepted, the lead Staffel usually peels off and runs the Patrol Way Points, and does not bomb. The other two Staffeln will bomb the target and go home. If you fly as Veggie Leader, with command of the entire formation, different things may happen, as you can give radio commands. ============================================= 7. What are the Rules of Engagement for Attached Escort? I have observed that the code is pretty strict and predictable here. Let us take a simple example: One Gruppe level bombers, escorted by one Gruppe Emils. 1. The formation is intercepted by an enemy Squadron. The lead Emil Staffel will peel off and attack them. The other two Emil Staffeln stay with the bombers. 2. Another enemy Squadron attacks the bombers. The 2nd Staffel peels off and engages the second threat. The last Emil Staffel stays with the bombers. 3. A third enemy Squadron attacks the bombers. The 3rd Staffel peels off and attacks the third threat.
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The bombers are now on their own! Remember that the game will try to sortie 1 RAF Squadron for every Bomber Staffel you put into the air. ============================================= 8. How to make best use of Return Escorts? Heinkill uses these Return Escorts to ensure his bombers are not left to get home across the Channel alone. The key here is the Return Escort's Fighter Dispersal Way Point. Think of it as a Bomber rendezvouz point instead! Drag the Fighter Dispersal Way Point up near the bomber's Egress or Egress 1st Dogleg Way Point, and the Emils will take off in time to reach the bombers as they egress, and then engage any enemy they see. A good balance of forces is to include double the number of fighters to bombers, as 50% attached, and 50% return escorts.
How to play a Single Squadron Campaign

Not to be confused with the Single Pilot Campaign. This section will explain how to setup a single squadron campaign within the main Commander Lever campaign engine. The player is still responsible for the overall success of the campaign, in other words, but is alerted to fly anytime a specific Squadron goes into action. This situation is ideal if you want to for example, Command the RAF and go into action only whenever 266 Squadron is scrambled. QUICK SUMMARY OF THIS PROCESS: Start campaign Pause play in the 2d map Right click anywhere in the menu area at the bottom of screen under the 2d map Choose Time>Gamespeed Click on Fly to Choose a Favorite Unit Choose Group>11 Group Choose Airacraft>Spitfire
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Choose Squadron>266 Check the Favorites boxes for any action you would like to participate in for 266 squadron, from Take-off/Reach Coast/Engagements/Losses etc to Landing. 266 squadron based at Tangmere is a good choice as it was in the thick of the action, any front line 11 Group squadron will see plenty of action. Other good choices are 79 squadron Hawkinge, 111 Croydon, 32 Biggin Hill. If you want to only fly when 'your squadron' is in action, uncheck all the checkmarks under the ALL column. Set directives to On by clicking on the Directives Telephone toggle, and choose sufficient options to let the Directives manage most of the campaign, including automatic scrambling. The game will then prompt you to take the stick whenever your squadron gets in the action. EXPANDED EXPLANATION OF THE SINGLE SQUADRON CAMPAIGN: Basically, BoBII has the ability to tailor which missions receive an interrupt asking the player if they want to fly. The default settings ask the player if they want to fly at every intercept, scramble, etc; but not at every take-off, ground attack, or landing. Figure 7 shows how to access this from the main screen. You right-click down in the menu area, if you right-click in the map all you will see are Zoom in/Zoom out. After right-clicking, select Time and then Game Speed.
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Figure 7 Main Screen Steps and Result The Accel tab gives the player the ability to control what speed the campaign is running at and what speed the campaign will jump to when certain conditions are met. So if you would like to react immediately to a raid forming, check the Raid Forming box and the campaign will move to real time when a raid is spotted on radar. This will allow you more time to set and modify your response. Now to activate a single-squadron campaign you click on the Fly tab and you will see Figure 8.
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Figure 8 Game Speed Fly Tab The check marks show the default settings for the dialog box popping up asking you to fly. First, uncheck all the boxes in the All column, if any of these are checked it will override any options you choose in the Favorite column or Favorite Units boxes. There are many options you can follow here; if the player wants to fly only Spitfires of any squadron just change the Aircraft box to Spitfire. To fly a single squadron only, just left-click on the Squadron box and choose the squadron name you desire. Figure 9 shows the final result - of choosing to fly the 610 Spitfire squadron from take-off of every mission.
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Figure 9 Flying 610 Squadron Only At first there will be no change in the campaign. You will see missions generated and raids over France forming. You will be able to respond to all of these events normally, the only difference? You will not see a popup dialog window asking you if you would like to fly an intercept. When the 610 Squadron is assigned a mission you will see 610 squadron on the map shown in Figure 10 (below).
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Figure 10. Preparing to Fly
Although 610 Squadron is on the campaign screen and the player has not received a window asking to fly, DO NOT WORRY. What is happening is that 610s take-off time has not arrived. If you looked at the squadron status it will show Prepping to fly and that the campaign time has not reached the take-off time shown in the Route window. When the take-off time has been reached you will see the window in Figure 11.
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Figure 11. Taking Over Dialog Box Just click on the Fly button and you will be sent to the cockpit awaiting take-off. You fly the mission, land and when you exit you will go back to being Dowding working a thankless job. Its not quite single-pilot as you still have the campaign to worry about, but its pretty darn close.
This process works as well for the Luftwaffe side.
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SECTION C: THE SINGLE PILOT CAMPAIGN

The Battle of Britain Development Group (the BDG) have resurrected the Single Pilot Campaign from the original Rowan code. For some reason, probably lack of time, Rowan never officially released it. It may have been because the Luftwaffe implementation has flaws. The RAF side however is good provided that the player follows the advice that we have given. The Luftwaffe side is still under development but 'Heinkill' has written up a useful guide for those wanting to try the Luftwaffe SPC and it can be found after the RAF guide in this section. The Single Pilot Campaign was released to fulfil the wishes of those players who told us, I want to take part in the Battle of Britain campaign, but not as a Commander. I just want to sit in my Spitfire, get the order to scramble, and fly the mission I am assigned! The Single Pilot version of the Campaign differs from the Player Controllable or default version of the Campaign in that: -The Morale considerations which dictate whether a squadron will fly or, indeed, fight have been suppressed. -The Player is not expected to make any strategic or tactical decisions other than whether or not to join the selected squadron when a Fly offer is made. -The random nature of the AI skills can be suppressed and replaced by overall skills defined by you, the Player, for each side, as in Instant Action missions. -In theory, the outcome should follow history, unlike for the default Campaign where, bad performance of you, the Commander, can result in the loss of the Battle! Before starting the Single Pilot Campaign, download and install version 2.10 and start up BoBII. Now close the program. This will ensure that all the new variables in the bdg.txt file have been created.
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From the Desktop, load Windows Explorer and select the 'Battle of Britain II' folder. When the contents of that folder are displayed, scroll down and right-click on the 'bdg.txt' file. Left click on 'Open With' and then select 'Notepad'. The contents of the bdg.txt file will now be displayed. Roughly 25 lines down, you will see the following: SPC_Skill_RAF=VETERAN # valid selections (must spell correctly or defaults to NONE): HERO, ACE, VETERAN, REGULAR, POOR, NOVICE, NONE (NONE is default means no forced SPC skill level) SPC_Skill_LUF=VETERAN # valid selections (must spell correctly or defaults to NONE): HERO, ACE, VETERAN, REGULAR, POOR, NOVICE, NONE (NONE is default means no forced SPC skill level) The above settings should give you a fairly even scrap. If you would like to vary the skills in favour of the RAF. Try 'RAF=ACE' and 'LUF=REGULAR'. Note that if you set both skills to 'NONE' you will default to the random skills of the regular Campaign expect some ultra heroic rear gunners! Dont forget to save your changes! Now you can start your Single Pilot Campaign
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From the Main BoB screen select 'Campaigns'.
Now select 'RAF' (the Luftwaffe SPC is covered on page 172).We will start right from the beginning in this tutorial so leave the default selection at 'Convoys' (you can of course select any of the other options (by left clicking on them) if you prefer). Select 'Begin'.
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Enter a name beside the word 'Commander' to identify your Campaign. Now here is the trick to enable the SPC as it stands at the moment. Left click on the word 'Commander'.
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Now click on 'Pilot' on the bottom right of your screen.
Now click 'Begin' at the bottom of this screen.
On this screen you will select your squadron of choice.
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Favourite Units
Remember your intentions are to fly with a single squadron and the decisions you make below will affect that intent. Beside 'Group' it is suggested that you select 11 via the drop down menu if you want to see plenty of action during the Convoy stage. Beside 'Aircraft' select whether you want to fly for a Spitfire or a Hurricane squadron. There were more Hurricane than Spitfire squadrons active in 11 Group at the start of the Battle. If you select 'Either' you will see both AC types in the next menu item rather than a single type. Dependent upon which 'Group' and 'Aircraft' type you have selected above you will be presented with the squadron numbers available to you beside 'Squadron'. Pick the one you would like to fly with.
Offer Take-over on Event

Dependent upon which 'Events' you select you will be offered the opportunity to fly whenever your selected squadron is called into action. DO NOT tick any of the 'ALL boxes. If you want the most realism then tick just the 'Take off' box. You will get plenty of take off practice and hopefully landings as well! If you want to get straight into the action then tick only the 'Small' and 'Large Engagement' boxes.
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When you have made your selections click on 'Begin' again. You will now be presented with the Campaign 2D map. If you are totally new to the BoBII campaign and are unsure on how this operates please refer to Section A. Note: The Game Speed may be set as high as 600. This will allow the minimum of time to elapse between offers that you will receive to join your selected squadron. However, this speed causes the audio cues and map actions to get out of sync! If you are prepared to wait and allow the Campaign to develop at a more leisurely rate so that all the Map room announcements are included, then you can go as low as 200. The Beta Testers have found that a speed of 300 is a good compromise. Set your required game speed as soon as you are in the 2D map room. To do this click on the speed icon on the far left of the control bar.
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You will now be presented with the pop-up window shown above. Use the menu arrows to reduce the speed to 300. Note: If you click the 'down' arrow next to 'Non Raid Speed' the speed will also be applied to the 'Reconn Speed' and 'Raid Speed' boxes too. However, if you click the 'down' arrow next to 'Reconn speed' only it and the 'Raid Speed' box change. Likewise if you click on the 'up' arrow next to the 'Raid Speed' box the speed is applied to all three boxes but clicking on the 'up' arrow next to the 'Reconn speed' box only changes it and the 'Non Raid Speed' box! You should remember that this is a Single Pilot Campaign and, in theory, you should stay with the same squadron throughout the Battle. The choice is yours, however. It is true that pilots did transfer to other squadrons, e.g. an experienced pilot to replace heavy losses. If you do switch between squadrons, then you should appreciate that your Pilots Log will follow you and not the activities of your chosen squadron.
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Lack of activity may, of course, mean that your squadron is resting or has been reduced to non-operational status through heavy losses. The AI Commander will not call on you if your morale is on the floor and your squadron is placed in Category C. It will pay you to periodically check on the current status of your squadron. This will also tell you if your squadron has been moved, for whatever reason. Usually because it has been bombed out of house and home! If so, you may choose to move to another Squadron by returning to the Control>Fly menu on page 165. The following example assumes the pilot is currently flying for 64 Squadron out of Kenley airfield. First click on the 'Resources' icon on the bottom of the screen.
In the 'RAF Resources' pop-up window select the '11 Group (SE)' tab.
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Then left click on the 'Kenley' entry in the list.
Now click on your squadron number tab '64' next to the 'Damage' tab.
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In this particular case, the morale of the wingmen is top hole. Cant say the same for the CO though. Perhaps he is not too sure about the capabilities of his new intake or that pretty WAAF is still keeping him at a distance! If the 'Morale' is down to 'Very Poor' and the 'Status' is 'Category C', then the squadron is unlikely to fly for a few days. Dont write them off though! They will be back in action once morale improves. If there is no tab heading for your squadron number then it has been moved. Unless it has been packed off to Group 13 it will start to fly from its new airfield without any necessary prompting from you. You can find out where it is by clicking on the 'RAF Resources' icon at the bottom of the 2D map screen. You can either wait until its 'flag' appears on the map or search through the airfields of each Group until you find it.
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We suggest you look at 13 Group first because it will be easy to find but you dont really want it to end up there. If it does we do recommend a transfer to another squadron in this case.
During the 'Convoy' period you will find that most 11 Group squadrons will be moved to new bases at least once. If you do decide to transfer to another squadron, select Game Speed as described above, when you first selected your squadron and then click on the Fly tab.
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The procedure is the same as when you selected your squadron at the start of the Single Pilot Campaign. When the campaign is running on the 2D map you will be warned that an offer to fly is imminent as your squadron label will appear over its home airfield icon. Shortly afterwards you will receive the offer to fly.
As for the general Campaign you have 60 seconds to make up your mind. Click on the 'Fly' button to proceed.
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Newcomers to the Campaign should avoid flying as the Squadron (Red) Leader until you have had a bit of practice. Flying as 'Red Leader' means you have more control over what happens but, as in real life, you mustnt make mistakes! Also, if you are prone to getting killed, the loss of the CO usually means that the whole squadron is grounded for a session or two, i.e. until his replacement arrives. Deliberately shooting down your CO will not hasten your promotion chances! For your initial flights we suggest that you fly as 'Green 2'. He is positioned to the extreme right of the formation. Or, if you are left-handed, try 'Yellow 3'. How the Single Pilot Campaign is flown is up to the individual player but it should be appreciated that it is, in reality, a lot of 'joined-up' Instant Action missions. The missions are as varied in content as the Instant Action ones, each time that they are played they play out differently. You will see this if you scrub a mission that just got you killed and re-enter the Campaign without saving that mission. The big difference between Instant Action and Campaign missions, however, is that Instant Action missions meet up with the enemy prettymuch straight away (they were designed that way), in Campaign missions you may have quite a lengthy flight before you meet any opposition; you
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might never meet any at all on a mission. A common occurrence in the early days of convoy patrols! Here are a few suggestions to newcomers to the Single Pilot Campaign: When selecting your 'Take over on Event' options at the setting up stage, only tick the 'Favourite' 'Take Off' box as this will give you the longest flights. When your mission starts and you have taken off switch to 'Autopilot' (Ctrl+A) immediately. You may have to centre the view by hitting the Num Pad 5 key. Use the mouse (or the hat switch or TIR) to move the view around so that you can see the squadron forming up. If you are flying as 'Green 2' you wont have to worry about getting yourself into correct position. If you are flying as 'Red Leader' swivel the view around to the front and watch your squadron forming up behind you. When the formation is complete, hit the 'Map' key (M) to show something like this:
Here you can see that you have quite a trip, even in a Spitfire or Hurricane, to reach any possible prospect of action. You can, of course, back out of the map and just enjoy the view of your squadron flying in
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harmony with each other (you will have to hit 'Ctrl+A' again immediately after coming back to 3D to re-select autopilot). But believe us, you will very likely get pretty fed up with this after the first few sessions, stupendous as the views are. To speed matters up a bit click on '1. Accel' on the 'Map' screen. Now click on '4. Mission IP'
The squadron icon will slowly move through each Waypoint marker until it reaches the Mission IP marker. At this point, you will be automatically thrown back into 3D. If you now wish to continue using the Map acceleration, press M again. This time select 5. Home. This time, the squadron icon will slowly move through each subsequent Waypoint marker and continue until it returns to your home airfield.
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You can exit the map accelerate and return to your mission by pressing 'zero' (0) on the keyboard Numpad or click with the mouse on '0. Exit' on the map. You should, however, watch out for this:
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Here you can see a Luftwaffe icon has appeared. Now is the time to sharply exit from the map and take manual control of your aircraft. You now have your Instant Action type mission! As far as Patrols are concerned, they are of course, pretty repetitive. You can leave your squadron on autopilot once it has reached its patrol point and await events if any! You can break the monotony and still be vigilant by occasionally hitting the 'Nearest Enemy' keys (Ctrl+F1). If there are any bandits in the offing they will be padlocked. If you are flying as 'Red Leader' you can look around without fear of hitting anything if you are on manual flight. You can use the mouse /keyboard /hatswitch if your are on autopilot (or TIR of course if you have it!) You can also ask 'Red 2' if he can see anything by using the radio command (R-3-2). After the scrap or the completion of the patrol 'Red Leader' will order you home. If you are 'Red Leader' and want to return to base then hit the 'Home' or 'Return To Base' (RTB) key combo (R-4-2). Hit the 'Regroup' combo (R-4-1) if you want the squadron to form up behind you and continue with you to the next waypoint. Again, it might be a good idea to go into autopilot and let the squadron form up automatically. Note: Once you hit the 'Home' or 'Return To Base' (RTB) key combo (R4-2) your wingmen will disregard any other orders you may issue as this locks the AI into the RTB code. When the squadron is within reach of the airfield take back control if you are flying as anyone other than 'Red Leader'. If you are 'Red Leader' keep asking 'Home Tower' (R-5-2) for a vector and wait until he tells you that you are under 50 miles away. Then take over manual control and lead your squadron back home. As you will be continually landing at the same airfield you will soon be able to find your way without the aid of 'Padlock Last Message' (F5 after asking for 'Home Tower'). Adopting this approach you will soon be surprised at how much your takeoff and landing skills have improved! The Beta Testers have found that if you dont interfere with the AI Controller by ordering other squadrons about and even fragging into other squadrons the result of your Campaign will be historical. In other words, we (the British!) will win albeit by the skin of our teeth. If you want to
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start affecting matters then you might as well stick to the standard Campaign game.
Heinkills guide to the Luftwaffe SPC

Single Pilot Campaign: LW addendum
The LW Single Pilot campaign is fully functional for Stuka and Bomber pilots. A full Stuka dive bomber campaign or Ju88 gunner campaign can be a blast and a great test of courage for anyone foolhardy enough. Can you bring the RAF to its knees and set the stage for Operation Sea Lion? The LW Single Pilot campaign can also be played for fighter units (Me 109e or Bf 110) but requires a little more player intervention due to some current glitches in the code, which, while a little confusing at first, do not effect the stability of the game. How the LW campaign plays out If you start at Convoy phase, this is what you will be doing: wave pounding, or escorting wave pounders. The challenge is to find those convoys and sink them. The Channel is a deceptively large body of water and those ships are deceptively small! (Tip: In a Stuka always approach the ship formation from astern and aligned with the convoy's line of travel to give yourself the best chance of a hit). The game will then move through the other phases automatically and you will see the LW Commander tactics change from convoy and port attacks, to attacks on 11 group airfields, then attacks on London and infrastructure. Starting at Eagle Attack you avoid the convoy phase, and the rest of the game proceeds as described above. Some 11 group airfields have already been hit and damaged and the RAF is already under pressure. As the SPC outcome is closely matched to history, and you cannot effect strategy as a single pilot, you cannot win a Luftwaffe SPC! But your goal is survival and personal glory. How long can you survive against the RAF, and how many kills can you achieve in your campaign? The better you fly, the better your comrades will fly and the more the RAF will suffer!
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Starting a LW Single Pilot Campaign The steps are identical to starting an RAF Single Pilot Campaign (pages 35 of the Single Player Campaign Manual) and choosing which squadron or staffel you wish to fly with. It is recommended you fly as a wingman unless you enjoy trying to find your target on your own! In the LW campaign you have extra choices: Luftflotte (I or II) Geschwader type (Stuka, Kampf, Zerstorer, Jagd) Gruppe (I II III) Geschwader (Staffel or unit) Gameplay If you choose Stuka or Kampf (bomber) units, you will find the gameplay is almost identical to the RAF campaign, with certain advantages. The game AI automatically generates raids and targets for you. As a Stuka pilot in most units you will almost always be in the action in early morning raids. (Tip: Choose a Stuka unit near the coast opposite Manston or Hawkinge. You can find out what unit is based at an airfield by clicking on the airfield and then choose this unit as your Favorite . StG I I at Peuplinge airfield is a good choice. Led by the famous Paul Werner Hozzel - Hozzel the Schnozzel. It is frequently in the action). You can check your target on the Missions Folder (lower right hand icon on the campaign map screen) if you are playing staffel leader in Stuka staffel and then navigate there using the in-game map. As a bomber gunner in most units, you will be in the action nearly every day. (Tip: Again choose a unit near the coast). It will not matter if you play as leader or wingman in this campaign as you do not pilot the aircraft, you man the guns. This is quite exhilarating in itself - see how long you can survive as a Ju88 belly gunner! (Tip for bomber campaign: Remember you can switch between positions to track a fighter as it is coming in. I suggest you allow yourself 5 reloads
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per raid, to simulate the in flight reloading a gunner in a Ju88 could do during a raid. A good choice is KG 53 III at Tramecourt, which is active against RAF Sector 11 through the Battle).
Known limits in the LW Stuka or Bomber campaign:

RTB error: The game AI will occasionally generate a mission without enough fuel to execute it and you will get an RTB (return to base) message for this. If it happens just click 'Cancel' to get rid of it. It will not effect gameplay. The no escort 'error': Just as in 1940, LW escorts do not always rendezvous with their assigned bomber raid. You will notice they are occasionally early, or late. Sometimes no fighter escort is available at all and you will be sent on a lone raid across the channel. Some players interpret this as a bug, others interpret it as an attempt to simulate the real difficulties of trying to amass large raids in often poor visibility, without the help of radar or other navigation aids. Play testing of the LW Single Pilot Campaign has shown that despite the occasional unescorted raid, play balance is not effected. The no intercept error: You may also find if you fly a mission from take-off to landing, that no RAF will be sent up against you. You can avoid this happening by jumping to the map screen during flight and using autopilot to move to your next waypoint (e.g. over the Channel). The game will always warn you if enemy fighters suddenly appear.
The LW Single Pilot Fighter Campaign.

This is currently problematic but can be played with some manual intervention. The problem is that the game 'triggers' or screens which allow you to take over control of the aircraft at take-off, landing or other events do not work as expected. The game focuses on the unit being escorted, not the escort itself, even though you are flying escort duty. If you choose to fly a fighter (Jagd) or heavy fighter (Zerstorer) campaign you will find the following happens: When the raid is taking off you will be told the bomber unit which you are due to escort is taking off (either Stuka or Kampf/bomber), even though you have selected to fly Jagd or Zerstorer missions. If you click 'FLY' at this point, you will find yourself in the cockpit of your escort fighter, which is as it should be, though a little confusing.
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If you don't choose to fly at this point you should be offered another trigger screen to join the raid when the raid is approaching the target. Again, if you click 'FLY' when you get this offer you will be in the escorting fighter unit, but it may not actually be near the target depending on whether it successfully rendezvoused with the bombers. It is a good idea to check the map to see where your staffel is when you frag into it. (Tip: Pay careful attention to what your staffel leader and colleagues are saying over the radio. If they call 'Regroup!' or 'My fuel gauge is reading zero!' this means they are going to break off and head for home. If they do so, the RAF will stop chasing them, but if you are still engaged, you may suddenly find the anger of the entire RAF directed at you! Unless you have a death wish, if your buddies bug out, you should too!) The only other trigger which consistently appears for fighter campaigns is the landing trigger and again the game will tell you that your bombers are coming in to land, but when you click 'FLY' you will be offered your fighter staffel and again, your fighter staffel may or may not be coming in to land depending on where it is in the sky when the bombers are coming in. Check your map if you don't appear to be near the airfield and bring your fighter in yourself. On reflection this is probably an early design decision by the makers of BOB I, as there are no 'frei jagd' or fighter sweep missions possible, all LW fighter missions revolve around bomber escort. This is not to say that once airborne, you can't take your staffel on a 'frei jagd' hunt. You can! The sky is yours in BOB II, which is the beauty of the game. At the moment the fighter campaign triggers for large and small engagements do not seem to be active, but you can frag into these fights manually where you see them happening on the 2D map, by just clicking on the fighter unit you want to fight with and FRAGging in. The fighter SPC works fine though if you take the offer to fly from takeoff, or when approaching target. You can always use autopilot (TAB) for the boring commute across the channel. (Tip: If you want to follow a particular Jagd staffel, then JG26 III is a particularly good choice. It was the staffel of German Ace Adolph Galland. Morale is high and his unit colors are famous! You will find them at Audembert, SE of Wissant. To fly a Galland campaign just choose: Luftflotte: any Aircraft: Jagd Gruppe: III
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Geschwader: J26).
Recommended settings
These are a personal preference and you can adjust them yourself but a good starting point for the LW SPC is to have the game move briskly at the 2D map level when not plotting raids, and slower during the raid phase. This will enable you to follow what raids are being sent against what targets and assess their results by clicking on the targets that have been hit. Non raid speed: 420 Raid speed: 60 You might also need to adjust a couple of settings in the BDG.txt file in your BOB II directory. The game AI sends some pretty big raids against British targets, with upward of 200 fighters and 100 bombers, so the sky can get pretty crowded. If you find you are colliding with your comrades or the enemy too often you can set: mid-air collisions=OFF
Navigation
Finally, if you wish to play a more immersive game and lead your Stuka or fighter escort flight to and from the target you will need to be comfortable with using waypoint padlocking and the map to navigate. You cannot get directions to your target from the German 'tower'. Using the map to navigate: At any point in your flight you can press 'M' to see the in-flight map. This 'cheat' enables you to see your aircraft (centered) and other friendly and enemy aircraft. It also shows you your waypoints, though not your ground target. You can calculate a heading to your next waypoint yourself, then fly it from the cockpit, or, you can press one of the commands for 'Next waypoint' and the autopilot will move you to the next waypoint. It will kick you out of the map when you either reach the waypoint, or if you are intercepted. Using waypoint padlocking: You don't need to leave the cockpit to get a bearing to your next waypoint. You can use the 'F4' key (Next waypoint) to padlock your next waypoint. Be aware though, once you reach a waypoint, your heading will only automatically change if you are in AutoPilot ('TAB' key).
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Using terrain features and recon: You don't need to use any cheats at all if you can use a compass and your eyeballs (and have enough fuel to allow for mistakes!) After take-off, calculate a heading which will take you to a major landmark (Dover Cliffs, Dover Port, Southampton Port). The White Cliffs of Dover for example are visible from halfway across the channel, so they are hard to miss. From there you can calculate a heading to a landmark near your target, or your target itself. Use the recon function (click on the target to call up the recon button and if there is a recent recon shot available you can view it) to help you identify the target, or fly your own recon flights (e.g. in a fighter) to help you practice your track before you fly it in a Stuka. If you are quick, while your raid is readying for take-off, you can just commandeer any fighter you see in the sky by clicking on its unit icon and choosing 'FRAG'. You can then do your recon. Your commander will ask you where the heck you are going, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him! Once you've done your recon you can 'ALT-X' out and frag back into your Stuka, which is probably already in the air and on its way to the target by now, so don't waste too much time swanning around! Or, you can just wait until the game commander offers you the chance to takeover again. Morale is an important element in the LW game. Your personal actions have a direct impact on your staffel and thus the course of the Battle. To win the LW campaign you have to do more than survive, you have to cripple the RAF and morale is an important element in this. (Tip: Keep losses down to keep morale up, especially your own! And you can bring RAF morale down quicker by downing their squadron leaders!) So what are you waiting for?! Strap on a Stuka and get up there pilot!
Gameplay tips
Remember, your goal is air superiority. In the LW SPC it is critical for the player to fly as many missions as they can, to ensure the attrition (destruction) of RAF squadrons is as high as possible. If left to its own devices the AI Commander strategy may not generate sufficient RAF attrition for victory to be achieved. The game designers obviously intended that the player's actions and success be the decisive influence in the outcome of a campaign. Think of it this way. If the daily total is 20 RAF kills without the player flying any sorties, and if you can contribute even 2-3 more kills per sortie,
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and you fly 4 sorties in a day, you can boost the daily attrition by 30% or more. What this means is that aircraft/platform choice is critical as victory will be more certain if you play a campaign focused on a broad fighter type or gruppe (i.e. choose jagd or zerstorer as your 'favourite') rather than a specific squadron (i.e. choose 'JG26/Any' rather than 'JG26 /III'. Doing this will ensure you are offered more sorties to fly, giving you a greater chance to bag a brace of Spits! If you play the SPC as a specific squadron you risk not getting enough sorties to impact attrition, and if playing as a Stuka alone you may not be directly impacting RAF fighter attrition at all except where squadrons are caught napping or where you hit production facilities. You can still have a very enjoyable campaign, and each of your sorties may be successful when playing as a Stuka or bomber gunner, but the Battle itself will most likely follow the historical outcome.
SPC bonus
The beauty of the LW SPC is that the full functionality of the LW Commander Level campaign is hidden just below the surface. If you are frustrated at the targets the LW AI Commander is choosing (what, another attack on Plymouth Port?!) you can override these and choose your own! Here's how: 1) Click on the target you wish to attack: you should focus on RAF fighter airfields (Manston, Hawkinge, Tangmere, Lympne, Westhampnett, Biggin Hill, Croydon, Kenley, Rochford, Duxford...) or fighter production facilities and then click on Authorize and then click the 'Tick' to close this dialogue box and launch your new raid. 2) The game will assign bombers and escorts based on available and ready resources. If you don't like the raid generated you can delete it straight away, or later, from the missions screen (lower right hand icon on the campaign map screen). You can also keep an eye on the other missions the AI is generating from the mission screen and if you don't like them you can delete them as well, at any point before they actually take off. 3) If there are no aircraft available the game will tell you so (Insufficient Resources Available). Also, the only resources available may be out of range, so the game will generate the mission to helpfully show you there are still resources available
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to you, but it will automatically cancel the mission (declaring it an RTB or Return to Base mission). If you see one of these you can delete it, and reallocate the resources to a target which is within range of the available units. Even this small level of campaign intervention can make a significant difference to your success in the campaign, so take control! Launch a sneak attack on the three RAF squadrons based at Biggin Hill and catch the RAF napping!!
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CHAPTER 5
FLYING THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN AIRCRAFT
his chapter begins with a description of the controls available while flying the aircraft in this simulation. Section Two describes how to access 'interactive' cockpits in the simulation, where the player is directly controlling the equipment in the cockpit of the flyable planes. Section Three gives an analysis of the engines and propellers on Second World War fighters and bombers. Section Four contains detailed cockpit screenshots of each of the flyable aircraft in the game and details how to start the aircraft's engine, taxi down a runway and take off. Section Five follows various solo flying and formation flying tips. Section Six deals with the various combat manoeuvres that the player will need to learn to become a proficient pilot. The final section provides technical specifications of the fighters and bombers in the game.
THE AIRCRAFT CONTROLS

The five aircraft that can be flown in Battle of Britain II have very similar controls, these being relatively simple compared with modern fighter aircraft. The flight controls are used for directing the aircraft in the air or on the ground whilst taxiing. The engine controls are used to set the power of the engine and the pitch of the propeller blades. A further set of engine controls is provided for engine starting and stopping. The more complex engine controls can only be used with the 'interactive cockpit' and otherwise will be controlled automatically if the Engine Management preference is set to Auto. The Messerschmitt Bf110 has twin engines and so all of the engine controls appear twice in the cockpit, one set for each engine. All of these controls may be identified on the separate key-guide that accompanies this package. Further points about the control setup on your PC are made in Chapter Two Section Two (Controller).
Flight controls
The aircraft in the game can be flown using just the keyboard, but it is strongly recommended that a joystick be also used. Many of the controls can
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Flying The Battle of Britain Aircraft

also be operated using the interactive cockpit. Elevator and Ailerons These are used to pitch and roll the aircraft. The arrow keys can be used for aileron and elevator control. However the use of a joystick is recommended. Battle of Britain II uses the Windows joystick configuration and the simulation can be played using the default options. To fine tune control input go to the Controller page in Chapter Two Section Two. Rudder The rudder yaws the aircraft in flight, or steers the rear wheel when taxiing. Crude rudder control is provided by the number pad (0) zero and (.) period keys. Finer control is available if you use dedicated rudder pedals or a twist joystick. K and SHIFT+K increase and decrease the keyboard sensitivity, respectively. Flaps Flaps can be set to slow the aircraft down ready for landing. Press the F key to retract the flaps and the V key to extend them. The Spitfire has only two settings for flaps (extended or retracted). All other aircraft have 4 stages (retracted, 1/3, 2/3, full). Assuming you start with flaps retracted, you must press V three times to reach full extension. Undercarriage The undercarriage can be retracted or extended during flight by pressing the G key. Warning - attempting to extend the undercarriage at high speed may cause the hydraulic or mechanical systems to fail. Independent wheel brakes The main wheels have individual brakes. These brakes, one on each wheel, can be used for slowing the aircraft down once on the ground and can also be used individually to aid steering. The brakes should be used with care at high speeds as severe braking can cause the aircraft to flip forward onto its nose. The , (comma) key is the left wheel brake and the . (period) key is the right wheel brake. NOTE ABOUT TRIM OPERATION: If you have any trim controls assigned to levers or rotary controls on a joystick or other input device, you must turn these to neutral physically before pressing the trim reset keyboard command. Failure to do this will cause the neutral point on the controllers used for trim to be reset to their current position, and causing an imbalance in trim authority - ie you may not get full trim input in one or more directions.
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Elevator Trim The trim allows the pilot to set the position of the elevator when the control stick is released. This means he can set the trim to keep the aircraft level, for his current speed and altitude and then let go of the stick. This way, he does not have to hold the control stick in one position for long periods just to keep the aircraft flying straight and level. The End key adjusts the trim upwards, while the Home key adjusts the trim downwards. The trim can be reset to a neutral position pressing the Alt and End keys at the same time. Alternatively you can use joystick buttons [5], [7] and [10] respectively. Rudder Trim The rudder trim works in the same way as the elevator trim, but allows the pilot to take his feet off the rudder pedals and continue in a straight line. It is generally used to counteract the effects of the engine torque and slipstream under different flight conditions, such as climbing, cruising and diving. Some aircraft such as the Bf109 do not have rudder trimming and therefore the pilot has to press one or other rudder pedal throughout the flight. The Delete key adjusts the rudder trim to the left, while the Page Down key adjusts the rudder trim to the right. The trim can be reset to a neutral position pressing the Alt and End keys at the same time. Dive Brakes These can be extended on the Ju87 to produce extra drag on the wings and maintain the correct speed during a dive-bombing attack. The D key will toggle between extended and retracted dive brakes on the Ju87 only. Emergency Undercarriage Lowering can be attempted if the undercarriage cannot be extended using the normal control. This could be due to a number of reasons. Bullets from enemy aircraft or Anti-Aircraft guns may have damaged the undercarriage. An attempt may have been made to lower the undercarriage at very high speed. Or the engine may not be providing enough hydraulic pressure to lower the wheels. The emergency lowering system typically consists of a cylinder of compressed gas that can be released into the undercarriage hydraulics system and may be able to force the wheels down. The system can only be used once. Pressing the Ctrl + G keys simultaneously will release the emergency cylinder. Canopy The canopy can be opened or closed during flight to allow the pilot to move
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his head outside of the cockpit and look along the side of the long nose and engine. The Bf109 and Bf110 have hinged rather than sliding canopies and therefore trying to open the canopy while in flight will result in them being ripped off by the flow of air past them.
Engine controls
Throttle The throttle provides control for selecting the desired engine power. The number keys give throttle control from 10% through to 100%. The + (plus) and (minus) keys thereafter give fine control with changes in increments of 1%. The Bf110 has two throttle levers, one for each engine. These can be controlled either together or individually. Pressing E will cycle through the available engine to control - both together, port engine only, starboard only. Propeller Pitch The propeller pitch control alters the angle of the propeller blades. It can be used manually, just like the gearbox in a car to maintain the correct engine speed, or controlled automatically by the computer. Decreasing the prop pitch increases the RPM and vice versa. Pressing SHIFT+9 toggles maximum Coarse Pitch (lower RPMs). SHIFT+0 keys together toggle maximum fine pitch (higher RPMs). Similarly, SHIFT and (minus) or SHIFT + (plus) keys pressed simultaneously increases or decreases the pitch incrementally versus a toggle. Windmill Braking using FINE pitch angle: The propeller can act as a brake to slow the aircraft down to some degree. With the throttle set at idle and maximum fine pitch (SHIFT+0) the propellers angle creates higher resistance against the onrushing air and thus will act as a brake and slow the airplane down windmill braking. Initially it may seem and sound that speed is increasing because initially the RPMs will actually rise, but as the airplanes forward speed slows the RPMs will drop. This will only work if adjustment of prop pitch control is set to manual in the FLIGHT GUI menu. Automatic Boost Control Cutout. If the engine is run at full power for any length of time, the engine temperature will rise and permanent damage will be caused to the engine. If the temperature gets too high, there is a chance of the engine ceasing completely. In some aircraft an automatic system limits the setting of the throttle (to 90%) to prevent the engine overheating. Other aircraft have a gate in the throttle quadrant, or a piece of wire that limits the movement of the throttle lever. The pilot can override this system by using the Automatic Boost Control Cutout, or pressing the 0 key to push the throttle fully
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forwards (through the gate, or breaking the wire) and getting 100% power. ADVANCED ENGINE CONTROLS These controls are only available when the interactive cockpit is engaged. Magneto The magneto provides the electrical power to the spark plugs in each cylinder of the engine. Each engine has two magneto circuits consisting of the engine driven magneto connected to a set of sparkplugs. Should one circuit fail to work, the second circuit will keep the engine running, although at a little lower performance as there will only be one spark in the cylinder rather than the normal two. Each circuit can be switched on or off independently but both should be turned on for engine starting. NOTE ABOUT MAGNETO OPERATION: Where magnetos are switches (Spitfire, Hurricane & Ju87) you will find that they cannot be operated independently. In order to activate the right hand mag, you must switch on the left hand mag first. When shutting down, you cannot turn the left hand mag off until the right hand mag is off. With the Bf109 & Bf110, the magnetos must be slid into the correct position by holding the left mouse button down over the interactive "hotspot" and moving the mouse forward / up. To turn the magnetos off, do the same but move the mouse down / backwards. Fuel cock The fuel cock is used to select the fuel tank from which fuel is delivered to the engine. Primer pump The primer pump is used to squirt neat fuel directly into the cylinders of the engine to enable the engine to be started from cold. A cold engine will require about 3 strokes of the primer pump before attempting to start it. NOTE ABOUT PRIMER PUMPS: To operate the pumps, you must position the mouse pointer over the interactive hotspot, then hold the left button down until the animated button / lever has moved to it's extreme position, then release the mouse button to release the pump. This needs to be repeated for each priming stroke required prior to engine start. Starter button The starter button works differently depending on whether the aircraft is
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British or German. The Spitfire and Hurricane use an electric starter motor, just like a car, to rotate the engine up to speed. Pressing the starter button until the engine fires and then releasing the button operates this. The German aircraft use an 'Inertia starter' which consists of a large flywheel that is rotated by hand or by an electric motor. When the starter handle is pulled out, the motor is used to accelerate the flywheel for approximately 10 seconds, until it has enough energy to start the engine. Releasing the starter handle connects the flywheel to the engine and the inertia it has from spinning is used to start the engine rotating. IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING CHANGING THE GAME FLIGHT MODEL SETTINGS WHEN SWITCHING BETWEEN CAMPAIGN and INSTANT ACTION: One can set their FM preference from the Options>>> Flight screen. However, users have at times been confused about possible changes in their FM settings as they go back and forth between Campaign missions and Instant Action missions. It is important to understand the following: When you set up a Campaign, the Options will be as set at that time. If you exit Campaign and change Flight model to Realistic, fly the mission and then return to Campaign, the Flight model will still be as originally set i.e. Novice. If you exit Campaign and attempt to fly an Instant Action op, your Realistic settings will have changed back to the Novice of the Campaign. Before you fly an IA, you can change the setting to Realistic in two ways; 1) On the Main screen, go to 'Options' and change the setting 2) On the Frag screen of the IA mission, go to 'Sim Config' and change the setting (see screen shot on following page of frag screen) BoB2 saves the settings at two occasions into different places; 1) When you quit the game 2) When you save the 'campaign' When you quit BoB2, your last mission setting is saved. If your last mission is an IA with Realistic setting, it will be saved with that setting. Campaign setting is saved as the campaign data, so if you load the saved campaign, Novice setting is restored. Once you create a Campaign, you are not stuck with the original FM settings for the entire campaign. You can change the ongoing-campaign settings during the missions. Using 'Sim Config' on the Frag screen, it is possible at any time (see screenshot below):
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The major flight and engine controls
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THE INTERACTIVE COCKPITS

The interactive cockpit allows the player to control various aircraft devices and engine settings, such as those mentioned above under advanced engine controls. It also gives you the experience of controlling an actual World War Two aircraft in an authentic manner. The interactive cockpit will only work if the Engine Management option is set to Manual in the flight preferences. To activate the interactive cockpit press the right mouse button. This will bring up a white mouse pointer. To activate switches, place the pointer over the switch and press the left mouse button. To push a button, such as the starter motor button, place the pointer on the button and hold down the left mouse button. Levers, such as the throttle lever or propeller pitch control, can be moved by clicking the mouse on the handle of the lever and moving the mouse up or down while holding down the mouse button. Wheels, such as the elevator and rudder trim wheels can be used in a similar way. Hold down the mouse button and move the mouse left and right or up and down as appropriate. The interactive features in the cockpit cannot be used while the game is paused. In Battle of Britain II there are five aircraft that you can fly and each one has its own interactive cockpit. Beginning on page 182 and also in Appendix B of this manual see the cockpit layouts for each of these five aircraft (Spitfire, Hurricane, Stuka, Messerschmitts Bf110 and Bf109).
ENGINES AND PROPELLERS

This section deals with the engines and propellers on the major aircraft in the Battle of Britain II simulation. THE ENGINES Water-cooled 12 cylinder vee supercharged engines power all the 5 aircraft available to fly in the game. The Spitfire and Hurricane are both fitted with a
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Rolls-Royce Merlin II or Merlin III. These two models differ only in the details of the propeller shaft, the former for use with a de Havilland 2 pitch propeller, and the latter for use with the Rotol constant speed propeller. The Messerschmitt Bf109 and Bf110 are both fitted with Daimler-Benz DB601A engines and the Junkers Ju87 uses a Junkers Jumo 211A. The details of these engines are as follows:
A normally aspirated engine, with no supercharger fitted, would produce maximum power at sea level, but the available power would decrease with increasing altitude due to the reduction in air density. A supercharger draws more air into the cylinders and allows the engine to produce more power at higher altitudes, but also reduces the power available at sea level as a certain amount of energy is required to drive the supercharger.
Altitude (ft)
Spitfire Engine Power
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The Carburetor and Negative G In the British engine, the fuel was delivered to the engine cylinders via a gravity fed carburetor. In order to maintain a continuous supply of fuel to the engine, it was necessary for the engine to be under conditions of positive G. In other words, if the pilot of a Spitfire or Hurricane were to try to fly the aircraft inverted, the carburetor would almost immediately cease to supply fuel to the engine and power would be lost. The same thing would happen if the pilot was flying straight and level and pushed forward rapidly on the control stick in order to enter a dive. In this condition, the centrifugal force due to the aircraft pitching downwards would lift the pilot out of his seat and force his body up against the shoulder straps of his harness. Exactly the same thing happens to the fuel in the tanks and in the carburetor, and the engine will loose power for a few seconds, until positive G is restored. This undesirable feature was not present on the German engines as they used direct fuel injection to deliver the fuel to the cylinders rather than a gravityfed carburetor. This allowed the pilots of the Messerschmitt Bf109 to escape a pursuing Spitfire by pushing forward on the stick while in level flight (also known as bunting) and entering a steep dive quickly, allowing the German pilot to gain some distance from his attacker. The RAF planes would have to roll inverted before going into the dive to avoid fuel starvation and the engine cutting out due to negative G force created when bunting. Throttle Settings and Engine Limitations The recommended throttle settings and engine limitations for various flight conditions are given below. The figures quoted are appropriate to the RollsRoyce Merlin engine, but the throttle settings are consistent for all the flyable aircraft featured in the game.
Note: +6 lb/sq.in. combat boost is obtained by operating the boost control cut-out. Exceeding these limitations will lead to excessive use of fuel and if
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Manual Engine Management has been selected in the Flight preferences (see Chapter Two Section Three), then the engine may overheat and suffer permanent damage as a result. These limitations must be followed to maintain a fully serviceable, undamaged engine. If an engine has been damaged as a result of gunfire or overheating, then the pilot should be more conservative when considering any continued or future combat. THE PROPELLERS During World War I, aircraft used fixed pitch wooden propellers. These were easy to manufacture, as they contained no moving parts, but were only truly efficient under one set of flying conditions. The propellers would typically be designed with a blade angle that gave them the best efficiency in the cruise condition. This made for good fuel economy and high speed when cruising but meant that during take-off and climb, the propeller and engine were not working at their optimum efficiency. In order to improve this deficiency, propellers were developed in which the angle of the blades could be changed in the air. This means that the pilot can set the propeller blades to an angle suitable for take-off, thereby leaving the ground in as short a distance as possible. Once in the air, he can reset the propeller blades to an angle suitable for cruising. The following types of propellers were fitted to the aircraft used in the Battle of Britain II. All early Spitfires and Hurricanes were fitted with two-pitch propellers, but were later upgraded to use constant-speed propellers. The two Messerschmitts had a variable pitch propeller, and the Ju87 Stuka used a two-pitch propeller similar to that of the early British fighters. Two-Pitch Propellers (Early Spitfires and Hurricanes, and Ju87) These propellers have two settings, Fine and Coarse. General speaking, the fine pitch is used for engine starting, taxiing, taking off and landing. Once in the air, leaving the propeller set to fine pitch would result in the engine speed increasing above the allowable range. The pilot should therefore select the coarse pitch, which allows the aircraft to climb, cruise and engage in combat, while using the normal range of engine speeds. An additional feature of this type of propeller is the ability to use effective windmill braking. This involves throttling back the engine and selecting the fine pitch on the propeller control. This will cause the propeller to spin around rapidly in the airflow and in turn drive the engine to high speeds. This allows the pilot to use the engine braking effect of the large engines to produce large amounts of drag on the propeller and slow the aircraft down . Constant-Speed Propellers (Later Spitfires and Hurricanes) This type of propeller will automatically adjust the pitch of the blades in
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order to maintain the engine speed at a specified value via a small engine mounted hydraulic pump. As the engine speed increases, so does the pressure produced by the pump and this pushed oil into the propeller where it moves a cylinder and increases the angle of the propeller blades. At the new increased pitch, the blades produce more thrust, but also more drag, thereby putting more load on the engine and holding down the engine speed. The pilot can select the desired engine speed between 1,800 rpm (for maximum fuel efficiency) and 3,000 rpm (for maximum power). The engine speed is generally independent of the throttle setting, but when the throttle is opened, the propeller blades will always be set to the most efficient angle. This results in significantly improved acceleration and climb rate compared with a similar aircraft fitted with a fixed or two-pitch propeller. Variable-Pitch Propellers (Messerschmitt Bf109 and Bf110) This works in a very similar way to the two-pitch propeller but rather than having just two possible positions, the blades can be set to a range of angles. This allows the pilot to continuously adjust the propeller pitch to suit the current flight speed. In addition, the propeller can be feathered. This means that the blades can be turned to an angle of 90 in the event of an engine failure. In this position they produce least drag and thereby improve the gliding performance of the aircraft. All of these propellers can be thought of as doing a similar job to the gearbox in a car. A low gear is used for starting off and can also be used to provide effective engine braking and a higher gear is selected as the vehicle accelerates and engine speed exceeds the normal operating range. Automatic Propeller Pitch Control If the player does not wish to worry about the propeller pitch setting, the computer can control the propeller setting automatically. The automated system will always try to ensure that the propeller pitch is set such that the player has the maximum possible thrust available from the engine. To enable the automatic pitch control, the Prop Pitch Control flight preference in the Sim Config menu should be set to Auto. This option can only be set when Engine Management is set to Auto. See Chapter Two Section Three for further details. Novice Flight Model When the novice flight model is being used, the propeller is not modeled accurately. Therefore, the player has only the throttle to control and need not worry about the propeller pitch setting.
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Correct Propeller Pitch for Various Flight Conditions
STARTING THE ENGINE, TAXIING, AND TAKEOFF GENERAL CONCEPTS

ENGINE STARTING The player can only carry out engine starting if the Engine Management flight preference option in the Sim Config menu is set to Manual. If this is not the case, then the engine will always be running at the start of a mission, and will only stop if the fuel runs out or the engine becomes seriously damaged. The procedure for starting the engine is similar for all aircraft, but in the case of the Bf110, the two engines have to be started separately. Starting the engine requires the use of the interactive cockpit controls. The full engine starting procedure for the Spitfire is as follows: PRELIMINARIES On entering the cockpit check the Undercarriage selector lever , Flaps, and Contents of lower fuel tank.
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STARTING THE ENGINE AND WARMING UP
Engine starting in other aircraft follows the same pattern but the inertia starter in the German aircraft is operated in a different way to the starter motor of the British aircraft. To energize the inertia starter, operate the starter handle for approximately 10 seconds, and then release the handle. Setting of fuel cocks, propeller pitch, priming and ignition is carried out in the same way as described above. TAKING OFF The aircraft featured in the game all have a similar undercarriage layout. This consists of two main wheels just ahead of the center of gravity (these wheels are retractable on all but the Ju87) and a fixed small tail wheel below the tail of the plane that allows the aircraft to be steered on the ground using the rudder pedals. This layout means that the aircraft sits on the ground in a nose-high attitude, typically 12 and can seriously limit the forward visibility of the pilot. When taxiing, the pilot must weave the aircraft from left to right to allow him to see ahead and ensure he is not going to taxi into anything. An alternative available to pilots of the Spitfire, Hurricane and Ju87 is to slide
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back the canopy and look over the side of the cockpit. When taking off the pilot would normally raise the tail of the aircraft as soon as possible, thus lowering the nose and allowing him much better forward visibility. This also has the effect of lowering the drag of the aircraft, as it is now pointing in the direction of travel and therefore it will allow the aircraft to accelerate more rapidly. Once take-off speed has been achieved, the pilot would lower the tail to increase the angle of attack of the wings and therefore increase the lift produced and the aircraft would take-off. An alternative method (if the pilot is pointing straight down the runway and confident that there is nothing ahead of him) is to simply pull back on the stick during acceleration and hold the tail-wheel on the ground. This method does not provide good forward visibility, but makes it easier for the pilot to keep the aircraft pointing down the center of the runway. The take-off procedure is as follows: FINAL PREPARATION FOR TAKE-OFF
Note: The rudder trim, where available, should be left neutral if propeller torque and slipstream have been disabled in the flight preferences. Similarly, if the novice flight model is being used, both the elevator and
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rudder trim should be left neutral.
LANDING TUTORIAL Following is a thread with a landing tutorial including a video clip of landing the Spitfire in BoBII: http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5082
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COCKPIT SCREENSHOTS, TAKE-OFF AND LANDING CHECKLISTS AND RECOMMENDED SPEEDS Spitfire 1a and 1b:
1 ) canopy: OPEN (O) 2 ) elevator & rudder trim: NEUTRAL (ALT+END). ELEVATOR TRIM INDICATOR NEEDLE SHOULD BE HORIZONTAL. 3 ) flaps: UP, LEVER UP (F) 4 ) fuel cocks 1+2: ON (SWITCHES UP) 5 ) magnetos 1+2: ON (SWITCHES UP) 6 ) throttle: OPEN .TO 7% 7 ) prop pitch: LEVER FULL FOWARD 8 ) primer: BROWN BUTTON, PULL OUT AND RELEASE FOR EACH STROKE AS REQUIRED (SEE CHART) 9 ) ignition: BLACK BUTTON ABOVE LEFT HAND FUEL COCK LEVER. HOLD UNTIL ENGINE FIRES EVENLY (ENGINE PEAKS TO APPROX 1900RPM AND REMAINS STEADY), THEN RELEASE.
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Spitfire Recommended Speeds Take-off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Best climb speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cruise speed at 15,000 ft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max. speed at 15,000 ft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max. flap/gear extension speed* . . . . . . . . . . . . . Landing approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Touchdown speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max. controllable dive speed** . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80+ mph 180200 mph 300 mph 346 mph 140 mph 120 mph 80-90 mph 400 mph
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Hurricane 1a and 1b:
1 ) canopy: OPEN (O) 2 ) elevator & rudder trim: NEUTRAL (ALT+END) 3 ) flaps: UP (F three times for fully retracted) 4 ) fuel cock: ON (MAIN TANK, SWITCH POINTS FORWARD) 5 ) magnetos 1+2: ON (SWITCHES UP) 6 ) throttle: OPEN TO 6% 7 ) prop pitch: LEVER FULL FOWARD 8 ) primer: BROWN BUTTON, PULL OUT AND RELEASE FOR EACH STROKE AS REQUIRED (SEE CHART) 9 ) ignition: SILVER BUTTON. HOLD UNTIL ENGINE FIRES EVENLY (ENGINE PEAKS TO APPROX 2000RPM AND REMAINS STEADY), THEN RELEASE.
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Hurricane Recommended Speeds: Take-off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Best climb speed Cruise speed at 15,000 ft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max. speed at 15,000 ft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max. flap/gear extension speed* . . . . . . . . . . . . Landing approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Touchdown speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max. controllable dive speed** . . . . . . . . . . . .
80 mph 165185 mph 280 mph 315 mph 140 mph 120 mph 80-90 mph 400 mph
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Messerschmitt Bf109:
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1 ) canopy: LEAVE CLOSED 2 ) elevator & aileron trim: NEUTRAL (ALT+END) 3 ) flaps: UP (F three times for fully retracted) 4 ) fuel cock: ON (YELLOW LEVER DOWN & FORWARD) 5 ) magnetos 1+2: ON (LEVER PUSHED UP) 6 ) throttle: OPEN TO 6% 7 ) prop pitch: FULL FINE, LEVER PUSHED UP (PITCH DIAL HANDS READ HALF PAST SIX, AND PITCH CONTROL HANDLE NOT VISIBLE) 8 ) primer: FRONT YELLOW BUTTON ON BOX, PUSH IN AND RELEASE FOR EACH STROKE AS REQUIRED (SEE CHART) 9 ) ignition: MIDDLE T-BAR HANDLE ON LEFT SIDE OF COCKPIT. HOLD UNTIL STARTER MOTOR GOES SILENT, THEN RELEASE. INCREASE THROTTLE TO APPROX 15% TO ASSIST IN KEEPING ENGINE TICKING OVER AT APPROX 1500RPM. Bf109 Recommended Speeds: Take-off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Best climb speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cruise speed at 15,000 ft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max. speed at 15,000 ft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max. flap/gear extension speed* . . . . . . . . . . . . Landing approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Touchdown speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max. controllable dive speed** . . . . . . . . . . 100 mph 180190 mph 305 mph 340 mph 160 mph 130 mph 100 mph 380-400 mph
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Messerschmitt Bf110
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1 ) canopy: LEAVE CLOSED 2 ) elevator, aileron & rudder trim: NEUTRAL (ALT+END) 3 ) flaps: UP (F three times for fully retracted) 4 ) fuel cocks 1+2: ON (LEVER DOWN / PULLED BACKWARDS) 5 ) magnetos sets 1+2: ON (LEFT & RIGHT LEVERS PUSHED FULLY FORWARD) 6 ) throttle: OPEN TO 6% 7 ) prop pitch: FULL FINE, BOTH LEVERS PUSHED UP (BOTH PITCH DIALS HANDS READ HALF PAST SIX) 8 ) primer: LEVERS AT FRONT OF ENGINE CONTROLS BOX, PULL BACKWARDS THEN RELEASE FOR EACH STROKE AS REQUIRED (SEE CHART) 9 ) ignition: SWITCHES ON RIGHT SIDE OF COCKPIT. HOLD UNTIL STARTER MOTOR GOES SILENT, THEN RELEASE. REPEAT FOR BOTH ENGINES. YOU WILL NEED TO APPLY WHEEL BRAKES, RUDDER AND ADJUST THROTTLE TO TRY AND KEEP THE AIRCRAFT STATIONARY AND ASSIST THE ENGINES IN TICKING OVER. ONCE BOTH STARTED, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO RUN THE ENGINES AT IDLE (0% THROTTLE) AT 900RPM.
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Bf110 Recommended Speeds: Take-off. Best climb speed Cruise speed at 15,000 ft Max. speed at 15,000 ft.. Max. flap/gear extension speed* Landing approach Touchdown speed Max. controllable dive speed**..
90 mph 180190 mph 295 mph 330 mph 160 mph 120 mph 90 mph 380-400 mph
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Junkers JU87 Stuka:
1 ) canopy: OPEN (O) 2 ) elevator trim: NEUTRAL (ALT+END) 3 ) flaps: UP, LEVER FULL FORWARD (F three times for fully retracted) 4 ) dive brakes: UP, LEVER FULL FORWARD (D) 5 ) fuel cocks 1+2: ON (UP FOR ON) 6 ) magnetos 1+2: ON (SWITCHES CURRENTLY POINT DOWNWARDS FOR ON) 7 ) throttle: OPEN TO 7% 8 ) prop pitch: FULL FINE, LEVER FULL FOWARD 9 ) primer: WHITE BUTTON, PULL OUT AND RELEASE FOR EACH STROKE AS REQUIRED (SEE CHART) 10 ) ignition: RED BUTTON. HOLD UNTIL STARTER MOTOR GOES SILENT, THEN RELEASE. INCREASE THROTTLE TO APPROX 15% TO ASSIST IN KEEPING ENGINE TICKING OVER AT APPROX 1150RPM.
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Ju87 Recommended Speeds Take-off Best climb speed.. Cruise speed at 15,000 ft. Max. speed at 15,000 ft Max. flap extension speed*. Landing approach Touchdown speed Max. controllable dive speed**
75-85 mph 120 mph 160 mph 230 mph 150 mph 90 mph 75 mph 400 mph
PRIMER STROKES: 20 degrees Celsius 10 degrees Celsius 0 degrees Celsius. 3 strokes 4 strokes 6 strokes
The preceding Cockpit Screenshots and Checklists are courtesy of CPS Bomber
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FLAPS, UNDERCARRIAGE AND CONTROL SURFACE NOTES: * The flaps and undercarriage are activated by hydraulic jacks (or manually in the case of the Bf109 flaps). When these devices are extended, they stick out into the airflow where they will be subjected to strong aerodynamic forces. If the airspeed is very high, then the forces upon the devices and the hydraulic system become very large and can cause serious damage. Therefore, a maximum speed is specified below which it is safe to extend the flaps and gear without danger of damaging them. If they are deployed above this speed, a great deal of buffeting occurs and the flaps and gear can become stuck in one position.
** A characteristic typical of all the aircraft featured was the stiffening of controls at high speed. One cause of this problem was that the control surfaces were covered with fabric rather than metal. This kept the controls systems light in weight but at high speeds, such as in a steep dive, the surfaces would tend to balloon outwards due to the airflow past them. This resulted in the controls becoming very stiff, such that the pilot may have insufficient strength to move the control stick and recover from the dive. In this case, it is necessary to close the throttle and reduce the speed of the aircraft before pulling back on the stick to raise the nose. This problem was eventually remedied by replacing the fabric covered control surfaces with metal covered ones giving significantly greater manoeuvreability at high speeds, but this did not take place until 1941, after the Battle of Britain.
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FLYING
THE NOVICE FLIGHT MODE The novice flight model is provided as a means of playing the game without having to consider the dynamic behavior of the aircraft including the level of stability and control effectiveness throughout the flight envelope. It also allows the novice player to throw the aircraft around the sky without having to worry about exceeding the limits of the aircraft or the consequences of doing so. The novice model uses the same data as the full flight model, which allows the performance of the aircraft to be modeled to the same high level of accuracy. The result of this is that the player can choose to fly using the arcade flight model and still be able to fly in formation with other aircraft, or enter combat with the same fighting capabilities as a player using the full flight model. Since the novice model does not represent the dynamic response of the novice, the control of the aircraft is considerably easier, due to the more stable behavior of the aircraft and due also to the fact that the controls will only manoeuvre the aircraft within its safe limits. Therefore, in a tight turn, the player can pull the control stick all the way back to get maximum turn rate, but will never be able to stall the aircraft, or loose control. The energy of the aircraft is modeled accurately so the aircraft will still loose speed in a tight turn, or if the player tries to climb too steeply. If too much speed is lost, the aircraft will not be able to continue flying in a straight line so, just like in a real stall, the nose will drop until the speed builds up again.
Customization of the Novice Flight model parameters can be done via the in-game menu options and also via the BDG.txt file - see Chapter 2 & Appendix A.
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THE CROSS-OVER TURN
The RAF fighter formations were generally made up of vics of three aircraft with a separation of approximately 2 wingspans between adjacent aircraft. This requires very accurate flying and continuous concentration from the pilots. When turning onto a new heading, the two wingmen must maintain their position relative to their leader. This means that the aircraft on the inside of the curve must turn more tightly than the lead aircraft, and likewise the wingman on the outside must make a larger radius turn than his leader to stay in position. As well as making turns of different radii, the two wingmen must also adjust their speed so that they remain the correct distance behind the leader. This requires the pilot of the inner aircraft to reduce the throttle during the turn, and the pilot of the outer aircraft to increase the throttle as he has a greater distance to travel. The Luftwaffe fighters would fly in Schwarm made up of four aircraft with adjacent aircraft being about 200 yards apart. If the pilots attempted to use the same technique as used by the RAF for turning onto a new heading, then the radius of the turn would be very large indeed and require the pilot on the outside of the curve to open the throttle fully, while the inner pilot would have to slowdown very rapidly, make a tight turn at low speed, and then accelerate again rapidly to regain the original speed. In order to avoid these problems, the Luftwaffe developed the crossover turn, as illustrated below. This allowed the all the pilots in the Schwarm to maintain their original throttle setting throughout the manoeuvre, but ended up with the positions in the formation being reversed.
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STALLING AND SPINNING NOTE: There is a significantly expanded explanation of stalls and spins later in this chapter as well, see A Spin Is A Beautiful Thing. As the angle of attack of the wings (or tail surfaces) is increased, the aerodynamic force produced due to the airflow will also increase. By pulling back on the stick, the pilot will lower the tail of the aircraft and this will increase the attitude of the aircraft relative to the airflow, thereby increasing the angle of attack. Unfortunately, the lift produced by the wing cannot be increased indefinitely by simply pulling back on the stick. As the angle is increased, the airflow over the top of the wing is required to change direction more rapidly to follow the curved surface. If the angle of attack exceeds the stall angle, the air can no longer follow the surface smoothly and the laminar airflow breaks down to produce turbulent eddies over the wing. This turbulence results in a loss of lift, increased drag on the wing and because the eddies are irregular, the aerodynamic forces produced will be varying at a fairly high frequency. This unsteadiness causes buffeting which is felt throughout the structure of the aircraft as a shaking and is a good warning that the wings are approaching a stall. A stall can happen at low speed in level flight as the pilot pulls back on the stick to keep the nose of the aircraft from falling, or in a tight turn when he is pulling back to achieve a high turn rate.
Fighter aircraft like the Spitfire are designed to be highly manoeuverable, and therefore the pilot is provided with lots of elevator power. This means that he can pitch the aircraft up or down quickly and enter a tight turn easily, but he must also be careful not to pull too hard on the stick and stall the wings. The Spitfire would enter a stall well before the control stick had been pulled back to its limit. When the wings are near or beyond the stall angle, the ailerons usually loose their effectiveness, as they are no longer in smooth laminar airflow.
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Sometimes lowering the aileron on one side of the aircraft can cause that wing to stall earlier than the other and hence result in the aircraft rolling the opposite way to expected. Therefore, the pilot must take care when using the ailerons at low speed, such as during take-off and landing, or in a tight turn.
If the aircraft enters a stall and the pilot holds the stick all the way back, the speed will eventually become so low that the wings can no longer produce enough lift to hold the weight of the aircraft in the air and the nose will drop rapidly. If the pilot now centers the stick, the aircraft will dive and regain speed such that the wings begin producing lift again and the pilot regains control. If the aircraft is not completely straight when a stall occurs, one wing may stall while the other continues to produce lots of lift. If this is the case, the stalled wing will drop and the aircraft can rapidly enter a spin during which the pilot will have very little control. The pilot can deliberately enter a spin by applying full rudder just before the stall is reached. The nature of the spin will depend on the characteristics of the aircraft but in general, altitude it lost very rapidly and if the spin in not corrected the aircraft is likely to crash into the ground. During a spin, both wings are at high angles of attack so the ailerons cannot be used to stop the aircraft rotating. Similarly, the airflow over the tail surfaces is no longer smooth, and therefore the elevators have little effectiveness. Attempting to raise the nose of the aircraft by pulling back on the stick will only result in increasing the stall and worsening the spin.
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To recover from a spin, the control stick should be held central or pushed forwards and full opposite rudder should be applied. This should be maintained until the aircraft stops spinning and begins to build up speed in a dive. Once the aircraft has accelerated to the normal flying speed, the pilot will regain control and can raise the nose of the aircraft and continue flying. The player can also use the Spin Recovery cheat to regain control of the aircraft by holding down Shift-S until the aircraft stops rotating and the controls regain their effectiveness. Stalling Speeds As the aircraft loses speed, the pilot must pull back on the stick to maintain enough lift to keep the aircraft flying at the same altitude. If he attempts to maintain altitude with the throttle closed, the aircraft will eventually slow down so much that the wings cannot produce enough lift and the aircraft stalls. The approximate speed at which this will occur is given below. These speeds are correct for a normally loaded aircraft at sea level (i.e. indicated air speed) with its undercarriage and flaps retracted. Supermarine Spitfire Hawker Hurricane Messerschmitt Bf 109. Messerschmitt Bf 110. Junkers Ju 87.. 75 m.p.h. 80 m.p.h. 100 m.p.h. 90 m.p.h. 70 m.p.h.
Stalling And Spinning Characteristics Each type of aircraft will have its own specific stalling characteristics that will depend on the shape of the wing cross-section and the weight and geometry of the aircraft. The behavior of the aircraft will also be affected by the extension of devices such as flaps and gears, damage to the wings and tail surfaces as well as the fuel load, the speed and the altitude. Novice Model If the Novice flight model is being used, there is no danger of the player stalling or spinning the aircraft at all. Pulling all the way back on the control stick will bring the wing almost to the stall limit but not beyond. If the aircraft looses too much speed, the nose will drop and the speed must be built up before level flight can be restored. Spitfire When the stall occurs, there is a violent shuddering throughout the aircraft and there is also a tendency for the aircraft to flick over, particularly in a
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high speed stall. Unless the control column is pushed forward rapidly, the aircraft is likely to roll and a spin will result. The aircraft can enter a flat spin, which may be irrecoverable and a number of Spitfires were lost in this way. The loss of height involved in recovering from a spin may be large and the pilot should allow the aircraft to reach 150mph in the resultant dive before starting to raise the nose. Hurricane At the stall, it is typical for one wing to drop sharply, often beyond the vertical. This will occur with the flaps either up or down. Recovery from a spin is normal but like the Spitfire, a large amount of height may be lost in the process. A speed of 150 mph should be attained in the dive before the pilot attempts to return to level flight. Bf109 This aircraft is fitted with automatic leading edge slats that will open at about 20mph above the normal stalling speed. These help to keep the airflow over the top surface of the wing smooth and laminar and delay the occurrence of the stall. Without these slats, the aircraft would have to take-off and land at higher speeds which require a greater runway distance and can lead to more serious accidents. Although the fighter stalls at quite high speeds, this is gentle, even under G, with no tendency to spin. The onset of the stall is signaled by buffeting of the elevators typically followed by the gentle dropping of the nose and left wing. The Bf109 would never enter a flat spin and there was never any difficult in recovering from a spin. Bf110 Like the Bf109, this aircraft is fitted with leading edge slats that will open automatically as the airspeed reduces. Care should be taken when using only one engine as this can lead to uneven airflow over the two wings, causing the aircraft to swing and bank, and may cause uneven stalling of the wings leading to a spin. This is particularly hazardous when the flaps are extended and when making a single engine approach, with the stationary propeller feathered, the flaps should not be lowered by more than 25 degrees. Ju87 The Ju87 is a stable bomber rather than an agile fighter. For this reason it has large tail surfaces giving it inherent stability and gentle stall characteristics. During the development of the Ju87B from the Ju87A, the fin was enlarged to compensate for the change in the engine fitted, and this had the effect of making the aircraft almost spin-proof.
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COMBAT MANOEUVRES
COMBAT PERFORMANCE COMPARED Turn Performance at 16,000 ft Both the British and German aircraft engines were fitted with superchargers, giving them a maximum power output at about 15-16,000 ft. Combat would typically start at this sort of altitude, but descend towards the ground as the aircraft lost energy in turns. By using full throttle and pulling on the stick to achieve a tight turn, with the aircraft at the stall limit, the four fighter aircraft could maintain the rates of turn given below. These are theoretical results and would allow the pilot to maintain this speed and turn rate without losing altitude, but in practice it is very difficult to do accurately.
Speed and Climb Performance at 16,000 ft As well as using the turn rate of the aircraft to get onto the tail of the opponent, the fighter pilots could also use manoeuvres involving rapid climbing and diving. By climbing above the enemy aircraft, a pilot could start an engagement with an energy advantage, which he could convert to speed by diving down to the level of his opponent and regain by climbing away to safety following the attack. The climb performance and maximum speed of the fighter aircraft at an altitude of 16,000ft are given below.
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Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf109 Compared Comparison flight-testing of a captured Messerschmitt Bf109 and a Spitfire during the summer of 1940 carried out by the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough proved the following results: In a shallow dive the two aircraft have the same speed. In a flat-out straight and level race the German proved very slightly faster. In various rolls and turns, the Spitfire was decidedly more manoeuvreable. Pulling out of a steep dive, the 109E had a most definite advantage. It could pull up more sharply and climb away a little faster. As can be seen from the comparison above, the fighter aircraft had different relative strengths and weaknesses in combat. The tactics and manoeuvres used by a pilot would depend on the type of aircraft he was flying, allowing his to exploit the aircrafts strengths and avoid the weaknesses that could allow his adversary to get an advantage in an engagement. The main differences between the aircraft types with regard to their combat performance are as follows. The British aircraft have a lower wing loading than their German counterparts. The wing loading is the weight of the aircraft divided by the wing area and is typically expressed in pounds per square foot or in kilograms per square meter.
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Generally, a lower wing loading allows the aircraft to pull more G and therefore turn more tightly. This can be seen in the diagram above showing the relative turn performance of the four fighter aircraft. The German fighters have a higher thrust to weight ratio than the British aircraft. The Bf109 is approximately 10% lighter than the Spitfire, but has about 10% more engine power available. This results in a greater climb rate and also a higher ceiling. The Rolls-Royce Merlin engine is fitted with a gravity-fed carburetor while the Daimler-Benz engine uses direct fuel injection. This allows the German aircraft to experience negative G without loss of power, but the engines in the British aircraft would be starved of fuel if the aircraft does not maintain positive G during flight. The Bf110 and the Ju87 are both relatively heavy with less manoeuvreability than the Spitfire, Hurricane and Bf109. They do, however, have the advantage of a rear gunner giving them good all round visibility and allowing the second crew member to return fire when the aircraft is attacked from the rear. It should be noted that the single rearward facing machine gun is no match for the eight Browning 0.303in guns of the Spitfire or Hurricane. The gunner being situated towards the rear of the aircraft with little armor is highly vulnerable to enemy fire.
SPITFIRE Level Turning Fight As illustrated above, the Spitfire had the best turning performance of the four fighters. This gave the Spitfire pilot an advantage in a level turning fight, allowing him to turn more quickly than any German adversary and thus get into an attacking position on the tail of the enemy aircraft.
Split-S As the Merlin engine must always have positive G to provide fuel to the engine, the Spitfire cannot enter a dive simply by pushing forward sharply on
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the stick. Doing this would result in negative G, which would cause the engine to cut out for a few seconds. This momentary loss of power is enough to allow a pursuing aircraft to gain ground, or an aircraft being pursued to escape. The Spitfire pilot must therefore use a Split-S manoeuvre, which involves rapidly rolling the aircraft into an inverted position and then pulling back on the stick. This manoeuvre maintains a positive G force on the aircraft throughout.
Climbing Turn This was a defensive manoeuvre used by Spitfire pilots to take advantage of the aircrafts high turn rate. It was a steep climb with a spiraling turn during which the pilot would hope to out-turn a pursuing aircraft. Obviously, the aircraft speed will decrease rapidly during this manoeuvre so it cannot be maintained for any significant length of time.
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HURRICANE Split-S Like the Spitfire, the Hurricane is powered by a Merlin engine with a gravity fed carburetor. It must therefore use the Split-S manoeuvre in order to enter a steep dive without loosing engine power. Head-on Attack This was a tactic employed by some Hurricane squadrons when attacking bombers in order to launch an attack on the nose of the aircraft. The bombers often had all the crew members concentrated in the front section of the aircraft but with little defensive weaponry or armor against a head-on attack. The fighter pilots would therefore hope to shoot through the glass nose of the bomber and kill or disable the pilot. As the fighters approach the bombers head-on they have a closing speed of some 500mph. This leaves them very little time to aim and shoot before having to bunt to avoid a collision. This attack method was later abandoned following heavy losses to the fighter squadrons.
BF109 Dive and Zoom As stated above, the Messerschmitt Bf109 has a high climb rate, but a lower turn rate than the Spitfire or Hurricane. These properties mean that the German fighter was more suited to combat in a vertical plane rather that a horizontal turning fight. The German pilots would attempt to start an attack from above the enemy and in the direction of the sun. From this position they could dive into a formation of British fighters undetected, fire at the aircraft in the rear of the formation, and climb back to safety using their superior climb rate.
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Up and Under This was a technique used for attacking an aircraft from astern without being spotted and was favored by Adolf Galland, who made the majority of his victories in this way. All the single seat fighters offered the pilot poor visibility to the rear and below the tail and thus had a significant blind spot, which could be utilized by an aggressor. The attack started with a steep dive from above and behind the enemy, to a position to the rear and slightly below it. Here, the pilot of the enemy aircraft would not see the aggressor approaching and the first he would know of the attack was when it was too late. A right handed pilot with his left hand on the throttle and right hand on the stick could see slightly more over his left shoulder than his right. Therefore, this attack was best made from slightly to the right of the enemy aircraft.
Steep Dive The Messerschmitt was slightly faster in a dive than its British counterparts. This allowed the German pilots to escape a pursuing fighter by pushing forward on the stick and entering a steep dive. As well having the superior
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diving speed, the Bf109 could withstand negative G without losing engine power. This meant that it could enter a dive by bunting, whereas a pursuing British pilot would have to perform a split-S manoeuvre or lose engine power for a few second, both of which allowed the German to increase the distance between himself and his adversary. BF110 Like the single engine Bf109, the Bf110 had a relatively large turning circle, but good climbing and diving speed. Therefore this aircraft was also better suited to combat in a vertical plane rather than a horizontal turning fight. Stall Turn The Bf110 being heavier and less manoeuvreable than the Spitfire or Hurricane would use a stall turn. This was done by adopting a nose high attitude and climbing until the aircraft speed dropped off and left the aircraft almost hanging in the air and on the verge of a stall. At this point, the pilot would apply full rudder in the direction he wished to turn, causing one wing to stall and the aircraft to rotate rapidly as the nose drops. Once the aircraft was pointing in the desired direction, the pilot would apply full opposite rudder to stop the turn, and hold the nose down to pick up speed before resuming normal flight. As one wing is being deliberately stalled, there is a risk of this manoeuvre going wrong and the aircraft entering a spin.
Lufberry When attacked by British fighters the Bf110s, lacking the high manoeuvreability of their opponents, would sometimes form a defensive circle, called a Lufberry. The circle was usually about a mile across and often rather ragged in shape, but it allowed each aircraft to cover the tail of a fellow pilot to prevent the British fighters from getting into a firing position. This manoeuvre was also used by the Junkers Ju87 when threatened.
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JU87 Dive Bombing Procedure The Ju87 was used for highly accurate dive bombing attacks of convoys of ships as well as ground targets. The aircraft could carry a 1000 lb bomb on a extending bomb crutch under the center of the fuselage. On releasing the bomb in a steep dive, the crutch would swing forwards and downwards, ensuring that the bomb was clear of the propeller disc at the point of release. A typical dive bombing attack would start at about 10,000 - 15,000 ft above the target, and involve a 80 degree dive through 8,000 feet reaching a speed of 350 mph, almost straight down. The bomb would be released at about 2,300 ft (700 m) allowing the pilot to pull out of the dive, sometimes clearing the ground by less than 100 meters and climb away from the target area. In order to prevent excessive speeds in the dive, the Stuka is fitted with under-wing dive brakes, which can be rotated to lie perpendicular to the airflow. This results in a large amount of extra drag on the wings which, along with the large fixed undercarriage, holds the speed of the aircraft back to about 350 mph.
The Ju 87 cruises at about 160 mph. A window in the floor of the cockpit allows the pilot to look down on the area below and ahead of his aircraft in order to find the target and decide when to begin his attack. When he judges he is over the target he pulls a lever to rotate the underwing dive brakes to the maximum-drag position. This would cause a severe nose-up trim change, so to compensate for it and hold the aircraft level the trim tab lowered automatically beneath the elevator. The pilot would then enter an 80 dive by either pushing forward on the stick, or rolling the aircraft onto its back, and pulling on the stick. During the dive, the inherent stability of the aircraft made it easy for the pilot
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to place the gunsight on the target and hold it there. When the aircraft passes below a pre-set altitude, typically 4,300 ft (1300 m) above the ground, a warning horn would sound in the cockpit. The horn would cease a few seconds later as the aircraft crossed the pre-set bomb release altitude, typically 2,300 ft (700 m). This was the signal for the pilot to release the bombs. Releasing the bomb would also return the elevator trimming tab to the neutral position and the nose up change of trim associated with the dive brakes would cause the aircraft to climb so that the aerodynamic loading on the aircraft was not greater than 6G, however, the pilot could bypass this system by pulling back hard on the stick and overriding the hydraulic limiting system. Once the nose of the aircraft had risen above the horizon, the pilot would retract the dive brakes, to the low drag position, open the throttle and continue flying as normal.
The check list for preparing the Ju87 to enter a dive was as follows:
Contact altimeter set to release altitude Throttle pulled right back Dive brakes opened
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TYPICAL DIVE BOMBING ATTACK
Rowan have cleverly simulated the real world Stuka's automatic pull-up feature for dive-bombing, which is active provided the dive brakes are extended and is triggered by the bomb release key. Even in a vertical dive, provided bombs are pickled no lower than approx 800 metres AGL, the Stuka will recover hands off - listen for the undulating warning tone which commences at about 1300 metres AGL, and try to pickle your bomb no later than the fourth or fifth peak in the tone. Once level flight is achieved and while still hands-off, retract the dive brakes and take control again.
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FIGHTERS OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN HAWKER HURRICANE
The Hawker Hurricane made its first flight in November 1935. It was designed to be an easy aircraft to bring into production. The next year a prototype was fitted with eight Browning machine guns and eventually the guns were grouped in two quartets positioned to fire outside the propeller disc. In March 1939 the first batch of 600 Hurricanes were delivered, powered by the Merlin III engine and with a three-bladed constant speed propeller. After the 681st Hurricane was made, metal wings replaced the fabriccovered wings in February 1940. The extra protection this armor provided (including rear protection for the pilot) made up for its inferior performance compared with the Messerschmitt. During the Battle of Britain two thirds of active RAF fighters were Hurricanes.
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SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE
The Spitfire was the end result of a project by Vickers' subsidiary Supermarine Aviation to design an experimental high-speed single-seat fighter. Service pilots reported that the prototype was "simple and easy to fly and [had] no vices". It seemed to give an excellent compromise between manoeuvreability and steadiness for shooting. Reginald J. Mitchell was the chief designer of the Spitfire, he died of cancer on June 11, 1937 four years after being diagnosed. Much of his work on the Spitfire was done while he was ill with the disease. The first production aircraft flew on May 14, 1938. The Spitfire was not an easy aircraft to build, which was part of the reason for the easier constructed Hurricane being found in greater strength at the start of the Battle of Britain. The production difficulties with early Spitfires were shown by comparative figures from mid 1940, when the rate was still averaging only 80 a month compared with 236 a month for the Hurricane. In spite of this, Spitfires inflicted more than half the total losses suffered by the Luftwaffe in the assault on Britain a statistic that underlines the Supermarine fighters particular merit in air-to-air fighting.
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MESSERSCHMITT BF109
Designed by Messerschmitt and Lusser, the Bf109 first flew in May 1935. Some of its features, including poor taxiing view, aroused extreme skepticism among conventionalists. It was a powerful aircraft - in November 1937 the Bf109 V13 raised the world airspeed record for landbased planes to over 370 mph. There was a single 400 liter internal fuel tank behind and below the pilots seat. This gave only 20 minutes actual combat time over Britain with London representing the effective limit of their tactical radius. 300 liter droptanks were developed, produced from molded plywood but they were found to leak seriously after comparatively short exposure to the elements. Most of the 1,172 aircraft lost by RAF Fighter Command during JulyOctober 1940 fell to the guns of the Messerschmitt single-seat fighters.
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MESSERSCHMITT BF110
The Bf110 was designed to fulfill the concept of a strategic fighter, which included performing the primary task of clearing a path for bombers in the light of an enemys defensive fighter screen. The challenge was to make a twin-engine long range fighter compete in combat terms with a short range single seat fighter. In this sense the Bf110 was to fall short of the expectations generated by the Ministry of Propaganda in Berlin. It was sluggish by comparison with the manoeuvreability of the Hurricane and Spitfire. The acceleration and speed of the Bf110 were insufficient to enable its pilots to avoid combat when opposed by superior numbers of interceptors.
JUNKERS JU87
The Junkers dive bomber had an angular and rather ugly design, but it was an extremely sturdy aircraft. It gave its pilot light controls and good flying characteristics. Its crew members enjoyed good visibility and it was reputed to be capable of hitting its target with an accuracy of less than 100 ft.
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Once the Ju87 encountered determined opposition, such as was to be found over the United Kingdom, its career dramatically entered its eclipse. By July 20, Luftflotten 2 and 3 had 316 Ju87s available for the assault on Britain. The first Ju87 sorties in strength actually took place on August 8, suffering severe losses despite Bf109Es providing top cover. The Stuka had been revealed for what it was an inadequately armed and highly vulnerable warplane. The Oberkommando der Luftwaffe had no recourse but to withdraw the Ju87 from the Cherbourg area to the Pas de Calais where it was to sit out the closing phases of the Battle.
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AIRCRAFT DATA AND PERFORMANCE

FIGHTERS
BOMBERS
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OTHERS
Advancement of the AI in the game

Summary With v2.10, it is now more critical than ever to keep your head up and out of the cockpit, just like a real fighter pilot. You need to constantly think of your energy state (and the enemys). Energy can be saved or spent in two ways speed and altitude. The more you are aware of this, the better a combat pilot you will become, and the more battles you will survive. You will also start to develop natural good habits. For example, if you are ever in a high-speed cruise, just staying level, pull your nose up and start putting some energy in the bank. When your speedometer goes up, that is energy. When your altitude meter goes up, that is energy. You can trade altitude for speed, and vise versa. When in doubt, build your energy (and look behind you). Check your six very often. The majority of pilots killed in battle never knew what hit them. Air combat is really a game of ambushing your opponent. Hit him fast, hard and escape. Stay in control of the battle. Dont ever forget the old fighter pilots saying, Speed is Life.
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Technical Explanation The AI in BOBII are aggressive, they will come directly after you and they will not run and hide. In summary they will fight. The AI behavior since 2.06 has changed (we hope for the better) and you may notice a difference. Buddye has tried to fix the disengage bugs (a disengage bug was where the AI would just fly around and not fight). The AI will now stay engaged on a specific target. An AI may for many reasons become disengaged but he will reengage a new target (closest target) after taking a small break to fly closer to the fur ball action (regroup to keep the group fairly close). In addition, the AI is more aggressive and they will go after their target faster and more directly. This new behavior will not result in a fight to the death, however. The AI will break off and stop fighting when the Go Home criteria are satisfied. For an individual AI the go home criteria are (1) no ammo, (2) significant damage, (3) low fuel (has enough to return home plus a 10 minute reserve) and (4) a random skill level modifier where the lower skill levels go home faster (you can control the skill level with your selection in the IA missions). The group will go home when a certain percentage of the group that is left (not killed) meets the go home criteria. One result of these changes is that the Instant Action (not the campaign) fights tend to last longer. In the real battle, the LW planes, particularly the BF109 were greatly limited by their fuel range. In order for a customer who wishes to retain this historically short duration of combat a new BDG.txt item was added: Time_In_IA_Missions_Until_LUF_Returns_Home. The default is = 0. This permits the customer to set the time in minutes before the LUF fighters (109/110) and JU87 returm home. Those that are not concerned about historical accuracy in IA missions can just fight on. One additional thing you will need to watch out for in Version 2.10 is that you will always need to watch your six as you can be assured that you will always have at least one or more enemy AI targeting you for a kill. One can adjust this in the BDG.txt to allow even more initial planes targeting the player. This is done with the line: Initial_Max_Number_AI_Targeting_Player=2 When set to 2, the AI will use rotte or paired flights of fighters to attack you, similar to Luftwaffe WWII doctrine.
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Engage Improvements The new Bdg.txt parameter, AI_Always_Sees_Enemy=ON was added. The AI will be able to see through areas he usually can not see (behind, below, into the sun, etc.). These are different depending on A/C type. This can be a help with the AI being able to see the enemy while engaging and we see no harm running BOBII with it set to yes. A new Bdg.txt parameter, Wingmen_Always_Sees_Enemy=ON was added. The wingmen will be able to see - when the bandits (R-3-1) command is issued - without the player's A/C having to be headed toward the target within the 30 degrees cone (+or- 15 degrees of the enemy target) as was the case with previous game versions. We see no harm running with it set to yes but it is not necessary to turn on this bgd.txt command if the players A/C is headed to + or - 15 degrees of the target when making the R-3-1 command. A new R-3-5 radio command was coded so that if your wingmen do not engage the enemy targets, it can be used. The procedure is simple: Just padlock your enemy target, issue the R-3-5, listen to Red2 tell you he is attacking your target and watch your wingmen attack the enemy. The help command name is not the best name and we will try to figure out how to change it to Attack or Attack My Target in future game revisions.
A Spin is a beautiful thing

For those who favour BoB IIs flying more than its campaign element, the improved modeling of stalls and spins was first introduced in patch 2.05. Push your aircraft too close to its absolute limits and youll see just what we mean. The user-configurable spin parameters in BOBII speak to the pilot who wants a more realistic experience and who is ready to step up to the challenge of handling accelerated, high-speed stalls and spins, just like the real pilots who flew these aircraft did. Stalls and spins by both player and AI-flown aircraft are modeled with impressive realism, adding immensely to the immersiveness of the BoB II experience. Spins by the AI are particularly effective, evoking the image of violent evasive action yet merging seamlessly into the next maneuver; youll even see the occasional miscue - an inadvertent spin at low level into the deck. Spin behavior of player and AI-flown aircraft is individually adjustable by the BoB II player an easy-to-use feature thought to be a first in PC flight simulations. More on this later, but first, a short primer for those unfamiliar with stalls and spins.
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What is a stall? In order for a wing to produce efficient lift, the air must flow completely around the leading (front) edge of the wing, following under and over the contours of the wing. The wing must pass through the air in a forward moving, low Angle of Attack (AoA). At too large an angle of attack (steep, slow climb where the air is actually hitting the underside of the wing), the air cannot contour over the wing. When this happens, the normal smooth flow of air turns into circular, turbulent motions and the wing is in a stall. What does this mean to you? When a wing is in a stalled condition, it produces much less lift and considerably more drag. Although we often refer to stall speeds, angle of attack (AoA, the angle of the wing cross section relative to the local airflow) is actually the key factor. As the stall AoA is approached, most aircraft will begin to shake and rattle, signaling the pilot that stall is imminent. These buffet cues were considerably improved for 2.05 look, listen and feel for them. With the new Spitfire, Hurricane and Bf109 Flight Models (FMs), light buffet begins about three degrees before the stall AoA is reached. Different aircraft types have different stall behavior. Some are forgiving at the stall; the nose will slowly drop and if you return the stick to neutral you can easily regain control once sufficient airspeed is available. Other aircraft will snap into a dangerous spin; once the spin is established, a crash is inevitable unless prompt and correct recovery action is taken. Spins result from the wings stalling asymmetrically (one wing stalls more than the other); in the case of the single-engined fighters in BoB II, this asymmetry leads to a rapid rolling departure and a spin to the left or right. It is important to remember that wing stalls are AoA dependent and are not exclusively a low speed issue. Careless or abrupt pulls on the stick can trigger wing stall and spins at moderate to high speeds, particularly if applied in concert with rudder or aileron inputs, which can lead to asymmetry in the wing AoAs. To recover from an established upright spin in BoB II, reduce throttle to idle, centralize the control column and apply and hold full rudder in the opposite direction to the spin (e.g. left rudder in the case of a clockwise spin). In rare cases, you may need to apply and hold some forward stick, to un-stall the wings. Once the rotation stops, centralize the rudder, gently pull out of the dive and add power.
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The Accelerated Stall Like many flight simmers, you may have developed the old, yank and bank approach to flying. With BOB v2.05 and above virtual pilots will undoubtedly notice something new happening in their airplane (usually at the worst time too). Many people think an aircraft only stalls when it is moving too slowly to keep flying. This is only one type of stall. The Accelerated Stall is a stall that the pilot can force upon his plane, even at high speeds. It is an induced stall. Read on for a brief article explaining what accelerated stalls are:
Typically, stalls in civilian aircraft occur when an airplane loses too much airspeed to create a sufficient amount of lift. A typical stall exercise would be to put your aircraft into a climb, cut the throttle and try and maintain the climb as long as possible. You will have to gradually pull back harder on the stick to maintain your climb pitch and as speed decreases, the angle of attack increases. At some point, the angle of attack will become so great that the wing will stall (the nose will drop). Below are some graphical representations of a wing traveling though the air in various conditions: Level flight a wing creating moderate lift Air vortices (lines) stay close to the wing.
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Climb - Wing creating significant lift force Air vortices still close to the wing.
Stall The angle of attack has become too large. The boundary layer vortices have separated from the top surface of the wing, and the incoming flow no longer bends completely around the leading edge. The wing is stalled, not only creating little lift, but significant drag.
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An accelerated stall is one that is forced to occur, not due to lack of airspeed, but by forcing the wing into a high enough angle of attack and therefore, forces it to stall. When you pull back on the stick, you are literally using leverage to push your tail down, which forces the main wing into a higher angle of attack, and increased lift. However, there is a limit to how much force you can place on a wing before it gives up or stalls. If you pull your stick back hard and far enough to pass through the wings critical angle of attack, regardless of the speed, you can force the main wing into an accelerated stall. In a sense you break the wings ability to provide lift as long as you continue to provide sufficient force to keep the wing in an excessive angle of attack or accelerated stall condition (some describe this as a snap).
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Spin Settings Available in Patch 2.10 Continuing with the spirit of always trying to give our community the option to choose what works best for them, Patch 2.05 allowed players to independently adjust the propensity to spin of their aircraft and those flown by the AI. At player request, Patch 2.10 provides additional flexibility and convenience. The player can now adjust and save spin settings for each of the flyable aircraft, individually, specifying different values for player and AI-flown aircraft if desired. Note: spins are only available if the Realistic FM has been selected on BoB IIs Options >> Sim menu. The various spin-related parameters and switches are found in the .bdg text file in the main BoB II directory. This file can be opened and edited using Notepad. See Appendix A for a full description of the various spin settings available in the .bdg file only the two key entries (Spin AOA Control and Spin Rotational Velocity Control) will be discussed now. Note that it is possible to selectively turn off the spin feature for any particular aircraft, when player-flown, when AI-flown, or both. Another switch in the .bdg file will turn off spins for all AI-flown aircraft. Again, see Appendix A for full details.
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For each of the player-flown a/c, you'll see two entries in the .bdg file, similar to this (exact values may vary): Player_Spitfire_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.250000 Player_Spitfire_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 8.000000 The first value (18.250000 in this case) is an angle of attack, for the inner wing, in degrees. The second value (8.000000 here) is a rotational velocity in yaw, in degrees per second. The FM code will encourage a spin when both these trigger values are exceeded simultaneously. If the player responds quickly enough to an impending spin, reducing AoA and/or yaw rate by pushing the stick forward and/or kicking rudder, a spin can be avoided. Initial warning of an impending spin is provided by the buffet effects, which are triggered by angle of attack only, and are set in the aircraft .acm files. Light buffet begins first and is easy to miss in the heat of battle whereas heavy buffet is quite noticeable. The greater the gap between the heavy buffet trigger point and the Spin AOA Control value, the more warning the player will have of impending spin. In the case of the Spitfire, light buffet begins at 15.5 degrees and heavy buffet at 17.0 degrees. Default values for Spin AoA Control and Spin Rotational Velocity Control were selected with a view to striking the best balance between realism and personal taste. The Spitfire had powerful elevators and light control forces at moderately high speeds and would spin readily if mishandled. The Bf109 apparently was much more forgiving in that regard and seldom spun. The Hurricanes tendency to spin was somewhere between these two, with the remaining two aircraft being even less inclined to spin. The default spin values in the .bdg file attempt to simulate these relative differences, but are intentionally conservative in order to suit the broadest cross section of players. For Patch 21.0, the defaults have been adjusted to compensate for the effect of the new runtime feature; see the Patch 2.10 release notes at Appendix E for full details. Players wishing to increase a particular aircrafts tendency to spin can do so by reducing the default Spin AOA Control and Spin Rotational Velocity Control values in the .bdg file and saving the changes. It is suggested that the two be adjusted concurrently, in increments of 0.25 and 1.25 respectively, until the desired sensitivity is achieved. Conversely, susceptibility to spin can be reduced by increasing the default values, using a similar incremental approach. Note that the file allows different spin settings for each aircraft whether player-flown or AI-flown under normal circumstances the two should match, i.e. if you make changes to
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the player settings, revise the AI settings for that aircraft accordingly. The AI settings are found below the player settings, and are similar to this: AI_Spitfire_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.250000 AI_Spitfire_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 8.000000
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Battle of Britain Multiskin
CHAPTER 6
MULTISKIN 2.10
Multiskin Hardware requirements: You MUST have at least a 256MB video card to install and run Multiskin 2.10. Mission load times can also be up to twice as long with MS installed. Multi Skin introduces authentic paint and marking schemes to Battle of Britain II, bringing a vast number of historical aircraft to life. All aircraft in the Battle of Britain II dynamic campaign are based and operate from one of over 100 historic airfields throughout Britain, France, and Belgium. When you spot aircraft in flight, those aircraft actually took off from their home base, are on a mission and will eventually return to their home airfield. If you have studied the Battle of Britain enough to recognize these aircraft by their colors, markings, etc., an already immersive campaign will have just become much deeper. If you are like the vast majority of flight simmers that have not studied the squadrons and pilots that took part in the Battle of Britain, you are actually more like the real pilots that participated in this battle. You, like them, will simply experience a sky filled with countless aircraft, all with their own flavour. To assist those who wish to know more and to recognize the aircraft in flight, weve provided printable, color maps. If you wish, when you have an encounter, you can use these maps to know who is in the air. If you manage to shoot down say, 5 aircraft from a particular squadron, you can be assured there are 5 less aircraft from that squadron that will be taking part in future battles. Below are two reduced-size examples of printable maps (six included in all) that are available for reference with BoB2:
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Download all six printable maps here: http://www.a2asimulations.com/bob/downloads/multiskin_pdf_maps.zip
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Forum thread with screenshots of the new multiskin for RAF full list: http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6414 Screenshots of Bf109 multiskin full list: http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6412 RAF Markings Technical Explanation Many of these details in fact changed during the course of the Battle, so different references and time periods will show variances from the chosen schemes. All aircraft have individual Squadron/Staffel codes and plane ID letters/numbers. RAF Squadron leaders carry pennants of rank. Hawker Hurricane
Unit specific emblems for Squadron Numbers 1 (wasp), 3 (spinner), 85 (hexagon), 87 (cat), 242 (booting Hitler), 303 (National), 310 (National) Squadrons. Scheme 1 - night/white undersides, no under-wing roundels, full-fin flash Scheme 2 - night/white undersides, under-wing roundels, half-fin flash Scheme 3 - blue undersides, large fuselage roundels, no under-wing roundels, half-fin flash Scheme 4 - large fuselage roundels, no under-wing roundels, full-fin flash Scheme 5 - no under-wing roundels, half-fin flash Scheme 6 - small under-wing roundels, full-fin flash Scheme 7 - standard underling roundels, small fin flash Scheme 8 - night/sky undersides, under-wing roundels, sky-blue tail band/spinner
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Supermarine Spitfire
Unit specific emblems for Squadron Numbers 54 (kiwi), 65 (East India), 66 (spinner), 234 (mailed fist). Scheme 1 - blue undersides, no under-wing roundels Scheme 2 - no under-wing roundels (standard early battle scheme) Scheme 3 - oversized fuselage roundels, blue undersides, no under-wing roundels Scheme 4 - underside roundels (standard late battle scheme) Scheme 5 - wingtip underside roundels Messerschmitt Bf109
Units bear unit specific badges/markings. There are now 612 individual Bf109 skins in the game of which 576 are flyable. Aces such as Adolph
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Galland, Werner Mlders, Helmut Wick, Walter Oesau etc are naturally represented. Summary of RAF Fighter Command paint schemes 1939-1941 The colors, Dark Earth and Dark Green were standard for upper surfaces until May 1942. There was little variation in the patterns other than a mirror-image application. The two types were designated 'A' and 'B' schemes. ('B' schemes are modeled here). Undersurfaces and underside national markings were subject to a number of changes: - In early 1940, the official scheme had a white right wing, black left wing and split fuselage colors to match. In fact, the manufacturers interpreted this as requiring an aluminum finish to the fuselage, which was an error, but it was not corrected for a long while. There were no under wing roundels (before this date various versions with and without roundels had been used). - On 18th May 1940 Roundels were reintroduced with a yellow roundel ring on the left wing. The entire fuselage and tail surfaces were now split white/black for new aircraft. Black was intended to be the specific color night, though this did not always happen. - On 6th June 1940 the color designated Type S was introduced for undersurfaces, without under wing roundels. With modern perspective (and communications methods), it is easy to be critical of the problem that neither manufacturers or existing squadrons actually knew what Type S looked like! More than one written clarification was made, but the effect was to introduce a range of colors in the field from Duck Egg Blue to Duck Egg Green to Light Grey. To compound the problem, official stocks of Type S paint were not available freely until over a month later than this. Each squadron/maintenance unit and each manufacturing location had to interpret what can best be described as 'imprecise' instructions. We have modeled a common Duck Egg Bluish Green, which is indeed how one Ministry correction described the color. (Later on, the Ministry would correct the description to be Sky, but by then the term Duck Egg Blue was popularly established.) - On 1st August 1940 large (45/50") roundels reintroduced. - After the official end to the battle, from 27th November 1940 a black left wing was reapplied, along with a sky spinner and tail band. As some of these changes were introduced in the middle of the Battle of Britain there was considerable field variation, as one might imagine.
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Luftwaffe Markings Technical Explanation In previous versions of Multiskin, historically accurate skins and markings were introduced for Bf109s, such that Multiskin now includes 612 Bf109 skins of which 576 are flyable. Skins for all bombers and Ju87s were introduced in update 2.10. (The following notes are from Bomber Multiskin artist, Aces). Luftwaffe markings generally follow a convention but there are some anomalies and exceptions and we have included these too. Firstly to explain the convention. All bomber aircraft used a four letter fuselage coding (see aircraft next page, showing J9+AB). The first two letters/numbers are the Geschwader (Wing) ID letters, in this case 1G for Kampfgeschwader 27. The third letter is the individual aircraft letter, in this case aircraft A or the first aircraft in the Staffel (often repeated in black under-wing). The last letter is the Staffel ID letter, in this case Staffel L denoting Staffel 3. The first Gruppe in a wing comprised of Staffels 1-3 with Staffel codes of H, K and L. Second Gruppe comprised of Staffels 4-6 with codes M, N and P and third Gruppe comprised of Staffels 7-9 with codes R, S and T. The letters O, I and J were omitted due to their similarity to the numbers 0 and 1. So putting it all together you can deduce that the aircraft shown above is the first aircraft in the 3rd Staffel of Kampfgeschwader 27. The aircraft letter was normally painted in the appropriate Staffel colour, white for Staffels 1,4,7, red for Staffels 2,5,8 and Yellow for Staffels 3,6,9 with the
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propeller spinner usually painted in the same colour. In addition every Gruppe had a Stab or headquarters flight and these aircraft can be identified by using green aircraft ID letters and propeller spinners and the use of the Staffel code of B for 1st Gruppe, C for second Gruppe and D for third Gruppe. In the game you will find every bomber Staffel being led by one of these aircraft coded AB, BB, CB, AC, BC, CC, AD, BD and CD respectively. Of course you have to get pretty close to identify using only aircraft coding and thus the extra need for coloured fuselage bands, propeller spinners etc.
I mentioned exceptions and the above picture nicely illustrates the point. Youll note that the green prop spinner on the closest aircraft identifies it as being a Stab aircraft, as does the green aircraft letter on the fuselage, but the Staffel code of B indicates a 1st Gruppe and not a 3rd Gruppe Stab aircraft and the Geschwader code of J9 isnt the same unit code as the 1st Gruppe of the Geschwader of A5 . Additionally it has yellow painted wheel spats. This is because Stukageschwader 1 was formed by incorporating three different units. The 1st Gruppe was assigned Staffel codes of B, H, K and L, whilst the 2nd Gruppe was formed in early July 1940 by incorporating the former III/Stukageschwader 51 with its 6G coding and Staffel codes of
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D,R, S and T. The 3rd Gruppe was also formed at this time by incorporating TragerGruppe 186 a unit originally formed to fly naval Stukas from the un-completed aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin this unit retained its J9 coding and staffel codes of B, H, K and L. These exceptions like the example above and 3rd Gruppe Stukageschwader 77 who used F1 coding the same as the unit that they were formed from Kampfgeschwader 76 lingered on well into the war. Also shown in the second and third aircraft in the picture above are the post-1936 position of the hakenkreuze on the tail whilst the foremost aircraft retains the pre-1936 placement position in the middle of the rudder. The Ju87 yellow wheel spats are an interesting innovation introduced by Helmut Mahike Gruppen Kommodeur of 3rd Gruppe during the battle to aid reforming after diving so dont overtake and land before him else youll find yourself on a charge an historical fact. So if you are flying a 3rd Gruppe St.G1 Stuka, follow the leader and if you are tasked with escorting Staffel 2 of Kampfgeschwader 54 then look out for red spinnered Ju-88s with a big white-coloured diagonal band around their fuselage long before you can make out their Geschwader code of B3. I have also added some super-detail to the twin-engined bomber skins.
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Battle of Britain Multiplayer
CHAPTER 7
MULTIPLAYER
Overview
ulti-Player mode allows you to fly Battle of Britain missions with up to seven other flyers over the Internet or a network, and with another player over a direct serial or modem link. Multi-play modes available in Update 2.10 include Death Match and Team Play or several Quick cooperative or adversarial missions. You can select any of the available aircraft that are flyable in the single player mode, although you cannot take the role of a gunner. The dynamic campaign is NOT a multiplayer option. A small caution is necessary. Multi-Player is being released as a beta test platform, and it requires some PC technical skill to successfully create or join an online session.
Preliminary notes
Some things to remember for all multi-player games are as follows:
It is a good practice to reboot your computer prior to
playing online especially if you have been on the Internet or running other programs for an extended period of time. Web browsers often keep your online history stored in memory, which sometimes can reduce your available RAM to play the game. Remove any programs from memory running under windows that aren't absolutely essential to running your system (e.g. ICQ, Real Player etc). When using any third party voice communications program (e.g. Roger Wilco, Battlecom, and Teamstream) try not to activate voice communication when a player is trying to join or when you are
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waiting to enter a mission.
Starting Multiplay
Choose the Multi-Player option on the Main Menu. The first Multi-Play screen asks you to select your multi-play service. At this point you must select a connection type: IPX Connection for Direct Play You must have an IPX/SPXcompatible protocol loaded under Windows 95/98 (it comes with Windows 95/98). To identify if you have this loaded select the "START" menu on the Windows desktop and choose SETTINGS followed by CONTROL PANEL. Then select the NETWORK icon. Scroll down in the box to see if any kind of IPX/SPX-compatible protocol is listed. Internet TCP/IP Connection for Direct Play An Internet service provider (ISP) or LAN with TCP/IP protocol is required. Two to eight players can play over the Internet (bandwidth permitting). All players should exchange IP addresses in case you want to take turns being the host. Each player wanting to join an Internet TCP/IP connection needs to know the host's IP address. Typically players will meet in some sort of chat zone on the Internet and exchange IP addresses prior to connecting. Determine who has the fastest connection speed and computer and that person should make the best 250

host. It is important to remember to completely exit your chat environment and all other unnecessary software prior to loading the game. By far the most common problem in getting a connection on the Internet is incorrectly copying the IP address. Make sure you double check with your partner prior to trying to connect. To identify your own IP address run the WINIPCFG.EXE located in your Windows subdirectory (i.e. c:\windows\WINIPCFG.EXE) while connected to your Internet Service Provider (ISP). If you do not have a permanent IP address you will need to find out your IP address every time you reconnect to your Internet Service Provider. Make sure whomever you're playing with understands this as well. If you are playing over a LAN (Local Area Network), then you won't need to know the IP address of the host computer - games can be detected and listed automatically. Modem Connection for Direct Play A maximum of two players can connect via a 28,800baud modem (or faster). Make sure both players' modems are configured correctly and set at the highest speed for their connection. Prior to connecting both players need to agree which computer will serve as the "Connect" computer and which will "Answer" on the connection. The player with the faster computer would be best suited for the host (Answer) computer. Both players should be aware of which Comm Port their modem is attached to and should know the fastest baud rate of their modems. It is also a good idea to have each other's phone number at hand. If you have any problems, you can access the Windows 95/98
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(Modem) Properties by clicking CONFIGURE on the Modem screen. If your modem is not configured correctly, please consult your modem and Windows 95/98 documentation (make sure you don't have multiple modem drivers loaded). If you've made any changes to your settings, restart Windows before trying to connect. This ensures the changes are saved. Serial (NULL MODEM) Connection for Direct Play A maximum of two players can connect via a Null Modem cable (not to be confused with a serial cable) to active serial ports of each computer. In some cases you may have to install software or drivers to use your null modem cable. Consult your computer's documentation for more information. You need to know what serial (COM) port that your null modem is connected to with both computers. Many computers have labels (i.e. 1=COM1, 2=COM2) or you can refer to the documentation that came with your computer which may have diagrams with the communication ports labeled. If you can't connect check for the following: Port conflicts - use the Windows Device Manager to view devices by connection. Make sure only one device is listed next to the COM port you connected the cable to. Device Manager can be found via the "START" icon on your desktop. Look under "SETTINGS" then "CONTROL PANEL followed by the "SYSTEM" icon. Check with your system manufacturer for help with port conflicts. You can also try selecting another COM port and/or a lower baud rate.
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Once you have chosen a suitable connection you have two options at the bottom of the screen Create Game and Join Game.
Create game
The Create Game selection is found at the bottom of the first Multi-Play screen. You can create a game either by highlighting a service and clicking on this button, or double clicking on a service. Creating a game is synonymous with being the host. Once you select Create Game the game selection screen will appear. This allows you to configure the type of game that you want and to set session parameters. The various parameters are: Player name This allows you to enter the name you wish to be known as in the game. It is particularly important to use this if there are going to be more than two players. Session name This is the name that will appear to the other players trying to join your game. Password This allows you to set a password to allow for private games or those that you allow in via the Visitors' Book (see below). Data Rate This affects the amount of data that is transmitted and received. It will initially be set to a level that is suitable for the service provider that has been chosen. If 253

difficulties arise in creating and playing games then try a lower data rate. High data rates can be used if you have good connections to other players. Ultimately you will want to use the highest data rate level that you can reliably play the game at. Some trial and error may be needed to find the right data rate for your connection. Data rate does NOT affect 3d-frame rate. However, higher data rates lead to a more accurate simulation. Select side In Team Play and Quick missions you can select whether you want to play RAF or Luftwaffe aircraft. You will be limited to that side's aircraft for the game. In Death Match all flyable aircraft are available to be chosen.
Game Type
This determines the type of missions that can be played. Death Match and Team Play games involved only human controlled aircraft. Several different game options are available and workable, with only Quick Missions non functional as of Update 2.10 :
Death match scenarios

Implode: of a circle of players. Pairs: the same direction. Wheel: Same altitudes: altitudes. Different altitudes: Players are headed directly into the centre
Players start out side-by-side heading in
Players are heading around in a circle. Players are going head-on at the same
Players are going head-on at different
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altitudes. Explode: circle of players. Implode/ Explode: selected at random. Flyby: opposite directions. Players are heading directly away from a
Implode and Explode are
Players start side-by-side heading in
Team play scenarios

Flights no advantage: towards each other. Flights Luftwaffe advantage: RAF aircraft. Flights RAF advantage: Luftwaffe aircraft. Flights, random advantage: selected at random. Opposing flights heading
Luftwaffe aircraft start behind
RAF aircraft start behind
Advantage of RAF or Luftwaffe
Elements scattered: Groups of two players start outtogether, but scattered from other two player elements. Elements close: Groups of two players start out together, but close to the other two player elements. Singles Implode: the middle of the circle of players. Players are heading directly in
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Singles Explode: from the circle of players. Players are heading directly away
Quick missions
Caution: code for the Quick mission mode is currently buggy and not recommended due to a problem with AI aircraft warping. This mode when functional allows you to play with other players and Al aircraft in fifteen of the quick shot missions available in the game. References to Quick mission play in this manual are only included in case the bugs are resolved before the next edition of the manual.
Join game
The Join Game selection at the bottom of the service provider selection screen allows you to join a game created by another host. What happens depends to some extent on your connection type:
IPX connection (see also "Selecting a connection
type" above) There is no extra information required for an IPX LAN connection. Two to eight players can "join" a game. A list of network games available will appear. Select the one you wish to join by clicking on it and then clicking select. You will then be taken to the game selection screen. If no names appear under the session list, then no games are available.
TCP/IP Connection (see also "Selecting a connect ion type" above)
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A windows dialogue box will appear asking you for the name or IP address of the computer that is hosting the game. Enter the address and click on OK. If you are on a LAN, leaving the address blank will search the network for available games. Once your computer has connected to the host a list of games will appear. Select the one you wish by clicking on the name and then clicking select. You will then be taken to the game selection screen.
Modem Connection (see also "Selecting a
(connection type" above) A windows dialogue box will appear allowing you to configure your modem and provide the telephone number of the computer you wish to connect to. Once you are satisfied with your modem configuration and have entered the phone number click on Connect. The game will then attempt to connect you to the host computer and if successful you will be taken to the game selection screen.
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Serial
Connection (see also "Selecting a connection type" above) After selecting "Serial Connection For Direct Play" a windows dialogue box will appear allowing you to configure your serial connections. Your port settings, apart from Port, must correspond with the host's settings for the game to connect. Once you are satisfied click on OK. The game will then attempt to connect you to the host computer and if successful you will be taken to the game selection screen.
Game selection screen

Once you have connected to the host computer you will be taken to the game selection screen. This allows you to view the game setup that the host selected. You can also enter your name and, if the game is Team Play or Quick Mission, select the side you wish to play on. If the game has a password that you don't know, you can request entry by clicking on the button to add your name to the host's Visitor's Book. If the host decides you can join then you will be able to join after a short period of time.
Ready room
If you have selected either Death Match or Team Play and are ready to join the 258

game click on continue and you will be taken to the Ready Room Screen. Whether you have created or joined a game, you will eventually end up in the Ready Room. The Ready Room Screen displays players currently in the game, along with aircraft chosen and their score. It also allows you to chat to other players. In Team Play and Quick Missions, RAF players are listed first, followed by Luftwaffe players. The players' names are followed by the aircraft they have chosen, the game screen they are currently in and their score. To chat to other players type your message in the box and press Return. In Team Play or Quick Mission games you can choose to chat either to your side only or to all players by clicking on the appropriate tick box at the top of the screen. To chat to an individual player, click on his name. The name will highlight and your messages will be sent only to that player until you click on another name or choose everybody on your side only. There are a number of options at the bottom of the Ready Room screen, and some of them are only available in certain circumstances, for instance when you are a game host:
Quit
Quit the game and return to the main user interface screen.
Fly
In Death Match and Team Play games when everyone is ready the host can click on Fly and the game will begin. If a player joins the game while the other players are flying then he will be able to click on Fly to join in.
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Frag In Quick Shot mission games, clicking on Frag will take the player to the Frag screen. Here you will be able to choose which aircraft position you wish to fly. Chat facilities are available as in the Ready Room screen, but messages will be sent to all players. To choose an aircraft to fly, click on the pilot name. You cannot choose an aircraft that has already been chosen by another player. To unassign yourself from an aircraft click on another aircraft or click on the unassign tick at the top right of the page. When all players have chosen their aircraft the host can click on Fly and the game will begin. A player may join a game after it has begun, while other players are flying. Simply choose an aircraft in the Frag screen and select Fly to join in. Aircraft that have been killed will be labelled as 'KIA' and cannot be selected to fly in. Visitors A new player wanting to join the
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game, but who doesn't know the password, should click on "Add my name". A message will appear in the host's chat window indicating this request. The host should first click on the Visitors Book and then on the Status of the player which will be Excluded. The status will change to Accepted. The new player is now able to join the game. The new player should be patient as the host may be flying a mission and may not be back in the Ready Room for some time.
Set Up There is no chat available while you are flying a mission, however you can set up customized pre-set radio messages. Players can edit radio messages that they wish to send to other players while flying a mission. To edit the radio messages click on Setup. The Setup screen allows you to edit the messages or to reset to the default messages if you wish. To edit a message click on it and type in the new message. Setup will be saved when you leave the game and kept for future games. Later on in this chapter we
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will discuss how to use the messages when flying a mission (Check under 'Multi-play In Flight Options' below). Setup also allows a player to choose their aircraft in deathmatch or teamplay games. In teamplay games, the player is limited to aircraft of their own side i.e. Spitfire and Hurricane for RAF; BF109, BF110 and JU87 for Luftwaffe. In Deathmatch games players can choose any aircraft.
Edit Mission
In Quick Mission games the host can alter the mission setup by selecting Edit Mission. For instance, the scenario or the time of day can be changed. Once you are satisfied with the mission click on Ready Room to return. If the host edits the mission then when he returns to the Ready Room any players in the Frag screen will be returned to the Ready Room and must reselect an aircraft to fly. Guests can click on Brief to view the details of the current mission if the game is a quick mission.
Config
Players have access to the PC and Sim Config screens. However, only the host controls the options that affect game difficulty.
Multiplay unique options

Once you have selected Frag or Fly, once a mission has commenced there are several options unique to multi-play:
Radio Messages
Under the Radio Communications menu (press R when in the cockpit) there is an option to send pre-set radio messages to other players in the game (see Messages above). Comms Msg Recipient and Comms Message are two additional options. Comms Msg Recipient allows you to 262

select whether to send messages to all players or only to members of your team. The default selection is to all. The selection will stay the same until it is changed or a new game begins. Comms Message will display a list of your pre set messages. Selecting the numbered message from the list will send that message to everybody on your team depending on the Comms Msg Recipient.
Resurrection in Multi-Play
If a player is killed then he can wait until his aircraft resurrects on its own or he can press S to force a resurrection to take place. This is not available immediately; the player must wait for a few seconds before being able to resurrect. The S key is only available in Death Match and The Team Play games. When a player dies in Death Match or Team Play games he will be resurrected and his aircraft will start to spiral upwards in autopilot mode. To retake control of the aircraft press J. If you do not press J, control will automatically handed over at 10,000 feet or 2,000 feet above the highest aircraft. In Quick Mission Games a player who has died can exit the game and go to the Frag screen to choose an AI aircraft to take over. If there are no more available aircraft then the player will have to wait at the Ready Room for the game to end.
Ending a multiplay game

If the host chooses to end the game then all players will be taken to either the Debrief screen for Quick Missions or to the Ready Room screen. If a player dies in a Quick Mission game then he will be taken to the Ready Room screen. Here he can go to the Frag screen and select
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an available aircraft and rejoin the game in that aircraft, taking over the seat from the Al pilot. Players who exit the game can rejoin as long as the host keeps the game running.
Multiplay debrief
In Death Match and Team play there is no Debrief. The scores of each player will be displayed in the Ready Room. For Quick Missions the Debrief will show all items destroyed. Players can then go to the Ready Room screen for another game.
Technical Help and Setup

The best place to meet, arrange and get technical help with setting up BOBII Multiplayer games is the BOBII Technical Support Forum: http://www.a2asimulations.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=17 BOBII Multiplayer code dates from a time when online play was new, and firewalls and routers were uncommon. Using the current BOBII Multiplayer code therefore requires some technical understanding of elements such as IP addresses, opening ports, and port forwarding. To begin with, a good Multi-Player experience requires a stable internet connection. The old tracert DOS utility provides a rudimentary tool to enable players to determine the stability of a circuit. Note: It is necessary to tracert the circuit in both directions. While we do not know the precise bandwidth requirement numbers, it appears that circuits of 300 kilobytes/second (kb/s) or better on the upload side will suffice. For most circuits the download speeds will be higher than the upload side. Thus, the upload speed is generally the one you want to investigate. The bottom line speed
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parameter could well be lower. We were never able to test a circuit with a lower speed that was stable. Our experience to date suggests that an upload speed of 300 kb/s multiplied by the number of clients may be needed for hosting sessions. While this formula is little more than guess work at this point, experience taught us that a machine with less than 1000 kb/s was not able to host more than one client per session. The following site provides a decent gauge of your circuits bandwidth capability at a given point in time: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ For better or worse, a basic knowledge of TCP Networking is essential to utilize the Multi-Player Beta module. Firewalls: The following ports must be open to incoming traffic on both the host and client machines. Please note, there are many PC users who are unaware that they are running behind more than one firewall. For example, someone running Windows XP might have both the firewall that is built into XP and another firewall which comes bundled with any number of 3rd party security packages. Port 2300 (TCP) Port 47624 (TCP & UDP) Port 53790 (UDP) Port 2350 (UDP)
Routers: Heres where it can get a bit sticky. A player who plans to host a session that is running behind a router will almost always be required to create port forwarding entries in his/her router so that packets for the ports listed above will be forwarded to his/her machine. IMPORTANT NOTE: To do this the player will need to learn how to set-up his/her machine on a static proxy IP.
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These steps can be quite disconcerting to someone who is new to TCP networking as interfaces to accomplish these tasks vary depending upon the operating system and the specific router at hand. Players behind routers who will be clients during a session who are using newer style routers may find that their routers are smart enough to handle port forwarding automatically for them. However, players who are using older routers without the smarter firmware will need to complete the same tasks as the hosting player. (More advice on routers and firewalls follows below.) Of course, it will be necessary for the client players to obtain the IP address of the hosting machine to join the session. Lastly, whenever possible, it is advisable to have a player with a high end machine do the hosting for obvious reasons. Ports, opening and forwarding: As a start, here are a couple of good links to a site that explains how to port forward for individual routers: http://www.portforward.com/english/rout ... rindex.htm and how to set up a static IP address: http://portforward.com/networking/staticip.htm 1) When initially setting up a MP session it is advisable to run the game in windowed mode so other apps are accessible. To do this in the bdg.txt file change the line "FORCE_WINDOWED_MODE=OFF" to "FORCE_WINDOWED_MODE=ON" 2) To allow the ports to be opened it is usually quite simple, the firewall software will prompt the user with a message such as "Battle of Britain English Text is trying to access the trusted zone". The user must click on "Allow" to open the requested port 266

connection. This prompt may appear several times for different ports. All should be allowed. But not all 3rd party firewalls are 'smart' enough to provide the pop-ups re: port access. In those cases, they need to be added manually. 3) Lets say 4 people have arranged to play a MP game. Before setting up in game one of the players must agree to be the Server (The Server is the player that clicks on "create game" in the Bob2 menu). The other 3 players will be clients (The client is the player that clicks on "join game" in the Bob2 menu) 4) The 3 client players will all need to know the Internet IP address of the Server. The easiest way for the player that is going to be the Server to determine his Internet IP address is to type in "http://www.whatsmyip.org" into a browser and the Internet IP address is displayed in bold text at the top of the page. The Server player must communicate this IP address to the other 3 players, maybe using Skype or Teamspeak, email whatever is most convenient. The clients will need to type in this address when they click on "Join Game".
5) Todays home networks are quite often using a router box. See example sketch below of a typical setup
Code: ----------| | -----------| | 192.168.1.30 192.168.1.1 | | 82.37.101.95 | PC |------------------------------------| Router |----------------------> The Internet | | | | | | ---------------------http://www.whatsmyip.org
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To find out the IP address of the PC open a windows DOS box and type "Ipconfig". This will return 192.168.1.30 for the example network shown above. Our 3 example client players dont need to worry about this extra complexity, the game will connect to the Host without a problem. However, if the Server player is behind a router he will have some more setting up to do. The Server player needs to allow port forwarding in his router. And depending upon the client PC/router configuration some clients need to add the port forwarding entries. The instructions on how to set up port forwarding in the router will vary between router boxes but is usually a web page configuration system. There is a method for simplifying the setting of port forwarding in the router by using a neat free utility called "Simple Port Forwarding" http://www.pcwintech.com/simple-port-forwarding . This allows the user to select his router and then select a Bob2 config file and then click on "update router" button to send down the changes. An example of a Bob2 config file for this utility: Bob2 Port config test file: http://www.filefactory.com/file/ah2h762/n/Bob2_spf
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Battle of Britain Remembered
CHAPTER 8
BATTLE OF BRITAIN REMEMBERED
uring the 1930's, the British Air Ministry commissioned two new monoplane fighters, the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire, both of which were in squadron service by 1938. These aircraft were very different to the comparatively slow and delicate biplanes that the RAFs pilots had flown in the First World War. Fighter tactics were drawn up from theories based upon fighters intercepting lone and unescorted bombers. This was because Britain exceeded the range of German fighters, flying from German bases, so fighter-to-fighter combat was considered to be of secondary importance, not to mention unlikely. Thus in Britain, Fighter Commands pilots flew their monoplane fighters in tight vics of three, practicing carefully coordinated attacks against either lone or small numbers of enemy bombers. Actual combat experience during the Spanish Civil War had already taught the Germans that such tactics were already obsolete. Hitler had secretly rebuilt his Luftwaffe with new aircraft of the latest monoplane design, including both bombers and fighters. Taking the Blitzkrieg formula into account, German fighter design included features suitable for attacking both fighters and bombers. For example, the Messerschmitt 109, like the Hurricane and Spitfire a fast, single-engine fighter, was not only armed with two 7.9 mm machine-guns, but also two 20 mm cannon. Although the latter had a much slower rate of fire, the effects were devastating. The 109s engine was also fuel injected, meaning that it was unaffected by gravity whilst in a diving attitude. By comparison, the British fighters did not enjoy the benefits of cannon, but were instead armed with eight .303 machine-guns. Also, no thought had been given in England to fuel injection, the British fighters Rolls Royce Merlin engines relying on the simple float carburetor system, this later giving the German fighter superiority in the dive. During the Spanish Civil War Germany developed a new formation known as the Schwarm, this comprised of four fighters spread out very loosely in a stepped up line abreast similar to the fingers of an outstretched hand. When battle was joined the Schwarm would split into the Rotte of two fighting pairs, leader and wingman. Indeed, this remains the basic fighter formation
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even today. Germany also first used dive-bombers in Spain, the much-feared Stukas, and medium bombers in support of fast moving armor and infantry. On May 10th, 1940, German forces attacked Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and France. In what came as a surprise attack, German armor poured through the supposedly impassable Ardennes forest, effectively and immediately outflanking the Maginot Line in the process. The Allies having been collectively overwhelmed, they were finally evacuated from the beaches around Dunkirk, the Royal Navy and Little Ships rescuing some 330,000 Allied troops. Left behind, however, was all artillery, armor and much other equipment. The RAF component, the Advanced Air Striking Force, had also suffered grievous losses. Sensibly, British Fighter Command had retained its precious Spitfires for home defense, the more numerous Hurricane squadrons having been sent to fight in the ill-fated French campaign. Given that the First World War had raged for four years, the fact that France had fallen in a matter of six weeks was completely stunning. The opportunity to invade England had been an unexpected bonus for Hitler. Although the RAF clearly faced problems across the English Channel, so too did the Germans. Barges suitable to carry an invasion force across the Channel had to be found, converted and concentrated in and around Calais. Despite the fact that the Luftwaffe had been designed to support fast moving ground forces, however, it now found itself required to operate in a strategic role. German bombers were of a medium capacity, so lacked the performance and bomb carrying capacities of the later four-engine Allied bombers. Also, excellent though the Me 109 was, it was intended for use not as an offensive escort fighter but in a defensive role meaning that its range was too limited, providing just 20 minutes flying time over London. Nevertheless, the Germans had great advantages in experience and enjoyed numerical superiority. Thirteen German divisions, each some 19,000 strong, were moved to the Channel coast as the vanguard of a landing force comprising 39 divisions. Plans were made for the disembarkation of 125,000 men during the invasions first three days. The German service chiefs agreed that Operation Sealion (Sealion, the proposed sea borne invasion of England) would only be feasible if the Luftwaffe defeated the RAF, achieving total aerial supremacy prior to the fleet setting sail. Britain did have one particular advantage: radar, or more correctly Radio Direction Finding. The extra few minutes warning given by this new detection system would make it possible for the defending fighters to scramble (emergency take-off) and attain an appropriate height and
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position favorable for interception. By the summer of 1940, the radar chain around the British Isles comprised 22 Chain Home stations and 30 Chain Home Low stations. Each was positioned to ensure, at least in theory, that every aircraft approaching Britain from the east or south would be detected by at least two stations. Radar therefore became the keystone of Air Defense, with its network of RDF stations, Observer Corps posts and centers, sector operations rooms, radio-telephony transmitters, landlines and ancillary devices. Germany failed to fully understand its significance, which would be a major factor during the Battle of Britain. For the air defense of Great Britain, Fighter Command divided the British Isles into four Group areas, each with its own commander and headquarters but answerable to Fighter Command HQ (Bentley Priory). London and the southeast was defended by No 11 Group, No 12 Group protected the Midlands and the north, whilst Northern Ireland was the responsibility of 13 Group. No 10 Group, covering the West Country and South Wales, became operational on July 8th, 1940, just in time for the Battle of Britain II. Although each Group Commander had commitments to his own area, he was also obliged to respond to calls for assistance from 11 Group, which would clearly bear the brunt of the fighting. Each Group was then sub-divided into Sectors, each with its own Sector Station, effectively a local HQ comprising both an aerodrome and Sector Operations Room. The System worked as follows: The RDF station would detect an increase in enemy activity over the French coast as a raid assembled. This information would be passed by landline to the underground Filter Room at Fighter Command. There the information was sifted by filterers and filter officers, displayed on a gridded map and passed by tellers through closed speech circuits to both the adjacent Command Operations Room and those of the appropriate Groups. After incoming aircraft had crossed the coast, the Observer Corps was responsible for tracking their progress. Posts reporting to the Observer Centers were connected by landline to the Command Operations Room which issued orders to local civilian authorities regarding when to sound warning sirens. Tactical control, however, was delegated to the Groups and Sectors who issued orders directly to stations, squadrons and the Gun Operations Room which tied ant-iaircraft guns into the System. In each Group Operations Room, at least one Controller was always on
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duty, looking down on a huge gridded map showing the Group area colored plaques manipulated by WAAFs, armed with magnetized wands. Facing the Controller across a table was a totalisator (or 'tote') which showed at a glance the location and readiness state of each squadron. The Group Controller would decide upon the appropriate course of action in respect of each and every threat and give appropriate orders to Sector HQ and Gun Operations Rooms. The Sector Controller would then either bring his squadrons to a state of Readiness, i.e. ready for immediate take-off, or send them into the air as appropriate. Once the squadrons were airborne, he would provide them with information and instruction until such time as the formation leader sighted the enemy. By that time, the skill of the Sector Controller should theoretically have favorably positioned the squadrons to attack. When the formation leader cried Tally Ho!, the Controller knew that battle was about to be joined, his part played.
Despite the fact that the main attack would obviously fall upon southern England, not all RAF strength was concentrated in that area. Squadrons were, in fact, dispersed across the country, meaning that not only was the whole country protected but that fresh squadrons were available to be sent south as reinforcements. By the same token, it was possible to withdraw depleted squadrons north to rest and re-fit. In July 1940, the opposing forces compared as follows: RAF FIGHTER COMMAND Spitfires. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hurricanes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defiants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blenheims. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LUFTWAFFE Aircraft in Air Fleets 2, 3 & 5:Fighters:Me 109s . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Me 110s . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 463 37 114 900
844 250
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Bombers: Ju 87s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Do 17, Ju 88, He 111s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Long Range Recce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .
280 1,330 80 2,784
RAF Fighter Command was therefore outnumbered by nearly 3:1 in purely numerical terms. Naturally, enjoying unparalleled success, the Germans were confident. Working against them, however, were the facts that their personnel were tired, having been flying constant operations since May 10th, and their aircraft were in need of attention. Defying these men and machines was not only Fighter Command, in fact, but also the English Channel, every sortie over England dictating two sea crossings. German airman shot down over England or perhaps even the Channel, were likely to become prisoners. An Allied airman shot down could, conversely, even be back in the air later that same day. Officially, the Battle of Britain II is deemed to have begun on July 10th. As the battle developed, distinctive phases, dictated by the attacker, would become apparent. The first concerned enemy attacks against Channel bound convoys. Fighter Command was therefore compelled to fly hundreds of sorties per day to protect this vital merchant shipping. This phase of the Battle of Britain II lasted until August 12th, by which time 30,000 out of nearly five million tons of shipping fell victim to enemy air attacks between Lands End and the Nore. Raids were also mounted by divebombers against various Chain Home radar stations, including those at Pevensey, Rye, Dover and Ventnor. Small and therefore difficult to hit, none of these stations were put out of action for more than 24 hours, so Fighter Command was never denied the advantages of radar. During this phase, the Luftwaffe had lost 261 aircraft, Fighter Command 261. On August 2nd, orders were issued to Luftflotten (Air Fleets) 2, 3 and 5 to destroy Fighter Command. This new phase commenced on August 13th, and concentrated on Fighter Commands airfields in southern England. During this phase, the Germans, flying from northern bases, attacked targets in northern England. To their dismay, however, mistakenly believing RAF fighters to be concentrated in southern England, they were met by Hurricanes and Spitfires in force, due to clever deployment of squadrons. German losses were heavy. Nevertheless, Fighter Commands airfields in 11 Group had taken a pounding and the situation was critical. Reichsmarschal Goering now turned his attention to London and a new phase consequently began on September 7th. Although this was bad news for Londoners, the unexpected
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respite allowed Fighter Command to return its hard-hit aerodromes to top line. During the Battle of the Airfields, the Luftwaffe lost 629 aircraft, Fighter Command 385. London was, the Germans had decided, the only target likely to force the British to commit large numbers of fighters to defend. The first in this series of attacks against London came on the afternoon of Saturday, 7th September. Hundreds of bombs crashed down on docklands east of Tower Bridge. As this latest fire of London later illuminated the night sky, the raiders returned in wave after wave. The attack concluded at 0430 a.m. the following day, by which time 1,800 Londoners were dead. On Sunday, September 15th, the Luftwaffe launched what became its last attempt to gain a decision in daylight over London. Dawn on the great day found most of southern England shrouded with mist, but as the sun climbed higher this quickly evaporated. The fine weather therefore heralded a predictable onslaught. Before 11 a.m., German reconnaissance aircraft had probed the Straits of Dover and the East Coast of Kent. From first light onwards, standing patrols of Spitfires and Hurricanes had been up over the coast from Harwich to Lands End. Each Sector Station kept one squadron at Readiness. At 10.50 a.m., the British radar stations reported an enemy formation assembling SE of Boulogne. Five minutes later all of 11 Groups squadrons were at Readiness. At 11.33 a.m., an enemy formation crossed the coast between Dover and Folkestone, being followed three minutes later by two further hostile plots between Dover and South Foreland. The raiders targets were Londons gas works and other industrial objectives. To parry this thrust, squadrons were airborne, reinforced at midday by the five squadrons of 12 Groups so-called Duxford Big Wing, led by Squadron Leader Bader. Such was the ferocity of Fighter Commands attack that the enemy apparently bombed at random across southern England. Two bombs fell on Buckingham Palace. Hardly had this first mass attack been dispersed, however, than the radar stations reported further incoming raids. Between 2.10 and 2.34 p.m., eight or more German formations crossed the English coast bound for London. Having lit fires in Woolwich, Barking, Stepney, Stratford Gasworks, West Ham, Penge, and at a petrol depot in West Ham, the Luftwaffe withdrew, constantly harried by the defenders. Next, 27 He 111s attacked Portland and were intercepted by just six Spitfires and six RAF fighter squadrons coupled with accurate anti-aircraft fire frustrated an attack on the Supermarine factory near Southampton. This thwarted raid marked an end to the fighting on what has since become
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annually celebrated in Britain as Battle of Britain Day. Although Fighter Commands pilots claimed a total number of 185 enemy aircraft destroyed, more recent research confirms the actual figure as 58. Nevertheless, Fighter Command lost just 28 aircraft and was able to sustain such losses for longer still. On Tuesday, September 17th, British Intelligence intercepted a German signal ordering the dispersal of invasion facilities: Sealion had been postponed indefinitely. The Battle of Britain did not end, however, with the fires in London on September 15th, although clearly that date represented a climax and it provides an ending to this simulation. Attacks on London continued, during daylight, for a while longer yet, although by smaller formations. Successful attacks were made on various targets connected with the British aircraft industry, although on September 30th, KG55s He 111s took a beating during an ill-fated raid on the Westland Aircraft Factory at Yeovil in Somerset. As a result, the He 111 was transferred to the night blitz, which had already started against British cities and which continued right up until May 1941. Although Britains cities continued to suffer at night given that nocturnal defenses remained in their infancy, it was recognized that RAF Fighter Command had won the daylight battle lasting 16 weeks. The British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill paid tribute to RAF Fighter Command: The gratitude of every home in our island . . . goes out to the British airmen, who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of world war by their prowess and devotion. Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.
Dilip Sarkar August 2000.
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CHAPTER 9
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Previous Game and Patch version Credits/Acknowledgements: The original game Battle of Britain was created by Rowan Software and released in late 1999. The Battle of Britain Development Group (BDG), a group of talented and dedicated fans of the original game continued its development after the demise of Rowan Software. While Battle of Britain II Wings of Victory is a radically updated and improved game from the original, without the efforts of all those involved before, it simply would not exist today. Please visit the thread linked below for prior game version credits: http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7510
TECHNICAL SUPPORT:
Please visit:
http://a2asimulations.com/forum/index.php
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Appendix A : BDG.txt
APPENDIX A: The BDG.txt File

As stated previously, in addition to the various in-game GUI menu options, there are many user-configurable options available via the BDG.TXT file. To access the BDG.txt file, exit the game and use Windows Explorer to navigate to the main BoB II folder where the game is installed on your hard drive. IMPORTANT NOTES: Make a backup copy of the BDG.txt file before making changes!!! Use NOTEPAD to edit and make changes to the file. Even if you dont make a backup copy, you can safely delete this file and a new one will be created with default values the next time you launch and then exit the game. Finding Line Items in the BDG.TXT file: The BDG.txt file is fairly long and locating items by scrolling can be tedious. With the BDG.TXT file open with NOTEPAD, try using the EDIT>>>FIND commands at the top, typing in the first few letters or words of any line you are looking for. Some but not all of the BDG.txt items are duplicated in the various ingame GUI menus. A useful tool is the BDG.ADVISOR. Before adjusting any of the BDG.txt parameters, use Windows explorer, navigate to the BoB II main folder and find the folder called BDG ADVISOR. Run the executable BDGAdvisor which is a step-by-step walk through of many (but not all) of the BDG items below. The BDGAdvisor was put together by Retro in the past and many BDG.txt items have been added since it was created. A lot of the items however are explained in the advisor as well. It is a very useful additional tool to understanding many of these variables. Not all BDG items have been fully understood or explained at the time of this writing. Any BDG.txt items not explained previously in this manual or below are either not fully understood or intended to be manipulated by the development staff when testing and making changes for future updates. IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF ANY ITEM, LEAVE IT ALONE!
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Following are excerpts, in the order that they appear from the current release versions default BDG.TXT file. The user adjustable BDG line items are in BOLD. Narrative in italics provides explanations for each item, if known. VERSION = 3 # BOB version # BDG Release version # (floating point) numbers These are the version and comment lines. Leave TRACKIR_Z_AXIS_MODE = 1 If one has TRACK IR, this changes from Z-axis mode to FOV mode. 1 = z-axis mode, 0 = FOV mode. This only functions with TIR with Vector Expansion ON, it will NOT have any effect with TIR with 2DOF. See also the section on Track IR in Chapter Two for additional explanation of Z axis mode versus FOV mode. EYE_X_POS = 0.000000 EYE_Y_POS = 0.000000 EYE_Z_POS = 0.000000 Unknown. Changing these values do not seem to have any effect in the present release. Use only if directed to by a BDG coder. In previous release versions, it appears that these variables allowed for differing pilot eye positions for each flyable aircraft. The feature does not affect any zoom; all it does is to define the focal point for every one of your views. There seems to be no discernable unit of measurement, so trial-and-error will be required for the user to find the setting you want. NEAR_CLIP_NON_COCKPIT = 200.000000 Used for video making. Higher values like the default of 200 lead to generally correct occlusions (like aircraft standing on top of tarmac occludes tarmac) but if the camera comes near an object, it will "cut it". Lower values like 20 have the opposite effect. Use the Video making mode to "fine tune" WK_LANDSCAPE_TEXTURES= 1 This option needs a good graphics card, preferably with 128MB memory or more. Leave at 1 so that you do not get excessive stutter or fps slowdown. The effect is most notably in cities and where you see jaggies, for example at the border of the runway. Since things are sharper, you will
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probably also see more shimmering. To reduce this, use anisotropic filtering, this option can be enabled in the settings of your video card. BOB_SCREENSHOT_MODE= 0 Set to 1 allows the user to make a 360-degree wrap around screenshot. SHADER2TWEAK= # give full path! Feature for Skinners tweaking shaders. For details see Skinners Pack doc. BULLET_LIFESPAN = 5.00 The duration in seconds that the game code will calculate and account for the effect of bullets fired. CPTVIEWPOINTTRAVELRATE = 20.000000 Unknown. IN_CLOUD_EFFECT_POLY_COUNT= 50 Effect Unknown. IN_CLOUD_EFFECT_POLY_SIZE= 100.0000 Effect Unknown. IN_CLOUD_EFFECT_POLY_DOMAIN= 200.0000 Effect Unknown. IN_CLOUD_EFFECT_DENSITY = 0.0000 1.0000 Effect Unknown. # On/Off switches: BDG_OUT_CACHING=OFF Leave this OFF. Used for performance and other testing purposes. TRACKIR=OFF Toggles on or off the games use of the Track IR if installed. The user must still separately launch the Track IR software prior to launching the game irrespective of this setting. NO_OUTSIDE_TRACKIR=OFF If Track IR is installed, it will be disabled upon going to one of the external airplane views. It will be re-enabled upon returning to the cockpit view.
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PADLOCK_OVERRIDES_TRACKIR=OFF When set to ON, when an aircraft is padlocked the viewpoint will follow the padlocked plane and override the Track IR. In most cases, the user will leave this at OFF. EXPERIMENTAL_DISALLOW_DYNAMIC_RENDERER=OFF For use by coders. Leave OFF. ENEMY_POSITION_INDICATOR=OFF Toggles on or off the enemy position indicator. If EPI has been enabled in the Adv. Game menu, the H key will also toggle it on or off along with the attitude indicator HUD. SMOOTHEN_FRAMERATE_MODE=SMOOTHEN Options are NONELIMITED LIMIT_AND_SMOOTHEN or NONE. When set to None, the game will attempt to play at maximum FPS but may have stutter. Limited is a hard FPS limit of 32. Smoothen may reduce overall FPS on average but will reduce the amount of stutters and the player may in fact perceive that the game is smoother, even with a slightly slower FPS. MULTI_SKIN_MODE=ENABLE valid modes: DISABLE, ENABLE, FX_FILES_ONLY, MS_FILES_ONLY. Only active when the optional MultiSkin update has been iinstalled. See Chapter Six for additional information on Multiskin. SPC_Skill_RAF=NONE SPC_Skill_LUF=NONE valid selections (must spell correctly or defaults to NONE): HERO, ACE, VETERAN, REGULAR, POOR, NOVICE, NONE (NONE is default means no forced SPC skill level) Used in the Single Pilot Campaign. These act to reduce or enhance skill levels at a global level. If a player is finding things too hard, he can enhance skills on his own side and reduce them on the enemies. It works similarly to the Campaign Skill level setting under the MISSION page in the GUI (LW and RAF skill setting) but you can change it at any time. If this is used, he variability between units is lost. They are ALL set to the skill level chosen. So it's not quite like the setting in the GUI. That bumps all the units up or down a notch or two, but preserves the variability between them. However, he setting in the GUI is fixed once you start a campaign.
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USE_DUMMY_IF_TEXTURE_MISSES=ON Leave ON. This forces the game to use a blank dummy texture if a given texture fails to load in the graphics card memory. It reduces game crashes in the event such texture loads fail. NO_FRIENDLY_COLLISIONS=ON Toggles on or off collisions with friendly aircraft. DRAW_PADLOCK_CENTER_BOX=ON Also selectable in-game GUI under the Adv. Game menu. Draws a red box momentarily when pressing Padlock center-most object S key. If an A/C is inside the box, it will be padlocked when the S key is released. NOTE: You must have first also enabled the drawing of the padlock diamond (SHIFT+T) to see it if an object has been padlocked. WINAMP_FADES_OUT=ON In previous BDG versions, WinAmp stopped playing when exiting the 3D game. Setting this bdg.txt variable to OFF means WinAmp will continue playing; you will however not be able to use theWinAmp-control key presses. FORCE_WINDOWED_MODE=OFF Toggles the game to play in windowed mode. NOTE REGARDING WATER COLOUR VARIABLES: The DARK values are the king values. They have great influence on the waters colors seen in the game in all times of day and weather conditions. The LIGHT values have little effect in all conditions except dusk. Best keep them at close to 50,50,50 which is a medium gray color. WATER_COLOUR_DARK_R = 55 WATER_COLOUR_DARK_G = 55 WATER_COLOUR_DARK_B = 55 WATER_COLOUR_LIGHT_R = 0 WATER_COLOUR_LIGHT_G = 0 WATER_COLOUR_LIGHT_B = 0 LABELCOLOUR_FRIENDLY = 77aa77 LABELCOLOUR_ENEMY = aa7777 These govern the colour of the aircraft labels, their values are in RGB-hex format, meaning that the first 2 characters set the red-component of the colour (0 to 255), the next two characters govern the green part and the last two the blue part.
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The values above are the standard ones, blue for allies, green for enemies. Leading zeroes may be omitted (0000ff is equal to ff). 000000 is black, ffffff is white. NOTE: For those unfamiliar with RGB-Hex colour format, use the INGAME 3D menu under ADV/GAME (rather than these BDG.txt values) to adjust these various colours. Single_Chararacter_Labels = ON The aircraft descriptions can be customised to show whatever the player wishes SHORTENED_LABELS = OFF Show_MoveCodess = OFF and then find and set the following two Bdg.txt parameters like this: Single_Character_Label_Enemy= + Single_Character_Label_Friendly= O You can choose your personal single characters, of course. Dots work too.. whatever you prefer. INFOLINE_COLOUR = ddcc0000 This value is again in hex format, but in contrast to the label-feature there is a setting for text-alpha (text opacity). A typical setting may be 7f00ff00 which means display the text at half alpha (7f is 127 in hex) green (00ff00 means 0 red, full green, 0 blue). To toggle the infoline background, set the variable SHOW_INFOLINE_BACKGROUND to either ON or OFF this line is found farther down in the BDG.txt file. INTRO_VIDEO=ON Toggles on or off the intro videos to play. The following FOV items are related to Field of View. They are essentially the same as the in-game Field of View menu GUI items. These are expressed in terms of degrees. FOV_SMALL = 25.000000 This changes your focus in the cockpit view to this preset value. This value is a slice of the normal cockpit view. Basically, the value you enter, (the default is 25 degrees) is the degrees around the centreline of your aircraft that your view is focused to. This view is extremely useful for those pilots who do not use aircraft text labels in order to zoom their eyesight and to make an aircraft identification. FOV_MEDIUM = 50.000000 FOV_LARGE = 80.000000
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These are a similar function as FOV_SMALL only they change the medium and large FOV views. FOV_LARGE displays as much of the cockpit as possible (the current maximum for this is 110 degrees). This view can lead to problems if the number becomes too large. As the value gets larger the program has to force all the objects on to the screen. This may cause a fisheye view where objects in the middle of the screen are larger than normal, and objects at the edges of the screen are smaller. If this happens and you do not like the effect, simply lower this value. FOV_TOGGLE_SMALL = 35.000000 FOV_TOGGLE_LARGE = 70.000000 The assigned key will toggle to these Field of View values FOV_INITIAL = 60.000000 This is the cockpit field of view value you will see when you first enter the cockpit. FOV_MINIMAL = 18.000000 FOV_MAXIMAL = 80.000000 The assigned key will toggle these values. PC_PITCH = 10.000000 This is a wedge that extends vertically from the centre of your current view. If that value is 10, there will be a wedge that extends 20 degrees from the plane your wings form, in the direction of your lift line. See also Field of View menu GUI section PC_HDG = 10.000000 This is a wedge that extends horizontally from the centre of your current view. So if the value is 10, there will be a wedge of 20 degrees off your current heading in that the Padlock Centre will work See also Field of View menu GUI section. CONVERGENCE = 250. Permits you to set the distance where your bullet streams will converge. Default distance is 250 yards. When you fire at a target from the distance set as the convergence point, the maximum amount of damage will be inflicted, as the majority of the bullets are all impacting in the same spot. UDET_TEST_MODE = 0 This needs to be set to 1 if you want to be able to fly the Instant Action mission Checking the Udet Buoys.
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TRACKVIEWRANGE = 256 The decimal value governs the initial range of the outside (track) view. Sadly we are not sure about the units of this value, so a bit fiddling is in order. The range for aircraft labels is set through the next 3 lines: LABEL_FULL_ALPHA = 2000 LABEL_HALF_ALPHA = 6000 LABEL_ZERO_ALPHA = 8000 'Alpha' means the 'opacity' of the colour, if alpha is zero the colour is effectively invisible. Full_Alpha is the maximum range till labels will be drawn 'fully', in ranges between FULL_ALPHA and HALF_ALPHA the alpha will decrease linear from 'full' to 'half' (i.e. 128), in ranges between HALF_ALPHA and ZERO_ALPHA it will decrease linearly from 128 to 0; Aircraft that are farther away than the ZERO_ALPHA range do not get labels drawn at all. Units of those values are meters. PERIPHERAL_VISION_RANGE = 4000 Since no PC monitor as yet can truly replicate the very wide field of view of the human eyes, another one of the situational awareness aids BoB II implements are the ICONS that float on the edge of the screen, simulating the pilots peripheral vision. Adjusting this value changes how your vision can track aircraft out of the corner of your eye and is in meters. MINIDUMPLOG_TYPE = 0 PERFORMANCE_TEST_MODE = 0 DEBUG_NORMALS_OF_SHAPE_NUMBER = 1 Use only if directed to by a BDG coder CPTVIEWPOINTTRAVELINC= 150 Unknown. RAIN_FACTOR= 32 Affects amount of raindrops generated. Set to 0 removes the rain completely. OBJECT_DENSITY= 1 Also selectable in the in-game GUI under MORE GFX/Ground Object Density. 1 is Minimum, 4 is Full. Determines how many ground objects are used in game that were placed with the ObjectAdds method. Big effect on frame rates if set high. Maneuvre_Testing= 0
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Maneuvre_Testing1= 0 Maneuvre_Testing2= 0 DO NOT ADJUST. These are for gathering log data on AI issues/problems/analysis by BDG coders. Appendix C of this manual lists the BoBII developer programs where the data is collected. User should only change these items at the request of a BDG dev coder. Render_Sheep_View_Radius= 0 Set to zero, NO sheep are drawn and distributed across the landscape. This should help lower end PCs a bit with performance as the sheep are fairly numerous. If the user wants sheep to be rendered, change this value to 2. Air_To_Air_Collision_Bubble_Size = 10 Set smaller for fewer collisions and larger for more collisions(use an integer value.) Spitfire_Aileron_Trim_Delta = 1500 Hurricane_Aileron_Trim_Delta = 1450 BF109_Aileron_Trim_Delta = 1250 BF110_Aileron_Trim_Delta = 400 JU87B_Aileron_Trim_Delta = 1400 These are Flight Model adjustments, used to simulate the fixed (nonadjustable) aileron trim found on the various aircraft. These settings will offset propeller torque effects, in the cruise condition. Leave as is. Max_Number_AI_Targeting_Player= 2 This parameters sets the initial maximum number of enemy aircraft simultaneously targeting the player on the initial engage (Peel Off manoevre). This was to prevent too many AI from targeting the player when badly outnumbered sometimes called the Conga Line of attackers.. It is very important to understand that additional AI can and will target the player above the value selected IF the player shoots at and hits or near misses other AI. Those AI will then target the player in response until they too are shot at and targeted by a different AI. In other words, even if this value is set to 1, if the player flies into a formation of enemy fighters and sprays multiple shots at many of them, all those hit or with near misses may target the player. Max_Number_AI_Targeting_AI= 2 Similar to the parameter above, this sets the maximum number of AI that will simultaneously target other AI. If one or more of the targeting AI is shot down, another will likely take its place if the AI is near a hostile.
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Time_In_IA_Missions_Until_LUF_Returns_Home= 10 # (in minutes), Set to 0 for no time limit in an IA mission until the LUF return home. If the Go Home parameters have not otherwise been reached, the LW AI will go home after the value in minutes set here. Set to zero and the AI will stay and fight until the Go Home parameters have been reached. The Go Home parameters are low fuel or more than 50% of the AI in the squadron have been damaged or dead. PARTICLE_DENSITY= 2 Also selectable in the in-game GUI under MORE GFX/Particle Density. 1 is Minimum, 4 is Full. Affects the look of smoke, fire, etc. Big effect on frame rates if set high. NO_OF_HIRES_SCREENIE_TILES = 6 # per line/row, so a '4' leads to 16 actual tiles, each as large as the screen. Currently not working. Ignore OVERRIDE_FIRST_PROP_RPM_SWITCH = 200 Different prop rotation speeds use different textures for the in-game view of the prop spinning, of which there are three textures. The switch between one texture and the next is at a certain RPM. The value Rowan originally used for the first switch was 500 for all planes. The value entered here (200 by default) overrides the Rowan 500 value. NOTE REGARDING THE FOLLOWING Weather (Sun and Sky) PARAMETERS: Not all of the following have been fully tested and explained as of this writing: Weather_Dusk_Time_Sec= 71700 This is the dusk time in seconds. It translates to 7:55PM or 19.55. The number is derived as follows: seconds (19*60*60+55*60) = 71700 Weather_Dawn_Time_Sec= 17100 This is the dawn time in seconds. It translates to 4:45AM or 04.55. The number is derived as follows: seconds (4*60*60+45*60) =17100 The above time parameters can only be changed slightly, by about 30 minutes or so, as both are used later in the game software to calculate the suns position. Weather_CloudAlbedo= 1.000 Higher number adds more gray to the cloud bottoms. Darkens the sea LIGHT color also. 2.000 is way too much.
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Weather_SunGlow= 0.250 Determines brightness of glow around the sun. Higher = brighter. No apparent effect on other sky settings. Weather_SunFlare= 0.500 Determines the sun flare size. Higher = larger. No apparent effect on other sky settings. Weather_SkyLambda3= 2250000.0 Weather_SkyLambda2= 1604038.0 Weather_SkyLambda1= 1250000.0 These values affect the sky color. Some values can give a whiter horizon while others will make the horizon bluer. Weather_SunLambda3= 0.506 Weather_SunLambda2= 0.560 Weather_SunLambda1= 0.685 These change the color of the light the sun emits. This includes the glow around the sun, the horizon (360 degrees), and 180 degrees from the sun. SunLambda and Sky Lambda are RGB values. 1. Red 2. Green 3. Blue All of these settings work in harmony together. You can make radical changes in one area and make up for it in another. Weather_SkyExposure= -0.350 Determines sky and sunglow brightness. Lower (more negative) numbers brighten both. Similar to underexposed or overexposed camera film. Weather_Turbidity= 1.800 Effects the glow around the sun disk. Lower numbers darken it, higher numbers brighten it. Too high and it brightens over the disc. Small effect on sea highlighted reflections. Weather_SkyGamma= 3.000 Affects sky color. Higher numbers give lighter blues. Weather_SunIntensity= 150.000 Affects the glow around the sun disk and the Sky Exposure. Higher numbers, brighter. Weather_MieG= -1.500 Heavy effect on the glow around the sun. Best left as 1.500
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Weather_MMult= 0.0000013 Unkown. More experimentation needed. Best left as is. Weather_RMult= 0.018 Unknown. More experimentation needed. Best left as is. Weather_SunColor= 1.000 Determines sun color. The default setting is white light and is best left as is. NOTE REGARDING THE FOLLOWING CLOUD PARAMETERS: Not all of the following have been fully tested and explained as of this writing. Poor and Inclement weather are only available if weather has been set to HIGH in the in-game GFX menu. Higher values will mean fuller, thicker clouds but a corresponding hit on frame rates. The thick nimbus cloud values seem to have a much larger impact on frames per second than the higher-level cumulus clouds. As you experiment with changes, compare the values from one weather setting to the next (i.e. Fair clod cover compared to Poor Cloud cover). Cloud_Fair_CloudCover= 140.000 Cloud_Fair_CloudDensity= 160.000 Cloud_Fair_CloudSliceHeight= 3048.000 Cloud_Poor_CloudCover= 160.000 Cloud_Poor_CloudDensity= 160.000 Cloud_Poor_CloudSliceHeight= 3048.000 Cloud_Poor_NimbusCover= 170.000 Cloud_Inclement_CloudCover= 220.000 Cloud_Inclement_CloudDensity= 254.000 Cloud_Inclement_CloudSliceHeight= 3048.000 Cloud_Inclement_NimbusCover= 200.000 Cloud_Inclement_RainStrength= 1.000 Cloud_Inclement_FogDensity= 1.000 Cloud_Inclement_FogEndMult= 0.400 NOTE regarding Cloud Slice Height values: These are like a pancake stacked on top of each other to build a cloud. The default is 3048 (FT_100 in the table below). Some users have reported better-looking clouds at 1500 (FT_50). The degree of impact on FPS is not yet clear with the cloud slice height. FT_0 = 0 FT_1 = 30
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FT_2 = 60 FT_3 = 92 FT_5 = 150 FT_6 = 183 FT_10 = 305 FT_20 = 609 FT_25 = 750 FT_30 = 900 FT_40 = 1219 FT_50 = 1500 FT_60 = 1829 FT_63 = 1920 FT_65 = 1981 FT_70 = 2134 FT_75 = 2286 FT_80 = 2438 FT_90 = 2743 FT_94 = 2865 FT_95 = 2895 FT_96 = 2926 FT_100 = 3048 FT_105 = 3200 FT_110 = 3350 FT_120 = 3658 FT_130 = 3962 FT_140 = 4268 FT_145 = 4418 FT_150 = 4572
EPI_Y_RADIUS = 10.000000 This is used in conjunction with EPI_RADIUS(see below).These two values change the size of the Enemy Position Indicator. The default ratio of Radius to Y Radius is 5 to 1. To keep the same default orientation we suggest you keep to this ratio. The numbers are in pixels. PAN_SPEED_FACTOR = 3.000000 Determines the panning-speed in the 3d world (this includes the photo screen in the campaign!) Changing from 1 to 2 for example will double the regular panning speed. If the pan view is too fast for you, reduce to 1. This also affects the speed in death views. HIRES_LANDSCAPE_OFFSET = 0.400000 Best left at 0.400000 which is the prime setting. Intended as a graphics developers tool. For example if you change it to 1.400000, then you can see exactly how all the mapped tiles are placed, because each tile will have a sea colored border line. This is actually the underlying sea showing. ART_HORIZON_SIZE = 40.000000 This setting determines the size of the Artificial Horizon in pixels. EPI_RADIUS = 50.000000 Used in conjunction with EPI_Y_RADIUS (see above) UI_REFRESH = 60.000000 Allows you to set the refresh rate of the monitor in Hertz.
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TEMP_AGTL_DIST = 3000.000000 TEMP_AG_DIST = 3000.000000 For use with Autogen. See Appendix F. RETICLE_SIZE_BIAS = 1.000000 Unknown. Use only if directed to by a BDG coder. Jump_Test_Tool_Percent_X = 0.000 Jump_Test_Tool_Percent_Y = 0.000 Jump_Test_Tool_Percent_Z = 0.000 Do not adjust. These are for doing Jump/Warp analysis of the Artificial Intelligence Aircraft. User should only change these at the request of a BDG dev coder Novice_AI_Airspeed_Fraction = 0.000 Allows the user to adjust the speed of the AI aircraft as a percentage of stock speed. Lowering the number, for example to 65.00 means that the AI will now operate at 35% slower than the regular speed. This parameter is useful for novice pilots or children who are just learning BoB II and can be overwhelmed by the manoeuvreability and lethalit y of the AI aircraft. External_View_Starting_Distance = 3.100000 This sets the starting distance from the A/C in external view The default is 3.1 which fixes slight vibration in external view by increasing the distance slightly. For anyone who wants/needs (for Pics or close inspections) the old distance set to 1.3. External_View_Zoom_Distance = 50.000000 Sets the max zoom distance from the camera (player A/C) in external view default = 50.To zoom out farther set to 60,70,80,etc.Mainly for movie makers like MP SPIN PARAMETERS: See the section A Spin Is A Beautiful Thing in Chapter Five for a detailed explanation of how to adjust the following seven spin parameters.
Player_Spin_AOA_Control = 16.500000 Player_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.000000

These entries are reserved or used internally for spin control processing. Value shown here does not matter.
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Player_Spitfire_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.250000
Sets the wing angle of attack trigger point for spinning for the Spitfire, when player-flown. Units are degrees. The range of valid values is 12.000000 and up. A setting of 0.000000 will result in no spins. Refer to the section A Spin Is A Beautiful Thing in Chapter Five for a detailed explanation of how to adjust the two key spin parameters, Spin AOA Control and Spin Rotational Velocity Control.
Player_Spitfire_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 8.000000
Sets the rotational velocity trigger point for spinning. Units are degrees per second. The range of valid values is 1.000000 and up. Again, this particular setting is for the Spitfire, when player-flown.
Player_Hurricane_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500000 Player_Hurricane_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 10.000000 Player_BF109_Spin_AOA_Control = 20.500000 Player_BF109_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 10.250000 Player_BF110_Spin_AOA_Control = 20.500000 Player_BF110_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 10.250000 Player_JU87_Spin_AOA_Control = 19.250000 Player_JU87_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 9.750000 Player_Tigermoth_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500000 Player_Tigermoth_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 4.250000
Per the explanation for the Spitfire, these settings are used for these other aircraft when flown by the player. Values shown here are the defaults for Patch 2.10.
AI_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500000 AI_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 4.250000

As above, these entries are reserved or used internally for AI spin control processing value does not matter.
AI_Spitfire_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.250000 291

Sets the wing angle of attack trigger point for spinning, when the Spitfire is AI-flown. The range of valid values is 12.000000 and up. A setting of 0.000000 will result in no spins for the AI Spitfires.
AI_Spitfire_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 8.000000
Sets the rotational velocity trigger point for spinning, for the AI-flown Spitfire. The range of valid values is 1.000000 and up.
AI_Hurricane_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500000 AI_Hurricane_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 10.000000 AI_BF109_Spin_AOA_Control = 19.250000 AI_BF109_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 8.750000 AI_BF110_Spin_AOA_Control = 19.250000 AI_BF110_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 8.750000 AI_JU87_Spin_AOA_Control = 19.250000 AI_JU87_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 9.750000 AI_Tigermoth_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500000 AI_Tigermoth_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 4.250000
Per the explanation for the AI Spitfire, these settings are applied when these aircraft are flown by the AI. Values shown here are the defaults for Patch 2.10.
Spin_AISkill_Equal_Veteran = 150.000000 Spin_AISkill_GreaterOrEqual_Ace = 100.000000 Spin_AISkill_LessOrEqual_Regular = 200.000000

These settings establish the AI pilots reaction time to a spin condition; i.e. elapsed time between departure from controlled flight and recovery inputs being initiated. The default numbers shown here set the delay, in hundreds of a second, for various AI skill levels higher AI skill levels react more quickly. Use larger values if you wish to see the AI aircraft spinning longer. In v.2.10 the following Bdg.txt parameters for Spin control was added for both the AI and the player. The player will not need to change the spin setting when flying different flyable A/C (done at player request). Player_Spin_AOA_Control = 0.000000 #Used/reserved by Buddye for spin control processing, Note - Value does not matter
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Player_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 0.000000 #Used/reserved by Buddye for spin control processing, Note - Value does not matter Player_Spitfire_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500000 #Player Spitfire,set to 0.0 Means no spins for Player Player_Spitfire_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 4.250000 #Player Spitfire Player_Hurricane_Spin_AOA_Control = 16.500000 #Player Hurricane,set to 0.0 Means no spins for Player Player_Hurricane_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.000000 #Player Hurricane) Player_BF109_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.500000 #Player BF109,set to 0.0 Means no spins for Player Player_BF109_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.000000 #Player BF109 Player_BF110_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.500000 #Player BF110,set to 0.0 Means no spins for Player Player_BF110_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.000000 #Player BF110 Player_JU87_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.500000 #Player JU87,set to 0.0 Means no spins for Player Player_JU87_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 6.000000 #Player JU87 Player_Tigermoth_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500000 #Player Tigermoth,set to 0.0 Means no spins for Player Player_Tigermoth_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 4.250000 #Player Tigermoth AI_Spin_AOA_Control = 0.000000 #Used/Reserved by Buddye for AI spin control processing, Note - Value does not matter AI_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 0.000000 #Used/Reserved by Buddye for AI spin control processing, Note - Value does not matter AI_Spitfire_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500000 #AI Spitfire,set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI A/C AI_Spitfire_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 4.250000 #AI Spitfire AI_Hurricane_Spin_AOA_Control = 16.500000 #AI Hurricane,set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI A/C AI_Hurricane_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.000000 #AI Hurricane AI_BF109_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.500000 #AI BF109,set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI A/C AI_BF109_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.000000 #AI BF109 AI_BF110_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.500000 #AI BF110,set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI A/C AI_BF110_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.000000 #AI BF110
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AI_JU87_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.500000 #AI JU87,set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI A/C AI_JU87_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 6.000000 #AI JU87 AI_Tigermoth_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500000 #AI Tigermoth,set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI A/C AI_Tigermoth_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 4.250000 #AI Tigermoth Wind_Effects_Fraction = 0.250 #Set to 1.00 for full wind effects. This allows the user to adjust the force of the wind effects as a percentage. Set at 0.25 means that the wind effects are 25% of the regular full wind effects. This is useful for less experienced pilots to test different levels of wind effects rather than just on or off. Collision_Avoidance_Rear_End = 10.000000 Collision_Avoidance_Head_On = 15.000000 Used in conjunction with Collision_Detection_And_Avoidance these allow the user to set the time in seconds that an AI Pilot will take to avoid a collision GEAR_IMPACT_THRESHOLD_1 = 0.1666 Unknown. GEAR_IMPACT_THRESHOLD_2 = 0.3300 Unknown. GEAR_ROLLING_SOUND = 1.0000 Unknown.
SPITFIRE_Aileron_Boost_Delta = 1.150000 SPITFIRE_Rudder_Boost_Delta = 0.550000 SPITFIRE_Elevator_Boost_Delta = 1.100000 HURRICANE_Aileron_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 HURRICANE_Rudder_Boost_Delta = 0.500000 HURRICANE_Elevator_Boost_Delta = 1.050000 BF109_Aileron_Boost_Delta = 0.900000 BF109_Rudder_Boost_Delta = 0.550000 BF109_Elevator_Boost_Delta = 1.100000 BF110_Aileron_Boost_Delta = 0.950000 BF110_Rudder_Boost_Delta = 0.550000 BF110_Elevator_Boost_Delta = 1.100000 JU87B_Aileron_Boost_Delta = 0.850000
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JU87B_Rudder_Boost_Delta = 0.500000 JU87B_Elevator_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 TigerMoth_Aileron_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 TigerMoth_Rudder_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 TigerMoth_Elevator_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 Provided Reduce Surface Deflection is set to ON elsewhere in the .bdg file, these settings adjust the rate at which achievable control surface deflection reduces, with increases in dynamic pressure (which basically is a function of altitude and airspeed). This can apply to either or both player- and AI-flown aircraft, as desired. The larger the value used, the greater the available deflection at a given dynamic pressure. Deviations from the above defaults may necessitate adjustments to player/AI spin settings.
These are adjustments for flight model changes used by the FM Engineer.Leave. AUTO_SHAPE_CHANGE = 000000 Unknown DEBUG_STUTTER= 0 This variable tells the program to send output to a file used for debugging. Do not change it unless asked by a (cue drum roll) BDG coder. This option can slow your game down tremendously. OPTIMISE_OBJECTS_DURING_RUNTIME=OFF This is now left off due to a gigantic buildings bug that has been introduced with the new buildings DELETE_MODELS_FOLDER_CONTENTS=OFF Effect unknown. FIX_OBJECTADDS=ON Set to ON fixed seemingly unexplained crashes, collisions and explosion problems on take-off and landing at certain airfields that affected a limited number of users. EVERYTHING_OBSCURES_TERRAIN=OFF This is to make sure nothing gets occluded by the terrain. This is wrong, for example the lower part of a house might be beneath the surface or
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looking at a hill, houses behind it should be occluded by the terrain. Mainly used for terrain modeling purposes so leave OFF. However,if video making, and none of these cases occur in your screenshot or video and if you use a small NEAR_CLIP_NON_COCKPIT this variable allows you to kludge it. It is suggested using this variable whenever you use a (very) small NEAR_CLIP_NON_COCKPIT. ALLOW_ULTRA_HIGH_FOVS=OFF Set to ON if you use TripleHead2Go. This will allow the user to use all three monitors DRAW_MENU_ON_3D_SCREEN=ON Effect unknown. DISABLE_ALL_2D_ELEMENTS=OFF Recommended leave OFF. Set to ON, it disables all 2D parts of the 3D view. Can be used for example by movie makers that do not want a HUD, infoline, EPI, radio menu, etc. ENGINE_ALWAYS_RUNNING=OFF Toggles the engine running on or off. Very useful to have ON in the IA and Campaign missions where the player is starting from the airfield and has to take off especially with wingmen involved. With this setting OFF in those missions, your wingmen typically take off and are on their way much sooner than the player can get his engine started. Even with this setting on one can still use the interactive cockpit controls to shut off the engine (if Manual Engine management has been enabled in the GUI menu). HEAD_BOBBING=ON If this option is set to ON, your virtual head will move in response to the G-forces that you are pulling with your aircraft. Your screen will move with no panning inputs from you, this feature works independently of the Blackout/Whiteout/Redout effects your pilot may experience. SHOW_INFOLINE_BACKGROUND=OFF Toggles the infoline background. SKINNERS_MODE=OFF Used for on the fly texture editing. You can edit textures while the game is running. Set to ON will force the windowed mode, and change the following two bdg.txt line items below to ON.
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CHECK_TEXTURES_ARE_AS_EXPECTED=OFF Used for on the fly texture editing. Easier to just set SKINNERS_MODE= ON - see above AUTO_TEXTURE_CHANGE=OFF Used for on the fly texture editing. Easier to just set SKINNERS_MODE= ON see above USE_HIRES_LANDSCAPE_TILES=ON Toggles ON or OFF hi resolution landscape tile textures. Set this to OFF if your video graphics card has less than 64 MB or memory. BOB_DISABLE_ENGINE_CUTOUT=OFF Enables/Disables the engine cutout British fighters experienced when they entered a negative G dive. This is because in the early model Spitfires and Hurricanes gravity-fed carburetors were used instead of fuel injected systems used by the German fighters. To avoid the engine cut out, RAF fighters had to first roll inverted before entering a dive. This feature only works if the complex engine management is enabled in the in game GUI configuration screen. BOB_DISABLE_STALL_HORN=OFF If set to ON the player will hear a stall warning horn if the engine is operated at less than 25% power (throttle) while flying the RAF aircraft. BOB_BOMBERFIX=ON This is an improvement over the original bomber behaviors when they are attacked and damaged. When set to ON, the bombers will do the following if the engine damage reaches a certain level. First, with the lower damage the bomber will break formation and head for home or the crew will bail out (rookie crew). If the engine damage increases, the crew will bail out, the bomber will crash (crew overcome by toxic smoke) or the bomber will explode caused by a fuel fire or bullet hitting the detonator cap on one of the bombs aboard the aircraft. LEAVE this setting ON. NO_HEAD_BOBBING_WHILE_PADLOCK=OFF When an aircraft or object is padlocked, the Head Bobbing is disabled if this option is set to ON. Once the padlock is broken, the head bobbing with G effects resumes. BOB_FIGHTERFIX=ON Similar to the BOB_BOMBERFIX, this is an improvement to the original fighter behavior when they are attacked and damaged. The fighters
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(including the JU87 Stuka in this case), if and only if the engine damage reaches a certain level, the fighter will crash (crew overcome with toxic smoke), the crew will bail out (if and only if the canopy is not damaged), or if the crew can not bail out due to canopy damage then it will crash, or the fighter will explode. BOB_PADLOCKFIX=OFF In a previous version of BoB, a new padlock mode was added that removed the strange upside-down view one got when diving after an aircraft. Unfortunately, you may see a video stutter problem on rolling your aircraft with this feature activated. To enable this feature, set to ON. CONTINUE_QUIT_BOX_CAMPAIGN=ON Upon completing the mission requirements in an individual mission within campaign, a pop-up window will appear asking if you want to continue or quit the mission. Changing this to OFF will stop the pop-up window from appearing once the mission requirement(s) have been achieved. CONTINUE_QUIT_BOX_QUICK=OFF Upon completing the mission requirements in an Instant Action mission, a pop-up window will appear asking if you want to continue or quit the mission. Changing this option to OFF will stop the pop-up window from appearing once the mission requirement(s) have been achieved. FIX_KEYBOARD_RUDDER=OFF Fixes an error to allow the keyboard to fully deflect the rudder to the same degree a joystick would be able to. If you use rudder input from a joystick, rudder pedals, or twist grip, do not enable this feature. DEBUG_ROLL=OFF Debugging feature for coders. Leave off unless otherwise requested during testing. PRELOAD_STANDARD_FILES=ON Enables program to load standard .bin files during mission generation. This removes some of the stutters seen during action when these files are loaded. AUTOMATIC_PRELOAD=ON When you fly a quick mission for the first time, the computer remembers what files it was required to load during the game play and writes this information into a file. The next time you fly the same mission, these files
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are preloaded. This removes the hiccup or stutter that occurs when the file would be loaded during your flight in 3D. The whole process is totally automatic and currently only works with quick missions. We recommend setting this to ON. VIEW_TIME_FUDGE=OFF Effect unknown. DEBUG_RUDDER=OFF Debugging feature for coders. Leave off unless otherwise requested during testing. SKIP_QUICKVIDEOS=OFF Toggle ON or OFF Instant historical video clips SKIP_VIDEOS=OFF Toggle ON or OFF the historical video clips in the various campaign menus. SHORTENED_LABELS=OFF Toggles on or off the full or an abbreviated aircraft label. This will only work if aircraft names have been enabled in the in-game GUI menu. HIDE_AMMO_COUNTER=ON Set OFF displays your remaining ammo count in the Infoline. ALWAYS_BEHIND_GUNSIGHT=ON In real life the Messerschmitt BF-109 gun sight (as well as the Stukas) was off-centre from the pilots seated position. He was nonetheless able to align his eye to the gunsight without shifting his head over simply by using one eye to aim. The off-centered nature of the gun sight by default thus mirrors the fact that we have a pair of eyes that are not in the middle of our heads. In-game, there is only one camera simulated eye which IS in the middle of the virtual head. So if the virtual head is centered in the cockpit it is not going to be centered behind the gunsight. By setting this BDG.txt feature ON the pilot will always be aligned behind the gun sight. BOB_SMOOTHER_DEADZONE=ON Set ON creates a smoother transition from the centre point of the deadzone to the maximum deflection point on your joystick. If you have no deadzone on your control configuration then activating this feature may have little impact. For those that do, this feature should make aircraft movements smoother and easier to control.
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Bullet_DragGravity=OFF Toggles on or off the effect of gravity on bullets fired. Leaving this OFF makes your fire more accurate but is less realistic. Bullet_Dispersion=ON Toggles bullet dispersion on or off. When set to ON, as in real life, bullets will spread out the further away they travel from the barrel, making your shots less accurate. When set to OFF, the bullets will travel like a laser beam so you are more accurate but is less true to the real life behavior of bullets. The dispersion is 4 meters at 400 yards (max) for fighters and 16 meters for hand operated guns (Max). The dispersion radius decreases as the range to the target decreases at the same rate (100 meters = 1 meter, 200 meters = 2 meters, 300 meters = 3 meters). With v2.09 the following adjustable parameters were added Dispersion_Bomber_Gunner_Player = 450 Dispersion_Bommer_Gunner_AI = 200 Dispersion_Flyable_Planes_Player = 100 Dispersion_Front_Cannons_AI = 100 Dispersion_Def_JU87_Front_Guns_AI = 100 Dispersion_Heavy_Fighters_Front_Guns_AI = 100 Dispersion_Def_Rear_Gunner_AI = 150 Dispersion_JU87_Rear_Gunner_AI = 200 Dispersion_BF110_Rear_Gunner_AI = 200 Dispersion_Veteran_Regular_Skill_Increment = 10 Dispersion_Poor_Novice_Skill_Increment = 10 No_Spinning_Death=OFF Changing this to ON will eliminate the spinning outside view when your virtual pilot is killed or crashes, and you will instead see a fade-in to red screen. Friendly_Fire=ON With Friendly_Fire=ON, the AI can shoot any AI or the player, and with Friendly_Fire=OFF, friendly AI can not shoot other Friendly AI or the friendly player.ON is the Default Allow_Commander_Campaign_Sack=ON This will stop a campaign if your civilian superiors judge your performance to be inadequate. To prevent the commander campaign sack set to OFF
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Campaign_Break_Off_Code=ON This controls the campaign breakoff code. If ON the break off code will be applied which is the default. Set to OFF and the breakoff is skipped. This allows the player can chase the enemy AI back to base and it will fight and evade. Be warned it also permits the enemy AI to chase you back to base. Permit_Annoying_Radio_chatter=ON This is used to stop the annoying unnecessary chatter (SHOOTHIM and slow down I can not keep up). The default is ON. Set the parameter to OFF to stop. Use_The_Spinout_Maneuver=ON This works when you shoot at a enemy AI and score a hit or near miss. If the targeted AI is Damage = Yes (a specific amount of damage that that will send the targeted AI home (movecode =DISENGAGED or SCREWYOUIMGOINGHOME), then the targeted AI will have a 20% (medium) chance of a Spinout. If the targeted AI is Damaged = No, then the targeted AI has the following percent chance of a Spinout based on skill level: NOVICE and POOR = 20% REGULAR and VETERAN = 15% ACE and HERO = 10% This tries to simulate the different skill level AI pilots surprise and ham fisted reaction to being targeted, surprised, and shot at and the fact that a damaged A/C will tend to spinout when the AI pilot over reacts. The default is set to ON.
Do_You_Want_AI_AC_To_Spin=ON Set this to OFF in order to preclude spins by all AI-flown aircraft.
Do_You_Want_To_Fight_The_Terminator_AI=OFF #Note: Only valid for IA Missions. If set to ON, you will fight The Terminator AI. The Terminator will not disengage (except when they kill an enemy) and they will not go home. It is a fight to the death for both the wingmen (friendly) and the enemy AI (unless one gets too far out of the 8,000 meter visible range). The Terminator is as aggressive as Hero and Ace and may even ram you as he does not care about being killed. The Terminator has a weakness as his defense is rather normal as his focus is on offense. As the fight continues, more Terminator AIs will be assigned to target the player. The Goal of the Terminator Skill level is to challenge the player to try and survive the 12-on-12 Random Advantage
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Instant Mission and be the last one standing with your wingmens help. Good luck. Padlock_Enemy_AI_Targeting_Player=OFF To padlock the enemy AI that is targeting the player,set to ON and press the ALT+F1 key. Remember that the only time a enemy is targeting the player is during combat (movecode = AUTOCOMBAT). If no enemy AI is targeting the player you will get the View Not Available message at the lower left of the screen. If the default is used (OFF) then the ALT+F1 key will do its default function (Padlock the enemy AI leader most of the time, using the players enemy pointer (called ai.unfriendly). Novice_AI=OFF The enemy AI aircraft in BoBII are very sophisticated and have many potential manoeuvres at their disposal for defense and attack. They can be a very challenging foe, in many cases as good or better than skilled human opponents in some on-line combat flight sims. This BDG text parameter is intended for novice pilots or children who may be overwhelmed or discouraged by the skill of the enemy AI. When this item is set to ON the user will have a little less aggressive but hopefully still challenging subset of AI manoeuvres so they can better enjoy and learn how to fight in BoBII. This option is only valid in Instant Action missions, not the Campaign. Novice_Target_Size=OFF Similar to the Novice AI setting, this is intended for novice or junior pilots. Setting this to ON makes the hit box of the enemy AI larger and easier to hit and destroy. Novice_Stronger_Bullets=OFF Again, this is one of several Novice parameters intended to make BoBII easier for less experienced pilots or children. This feature when set to ON, makes the players bullets about 20% stronger than normal. Novice_Gunnery_Predictor=OFF You MUST have a target padlocked for the predictor to work. This is a rather cool feature to sharpen your deflection shooting practice and for newbies to learn and practice. Bullets and cannon take time to travel to the target and the target is also often moving at high speed. The predictor calculates where the aim point should be in order for the bullets/cannons to converge on the target. A big red X is drawn where you need to shoot to hit the enemy AI. You can cycle the padlocked target through the various enemy AI using the F1 key or your wingmen AI using the F2 key.
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The small stick A/C reflects the enemy AI (below) or the friendly AI (above). A red small stick A/C means the AI is damaged and the black stick A/C means undamaged. Thanks to Retro for this feature. Testing_Do_Not_Shoot=OFF Used For Testing to Prevent the AI from shooting Rain_Switch=ON Sets rain ON or OFF in Poor or Inclement missions. Collision_Detection_And_Avoidance=ON #NOTE CDAA must be set to ON to do Collision Detection And Avoidance. Also check the other two CA BDG.txt parameters for correct values, if needed. When set to ON, enemy aircraft will attempt to avoid a collision with you. In very high speed or abrupt course changes, even if this is set to ON, a collision may still be unavoidable. BF109_Bf110_Slats_Open_Close_Sounds=ON The BF109 and Bf110 had slats on the leading edge of the wing that would open automatically under certain conditions when approaching a stall. The slats were designed to delay the onset of the stall. When the slats opened or closed, they often did so with a very loud audible bang heard even over the sound of the very loud engine. To rookie pilots this sound was often loud enough to be confused with being hit by the bullets of an attacking aircraft or AAA. Setting this to ON enables the slat open/close sound if you are piloting the Bf109 or Bf110. Scott_PS_Log=OFF Do Not Adjust. A dev tool used for testing.
Your_2dGauges_Work_In_Autopilot=OFF Intended for FM flight test purposes only. When set to ON, the players 2D gauges will continue to function when AutoPilot is engaged. AutoPilot_Kludge=OFF Intended for FM flight test purposes only. When set to ON, a rudimentary autopilot mode is engaged, which attempts to hold the players aircraft at a fixed airspeed, altitude, throttle setting and heading. Used in conjunction with the your 2D gauges work in autopilot switch discussed earlier.
DEATH_BREAKS_PADLOCK=OFF
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Default is OFF. When set to OFF, the padlock will persist a short time after death of the AI so that the player can follow the padlocked A/C to his death. If set to ON, the padlock will be broken immediately after the padlocked AI is killed. To break a padlock at any time, press ESC or padlock a different AI. Show_MoveCodes=OFF If set to ON, the AIs manouvre code state will be displayed instead of the AI type when the T key has been pressed. RAF_Breaksoff_Before_France=OFF This will allow the RAF AI to either chase the Luftwaffe across the Channel to France or breakoff beforehand. Default is OFF and the RAF will continue the fight until normal Go Home criteria is met (Ammo, Fuel, Damage). If set to ON, the RAF fighters will breakoff and go home before they reach France. AI_Always_Sees_Enemy=OFF Wingmen_Always_Sees_Enemy=OFF These parameters allow the AI to see the player and other AI in conditions they normally would not see them (i.e, when the plane has moved under the cowling or is off to the back). Setting these to ON may increase the perceived aggression and willingness to engage. PLAYER_REDUCE_SURFACE_DEFLECTION=ON When set to ON, the amount of rudder, aileron and elevator movement available to the player is realistically reduced as dynamic pressure increases. The relative rates of reduction, by aircraft and control surface, are established elsewhere in the .bdg file. At very high airspeed and low altitude, only a small percentage of full control surface deflection remains, meaning that high speed dives can be very dangerous. AI_REDUCE_SURFACE_DEFLECTION=ON As above, but for the AI-flown aircraft. The ON default is recommended as this has been shown to improve the smoothness of the AIs manoeuvring. START_FROM_PEN=OFF Realistically, often when a pilot began a mission, he started from the pen the aircraft was moved to after flight. These aircraft pens were designed to support the aircraft and add to their survivability during an air raid. Now you can start from this position instead of the open field. This feature only works with the quick mission Basic/Take-off, and if you
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choose an airfield with no aircraft pens you will start near hangers or trees. It will also only work with the aircraft small enough to fit in pens (not the BF110). HIDE_POWER_INFO=ON Toggles on or off the display of the engine power (throttle) expressed as a percentage in the Infoline. USE_NATIONAL_UNITS=ON When set to ON, this displays information in the correct unit of measure as used by either the RAF (imperial) or Germans (metric). FADING_LABELS=ON When set to ON, AI labels will fade away as they get farther and farther away in the distance. LOCK_GUNNER_VIEW_TO_GUN=ON OUCH! Set to OFF, all Gunners are restricted to facing forward!! Also with TRACKIR, allows you to look around without having to slew the MG in the same direction. OBJECT_PLACEMENT_MODE=OFF Used only when placing ground objects using the ObjectAdds method. Leave it OFF for gameplay. NO_PILOT_IN_ROVING_CAM=OFF This only affects the external view 3d model. You can make screenshots of the A/C without the pilot figure being inside. 3D_MODELLER_MODE=OFF Enables some features for 3D modelers to test/debug their models ingame. Specifically, it reserves the number of keys for modeler use. Explained in more depth in the 3D Modelers Pack. VIDEO_MAKING_MODE=OFF Used for making videos, it can also be used for making screenshots. It enables these keys: 5 6 decrease/increase cockpit near z by step 7 8 decrease/increase step 9 start replay(videos only) TEXT_REMINDERS=ON
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Set on will allow the text reminders to show in-game such as Game Paused, Continue, Quit? TRACKIR6DOF=OFF If the player has the Track IR device with Vector Expansion enabled, set this to ON in order to be able to use the Vector Expansion (6 degrees of freedom of movement) capability. CUSTOM_HEAD_POSITION=OFF This needs to be set to ON to be able to use the HEAD commands which allows the user to customise the pilots head position(See Appendix H). USE_DESKTOP_RESOLUTION=ON Also selectable in-game GUI menu. Set ON will force 3D resolution to use your desktop resolution. Previously was advised to set to on to reduce crashes to desktop (CTDs). May no longer be needed after 2.04 patch. INVERT_EXTERNAL_PAN=OFF Set on will reverse joystick hat-switch panning axes in external view. NO_FOV_RESET=OFF Allows you to retain a custom Field of View set while in 3D rather than the game automatically switching you back to the initial FOV setting when coming off padlock. Very handy. ENABLE_AUTO_TEXTURE_RES=ON Change to 'OFF' will affect one session only, IOW BoB will write 'ON' back over it. USE_PCX_OR_DDS=ON Change to 'OFF' will affect one session only, IOW BoB will write 'ON' back over it. SELECT_QS_SQUADRONS=ON Allows more choices in Instant Action missions when selecting aircraft. Set OFF gives only one unit choice per aircraft type. GAME_PAUSE=OFF This enables the game to be in a paused state on mission start just after the loading of the mission has been completed. Hit the P key to pause/un-pause.
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Do_You_Want_Flak_Over_France=OFF # ON = Player Gets Flak Over France or OFF = Player Gets No Flak Over France The default is OFF as that is the current implementation. Increase_Flak_and_AAA_Rate_Of_Fire=OFF # ON = increase the Ground Flak and AAA rate of Fire or OFF = Stay with the same Flak and AAA rate of fire as in the BOBII Gun specs The default is OFF which is the current way the game is set up and operates, but if you have the Processing power and enjoys some AAA and Flak tension give it a try. Flak_Size_In_Meters = 11.0 #The flak size is used to force major damage to an A/C when the flak overlaps the A/C. Used to Simulate a A/C significant flak hit. The default is 11.0 meters (flak is about 10 meters and a Spitfire wing is about 12 meters, so 5 meters radius for flak and 6 meters for the Spitfire = 11 meters). If you fly mostly against bombers you may want to increase the Flak Size Parameter. You will know when it is a flak hit as the left or right wing will rip off very suddenly, or both tail fins will rip off, and the pilot will bail out.. This parameter is for Stickman who says that the odds of getting hit by flak in 1940 were about the same as drawing a Royal Flush in poker. For those interested in getting flak hits at a very low but they will happen sometimes (or to test the feature), my testing has shown a Flak_Size_In_Meters=25 will get infrequent but possible flak hits. Do_You_Want_Flak_And_AAA_Fire=ON # ON = Player 'Gets' Flak and AAA fire or OFF = Player Gets 'No' Flak and AAA fire. For saving processor resources. The default is ON as that is the way it is now but Beta Testers have noticed increased processing (as the bugs fixed permits additional fire) when the Flak and AAA is in full fire mode. Also may help customers with weaker PCs to save some processing. Do_You_Want_Flak_And_AAA_Fire_if_Friendly_within_1000_Mete rs= ON # ON = Flak and AAA when friendly is within 1000 meters or OFF = No Flak and AAA fire when friendly is within 1000 meters The default is ON as that the way it is now (all AAA and flak fire at enemy target). Many players will want AAA and flak off to prevent friendly A/C form being hit. In addition, large dog fights take significant processing power so limiting the flak and AAA will be a help for some. On the other hand it is fun to dog fight around flak and AAA as it just adds to the stress level if you have the processor grunt.
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Do_You_Want_Increase_Firing_Rate_Of_Hand_Held_Gunners= OFF # ON = Increased Firing rate to Historic for hand held guns OFF = Leave the firing rate as implemented currently NOTE REGARDING AUTOGEN ITEMS: Enables autogen trees, cows, haystacks etc. # AutoGen stuff (experimental): ENABLE_AUTO_GEN=ON/OFF
TEMP_AG_SN[15,2]=1192 TEMP_AG_SN[15,3]=62
This creates dense forests of two tree types,, but users with weaker systems should delete one of these lines. Yes, you need both lines. Just copy and paste, or type it longhand. Weaker systems will need TEMP_AG_SN[15,0]=62 or TEMP_AG_SN[15,1]=62 (the number after the comma is a density setting). For those what want to know this means: -place object 1192 (a beech) on areatype 15 (forest) with medium density (2). -place object 62 (an oak) on areatype 15 (forest) with high density (3). Use together with the following to populate the landscape with livestock and haystacks
ADD_SHEEP_COWS_AND_HAYSTACKS=ON
Render_Sheep_View_Radius= # Gives a RADIUS around your plane where the sheep are: 0 none 1 only very near 2 very near + near 3 very near + near + fairly near Only used if ADD_SHEEP_COWS_AND_HAYSTACKS is on. LANDSCAPE_TEXTURE_SIZE = 2048 Should be set to 0 for low spec systems. Enables or disables the 2048x2048 resolution terrain tiles Do_You_Want_Random_Mixed_Squad_skills=ON Enables or disables mixed skill levels with squadrons or staffeln. If turned OFF, all pilots in a squadron will have the same skill level.
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Appendix B : Cockpits
APPENDIX B: Cockpits
SPITFIRE
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HURRICANE
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BF109
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BF110
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STUKA
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APPENDIX C:
Keycards, Padlocks and Views
KEY CARDS
The following keycards are courtesy of Stickman.
Larger file format versions

Better suited for printing can also be downloaded here: http://www.angelfire.com/mech/stickman1/KeyGuides_v2.zip
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Appendix C : Keycards, Padlocks and Views
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PADLOCKING SYSTEM & THE VIEW KEYS:

A quick recap of some of the various padlock and view keys. This is not necessarily EVERY single view command but at least the most frequently used. Key commands are in ITALICS. Consider mapping some of these to your joystick. PADLOCK TOGGLE = ENTER - this toggles on or off the padlock of whatever plane you have padlocked. Once you have a plane padlocked, hit ENTER and the padlock will turn off. Hit ENTER again and the same plane as before will be padlocked. This command does NOT cycle the padlock from one plane to the next. BREAK PADLOCK = ESC - this breaks the current padlock PADLOCK DIAMOND - DRAW OR DON'T DRAW = SHIFT+T - this command toggles on or off the drawing of the padlock diamond. It is NOT the command to padlock, rather only whether or not the red diamond is drawn or not over the plane that is padlocked. In other words, you can have a plane padlocked but choose whether or not to have the diamond drawn around it. LABELS ON/OFF = T - toggles on/off the aircraft labels ENEMY VIEWS: NEAREST ENEMY = CTRL+F1 - padlocks the nearest enemy aircraft NEXT ENEMY = F1 - padlocks the next enemy aircraft PREVIOUS ENEMY = SHIFT+F1 - padlocks the previous enemy aircraft FRIENDLY VIEWS: NEAREST FRIENDLY = CTRL+F2 - padlocks the nearest friendly aircraft NEXT FRIENDLY = F2 - padlocks the next friendly aircraft PREVIOUS FRIENDLY = SHIFT+F2 - padlocks the previous friendly aircraft GROUND TARGETS: MAIN GROUND TARGET = CTRL+F3 main target of a ground attack mission NEXT GROUND TARGET = F3 - padlocks the next ground target NEAREST 2 TARGETS = SHIFT+F3 - the nearest two ground targets
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WAYPOINTS: NEXT WAYPOINT = F4 - padlocks the next waypoint PREVIOUS WAYPOINT = SHIFT+F4 - padlocks the previous waypoint COCKPIT VIEW = F7 OUTSIDE VIEW = F6 NO COCKPIT = F8 INSIDE/OUTSIDE TOGGLE VIEW = BACKSPACE PANNING YOUR VIEWPOINT = Several ways to do this: Joystick hatswitch; Mouse; or NUMPAD KEYS 1-9 as follows: VIEWPOINTS WITH NUMPAD KEYS - with these the viewpoint moves as indicated and stays there. Press NUMPAD 5 to re-center RE-CENTER VIEW = NUMPAD 5 LOOK UP = NUMPAD 8 LOOK DOWN = NUMPAD 2 LOOK LEFT/RIGHT = NUMPAD 4 or NUMPAD 6 LOOK UP & LEFT OR UP & RIGHT = NUMPAD 7 or NUMPAD 9 LOOK DOWN & LEFT OR DOWN & RIGHT = NUMPAD 1 or NUMPAD 3 GLANCE LEFT/RIGHT = INSERT or PAGEUP GLANCE BACK & LEFT or BACK & RIGHT = DELETE or PAGE DOWN ZOOM IN/OUT FIELD OF VIEW * = CTRL+NUMPAD PLUS or CTRL+NUMPAD MINUS * NOTE: Adjust your min/max and other FOV settings in the OPTIONS>>>ADV. FIELD OF VIEW menu EXIT GAME = ALT+X
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PADLOCKING THE CENTRAL ENEMY a/k/a S Key: The "S" key function is extremely useful and I use it all the time. I have one of my joystick buttons programmed to this key. IMPORTANT: This function of drawing the box with the "S" key will only work if Draw Padlock Centre Box is selected in the ADVANCED>>>GAME menu. It can also be done via the BDG.TXT file in the line: DRAW_PADLOCK_CENTER_BOX=ON or OFF It is also important to understand that the red box drawn this way is NOT the same thing as the padlock diamond. In order to see the padlock diamond once an object has been padlocked, press SHIFT+T. This only toggles the drawing of the diamond on or off, not the actual padlocking of objects. You can thus have a plane padlocked but the diamond will not be drawn - if you wish. Once a plane is padlocked BTW, the ENTER key toggles on and off the padlock of the very same plane until you padlock a different plane. HOW THE "S" KEY WORKS: When you press and hold the "S" key, a red box is drawn in the center of your view. If an enemy plane is within the box and you then release the "S" key, that plane is now padlocked. Another really cool feature that apparently many users are not aware of is that the Red Box can be MOVED around the screen. While pressing and holding the "S" key, move the box around the screen by: - moving the joystick hat switch to pan the view - move your mouse to pan the view - use the numpad keys 1 through 9 to move the viewpoint (numpad 5 returns to the centered view) - if you have Track IR wherever you are looking the box will also be moved The red box will thus move wherever you are panning your view. So you can "look" the red box anywhere on the screen at an enemy plane you wish to padlock, when the plane is within the box release the "S" key and it will be so.
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The SIZE of the red box can also be changed. This is in the ADVANCED>>>FIELD OF VIEW menu. Its size can also be altered with the following two lines in the BDG.TXT file: PC_PITCH = 10.000 PC_HDG = 10.000 The default values are 10. Larger is a bigger box, smaller is a smaller box. Don't make the box too big because if there are multiple A/C within the box at the moment you release the "S" key, the one you wanted may not be the one that is padlocked. The larger the box, the more frequent you will have multiple planes within it. Too small and it is too hard to get the box over the plane. You can cycle through different A/C within the box - simply press hold and release the "S" key repeatedly until the plane you want is the one padlocked.
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Appendix D : Radio Commands
APPENDIX D:
Radio Commands
Radio command table appears on following page to allow printing on a single page. NOTES to radio commands: 1. Regarding the Combat command Attack My Target (Help!) (R-35): This command will work only when you have an enemy plane padlocked. One of your wingmen will attack the padlocked target and the rest of your wingmen will attack the padlocked targets other remaining wingmen. Regarding the Combat command Break! (R-3-3): This command was modified slightly from before and is intended to allow the player to force his wingmen to break off of a target or do an evasive maneouvre if under threat. Some users found the incidents of "poaching" (your wingmen shooting at the player's target) can be found to be annoying at times. When you see a "Poacher" hit R-3-3. If he is within 300 meters of the players A/C, he will set to disengage (non-fighting movecode). If he is greater than 300 meters he will do an evasive maneuvre (normal R-3-3 as it has always worked) and stay engaged on his target. The disengage should give the player time to take care of his target. The friendly will re-engage on the closes enemy AI in about 45 seconds. This affects ALL friendly A/C so use of this command can put your team at a disadvantage if they are all currently engaging a target. Viewing the subject of current heard message: After calling out one of the tower commands, one can padlock the location of the ground control tower that is responding by pressing the F5 key. The key must be pressed WHILE the response message is being played back. Padlock diamond drawing must also have been previously enabled with SHIFT+T.
2.
3.
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Radio Keys
R-1-1 R-1-2 R-1-3 R-1-4 R-1-5 R-1-6 R-2-1 R-2-2 R-2-3 R-2-4 R-2-5 R-2-6 R-3-1 R-3-2 R-3-3 R-3-4 R-3-5 R-4-1 R-4-2 R-5-1 R-5-2 R-5-3 R-5-4 R-5-5 R-5-6 R-5-7 R-6-1 R-6-2 R-6-3
Fighters (Spitfire, Hurricane, BF109) Group Info

Report in Report position Fuel check Report status Tight left turn now Tight right turn now Pre-Combat Test guns Patrol position E/A vector Airborne Give freedom Take command Combat Bandits! Sighting request Break! Covering? Attack my target (Help!) Post-Combat Regroup Send all home Tower Mayday! Home tower Nearest tower Surface wind Wind at altitude Land at home Land at nearest Ground Attack N/A N/A N/A
Fighter Bombers (JU87, BF110)

Report in Report position Fuel check Report status Tight left turn now Tight right turn now Test guns Patrol position E/A vector Airborne Give freedom Take command Bandits! Sighting request Break! Covering? Attack my target (Help!) Regroup Send all home Mayday! Home tower Nearest tower Surface wind Wind at altitude Land at home Land at nearest Begin your run Strafe the target Leave area
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Appendix E : Previous Patch History
APPENDIX E:
Patch Revision History
Below are the patch revision summaries back to version 2.04
BDG 2.10 release notes Whats new in this release: 1) Mixed Skills within Units (Squadrons/Staffeln) 2) Updated Flight Models 3) Now over 400 authentic period ground models 4) Brand new High Res Terrain textures (64x original BoBII rsolution) 5) Gauges, Fuel, compass and other items fixed 6) Multiplayer beta 7) Multiskin- we now have every single bomber uniquely coded and marked with historical accuracy. 8 ) Terrain, new areas updated for example Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters now fully modelled 9) Multiple stability and bug fixes. 10) Updated Ju87 model. 11) New Auto Gen for Trees and other objects (Work in Progress) Known Issues: 1- When selecting the Blenheim in the 'End of Defiant' Historical Instant Action Mission (you can add it in place of the Defiant), you *must* select an RAF or Luftwaffe fighter after making the change to enable the Blenheim. If you do not, you will get a crash. 2- Sorry, the Tiger Moth didn't make it as a flyable aircraft, it's static only. We plan a version that allows this, but disable the campaign game. 3- Bf110- The player's head position is low (it has always been this way). If you want to raise it, try setting EyePosYOffset to 2500 in the \models\Bf110C4.ACD file. You will then need to aim through the top of the projected reticule, or use Aces mod. We hope to raise the gunsight at some point. 2.10 code (exe) Changes (Buddye) 1.I added a random skill mix option within a Squad. I implemented the following new Bdg.txt parameter to control the option:
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Do_You_Want_Random_Mixed_Squad_skills=ON #For Instant action, SPC, Commander Campaign, assignment of Random Mixed skills within a squad. The default will be set to ON based on a vote in the Beta Forum that concluded that most players will enjoy/want it. This will give the Player the option to select a Random skill mix for both a LUF or RAF squads. The LUF or RAF Squad Leaders skill will set to Hero or Ace. All the other skills in either the LUF or RAF Squads will be assigned randomly. For the Commander and SPC campaign the players has more controls to choose from to change game skills. The player can control the campaign relative skill using the Option->sim->Mission and setting the LW and RAF skill modifier. Here is an over view of how the Random skills will work in the campaign: First select a Random skill and test the LW and RAF skill modifier as follows: If Minimum, then "reduce" the skill by Delta2 IF Low, then "reduce" the skill by Delta1 IF Medium, then "NO" change and go with the random skill selected IF High, then "increase" the skill by Delta1 IF Maximum, then "increase" the skill by Delta2 Right now Delta1 = about one skill level and Delta2 = about 1/2 skill level. Example: Setting the RAF Skill Modifer = High would raise the random selected skill by one skill level Setting the LW Skill Modifer = Minimum would lower the random selected skill by 1 1/2 skill level Leaving both set to medium (default) = No Change 2. Osram fix . Added the This feature following bdg.txt parameter: ADD_SHEEP_COWS_AND_HAYSTACKS=ON - Try it! (defaults to OFF) This will permit the adding of sheep and Haystacks independent of the Town and Forest Raises setting. 3. Changed the default to ON for the following BDG.txt parameter as it was more historicly accurate: Do_You_Want_Increase_Firing_Rate_Of_Hand_Held_Gunners=ON # ON = Increased Firing rate to Historic for hand held guns OFF = Leave the firing rate as implemented currently at every 5 seconds
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4. Added the following Bdg.txt parameters for Spin control for both the AI and the player. The player will not need to change the spin setting when flying different flyable A/C (done at player request). Player_Spin_AOA_Control = 0.000000 #Used/reserved by Buddye for spin control processing, Note - Value does not matter Player_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 0.000000 #Used/reserved by Buddye for spin control processing, Note - Value does not matter Player_Spitfire_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500000 #Player Spitfire,set to 0.0 Means no spins for Player Player_Spitfire_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 4.250000 #Player Spitfire Player_Hurricane_Spin_AOA_Control = 16.500000 #Player Hurricane,set to 0.0 Means no spins for Player Player_Hurricane_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.000000 #Player Hurricane) Player_BF109_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.500000 #Player BF109,set to 0.0 Means no spins for Player Player_BF109_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.000000 #Player BF109 Player_BF110_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.500000 #Player BF110,set to 0.0 Means no spins for Player Player_BF110_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.000000 #Player BF110 Player_JU87_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.500000 #Player JU87,set to 0.0 Means no spins for Player Player_JU87_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 6.000000 #Player JU87 Player_Tigermoth_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500000 #Player Tigermoth,set to 0.0 Means no spins for Player Player_Tigermoth_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 4.250000 #Player Tigermoth AI_Spin_AOA_Control = 0.000000 #Used/Reserved by Buddye for AI spin control processing, Note - Value does not matter AI_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 0.000000 #Used/Reserved by Buddye for AI spin control processing, Note - Value does not matter AI_Spitfire_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500000 #AI Spitfire,set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI A/C AI_Spitfire_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 4.250000 #AI Spitfire AI_Hurricane_Spin_AOA_Control = 16.500000 #AI Hurricane,set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI A/C AI_Hurricane_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.000000 #AI Hurricane
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AI_BF109_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.500000 #AI BF109,set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI A/C AI_BF109_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.000000 #AI BF109 AI_BF110_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.500000 #AI BF110,set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI A/C AI_BF110_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.000000 #AI BF110 AI_JU87_Spin_AOA_Control = 18.500000 #AI JU87,set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI A/C AI_JU87_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 6.000000 #AI JU87 AI_Tigermoth_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500000 #AI Tigermoth,set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI A/C AI_Tigermoth_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 4.250000 #AI Tigermoth The default values are per Blue Sixs Spin parameter recommendation for the flyable A/C. Players can now tune spins to personal taste for flyable and AI A/C and the correct spin parameters will be applied automatically. 5. We are having a problem when the AI A/C are in movecode AUTO_LANDING or AUTO_TAKEOFF. The AI A/C would not take defensive action and they would not fight. I am going to add a Alt check (if greater than 200 feet) so that they will take defensive action and try to fight. It is risk at low alt (which is why it was not done) but it is better (I think) to try defensive action and attempt to fight than just flying around and getting easily shot down. Big thanks to Chumleigh for this catch. 6. Increase Alt to FT_400 (400 feet) for player bail out. The players chute will not deploy if below 400 feet. I am trying to record the counts correctly for pilot death when bailing out. This is a Tuning change. 7. This fix is Osrams so BOBII can control Town and Forest Raises and avoid issues with GUI save settings. Added the following Bdg.txt parameter: ENABLE_TOWN_AND_FOREST_RAISES=OFF # Change to 'ON' will affect one session only, IOW BOBII will write 'OFF' back over it. The GUI for Town and Forest Raises (Options->More GFX) is hidden. 8. Fixed a bug to prevent jet action after death if the previous maneuver was the MANOEUVRE_SPINOUT (after death only fix). 9. Fixed a bug that prevented friendly air to air collisions. I want to thank Atwode. 10. Fixed a bug that did caused some of the bullets to not hit intended targets when Friendly_Fire = OFF was set in the Bdg.txt. Bad new was that I caused the bug the good news was that it was 2.10 only bug. 11. Fixed a bug for the R-3-5 (Help,Attack My Target) Radio Command. The command was calling friendly A/C (from Multi Squads) to help
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without checking the Range from the Caller A/C which can really mess up the campaign. I added a range (4000 meters, or HalfVisiableRange) so that any friendly A/C within 4000 meters of the Caller will come and help the Caller no matter what Squad the friendly A/C are from. I want to thank Raygun for this catch and Stickman for his review and analysis of the issue. 12. I added the following Bdg.txt parameter: BDG_Values_SPC_Warning_Message=ON #ON = Remove warning [Couldn't fix up recursive waypoints], or OFF = Leave Warning") The default is ON to remove the warning which seemed to cause no bad effects for the SPC mission but does cause a CTD when exiting the game. 13. I added a 1000 meters distance check to the BDG_Values.Campaign_Break_Off_Code parameters code (Campaign only). Now, if the attacking AI is in pursuit and the distance to the enemy AI is less than 1000 meters the attacking AI will not break off and disengage. Thanks to Whirlybird for this problem catch and report. 14. I fixed the Transition Maneuver so the AI will not get hung upside down. 15. Eric new code changes and Blue Sixs analysis and help. a. enhancement of 2D gauge system, including introduction of new numerical gauges for support of FM development and ability to read 2D gauges of padlocked AI-flown a/c (selective via .bdg file), elimination of earlier irregularities in gauge output seen when padlocking other a/c and introduction of new 2D gauge type (needle shift gauge). Supporting documentation written by Eric and released (should be included in our "Docs" folder, with 2.10); b. introduction of ability to calibrate existing 3D gauges through changes to the .acm file; c. rework of Spitfire fuel system coding to correct the operation and default position of fuel cocks as well as the sequence of fuel flow, in support of repairs to the fuel gauge; d. rework of Bf110 fuel system code to correct problem with one engine running out of fuel prematurely, leading to loss of power for the player and AI crashes. Fuel cock animation revised and fuel cocks are now effective in shutting off fuel to the respective engine; e. code change to ensure Bf110 model weight and drag decrement properly when its bombs dropped; f. introduction of "runtime" feature, allowing external adjustment of control surface deflection rates, for both player and AI FMs. 16. I revised the conditions for deactivation of the reduce surface deflection feature, for the AI (Ken talked me into it as I hate reducing the AI advantage). The AI will have full control authority whenever their
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airspeed is > 400 mph and its altitude < 500 feet AGL their nose is below the horizon. Previously the parameters were 425 mph / 400 feet and there was no consideration given to pitch attitude - as a result, if the AI successfully pulled out of a steep dive at very low level, it was able to perform zoom climbs which the player, still limited by reduce surface deflection, could not match. 17. I improved the code for multi-squads so that the player is only "shot at" by the correct number of AIs as specified in the Bdg.txt. The fix should eliminate the line of AI attacking the player. Thanks to Itkevian for focusing us on the problem and to Heinkill for confirming and testing. 18. Enhanced the code for multi AI attacking another AI as I was already in the code for 19. and the changes were similar. 19. Added a speed check in the TooLow program to prevent the lawn dart problem that Ken is working with his FM changes. 21. Fixed the Bomber Gunner problem that I caused working on the MP code. 22. Fixed/Prevented a CTD in C:\Merlin\BOB\src\MISSMAN\SAVEGAME.CPP(1671). Thanks to PV for this catch. 23. I have added a Multi-Player button at the bottom of the main BOBII Menu (see notes below). Flight Model (FM) updates. Thank you to our FM engineer, Blue Six. Patch 2.10 FM Code Enhancement Until recently, the primary flight controls in Merlin were adjustable only for their basic aerodynamic effectiveness and for the progressive loss of effectiveness as dynamic pressure rises and the flight controls stiffen, reducing the available range of motion. What has been missing is the ability to adjust the rate of movement of the primary control surfaces, in response to player and AI demands. In the case of the player, outside the normal dead zone of the input devices, the control surfaces track stick and rudder movement precisely, with no lag. AI control surface movement is essentially instantaneous Erics new 2D gauges show the AIs elevators and ailerons are very active during dogfights, with large and rapid reversals in the amount of deflection being applied so quickly that the related numeric gauge often cannot be read. Neither of these situations is realistic. In the RW, frictional losses, cable stretch and inertia in the control circuit would impose a small but definite lag as the control surface accelerates from rest and rotates to the commanded position. Aircraft response would be similarly delayed. For
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gradual stick and rudder inputs, the lag would be almost undetectable with rapid movements, a finite delay could be expected while the flight control surface "catches up" to demand. An FM code change devised by Eric has provided us with a new runtime variable, which simulates this tiny lag and permits external adjustment of the responsiveness of each of the three primary flight controls on each of the player-flyable aircraft. Essentially what is being adjusted is the time required for the control surface to move from its current position to the position being demanded by the player or AI. The new runtime factor is found in the flight control section of each of the .acm files a value of 1.0 corresponds to the current (no lag) situation. With a runtime value of 2.0, the control surface ramps up more gradually to its maximum deflection rate and takes longer to reach the requested position; in the case of an abrupt player input from neutral to full right rudder for example, a 2.0 setting means the rudder arrives at full deflection approximately 0.16 seconds later than it would previously. Large (>2.5) runtime values are effective in imparting a more heavy feel to FMs, complementing existing MOI/inertia effects. This is very useful in adjusting such features as Bf110 roll response with a large aileron runtime value, the max roll rate remains the same, but the time taken to achieve max roll rate is extended. Note: the runtime feature recognizes and works within any limits on maximum available control surface deflection, imposed by the current reduce surface deflection code (provided this is enabled in the .bdg file). The effect of the runtime feature on the player FM is fairly subtle casual players may not even notice the difference. More experienced players will find that the smoothing effect of runtime reduces over-controlling while countering slipstream effects during takeoff, and moderates the tendency for the nose to wander side to side due to inadvertent small rudder inputs in the heat of battle. Reversals in roll direction during scissors-type manoeuvres can be flown noticeably more cleanly. Flown smoothly, it is somewhat easier to take the aircraft to its limits when turning. That said, the slight lag in control response means it is noticeably more difficult to avoid spinning after an accelerated stall. For this reason, the default spin settings contained in the .bdg file have been revised for Patch 2.10. See the table below and its explanatory notes for more detail. As noted earlier, the runtime effect has been applied to the AI FMs, not only to keep them in step with the player FMs, but in the hopes of smoothing the AIs control surface movement and improving the quality
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of the AIs flying. Whether or not the AI flies any more cleanly as a result remains TBD.
PATCH 2.10 CONTROL SURFACE BOOST/RUNTIME AND SPIN SETTINGS

AILERONS AIRCRAFT SPITFIRE HURRICANE BF109 BF110 STUKA BOOST 1.15 1.0 0.9 0.95 0.85 RUNTIME 2 2.25 1.75 2.75 3 ELEVATORS BOOST 1.1 1.05 1.1 1.1 1.0 RUNTIME 1.25 2 1.75 2.5 2 RUDDER BOOST 0.55 0.5 0.55 0.55 0.5 RUNTIME 2.5 2 2.25 3 3 SPIN SETTINGS AOA ROTL VEL 18.25 8 17.5 10 20.5 10.25 20.5 10.25 19.25 9.75
Notes: a. BOOST values shown are the suggested Boost_Delta defaults found in the .bdg file. They are only applied if REDUCE_SURFACE_DEFLECTION is enabled in the .bdg file; this feature can be independently selected ON or OFF for player-flown and AI-flown aircraft. b. RUNTIME values can be adjusted in the flight control area of the aircraft .acm file (Models folder). The larger the value, the slower the response of the given flight control to player or AI inputs. A value of 1 corresponds to the pre-Patch 2.10 setting do not use values less than this. c. SPIN SETTINGS are the defaults found in the .bdg file effective from Patch 2.10. They have been adjusted to compensate for the effect of the new runtime feature, ensuring spin behaviour remains acceptable to the majority of players. Players wishing to increase a particular aircrafts tendency to spin can do so by reducing these values in the .bdg file and saving the changes. It is suggested that the Spin_AOA_Control and Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control values be adjusted concurrently, in increments of 0.25 and 1.25 respectively, until the desired sensitivity is achieved. Conversely, susceptibility to spin can be reduced by increasing the default values, using a similar incremental approach. Note that the file allows different spin settings for each aircraft whether player-flown or AIflown under normal circumstances the two should match, i.e. if you make changes to the player settings, revise the AI settings for that aircraft accordingly.
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d. Finally, note that these defaults are a matched set. There is definite interaction between the boost and runtime values and the spin behaviour in the sim. If you change boost and/or runtime values, you most likely will need to revise your spin settings in order to retain the same susceptibility to spinning. Changes in spin settings, on the other hand, do not necessitate adjustments to boost and runtime values. Multiplayer Beta (for up to 8 players) The MP Button is to make it easier to test and work on MP without having to maintain two different EXEs for MP and non-MP. The MP is just a WIP experimental feature for now as we know we still have some problems to solve with one being very serious in the Quick Mission MP feature (the AI are jumpy). The Death Match and Team Play features also have some lower priority issues (IMHO, score keeping, etc.) but all the BOBII MP features do seem to play without crashing or hanging. The ability to host and play BOBII (or any other MP) MP involves some knowledge of PC networks and port forwarding for people behind routers (many players now have routers). Fortunately for BOBII, we have a network skill (Alex) to assist us and maybe document the process later but Alex will be on a vacation adventure for the next 6 or more weeks. Anyone who understands MP network issue is of course invited to try BOBII MP and report issues on the BOBII forum but BOBII MP is really not ready for the non-networking type prime time players. Maybe we can make more progress and move the BOBII MP forward during the next release BOBII release cycle. Please see the updated game manual (in your \Battle of Britain II\docs folder) for more details. Additionally, we have this guide from AlexCraig: " Multi-Player Essentials To Include Some 'Tips & Tricks' ". http://www.thebestjobs.com/temp/Multi-P ... ntials.doc Multiskin updates: Bombers (He111, Ju88, Do17, Ju87) Each and every bomber now has historically accurate codes, markings and emblems. Landscape improvements come in three parts 1. We now have over 400 upgraded ground objects. The latest objects are in towns and cities.
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2. We have High Res Landscape textures. To use this, select USE_HIRES_LANDSCAPE_TILES=ON The original BoBII textures were 256x256. With 2.06 we went to 512x512, with 2.08, we went to 1024x1024 and now we have 2048x2048. This improves the look and feel low down considerably. 3. We have numerous corrections. These include Old Sarum (now fully correctly with damageable Bfield objects, locations based on a BoBvintage site plan), many fixes for landscape errors (for example the Ashford-Redhill railway line, which was missing a section, is now fully in place. This was used as a key navigational aid as it runs straight for 50 miles and enabled pilots to locate the south London airfields (Biggin, Kenley, Croydon) with ease when returning from the coast). In addition, we have the white cliffs at Beachy Head, Seven Sisters, and a corrected position of the Beachy Head light house. Also, Cuckmere River valley elevation and river course inland to Berwick. Note: please select FULL Object Density in the game setup screens to see all of the objects. How do I enable trees? This is a Work-in-Progress feature that is useable for most people. You can see more in this thread. HERE-> viewtopic.php?f=10&t=12575 Edit your bdg.txt file. At the very bottom you will see a line saying ENABLE_AUTO_GEN=OFF Change this to: ENABLE_AUTO_GEN=ON TEMP_AG_SN[15,2]=1192 TEMP_AG_SN[15,3]=62 This looks nice, but users with weaker systems should delete one of these lines. Yes, you need both lines. Just copy and paste, or type it longhand. Weaker systems will need TEMP_AG_SN[15,0]=62 or TEMP_AG_SN[15,1]=62 (the number after the comma is a density setting). For those what want to know this means:
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-place object 1192 (a beech) on areatype 15 (forest) with medium density (2). -place object 62 (an oak) on areatype 15 (forest) with high density (3). Yet another wonderful team effort across all times zones and nationalities. The passion and dedication of the team continues to humble me. We don't do this for the pay, merely for the love of a shared passion. There are dozens of people contributing to the various versions so far. Please see past release notes for previous versions. Specifically on 2.10, thank you to: Coders- Buddye, Osram, Eric Flight Model (FM)- Blue Six, Eric Models: Creation, conversion- Ben, Geoff, Simon. Textures- Ben, Bader, Stickman, Hylander_1715 Gauges- Eric, Blue Six, stickman, Smokin256 Landscape- PV, Bader Guides/Illustrations- Stickman, AlexCraig Testing/General- Trumper, Borton, Aces, Prem Holdaway, chumleigh, Heinkill, JamesB, PV, Stickman, SeaVee and, as ever, Scott, for allowing us to camp out here and general support.
BDG 2.09 release notes What's included: 1) More Aggressive AAA 2) 3.5" Flak that can Kill 3) Bullet Dispersion re-design 4) Single Character Labels 5) Rework of air-to-air and ground collisions 6) Improved counts for Kills, friendly A/C losses, and friendly pilot losses 7) Implemented exact same control surface reduction code for the AI A/C as the player (subjectively, this is a *big* one!) 8 ) New Ground Objects (over 250 in total now!) Airfield buildings, houses, ships, rural features (look out for the Oast houses). 9) Further Landscape improvements (updated textures for this release, reworked areas eg Boscombe Down) 10) New Auto Gen for Trees and other objects (Work in Progress) 11) New Flight Model (FM) and Spin characteristics 12) Over 40 CTD and other fixes and features implemented. 13) New Blenheim and Ju52 models, static Tiger Moth
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Known Issues: 1- When selecting the Blenheim in the 'End of Defiant' Historical Instant Action Mission (you can add it in place of the Defiant), you *must* select an RAF or Luftwaffe fighter after making the change to enable the Blenheim. If you do not, you will get a crash. 2- Sorry, the Tiger Moth didn't make it as a flyable aircraft, it's static only. Maybe 2.10... 2.09 code (exe) Changes (Buddye) 1. Fixed a CTD in AirCombat caused by a SAG flight. 2. Fixed a CTD in Overlay.cpp caused by using ai.unfriendly pointer with a AUTO_BOMB movecode (the ai.unfriendly movecode is not valid). 3. Fixed the Bomber Stragglers so that they break out of formation and drop back away from the other bombers. I needed to decrease Stragglers speed by about 5% so they drop back slowly. They will then head home (at the correct WP) or continue to the target to try and drop their bombs (based on random numbers as always). Thanks to Chumleigh for this one. 4. I added the skill level for our Bomber gunners and the rear gunners on the 110, JU87, and the RAF Defiant (higher skills shoot more accurately). I also reduced the accuracy of the Bomber gunners and the rear gunners on the 110, JU87, and the RAF Defiant. I implemented the change so that I can tune the rear gunners accuracy in the 110, Defiant, and JU87 as well as the Bomber gunners accuracy (both player and AI). Thanks to Alex for pointing this one out to me. 5. Implemented new bullet dispersion for BOBII Here is some information I used for the design and implementation of the Dispersion code so you can review the text and get an idea what we are trying to accomplish. . SIMHQ data - Dispersion. A target shooter will fire his rifle a number of times to establish a group. The smaller the group, the more accurate the shooter is. A modern aircraft gun has a similar characteristic. Technicians will fire the gun at a target and then count the projectile impacts and measure their pattern from the center aim point. Typically, this calculation will be expressed as a percentage of rounds fired within a certain area, usually a circle with the aim point at its center, and is called the gun dispersion. A typical modern gun dispersion results in about 80% of the rounds being grouped in a five foot (1.52 meter) diameter circle at a range of 1000 feet (304 meters). Osram data - Bullet dispersion is 1 meter per 100 meter travel in both RL (back then) and BoBII.
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I am using Osrams data for the BOBII implementation as it is not for only modern guns. The dispersion for a BOBII gun was a circle at 300 meters with a radius of 1.5 meters (150 cm). I also added the following 11 Bdg.txt Dispersion parameters. The Dispersion was the core of these changes (except for the skill levels) and it was completely re-code with bugs fixed. The old Dispersion was done a very inexperienced coder named Buddye back in 2003 for BOBI. BobII had totally outgrown that approach and implementation. The following Bdg.txt parameters were added so that customer can change the bullet dispersion to his personal taste. I do recommend you carefully try/use the defaults as 100s of hours of test and analysis time was required for the determination of the defaults by the BDG. As always, I need to recognize and give my thanks to Bader for his leadership, testing and support. Dispersion_Bomber_Gunner_Player = 450 Dispersion_Bommer_Gunner_AI = 200 Dispersion_Flyable_Planes_Player = 100 Dispersion_Front_Cannons_AI = 100 Dispersion_Def_JU87_Front_Guns_AI = 100 Dispersion_Heavy_Fighters_Front_Guns_AI = 100 Dispersion_Def_Rear_Gunner_AI = 150 Dispersion_JU87_Rear_Gunner_AI = 200 Dispersion_BF110_Rear_Gunner_AI = 200 Dispersion_Veteran_Regular_Skill_Increment = 10 Dispersion_Poor_Novice_Skill_Increment = 10 6. A very long shot but I added defensive code to protect against a NULL pointer in AutoShoot that caused a CTD. Thanks to reflected for reporting this one. It will do no harm but may not fix anything. 7. Fix a bug where when a Bomber dropped his bombs the fighter targeting him is set to ai.unfriendly = NULL which puts the fighter in a disengage movecode. I have been looking for this bug for a year. I called it the ai.unfriendly bug (bugs get names when they go unsolved for a long time). 8. Fixed a bug to prevent jet action after death if the previous maneuver was the MANOEUVRE_SPINOUT (after death only fix). 9. While I was fixing a bug (thanks to Uriah) where short labels did not work, I added the following feature for labels called Single_Chararacter_Labels. To get Aircraft Names (Labels) to be displayed, you must set in the BOBII GUI in Options->Sim->Game Aircraft Names = ON. You then use the T key to toggle labels ON/OFF. In addition to the GUI setting above, for 2.09, you *must* also select only *one* of the following Labels options in the Bdg.txt as ON: Single_Chararacter_Labels # the default is a single character [w] for
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wingmen (friendly) and an [e] for enemy (target) SHORTENED_LABELS # short Label example BF109 Show_MoveCodes # For testing AI maneuvers The default for all 3 of the above Bdg.txt parameters is OFF. If all are OFF then you will get the long label (example BF109E4). You also have the option of choosing a single character if you are selecting the Single_Chararacter_Labels = ON by using: Single_Character_Label_Enemy= # Input a single character of your choice for your label Single_Character_Label_Friendly= # Input a single character of your choice for your label So if you are interested in trying the new single character feature, open the bdg.txt file and edit the following settings. (Note- only one can be set = ON at a time, or you'll get nothing at all.) Single_Chararacter_Labels = ON SHORTENED_LABELS = OFF Show_MoveCodess = OFF and then find and set the following two Bdg.txt parameters like this: Single_Character_Label_Enemy= + Single_Character_Label_Friendly= O You can choose your personal single characters, of course. Dots work too.. whatever you prefer. 10. I added a Plus or Minus random Error by skill level (higher skill level has a smaller error) for the Bomber Gunners and the A/C Rear Gunners. 11. Fixed a CTD in USERMSG.cpp thanks to Ric. This was a very old problem dealing with the SAG. It seems that no one runs BOBII like Ric. AAA and flak changes 12. I have given the AAA code a makeover. I focused fixing the bugs that prevented the AAA from performing and I also looked at improving the AAA it accuracy. The AAA to me consists of (1) bullets and (2) flak (shells that explode or burst). The AAA bullet types work about the same as A/C bullets. The flak works a bit different. The code looks for a flak burst overlapping an A/C to determine a hit. If you have a hit then damaged is forced on the A/C. You must force damage because the BOBII damage engine does not take care of flak damage like it does for bullet damage. Here are the AAA and Flak Bdg.txt parameters options that you may want
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to consider for change or leave as default:. a. Do_You_Want_Flak_Over_France=OFF # ON = Player Gets Flak Over France or OFF = Player Gets No Flak Over France The default is OFF as that is the current implementation. b. Increase_Flak_and_AAA_Rate_Of_Fire=OFF # ON = increase the Ground Flak and AAA rate of Fire or OFF = Stay with the same Flak and AAA rate of fire as in the BOBII Gun specs The default is OFF which is the current way the game is set up and operates, but if you have the Processing power and enjoys some AAA and Flak tension give it a try. c. Flak_Size_In_Meters = 11.0 #The flak size is used to force major damage to an A/C when the flak overlaps the A/C. Used to Simulate a A/C significant flak hit. The default is 11.0 meters (flak is about 10 meters and a Spitfire wing is about 12 meters, so 5 meters radius for flak and 6 meters for the Spitfire = 11 meters). If you fly mostly against bombers you may want to increase the Flak Size Parameter. You will know when it is a flak hit as the left or right wing will rip off very suddenly, or both tail fins will rip off, and the pilot will bail out.. This parameter is for Stickman who says that the odds of getting hit by flak in 1940 were about the same as drawing a Royal Flush in poker. For those interested in getting flak hits at a very low but they will happen sometimes (or to test the feature), my testing has shown a Flak_Size_In_Meters=25 will get infrequent but possible flak hits. d. Do_You_Want_Flak_And_AAA_Fire=ON # ON = Player 'Gets' Flak and AAA fire or OFF = Player Gets 'No' Flak and AAA fire. For saving processor resources. The default is ON as that is the way it is now but Beta Testers have noticed increased processing (as the bugs fixed permits additional fire) when the Flak and AAA is in full fire mode. Also may help customers with weaker PCs to save some processing. e.Do_You_Want_Flak_And_AAA_Fire_if_Friendly_within_1000_Meters = ON # ON = Flak and AAA when friendly is within 1000 meters or OFF = No Flak and AAA fire when friendly is within 1000 meters The default is ON as that the way it is now (all AAA and flak fire at enemy target). Many players will want AAA and flak off to prevent friendly A/C form being hit. In addition, large dog fights take significant processing power so limiting the flak and AAA will be a help for some. On the other hand it is fun to dog fight around flak and AAA as it just adds to the stress level if you have the processor grunt. 13. After an Air-to-Air collision both the Target A/C and the Hitter A/C pilots bail out or crash as the damage is too serious to continue. In the old code method only the players A/C took damage from an air-to-air
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collision which seems very wrong. 14. After working on the AAA and Flak code, I discovered that Rowan had made some interesting decisions with respect to the hand held guns.. The Rowan guys limited the fire from the hand held guns (110, JU87, def, and bomber gunners) by setting all of them to reload at 500 (that is 5 sec or 500 csec). This sets these guns to fire (four bullets) only every five sec if they can target an enemy. Rowan did this I think because they did not have good control over the accuracy of the gunners as we just discovered. Now that we have the Dispersion parameters and some experience I think we can turn these guns loose, if we want. The bomber gunners had 900 bullets. I am not sure how many bullets the 110, Def, and Ju87 gunners had but the software checks for out of stores. The game play would be enhanced (more exciting against the gunners) if we could turn these gunners loose and let them shoot when they can target (I do not think they can target all that often). You may have to re-tune the dispersion parameters (or not) depending on the your results and personal taste. I implemented the following Bdg.txt parameter so the customer can have a option: Do_You_Want_Increase_Firing_Rate_Of_Hand_Held_Gunners=OFF # ON = Increased Firing rate to Historic for hand held guns OFF = Leave the firing rate as implemented currently As is my policy (mostly) the default is OFF as that is the way the current code works. 15. During Beta Testing, a few of the Beta Testers commented that the 40 MM Bofors AA guns were too strong and accurate. I implemented a new Bdg.txt parameter for changing the reload time for the 40 MM Bofors. This parameter can be used to either in crease or decrease the firing rate of the guns. I also introduced a random error for the Bofors to tame them down a bit. LT_BRIT_BOFORS_Reloadtime = 100 #the reload time in cseconds (cs / 100 = seconds) for the LT_BRIT_BOFORS 40 MM AA Gun. Just increase this parameter to reduce the BOFOR rate of fire. The default is 100 CS or ONE Second (a CS is 1/100 of a second or seconds = CS/100). If you want to reduce the Bofors rate of fire (example) just set the parameter to the following: LT_BRIT_BOFORS_Reloadtime = 1000 (10 seconds) so you will get about 1/10 the rate of fire from the Bofors then with 100.t 16. When you get a red tint over the screen then BOBII is trying to tell you that your canopy has been damaged badly and you are dead. I added the code to ensure that you crash when this occurs. Thanks to Borton for this catch.
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17. When one elevator and one horizontal stabilizer is damaged and missing (= BS_DEAD in the program). The player will be crashed as his plane is really not flyable anymore. Thanks to Marine for this catch and post. 18. Fix a small bug when Max_Number_AI_Targeting_AI = 1 as the old code would permit 2 subject AI to attack the target AI.. Thanks to Borton for this catch. 19. Another attempt to improve the Bomber/Fighter fire problem (where it burns forever rather than crashing). I also ask Scott to review his code in the damage engine which is separate from the C++ BOBII engine. Maybe I made it better this time or I fixed it. 20. Spent 3 weeks improving the Combat Reports and Diary Report counts for Kills, friendly A/C losses, and friendly pilot losses. I think we were able to take a big step forward but we still have a few report problems in the campaign to be fixed. This change will result in a change to your game play. WARNING: TO ENSURE THAT YOUR COUNTS ARE CORRECT FOR ENEMY KILLS AND FRIENDLY LOSSES, YOU MUST WAIT UNTIL THE A/C HITS THE GROUND BEFORE ALT-X IS HIT. THIS IS ALSO TRUE FOR EXPLOSIONS FROM COLLISIONS AND BULLET HIT AS AN INVISIABLE A/C WILL STILL HIT THE GROUND. IT CAN TAKE A MINUTE OR MORE TO REACH THE GROUND FROM ALTITUDE. 21. I added a transition to smooth out the after death maneuver. If the A/C is in a spin, spinout, or a violent maneuver that left his pitch and roll in a strange position then the after death maneuver had a very hard time completing a correct death maneuver. 22. During Beta Testing of the counts change (trying to accurately count the losses and kills), it was noted that LUF Bomber Stragglers are not target by RAF fighters. After some testing and experimenting a LUF Bomber Straggler fix was designed, coded , and tested. The way the code worked before I coded the straggler attack fix was that stragglers could not be attack/engaged as they could not be found by running the bomber loop. Once a bomber became a straggler he was not targeted unless he was already targeted before he became a straggler. Bombers are always targeted and retargeted as the fighters become disengaged and engaged (this is the normal process so the software can try and keep track of the fighters attacking the bombers). The player is not given any special preference which is by design. In fact, the fighters will give preference to targeting the back row of bombers trying to avoid some of the bombers guns. The new code does in fact limit the targeting of stragglers to only one attacker at a time (unless a RAF fighter was already targeting the straggler
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before) as I did not want to shoot down all the stragglers each mission. 23. I implemented the MANOEUVRE_LUFBERRY for the BF110. It is not perfect but it is a fair simulation, I think. In very simple terms it was a special LUF defensive maneuver that a group of BF110 tried where they formed a circle and tried to defend against the RAF fighters so that their front and rear guns could form a good defense against the RAF fighters. I do not think it was a big success in RL after the RAF fighter figured out what they were doing. The best way to see a MANOEUVRE_LUFBERRY is to select Dog Fight Random advantage and select the BF110 for the LUF. It is coded to be random with about a 2% chance of the BF110 group using the defensive maneuver. Of course it can be used by the LUF in any IA or campaign mission that meets the requirements (squad <= 10 but >= 6, sort of loosing the fight and outnumbered, is a 110 squad, and meets the random number). The Lufberry was requested by several players some months ago. 24. Extend the maneuver time for the BF110. The BF110 has a slower roll rate that was causing the maneuvers to terminate too soon. 25. Thanks to Alex, fixed a CTD in AutoFollowWP caused by a bad pointer. Alex was able to test and verify the fix. 26. Bader (the BDGs senior member/tester and a very smart man who happens to be one of the best testers of the AI I have worked with) made a post on the Beta Forum about the AI being able to roll faster than the player. After careful analysis and thought, we decided to try to implement the exact same surface reduction code for the AI A/C that implemented for the players A/C. The fix was actually easy and without much risk but required significant testing to ensure the AI could still perform all their maneuvers. We did find and fix a problem with the AI making power dives at very high speeds. We really saw no AI problems with the change as yet except for the power dive problem (AI hitting the ground with a crash). The unexpected results was that all the Beta Testers saw a big improvement in the AI behavior with smoother, more natural, and more realistic AI behavior. This was a bit of a surprise to me but I will take it. I did implement two new Bdg.txt parameters to support the change as follows: PLAYER_REDUCE_SURFACE_DEFLECTION=ON # the Rudder, Ailerons, and Elevators surface deflections are realistically reduced based on the Player A/C's Speed, Altitude, and Dynamic Pressure AI_REDUCE_SURFACE_DEFLECTION=ON # the Rudder, Ailerons, and Elevators surface deflections are realistically reduced based on the AI A/C's Speed, Altitude, and Dynamic Pressure I deleted the old Bdg.txt parameter,
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REDUCE_SURFACE_DEFLECTION. The defaults are both set to ON as the old one was ON as well (which is our policy on defaults). 27. Fixed a rather annoying problem found by Trumper on the Beta Forum where the AI in the Instant Action Dog Fight 1-ON-1 would not always engage on skill levels other than Veteran. 28. Fixed a CTD when a A/C collides with a ground object that is movable but smaller than an A/C. I would like to thank VF-2 John Banks who took the time to post this problem at SIMHQ and then assist me with follow-up data. Anyway I needed to recode BashHitter to take care of all the cases (hitting other A/C both in the air and on the ground, hitting moving trucks/objects on the ground, and hitting non-moving object like an AAA gun, pen,etc.). 29. Set default TARGET SIZE to LOW. This allows more realistic gunnery and improves visual damage effects. Note1: You have to edit this in the game GUI if you import old settings from a previous install. Note2: If you have a savegame file and you run with Medium you will see no change here unless you re-install. 30. Fixed a CTD in Replay (rather complex procedure) that has been there forever. I want to extend a big thanks to our new BDGer Rob for finding, reporting, and testing this one. 31. I added a death transition type maneuver to try and smooth out the death moves. Here are Osrams 2.09 changes: : 32. Externalised the weapons data from the executable into a new file "weapons.txt" in the models folder. This means this data is now easy to change for non coders. 33. Allow additional and different 3D objects (until now, excluding groups, we could only have 512. Now we can allow almost an infinite number of objects). 34. Permit FOV angles of up to 135 degrees if unlocked via the bdg.txt (mainly for special hardware). This was a player requested feature. 35. Forest rim trees to make the forest look denser than it actually is IOW increase visual quality with relatively little FPS effect. The following four items were done by/for 777 Studios ( http://www.777studios.net/ ) and are used by A2A Simulations / the BDG since 777 and A2A share their improvements of Merlin. 36. Fixed neon coloured dots for the ground objects. 37. Implemented Fog fix. See before / after pictures to see how bad the old version looked, depending on settings.
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38. Shaders are now handled differently depending on whether they use opaque, 1 bit alpha or smooth alpha textures. 39. Speeded up (improved FPS) on: Autogen objects, ObjectAdds, Far away objects, Rendering in general. Known issue- since this correction some models now show white in the furthest distance. This needs model fixes, which will take some time. 40. Implemented 1 Bit Alpha (did not ship with any previous official exe) 41. Fixed a memory leak. 42. Implemented Mouse placement mode for adding objects. Until now, you HAD to use the keyboard. 43. Fix "zero step" bug when placing objects using the keyboard (thanks to Stickman for the report). 44. START FROM PEN position for Marck updated (thanks to PV for this one). So now you actually start on the airfield. Flight Model (FM) updates. Thank you to our FM engineer, Blue Six. Please note: if you want to use the latest Spin settings you will need to edit a couple of lines in your bdg.txt file, these are: Player_Spin_AOA_Control and Player_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control. If you do not make the edit you will use the fairly relaxed default settings which mean that spins are possible, but less likely than in R/L. Here are (Blue Six) Ken's recommended bdg.txt file spin parameter settings for your player-flown aircraft (AoA / rotational velocity): Spitfire 17.500000 / 4.250000 Hurricane 16.500000 / 5.000000 Bf109 18.500000 / 5.000000 Bf110 18.500000 / 5.000000 Ju87B 18.500000 / 6.000000 As an example, if you are mainly a Spitfire pilot, edit the bdg.txt lines so they look like this: Player_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.50000 #AI. set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI, 22.0 Degrees Rowan Default(AI) (Limited to 12.0) Player_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 4.25000 #AI, 14.325 degrees per second Rowan Default(AI) (Limited to 3.5) As an example, if you are mainly a Hurricane pilot, edit the bdg.txt lines so they look like this: Player_Spin_AOA_Control = 16.50000 #AI. set to 0.0 Means no spins for AI, 22.0 Degrees Rowan Default(AI) (Limited to 12.0)
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Player_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 5.00000 #AI, 14.325 degrees per second Rowan Default(AI) (Limited to 3.5). Landscape improvements come in three parts 1. We now have over 250 upgraded ground objects. 2. We have further updated textures. 3. We have numerous corrections. These include relocation of Boscombe Down airfield, many fixes for landscape errors (for example the AshfordRedhill railway line, which was missing a section, is now fully in place. This was used as a key navigational aid as it runs straight for 50 miles and enabled pilots to locate the south London airfields (Biggin, Kenley, Croydon) with ease when returning from the coast). Note1: please turn TOWN AND FOREST RAISES OFF or you will see buildings 'floating' above the ground. Note2: please select FULL Object Density in the game setup screens to see all of the objects. Can I place objects myself? Absolutely! That's the whole idea. Anyone can add their own details and it takes only a few minutes. There is guidance on the A2A forums. How do I enable trees? This is a Work-in-Progress feature that is useable for most people. Edit your bdg.txt file. At the very bottom you will see a line saying ENABLE_AUTO_GEN=OFF Change this to: ENABLE_AUTO_GEN=ON TEMP_AG_SN[15,2]=62 Yes, you need both lines. Just copy and paste, or type it longhand. Weaker systems will need TEMP_AG_SN[15,0]=62 or TEMP_AG_SN[15,1]=62 (the number after the comma is a density setting). Strong systems may be able to run TEMP_AG_SN[15,3]=62 which gives the greatest tree density. Note: Set 'Town and Forest Raises' to OFF in the GFX settings screens.
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Credits Another wonderful team effort across all times zones and nationalities. There are dozens of people contributing to the various versions so far. Specifically on 2.09, thank you to: Coders- Buddye, Osram Flight Model (FM)- Blue Six Models: Creation, conversion- Ben, Geoff, Simon, Condor (Greg) Textures- Ben, Bader, Nigel Dickinson, John Whelan Landscape- PV, Bader, Stickman Guides/Illustrations- Stickman Testing/General- Trumper, Borton, alexcraig, Hylander_1715, Prem Holdaway, chumleigh, Heinkill, Mraah and, as ever, Scott, for allowing us to camp out here and general support.
BDG_2.08 release notes Summary 1) Redesign of the AI Maneuver Selection process. 2) Enhancement of the existing AI Maneuvers and introduction of new Maneuvers . 3) Enhancement of Fighters vs Bomber AI Maneuver Selection . 4) New 2dGauge System (with some continuing gauge work to follow) 5) New 3D Ground Objects for RAF and Luftwaffe airfields. 6) Updated High Res Terrain textures - Brand new textures at increased resolution (16x base BoBII) 7) Updated Terrain mapping Reworking of key areas. 8 ) General fixes 9) Updated Multiskin 150+ Historical skins including some key personalities of the Battle The 2.08 AI Performance and Design The redesign of the AI Maneuver Selection (Buddye) The redesign of the AI maneuver Selection Criteria was driven by the need to become more deterministic and less random in selecting AI maneuvers. I felt the need to move in this direction to improve the AI offence and defense so the AI selection software had more control. Of course there is a big danger in this strategy. We do not want BOBII to become repeatable. This will become a fine line to follow in the future and I will need both
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our testers and customers help and feedback. Here is a summary of the new selection criteria design: 1. Altitude (how much altitude and rate of change) 2. Speed (how much speed, and rate of change) 3. Position of A/C to each other (none to tail, tail to tail, nose to beam, tail to beam or left, right, front, back) To implement the new selection criteria I built a 3 X 6 matrix (a truth table) and many new programs. For each A/C (the unfriendly and the AI or the player), I designed programs to look at Altitude, Speed, and position and to first try and select the best maneuver option (aggressive or defense) based on AI skill level. Altitude and speed can also be thought of as energy as altitude can be turned into speed. The new design uses the A/Cs current position but I am thinking about implementing the A/Cs lead position (his future position which would be a small delta in the future). Anyway, this new design is a long term work BOBII AI strategy (work in progress) that I can work on as I have new ideas for the AI from our testers and customers. It should position the BOBII AI design for future improvements by using more deterministic rather than random selection criteria. The goal is very simple "to improve the AI performance" and keep BOBII the best off line AI. My gut feel based on my experience and testing is that the AI is now stronger at selecting the best/correct maneuver, avoiding bad positions (like low altitude), better at avoiding low energy, and in general a bit stronger fighter and defender. Of course, the Player will always win with experience/practice but if we give the player a better fight (scrap), I personally consider that real progress. BTW, I also gave the Terminator a bit of boost in performance and tuneup so you might want to try it out. With the boost in Terminator performance, he was getting cocky so I implemented a spinout feature. The Terminator flies so close to the edge now that he has a tendency to spinout. This is when you can get him. I also implemented a new AI feature called Flying Factor (FF). This is the knowledge of the AI pilot to fly a given maneuver (experience) and
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how well the AI pilot will actually fly the given maneuver (skill). The FF is based on the Skill Level (customer selected in Instant Action Missions and software assigned in the Campaign). The Terminator is assigned a Skill Level of Hero2 (the highest in the game) so that is where he gets his boost in performance (edge). The AI Performance Dependencies Skill Level The AI performance is dependent on AI Skill Level (which is customer selected in Instant Action and SW assigned in the campaign). BOBII AI do make mistakes (spin, crash, dumb maneuvers, bad judgment, shoot late , shoot bad, etc) which is after all very human. The skill level of the AI is key in making decisions on about everything with respect to AI performance like (1) how well the AI fly, shoot, shoot fast, slow, accuracy, or not shoot, (2) how well the AI fly, what maneuvers are selected, and how well the AI will fly the chosen maneuver. Random Numbers (Luck of the draw) The BOBII AI A/C is also dependent on luck (specifically on random numbers). Random number decisions are coded through out the AI code. BOBIIs random approach keeps BOBII from doing the same thing each time. Even something as simple as the direction to start a maneuver (left or right), I will use a random number to decide (why hard code something when you can use a random number). For example, most BOBII vertical maneuvers use a random number to assign a length of time to for a specific vertical maneuver (Like Zoom). The AI pilot will sometimes cut off early, or late, or somewhere in the middle. If early the maneuver may carry too much speed and if late the AI may slow down so much that control is lost (very human). The bottom line is that the customer will always see a somewhat different maneuver (very good, good, not so good, and loss of control) both because of the random implementation and the different physics parameters (speed, roll, heading, pitch, and overall energy) going into each maneuver. The very real downside of random numbers is it is very hard to test (not repeatable) and the processing power used. Conditions The conditions for each maneuver are always different (energy, speed, altitude, skill, damage, and enemy position). This also changes how the
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maneuver is performed. A damaged AI will not fly as well as an undamaged AI. Maneuver Selection The first key decision to be made is to select either an aggressive or defensive maneuver. This is a complex decision based on the available information on both the Player and the Enemy AI or the friendly AI and the enemy AI. The data considered for both Player and enemy is speed, altitude, and the position of the targeting AI and the AI being targeted with respect to each other. After selecting either an aggressive or defensive, then a random approach is used to select a category (choose good , choose bad , or choose neither good nor bad maneuver). Maneuvers are then divided into three parts Vertical, Horizontal, and dive for each of our categories (choose good, choose bad, and choose neither good nor bad maneuver). The individual maneuver selection is then based on speed, altitude, and position of both the player and the enemy AI. One big thing to remember is that the BOBII AI performance is very dependent on AI Skill Level (which is customer selected in Instant Action and SW assigned in the campaign). BOBII AI do make mistakes (spin, crash, dumb maneuvers, bad judgment, shoot late , shoot bad, etc) which is after all very human.
1) Feature update (Buddye) BDG_2.08 Changes (from 2.07) 1. Fixed Novice_Stronger_Bullets=ON [ #NOTE: Only the player has the stronger bullets (not the AI)] so that only the player has the stronger bullets and not the AI. Default is off and I added a NOTE in the BDG.txt 2. Fixed Auto Pilot so if significant damage occurs the A/C will crash as Auto Pilot will be disengaged back to manual and can not be re-engaged thanks to Trumper for catching this one for us. 3. Fixed Auto Landing in Auto pilot to exclude the BOBII unflyable A/C like bombers thanks to Bader for catching this one. 4. Added code to smooth out turns during auto landing thanks to Bader. 5. Prevented a CTD in SPC when START_FROM_PEN=ON. 6. Added a BDG.txt parameter External_View_Starting_Distance = 3.100000 #sets the starting distance from the A/C in external view NOTE:
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set to 1.3 to get the old distance. The default is 3.1 which fixes slight vibration in external view by increasing the distance slightly. NOTE: for anyone who wants/needs (for Pics or close inspections) the old distance set to 1.3. 7. Implemented necessary code to support Stickmans BOBII 2D Gauge System work (see Manual for operation details by Stickman) with a special thanks to Eric (2D Gauge System Programmer) and Scott (provided the code to the BDG). The goal is provide a 2D gauge option for the A/C 3D gauges that have problems. 8. Fix a FlyBy sound issue where the Players A/C engine sound was left on during the FlyBy. The players engine sound is stopped during FlyBy and restarted when FlyBy is completed. 9. Added a BDG.txt parameter for MysticPuma or other movie makers. The default is 50 (for about 50 times the minimum distance). Most all customers will not use this option. External_View_Zoom_Distance , "External_View_Zoom_Distance", 50, "#Sets the max zoom distance from the camera (player A/C) in external view NOTE: default = 50 to zoom out farther set to 60,70, 80,etc. for movie makers like MP" 10. Added Range (in meters from the player, NOTE enemy AI only) to the MoveCode label for SW analysis/debug. If you set Show_MoveCodes=ON in the Bdg.txt, you will get the following: AUTO_COMBAT MANEUVRE_TURNINGFIGHT Range Skill Altitude Speed Example AUTOCOMBAT MANEUVER_BREAKHIGH 390 ACE 3000 295 11. Implemented a redesign and implementation of the AI Selection Criteria for 2.08. 12. A significant Reworked the AI maneuvers for fighters against bombers was done to improve AI performance. The new code is based on skill level. 13. Added a new BDG.txt parameter Collision_Detection_And_Avoidance=ON #NOTE CDAA must be set to TRUE to do Collision Detection And Avoidance. Also check the other two CA BDG.txt parameters for correct values, if needed. The default = ON. Deleted the old BDG.txt parameter Collision_Avoidance (default = OFF) This was done to permit the customers to have a default = ON for Collision_Dection_And_Avoidance for the new Tiger Moth in their BDG.txt. The slow speed of the Tiger Moth was causing the faster fighter to crash with the Tiger Moth too much. Requested by Osram. 14. Fixed the Bomb Doors not opening and closing correctly. I tested it in the Instant Action Intercepts Lone Fighter Vs Lone Bomber Mission and the Historic London mission. The Bomb doors work correctly on the DO17 and the HE111. They do not work on the JU88 (The JU88 has
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under wing bombs). 15. Prevented a CTD had by a customer by checking for a NULL Pointer in Diary::SetLanding (in sqddiary.cpp at line 2699. 16. Implemented the following Bdg.txt parameters for Ken our FM engineer (Note: these are only for Kens use for a FM change): Spitfire_Aileron_Trim_Delta = 750 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 0 Hurricane_Aileron_Trim_Delta = 725 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 0 BF109_Aileron_Trim_Delta = 775 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 0 BF110_Aileron_Trim_Delta = 500 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 0 JU87B_Aileron_Trim_Delta = 250 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 0 TigerMoth_Aileron_Trim_Delta = 0 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 0 17. Implemented the following Bdg.txt parameter for testing the AI ( so I can easily see the speed and altitude of both the player and padlocked enemy AI A/C, Note: this feature will only work in AUTOCOMBAT): Your_2dGauges_Work_In_Autopilot=OFF #Set to ON to have your 2dGauges work in AutoPilot. The default is OFF. Note: Only works in AUTOCOMBAT. 18. I fix a small bug when the movecode was SCREWYOUIMGOINGHOME (a group go home movecode). The A/C would not take Evasive action depending on many interesting factors I will not bore you with. 19. Changed the default for the LUF Campaign Directives from %tied 0 %free 100 to %tied100 %free0 (note: change only needed for Convoy and Eagle Day as the other phases were already that way). We felt that attached setting is more historically accurate and we also did a lot of LUF campaign testing for the LUF Escort bug and we feel this setting solves some or most of the Escort bug issues (except under some certain factors). Customers can still change the Directives as they choose but we recommend you give the new default a try if you use Directives. If you do not use Directives for the LUF Campaign please give the default setting a try. Let us know if you are still having the Escort bug with a test case so we can debug it. 20. Implemented a Bdg.txt parameter for the AI called RAF_Breaksoff_Before_France. The default is OFF and the RAF will continue the fight until normal Go Home criteria is met (Ammo, Fuel, Damage). If your set RAF_Breaksoff_Before_France = ON, the RAF
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fighters will breakoff and go home before they reach France. 21. Osram added a new Bdg.txt parameter for the Triple Head customers. If you set ALLOW_ULTRA_HIGH_FOVS=ON in the Bdg.txt you can then expand the FOV for your Triple Head hardware. The default is ALLOW_ULTRA_HIGH_FOVS=OFF. 22. Thanks to Hard_Sarge (our new super Beta Tester), I able to fix some bugs in the RAF and LUF Combat Reports in the campaign (we never saw this problem in Instant Action (IA) as it is very hard to shoot down different A/C types in IA missions). The problem occurred when more than one A/C was shot down by both the player and the players wingmen. 23. Here are the new maneuvers that I coded and the ones I tried to improve: I added 9 new maneuvers for the BOBII AI. The new maneuvers are BARRELROLLATTACK, ZOOMANDDROP, DROPANDZOOM, BREAK180, SPLITS, QUICKROLL, TURNANDRUN. DIVINGROLL, INSIDELOOP, and OUTSIDELOOP. There are 10 recoded maneuvers : PANICTURN, JINK, ZOOM, SCISSORS, MILDSCISSORS, STALLTURN, SPINOUT, BREAKHIGH, IMMELMANNTURN, and IMMELMANN. NOTE: the new vertical risky maneuvers IMMELMANNTURN, IMMELMANN, INSIDELOOP, OUTSIDELOOP, and STALLTURN can only be seem by using the Hero, Ace, and Veteran skill levels (Includes Terminator = Hero2). It is hoped the new maneuvers will add to the AIs fun and enjoyment and also give the player a stronger fight. 24. I added 18 new BDG.txt parameters (Ken calls them Boost parameters) for Ken (Our FM engineer) so he can fine tune the Player FM and A/C movements. Ken will provide me with the numbers when he has time to complete his analysis and testing. SPITFIRE_Aileron_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 SPITFIRE_Rudder_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 SPITFIRE_Elevator_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 HURRICANE_Aileron_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 HURRICANE_Rudder_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 HURRICANE_Elevator_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 BF109_Aileron_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1
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BF109_Rudder_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 BF109_Elevator_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 BF110_Aileron_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 BF110_Rudder_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 BF110_Elevator_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 JU87B_Aileron_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 JU87B_Rudder_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 JU87B_Elevator_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 TigerMoth_Aileron_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 TigerMoth_Rudder_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 TigerMoth_Elevator_Boost_Delta = 1.000000 #FM Adjustment for FM Engineer, default = 1 Ken also led the effort to improve the accuracy of the player aero surface deflection code which has been implemented on 2.08. To get the new more realistic aero surface deflection just set REDUCE_SURFACE_DEFLECTION = ON in the BDG.txt (the default). Here is his documentation on the change: Patch 2.08 FM Refinement The primary flight control surfaces (ailerons, rudder, and elevators) of early WW2 aircraft were not hydraulically boosted the amount of deflection that could be achieved at medium and high airspeed was governed by the strength of the pilot, augmented by the mechanical advantage offered by the control circuitry and in some cases aerodynamic balancing on the control surfaces themselves. At extremely high speeds, the flight controls became very stiff and could only be moved a few degrees, greatly limiting their effectiveness. Control surface deflection loss is already modeled in BoB II, provided REDUCE_SURFACE_DEFLECTION=ON in the .bdg file. Beyond a fixed threshold, achievable deflection decreases in direct proportion to increasing airspeed, until a limiting value of 10% of maximum deflection is reached. Beyond this point, 10% deflection remains, regardless of airspeed.
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As part of ongoing efforts to improve the fidelity of flight modeling, beginning at Patch 2.08 control surface deflection loss will be scheduled by dynamic pressure (q). This means that achievable deflection now varies with the square of airspeed, and that ambient air density (effectively altitude) is also factored into the calculation. Upper and lower thresholds will be adjustable via new parameters in the .bdg file (e.g. SPITFIRE_Aileron_Boost_Delta = 1.000000), and the lower limit of control deflection remaining will be reduced to 5%. Even at the default settings, this change should provide players with a more realistic FM. You may notice the controls being slightly more responsive at very high altitudes, and you certainly will notice the difference in control effectiveness if you dive beyond the never exceed velocity of approximately 450 mph / 725 kph at medium or low altitude. In due course all the FMs will be individually tuned to take full advantage of the new boost delta feature. 25. Implemented a new Spinout maneuver. It works when you shoot at a enemy AI and score a hit or near miss. If the targeted AI is Damage = Yes (a specific amount of damage that that will send the targeted AI home (movecode =DISENGAGED or SCREWYOUIMGOINGHOME), then the targeted AI will have a 20% (medium) chance of a Spinout. If the targeted AI is Damaged = No, then the targeted AI has the following percent chance of a Spinout based on skill level: NOVICE and POOR = 20% REGULAR and VETERAN = 15% ACE and HERO = 10% I am trying simulate the different skill level AI pilots surprise and ham fisted reaction to being targeted, surprised, and shot at and the fact that a damaged A/C will tend to spinout when the AI pilot over reacts. You control this feature with the BDG.txt Value Use_The_Spinout_Maneuver. The default is set to ON so if you want to use the new Spinout maneuver (recommended) do nothing. If you do not want to use the new Spinout feature, set the BDG.txt parameter Use_The_Spinout_Maneuver = OFF. 26. Increased the distance for the AI to start shooting for head-on engagements to account for the short time. 27. Fixed a CTD by checking for a zero pointer thanks to Prem. 28. Fixed A CTD thanks to Borton. 29. Fixed Optimize_Objects_During_Runtime to always be set to OFF (no matter what the customer has set in the BDG.txt). 30. Fixed a CTD in AirCombat() caused by a faulty check of the SAG control parameters for a extended SAG. 31. Fixed the problem of the customer issuing a Attack my Target radio
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command (help) while the A/C are on the ground. ________________ I also wanted to document here a change to the Combat Report for the meaning of the Enemy Causalities line (PlayerKills/PlayerKills + AIKills, example, 2/4 BF109 means the player shot down 2 Bf109s, the AI wingmen shot down 2, and the total kills was 4). Buddye
BDG_v2.07 Summary
1) Updates to exe (release notes below) AI improvements and AI death animation updates. 2) Single Pilot Campaign (beta) with brand new 28 page player guide. 3) Updated Flight Models (FMs), adjustable to user experience. 4) Updated Terrain - Brand new textures and reworked terrain detailing. 5) Updated Multiskin - adds over 150 Historical skins Detailed list of changes in BDG_v2.07 1. Fixed the L key (FLOORVIEW) for the JU87 so it will toggle. It was sticking. 2. Fixed a bad bug in the One-on-One and Turkey Shoot Missions where the enemy AI would not evade with a near miss when the Gun Camera = ON. 3. Remove all the unused Key commands from the Control->key map GUI that go with the new Key command document thanks to Rob. 4. Fixed bugs that were causing the JU87s to not dive bomb in the IA Anti-Shipping Mission and the campaign. We tested and confirmed the following: - When the player flies as the "leader" and manual (not auto pilot), all AI Stuka wingmen dive-bomb. This is true both in manual-control and in AutoPilot. NOTE: in manual control the player must enter the R-6-1 CMD (start your run). You do not need to padlock the target. - When the player flies as a "wingman", other staffel members (AI Stuka leader, wingmen) dive-bomb. - When the player flies as an "escort" 109, the whole AI Stuka staffel divebombs. - When the player flies as the RAF "intercept", the whole AI Stuka staffel
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dive-bombs. 5. Implemented a new Bdg text parameter (BDG_Values.Campaign_Break_Off_Code) to control the new campaign breakoff code. A yes and the break off code will be applied which is the default. Set to no and the breakoff is skipped. This was a customer request so that the player can chase the enemy AI back to base and it will fight and evade. Be warned it also permits the enemy AI to chase you back to base. 6. Fixed a CTD in void LINKEDLIST<ITEM>::Detach (ITEM* item) caused by a NULL pointer, I think. Thanks to Borton for this one. 7. Implement a specific fix where the player is the shooter and shooting at a retreating AI in a non-combat move code. The retreating AI will take evasive action (he will do one evasive maneuvre and the return to his retreating non-combat move code). 8. Implemented a Bdg.txt parameter called Permit_Annoying_Radio_chatter which can be used to stop the annoying Radio Chatter that so many have complained about. The default is TRUE (same as now). Set the parameter to FALSE to stop the two most annoying and unnessary chatter (SHOOTHIM and slow down I can not keep up). I can add other if customers request it. 9. Fixed a CTD in OnClickItem caused by the Select Target Dialog being used. I disabled the OK button which will prevent the CTD. All users need to do to change/switch targets is click on a target on the map. The Select Target Dialog is really not needed/required. 10. Thanks to Borton and a little luck I fixed a CTD in MovePilotEye. The crash was dependent on what was in memory as the call was made to MovePilotEye before 3D. 11. Fixed the 110 bug in the right engine Mags so that keyboard startup can be used. Also made the keyboard starup keys show up in the controller keys list. 12. Prevented a error message in GetLauncherPos that Borton had during SPC testing. 13. Prevented an error message in RadioChatter::LoadSample that Trumper had in RadioChatter::LoadSample during SPC testing. 14. Enabled the movement of RAF squads duing SPC from the North to the South to enhance game play. 15. Prevented/Fix a CTD in ParticleNode::Run by checking for NULL pointer that Nealg had during SPC testing. 16. Prevented/Fix a CTD in SetLandingTime by checking for NULL pointer that Nealg had during SPC testing. 17. Prevented/Fix a CTD in RDialog::OnLButtonDown by checking for NULL pointer that was found by sek_hakuna and reported on the general forum during his game play.
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18. Prevented the Radio Messages Regroup and SendEveryOneHome from being executed when the player is on the ground with the gear touching. 19. For SPC (Single Pilot Campaign) gameplay only (will not affect/impact the commander campaign), you can now set the skill level for each 3D mission and there will be no random skill assigned. You will see the new Bdg.txt parameters (SPC_Skill_RAF, SPC_Skill_LUF). You can select a skill for both the RAF and LUF. Be sure to spell the permitted options for skill correctly as it will default to "NONE" (no change to skill) if misspelled. The default is none and this will leave the skill levels as assigned in the Commander campaign. SPC_Skill_RAF=NONE # valid modes: HERO, ACE, REGULAR, VETERAN, POOR, NOVICE, NONE (NONE is default means no forced skill level) SPC_Skill_LUF=NONE # valid modes: HERO, ACE, REGULAR, VETERAN, POOR, NOVICE, NONE (NONE is default means no forced skill level) 20. I added the skill level at the Beta Testers request to the Movecode Labels (if you set it in the Bdg.txt, Show_MoveCodes=ON). It is added to the end of the displayed movecode. 21. Added a random heading, pitch, roll change to the death sequence (after death) which considers the wings getting clipped, roll in both directions, and heading in both directions. The roll is started quick for wings getting clipped but a 1 second delay is used otherwise. The after death maneuvers are now very random. 22. Prevented the sack for the SPC. 23. Added a BDG.txt option Allow_Commander_Campaign_Sack with a ON default (same as today). To prevent the commander campaign sack set Allow_Commander_Campaign_Sack = OFF. 24. Added a Bdg.txt parameter Padlock_Enemy_AI_Targeting_Player = OFF (OFF is the default). I am using the AIUNFRIENDLYVIEW (ALT+F1) key for this new feature and also for the keys default feature depaending on the Padlock_Enemy_AI_Targeting_Player switch. So if you want to padlock the enemy AI that is targeting the player as I do for both testing and survival (this is a internal parameter that points to the AI assigned to kill the player) then you need to set Padlock_Enemy_AI_Targeting_Player = ON and press the ALT+F1 key. Remember that only time a enemy is targeting the player is during combat (movecode = AUTOCOMBAT). If no enemy AI is targeting the player you will get the View Not Available message at the lower left of the screen as usual. If the default is used (OFF) then the ALT+F1 key will do its default function (Padlock the enemy AI leader most of the time, using the players
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enemy pointer (called ai.unfriendly). So when Padlock_Enemy_AI_Targeting_Player is set to OFF (the default), no change. 25. I added code to reduce the Air-to-Air collisions. I have had this complaint on my list for years and I have also worked on this complaint off/on for years. I think this fix should help get rid of the A/C-to-A/C collisions that are visually just too far apart yet still permit air collisions that seem more visually accurate. The user control is through the Bdg parameter Air_To_Air_Collision_Bubble_Size. The default is 10 which was determined through testing. A smaller interger value permits fewer collisions and a larger interger value yields more collisions. A setting of 16 results in no change. 26. When you have a broken outer wing (left or right) or both tail fins are broken, you will not be able to envoke AUTOPILOT. You should get a message AUTOPILOT Deactivited. Just a small hole close and another off my endless worklist. 27. AI can now land the player's plane in AUTOPILOT.Fixed the code so that gear will lower when using Auto pilot (control+A) for a landing. I also fixed the flaps (they would sort of go in rapid up/down) to stay down when landing. Two other bugs were also fixed (1) flaps raised after parking and (2) stopped the engine sound after the engine was stopped. I also fixed the bug where the gear would not go up after a take-off using auto pilot.
2) Single Pilot Campaign (Beta) For full information please see your \Battle of Britain II\docs folder for Single_Pilot_Campaign_Manual.pdf Thank you to Borton, Tako_Kichi, Heinkill for this excellent 28 page guide. 3) Updated Flight Models (FMs) Thank you, Blue Six and flybywire. These have been worked on for a long while now. http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8561&start=0 Notes from Blue Six: Several incremental FM refinements are rolled out with BDG_2.07. Yaw stability and damping have been increased for most aircraft, to more closely approximate their real world performance. This will be most evident on the Spitfire, where previously, any side-to-side nose motion took an inordinate amount of time to damp out. Adjustments have been
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made to the on-ground acceleration of all five flyable aircraft, when AIflown, to better match the takeoff performance achievable when the player flies the same aircraft. This addresses the problem of the player being left behind during Squadron takeoffs. Finally, and most significantly, propeller torque effects are now more properly modeled in BoB II - changes to throttle position or propeller pitch will produce a noticeable rolling moment which needs to be countered by the player. This provides additional challenge, particularly during takeoff and low speed flight. Technical and user considerations related to the propeller torque effect dictated that these FM changes be packaged as two options, "standard" and "realistic." These options differ as to the control surface trims available to the player, and to suitability for use with the torque/slipstreaming option OFF. Note: the yaw stability/damping and AI takeoff improvements are incorporated in both options. a. STANDARD FMs, for the casual to intermediate player, will work with the torque/slipstreaming option ON or OFF, and have sufficient aileron or rudder trim available to counter the propeller torque in most flight conditions, if desired. I have left Rowan's historically incorrect cockpitadjustable aileron trim in place on the Bf109, for this purpose. b. REALISTIC FMs, for the advanced player, are only suitable for use with torque/slipstreaming ON, and have the same cockpit-adjustable trims as the real world aircraft. The Spit, Hurri and Stuka have elevator and rudder trim; no aileron trim. The Bf109 has elevator trim only. The Bf110 has all three trims, elevator, aileron and rudder. The three single-engined fighter FMs in this package each have a built-in fixed aileron trim feature, which more or less balances the rolling moment (due to propeller torque) at a typical cruise speed and power setting. This is intended to simulate the aileron trim adjustments that would be made by the ground crew to reduce pilot workload (in the case of the Bf109, for example, by bending fixed metal tabs on the aileron trailing edges as needed. For the Hurricane a piece of rope would be glued to the top of the aileron and painted over). Without this feature in the sim, as in real life, large and sustained aileron and rudder inputs are required to offset the propeller torque reaction all across the speed/power setting range. Note 1: Away from cruising speeds and throttle setting, you most likely will experience a steady rolling effect, in one direction or the other. Note 2: As the Bf109 lacks a rudder trim you will not be able to trim "hands off" for high power application. Expect to have to use your right boot a lot in a 109. This is as it was in R/L.
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4) Updated Terrain The SummerTerrain-V2 is now included by default. 5) Updated Multiskin The BoBII_multiskin_v2.06_UPDATE has been added to the earlier Multiskin package. BOB II v2.06 Summary 1. AI (Artificial Intelligence) Advancement / improvements 2. New flight models 3. Increased stability 4. Built with Microsofts latest programming software 5. New visual effects 6. 2.06 manual revision completed Detailed list of changes in BOBv2.06 1. Fixed Collision Avoidance (CA) so that a different closure time can be used for head-on collisions (larger time as the closing is so fast) and a smaller time can be used for head to tail collisions so that the AI will not pull off as fast when shooting at an enemys tail. 2. Fixed the damage model so that when the left and right fin/elevators, or the left or right outside wings are equal to BS_DEAD (totally damaged from a collision or gun fire) the players A/C will not be flying home. 3. Fixed buffet sound so it turns off when player bails out or crashes. 4. Implemented additional/different maneuvers when Skill level Novice and Poor is selected in the Instant Action missions. The AI will be less aggressive (Novice less and Poor a bit more) and the maneuvers will be less defensive (Novice less and Poor a bit more). 5. Implemented new more aggressive AI maneuvers for Ace and Hero skill levels when selected in instant Action Missions (about the same level). The goal is so the customer can see a difference in both offence and defense when different skill levels are selected. a. Novice the lowest easiest level has very little offence mild defense. b. Poor the offence increases slightly and defense is increased over Novice. c. Regular and Veteran has less offense than 2.05 level and about the same defense as 2.05 level. d. Ace and Hero offence was increased significantly with the defense about the same as Regular and Veteran. The new STAYONTAIL and
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SNAPSHOT maneuvers are used that will lock on to your tail and it is difficult to get away from them. When one thinks of skill many thing come to mind. This implementation considers the flying skill of the pilot to perform maneuvers and the experience/skill to recognize the situation and select the better maneuver. The customer will need to pay more attention to the default skill levels in the Instant Action Missions and select the skill levels wanted according to their personal taste and experience. 6. Implemented the new Bdg.txt parameter for a new skill level option for fighting with the Terminator AI. This level is for experts and who want the highest AI challenge. Just set Do_You_Want_To_Fight_The_Terminator_AI=ON. The terminator AI will not disengage (except when they kill an enemy) and they do not go home. It is a fight to the death for both the wingmen (friendly) and the enemy AI (unless one gets too far out of range, visible range, 8000 meters). The Terminator AI is as aggressive as Hero and Ace and may even ram you as he does not care about being killed. The Terminator has a weakness as his defense is rather normal as his focus is on offence. As the fight continues the more Terminator AIs will be assigned to target the player. The Goal of the Terminator Skill level is to challenge the player to try and survive the 12-on-12 Random Advantage Mission and be the last one standing with your wingmens help. Good Luck. 7. Fix a Bug in the campaign when using ENGINE_ALWAYS_RUNNING=ON where the engine started then died during takeoff. 8. Fix a CTD in C:\bob\src\movecode\..\MOVECODE\Wpaction.cpp, line 649+18 byte(s). The conditions for the CTD were (1) Longer_IA_Fights=OFF (2) Auto Pilot on (3) must be flying for the LUF. It was rare but it did occur. 9. Made a fix to RequiredDRollSub and AutoCalcPitch to smooth out the Jumpy/shaky wingmen (friendly AI) when flying in formation. 10. Turned the engine sound off after you crash in the water. 11. Fixed a CTD in DetatchVapourStream by adding a check for zero pointer 12. Fix a Bug that caused the heading and pitch error which caused the A/C to not fly correctly to WPs (Thanks to Borton for sorting this one out so we could keep the jumpy wingmen fix and have this error as they were related). 13. Made the AI 110/109 guns work the following way: (1) 100% cannon less than 150 meters for ACE/HERO/Terninator and (2) 75% MG and 25% cannons greater than 150 meters but less than 500 meters (Weapons Range). This keeps the 109/110 from running out of a very limited number of cannon shots as fast for ACE/HERO/Terminator and it is more realistic
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IMHO. 14. If a JU87 is bounced and he is within about 5 miles of his target WP, and the player is the leader flying for the LUF then the Ju87 will finish his assign mission rather than dumping his bombs and running home as he currently does. 15. Fixed the players Auto Pilot so that when the left and right fin/elevators, or the left or right outside wings are equal to BS_DEAD (totally damaged from a collision or gun fire), or the players A/C is Dead (label no longer displayed) then the player will be forced out of Auto Pilot and he must fly himself to his death. 16. Implemented a BDG.txt parameter AI_Targets_Player_After_HitOrMiss. When AI_Targets_Player_After_HitOrMiss=ON the AI will target the player (as the game works today) after the player has a hit or near miss on the AI A/C.When this BDG.txt parameter is set to AI_Targets_Player_After_HitOrMiss=OFF the AI will not target the player after a hit or near miss. PLEASE NOTE: with AI_Targets_Player_After_HitOrMiss=OFF the AI A/C will not take evasive action when shot at by the player (hit or mear miss) unless already targeted. 17. Increased the dispersion for the hand guns in the bomber to reduce the accuracy for both the AI (50% increase) and the player (200% increase) as the accuracy was considered to be like Sniper Gunners. 18. Fixed a bug in IA only in the GoHome for move code AUTOFOLLOWWP where the speed was set to 90% max speed instantly. This messed up the speed for the training mission for formation flying. The GoHome (get out of town) speed will only use a slow increase the same as the player and will only for the 109 and 110. 19. Far Tile Generation fixed and implemented. 20. Fixed an old bug where the AI wingmen would not engage close to or over French soil. 21. Osram ask me to implement a new Bdg.txt parameter Render_Sheep_View_Radius for Pat Pattle so he could experiment with changing sheep into trees. The default is 0. 22. Added some new code from Charles for shadows but it needs some work that is planned. 23. Fixed a Winds Effect problem causing jumpy AI wingmen. No Customer change required. The wingmen appear stable to our testing eye now. 24. Fixed a bug when using the keyboard control (rather than joystick) that Scott identified where the DeadZones program had a bug that prevented flying. 25. Added the Shove code back for the player only and not the AI (this
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had been commented out for the last year because of concerns over AI jumps/warps and odd maneuvers). 26. Added skill level check for shooting accuracy, range, and bullets. -Novice and Poor Start shooting early 500 meters, 10% loss in accuracy -Regular and Veteran Start shooting at 400 meters, 5% loss in accuracy -Ace, Hero, and Terminator Start shooting at 360 meters, no loss of accuracy, and shoot twice the number of bullets. 27. Implemented Bdg.txt parameter Initial_Max_Number_AI_Targeting_Player. This parameter permits the customer to limit the number of enemy AI that can target the player during the initial engage (the PeelOff maneuver) to prevent too many enemy AI from targeting the player when the player is badly outnumbered. This problem has occurred during Beta testing in the campaign on 2.06. 28. Fixed a problem of the bullet sound continuing after the AI ran out of ammo. It was very noticable in Auto pilot when the AI was lock on for a kill. He will now immediately be set to disengaged and then set to AUTOFOLLOWWP to go home. 29. Added back the Too Fast message (which was deleted in 2.05 as annoying) under the follow specific criteria. Speed is more than 200MPH and the throttle is more than 75%. If either or both are true the wingman whines. If both are false the guy does not whine about you going too fast. 30. Worked on the PeelOff maneuvre to try and spred out the AI more to assist in preventing friendly fire issues. 31. Implemented BDG_Values.Time_In_IA_Missions_Until_LUF_Returns_Home. The default is = 0. This permits the customer to set the time in minutes before the LUF fighters (109/110) and JU87 return home. This was implemented as a option in IA missions so the customer that is concerned about historical RAF losses can tune the mission to his taste. Those that are not concerned about historical accuracy in IA missions can just fight on. 32. Deleted the BDG_Values.Longer_AI_Fights as #31 above replaced it. 33. Fixed a CTD in HighIntercept which was an overflow found by Spitfireace. I changed the varable name from Sword to SLong to prevent the overflow. 34. Replaced MANOEUVRE_LINEABREAST, MANOEUVRE_LINEASTERN, and MANOEUVRE_VICATTACK and replaced them with MANOEUVRE_PEELOFF. This was based on (1) the bad experiences we had in Beta Testing and (2) that the three maneuvers were not used except under very rare conditions in game play. 35. Fixed a CTD in Setengage found by Alex. This was caused by a target pointer of NULL. A target pointer of NULL is valid only for a weldedwing maneuver but the maneuver was not a weldedwing. I added defensive code to check for NULL pointers for both the target and
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caller to prevent the problem. 36. Fixed a bug where if you blow the canopy of the 109/110 (which is really a bad idea) you would get the red death effect 37. Fixed CTD in BoB2 playing engine failure mission when doing a bellylanding. 38. Fixed Novice_AI_Airspeed_Fraction Bdg paramenter so that it only takes effect when skill level is Novice or Poor or bdg.parameter AI_Novice = ON. 39. Fixed a day one bug found by Redband. When in manual Engine control (not Auto) and the Gun Cam = ON or Trigger the engine would not over heat. It would work with the Gun Cam = OFF, however. 40. Prevented the SAG recall problem which could result in a A/C disappearing from the players view when it is teleported back to the SAG. For this fix we must recognize and thank our outstanding campaign Beta tester Ick for a job well done. 41. Prevented CTD in SAGMovementTrackExpanded caused by a NULL pointer thanks to Alexs beta testing. 42. Prevented a CTD in AutoLanding caused by an error found by Retro ("Retro: Refuel Bug(?) by Rowan - AI.ManStep not increased !"). 43. Added a Bdg.txt parameter for controlling the number of AI A/C that can attack another AI A/C. The parameter is Max_Number_AI_Targeting_AI and the default is 2. This should prevent too many AI from attacking another AI (which was considered not realistic). 44. Added more elevator trim divisions so that the elevator trim can be set in a very fine and controlled manned. Thanks to Stickman, Larry, and Blue6. 45. Modified the JU87 behavior so that it will not engage enemy fighters and chase them for an extended period. The JU87 will engage the enemy if shot at (or near miss) but will disengage (if the range from the enemy is greater than the break off range). In summary, the JU87 will try and get away and continue its mission to the next WP if it can do so. 46. Osram increased the parser limit for the new MS. 47. Made a change to try and smooth the AI during the defensive maneuver selection process because of energy loss. Energy loss occurs most often during vertical maneuvers. If you look at the 100 plus maneuvers they can be divided into three groups (1) defensive and (2) aggressive and (3) other (Disengage, regroup, etc.). The defensive maneuvers are the focus here. The defensive maneuvers can be divided into 3 groups (1) Up (vertical), (2) down (dive), and (3) Neutral (horizontal). During the defensive maneuver selection by testing the maneuver and looking at altitude and speed, I can avoid selection the wrong maneuver from an energy point of view. I can also select a better
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maneuver from an energy point of view or if that is not possible I can select a neutral (horizontal maneuver) too avoid a big energy loss. I believe this change should simulate what a human pilot would try to do but I really have no data to support it (just from reading pilot reports). 48. Prevented a CTD (happens each time) in CString BritSquadron::SubName() in the campaign, for 11 Group, C, getting the Tote board. This fix does have issues unfortunately in that the last column of the Tote board is not correct (issue is the last column). I will try and find a complete solution but CTD are priority #1, IMHO. Thanks to Puff for this one. 49. The Wind Effects and Wind Gusts will continue to be disabled above 1000 feet for both the player and the AI (this was also true in 2.05). The Wind effects (subject to the Bdg.txt parameter and GUI switches) and wind Gust will be enabled for the Player only (not the AI) below 1000 feet so the Player can do takeoffs and landings with both Wind effects and wind Gust. We were hoping to have them fixed and enabled but problems were identified during testing. We will continue to work on winds. 50. Prevented a CTD in AAA.cpp at line 766 thanks to Alex. 51. Added a Bdg.txt parameter GAME_PAUSE with a default to OFF so if you want the game to start Paused set it to ON. This was by customer request, thanks to Fred for the code. 52. Fixed the campaign help which was a MSVC8.0 problem again thanks to FRED for analysis, research and code. 53. A fix was implemented that detects when a engine fire has been started. We are trying to work around a problem in the Rowand code that does not always start an engine fire at the same point of engine damage (say 200) (so you can not always code to count on it). A case may occur where you see a burning A/C flying around. When an engine fire is detected then the change triggers new code that either blows up the AI (1 in 10 chances) or crashes the AI most of the time. We are trying to get the engine smoke and fire back in the game. We will continue to work on the engine fire burning and the AI flying away for 2.07. This fix is a compromise for now but we thought was still positive. 54. Implemented a new delay after shooting at an AI before the evasive maneuver is performed. This delay is measured after the shot is fired, and they depend on the AI skill level and range to the target. You will see a longer transition maneuver (that is where the delay is done) for Novice and Poor than for Ace and Hero for a given range, for example. a. Novice and Poor (1 sec to 2 sec) b, Regular and Veteran (.75 sec to 1.5 sec) c. Ace and Hero (.5 sec to1.0 sec) d. Terminator (.25 to .75) The objective of this change is to have a bit smoother transition after the
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AI gets shot at and then the AI immediately did an evasive maneuver. The eye will see a slight delay after the player shoots at the AI. Actually, each eye is different and each eye records different action but this change may help the AI observed jumps when shot at and it should not hurt anything except expose the AI to gunfire a bit longer (which some/most customers may actually want/like). 55. Fixed a null pointer CTD problem in MoveAirStruc::AutoBombDive() thanks to Baders beta testing. 56. Moved a copy of MANEUVRE_DISENGAGE and MAUEUVRE_SCREWYOUGUYSIMGOINGHOME to ManualACM from SimpleACM, and recoded all the ACM commands and links. This was to smooth the two maneuvres that had jumps at the beginning. Thanks to Bader for this one. 57. Fix a bug in FORCETOPCOVER that caused the AI to either crash into the ground or to keep climbing forever. A big Texas thanks to Ick for finding this bad bug. 58. Fixed Instant Action Missioms Turkey Shoot and One-On-One so they will always engage no matter what Bdg.txt parameters are set. 59.Changed the EXE and Bdg.txt from 2.05 to 2.06 (thanks to Osram). 60. Fixed a problem where the AI were crashing in AutoLanding. 61. Moved a copy of FORCETOPCOVER to ManualACM from SimpleACM and recoded all the ACM commands and links. This was to smooth the FORCETOPCOVER maneuvre. 62. Fixed Novice Skill Level to not do evasive maneuvres, made the maneuvres easier, and slowed down the AI to 80% of top speed (thanks to Scott for this one). 63. I added more robust code to prevent a CTD in MoveAirStruc::AutoBombFollow()+23 byte(s), c:\bob\src\movecode\automove.cpp, line 5695 that was found by Morgul. 64. Fixed fading labels bug so that fading will work correctly if (1) FADING_LABELS=ON (which is the default) and (2) Show_MoveCodes=OFF. Please note that fading labels will not work with Show_MoveCodes=ON as it is a test tool and the labels need to be seem at a distance. 65. Fixed an absolute bedrock bug that was permitting ManualACM (fighters-109,110,Spit,Hurri) to get into SimpleACM code (Ju87,Def). This is a problem that could result in the intermittent little warps and jumps that customers see. 66. Fixed a bug that was causing the AI to break off the attack when they had the advantage. Now the AIs are not only aggressive but they are tenacious (bad pit bulls). I was concerned about implementing this fix (impact to campaigners, and the lower skill levels). So here is how it is implemented it:
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a. Fixed for Instant action only (not for the campaign) b. Fixed for Ace, Hero, and Terminator skill levels only 67. Fixed a CTD overflow in MathLib::HighIntercept by changing SLong variable to ULong that the subroutine needed. 68. I added a small change for "poaching" (your wingmen shooting at the player's target) which was thought to be annoying by the Beta testers and some of you guys as well. When you see a "Poacher" hit R-3-3. If he is within 300 meters of the players A/C, he will set to disengage (nonfighting movecode). If he is greater than 300 meters he will do an evasive maneuvre (normal R-3-3) and stay engaged on his target. The disengage should give the player time to take care of his target. The friendly will reengage on the closes enemy AI in about 45 seconds. This affects ALL friendly A/C so use of this command can put your team at a disadvantage if they are all currently engaging a target. 69. Elimated some the Bdg_out.txt data that was causing a MB build up and we were not using it. New effects - More realistic fireballs when targets are hit with bombs - New aircraft smoke trail and fire effects, should eliminate the blinking trails (contrails will still blink however we know how to reproduce the bug, but dont understand the exact cause yet). - New bullet ricochet effects when attacking hard, ground targets - New ammo dump explosion. Look for those ammo crates or the ammo dump, and enjoy. - Blown up buildings now throw new kinds of large chunks of smoking debris - Further optimized and improved existing smoking debris - Burning ground fires improved - More randomized bullet hit effects Terrain Improvements - More France mapped. This time around a large area around Calais:PV - Moved Marck airfield to correct location:HH - Ground objects moved to new Marck airfield location: Stickman 2.06 Multi-skin Corrections: 1) 616 Sq. Spitfire leader is now PRU green skin 2) Keith Park (3 Sq. leader) now wears his characteristic white overalls. Differences from 2.05 Multiskin:
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1) A fix for Aircraft lettercodes for Number32 Squadron (Hurricanes). The individual aircraft codes were scaled wrongly and didn't match the oversized squadron codes. 2) If you select Squadron leader of Number 3 Squadron (who don't really appear in the Battle) then you will be in the personal plane of Keith Park, OC 11 Group. He flies a personalised Hurricane (code OK-1) and White overalls. Anyone who has watched the 1969 BoB film will recognise his plane (and characteristic dress) from that. 3) If you select Squadron leader of Number 616 Squadron (Spitfires) then you will be in a Green photo-reconnaissance Spitfire. Thanks to Lewis for the Spit skin.
Release version 2.05 Summary:

1. Multiskin 2. Advanced flight modeling with authentic spins and departed flight characteristics 3. Improved Stability and CTD reduction with stronger gameplay in both Instant Action and the Campaign 4. AI (Artificial Intelligence) Advancement / improvements, including tougher engagements, simulated fear, and spin recovery techniques based on skill 5. Faster loading times 6. Improved visual effects and sound 7. Blue Six's FM as the BoBII default (for the first time ever) 8. Fixes and general improvements
Release v 2.05 detailed list of changes:

1. Reduce Wind effect by 75% default (bdg.txt parameter Wind_Effects_Fraction= 0.25 if users want as is today set to 1.00 ) 2. Delete Wind Gust (causes jumps/warps in AIs performance) 3. Exclude Ju87 from Gearup Call 4. Fix Ju87 Take-off in Novice from Tangmere 5. Prevent CTD, in TargetClosureGreaterThan 6. Prevented Campaign from being used with Novice AI 7. Reduced the Number of Fighter blowups to less than 10% 8. Prevented CTD in RemoveFromSector when sector is NULL 9. I have added a Novice_Gunnery_Predictor feature (Bdg.txt control) You must padlock a target for the predictor to work. This is a rather cool feature to sharpen you deflection shooting practice and for newbies to learn and practice. A big red X is drawn where you need to shoot to hit the enemy AI. You can rotate through the enemy AI using the F1 key or your
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Wingmen AI using the F2 key. You will then see a big stick figure A/C that reflects the AI damage and a red line that reflects the AI ammo. The small stick A/C reflect the enemy AI ( below) the friendly AI (above). The red small stick A/C means damaged and the black small stick A/C means undamaged. Thanks to Retro for this. 10. Prevented crashes on the runway at air fields (the age old ObjectAdds renaming workaround problem) 11. MultiSkin Switch in the BDG.txt added (4 positions see bdg.txt) (Osram) 12. MultiSkin preload added for 250M video card (Osram) 13. MultiSkin preload added for 128M video card (Osram) 14. Added code to smooth the scissor maneuvre 15 Added BDG.txt Rain (off/on) switch for inclement weather at user request 16. Fix/prevented CTD in AssignFuelTruck() 17. Added Transition to the end of Disengage Maneuvre 18. Added the new Bdg.txt parameter DEATH_BREAKS_PADLOCK feature thanks to Retro who stated it some years ago. With a target padlocked and DEATH_BREAKS_PADLOCK=OFF you can watch your kill all the way to the ground and see the explosion. If DEATH_BREAKS_PADLOCK=ON the padlock will break shortly after you kill your target. The default for DEATH_BREAKS_PADLOCK is OFF. 19. Prevented a CTD in DecisionMessage (non-repeatable) 20. Added Bdg.txt parameters for Spin control of both the players and AIs A/C Player_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500 (degrees default) Player_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 14.325 (degrees/Sec. default) AI_Spin_AOA_Control = 17.500 (degrees default) AI_Spin_Rotational_Velocity_Control = 14.325 (degrees/Sec. default) 21. Fixed TrackIR ID 7001 (Thanks to Retro) 22. Fixed VE Center Position in Spit (thanks to Retro) 23. Fixed AssignFuelTruck CTD back in Auto_Land 24. Fixed CTD in NodeData caused by a bad pointer 25. Fixed 128MB Video card VRAM issue (Osram) 26. Fixed CTD when selecting Historic Kenley mission for low Alt Do17 then selecting Cabbage5 27. Suppress the Unresolved UIDS error in BFIELDS. Can not be any worse than now 28. Added Bdg.txt AI_Always_Sees_Enemy so the AI A/C will be seen (default=OFF) which can be used to assist the engage issues. 29. Added Bdg.tx Wingmen_Always_Sees_Enemy so the wingmen will
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always see the enemy AI when a R-3-1 (bandits) is issued (default=OFF) 30. Implemented a attack my target which is a last resort engage using the R-3-5 (Help) so that your wingmen will attack a fight of enemy AIs when you have first padlocked an enemy AI A/C. 31. Fixed the peel off maneuver so it will fly directly toward the enemy target after the peel off for a more timely engage. 32. Fixed Hurricane white nose with Multiskin 33. Moved Hurricane pilot forward 34. Added "version 2.05" to the opening UI screen 35. Adjusted LOD for HANGR2 36. Improved ground explosions with more dynamic shockwaves and fireballs 37. Improved bullet ground hit effects 38. Optimized burning trail effects for better framerates 39. Fixed all the disengage bugs so the wingmen AI A/C and enemy AI A/C stay engaged and fight until the go Home criteria is met (no Ammo, low fuel, or major damage that prevents a good fight, and skill). AI pilot skill will be used as a Go Home criteria using a random number process. The lower skill pilots will tend to chicken out and go home much sooner than the higher skilled pilots. 40. Fixed a personal threat smoothing issue where an AI has a hit or near miss on a target by adding a transition (old method had no transition so jumps could occur depending the state of the maneuver when the personal threat shot was taken). 41. Fix a CTD GetWeaponLauncher caused by a null pointer. 42. Added the blrtp (behave like Rowand Type Plane) feature as a step along the path to being able to add new A/C without having to change C++ code. 43. Fixed repeat CTD and the funny loading screen issue 44. Added a Bdg.txt parameter Longer_IA_Fights = ON/OFF which is used to select longer (time wise) Instant Action Fights or Shorter (Go Home Sooner) IA Fights. If the longer fights are selected the enemy AI will GoHome base on the GoHome criteria (fuel,ammo,damage, random skill level (poor pilots chicken out faster). If the shorter fights are selected the enemy will fight based on the A/Cs fuel safety margin (which is about 10 minutes in combat). We truly love customer optionsThe default is Longer_IA_Fights = ON. 45. Added a Skill criteria based on pilot skill to the Go Home Criteria (a random process but in general the lower skill level will stop fighting and go home sooner 46. Fixed a CTD in SelectView 47. Added several new features for video makers. A special video / screenie making documentation should ship soon.
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48. Sped up loading of missions (unless of course you load a lot more due to MultiSkin). 49. Added a Bdg.txt parameter Do_You_Want_AI_AC_To_Spin where the customer can select if he wants his AI A/C to spin according to his selected/specified spin parameters (see # 20) exactly like the players A/C.. 50. Fixed Buffet sound problem when Gear is down thanks to Scotts testing 51. Added 3 new Bdg.txt parameters to control AI pilot Spins (1) Spin_AISkill_LessOrEqual_Regular = 200 #In Cseconds (100xSec),the Delay before AI Spin Recovery for Novice,Poor, and Regular) (2) Spin_AISkill_Equal_Veteran = 150 #In Cseconds (100xSec),the Delay before AI Spin Recovery for Veteran) (3)Spin_AISkill_GreaterOrEqual_Ace = 100 #In Cseconds (100xSec),the Delay before AI Spin Recovery for Ace and Hero) 52. Fix the Credits to not show version number. 53. Fixed the EXE to show version 2.05 54. Fixed the 2.05 AI pursuit/attack problem. 55. Fixed/Recoded the maneuver selection process for the RAF fighters attacking bombers so that the fighter maneuver more effectively and make fewer straight in attacks. The result was fewer RAF losses and the gunners have a tougher target to hit. 56. Fixed a bug where the multi-AI were targeting the player killing him off quickly 57. Reworked and tuned the Smoothing feature code and added testing variables to the bdg.txt 58. Osram identified and fixed a memory leak. 59. Scott implemented a new artificial horizon indicator (H key) 60. Tried to balance the BF109/BF110 AI shooting (was shooting cannons only) so that it equals the Spit/Hurr shooting (workaround fix). 61. Implemented a new choice for visual effects for the user Realistic or Enhanced * Terrain Improvements 1 Minor fix to cliffs near Brighton Pier:HH 2 Objects for Folkestone Harbour: HH 3 Isle of Sheppey (Eastchurch airfield). New SRTM height data added: HH 4 Isle of Sheppey. New objects added: HH 5 Lewis guns removed from Biggin Hill and Lympne airfields as they may cause problems: HH 6 Relocated Pembrey airfield, as it was on a random hill HH
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7 New French objects and relaid out existing ones to match new French Terrain: Jeff 'Stickman' Stickley 8 Moved Colerne airfield: HH HH= Hurricane Hicken Battle of Britain II Multiskin for v2.05 (52MB): NOTE: A 128MB video card is REQUIRED to run a multiskin installation. While core load times have been decreased with v2.05, installing, Multiskin can increase load time as much as 2X over a standard installation.
Release 2.04 detailed list of changes:

FIXES
1. BF110 engine performance problem. 2. After burner speed up problem for Bombers. 3. Landing gear down problem, on Low Level Attack Mission. 4. Player engine sound stopping 5. Fixed CTD on Campaign photo 6. Fighter bailout changes to increase bailouts. Note: BOB_FIGHTERFIX=ON in BDG.txt 7. AI smoothing and fixing strange/odd manoeuvres. Added transition manoeuvre to SimpleACM and ManualACM processes. 8. BF110 engine going out of sync when going to Manual-AutoPilotManual. 9. Strengthened mid-air collision between player and AI A/C so it is much more difficult for the player to fly back to base. 10. Death Warp/Speed up fixed. 11. After player bail out, players A/C now heads to the ground rather that looking like it was on autopilot. 12. Prevented AI A/C from doing vertical manoeuvres when energy level is low and the AI A/C cannot do the manoeuvre properly. 13. Add an option based on a random number for a fighter/Ju87 to blowup when it has significant engine damage (by user request to have A/C blow up sometimes). Note: BOB_FIGHTERFIX=ON in Bdg.txt. 14. The Ju87 was added to the fighters and with significant engine damage they will blowup, crash, or bailout. The bailout will only occur if the A/C canopy has not been damaged. If the canopy is damaged the A/C will crash and you hear a Texas death yell. Note: BOB_FIGHTERFIX=ON in BDG.txt. 15. Changed the RAF players A/C to display MPH on the info line by
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user request. 16. Deleted Rolling fireball effect from A/C explosions. 17. Fixed the Novice JU87 take-off problem (crashed or tipped over) 18. Fixed Novice Wheel Rolling problem (except tail wheel) 19. Converted to MPH from Knots for imperial units in Spit and Hurri gauge 20. Fixed Airspeed Cal for both Spit and Hurri 21. Boost Gauge in both Hurri and Spit to work more correctly 22. Fixed a second CTD when using Photo in Campaign 23. Add RenderD3D9.cpp CTD prevention code. 24. Fixed CTD in JimCol.cpp that occurred mostly in Replay 25. Fixed the 1-on-1 Engage problem 26. Fixed Fileman CTD (note may not be the last one) 27. Fixed lost device CTD (I called the rerun CTD) 28. Fixed the jittery and un-natural movements for both the DISENGAGE and the SCREWYOUGUYSIAMGOINGHOME SimpleACM manoeuvres. 29. Blue Six developed changes for the ACM file to permit easier landing for the 109 (not sure if included or used change required) 30. For the BGG.txt parameter SMOOTHEN_FRAMERATE_MODE, fixed the NONE vs. LIMITED bug so they are different now (NONE is wide open FPS and LIMITED is a hard limit of about 32 FPS). 31. Fixed a buffet sound bug if you fail to get your gear up before you reach 140mph on take-off. You will then get the gear buffet noise as you should, but then once the gear is up the buffet sound does not go away. It should go way once the gear is fully retracted assuming it's still fully functional and not damaged. . 32. Fixed the A/C sitting on the ground at a stop but having a pogo stick effect (small bounce up and down). The pogo effect could be seen if you reduce the gear bounce in the ACM file. 33. Reduced collision detection on trees to allow closer over-flights w/o causing a collision.
NEW FEATURES
(A New feature for our Kids/Novice users is Novice AI, Novice Bullets, Novice AI Speed control, and Novice larger targets that are used with Novice FM). These features are all individually selectable in the BDG.txt and should allow our kids/grandkids to better enjoy BobII at a Novice/Jr level. (* Means feature is user changeable via the bdg.txt) New AI features: 1. Novice_Stronger_Bullets. The bullets are about 20% stronger for those
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who want to get on with it (like when I test) and so our Kids/Novice users can shoot down the AI easier and have more fun until seasoned. * 2. Novice_AI_Airspeed_Fraction. This will control the AI speed as a fraction of 100% (like set to .75 for a 25% speed reduction). You can then slow down the AI for our Kids/Novice users to better enjoy BOBII until seasoned. * 3. Novice_Target_Size. This increase the AI target size for the Kids/Novice users so they can get easier kills. * 4. 4. Novice_AI. This give the Kids/Novice user a less aggressive but hopefully challenging subset of the AI Manoeuvres so they can better enjoy BobII, it will be easier, and they can have more fun until seasoned. * 5.Collision_Avoidance. Added collision avoidance for player (only) to prevent most collisions with AI A/C. Very fast collisions (especially headon) may still occur as AI A/C may skid in making very quick manoeuvre and not get out of the way. * 6. Warp/Jump analysis/debug (Jump_Test_Tool_Percent_X)* 7. Manoeuvre_Testing (Manoeuvre_Testing). This will permit the coder to get data for debug analysis concerning AI and FM issues/problems. * 8. New aircraft explosions to simulate the occasional occurrence of an exploding fuel tank or detonating bombs 9. New damaged aircraft / engine behavior ..........a. Lighter engine damage. The bomber leaves formation and heads home. Keep hitting his engine to increase damage. ..........b. Heaver engine damage - then the crew bails, bomber blows up, or crashes (crew killed by smoke - equal chance here).
NEW VISUAL / SOUND / DAMAGE EFFECTS

(recommend OPTIONS / MORE GFX / PARTICLE DENSITY = HIGH) 1. New tracer and tracer smoke effects for .303 and German 20mm cannon (bomber defensive guns currently use same tracer effect as the .303 - if we want different colors, let me know specifically the colors we should use) 2. AAA and Flak guns now have new effects flash and gun smoke effects (AAA have tracer smoke too) 3. New fire and smoke effects (3 stages) implemented on the He111 and Ju88 (will be further improved after an additional code change due soon) 4. New fuel burst effect used for ground-based fuel tanks including ground-based aircraft when strafed
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5. Large, black towering smoke for ammo dump explosions (should be FPS friendly too) 6. Smoking / burning debris for critical hits on large ground targets 7. All vehicles can now be damaged and destroyed 8. Enhanced battlefield damage dynamic smoke, fire, and charged ground effects 9. New bullet hitting brick buildings effect 10. New aircraft explosion effects (works with the new mid-air fuel tank / bomb detonation explosions) 11. 5 New player aircraft bullet-hit sounds and adjusted sound when other targets are hit with guns 12. Flak explosion sounds improved quality with a 33% increase in sound travel 13. New aircraft and battlefield gun sounds 14. People run from populated ground objects when attacked
NEW ARTWORK / CONTENT

1. Cures the flying cliffs on the Isle of Wight (HH) 2. Mapping the Pas de Calais region of France (DB, Heini, HH, especially PV!) 3. The Cerne Abbas giant and Maiden castle in Dorset (HH) 4. Removes animals from all Fighter Command airfields (HH) 5. Harbour to Folkestone (PV) 6. Removes flashes of sea in several places (HH) 7. Raise FPS slightly and improve looks at Tangmere, Kenley and Biggin Hill (HH) 8. Puts Stonehenge in its proper place (HH, PV) 9. Improved the North of England, with some of Derbyshire mapped (HH) 10. Stop roads going over woods at several places near Kenley airfield (HH) 11. Northern France. New SRTM height data added from Coquelles to just South of Boulogne (PV) 12. Rebuilt Dover. Area around Dover was corrupted, so tile could not be worked on (PV) 13. East Kent. New SRTM height data added (HH) 14. Corrected RDF stations locations and changed CHL to be CHL stations, and CH to be CH stations (HH) 15. Kenley Hangers rotated correctly (HH) 16. Layout of CH stations modified to be more historically accurate (HH) 17. Objects added for Boulogne harbour (HH) 18. 18. Improved water textures (fresnel) and settings
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Artwork / Content credits: HH: Hurricane Hicken, PV: Pete Vincent, DB: Don E. Brooke, Heini von Seppel
MISC
1. Engine more resistant to background application processes (ALT-TAB work) 2. New selectable weather, water, and sky* 3. Thanks to Ken, added new ACM file to improve the control of the slats 4. BF109_Slats_Open_Close_Sounds. It controls the simulated sound of the 109 slats opening and closing* 5. Flight Modeling tweaks to various aircraft.
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Appendix F : Autogen Function
APPENDIX F: AUTOGEN
function in the BDG.txt
The Autogen system takes existing 3D objects (*.bin files) and sprinkles them over the landscape. There are only two things you have to tell it: What to sprinkle and where to sprinkle it. Lets start with the "what". BoB has numbered all the 3D objects, and you will find the numbers in the file shapenum.g (Shape Numbers, generated). Here are some snippets: const ShapeNum VSCON = (ShapeNum) 1; [...] const ShapeNum A_HORNCH = (ShapeNum) 610; [...] const ShapeNum DO17 = (ShapeNum) 19; [...] const ShapeNum COTTG2 = (ShapeNum) 59; const ShapeNum HAYSTK = (ShapeNum) 60; const ShapeNum PARLMT = (ShapeNum) 61; const ShapeNum TREE1 = (ShapeNum) 62; const ShapeNum TREE2 = (ShapeNum) 63; Ignore all the styrofoam that is in there, look only at the 3. column and the last one. So, if you want to litter Do17 about, use the number 19, for a COTTG2 (Cottage2) use 59, for trees 62 or 63. A_HORNCH is obviously building type a at HornChurch. If you don't see what something means (for ex. VSCON), you have to try. I don't know what a VSCON is either, (some of) you have the advantage of being native speakers. A special number is zero - it means don't sprinkle anything here. Also, see the graphical bin file catalogue created by Arch. Have a look at the shapenum.g file (included with the bob.exe) now! So, the remaining question is how to tell BoB where to sprinkle the objects. Every AreaType has its own number:
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AreaType: AT_darkGrass=0, AT_midGrass=1, AT_lightGrass=2, AT_garden=3, AT_golfCourse=4, AT_field1=5, AT_field2=6, AT_field3=7, AT_field4=8, AT_field5=9, AT_spread1=10, AT_spread2=11, AT_spread3=12, AT_spread4=13, AT_spread5=14, AT_woods=15, AT_swamp=16, AT_rough=17, AT_roughGrass=18, AT_patchyGrass=19, AT_sea=20, AT_stream=21, AT_village=22, AT_denseTown=23, AT_sparseTown=24, AT_denseCity=25, AT_sparseCity=26, AT_cityBase=27, AT_sand=28, AT_whiteChalk=29, AT_airField=30, AT_urbanBuildup=31,
The "template" for telling the AutoGen stuff what to do is: TEMP_AG_SN[AreaType,HowOften]=ShapeNum
For example: TEMP_AG_SN[5,0]=59 means, sprinkle in field1 ("5"), a few (0=few, 1= a bit, 2 =many 3= really many) cottage2s ("59"). So, for each of the 32 AreaTypes you can have up to 4 different object types you place there. These lines go into the ascii file "bdg.txt" inside the main-bob-directory. You can add them with notepad or any other ascii editor. In the variable name, TEMP is a reminder that this is temporary stuff, AG = AutoGen, SN = Shape number.
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Appendix F : Autogen Function

The "0" objects are used for 1.5% of all objects, the "1" objects are used for 4.6% of all objects, the "2" objects are used for 18.8% of all objects and the "3" objects are used for 75% of all objects. Note that the second number is in range 0-3, not 1-4 and the first in the range 0-31. The only other AutoGen variable currently is TEMP_AG_DIST which determines the distance between two adjacent objects. AFAIK, its cm, good values are 2000 or heigher. Keep in mind you can effectively have different densities by setting things to zero. When using AutoGen you should disable raises in the BoB settings. Known issues: If you fly high, you will get AutoGen whether you want or not. Here is a bdg.txt snippet from maususer, that might be a good starting point: TEMP_AG_SN[0,2]=328 TEMP_AG_SN[1,0]=62 TEMP_AG_SN[2,0]=63 TEMP_AG_SN[3,0]=59 TEMP_AG_SN[4,0]=62 TEMP_AG_SN[5,2]=329 TEMP_AG_SN[6,2]=328 TEMP_AG_SN[7,0]=63 TEMP_AG_SN[8,0]=62 TEMP_AG_SN[9,0]=63 TEMP_AG_SN[10,0]=62 TEMP_AG_SN[11,0]=63 TEMP_AG_SN[12,0]=62 TEMP_AG_SN[13,2]=328 TEMP_AG_SN[14,0]=62 TEMP_AG_SN[15,3]=63 TEMP_AG_SN[16,0]=63
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TEMP_AG_SN[17,2]=329 TEMP_AG_SN[18,0]=63 TEMP_AG_SN[19,2]=329 TEMP_AG_SN[22,3]=53 TEMP_AG_SN[23,3]=62 TEMP_AG_SN[24,3]=53 TEMP_AG_SN[25,1]=124 TEMP_AG_SN[26,1]=118 TEMP_AG_SN[27,1]=116 TEMP_AG_SN[28,0]=53 TEMP_AG_SN[29,1]=31 TEMP_AG_SN[30,0]=96 TEMP_AG_SN[31,3]=63 TEMP_AG_SN[31,2]=56 TEMP_AG_SN[31,1]=54 TEMP_AG_SN[31,0]=52 TEMP_AG_DIST=8000 Auto TreeLines: =============== These are very similar, but "1 dimensional" You give a distance like this TEMP_AGTL_DIST=6000 Default is 3000. You choose the trees to set like this. The LOD behaviour with these standard trees is not useful for Auto Treelines. TEMP_AGTL_SN[0]=62 TEMP_AGTL_SN[1]=63 TEMP_AGTL_SN[2]=62 TEMP_A.GTL_SN[3]=63
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Appendix G: Maneuvre Testing Codes
APPENDIX G:
BDG_Values.Maneuvre Testing codes for Activating fprintf
(intended for BDG coder use only) 1.Collision Avoidance 2.Manual Transition Phase I 3.Spin Recovery 4.Too Low 5.Manual and Simple ACM 6. Simple ACM 7.Manual ACM 8.Mod Roll Rate 9.Mod Roll 10.Mod Fast Roll 11.Set Thrust 12.Mod AOA 13.Mod Pitch 14.Mod Vel Pitch 15.Mod Lift Limit 16.Mod Rudder 17.Simple Transition 18.Process Piston Engines 19.Complex Engine Process 20.Sub Base 21.Real Base 22.ACM Base 23.Calc Best Climb Pitch 24. MoveItem 25. MoveTransItem 26 AirCraftDanage 27. FighterDamageBehaviour 28. ArcadeBase 29. TouchedGround 30. SetEngage 31. Seen 32. VisibleAcCheck 33. AeroDevice::Action 34. MainPlane::Process 35. Surface::Process 36. SimpleACM Invalid Move Code 37. ManualACM Invalid Move Code 38. MoveItem AI A/C damage 39.:SetInstruments Instruments
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APPENDIX H:
CPS_Bombers Keymapping Guide
KEYBOARD CONVERSION CHART FOR BATTLE OF BRITAIN DEVELOPERS GROUP (BDG) UPDATES BATTLE OF BRITAIN II: WINGS OF VICTORY AND UBI / MADDOX GAMES IL-2 STURMOVIK / FORGOTTEN BATTLES / AEP / PACIFIC FIGHTERS / 1946 SERIES By Rob Henderson aka CPS_Bomber in the A2A Simulations Forums This chart is designed to aide all users with regards to the custom key mapping of commands in BoBII: WoV. The custom key map menu is found through the main options menu thus: Main Menu->options->controls->key mapping The following chart describes each command as seen in the key mapping window, and aims to shed a little light on the description and purpose of each command listed within the game. NOTES: The colour coding matches that of the keycard supplied with the original release and also (more importantly) the fully updated key card by STICKMAN & MUSAK found in the documents folder in the main game directory. Thus: Standard keyboard: BLACK Ctrl modified: GREEN Shift modified: RED Alt modified: BLUE Commands NOT listed on key mapping screen: PINK Undefined commands: GOLD TABLE HEADERS: COMMAND: This is the reported name for the command as seen in the custom key map list. SCREEN DESCRIPTION: This is how the command is described in the custom key-mapping screen when highlighted.
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Appendix H: Keymapping Guide

DEFAULT KEY: This is the default key map for the command with a fresh/unmodified install. IL2 EQUIVALENT IN PARENTHESES: This is the nearest function (or combination of functions) available in the IL2 series. NOTES: Details notes of interest for the command and its function within BoBII: WoV.
NOTES ON FK_ SERIES OF DEFINABLE COMMANDS

FOR USE WITH THE SPITFIRE 1A/1B, HURRICANE 1A/1B, BF109, BF110 & JU87 STUKA.
(IGNORE AT YOUR OWN PERIL & FRUSTRATION) A new addition to the list of commands available in the custom keymapping window is the FK_ series. When assigned a key command, these functions will allow the pilot to control items such as magnetos, fuel cocks, primer pumps etc via keyboard input rather than use the mouse. By default, the list of commands appears as thus in the key mapping window:
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The full list of FK_ commands being: FK_BOOSTCUTOUT FK_ENGINESTARTER0 FK_ENGINESTARTER1 FK_FUELCOCK1 FK_FUELCOCK2 FK_MAG01 FK_MAG02 FK_PRIMER0 FK_PRIMER1 Assign your desired key commands as normal, and when finished, click on the SAVE button at the bottom left of the key map window. Note that this is the ONLY way that the new assignments will be saved and register for use in the game. Clicking SAVE on the warning pop-up window will not work! Once key assignments have been made to the FK_ series, you will have the following additional functions by keyboard in the cockpits of the following aircraft:
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SPITFIRE Mk1A/1B
1) Left Magneto = FK_MAG01 First key press turns magneto on, second key press turns magneto off. 2) Right Magneto = FK_MAG02 First key press turns magneto on, second key press turns magneto off. 3) Left Fuel Cock = FK_FUELCOCK1 First key press turns fuel cock on, second key press turns fuel cock off. 4) Right Fuel Cock = FK_FUELCOCK2 First key press turns fuel cock on, second key press turns fuel cock off. 5) Primer Pump = FK_PRIMER0 Hold down key while pump button travels to extremes. Each full in/out cycle is one injection. Tapping key repeatedly in rapid succession may not provide adequate priming. 6) Engine Starter = FK_ENGINESTARTER0 Hold down key to turn on ignition. Hold key down while engine fires up until RPM stabilises. 7) Boost Cut Out/WEP Reset = FK_BOOSTCUTOUT (not shown) Press key once to reset the gate on the throttle and return to maximum continuous power (90%). NOTES: All of the interactive controls for both Spitfire types can still be used by the mouse even when assigned to the keyboard. All the controls in the Spitfire are simple on/off toggles except for the throttle, prop pitch and
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trim wheels, which are click, hold and slide operated when using the mouse unless already assigned to the axis of a controller, which then takes priority. The Boost Cut Out resets the gate on the throttle, thus returning the maximum continuous power output to 90%.
HURRICANE Mk1A/1B
1) Left Magneto = FK_MAG01 First key press turns magneto on, second key press turns magneto off. 2) Right Magneto = FK_MAG02 First key press turns magneto on, second key press turns magneto off. 3) Fuel Cock Clockwise = FK_FUELCOCK1 Turns fuel cock in clockwise direction. First press turns on main tank, second press reserve tank. 4) Fuel Cock Anticlockwise = FK_FUELCOCK2 Turns fuel cock in anticlockwise direction. First press turns fuel off if set to main tank, or turns on main tank if already on reserve tank. A second press will then turn fuel cock off. 5) Primer Pump = FK_PRIMER0 Hold down key while pump button travels to extremes. Each full in/out cycle is one injection. Tapping key repeatedly in rapid succession may not provide adequate priming. 6) Engine Starter = FK_ENGINESTARTER0
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Hold down key to turn on ignition. Hold key down while engine fires up until RPM stabilises. 7) Boost Cut Out/WEP Reset = FK_BOOSTCUTOUT Press key once to reset the gate on the throttle and return to maximum continuous power (90%). NOTES: All of the interactive controls for both Hurricane types can still be used by the mouse even when assigned to the keyboard. All the controls in the Hurricane are simple on/off toggles except for the throttle, prop pitch and trim wheels, which are click, hold and slide operated when using the mouse unless already assigned to the axis of a controller, which then takes priority. The Boost Cut Out resets the gate on the throttle, thus returning the maximum continuous power output to 90%.
Bf109
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1) Magneto 1 = FK_MAG01 First press turns on magneto 1, second press turns magneto 1 off. If magneto 2 is on, first press will turn off magneto 2 and turn on magneto 1, second press will turn all magnetos off. 2) Magneto 2 = FK_MAG02 If magneto 1 is on, first press will turn on magneto 2, second press will turn on both magnetos. If both magnetos are on, first press will turn off both magnetos and turn on magneto 2, second press will turn on both magnetos again. 3) Fuel Cock ON = FK_FUELCOCK1 Press to turn fuel cock on. Subsequent presses have no effect. 4) Fuel Cock OFF = FK_FUELCOCK2 Press to turn fuel cock off. Subsequent presses have no effect. 5) Primer Pump = FK_PRIMER0 Hold down key while pump button travels to extremes. Each full in/out cycle is one injection. Tapping key repeatedly in rapid succession may not provide adequate priming. 6) Engine Starter = FK_ENGINESTARTER0 Hold down key to turn wind up starter motor. When the starter motor goes silent, release the key to start the engine. 7) Boost Cut Out/WEP Reset = FK_BOOSTCUTOUT (not shown)
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Press key once to reset the gate on the throttle and return to maximum continuous power (90%). NOTES: All of the interactive controls for the Bf109 can still be used by the mouse even when assigned to the keyboard with the exception of the magnetos. These must be configured for either mouse (by default) or keyboard (by editing the Bf109 ACM file see notes on following pages). The remaining controls in the Bf109 are simple on/off toggles except for the throttle, prop pitch, magnetos and trim wheels, which are click, hold and slide operated when using the mouse unless already assigned to the axis of a controller, which then takes priority.
Bf110
387
1) Left Engine Magneto 1 & 2 ON/OFF = FK_MAG01 First press turns on magneto 1, second press magneto 2, third press both magnetos, and fourth press turns both magnetos off. 2) Right Engine Magneto 1 & 2 ON/OFF = FK_MAG02 First press turns on magneto 1, second press magneto 2, third press both magnetos, and fourth press turns both magnetos off. 3) Left Fuel Cock = FK_FUELCOCK1 First key press turns fuel cock on, second key press turns fuel cock off. 4) Right Fuel Cock = FK_FUELCOCK2 First key press turns fuel cock on, second key press turns fuel cock off. 5) Left Primer Pump = FK_PRIMER0 Hold down key while pump lever travels to extremes. Each full back/forward cycle is one injection. Tapping key repeatedly in rapid succession may not provide adequate priming. 6) Right Primer Pump = FK_PRIMER1 Hold down key while pump lever travels to extremes. Each full back/forward cycle is one injection. Tapping key repeatedly in rapid succession may not provide adequate priming. 7) Left Engine Starter = FK_ENGINESTARTER0 Hold down key to turn wind up starter motor. When the starter motor goes silent, release the key to start the engine. 8) Right Engine Starter = FK_ENGINESTARTER1
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Hold down key to turn wind up starter motor. When the starter motor goes silent, release the key to start the engine. 9) Boost Cut Out/WEP Reset on selected engine(s) = FK_BOOSTCUTOUT (not shown) Press key once to reset the gate on the throttles and return to maximum continuous power (90%). NOTES: All of the interactive controls for both engines on the Bf110 can still be used by the mouse even when assigned to the keyboard with the exception of the magnetos. These must be configured for either mouse (by default) or keyboard (by editing the Bf110 ACM file see notes on following pages). The remaining controls in the Bf110 are simple on/off toggles except for the throttle, prop pitch, magnetos and trim wheels, which are click, hold and slide operated when using the mouse unless already assigned to the axis of a controller, which then takes priority.
Ju87
1) Left Magneto = FK_MAG01 First key press turns magneto on, second key press turns magneto off. 2) Right Magneto = FK_MAG02 First key press turns magneto on, second key press turns magneto off. 3) Left Fuel Cock = FK_FUELCOCK1 First key press turns fuel cock on, second key press turns fuel cock off.
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4) Right Fuel Cock = FK_FUELCOCK2 First key press turns fuel cock on, second key press turns fuel cock off. 5) Primer Pump = FK_PRIMER0 Hold down key while pump button travels to extremes. Each full in/out cycle is one injection. Tapping key repeatedly in rapid succession may not provide adequate priming. 6) Engine Starter = FK_ENGINESTARTER0 Hold down key to turn wind up starter motor. When the starter motor goes silent, release the key to start the engine. 7) Boost Cut Out/WEP Reset = FK_BOOSTCUTOUT (not shown) Press key once to reset the gate on the throttle and return to maximum continuous power (90%). NOTES: All of the interactive controls for the Ju-87 Stuka can still be used by the mouse even when assigned to the keyboard. All the controls in the Stuka are simple on/off toggles, except for the throttle, prop pitch and trim wheels, which are click, hold and slide operated when using the mouse unless already assigned to the axis of a controller, which then takes priority. The Boost Cut Out resets the gate on the throttle, thus returning the maximum continuous power output to 90%.
SPECIAL NOTES FOR Bf109 & Bf110

**IMPORTANT** You will need to do a little bit of editing in the ACM text files for the Bf109 & Bf110 in order to use the keyboard for operation of the magnetos - these files can be found in the "MODELS" folder of the BoBII directory. You can open these using NOTEPAD (PLEASE, IF YOU ARE UNSURE, MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF THE ACM FILES BEFORE MAKING YOUR CHANGES!!!!). For the Bf109, you will see something similar to the following at the top: ENGINE { piston 1175 2100 400 30000000 # horsepower maxrpm minrpm inertia Curves { COMM Power0 COMM Power1 Bf109 PowerAlt } PropInertia { 15000000 15000000 30000000 } # ixx iyy izz PropType { variable 35 90 } # minpitch maxpitch Propeller { 155 12013 0.477 1 } # radius area ratio dir Starter 2 MagType 2 CHANGE THE MAGTYPE TO READ AS FOLLOWS: MagType 1
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Now save the file! Next, open the ACM file for the Bf110 next. You will find similar to the following: ENGINE { piston 1100 2100 400 30000000 # horsepower maxrpm minrpm inertia Curves { COMM Power0 COMM Power1 Bf109 PowerAlt } PropInertia { 15000000 15000000 30000000 } # ixx iyy izz PropType { variable 35 90 } # minpitch maxpitch Propeller { 155 12013 0.477 1 } # radius area ratio dir Starter 2 MagType 2 } Thrustpoint { prop 235 0 -120 0 0 } # x y z pitch yaw ENGINE { piston 1050 2100 400 30000000 # horsepower maxrpm minrpm inertia Curves { COMM Power0 COMM Power1 Bf109 PowerAlt } PropInertia { 15000000 15000000 30000000 } # ixx iyy izz PropType { variable 35 90 } # minpitch maxpitch Propeller { 155 12013 0.477 1 } # radius area ratio dir Starter 2 MagType 2 AGAIN, ALTER THE MAGTYPE FOR BOTH ENGINES TO READ AS FOLLOWS: MagType 1 Now save the file and you're done! This will now enable you to operate the magnetos on both Messerschmitt fighters by using your defined keyboard commands. If at some point in the future you want to use the magnetos by mouse again, just follow the same process outlined above, but change the MAGTYPE back to 2 .
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COMMAND
SCREEN DESCRIPTION (IL2 EQUIVALENT IN BRACKETS) NOTES
DEFAULT KEY (IL2 EQUIVALENT IN BRACKETS)
ACCELKEY
ACCELERATED MODE TOGGLE (Accelerate Time x2/x4/x8) (Decelerate Time x2/x4) TAB (]) ([)
This command accelerates time x4, in the 3D world to the next selected waypoint. The function works in both Cockpit View and External Views. Upon reaching the next waypoint, it resets time to x1. The presence of nearby enemies also automatically resets time to x1. Note there is no sound while accelerating time on the map! It is worth noting however that far more detailed options for accelerated time are available when viewing the in flight map by pressing M and navigating the choices in the options menu. This combination takes you to the in flight map and offers a very basic accelerated time mode, allowing the aircraft to continue flying ahead following its last attitude before pressing the key combination however unlike the in-flight map, it does not act as a game pause. The accel time will continue irrespective of the surrounding combat situation. To exit press 0 (zero), which will return you to the cockpit of your aircraft. This is a fairly risky accelerate time function to use, for if the mode is activated without putting your aircraft in autopilot or selecting & activating a valid waypoint to follow, your aircraft may fly its self into the ground rapidly. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
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SHIFT+TAB
ACCELKEY2
ACCELERATED MODE ON THE MAP
COMMAND
AILERON_LEFT
AILERON LEFT (Aileron Left) LEFT (Left Arrow)
Standard flight control for banking. Aileron functions can be assigned to joystick axis in the controls menu in the game. It is worth noting that this provides far greater control over the aircraft than the keyboard can currently provide.
AILERON_RIGHT
AILERON RIGHT (Aileron Right) RIGHT (Right Arrow)
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Standard flight control for banking. Aileron functions can be assigned to joystick axis in the controls menu in the game. It is worth noting that this provides far greater control over the aircraft than the keyboard can currently provide.
AILTRIMDOWN
LEFT AILERON TRIM (Aileron Trim Left)
CTRL+INSERT Adds trim to the ailerons to assist in balancing (Ctrl+Left Arrow) the aircraft in flight. The longer the key press, the larger the input of trim will be applied. Trim for all axis can be assigned to joystick & throttle axis/sliders/rotaries in the controls menu in the game. It is worth noting that this provides far greater control over trim than the keyboard can currently provide. Note that not all trim commands are available in each aircraft.
COMMAND
AILTRIMUP
RIGHT AILERON TRIM (Aileron Trim Right)
CTRL+PGUP Adds trim to the ailerons to assist in balancing (Ctrl+Right Arrow) the aircraft in flight. The longer the key press, the larger the input of trim will be applied. Trim for all axis can be assigned to joystick & throttle axis/sliders/rotaries in the controls menu in the game. It is worth noting that this provides far greater control over trim than the keyboard can currently provide. Note that not all trim commands are available in each aircraft. ALT+F1 Selecting this padlocks your view to the first aircraft of your target formation (leader or highest surviving wingman). No equivalent in IL-2 series. Activates a snap/sticky view in selected direction. Works both in panning or fixed mode for views. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for snap views that stick after key release. Activates a snap/sticky view in selected direction. Works both in panning or fixed mode for views. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for snap views that stick after key release. CTRL+8
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CTRL+6
AIUNFRIENDLYVIEW PADLOCKS CURRENT AI ENEMY
ALOOKE
LOOK RIGHT
ALOOKN
ALT: FORWARD
COMMAND
ALOOKNE
ALT: FORWARD RIGHT CTRL+9
Activates a snap/sticky view in selected direction. Works both in panning or fixed mode for views. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for snap views that stick after key release. Activates a snap/sticky view in selected direction. Works both in panning or fixed mode for views. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for snap views that stick after key release.
ALOOKNW
ALT: FORWARD LEFT CTRL+7
ALOOKS
ALT: BACK CTRL+2
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CTRL+3 CTRL+1 CTRL+5
Activates a snap/sticky view in selected direction. Works both in panning or fixed mode for views. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for snap views that stick after key release. Activates a snap/sticky view in selected direction. Works both in panning or fixed mode for views. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for snap views that stick after key release. Activates a snap/sticky view in selected direction. Works both in panning or fixed mode for views. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for snap views that stick after key release. Activates a snap/sticky view in selected direction. Works both in panning or fixed mode for views. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for snap views that stick after key release.
ALOOKSE
ALT: BACK RIGHT
ALOOKSW
ALT: BACK LEFT
ALOOKUP
LOOK UP
COMMAND
ALOOKW
LOOK LEFT CTRL+4
Activates a snap/sticky view in selected direction. Works both in panning or fixed mode for views. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for snap views that stick after key release. Radio shortcut to give a warning to a padlocked friendly aircraft BREAK! No direct shortcuts available in IL-2, however similar comms are available by navigating the main radio commands menu. Pans the current view in the indicated direction. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning views that stick after key release. Pans the current view in the indicated direction. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning views that stick after key release.
ANYBANDITS
ANY BANDITS A
AROTDNLEFT
ALT: DOWN/BACK AND LEFT ALT+1
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ALT+3 ALT+2
AROTDNRIGHT
ALT: DOWN/BACK AND RIGHT
AROTDOWN
ALT: DOWN/BACK
Pans the current view in the indicated direction. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning views that stick after key release.
COMMAND
AROTLEFT
ALT: LEFT ALT+4
Pans the current view in the indicated direction. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning views that stick after key release.
AROTRESET
VIEW RESET ALT+5
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ALT+6 ALT+8
Resets the current view forward, and resets the current FOV angle to the default FOV as set in the GUI. It is worth noting that if you do not want the FOV to reset each time you change views, there is an option to stop this in the BDG text file found in the main BoBII directory. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning views that stick after key release. Pans the current view in the indicated direction. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning views that stick after key release. Pans the current view in the indicated direction. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning views that stick after key release.
AROTRIGHT
ALT: RIGHT
AROTUP
ALT: UP/FORWARD
COMMAND
AROTUPLEFT
ALT: UP/FORWARD AND LEFT ALT+7
Pans the current view in the indicated direction. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning views that stick after key release. Pans the current view in the indicated direction. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning views that stick after key release. Toggles the autopilot on or off. The autopilot will take you to an external view of your aircraft, and will fly you to your next waypoint. The autopilot will disengage is the command is pressed again, if you return to any internal cockpit view, or if you view and then exit the in flight map. Fast zoom control. Works only in external views. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Fast zoom control. Works only in external views. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
AROTUPRIGHT
ALT: UP/FORWARD AND RIGHT ALT+9
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CTRL+A (A) SHIFT+NUMPADSHIFT+NUMPAD+
AUTOPILOTTOGGLE
TOGGLES THE AUTOPILOT (Toggle Autopilot)
BIGZOOMIN
ZOOM IN FAST
BIGZOOMOUT
ZOOM OUT FAST
COMMAND
BOXTARGET
TOGGLES THE PADLOCK DIAMOND SHIFT+T
This toggles a red diamond to highlight the object of your padlock view. This can be turned on/off at will irrespective of your settings in the GUI. The diamond will work on aircraft, airfields, ground targets and waypoints. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Radio shortcut to give either a warning to a friendly aircraft Check Six! or a request to a wingman to stay with you Stick With Me! No direct shortcuts available in IL-2, however similar comms are available by navigating the main radio commands menu. For the Spitfire, Hurricane and Ju-87, this command operates the sliding canopies, allowing the pilot to open or close them at will. On the Me 109 and Me 110 however, pressing this key will actually jettison the canopies. It is worth setting AUTOCANOPY in the main game options menu to OFF to avoid the canopies on the 109 & 110 being lost during take-off and landing.
BREAK
399
O (User Defined)
CANOPYEJECT
OPENS HOOD / EJECTS CANOPY (Open/Close Canopy)
COMMAND
CHASETOG
TOGGLE CHASE VIEW (Flyby View) (Chase View) F9 (F3) (F8)
This switches between a fly-by view of the players aircraft and a chase view. It can be used in conjunction with any other external view. There is no direct equivalent in IL-2, but a combination of Flyby View and Chase View provide the same effect. Teleports the player down in 1000 ft increments for each press. Handy tool for novices wanting to practice various aerial manoeuvres without having to climb/dive to height each time. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Teleports the player up in 1000 ft increments for each press. Handy tool for novices wanting to practice various aerial manoeuvres without having to climb/dive to height each time. No equivalent in IL-2 series. This gives you a clear forward view from your aircraft with a basic gunsight reticule in the center of the screen. Although you get a much clearer view (useful for novices learning deflection shooting skills), you are unable to change the angle of the view to look left/right/behind etc. The info line at the bottom of the screen, plus any other pilot aides remain visible.
CHEATDOWNKEY
DECREASES HEIGHT (CHEAT) SHIFT+U
400
U F8 (Ctrl+F1)
CHEATLIFTKEY
INCREASES HEIGHT (CHEAT)
CHEATTOG
FORWARD VIEW NO COCKPIT (No Cockpit View)
COMMAND
CLEAR
CLEAR?/CLEAR
Radio shortcut to your wingman to ask him to confirm if your tail is clear from any enemy fighters. Also used to tell your flight/squadron leader that his tail is clear when requested. No direct shortcuts available in IL-2, however similar comms are available by navigating the main radio commands menu.
COMBATMSG
THE COMBAT INFO MESSAGE SCREEN SHIFT+3
401
? E N
Brings up the Combat sub menu of the radio communications commands. Pressing 0 (zero) will exit if no commands are selected. No direct shortcuts available in IL-2, however similar comms are available by navigating the main radio commands menu. This cycles priority of controls on the Me 110s engines from both, port to starboard. There is no direct equal found in IL-2, though the user defined options for SELECT ENGINE are similar. Cycles continuously through the forward firing guns on the players aircraft as: None, Machine Guns, Cannon (if applicable), Both (if cannons available). No equivalent in IL-2 series.
CYCLEENGINES
CYCLETHROUGHWE APONS
CYCLE THROUGH WEAPONS
COMMAND
SCREEN DESCRIPTION (IL2 EQUIVALENT IN BRACKETS) DEFAULT KEY (IL2 EQUIVALENT IN BRACKETS) NOTES
DETAILDN
LOWERS AIRFIELD DETAIL SHIFT+D CTRL+D
Lowers the detail of objects at airfields. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Increases the detail of objects at airfields. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Shouldnt you be concentrating on your flying and destroying the enemy instead of watching numbers? Releases external bomb load on Me 110 and Ju-87 when pressed. You do not need to cycle any weapons options to select and arm the bombs. There is no direct equivalent in IL-2, however the commands WEAPON 3 and WEAPON 4 release external stores in much the same way. Pressing this combination will jettison your external bombs when flying either the Ju-87 or Me 110 without arming them. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
DETAILUP
RAISES AIRFIELD DETAIL SHIFT+F
DISPLAY_FPS
TOGGLES THE FPS COUNTER
DROPBOMB
DROP BOMBS B
402
CTRL+W CTRL+E (Ctrl+E)
DUMPWEAPONS
JETTISONS WEAPONS
EJECTPILOT
BAIL OUT (Bail Out)
Press this combination to leave your aircraft in flight. Your exit will be quicker if you manually open/jettison your canopy first.
COMMAND
ELEVATOR_BACK
ELEVATOR BACK (Elevator Down) DOWN (Down Arrow)
Standard flight control for pitch. Elevator functions can be assigned to joystick axis in the controls menu in the game. It is worth noting that this provides far greater control over the aircraft than the keyboard can currently provide. Standard flight control for pitch. Elevator functions can be assigned to joystick axis in the controls menu in the game. It is worth noting that this provides far greater control over the aircraft than the keyboard can currently provide.
ELEVATOR_FORWA ELEVATOR FORWARD RD (Elevator Up) UP (Up Arrow)
403
ELEVTRIMDOWN
AFT ELEVATOR TRIM (Elevator Trim Positive)
CTRL+END Adds trim to the elevators to assist in balancing (Ctrl+Up Arrow) the aircraft in flight. The longer the key press, the larger the input of trim will be applied. Trim for all axis can be assigned to joystick & throttle axis/sliders/rotaries in the controls menu in the game. It is worth noting that this provides far greater control over trim than the keyboard can currently provide. Note that not all trim commands are available in each aircraft.
COMMAND
ELEVTRIMUP
FORWARD ELEVATOR TRIM (Elevator Trim Negative) CTRL+HOME (Ctrl+Down Arrow)
Adds trim to the elevators to assist in balancing the aircraft in flight. The longer the key press, the larger the input of trim will be applied. Trim for all axis can be assigned to joystick & throttle axis/sliders/rotaries in the controls menu in the game. It is worth noting that this provides far greater control over trim than the keyboard can currently provide. Note that not all trim commands are available in each aircraft This blows the landing gear down in the event of hydraulic failure. Once the gear is blown, it cannot be raised again for the duration of the flight. Note that in IL-2, the equivalent is raise / lower gear manually, which is user defined. This padlocks each enemy aircraft in turn for each successive press of the key. Use this in conjunction with your radio commands and other views such as padlock/normal view toggle (ENTER) while in combat. In IL-2, there is no direct equal to this command, but using a combination of padlock enemy & padlock next produces similar results.
404
CTRL+G F1 (F4) (U)
EMERGENCYGEAR
EMERGENCY GEAR LEVER
ENEMYVIEW
PADLOCK NEXT ENEMY (Padlock Enemy) (Padlock Next)
COMMAND
ESCORTEEVIEW
PADLOCK ESCORTED PLANE ALT+F2
This key combination padlocks your immediate leader. This could be your element lead, flight lead, or squadron leader depending on your position within the formation and the current survivors in the combat situation you may currently be in. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Exits the 3D world and returns to the debriefing screen (instant action) or the map room (campaign). When defined, resets the gate on the throttle so the maximum attainable power is reduced to 90% of engine output continuous safe maximum power. No equivalent in IL-2 series. When defined, enables the player to turn the ignition on for their engine in the Spitfire, Hurricane, Bf109 or Stuka, and also for the port engine in the Bf110. When defined, enables the player to turn the ignition on for the starboard engine in the Bf110.
EXITKEY
LEAVE THE 3D (Exit flight) ALT+X (Esc)
405
? not defined ? not defined (I) ? not defined (I)
FK_BOOSTCUTOUT
FK_ENGINESTARTE R0
FK_ENGINESTARTE R1
COMMAND
FK_FUELCOCK1
not defined (User Defined)
When defined, enables operation of the left fuel cock in the Spitfire and Stuka, the main fuel cock for the port engine in the Bf110, the opening of the fuel cock for the Bf109 and the Hurricane. A second press in the Hurricane will turn on the reserve tank. No direct equivalent in the IL-2 series, though use of mixture controls allow the player to completely turn on or off the fuel flow in some aircraft.
FK_FUELCOCK2
406
? not defined (User Defined)
When defined, enables operation of the right fuel cock in the Spitfire and Stuka, the main fuel cock for the starboard engine in the Bf110, the closure of the fuel cock for the Bf109 and the Hurricane. If the reserve tank is selected in the Hurricane, the first press will return to the main tank, with a second press closing the fuel cock. No direct equivalent in the IL-2 series, though use of mixture controls allow the player to completely turn on or off the fuel flow in some aircraft. When defined, will enable operation of the left magneto switch in the Spitfire, Hurricane and Stuka. In the Bf109 it will turn on magneto #1, and in the Bf110, cycle through magneto #1 / #2 / both on / both off on the port engine only.
FK_MAG01
COMMAND
FK_MAG02
When defined, will enable operation of the right magneto switch in the Spitfire, Hurricane and Stuka. In the Bf109 it will turn on magneto #2, and in the Bf110, cycle through magneto #1 / #2 / both on / both off on the starboard engine only. When defined, this will activate the primer pump in the Spitfire, Hurricane, Bf109, Stuka and the pump for the port engine in the Bf110. No equivalent in IL-2 series. When defined, this will activate the pump for the starboard engine of the Bf110 only. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Lowers trailing edge flaps one stage for each press. Note that the flaps takes time to travel, and excess speed with them lowered can cause damage.
FK_PRIMER0
not defined
407
? not defined V (V) F (F)
FK_PRIMER1
FLAPSDOWN
INCREASE FLAP DEFLECTION (Flaps Down)
FLAPSUP
DECREASE FLAP DEFLECTION (Flaps Up)
Raises trailing edge flaps one stage for each press. Note that the flaps takes time to travel, and excess speed with them lowered can cause damage.
COMMAND
FLOORVIEW
FLOOR VIEW IN JU87 (Look Front Down) L (User Defined)
Toggles the pilots in-cockpit view to look down through the floor window of the Ju-87 Stuka while lining up for a dive-bombing run. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Changes smoothly and continuously between large and small FOV settings while key combination is held down. Works in both internal and external views. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Snaps the FOV to the wide FOV angle as set in the GUI.
FOV_JIB01
INCREASES FIELD OF VIEW, THEN DECREASES SHIFT+F8
FOV_LARGE
TOGGLE LARGE FIELD OF VIEW (Wide View) SHIFT+F11 (PageDown) SHIFT+F10 (End)
408
SHIFT+F9 (Delete) SHIFT+F12 (User Defined)
FOV_MEDIUM
TOGGLE MEDIUM FIELD OF VIEW (Normal View)
Snaps the FOV to the medium FOV angle as set in the GUI.
FOV_SMALL
TOGGLES SMALL FIELD OF VIEW (Gunsight View)
Snaps the FOV to the small FOV angle as set in the GUI.
FOV_TOGGLE
TOGGLES THE FIELD OF VIEW (Toggle FOV)
Much like the FOV toggle given by the key combination SHIFT+8, however this snaps the zoom level to the extreme narrow / wide views as defined by the player in the GUI.
COMMAND
FRNDVIEW
PADLOCK NEXT FRIENDLY AIRCRAFT (Padlock Friendly) (Padlock Next U) F2 (Shift+F4) (U)
This padlocks each friendly aircraft in turn for each successive press of the key. Use this in conjunction with your radio commands and other views such as padlock/normal view toggle (ENTER) while in combat. In IL-2, there is no direct equal to this command, but using a combination of padlock friendly & padlock next produces similar results.
FUELGUAGESELEC TOR
FUEL TANK SELECT CTRL+F
409
G (G) M (M)
This toggles the current internal fuel tank to feed the engine(s) in the player aircraft. Only applicable to the Hurricane and the Me 110. Not to be confused with the main fuel cock controls. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Toggles the landing gear up or down. Note that the gear takes time to travel, and excess speed with the gear down can cause damage. Selecting the in-flight map brings up a full screen map of the local area while also acting as a pause function. The map has a 2-stage zoom function, and a variety of options for use of the autopilot, general navigation of flight plans and a repeat of the main radio communications menu. All the options are navigated and accessed by pressing the appropriate keyboard number. To exit the map screen, press 0 (zero).
GEARUPDOWN
GEAR TOGGLE (Gear Up/Down)
GOTOMAPKEY
GOES TO MAP SCREEN (Toggle Map)
COMMAND
GRNDTVIEW
PADLOCK NEXT GROUND TARGET (Padlock Enemy Ground) (Padlock Next) F3 (F5) (U)
This padlocks each enemy ground target in turn for each successive press of the key. Use this in conjunction with your radio commands and other views such as padlock/normal view toggle (ENTER) while in combat. In IL-2, there is no direct equal to this command, but using a combination of padlock enemy ground & padlock next produces similar results.
GROUPINFOMSG
THE GROUP INFO MESSAGE SCREEN SHIFT+F1
410
SHIFT+NUM ENTER
Brings up the Group Info sub menu of the radio communications commands. Pressing 0 (zero) will exit if no commands are selected. No direct shortcuts available in IL-2, however similar comms are available by navigating the main radio commands menu. This resets the head position in the cockpit to the correct level behind the gunsight if the player has moved to a custom head position by using the MOVE VIEWPOINT set of keys. It also turns off the Vector Expansion for TrackIR though obviously this function only works for those with appropriate kit! No equivalent in IL-2 series
GUNSIGHTVIEW
FIXES VIEWPOINT TO A POSITION BEHIND THE GUNSIGHT
COMMAND
HEADBACKWARD
MOVES VIEWPOINT BACKWARD SHIFT+END
Allows the player to fine-tune the position their head inside the cockpit in the desired direction. To enable this function, you must turn CUSTOM_HEAD_POSITION in the BDG text file to ON. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
HEADDOWN
MOVES VIEWPOINT DOWN SHIFT+PGUP
Allows the player to fine-tune the position their head inside the cockpit in the desired direction. To enable this function, you must turn CUSTOM_HEAD_POSITION in the BDG text file to ON. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Allows the player to fine-tune the position their head inside the cockpit in the desired direction. To enable this function, you must turn CUSTOM_HEAD_POSITION in the BDG text file to ON. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Allows the player to fine-tune the position their head inside the cockpit in the desired direction. To enable this function, you must turn CUSTOM_HEAD_POSITION in the BDG text file to ON. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
411
SHIFT+HOME
HEADFORWARD
MOVES VIEWPOINT FORWARD
HEADLEFT
MOVES VIEWPOINT LEFT SHIFT+DELETE
COMMAND
HEADOUTVIEWL
STICK HEAD OUT OF THE LEFT SIDE OF COCKPIT Q
Leans your head to one side of the cockpit, or even out of the cockpit if the canopy is open. You can also use this to set your line of sight directly behind the offset reflector gunsights found in the flyable Luftwaffe aircraft. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
HEADOUTVIEWR
STICK HEAD OUT OF THE RIGHT SIDE OF COCKPIT W
412
SHIFT+INSERT
Leans your head to one side of the cockpit, or even out of the cockpit if the canopy is open. You can also use this to set your line of sight directly behind the offset reflector gunsights found in the flyable Luftwaffe aircraft. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
HEADRIGHT
MOVES VIEWPOINT RIGHT
SHIFT+PGDOWN Allows the player to fine-tune the position their head inside the cockpit in the desired direction. To enable this function, you must turn CUSTOM_HEAD_POSITION in the BDG text file to ON. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Allows the player to fine-tune the position their head inside the cockpit in the desired direction. To enable this function, you must turn CUSTOM_HEAD_POSITION in the BDG text file to ON. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
HEADUP
MOVES VIEWPOINT UP
COMMAND
HUDTOGGLE
TOGGLES THE ENEMY POSITION INDICATOR AND ARTIFICIAL HORIZON H
This toggles the enemy position indicator (EPI) and the artificial horizon in the top right corner of the screen when in the cockpit. These can be turned on or off even if your preferences are set to off in the GUI. Additional options for configuring both the EPI and the artificial horizon can be found in the GUI and the BDG text file in the main BoBII directory. No equivalent in IL-2 series. When turned on, this directs the player to an external view of any bombs the players aircraft has released as they strike their target and detonate. Once the bombs have exploded, the player is returned to the cockpit of their aircraft. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
IMPACTTOG
TOGGLE IMPACT VIEW F11
413
I (User Defined)
INFOPANEL
CYCLES THROUGH INFO LINES (Toggle Speed Bar)
The info line has 3 stage which are cycled through in turn: Flight Information; View Information; Off. Additional options for customising the info line can be found in the BDG text file in the main BoBII directory, as well as in the main options menus of the game.
COMMAND
INOUTTOG
INSIDE/OUTSIDE VIEW TOGGLE BACKSPACE
Switches between internal (normal cockpit = F7) and external (track = F6) views with each press. There is no direct equivalent in IL-2, however a combination of cockpit view and external view perform a similar task. This puts you in the pilots seat with the cockpit graphics & instrumentation.
INSIDETOG
COCKPIT VIEW (Cockpit View) F7 (F1) NUM ENTER
INSTVIEW
LOOKS AT THE INSTRUMENT PANEL
414
T [
This snaps your view inside the cockpit to the main instrument panel. The view is active for as long as the key is help down. Once released, your view will return to its previous position. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Toggle the labels for AI aircraft while in flight. Note that to work, labels must be enabled in the GUI before flight. Additional options for configuring labels can be found in the GUI and the BDG text file in the main BoBII directory. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Cycles backwards through the forward firing guns on the players aircraft. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
KEY_TOGGLE_DES C_TEXT
TOGGLES LABELS
LAST WEAPON
PREVIOUS WEAPON
COMMAND
LEFTWHEELBRAKE
LEFT WHEEL BRAKE (HOLD DOWN) (Wheel Brakes) , (B)
Activates independent brakes on the main wheels of players aircraft. Holding down one brake while applying power & appropriate rudder will turn the aircraft tightly while on the ground. To get full braking effect, hold down both left and right brake keys.Note that in IL-2, a single key operates your wheel brakes simultaneously. Gives a snap view to the chosen direction from inside the cockpit. When released, the view returns to the last known position. Gives a snap view to the chosen direction from inside the cockpit. When released, the view returns to the last known position. Gives a snap view to the chosen direction from inside the cockpit. When released, the view returns to the last known position. Gives a snap view to the chosen direction from inside the cockpit. When released, the view returns to the last known position.
LOOKE
STICKY RIGHT (Look Right) ALT+NUM6 (NUMPAD 6) HOME (NUMPAD8) PGUP (NUMPAD9) INSERT (NUMPAD7)
415
LOOKN
STICKY LOOK FORWARD (Look Forward)
LOOKNE
STICKY LOOK FORWARD/RIGHT (Look Front Right)
LOOKNW
STICKY LOOK FORWARD/LEFT (Look Front Left)
COMMAND
LOOKS
STICKY LOOK BACK END
Gives a snap view to the chosen direction from inside the cockpit. When released, the view returns to the last known position. No equivalent in IL-2 series for this particular command. Gives a snap view to the chosen direction from inside the cockpit. When released, the view returns to the last known position. Gives a snap view to the chosen direction from inside the cockpit. When released, the view returns to the last known position. Modifies cockpit view to look upwards in the selected direction. Modifies cockpit view to look upwards in the selected direction.
LOOKSE
STICKY LOOK BACK/RIGHT (Look Back Right) PGDOWN (NUMPAD3) DELETE (NUMPAD1)
LOOKSW
416
CTRL+NUM6 (User Defined) CTRL+NUM8 (User Defined) CTRL+NUM9 (User Defined)
STICKY LOOK BACK/LEFT (Look Back Left)
LOOKUPE
STICKY LOOK UP RIGHT (Look Up Right)
LOOKUPN
STICKY LOOK UP FORWARD (Look Front Up)
LOOKUPNE
STICKY LOOK UP FORWARD/RIGHT (Look Front Up Right)
Modifies cockpit view to look upwards in the selected direction.
COMMAND
LOOKUPNW
STICKY LOOK UP FORWARD/LEFT (Look Front Up Left) CTRL+NUM7 (User Defined)
LOOKUPS
STICKY LOOK UP BACK CTRL+NUM2
417
CTRL+NUM3 (User Defined) CTRL+NUM1 (User Defined)
Modifies cockpit view to look upwards in the selected direction. No equivalent in IL-2 series for this particular command. Modifies cockpit view to look upwards in the selected direction.
LOOKUPSE
STICKY LOOK UP BACK/RIGHT (Look Back Up Right)
LOOKUPSW
STICKY LOOK UP BACK/LEFT (Look Back Up Left)
COMMAND
LOOKUPTOG LOOK UP TOGGLE SCROLL LOCK FOR STICKY KEYS
418
Used in conjunction with the commands LOOKN / NW / W / SW, etc. They provide a "snap" view, i.e. the view is only active while the key is depressed. These keys, when used in conjunction with the "LOOKUPTOG" key, are modified to look 45deg up. They thus provide 16 "quick looks". In the default key assignment, these are unfortunately scattered, as six of the eight are assigned to the upper middle key cluster Insert, Home, PageDown etc. The missing pair are LOOKE and LOOKW, which are assigned to alt-Numpad4 and altNumpad6. In this configuration, they are pretty much useless, but it is clear that Rowan provided them so that they could be remapped to emulate the "quick look" keys used in other sims.The usual key assignments in these other sims is to put the LOOKUPTOG function on the Numpad5 key, and assign the rest of the set to the other Numpad digits in a ring around the 5. One can then rest a middle finger on the 5 key and access all 16 views rapidly and intuitively, without looking. These key commands can also be used for programming a POV hat to provide snap views rather than panning. If one does do that reassignment, the simplest way is to swap each key with the one it is replacing. However,I like to put the ROTRESET function, from Numpad5, onto the Home key, as that is what it does, gives you back your forward view if you lose it.The other displaced keys from the numpad, I only use in external view, and that is never in a combat situation, so I don't mind having them on the upper middle key cluster, which is an inferior location compared to the numpad. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
COMMAND
LOOKUPW
STICKY LOOK UP LEFT (Look Up Left) CTRL+NUM4 (User Defined) ALT+NUM4 (NUMPAD 4) SHIFT+9 (User Defined)
Modifies cockpit view to look upwards in the selected direction. Gives a snap view to the chosen direction from inside the cockpit. When released, the view returns to the last known position.
LOOKW
STICKY LEFT (Look Left)
MAXPROPPITCH
MAXIMUM PROP PITCH (Prop. Pitch 10)
419
SHIFT+0 (Shift+1) not defined not defined
Sets the pitch angle of the propeller blades maximum (fine). Prop pitch control can also be assigned to an axis on your controller, and in doing so provides greater ease of use. Prop pitch can also be set as automatic rather than manual in the GUI. Sets the pitch angle of the propeller blades to minimum (coarse).Prop pitch control can also be assigned to an axis on your controller, and in doing so provides greater ease of use. Prop pitch can also be set as automatic rather than manual in the GUI.
MINPROPPITCH
MINIMUM PROP PITCH (Prop. Pitch 0)
MOUSE_SENS_DEF RESETS MOUSE AULT SENSITIVITY (ALL AXIS)
MOUSE_SENS_DOW DECREASES MOUSE X/Y N SENSITIVITY
COMMAND
MOUSE_SENS_UP
INCREASES MOUSE X/Y SENSITIVITY not defined not defined
MOUSEWHEEL_SEN S_DOWN not defined
DECREASES MOUSEWHEEL SENSITIVITY
MOUSEWHEEL_SEN S_UP
INCREASES MOUSEWHEEL SENSITIVITY F5
MSGVIEW
420
PADLOCK VIEW OF SUBJECT OF CURRENT MESSAGE
This padlocks the message subject of the immediate or most recent radio message (air, ground or waypoint, friendly or enemy), irrespective of its current position, height and heading relative to your aircraft as viewed from inside the cockpit of the players aircraft. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
NEXTSHAPEDN
FIELD OF VIEW: ZOOM OUT (Increase FOV)
CTRL+NUMPAD- This combination controls the smooth zoom for (User Defined) the FOV of the pilot while in the cockpit.
NEXTSHAPEUP
FIELD OF VIEW: ZOOM IN CTRL+NUMPAD+ This combination controls the smooth zoom for (Decrease FOV) (User Defined) the FOV of the pilot while in the cockpit.
COMMAND
NEXTWEAPON
NEXT WEAPON ]
Cycles through the forward firing guns on the players aircraft as: None, Machine Guns, Cannon (if applicable), Both (if cannons available). No equivalent in IL-2 series.
OTHERACVIEW
STEPS THROUGH VIEW OF OTHER AIRCRAFT (Next Friendly View) (Next Enemy View) CTRL+I (Shift+F2) (Ctrl+F2)
421
ALT+F6
This cycles through external views of all the AI aircraft airborne while the player is currently in flight (3D). The view cycles through the players squadron members, then allied aircraft, then enemy aircraft. The view can be manipulated with the game paused. Beware that checking through all the aircraft may take some considerable time, as it is possible to have close to 1000 aircraft in the air at once! When using this function, the players aircraft is automatically put on autopilot. The nearest functions in IL-2 are the Next Friendly View and the Next Enemy View. This changes your view to bring an external view of your padlocked target to the foreground with your aircraft in the distance. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
OUTREVLOCKTOG
OUTSIDE REVERSED PADLOCK
COMMAND
OUTSIDETOG
TRACK VIEW (External View) F6 (F2)
Positions the external camera directly behind the players aircraft. The view can then be manipulated using various zoom, panning and snap/sticky commands. When defined by the player, activating this function enables the player to utilise the BoBII padlocking system while in combat / flight to allow targeting objects of interest. Pressing again enables TrackIR authority. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
PADLOCKOVERRID E
TOGGLES THE PADLOCK OVERRIDE FOR TRACKIR not defined
422
P (P) S (F4)
PADLOCKTOG
PADLOCK/NORMAL VIEW TOGGLE (Instant View Forward with Padlock)
ENTER This command switches between padlock view (NumPad Insert) and your last view position inside the cockpit prior to engaging padlock. This allows you to swap views quickly in combat without losing your current target completely or accidentally padlocking another AI. Suspends game play while in cockpit (3D world). To resume play, press again. This command padlocks the enemy nearest to the center of the screen.
PAUSEKEY
TOGGLES PAUSE (Pause Game)
PCENEMY
PADLOCK ENEMY IN CENTER OF SCREEN (Padlock Enemy)
COMMAND
POSTCOMBATMSG THE POSTCOMBAT INFO MESSAGE SCREEN SHIFT+4
Brings up the Post Combat sub menu of the radio communications commands. Pressing 0 (zero) will exit if no commands are selected. No direct shortcuts available in IL-2, however similar comms are available by navigating the main radio commands menu.
PRECOMBATMSG
THE PRECOMBAT INFO MESSAGE SCREEN SHIFT+2
423
SHIFT+F1 (Ctrl+F2) (Y)
Brings up the Pre-Combat sub menu of the radio communications commands. Pressing 0 (zero) will exit if no commands are selected. No direct shortcuts available in IL-2, however similar comms are available by navigating the main radio commands menu. This padlocks each enemy aircraft in turn in reverse for each successive press of the key. Use this in conjunction with your radio commands and other views such as padlock/normal view toggle (ENTER) while in combat. Use this in conjunction with your radio commands and other views such as padlock/normal view toggle (ENTER) while in combat. In IL-2, there is no direct equal to this command, but using a combination of padlock enemy & padlock previous produces similar results.
PREVENEMYVIEW
PADLOCK PREVIOUS ENEMY (Next Enemy View) (Padlock Previous)
COMMAND
PREVFRNDVIEW
PADLOCK PREVIOUS FRIENDLY (Next Friendly View) (Padlock Previous) SHIFT+F2 (Shift+F2) (Y)
424
SHIFT+F3 (F5) (Y)
This padlocks each friendly aircraft in turn in reverse order for each successive press of the key. Use this in conjunction with your radio commands and other views such as padlock/normal view toggle (ENTER) while in combat. Use this in conjunction with your radio commands and other views such as padlock/normal view toggle (ENTER) while in combat. In IL-2, there is no direct equal to this command, but using a combination of padlock friendly & padlock previous produces similar results. Toggles padlock between the nearest two targets at an airfield, irrespective of their current position relative to your aircraft as viewed from inside the cockpit of the players aircraft. Use this in conjunction with your radio commands and other views such as padlock/normal view toggle (ENTER) while in combat. In IL-2, there is no direct equal to this command, but using a combination of padlock enemy & padlock previous produces similar results.
PREVGRNDTVIEW
PADLOCK PREVIOUS GROUND TARGET (Padlock Enemy Ground) (Padlock Previous)
COMMAND
PREVWAYPTVIEW
PADLOCK PREVIOUS WAYPOINT SHIFT+F4
This padlocks and cycles through each waypoint of the players flight plan/route for the current mission in reverse order, irrespective of its current position and height relative to your aircraft as viewed from inside the cockpit of the players aircraft. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
PROPPITCHDOWN DECREASE PROP PITCH /INCREASE RPM (Decrease Prop. Pitch) SHIFT+= (User Defined)
425
SHIFT+(User Defined) R (Tab)
Decreases the pitch angle of the propeller blades in 1% increments for each key press. Prop pitch control can also be assigned to an axis on your controller, and in doing so provides greater ease of use. Prop pitch can also be set as automatic rather than manual in the GUI. Increases the pitch angle of the propeller blades in 1% increments for each key press. Prop pitch control can also be assigned to an axis on your controller, and in doing so provides greater ease of use. Prop pitch can also be set as automatic rather than manual in the GUI. Brings up the main radio communications menu on screen while in cockpit. Navigate submenus by pressing appropriate number on main keyboard. To exit or go back one level, press 0 (zero).
PROPPITCHUP
INCREASE PROP PITCH /DECREASE RPM (Increase Prop. Pitch)
RADIOCOMMS
BRINGS UP THE RADIO SCREEN (Toggle Comms)
COMMAND
RCAMRESET
RESETS THE ROVING CAMS HEADING AND PITCH ALT+F
This stops all movement of the roving camera, but does not reset to the cameras original position/location as suggested by the command name. No equivalent in IL-2 series. This activates an external camera that the player can move around the BoBII world using the pan and various zoom keys. To exit the roving camera, just press any main view key rather than a view modifier. No equivalent in IL2 series. Pressing this starts/pauses/continues the gun camera footage recording taken from the players aircraft in the current mission. The gun camera can be set in the GUI to film each time the trigger is pressed or a weapon from the players aircraft is released, or to film continuously from when the cockpit is entered up to the time the player exits the 3D world. Footage can be viewed/saved after the mission by selecting REPLAY. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
RCAMTOGGLE
TOGGLES THE ROVING CAM ALT+V
426
C CTRL+R
RECORDTOGGLE
TOGGLES IN-FLIGHT RECORDING
RELOADWEAPON
RELOADS WEAPONS (CHEAT)
Reloads all weapons in player aircraft. Note that this is not an infinite weapons load, but can be utilised as many times as the player wishes. This command only affects weapons, not fuel load. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
COMMAND
RESETALLTRIM
ZERO ELEVATOR, AILERON AND RUDDER TRIM ALT+END
427
CTRL+F1
Pressing this cancels ALL trim inputs made on the players aircraft in all axis. It is important to note that if you have any trim axis assigned to a wheel or slider on a joystick, pressing this key combination will cancel the trim AND reset the neutral position to the current wheel/slider position. Therefore if you are using trim via a combination of joystick wheel and keyboard, turn any wheels/sliders to the neutral position before resetting trim to avoid any imbalance. Note that currently in BoBII: WoV, you do not have the ability to cancel the trim in a single axis only. In IL-2, you have the advantage of being able to reset the trim of each axis individually, but do not have the ability to reset all trim axis at once. This padlocks the nearest enemy aircraft of any type irrespective of its current position, height and heading relative to your aircraft as viewed from inside the cockpit of the players aircraft. Use this in conjunction with your radio commands and other views such as padlock/normal view toggle (ENTER) while in combat. Although padlocking is a feature of IL2, there is no direct equivalent to padlocking the closest enemy aircraft from within the cockpit, however the command External Padlock, Closest Enemy Air performs a similar function albeit from an external perspective.
RESETENEMYVIEW
PADLOCK NEAREST ENEMY
COMMAND
RESETFRNDVIEW
PADLOCK NEAREST FRIENDLY CTRL+F2
This padlocks the nearest friendly aircraft of any type irrespective of its current position, height and heading relative to your aircraft as viewed from inside the cockpit of the players aircraft. Use this in conjunction with your radio commands and other views such as padlock/normal view toggle (ENTER) while in combat. Although padlocking is a feature of IL-2, there is no direct equivalent to padlocking the closest friendly aircraft from within the cockpit, however the command External Padlock, Closest Friendly Air performs a similar function albeit from an external perspective. Padlocks the Main airfield target, which is a spot on the runway near the hangars, irrespective of its current position relative to your aircraft as viewed from inside the cockpit of the players aircraft. Use this in conjunction with your radio commands and other views such as padlock/normal view toggle (ENTER) while in combat. Although padlocking is a feature of IL-2, there is no direct equivalent to padlocking the closest enemy ground target from within the cockpit, however the command External Padlock, Closest Enemy Ground performs a similar function albeit from an external perspective.
428
CTRL+F3
RESETGRNDTVIEW
PADLOCK NEAREST GROUND TARGET
COMMAND
RESETRECORD
RESETS THE RECORDER X
Pressing this clears (deletes) the gun camera footage taken from the players aircraft up to the present time in the current mission. The gun camera can be set in the GUI to film each time the trigger is pressed or a weapon from the players aircraft is released, or to film continuously from when the cockpit is entered up to the time the player exits the 3D world. Footage can be viewed/saved after the mission by selecting REPLAY. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Resets the current view forward, turns off all padlocked targets and resets the current FOV angle to the default FOV as set in the GUI. It is worth noting that if you do not want the FOV to reset each time you change views, there is an option to stop this in the BDG text file found in the main BoBII directory. No equivalent in IL-2 series. This padlocks the initial waypoint of he players flight plan/route for the current mission, irrespective of its current position and height relative to your aircraft as viewed from inside the cockpit of the players aircraft. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
429
ESC CTRL+F4
RESETVIEW
RESETS VIEW TO FORWARD
RESETWAYPTVIEW
PADLOCK FIRST WAYPOINT
COMMAND
RIGHTWHEELBRAK E
RIGHT WHEEL BRAKE (HOLD DOWN) (Wheel Brakes) . (B)
Activates independent brakes on the main wheels of players aircraft. Holding down one brake while applying power & appropriate rudder will turn the aircraft tightly while on the ground. To get full braking effect, hold down both left and right brake keys. Note that in IL-2, a single key operates your wheel brakes simultaneously.
ROTDNLEFT
DOWN / BACK AND LEFT NUM 1
430
NUM 3
Pans or snaps the view in the selected direction dependant on whether in fixed or panning view mode. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning or snap views that stick after key release. Pans or snaps the view in the selected direction dependant on whether in fixed or panning view mode. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning or snap views that stick after key release.
ROTDNRIGHT
DOWN / BACK AND RIGHT
COMMAND
ROTDOWN
DOWN / BACK & BOMBER BELLY GUNNER NUM 2
Pans or snaps the view in the selected direction dependant on whether in fixed or panning view mode. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. If flying in any of the Luftwaffe bombers, pressing this will place youin the underside rear facing machinegun position. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning or snap views that stick after key release. Pans or snaps the view in the selected direction dependant on whether in fixed or panning view mode. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning or snap views that stick after key release. Resets the current view forward and resets the current FOV angle to the default FOV as set in the GUI. It is worth noting that if you do not want the FOV to reset each time you change views, there is an option to stop this in the BDG text file found in the main BoBII directory. If flying in any of the Luftwaffe bombers, pressing this will place you in the top rear facing machine gun position.
ROTLEFT
LEFT
NUM 4
431
NUM 5
ROTRESET
VIEW RESET & BOMBER TOP GUNNER
COMMAND
ROTRIGHT
RIGHT
NUM 6
Pans or snaps the view in the selected direction dependant on whether in fixed or panning view mode. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning or snap views that stick after key release.
ROTUP
UP FORWARD & BOMBER NOSE GUNNER NUM 8
432
NUM 7
Pans or snaps the view in the selected direction dependant on whether in fixed or panning view mode. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning or snap views that stick after key release. If flying in any of the Luftwaffe bombers, pressing this will place you in the nose machine gun position. Pans or snaps the view in the selected direction dependant on whether in fixed or panning view mode. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning or snap views that stick after key release.
ROTUPLEFT
UP FORWARD AND LEFT
COMMAND
ROTUPRIGHT
UP FORWARD AND RIGHT NUM 9
Pans or snaps the view in the selected direction dependant on whether in fixed or panning view mode. The view remains at last travelled to position when key is released. There is no equivalent in IL-2 series for panning or snap views that stick after key release.
RPM_00
100% THROTTLE (GATE). DAMAGES ENGINE ON MANUAL CONTROLS (Boost (WEP) On/Off) 0 (ZERO) (W)
433
1 (User Defined) 2 (2)
Sets the engine throttle (power) to the applicable percentage. Note that engine power in BoBII (from zero to emergency/boost) is measured from 0% - 100%. This means in effect that full throttle (safe power) is actually displayed as 90%, while WEP or boost is displayed as 100%. Engine performance will deteriorate rapidly if kept at 100% for any length of time. Sets the engine throttle (power) to the applicable percentage. Sets the engine throttle (power) to the applicable percentage.
RPM_10
10% THROTTLE (Power 10)
RPM_20
COMMAND
RPM_30
30% THROTTLE (Power 30) 3 (3) 4 (4) 5 (5) 6 (6) 7 (7) 8 (8) 9 (9) (- or NumPad -)
Sets the engine throttle (power) to the applicable percentage. Sets the engine throttle (power) to the applicable percentage. Sets the engine throttle (power) to the applicable percentage. Sets the engine throttle (power) to the applicable percentage. Sets the engine throttle (power) to the applicable percentage. Sets the engine throttle (power) to the applicable percentage. Sets the engine throttle (power) to the applicable percentage. Decreases the engine power in 1%increments for each key press.
RPM_40
RPM_50
RPM_60
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RPM_70
RPM_80
80% THROTTLE (LINER) (Power 80)
RPM_90
90% THROTTLE (BUSTER) (Power 90)
RPM_DOWN
DECREASES THROTTLE BY 1% (Decrease Engine Power)
COMMAND
RPM_UP
INCREASES THROTTLE BY 1% (Increase Engine Power) = (= or NumPad+) or # (1)
Increases the engine power in 1% increments for each key press.
RPM_ZERO
NO POWER (Power 0)
435
NUM 0 (,)
Sets the engine throttle (power) tothe applicable percentage. Note that engine power in BoBII (from zero to emergency/boost) is measured from 0% - 100%. This means in effect that full throttle (safe power) is actually displayed as 90%, while WEP or boost is displayed as 100%. Engine performance will deteriorate rapidly if kept at 100% for any length of time. Standard flight control for yaw. Also used for steering on the ground. Use this with the differential braking on the ground for tighter turns. Rudder functions can be assigned to joystick/pedals axis in the controls menu in the game. It is worth noting that this provides far greater control over the rudder than the keyboard can currently provide.
RUDDER_LEFT
RUDDER LEFT (Rudder Left)
COMMAND
RUDDER_RIGHT
RUDDER RIGHT (Rudder Right) NUM DECIMAL (.)
Standard flight control for yaw. Also used for steering on the ground. Use this with the differential braking on the ground for tighter turns. Rudder functions can be assigned to joystick/pedals axis in the controls menu in the game. It is worth noting that this provides far greater control over the rudder than the keyboard can currently provide.
RUDTRIMDOWN
LEFT RUDDER TRIM (Rudder Trim Left) CTRL+DELETE (Ctrl+Z)
436
CTRL+PGDOWN (Ctrl+X)
Adds trim to the rudder to assist in balancing the aircraft in flight. The longer the key press, the larger the input of trim will be applied. Trim for all axis can be assigned to joystick & throttle axis/sliders/rotaries in the controls menu in the game. It is worth noting that this provides far greater control over trim than the keyboard can currently provide. Note that not all trim commands are available in each aircraft. Adds trim to the rudder to assist in balancing the aircraft in flight. The longer the key press, the larger the input of trim will be applied. Trim for all axis can be assigned to joystick & throttle axis/sliders/rotaries in the controls menu in the game. It is worth noting that this provides far greater control over trim than the keyboard can currently provide. Note that not all trim commands are available in each aircraft.
RUDTRIMUP
RIGHT RUDDER TRIM (Rudder Trim Right)
COMMAND
SATELLITOG
TOGGLES SATELLITE / NEAR SATELLITE VIEW F10 CTRL+P or PrintScreen (PrintScreen) CTRL+M
This toggles a plan view of the players aircraft between two zoom levels. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Takes a screenshot of the current 3D environment, and saves it to the STILLS folder in the main BoBII directory as a BMP file.
SCREENSHOT
SAVES A SCREENSHOT (Screenshot)
SEEMIGS
(CHEAT) SEE ENEMY AIRPLANE ICONS ON THE MAP
437
SHIFT+K K
Quite a misleading description! This key combination adds grid reference data for the BoBII terrain to the top left corner of the inflight map. No real use to the player, but its been left available as a tool for terrain and landscape developers & modders to use. No equivalent in IL-2 series. This decreases the sensitivity on keyboard input in the game while flying. Only really useful for pilots flying via the keyboard who wish to fine-tune their directional control. No equivalent in IL-2 series. This decreases the sensitivity on keyboard input in the game while flying. Only really useful for pilots flying via the keyboard who wish to fine-tune their directional control. Some pilots may find that it also assists in the application of trim using the keyboard commands. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
SENS_DOWN
DECREASES KEYBOARD SENSITIVITY
SENS_UP
INCREASES KEYBOARD SENSITIVITY
COMMAND
SHOOT
FIRES GUNS & CANNONS (Weapon 1+2) SPACE (User Defined)
Fires the active weapon(s) (forward firing guns) in the players aircraft. There is no independent firing control for machine guns and cannon, however the player can cycle through the forward firing guns to select either MGs or cannons or both for operation when the trigger is pulled. In IL-2, machine guns and cannons have separate firing commands listed as Weapon 1 and Weapon 2, or the player can define a key to facilitate the simultaneous firing of both sets of weapons if desired. This toggles the dive brakes on the Ju-87.
438
D (User Defined) SHIFT+S
SPEEDBRAKE
TOGGLES SPEED BRAKE ON JU87 (Airbrake)
SPINRECOVERY
SPIN RECOVERY
Holding down this key combination assists the pilot to bring a spinning aircraft back under control. Experienced pilots should be able to correct a spin by using the standard recovery procedure however this function will likely be a welcome helping hand to some rookie pilots. Hold the key combination down until the rotation stops, then carefully fly the aircraft out of its dive. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
COMMAND
TOGGLE_DECEL
TOGGLES TIME=DECELERATION
SHIFT+F7
Toggles on / off a SLOW-MOTION function while in the 3D world. There is no direct equivalent in IL-2, however the Accelerate Time and Decelerate Time keys provide a similar function. Turns written messages (duplicating verbal commands & requests) on / off while in the 3D world. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Adds motion to the viewed aircraft rather than seen by a fixed perspective, though you can modify the view by panning and zoom whether the wobble is on or off. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Brings up the Tower (airfield) sub menu of the radio communications commands. Pressing 0 (zero) will exit if no commands are selected. No direct shortcuts available in IL-2, however similar comms are available by navigating the main radio commands menu.
TOGGLEMESSAGES TOGGLES DISPLAY OF MESSAGES SHIFT+M
439
SHIFT+F6 SHIFT+5
WOBBLEVIEW
TOGGLES THE WOBBLE VIEW
TOWERMSG
THE TOWER INFO MESSAGE SCREEN
COMMAND
VIEWMODTOG
TOGGLES PANNING/STICKY VIEW CTRL+V
NUM LOCK
This enables the player to switch between fixed (sticky) or panning cockpit view controls irrespective of the preference set in the GUI. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Turns the audible sound of the players voice on/off when requesting assistance or giving orders via the main radio communications menu or the keyboard shortcuts. Default setting is on. No equivalent in IL-2 series. This padlocks and cycles through each waypoint of the players flight plan/route for the current mission, irrespective of its current position and height relative to your aircraft as viewed from inside the cockpit of the players aircraft. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Plays the next audio track in the playlist of WINAMP media player while in the game. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Plays the previous audio track in the playlist of WINAMP media player while in the game. No equivalent in IL-2 series.
VOICETOGGLE
TOGGLES PLAYER VOICE
440
F4 CTRL+F12 CTRL+F9
WAYPTVIEW
PADLOCK NEXT WAYPOINT
WINAMP_NEXT
PLAYS NEXT TRACK IN WINAMP PLAYLIST
WINAMP_PREV
PLAYS PREVIOUS TRACK IN WINAMP PLAYLIST
COMMAND
WINAMP_START CTRL+F11 ALT+NUMPAD
STARTS PLAYING A TRACK CTRL+F10
Starts playing audio tracks in the WINAMP playlist. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Stops playing the current audio track in the WINAMP playlist. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Decreases the volume of audio tracks in WINAMP. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Increases the volume of audio tracks in WINAMP. No equivalent in IL-2 series. Operates standard (slow) zoom for external views. In IL-2, the nearest equivalent is the zoom control offered by the mouse. Operates standard (slow) zoom for external views. In IL-2, the nearest equivalent is the zoom control offered by the mouse.
WINAMP_STOP
STOPS WINAMP PLAYING A TRACK
WINAMP_VOLDOWN
DECREASES WINAMP VOLUME BY 1% ALT+NUMPAD+
441
NUMPADNUMPAD+
WINAMP_VOLUP
INCREASES WINAMP VOLUME BY 1%
ZOOMIN
ZOOM IN
ZOOMOUT
ZOOM OUT
Index
Aircraft Controls ............ 180 Engine Controls ......... 183 Flaps .......................... 208 Flight Controls ........... 180 Aircraft Data .................. 230 Autogen ......................... 375 Bdg.txt........................... 277 Bf109 ............................ 227 Bf110 ............................ 228 Campaign ....................... 67 Campaign Screen ........ 67 Main Toolbar .......... 70 Map ........................ 68 Map Toolbar ........... 71 Scale Toolbar .......... 73 Teletype Toolbar ..... 74 Time Toolbar .......... 74 Luftwaffe Tutorial ....... 75 Authorising and Editing Raids ................... 88 Directives ................ 77 Flying ..................... 96 Following Raids ...... 81 Reviews .................. 97 RAF Tutorial............... 99 Assets and Production ........................... 112 Authorising Scrambles ........................... 103 Detecting and Intercepting Raids ........................... 108 Managing Aircraft and Pilots .................. 110 Mission Folder ....... 103 RAF Directives ...... 101 RAF Organisation ... 99 Response Markers .. 102 Setting up Patrols ... 102 Tracking Raids ....... 105 Transferring Squadrons ........................... 110 Single Pilot Campaign See Single Pilot Campaign Single Squadron Campaign ............... 147 Wildman's Tutorial ..... 114 RAF Route Manipulation ...... 128 RAF Tactics ........... 114 Cockpits Bf109......... 201, 311, 385 Bf110......... 203, 312, 387 Hurricane ... 199, 310, 384 Interactive Cockpits ... 188 Ju87 Stuka . 206, 313, 389 Spitfire ....... 197, 309, 383 Combat Manoeuvres ...... 215 Bf109 Dive and Zoom ....... 219 Steep Dive .............. 220 Up and Under ......... 220 Bf110 Lufberry ................. 221 Stall Turn ............... 221 Hurricane Head-on Attack ...... 219
442
Split-S .................... 219 Spitfire Climbing Turn ........ 218 Level Turning Flight ........................... 217 Split-S .................... 217 Cross-over Turn ............. 210 Engine Starting .............. 193 Engines.......................... 188 Hurricane ....................... 225 Installation ........................ 7 Instant Action................ 58 Advanced Training ...... 59 Basic Training ............. 58 Dogfighting................. 59 Ground Attack ............ 60 Historic ....................... 61 Interceptions ............... 60 Ju87 ............................... 228 Keymap Table................ 391 Landing Tutorial ............ 196 Main Menu ..................... 12 Campaigns See Campaign Instant Action..See Instant Action Load Game ................. 13 Replay ........................ 14
Recording................ 15 Replaying ................ 15 Novice Flight Mode ....... 209 Options ........................... 19 Controls ...................... 26 Controller FAQ ....... 29 Field of View .............. 46 Game(Advanced) ........ 49 GFX............................ 19 More GFX .................. 23 Sim ............................. 36 Flight ...................... 37 Game ...................... 40 Mission ................... 42 Views ...................... 44 Sound ......................... 35 Padlocking ..................... 317 Propellers....................... 191 Quickstart ......................... 9 Radio Commands........... 321 Single Pilot Campaign .... 154 Luftwaffe ................... 172 Spins ............................. 213 Spitfire........................... 226 Stalling Speeds .............. 213 Stalls ............................. 211 Stuka ..................... See Ju87
443
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BoBII 2.10 Manual Final

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BoBII 2.10 Manual Final

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Contents

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

CHAPTER 4 SECTION A: CAMPAIGN

SECTION B: Campaign Tactics

SECTION C: THE SINGLE PILOT CAMPAIGN

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

A Spin is a beautiful thing

APPENDIX A: The BDG.txt File APPENDIX B: Cockpits

APPENDIX C: Keycards, Padlocks and Views

321 323 323 375 379

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

What has changed since update 2.09?

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

Uninstalling Battle of Britain II Wings of Victory:

Options settings and your PCs capabilities:

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

THE MAIN MENU

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

Rewind to the previous marker

Rewind one frame (only available when paused)

Forward one frame (only available when paused)

Forward to the next block

Forward to the next marker

Save the marked block

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

I want to setup BoBII so that it takes input from multiple controllers:

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual

In-Game GUI Menus & Controller Set Up

Battle of Britain II 2.10 Game Manual