Blackfoot Too Easy To Exploit

I have a friend who's a bit of an Arma addict. He'll play for hours on end. He's like myself older and has been playing games since the very early release of computer games. But what strikes me is his ability to exploit Arma's AI. The AI in Arma has come on leaps and bounds, but being able to board a Blackfoot and single handedly wipe out the AI whilst evading all the AI's AA (low altitude flying) kind of exposes a huge weakness in the game. Isn't it about time aircraft in Arma are made more realistic - making the weapons systems more challenging to operate?

The fact scripts have been written to restrict players from hopping into aircraft and single handedly completing half the mission underlines the need to make aircraft more challenging to fly IMHO. Having the 'inability' to flare whilst flying the Blackfoot lone wolf doesn't stop this lame gaming tactic.

I have a friend who's a bit of an Arma addict. He'll play for hours on end. He's like myself older and has been playing games since the very early release of computer games. But what strikes me is his ability to exploit Arma's AI. The AI in Arma has come on leaps and bounds, but being able to board a Blackfoot and single handedly wipe out the AI whilst evading all the AI's AA (low altitude flying) kind of exposes a huge weakness in the game. Isn't it about time aircraft in Arma are made more realistic - making the weapons systems more challenging to operate?

The fact scripts have been written to restrict players from hopping into aircraft and single handedly completing half the mission underlines the need to make aircraft more challenging to fly IMHO. Having the 'inability' to flare whilst flying the Blackfoot lone wolf doesn't stop this lame gaming tactic.

I believe mission makers will now have the ability to force realistic flight model to be used which should make things a bit more challenging but yeah, a lot more complexity would be nice.

I believe mission makers will now have the ability to force realistic flight model to be used which should make things a bit more challenging but yeah, a lot more complexity would be nice.

Yeah, the custom server he plays recently made those changes but he said he soon adapted :/ He's literally racked up hundreds of kills with no deaths. Other players have asked him how he survives if he cannot flare, but it's the low altitude flying that allows him to survive. The fact he won't even go near Franze's and NoUnit's AH-64 when playing my custom made mission sums it up.

Make it so that Ai can only be cargo in your mission ?

Eg not gunners or pilots.

Asr_ai3...

I find it hard to believe that he just "adapted to it quickly." First of all, it's practically impossible to do without at least a HOTAS setup like the x55. I use rudder pedals and a joystick and it's still by far not easy. Armored vehicles like the MSE-3 Marid or BTR-K Kamysh have autocannons that can cause severe damage to even the most armored of helicopters.

Perhaps your missions are too easy? What type of missions are they? If the enemy consists mainly of large groups of infantry then it will be very easy for him to get many kills. Missions that are built to be done by infantry (so mostly infantry targets) will be too easy for a helicopter to be used; it will become a killing spree for the helicopter and become boring for the infantry.

A mission that includes aircraft as heavy as the AH-99 Blackfoot should have large amounts of enemy armor which can kill the helicopter. There should be at least several ZSU-39 Tigris AAA vehicles, as well as a fair number of T-100s, MSE-3s, and BTR-Ks.

Don't forget static AA launchers. Hide them in areas with lots of overhead cover and it becomes a nightmare for the Blackfoot to locate or evade them, even with the magic radar.

I find it hard to believe that he just "adapted to it quickly." First of all, it's practically impossible to do without at least a HOTAS setup like the x55. I use rudder pedals and a joystick and it's still by far not easy. Armored vehicles like the MSE-3 Marid or BTR-K Kamysh have autocannons that can cause severe damage to even the most armored of helicopters.

A mission that includes aircraft as heavy as the AH-99 Blackfoot should have large amounts of enemy armor which can kill the helicopter. There should be at least several ZSU-39 Tigris AAA vehicles, as well as a fair number of T-100s, MSE-3s, and BTR-Ks.

This assumes you get your helicopter within close range of the ground vehicles, which is not needed at all. The current air to ground radar has a much larger range than the ground to air radar of AAA vehicles (not even getting started on the need to get in visual range for the other vehicles.). It is very easy at the moment to fly your gunship, keep at least 3km between yourself and any threat so they will not engage you and simply picking them off with ATGM as your range is 5+km (partly depended on view distance.) Only ground AA units which do not appear on radar (infantry and statics) currently are a serious threat.

DAGR lock-on-and-fire-at-red-dots range is 5km for a 1-hit kill.

AI only lock on with AA at 1km, and can only hold a lock out to 3km once they attain it within the 1km.

If you sit 3-5km from vehicle target you can engage them with impunity and they will not fight back.

I find it hard to believe that he just "adapted to it quickly." First of all, it's practically impossible to do without at least a HOTAS setup like the x55. I use rudder pedals and a joystick and it's still by far not easy. Armored vehicles like the MSE-3 Marid or BTR-K Kamysh have autocannons that can cause severe damage to even the most armored of helicopters.

Perhaps your missions are too easy? What type of missions are they? If the enemy consists mainly of large groups of infantry then it will be very easy for him to get many kills. Missions that are built to be done by infantry (so mostly infantry targets) will be too easy for a helicopter to be used; it will become a killing spree for the helicopter and become boring for the infantry.

A mission that includes aircraft as heavy as the AH-99 Blackfoot should have large amounts of enemy armor which can kill the helicopter. There should be at least several ZSU-39 Tigris AAA vehicles, as well as a fair number of T-100s, MSE-3s, and BTR-Ks.

Not to mention AH-99 has tiny 20mm cannon which is little more than a sidearm. Have to get within AA range to use it. I think this post is misguided. Whenever I put AH-99 into a scenario, opposing vehicles are close to nil to ensure few cheap 5km kills. It is a fair and fun helicopter at anti-infantry, but overpowered scenario-killer against vehicles.

As Kerel1 said, the only effective threat to AH-99 is small AA Teams spread around a very large area, since they dont show up on the magic radar.