History Channel – Battle of Britain

Will do 🙂

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Not sure what the problem is. If I were you though I would not try to sign up for Battle of Britain, but Warbirds 2004 instead (basicaly the same program but with more players) I’ll dig out an email address for Tim Metcalfe (the game’s producer). He would be the best person to sort out this kind of thing.

Looking forward to seeing you in the virtual skies, make sure you post back with your in game callsign. I go by ‘-rix–‘.

ok, try this email address [email]tmetcalfe@ient.com[/email]

Paul – been trying to sign up for Battle of Britain, but every time I type in my info and press continue, I get the same sign-up screen every time. Any ideas why? :confused:

The more I read, the more I wanna try it out once I get broadband…..! 🙂

Yes, it generally does pretty well lag wise, you hardly ever notice a problem. I live in the States now and therefore I get a very fast connection to the server (which is located in North Carolina). Before I moved here though I was on dialup from the UK and even then it was not a big problem. Give it a try.. download the Warbirds 2004 client for free (basically the same game as History Channel BoB) and sign up for the two week trial. The address is www.totalsims.com

Incidently, I believe that Tascali (sp?) started a European server for Warbirds 2 and 3. I don’t know the details though on that.

Also out of interest,does the game suffer from lag or stutters when online.I fly once a week with a squad in H/Lobby with F/B AEP and some weeks the lag is terrible and others no problem at all.
I know there are many variables,the host computer,connections,mission types affecting memory and we do have people from all over Europe and Canada and Australia flying as well so it’s not a simple yes/no black and white answer,but if the History channel game is primarily an online multi player game i wonder if it fares any better,Ta.

Comparing the two based on graphics is a waste of time and frankly misses the point. IL2 FB looks beautiful but was designed mainly as an offline sim, with some multiplayer playability.

Warbirds was designed from the ground up as a multi-player sim. It has dedicated servers run by iEN for a persistant game world. Warbirds arenas can hold many more players than an IL2 FB game session can. For me the fact that what I do in the Warbirds arena has an effect on the game environment for everyone else makes it so uch more immersive. If I blow up a bridge, capture or close an enemy airfield, then log out, those targets still effect the other players until the rebuild requirements have been met (usually a time limit which could be several hours). I bought IL2 and IL2FB when they came out and I was amazed at the detailed graphics, but they are both gathering dust on the shelf here in my office. I have been playing Warbirds in its various versions since 1999. I fly at least a couple of hours a week, usually more. How many games have you played that keep you coming back for 5 years?

Yeah, but for a few quid, it pleases me! (And it doesn’t freeze on me like CFS used to! :))

AHHHH,Someones flattened London completely,no commuters,WOW

How does it compare with il2 forgotten battles and playing online eitherr via ubi or hyperlobby?

Compare to Il-2? It doesnt even compare to Rowans BoB.

Check out this screenshot of the London Docks. Youll notice Big Ben jutting out of the skyline in the background.

And a close up of Big Ben.

How does it compare with il2 forgotten battles and playing online eitherr via ubi or hyperlobby?

Acquired Wings of War at the weekend – max fun! 🙂

Sounds good, Paul! I’m looking for a fix of virtual reality dogfighting since I gave up on AirAttack! 🙂

History Channel’s Battle of Britain is basically a repackaged version of Warbirds III (now known as Warbirds 2004). iEN designed a new terrain and a number of offline missions for this version. If you had fun with it offline you should try it online (can’t remember if the BoB program gives direct access to the main Warbirds arenas). If not then you can download the client software for free. They also have a free 2 weeks trial period so you can give it a try. Be warned though, the arenas are very competitive, and there are some excellent virtual pilots cruising around looking for targets.

The basic arena play consists of trying to capture the opposing side’s airfields, towns and cities. The arena is spilt into the Axis and Allied sides which gives the opportunity for historical matchups (although sometimes this does not work as all theatres are usually represented in the arena at the same time). There is a rolling plane set in place during the 2 week “tour of duty”. They basically reduce the 6 year war into the 14 day tour of duty, so day 1 you get to fly Spitfire Mk1’s against Bf109E’s, and by day 14 the late war aircraft are available.

There are also several organized scenarios most weeks which are very immersive. There is nothing like escorting a squadron of bombers to their target, knowing that real people are flying those B17’s or 24’s. Likewise, it makes you quite nervous as an Axis pilot setting up to attack a tight formation of bombers, knowing that their escort is looking for you and even if you do get through the fighter screen, the tight formation has plenty of guns trained on you… but you have to press through to prevent them getting to their target……..phew!

The website is at www.totalsims.com I think. I have played Warbirds for going on 5 years now. It is a lot of fun, especially if you get in with a virtual squadron. The guys I fly with all use Teamspeak for voice comms which adds a lot to the experience. Give it a whirl.

I rather fancy a WW1 sim as I mostly have WW2 stuff (I’ve got Flying Corps and Red Baron 3D already)

Ive got it, its ok, but the graphics are very simplistic. I would definately opt for Rowans BoB as that has much better graphics. There is another sim called Dogfight: Battle of the Pacifac which also has simple graphics, but better quality artistically. It has the advantage of being able to fly bombing missions in a divebomber. One thing it has in common with History Channel BoB is that you have a target redicule in front of the enemy aircraft showing you where to lead your shots. There is also a WW1 sim called Wings of War again with simple but high quality graphics. The flight physics are really bad to the point of being very arcadeish, but its still nice for anyone who likes WW1 planes.