Flares for aircraft?

[Jownzorz]

There is nothing more I wanted in PS1 than to drop flares as I was being locked on by a VS/NC max (then of course hiding behind a mountain and the missles still kill me). Opinions? I feel its a necessary defense for aircraft to have. Obviously not something they could spam, long cool down to make sure they used it only when they REALLY need to.

[SgtMAD]

well seeing how none of the A/A in PS1 was heat seeking and I don't see anything about any of that in PS2 there is no reason to add flares.

what would work is chaff but modelling all that might be a huge pain in the ass

[Talek Krell]

I desperately wanted flares right up until I realized that I was just doing it wrong. No support for "get out of jail free" cards from me. You could probably massage the idea until it fits well, but I think they can build a perfectly workable game without it.

[Baron]

I like the idea of countermeasures for aircraft.

I believe that was the intention of the OP...flares may not "make sense" with the missile tracking technology, but you could launch a variety of other things like electronic, highly reflective shards, etc...

[Bags]

Use the terrain like a good pilot.

[Sirisian]

I'd prefer if these were like resource only upgrades among many choices. This goes with my "the only AA a tank should have is flak cannons like energy or normal versions that are identical". This allows you to easily say "I want to equip a flak disruptor" that when activated would early detonate flak. Then another for like flares for missiles (either conventional or energy based) that generate fake targets for the missiles. The missiles would destroy the flair when it hit it.

This opens up the option if you save up a lot you can upgrade a plane with a lot of features to make it more formidable. While another person would see "flak warning!" or "missile lock" and give up the person that saved up their resources and purchased those upgrades would have a slight advantage.

However, this has been mentioned a lot already that if SOE sells resources for money then such a system results in buying power. So it's important for SOE to set it up so that certain things can't be purchased or not sell resources for such a system to work.

[Traak]

How about deployable T-Rex's.

LOL, seriously, let's not overdo the planes.

[FIREk]

I'm pretty sure there won't be any fire-and-forget weapons in PS2. Most likely dumb-fire and wire/laser-guided only, like in BFBC2, to promote aim instead of press X to win. And similar across all empires, instead of the forced differences in PS1's AV weaponry.

[FastAndFree]

Originally Posted by Talek Krell

I desperately wanted flares right up until I realized that I was just doing it wrong. No support for "get out of jail free" cards from me. You could probably massage the idea until it fits well, but I think they can build a perfectly workable game without it.

And yet the afterburner is alredy pretty much a get out of jail card

[Talek Krell]

I consider the afterburner to be more of a "run like hell for a set duration" card. You could buy time, and maybe get to a safer place, but ultimately you still had to maneuver and use the terrain to get away.

[FastAndFree]

Originally Posted by Talek Krell

I consider the afterburner to be more of a "run like hell for a set duration" card. You could buy time, and maybe get to a safer place, but ultimately you still had to maneuver and use the terrain to get away.

Okay but consider this, afterburners basically makes you invulnerable to AA until your bar runs out. You have that much time to find some cover (works fine except against sparrow missiles. Ugh. I hate sparrow missiles)

Flares on the other hand would allow you/give you the chance to evade a single salvo of missiles. And would not help you get behind cover fast

Then again if you had both... Yeah AA wouldn't like that. Not one bit

[NewSith]

You know, the whole thing here depends on a point of view. In the sky they say "AA IS OP!", on the ground they say "BUFF THE AA!". So I shouldn't really suggest anything until we see beta (at least).

[DviddLeff]

I really want flares for aircraft; as long as they are weaker overall.

Although primarily I want them because they are damned cool:

[Tiberius]

They would be cool if done right. Most air kills are from direct fire anyway.

Each plane, depending on its size could have a certain amount you could reload at an air term.

[Talek Krell]

Originally Posted by FastAndFree

Okay but consider this, afterburners basically makes you invulnerable to AA until your bar runs out.

I want you to experiment with that theory while charging a burster MAX and tell me how it works out . Even with missiles you have to make sure they won't intercept you, although I admit I haven't been on the wrong end of a starfire very often.

I think we may have both missed an important point though. With an Afterburner you're choosing when to abandon whatever you're trying to do and run. With countermeasures you're just deciding when to hit the "be invincible" switch, which doesn't necessarily interrupt you.