[Klaustrophobia]

i don't think i've ever missed a secondary objective.  rarely miss a bonus either.  but then again, i play on easy mostly  

i'm not sure i would go BACK to get a secondary, but there's really no point in NOT going for it, since i can't think of a time when doing so would cost you anything.

[Kolgena]

There's that one mission where you start off fighting Pegasi and later have to kill the Moloch and/or keep the Hecate above 50% hull (can't remember exactly). It actually gets pretty hard on lower difficulties because the Hecates beams don't do enough to kill the Moloch.

[Klaustrophobia]

was that a secondary objective?  yeah, i only ever killed that thing the first time playing through.  i think the hecate got a lucky shot off that disabled it so it stayed in the field of fire for the primary beam long enough to die.  one time i time compressed and let it have it after the hecate jumped with primaries and tempests.  spent a good 10 minutes only to discover the lovely little cap flag.    (DIE cap flag!)

[General Battuta]

You can still kill it with EMP missiles! (Or at least you could in 3.6.9, did that on co-op with Rian.)

[Kolgena]

I don't use EMP missiles, though now I realize that the huge tag could come in handy.

I'm almost always Perseus, double PromS, harpoon/tempest for that mission.

[Droid803]

It doesn't have a huge tag.
Its something to do with Shockwaves bypassing that damage reduction thing, IIRC.

But yeah, its a pretty big flub. If you disable the Tiamat, then you can't finish the mission (since it requires it to either be destroyed or departed)...
Actually, I don't think ever considered the possibility of that happening seeing as someone Saved Capella^TM that way.

[Klaustrophobia]

It doesn't have a huge tag.
Its something to do with Shockwaves bypassing that damage reduction thing, IIRC.

But yeah, its a pretty big flub. If you disable the Tiamat, then you can't finish the mission (since it requires it to either be destroyed or departed)...
Actually, I don't think ever considered the possibility of that happening seeing as someone Saved Capella^TM that way.

i don't think it held me back for jumping out with it still alive.  it's been a long time since that though.

[Droid803]

Well, there's an incomplete directive, and command doesn't tell you to go back to base.
Therefore, I didn't try it cause command is known for executing people for simply assuming its ok.

[Cobaltred]

As a fellow n00b, I just wanted to post and let Stormy Fairweather know that I felt his pain.  I play with a stick, and boy did I suck a few weeks ago.  Now I'm calmly dodging missiles with afterburners and chaff, switching secondaries depending on my target and its range, constantly adjusting my ETS depending on the situation, and smoking a lot of Shivans in the process.  Still have a long ways to go, but I'm getting a lot better and the immersion of playing with a stick is worth it to me.

I do have one question.  I'm currently playing through FS2 on hard and I'm pretty early on (about to do the mission where you first enter a nebula).  I'm beating the missions but enjoying the difficulty, and I'm racking up kills but I find that on this difficulty my wingmen are getting SMOKED by the AI (last 2 missions they've all died by the time I finished).  Is there something I'm doing wrong or is this normal for Hard difficulty?

[Kolgena]

That's pretty normal for Hard, if you don't give your wingmen fairly regular commands. Focus fire does wonders to keep your fleetz alive. Otherwise, you'll find that everyone tends to go off on 1v1's, leaving your wingmen to be haplessly chased around until they're dead.

Oh, and wingmen are generally too stupid to realize that charging without any coordination into AAA/flak to dogfight other fighters is a bad idea. Another reason you need to manage them.

Also, keep at the ETS transfer. It makes you fly much more efficiently if you're not wasting any of it on things that don't atm need recharging. Even if the benefits of micromanaging ETS is negligible, it still makes you feel much more badass, sorta like how racing in standard instead of automatic feels.

[Dragon]

FS AI is known for being pathetic in combat and since you're often outnumbered, they die.
Nothing to worry about if you're good, just don't get too attached to them.  

[Kolgena]

They all share the same handful of voice actors/head anis, so it's okay even if you do get attached to them

[Cobaltred]

Thanks for the advice.  I'll work on the wingmen commands.  Is there any way to set up a macro or something so hitting a key automatically tells, for example, Beta wing to attack my target without having to navigate the communications menu (a little annoying when I'm in the middle of a dogfight).  I know you can assign "attack my target" to a key, but then you still need to specify the ship/wing after, which really makes it no more efficient than the standard communications menu.

[Scotty]

It's easy to memorize the keypress sequence for commands.

C-3-9 for all engage.
C-3-1 for all attack one target.
C-2-<Wing>-1 for <Wing> to attack target.
C-3-5 for all guard one target.
Etc., etc.

[Cobaltred]

It's easy to memorize the keypress sequence for commands.

C-3-9 for all engage.
C-3-1 for all attack one target.
C-2-<Wing>-1 for <Wing> to attack target.
C-3-5 for all guard one target.
Etc., etc.

Yeah I've memorized them, but that's still 3 or 4 button presses rather than 1.  Any FSO support for macros?

[Thaeris]

That sounds like something that having an external numberpad would be great for, the only question then is hardware support. And the latter is a matter for which FS could use some improvement.

[Kolgena]

It's easy to memorize the keypress sequence for commands.

C-3-9 for all engage.
C-3-1 for all attack one target.
C-2-<Wing>-1 for <Wing> to attack target.
C-3-5 for all guard one target.
Etc., etc.

Yeah I've memorized them, but that's still 3 or 4 button presses rather than 1.  Any FSO support for macros?

In the OEM version that I owned many many years ago, I think some of the function keys were bound to be "Attack my target", "Guard my target", or some of the more useful commands. Then again, the OEM version had tiny shrilling bb's as its beams if they were mounted on fighters (via cheats). Meant that aiming BFreds was a lot easier, since they were kinda like mini morning stars, and less like "omg can't see through beam". (MX-52 also fired in 24 missile swarms or something stupid, and that was single salvo)

Assuming the same functionality (for commands) was in retail at all, it should be in FSO as well. Did you look around the commands binding options?

[ssmit132]

Then again, the OEM version had tiny shrilling bb's as its beams if they were mounted on fighters (via cheats). Meant that aiming BFreds was a lot easier, since they were kinda like mini morning stars, and less like "omg can't see through beam".

I'm pretty sure Retail also had that. I may be wrong, though.

[S-99]

However, in a truly cruel twist of irony, I am absolutely terrible at this game. In the second mission of the first game you have to take out four groups of three ships, and an optional ace. 13 targets, I have three wingmen, and I didn't get more than one of the kills in ten attempts. I once had three assists. My accuracy was usually between 1-3% (yes I aim at the leading circle, just not very well), but my friendly fire accuracy with my missiles is MUCH higher, up to 26% once.

Playing the game with a joystick definitely increases the difficulty. Adjusting the sensitivity and the dead zone is only the small start of a long journey. The more you play the game with a joystick (whether be normal flight yoke or gamepad joystick), the better you'll get, but it'll take some time.

I started to play the game 9 years ago with a gamepad. After a month or two of playing the game off and on with a gamepad, i was sort of amazed that i was no longer having trouble going after shivans keeping my cross hairs pretty good on the leading aim circle and became an ace. Years of going in and out of gamepads, the best i can fall back on is mouse and keyboard (since i always have them). Now i lost all of my experience with playing the game with a joystick that i need to relearn from the start, because i can't fly for nothing with one right now. Don't stop using the joystick, and i need to start playing this game for real like you are.

It's easy to memorize the keypress sequence for commands.

C-3-9 for all engage.
C-3-1 for all attack one target.
C-2-<Wing>-1 for <Wing> to attack target.
C-3-5 for all guard one target.
Etc., etc.

Dont forget c-3-7 for all to form up on you. c-2-<wing>-7 for a specified wing to form up on you.

Thanks for the advice.  I'll work on the wingmen commands.  Is there any way to set up a macro or something so hitting a key automatically tells, for example, Beta wing to attack my target without having to navigate the communications menu (a little annoying when I'm in the middle of a dogfight).  I know you can assign "attack my target" to a key, but then you still need to specify the ship/wing after, which really makes it no more efficient than the standard communications menu.

c-2-<wing> commands are my new favorite. c-2-<beta wing>-9, c-2-<alpha wing>-7, c-2-<gamma wing>-5....blablabla (just an example) prioritize your mission objectives and wings under your command. A1 was never meant to do all of it, lets what can be rather stupid AI wing mates not fly around aimlessly like they can do at times (they can actually be quite handy), can get missions over with faster or just a lot cleaner, and more of your dudes can survive at the end of the mission with well done c-2-<wing> commands because all dudes under your command are doing something useful. Check out more c-2-<wing commands> when you have some time.

3 weeks ago i realized my usage of c-3 commands was a little high and is very sloppy wing management. Now when i play and lose significant portion of wings under my command, i feel bad because it was mostly my fault (new motivator for replaying a mission) for their demise (i like them surviving, and they're more handy when they are alive). I highly recommend checking out c-2-<wing> commands, because a lot of players (including myself except 3 weeks ago) and especially newbies use mostly c-3 commands all of the time and it makes the game less fun.

[Pred the Penguin]

I've always been using c-2 commands, but I don't think I'm really good with them, though they are very useful for intercept missions.
I manage to keep most of my wingmen alive on all except the hardest of missions. Then again... I play on normal, so difficulty is probably another reason I don't do too bad.