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[Spinluck]

No, some are just far better at it than others.

I don't ever fly any of the aerial vehicles, cause I'm not good at it and don't care to learn it.

I rather focus on doing what I'm best at on any given team, flying ain't one of them.
Never feel like you have to do everything or be good at everything in BF, just do what you're best at and stick with it OP. There's nothing wrong with the controls.

 

[Lyonaz]

The controls are fine in BF3, yes it has a learning curve, but once you can actually pilot it decently it's great fun. The unlocks grind is just bullshit though.
Also gamepad for the jets and M&K for choppers. Hilarious when you forget the gamepad mapping in jets and eject instead of using flares.

 

[Metalmurphy]

What?

BF has like the perfect arcade type controls for air vehicles, both helicopters and jet planes.

BC1 was terrible though, BC2 was better, but still not as good as BF2 and BF3.

 

[Bsigg12]

He did it again..

Holy hell that's just ridiculous

 

[old manatee]

One of my favorite parts of the old PC Battlefield games was that every so often you would get in a chopper with someone and they would turn out to be ridiculously good at flying.

 

[aeolist]

i dunno they need to do something

the controls may be fine but the learning curve is enough that i just don't bother trying because the only way to do it is on a live server full of people who (probably rightly) think they should be getting a jet or chopper first

 

[PatDH]

Don't think there is an issue with the controls at all. What an odd thing to complain about.
Would you prefer if flying was made into a QTE or something? Not trying to sound like a dick but to me it just sounds like you had a go at flying, didn't do that good and now you want 'win' buttons.

In saying that I can definitely agree with it being a bit difficult first off since theres no flight training mode or something similar.

 

[Lyonaz]

i dunno they need to do something

the controls may be fine but the learning curve is enough that i just don't bother trying because the only way to do it is on a live server full of people who (probably rightly) think they should be getting a jet or chopper first

They should really just make a few flightschool servers, flying to rings and shit to make you learn the basics.

 

[Noisepurge]

They should really just make a few flightschool servers, flying to rings and shit to make you learn the basics.

a basic "weapons and vehicle training" singleplayer/coop level would be perfect for trying everything out on your own pace and with friends to try out funtactics and so on.

 

[TheMan]

took me FOREVER to get the hang of the helicopter controls in Bf3 (360), likely because it's hard to fly for more than a few minutes at a time without getting shot down. then, you have to wait for the damn copter to respawn and race against 15 other shitheads who want to fly the only gunship as well.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

The Arwings in Star Fox: Assault controlled just fine.

 

[MiniBossBattle]

a basic "weapons and vehicle training" singleplayer/coop level would be perfect for trying everything out on your own pace and with friends to try out funtactics and so on.

This 100%. It was hard enough to get people to do the co-op helicopter missions.

 

[akira28]

I like flying heli in the BF games. Jets in 3 sucked, but 2 was fun. The controls are not that simple so it feels like an accomplishment to get a good fight on, or to be useful to the team. Especially in the face of the ones who just get in and explode.

Joystick necessary, but good mouse/kb flyers are insane

 

[Woorloog]

They don't require much skill to handle but I'd say they require a certain amount of skill to actually be effective for any stretch of time since it's all about how you navigate the map and use it to your advantage. Not everyone can wrack up 30 kills in those things which my friend can do on a pretty regular basis.

It requires a different type of skill me thinks.

Basics are easy, mastering is hard. (It doesn't help the unlocks make a big difference...)
Again, Halo comparison, where mastering flying vehicles is easy, just getting used to controls is enough.

Understanding how-to-use and when-to-use are other skills, something that, frankly, seem to be almost innate, you either do or you don't. Seen people who are good fliers to fly into enemy AA because they lack map awareness, or shooting enemies far behind their lines, or some other crap. In Halo and Battlefield, and other games.

 

[Flambe]

Will second that a training area would be fantastic but I like that there are challenging controls, it makes it rewarding when you do well.

That said, BF:Vietnam was my jam, flying Hueys blasting 'Nowhere to Run' out of the loudspeakers while circle strafing poor fuckers on the ground below =]

 

[SapientWolf]

I like flying heli in the BF games. Jets in 3 sucked, but 2 was fun. The controls are not that simple so it feels like an accomplishment to get a good fight on, or to be useful to the team. Especially in the face of the ones who just get in and explode.

Joystick necessary, but good mouse/kb flyers are insane

Helicopters benefit from a stick with a throttle, but joysticks will handicap you in the jets, if anything.

 

[I H8 Memes]

Also Battlefield's controls allow for some insane stuff.

Even better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF1gjuS8cMo

 

[Xyber]

Flying helicopters with mouse and keyboard is the only way to go in BF3. I never really played the earlier BF games so I sucked at flying in those the few times I tried.

Here's a video I did, flying around and not helping the team just because it's fun to fly. You can hear the other chopper chasing me for a long time, never really doing anything against me. I also hated how that chopper controlled before they patched it to be the same as the US one, you could barely turn with it at slow speeds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkpVgJIX2Bc

Flying is really easy, people just

 

[Dash Kappei]

I've played like 1 hour of BF3 campaign, only the multiplayer component (and briefly, under 15 hours afaik) because the sp was really unbearable to me (and I even enjoyed the likes of COD:MW2 so I'm down for some sp stuff even if not amazing). I have no idea how to control jets/choppers, is there a chapter on the campaign which will teach me that? It sucks there's a big part of BF3 I won't ever experience (air combat) but every time I've tried I've ended up crashing with a bunch of teammates lol. Got the game on pc and ps3 but now play on ps3 only cause that's where I had Premium gifted to me, if that matters.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[JJD]

Do you really want everyone to be Maverick?

We just want to be like you Abu...

We just want to be like you...

Spoiler

COME BACK TO BF PS3 GAF DUDE! LOL!

 

[Prophet Steve]

Part is also so it feels more balanced. You usually have an advantage if you play well with them.

 

[Thug Waffle]

God forbid someone has to learn to control something...

Right? The controls are fine as-is. I love the learning curve and the control scheme is tried and true. People who play flight sims, for example, can generally hop on BF and fly a chopper like it's second nature to them.

 

[JJD]

You should have posted the video of the guy that did that same thing, except backwards while trying to dodge a lock.

There are some crazy amazing BF3 pilots!

 

[MormaPope]

I can fly helicopters and jets with ease in ARMA 2, getting into dogfights with a friend in ARMA 2 is insanely satisfying.

Battlefield 2 helicopter/jet controls on the other hand are based so much on weight proportion that not planning a flight path ahead of time means sloppy shooting and a quick death.

 

[FStop7]

Even better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF1gjuS8cMo

Riding shotgun with a skilled pilot on 64 player Noshahr is one of the highlights of any video game I've ever played.

 

[computers putin']

Battlefield heli controls are hard to get down but when you do it becomes second nature. I haven't played Battlefield in over a year but I could probably still pick up the game right now and dominate in a little bird, you just don't forget that "feel".

 

[ii Stryker]

I think its you OP. Not everyone can be a good aircraft pilot!

The world needs infantrymen, medics, and tank pilots too.

When I first pick up any BF game I take the time to practice in the aircraft first and foremost.

BF3 currently has the best controlling aircraft in any BF game

 

[OgTheClever]

Battlefield 3 has by far the best helicopter controls of any console game. It's so rewarding once you get the hang of it, plus just flying around as low as possible, under bridges and between buildings is really fun as well.

 

[Hulud]

Yep. Dumb down the controls for those who are unwilling to take the time to learn anything. That's totally not what's wrong with the majority of games today. Nope.

 

[abuC]

We just want to be like you Abu...

We just want to be like you...

Spoiler

COME BACK TO BF PS3 GAF DUDE! LOL!

Oi como vai voce meu amigo!


Been working on my Portuguese, I think I'll be joining PS4 GAF, I may return to PS3 GAF for The Last of Us.,

 

[OldAsUrSock]

What?

BF has like the perfect arcade type controls for air vehicles, both helicopters and jet planes.

BC1 was terrible though, BC2 was better, but still not as good as BF2 and BF3.

Battlefield controls for aircraft are only good with a gamepad.

 

[SatansReverence]

why have helicopters that flip over and crash ten feet off the ground?

Maybe someone should learn how to fly.

It took a little while but I can now fly Helis quite well and the adjustment from pad to M&K was no problem.

 

[VibratingDonkey]

Handling has gotten simpler since BF2, which I reckon is still the peak of helicopter handling in these games. Things got kind of bad in the Bad Companies. BF3 is somewhere inbetween the two. Helicopters in BF3 are like cars in Gran Turismo, can't roll or loop. They're less momentum-y than I remember BF2 choppers being too. If anything I think they should make the handling more advanced, AKA like BF2. Not because it's more difficult, but because it's more gratifying and fun.

Don't know why they initially went the route of having less simple aircraft handling, but I'm grateful for it. Arcade handling just feels like it'd remove more than it'd add and make things boring.

I know of one game like Battlefield that handled helis differently. In Joint Operations helicopters autohovered and you just pressed keys to go up down left right etc. They controlled like 3D elevators. It sucked.

Always feel people exaggerate the supposed difficulty of flying too. So it takes a couple of tries before you can reliably keep the thing in the air, whoopdedoo.

Lack of a practice mode has been a problem since always. It's utterly mystifying that DICE hasn't made a proper one. The closest they've gotten is probably the Dalian Plant bot match in BF2, and that was just an incidental throwaway thing. Bddrffffffffff...my ffffffffffffffffffffffffffff key gets stuck now. Probably squashed a bug or something. X(

 

[vixlar]

At first I thought BF3 heli controls were not good.. too difficult. I can't say I good on them now, but I feel rewarding when you do some maneuvers or epic kills.

I played some other games with helicopters, and now I can feel the difference. They are easier to drive, granted, but it doesn't feel good. Like there were no physics or you are grabbing the helicopter with your hand. And that's when I saw how great are the helicopters in BF3.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Helicopters are pretty easy in Battlefield even with the gamepad but jets are definitely no joke. The planes in the olden times BF like 1942/1932 are pretty easy to handle as well.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

I'll just leave this here..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBVyzUkeN2A&hd=1#t=03m16s

Dude kills a bunch of people by ramming into them with his plane wings along with assorted remote detonation shenanigans.

 

[RiverBed]

i dunno they need to do something

the controls may be fine but the learning curve is enough that i just don't bother trying because the only way to do it is on a live server full of people who (probably rightly) think they should be getting a jet or chopper first

pick an empty server from the bottom of the list and go nuts. it'll only say " waiting for x more players" on the top, but you can still do anything you want.

 

[CatPee]

Eh, their learning curve isn't too terribly tough. It's made even easier since flight controls are customizable on both consoles and PC, which ended up being the reason why I'm a total jet whore with ~11800 kills.

 

[squidyj]

When I first started playing desert combat I think I managed to get the helicopter 3 feet off the ground before crashing it.

 

[UnluckyKate]

a basic "weapons and vehicle training" singleplayer/coop level would be perfect for trying everything out on your own pace and with friends to try out funtactics and so on.

that was Singleplayer was here for I believe ?

 

[AlexBasch]

Eh, I let the knowledgeable guys to handle that shit whilst I'm the gunner or be on the lookout to repair them quickly. Only reason I have jet kills is because I play Air Superiority, six months later I have no fucking idea how to handle them planes. :c

 

[Sober]

I've played like 1 hour of BF3 campaign, only the multiplayer component (and briefly, under 15 hours afaik) because the sp was really unbearable to me (and I even enjoyed the likes of COD:MW2 so I'm down for some sp stuff even if not amazing). I have no idea how to control jets/choppers, is there a chapter on the campaign which will teach me that? It sucks there's a big part of BF3 I won't ever experience (air combat) but every time I've tried I've ended up crashing with a bunch of teammates lol. Got the game on pc and ps3 but now play on ps3 only cause that's where I had Premium gifted to me, if that matters.

Any advice is appreciated!

There is a co-op mission, I believe one of the first two available when you first start. It involves one person flying and the other being the gunner. It isn't a little bird like in the videos others have linked, more a of a regular attack chopper. Also as far as I can tell you can't pull off insane shit like you can with this so the gunner kinda does most of the heavy lifting.

I think the problem when I first tried to fly a chopper was not realizing there were roll controls, and having played more arcadey controls from other non-flight games, I did not realize how you'd actually work a chopper. Thrust is only up/down and you need to tilt the nose forward to get anywhere. Rolling is something you do small amounts of while you use yaw controls to get more out of it (this is probably how you do quick 360 turns for another pass), as if you go too far you'll probably spin out of control.

Surprisingly I use a controller with BF3 PC air vehicles, so I really should figure out the controls to kb/m to help with the aiming. You can switch to third person for vehicles to help pilot them but don't expect any aids to aiming. Literally all the HUD to aim, etc is first person.

Is this a magic chopper with no rotors?

Rotors have collision, which is why most new pilots try to get into one and immediately crash and burn. It might be a bit exaggerated because video games (I mean in BF3, jets can hit terrain/buildings at certain angles at full throttle and just bounce off it) but I've seen people pull crazy stuff like flying into those cramped tunnels on Damavand and such. I mean it's ridiculous but that's also proof of mastery right there.

 

[Limit]

The copters are fine but something needs to be done with Jets. Just going round and round chasing the opponent's jet until a friendly jet from either side comes along in order to end the stalemate isn't interesting. I wish more games adapted Warhawk style of controls with respect to Jet and its derivatives; easy to control, challenging to master, and a whole lot of fun throughout.

 

[whitehawk]

All this thread has done is make me really want to get into Battlefield multiplayer. I think I'll jump in on the PS4 with BF4.

 

[Sober]

The copters are fine but something needs to be done with Jets. Just going round and round chasing the opponent's jet until a friendly jet from either side comes along in order to end the stalemate isn't interesting. I wish more games adapted Warhawk style of controls with respect to Jet and its derivatives; easy to control, challenging to master, and a whole lot of fun throughout.

The problem seems to be if they don't dogfight, then you end up with a skygod destroying your ground forces instead, so the distraction, for the lack of a better term, is kinda necessary.

I mean jets aren't annoying and not impossible to take out but requires a bit more coordination from the ground, especially if you are lacking MAA or people refuse to switch to stingers/SOFLAMs, etc.

 

[gillFTR]

I think the helicopter controls in Battlefield 3 are really great. Bit of a learning curve, but not all that hard to get a hang of in my opinion. With mouse and keyboard, anyway. As long as you learn to keep the nose tilted down to move forward, you're good. Keep moving, spin around, and it's not too hard. Loving tearing up infantry as the little bird.

Jets, on the other hand, I am utterly abysmal at. I figure I need a stick or something, because I don't like the way they control with a mouse.

But to be honest, my biggest issue with any of the vehicles in Battlefield 3 is not how they control, but that DICE thought it would be totally rad idea to stick essential defense and attack capabilities behind grindy unlocks. I have no idea how nobody stood up during pre-production, or even testing, and said "This is a really, really, universally stupid idea".

This. I can't stand getting into any air vehicles. I just got off the ground and I'm already locked on so fucken stupid.

 

[GrizzNKev]

OP is mad because they're impatient. There are a zillion empty servers waiting for you to learn how to fly.

Once you can do it well, you'll be pulling off some acrobatic shit and wrecking the other team. It's really only as difficult as remembering the controls.

 

[Billen]

I am a sim fanatic, and my preferred vehicle is the heli. That being said, I never fly in bf3. Actually I haven't enjoyed bf helis since that Norway vs Sweden or early dc.

Also, the persons responsible for the unlocks....I don't even know where to begin. While controls are arkadey for my taste, the unlocks are just amazingly stupid.

Of course one can practise to perfect execution, but it's still shit.

Edit: clarification here; the heli is way too simplistic and feels like a toy

 

[Zeppelin]

Eh? The helicopter controls in BF are fucking great. Allows you to fly real aggressive. It takes some time to master, but let's face it, it's not that hard.

 

[Canis lupus]

They all have a learning curve so dont expect to be top gun and rule the skies without any training. I love the helicopters, I gave up on jets after hours of trying to master them and only ending up fucking up my k/d.