Air vehicle additions

Air vehicles are one of the more unique qualities of DayZ. I think we all agree you're not really getting anywhere unless you have a helicopter. Similarly, one of the more dynamic and effective actions taken on missions is close air support (CAS). Unfortunately, it seems that the server is pretty lacking in the air-to-ground attack category. Ideally, openning the entire aircraft library would be amazing, but I understand administrator hesitation. So, I have some vehicle suggestions that I would like added, all are dayz or overwatch. I personally find myself wanting to assist other players in need, and there really is no better way to do that quickly and effectively except from the air. You can be at any part of the map in minutes. With ground coordination, precise attacks can be delivered that can benefit ground troops, and the pilots get great satisfaction from it. I know I do.

Things that I think should be added easily:
AH-6J *with* rockets (The current AH-6J on our server only has M134s. The M134 equipped heli has to be flown slow to aim, making the fragile heli even more vulnerable.)
Cessna_armed (Think cessna with bazookas. There currently is no armed plane on the server to my knowledge other than camels, this could fill that gap.)
Mi-17_rockets (It's an armed Mi-17, but also boasts S-5 rocket pods. It has rockets and is fast like the Mi-24, but has almost no armor, so I feel like that balances itself out.)

Things that I would understand if admins were more reluctant, but I'd still love to see:
Mi-24 D/V/P (yes, the hind. Possibly the only true assault heli. It's cargo capacity and firepower is a great mix)
Su-25 or A-10 (again, no real armed aircraft on the server, the Su-25 is arguably the best one in dayZ, and the A-10 is not far behind.)

Price increases are foreseeable, but I'm not sure they'd be necessary. I already fly my Ka-52 gingerly, as even the attack helis can be brought down by a well-timed AA missile or M2 MG. It's not like a tank. The armor doesn't accompany the firepower. Aircraft are all offense, no defense, and that's why I don't think they'd be as overpowering as some might think. Please give this proposal consideration. I love flying and helping out, but the lack of suitable aircraft really has me, and I'm sure others, wishing for more.

Sincerely, a distraught pilot.

We will/are look/ing at adding some additional air vehicles, as requested, as it was already an "on the cards" thing we had discussed with the existing playerbase.

Though be aware that we don't run overwatch,  (we prefer not to force the player base to install additional mods to accommodate changes to the server) so chances are we won't see any overwatch vehicles coming in anytime soon, unless the entire server population agrees to the changes, while also being aware it will involved a complete wipe of the database.

The exclusion of overwatch was a decision to limit the militarization of the server, and therefore becoming like most other servers out there.. this is a way of remaining somewhat vanilla, without compromising on base building capabilities and vehicle ownership, and trying to accomodate those who want the epoch experience without all the overpowered overpoch options.


But yes, we are planning on adding additional air vehicles in the very near future.

thanks for the details knight. always appreciated

I look forward to it. Didn't realize overwatch wasn't on the server, I just have it downloaded since my old home ran overpoch.

I sorted through the lists, luckily everything I mentioned is not on overwatch. Found a great list here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lWBydnVASBoraeE77qIF2LngBI_msAspHNk0krPvCrU/edit#gid=0

GNT_C185T (cessna armed, Epoch)
Su25_CDF (or other version, Arma 2/OA)
AH6J_EP1_DZ (I can't remember if this is the one with rockets, but all 4 versions are not overwatch)
Mi171Sh_rockets_CZ_EP1 (OA)
Mi24_P (or other variants, Arma 2/OA)
Mi17_rockets_RU (similar to Mi-17 rockets, Arma 2)