Over Flanders Fields

[rabu]

Nice shots, Catfish

[Stealth Hunter]

Here's another video of "Der Rote Baron":

[Catfish]

Hello

a new major patch, and two small ones: 1st small for "hard" damage model, the other for "normal". Can be applied either after the main patch (version 1.30). Can be dl'd here:

http://www.overflandersfields.com/Downloads.htm

When testing the new patch i got my pilot instantly killed by a flight of Nieuport 16s from .

While the AI was already vicious, if not close to the ground (more trying to avoid trees than my bullets), it is now as mean as it is at high altitudes. The nupes staid glued to my tail even at treetop level. I am looking forward to any mission without enemy contact, must be getting old ... i AM old ? well ..

Greetings,
Catfish

[Stealth Hunter]

My neighbor was gracious enough to loan me P3 for a week. I'm going to try it out for you guys, and post my thoughts (and some screenshots).

[Stealth Hunter]

I'm finished with it for the next day or so. I'm not impressed so far. Installed CFS3 and the 3.1 patch, installed OFF and the 1.30 patch, started a career, went to fly, got an error. Some file, "configOverrides.XML", not found in my Documents and Settings route. Dropped back to the main menu. I found the file, put it back in the Documents and Settings route, tried to start a mission, got dropped back to the main menu for no ****ing reason.

So far, the stability issues are exactly the same as P2's (I had these exact same problems way back when). The OFF Manager has not been fixed in terms of errors and stability (it's changed the order around a bit and added the multiplayer feature). I'm also not going to fight with it right now because I could be playing Full Canvas Jacket right now. I am really not impressed with their design scheme, at all.

[Catfish]

Hello,
well i do not think i can change your mind from hating OFF , but at least here i guess i know what's wrong - you did not configure the CFS3 config executable to adapt OFF P3 to your PC. Aprt from the sliders there are also the custom settings in the config.exe to adapt (this vertex buffers etc. check boxes).
Since there are now dual and quad processors, 32 and 64 bit XPs and 32 and 64 bit Vista versions, as well as nvidia and ati cards with differing Ram, some basic settings are vital for the sim to work.

The proc. should at least be a 2Ghz one (dual processors have to be both 2 GHz), and 2 Gb of Ram would be fine. You also need a decent fast graphic card with at least 512 Mb, and to see Flanders fields in full glory with ALL config sliders maxed out at 5 there is currently no rig that would be able to do it. OFF has nothing to do with CFS3 graphic- and performance-wise.
Then after an install it has to inititialize once, but it should work automatically.
Didi you use the CFS3 CD version, or the DVD version ? Because with the CD-version CFS3 must be installed (or so i think) and at least run once (start a mission and that's it) to set up directories before installing OFF - not necessary with the DVD version.

There is a readme in the main install folder, usually being in the C:\OBDsoftware\OverFlandersFields, or maybe C:\programs\OBD ... directory. Name is "OFF P3 Read Me 281008" as txt, doc and rtf. Then there is Polovski's FAQ page, the OFF home page and the forums at SimHQ, Combatace.com etc..

I have installed OFF one time without any error, and the installation routine has been reported by almost all users to be straightforward and without any problems this time - apart from the things listed i don't know what's going on there

Have fun!
Catfish

[Cameljockey]

It's pretty obvious SH, that you have never flown any version of OFF (or it's been so long that you forgot) because if you had, you'd know about the config requirement. So all BS aside, I'll overlook your bashing ways and assist you in getting BH&H up and running. Then after you get your a$$ shot off a few times by the awesome AI you'll understand what all of the fuss is about. The AI in RB (and consequently in FCJ also) wouldn't make a pimple on these guys butt! I know from experience.
When you start OFF Manager, click on "Workshops". Click the box that says "Graphics Config" and wait.
When you see the message "CFS3 has been configured", click "File", "Custom Settings", "OK".
Click "Window" and you'll see the graphics sliders. If I knew your system specs I could more accurately advise on settings for the sliders, but since I don't, just set them low to start and then you can bump them up until you are comfortable with the graphics quality and framerates. The top slider "Overall Graphics Quality" really has no effect in OFF. With my rig I have the settings as follows:
Aircraft Detail-5
Terrain Detail- 4
Scenery Detail-4
Effects Quality-5
Cloud Quality-1 (no discernable difference from 1-5 so to save fps I keep it on 1)

Click "Window", "Overrides".
The settings for Nvidia and ATI based cards are different. I don't know your specs so I'll post the Nvidia settings. I have the ATI settings if you need them.
Nvidia settings:
Deselect "Dual Pass Render"
Select "Disable Intro Movie", "High Resolution Z Buffer", "Terrain Detail Texture", "Disable Validate Device", "Disable Write Only Vertex Buffers", and "Disable Write Only Index Buffers"
Click "Window", "Texture Info".
Composite Aircraft Texture Pool- Managed
Composite Aircraft Texture Usage-Render Target
Composite Terrain Texture Pool-Managed
Composite Terrain Texture Usage-Render Target
Click "OK", "File", and then "Exit"
Don't use the red "X" to exit because you're settings won't stick!
You should now be able to fly. Be sure and go to "Workshops" and set up the sim to your liking. If you need any further assistance, feel free to pm me here or at Combat Ace. Have fun!

CJ

[iambecomelife]

To the OFF players here, do the latest versions fix the problem with burning planes not crashing? Red Baron 3d always depicted crewmembers leaping out when their craft caught fire, so it was annoying to play OFF and see burning aircraft fighting as though there was nothing wrong.

[Cameljockey]

The flying flamers are history. Since it's release, OFF BH&H has undergone some drastic changes due to the numerous patches released to fix or improve things that players pointed out. The AI is about as close as you'll get to fighting against humans. They use teamwork and real tactics, not the climb and stall that was so prevalent in Phase 2. I've been flying sims for years and consider myself a pretty good sim pilot, but the AI in OFF BH&H have handed me my head on a platter on numerous occasions. The good thing is that almost everything is scalable and you can customize the game to fit your likes and abilities.
CJ

[Stealth Hunter]

Originally Posted by Catfish

Hello,
well i do not think i can change your mind from hating OFF ,

The second it starts working, I'll start hating it less.

Originally Posted by Catfish

but at least here i guess i know what's wrong - you did not configure the CFS3 config executable to adapt OFF P3 to your PC.

Did that already. Right after I installed it, I clicked the OFF Manager file and the game booted up and the CFS3 Configuration menu came up. I set everything to three, since that's what I played P2 on.

Originally Posted by Catfish

Aprt from the sliders there are also the custom settings in the config.exe to adapt (this vertex buffers etc. check boxes).

I didn't see anything about the vertex boxes under the Custom Settings option, just the resolution you wanted to play on and how many antialiasing units you wanted to use (I chose 8).

Originally Posted by Catfish

Since there are now dual and quad processors, 32 and 64 bit XPs and 32 and 64 bit Vista versions, as well as nvidia and ati cards with differing Ram, some basic settings are vital for the sim to work.

Well I was able to use P2 with no problems way back when... then I started getting these exact same "file missing" and "invalid file" errors.

Originally Posted by Catfish

The proc. should at least be a 2Ghz one (dual processors have to be both 2 GHz), and 2 Gb of Ram would be fine. You also need a decent fast graphic card with at least 512 Mb, and to see Flanders fields in full glory with ALL config sliders maxed out at 5 there is currently no rig that would be able to do it. OFF has nothing to do with CFS3 graphic- and performance-wise.

My current processor is a 2.4 GHz AMD 64 Athlon X2 Processor +4200 rated at 6.30 GHz according to System Requirements Lab.COM. It's not the problem. I've also got two (now) Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS cards with 256 MB each acting as a single GPU. It can run other games such as Call of Duty World at War and Microsoft Flight Simulator X with no problem (WaW on high to medium-high settings to average off at 60 FPS; FSX on very high settings to average off at around 80-100 FPS).

Additionally, my computer has plenty of memory and free space to be used for applications.

Originally Posted by Catfish

Then after an install it has to inititialize once, but it should work automatically.

Well it made it to the main menu, but not into the actual game. I have no idea. A reinstall will probably and hopefully resolve the issue (I'm placing my money on it now). I tried the new patch to see if it would make any difference but to no avail.

Originally Posted by Catfish

Didi you use the CFS3 CD version, or the DVD version ?

CD version. I had the install find the main files (that it said were required) from the CFS3 files installed on my computer, not from the CD.

Originally Posted by Catfish

Because with the CD-version CFS3 must be installed (or so i think)

Yeah. The back of the jewel case says you have to have the base game installed first before you insert the OFF CD and commence the installation process.

Originally Posted by Catfish

and at least run once (start a mission and that's it) to set up directories before installing OFF - not necessary with the DVD version.

I did that too. Hell I even did the old P2 thing with flying the P47s before installing the mod.

Originally Posted by Catfish

There is a readme in the main install folder, usually being in the C:\OBDsoftware\OverFlandersFields, or maybe C:\programs\OBD ... directory. Name is "OFF P3 Read Me 281008" as txt, doc and rtf. Then there is Polovski's FAQ page, the OFF home page and the forums at SimHQ, Combatace.com etc..

I tried Polovski's website, but the page I got was for P2. I assume it will still work for P3. First, I'm going to try a reinstall to see if that fixes all the problems I've been encountering.

Originally Posted by Catfish

I have installed OFF one time without any error, and the installation routine has been reported by almost all users to be straightforward and without any problems this time - apart from the things listed i don't know what's going on there

We shall find out soon enough.

[Cameljockey]

originally posted by Stealth Hunter
I've also got two (now) Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS cards with 256 MB each acting as a single GPU

Actually SH, you don't meet the recommended requirements for graphics memory. 256Mb is not much graphics memory for OFF. You might need to drop your Terrain and Scenery sliders to 2 if you want decent fps.

CJ

[Stealth Hunter]

That's 256 MB per card. Together, they act as a 512 MB card.

And the game runs fine now on high settings (turned clouds down to one and everything else up to 4, except effects and aircraft detail which I put on 5). I left RADAR on and turned increased activity on the front up to give you guys an idea of what the game can be. Screenshots will be up in a minute or two. Photobucket is being slow on me ATM.

[Cameljockey]

Actually, SH, you're wrong. When running SLI with 2 256Mb cards, you only have 256Mb of usable memory. You can run two cards with different amounts of memory using Coolbits, but the usable memory will be the lesser of the two. If you don't believe me, go to SLI Zone and ask.

CJ

[Stealth Hunter]

Well it still runs on high... so...

[Cameljockey]

What kind of fps are you getting with that rig on high settings?

CJ