Over Flanders Fields phase 2 released!

[Biggles]

Oi! everyone who plays CFS3 and OFF!! Make haste!

Phase 2 has been released!

I do not know what's in phase two, but my guess it's worth a look. anyone already played OFF phase 1 should know this......:up: This is surely the GWX of CFS3!

http://off.oldbrowndog.net/index.htm

[Sailor Steve]

That site gives a whole lot of updates, including the War starting in 1914!

Now CFS3 will get my money. If I can fly an Eindekker it may really be the new Red Baron!

[Egan]

Hope everyone has a really fat pipe: The whole shebang is just under 2 gig in size...:huh:

I'll give it a few days to calm down before trying to DL it my self.

[Biggles]

Hope everyone has a really fat pipe: The whole shebang is just under 2 gig in size...:huh:

I'll give it a few days to calm down before trying to DL it my self.

yeah know what you mean....would have taken me about 2 days when I tried to DL yestreday.....

[GlobalExplorer]

Dling .. I hope I can install it this time. In Phase 1 I could only get to see the new graphics trough opening a Quick Mission - but even then, what a difference!! It is really the best looking WWI sim atm, no comparison with stock CFS3, in fact almost as good as LOMAC.

The OFFManager does seem to make a lot of trouble, though. Hope it's improved this time.

[Tikigod]

Here is preview video of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC2vdKzLVmU

[GlobalExplorer]

I just found that in the FAQ:

2) "Mission File Failed To Load" Error:

"Most users who are experiencing this error are seemingly users who are using non English/US character sets i.e. European or Eastern Countries including Japan.

I suspect that this may temporarily solve this problem:

Select English Language : Navigate via Control Panel, Regional and Language Options and under Regional Options select English (United States) or English (United Kingdom) or English (South Africa).

We have no plans to internationalise OFF at this moment in time so if you are not prepared to change language then OFF will probably not work on your system.

Now that is ridiculous. These guys have spent two years making the best looking terrain, best looking skins ever for a WWI sim. But they are not able to change the two or three lines of code that it takes to change the default language. I also don't get why they constantly forget to include one or two runtime dll's that are required for the OFFManager.

Btw, I have no problem to change the default language, but I am afraid it won't work either. So far OFF always let me down.

I still think this is one of the greatest mods, but I am beginning to lose my patience. It's sad.

[Biggles]

I had problems too. I changed to english version. it helped me.

[GlobalExplorer]

Tips fomr somebody who learned how to install OFF the hard way:

- on their site they recommend getright and they know why .. Use it!

- Download all the VB runtime dll's and register them via regsvr32 as you probably need them anyway

- change the region to English

- stick to the default install folder "\CfsWw1 Over Flander Fiels" or whatever or it won't work

- dont run it on a drive that has less than 5-6 Gbyte free or you will end up with strange errors

Installing it sucked more than anything I remember. But yesterday I got it to run.

It is one of the best mods I have ever seen!! More on that later. If you liked GWX, get this one, it's feels like SHIII GWX in the air.

The Fokkers are better done than the Allied planes, don't now why that is ..

The scenery is the best I have ever seen at low altitude at least. I am not exaggerating.

Very happy with it!!!

GE

[TteFAboB]

I never managed to get past those errors with Phase I. Let's see if this time I can get it to work.

[MobyGrape]

If installing Off for the first time..read the part where you need to run cfs3 1 time to create files also!!

[SUBMAN1]

I am still waiting for a true Red Baron 3D replaacement. I miss that game - blowing up trains behind the lines!

-S

[GlobalExplorer]

I am still waiting for a true Red Baron 3D replaacement. I miss that game - blowing up trains behind the lines!

-S

Another RB2 veteran here. I don't think you will miss a thing with OFF .. if you only get to run it ;)

The feeling of flying a WW1 plane is unbelievable with this mod.

[SUBMAN1]

I am still waiting for a true Red Baron 3D replaacement. I miss that game - blowing up trains behind the lines!

-S
Another RB2 veteran here. I don't think you will miss a thing with OFF .. if you only get to run it ;)

The feeling of flying a WW1 plane is unbelievable with this mod.

Is it dynamic like RB3D? Is the world alive? Do you get new aircraft as the years tick on? More details please! I was never a fan of CFS3 (I did beta testing at MS on it), but you are starting to peak my interest.

-S

[MobyGrape]

Superb Key Features Phase2: OFF:TGA

...many of which have never been seen before in CFS3 or WW1 simulations.


1) Recreation of major battle still in progress

2) Persistent frontline damage to terrain and buildings/towns as the lines move.

3) A more immersive user interface with more features that make you feel even more involved.

4) More Diverse and Dynamic campaign engine with many more Squadrons including the Americans In French Squadrons all as historically accurate as possible. Campaign missions evolve and become more complex from early simple recon missions in 1914/15 to coordinated troop and gun emplacement strafing runs by the Germans 1918. The campaign engine is open database "driven" and hence is a very flexible architecture.

5) Revised Lighting and Clouds and Weather.

6) Real world haze effects

7) Micro squadron data management - squadron members tallies are collated, deaths and injuries to squad members are refreshed with new recruits.

8) Improved logging of "claims" to the home office.

9) Daily debriefs and other "squadron duties".

10) Airfields will change hands as the frontlines move.

11) Greatly expanded Aircraft complement to cover and represent the major participants in the air wars of WW1

12) Fully revised airfields with better texture details and improved blending methods for better integration into the environment.

13) Revised an greatly improved blending and variation of terrain textures

14) Fully revised and improved scenery object textures

15) Over 1 GB of researched authentic aircraft textures

And many many new features not listed here.
Link to website
http://www.overflandersfields.com/

[GlobalExplorer]

Well I have yet to play a career. So far I have spent the last evenings just taking off, testing the flight envelope of my fav. planes (DVIII / Nieuport 17 / Sopwith Pub), crashing a lot and doing landings. That it is already so much fun just practicing to fly is actually the greatest compliment I can make to a flight sim.

What I can also say is that the athmosphere is unparalleled. You might think that CFS3 was such a crappy looking sim, that installing this mod will be like pouring vanilla souce over rotten fish. Don't! If you install OFF, you will be playing one of the best, most rewarding flightsims. You might not believe it now, but if you should get to play it you will say GE was right ;)

Graphic and sound in OFF is excellent. There is nothing like the sputter of you're engine in a high G-turn or when you change the mixture. Up to 3000 feet, the landscape looks perfect - even if you run it on medium settings (like me). Higher than that, it could be better, but it's still ok. One thing I really like is that there is no popping up of ground objects like in IL2 or map limits like in LOMAC, things which killed the immersion for me in those sims.

Is it dynamic like RB3D? Is the world alive? Do you get new aircraft as the years tick on? More details please! I was never a fan of CFS3 (I did beta testing at MS on it), but you are starting to peak my interest.

It seems that, because CFS3 was so unfinished, we never noticed it's campaign system was excellent, and the OFF team has made it perfect. There is always something going on on the ground. At times you see artillery shells exploding along the front, or trucks or artillery observers in a balloon. You hear cows and churchbells. Very nice ..

Progression and career development is made throught the OFFManager, a very ambitious, but somewhat crappy VB application. It is this very program that is creating so much problems. But once you get it to work, it will work ok. And it has all features you would expect from it. Some things I don't understand, for instance why you will die when you crash in a quick mission. The OFFManager is required as mission generator and career manager, and while it is not a good piece of software (imo), it is something that you will learn to use.

My recommendation is: get OFF, and don't give up. You might go through hell before it runs, but it is well worth it.

I also recommend starting with the Fokker DVII as the creators seem to be huge Fokker fanbois - the quality of everything around this plane exceeds the others by at least 100%.

Btw, I feel confident enough now to say I know how why it wouldn't install in the first place so maybe I can be of help.

GE

P.S. To play it, it will be perfectly enough if you download Part I (~800MB):
http://www.overflandersfields.com/OFFP2/OverFlandersFieldsPhase2ReleaseV1.0.exe
I just post that because the documentation, like always, is lacking and creates the impression you need the skins and videos, too. When in fact you can download them later, if you like the mod.

[Egan]

Off work today and probably tomorrow with the dreaded Lurgy so I decided just to go and DL it. My God, what a difference using Getright for the download makes to the speed. I was getting 19 wotsits a sec on my 2mb BB earlier this afternoon, now I'm getting a rock solid 235. I should probably let the vast and malevolent evil known as British Telecom sign me up for their 8mb service.....

Good stuff. I'll Dl the skins pack whilst I watch the footie. :up: I wish the video pack wasn't vital. Btw, exactly how many patches are there for it already? looks to be about 5 so far. No superpatch yet I guess.

Getting myself gee'd up to do an AAR I think. Haven't done one for ages. Looking forward to getting back in the old Camel and strolling over Hunland.

[Onkel Neal]

Oh man, I have to get this going. I bought CFS3 last summer after watching the movie Flyboys, just for OFF. I installed CFS3 and played it a bit to try it out before switching to OFF. I downloaded OFF, made a donation…. And got so darn busy with the Submarine Almanac I have not had time to install OFF and play it! Waah! And now I have to play this certain subsim, so it will be another two months before I can try OFF. :cry:

I need a clone.

[NeonSamurai]

Or 2 pc's side by side (or one pc with a dual core and 2 monitors) :D

[SUBMAN1]

Off work today and probably tomorrow with the dreaded Lurgy so I decided just to go and DL it. My God, what a difference using Getright for the download makes to the speed. I was getting 19 wotsits a sec on my 2mb BB earlier this afternoon, now I'm getting a rock solid 235. I should probably let the vast and malevolent evil known as British Telecom sign me up for their 8mb service.....

Good stuff. I'll Dl the skins pack whilst I watch the footie. :up: I wish the video pack wasn't vital. Btw, exactly how many patches are there for it already? looks to be about 5 so far. No superpatch yet I guess.

Getting myself gee'd up to do an AAR I think. Haven't done one for ages. Looking forward to getting back in the old Camel and strolling over Hunland.

Getright is not my favorite - I like DL Express. Its a free plugin to Firefox and IE - http://www.metaproducts.com/mp/mpProducts_Detail.asp?id=18 - It also supports multiple threads so someone restricting your DL BW can effectively be circumvented and all your max DL capabilities can be used. The other advantage to multiple threads is that it kinda makes you artificially act as multiple people giving you DL priority over the next guy. Too bad for him, good for you.

Squid has done this kind of stuff for ages, but DL Express is neat and compact and a plugin!

-S

[Egan]

Thanks for the link. I'll give it a try. I don't usually use Getright either. I only installed it because the OFF devs kept suggesting it for DLing the mod with.

Well, it almost all here. Doing everything I can to 'enhance' my sickness so I can bum around at home tomorrow instead of going to work.:D

[MobyGrape]

Good Luck Egan..Claim a headache:damn:
:rotfl:

[Egan]

Install went very smoothly. Kicked up the campaign manager and initialiesd it without a problem. Very slick, very nice. Manually advanced the campaign a few days and looked at the duty roster - 'so and so missing presumed dead. so and so KIA, Crash site spotted. So and so on leave.' don't know how much functionality these things have in the actual meat and bones but very immersive never the less.

I don't seem to be able to play the videos, though. probably some codec issue or other. Must have a look-see and get it figured out.

Haven't been able to fly a mission yet for the simple reason that I can't find the CFS3 disk (I installed over phase one.) Must be around somewhere. Bit disapointed to see the Snipe isn't in the game yet - I know it only got used in limited numbers towards the end of the war but I've always had a soft spot for it and was looking forward to giving it a spin.

[Biggles]

grrr....feel the irony.....I started this thread, and I haven't played phase 2 yet.....why? 'Cause my computer is on repairs for the moment.....

but one of the things I loved in phase 1 was the "comfirmed kills system". It really is a thing that I have waited for to see in many years, and a freeware is giving it to me! Now my kill-numbers won't get up in 200 because noone was around to see it! and that's the way it has to be! I trust it's still that way in phase 2?

[Egan]

Very impressed. runs like a dream for me with no probs whatsoever. I had the graphic settings all set to 4/5 (except aircraft detail which is supposed to be set to 5) and it was ok but slightly low framerate for my taste so I bumped the secenry detail down to 3 and now it flys along. haven't been over the front yet but i expect a bit of slow down when I get there. On the whole, though, it seems to be better optimized than Phase 1. Got the vids running as well.

I have to say, this is how you make a sim. A lot of commercial devs should be sitting up and taking notes. The terrain is the best I have seen in a combat flight sim. Stunning, in fact. The towns look like towns, roads seem to lead places etc.

I was looking for an excuse to buy a new graphics card and monitor - this looks like it.

Biggles: as far as I know it is even more difficult to get confirmation of a kill from the home office now. Thats a feature I really like as well. I once got three Albs on a patrol but only got confirm for one.....

[MobyGrape]

Egan 3slider in OFF is equal to 5slider in CFS3..5 is for the future:rock:

[Egan]

Took up a Bristol Scout to patrol over the lines on a fine march morning. Got jumped by at least a dozen EIII's. i was actually moving in on another EIII some distance below me and the Huns came - yep - out of the sun. I'm playing with Tr4 and no labels. Lol, I really should look around more.

The couple of deaths I've had so far have been horrible - spiralling wingless towards the ground, fading in and out of conciousness. Very graphic and very unpleasant.

I'm going to start another patrol with an Eindekker Jasta I think just for a change. Don't usually like the German crates but it should be a lot of fun in the early days.

[Biggles]

Took up a Bristol Scout to patrol over the lines on a fine march morning. Got jumped by at least a dozen EIII's. i was actually moving in on another EIII some distance below me and the Huns came - yep - out of the sun.



Oh yeah! I love how the enemy set traps like this! (or well....love and love...but it's cool.)

I want to tell you some advices for you pilots out there who can play this....I read alot of the Biggles books, so I picked up some stuff from there (he flew in WW1 ye know)....

Never dive after a lonely aircraft.
Always....ALWAYS!!!!!!!! scan the sky for planes.
Don't get yourself in more than you can take: 3 to 5 fight:Acceptable. 3 to 12: DIVE AND DIVE FAST!!!!! (crash dive if you wish:rotfl: )

I know it's only a game, but belive me! This mod is really interesting! I remember once when I dived for 2 Albatros planes about 3000 meters below me, and suddenly a flight of 12 Albatros came diving out of a cloud! I got freaking scared! And I never get scared in computer games!

[Egan]

Good advice.

Most importantly, If you have to climb to meet them you have probably already lost. Get as high as you can and stay there. The Historical aces in phase two will kill you if you make the slghtest mistake.

Biggles, you are right: it is a scary game, the dogfights are about as intense as any I have fought in a sim. It makes Il2 look positively pedestrian. The bad guys get on your tail so quick its amazing.

My Sopwith Pup career is going well with three claims (none confirmed yet.) the last one was a Halb I i spotted slinking low ablove the trees back to his lines just after dawn one day. Tailed him for about twenty minutes and dived. I don't know what I did right but he went down with the second burst, his rear gunner never even got a hit on me...:|\\

[GlobalExplorer]

I have never had that much fun with a flight sim since RB and RB2 .. the airfights and ground activity are intense, I cannot see a weakness except some things about the OFFMan.

Hearing and witnessing the artillery barrages on the front gives me the creeps. The feeling of flying over an ongoing ground war is incredibly well done, better than anything I have seen.

Has anybody found how I can reduce the number of missions per day? I found 3 a bit too much on a regular basis.

Of course, I have been tinkering again and made some little modifications, like changing the engine sound of the Nieuport 17, or making my Pfalz III ready to carry 4 Lewis 25lb bombs ..

On medium difficulty, I am actually not having too much trouble scoring aerials - though surviving several patrols is a different story - near the front you are always 1 second away from death. My biggest problem so far is modair collisions. Does anybody know if they can be turned off?

Is it just me or are the new planes in phase2 really looking that much better? I am finding planes like the Camel, SE5A, Albatros not very impressive when compare with the new entrants like Fokker EIII, DVII, Pfalz III, Sopwith Pup and Nieuport 17.

GE

[Egan]

Has anybody found how I can reduce the number of missions per day? I found 3 a bit too much on a regular basis.
I go to the workshop and switch the campaign advance button to manual so I only fly the missions I want to .


Is it just me or are the new planes in phase2 really looking that much better? I am finding planes like the Camel, SE5A, Albatros not very impressive when compare with the new entrants like Fokker EIII, DVII, Pfalz III, Sopwith Pup and Nieuport 17.GE
The Camel is still the king as far as I'm concerned. Never liked the Albatri so I can't really comment on them. The Pup I like and the DH2 is fun. Haven't had the time to fly the Noops or the Pfalz yet. I really don't like the E111 but that is down to personal taste more than any problems with it.

There are still a lot of Aircraft to come, I think. Hopefully we will get the Morane(Sp?) makes, the BrisFit and (Please, please, please,) the Dolphin and Snipe.

One of the things I'm enjoying is the sound of other peoples guns in the distance during a Dogfight. Very evocative.

I have a question actually. How do I view an enemy anircraft? I know you have to lock it up but I can't seem to remember how to do it. F4 takes me to player/target view but I don't know how to switch to the bad guy.

Thats one thing IL2 has - a great view system. I'd love it in CFS3.

[Biggles]

There is so much I don't know about phase 2 yet..... so I have some questions:

1.Historical aces? Does that mean that you may meet real fighter aces from the war, and if it's true, do they have authentic "skins" on their aircrafts?

2.Someone mentioned the Bristol Fighter. Historically, that one had a gunner behind the pilot. Is this so in this mod, and if yes, may you take that position?

3.Which new planes have been added?

4.Any big offensives as they promised? Like the battle of Somme,Verdun,Ypres(the 3 of the battles of Ypres?). And if yes, how does the player get some information about it?

The best plane from phase one was, if you ask me, the S.E 5. Superb aircraft! Fast, deadly, and could take a real beating. I never got to play the german campaign.....the mod would always break down then, and I had to reinstall it....

[GlobalExplorer]

[I go to the workshop and switch the campaign advance button to manual so I only fly the missions I want to .
Thanks will try .. sounds like what I was looking for.

The Camel is still the king as far as I'm concerned. Never liked the Albatri so I can't really comment on them. The Pup I like and the DH2 is fun. Haven't had the time to fly the Noops or the Pfalz yet. I really don't like the E111 but that is down to personal taste more than any problems with it.

Wasnt it that in real life, too, that the allied pilots found (to their embarassment) that the EIII was inferior to their planes in most respects, and the only tiny thing that set it apart was the syncronized machine gun?

I love the Pfalz, mostly for the shark like looks of it, and its a sturdy, well balanced plane without weaknesses. Have shot down several SE5As and Camels with it. The Neuport 17 and Sopwith Pup are my fav allied planes, as they seem to be a real joy to fly. Those planes can do incredibly turns on the palm of a hand. You only have to do a half roll and use full rudder to turn around instantly. I also like the option to add LePrieur Rockets to give them some nice firepower, albeit it may be a bit on the unrealistic side.

For eveyone who thinks about downloading this mod heres a link to some nice screenshots:

http://www.overflandersfields.com/Screenshots/index.html

[Egan]

There is so much I don't know about phase 2 yet..... so I have some questions:

1.Historical aces? Does that mean that you may meet real fighter aces from the war, and if it's true, do they have authentic "skins" on their aircrafts?

Yes and yes. Not all the Aces are it in yet from what I gather but many are.


2.Someone mentioned the Bristol Fighter. Historically, that one had a gunner behind the pilot. Is this so in this mod, and if yes, may you take that position?

Not in it yet, although the Bristol scout with its silly side mounted gun is there. The rear gunner positions are possible in the RE8 and the Halb so I'm guessing ti will be possible in the BrisFit when they release one.


3.Which new planes have been added?

Quite a few. Off the top of my head: the Pup, a whole bunch of Noops, the Bris scout and the DH2 for the allies. Eindekker, the Pfalz and a whole bunch of others for the Germans. Can't remember them all.


4.Any big offensives as they promised? Like the battle of Somme,Verdun,Ypres(the 3 of the battles of Ypres?). And if yes, how does the player get some information about it?

Apparently so, although I haven't played a campaign enough to notice this yet. The front lines move as the war goes on, or so I've heard. Newspapers pop up in the camapign now and again if anything historically interesting happens.


Wasnt it that in real life, too, that the allied pilots found (to their embarassment) that the EIII was inferior to their planes in most respects, and the only tiny thing that set it apart was the syncronized machine gun?


Yeah, it was the gun on the Eindekker that made the difference. I was just reading last night about how quickly the Germans copied the idea from the French: French kite with new gun gets shot down and the pilot didn't get a chance to destroy it. 24 hours later it was being taken apart in a workshop. Two weeks later it was being sent out to front line units - now that is fast!

[Sailor Steve]

The 'French guy' was Roland Garros. He was flying a Morane-Saulnier 'L' parasol, with no interrupter gear but metal deflector plates to keep bullets from hurting the propellor. He wasn't shot down, but suffered a mechanical failure.

Anthony Fokker knew of existing patents from 1913, but he was the first to make it work properly.

[NeonSamurai]

Yep only problem with that design was it had a tendancy to hammer the propeller off, i belive thats exactly what happened when he went down

[GlobalExplorer]

Still a beautifully simple solution for the problem isn't it?

[NeonSamurai]

Ya if you like your bullets getting deflected all over the place ;)

[GlobalExplorer]

I read somewhere gun on the Morane had a synchronization mechanism, but it was far from perfect - hence the need for armor on the propellor blades. so it might not have been as radical as it seems.

[Egan]

Was it not A Morane that Garros was flying when the Germans got their hands on it?

Heck of a career I've got just going just now boys. Flying a DII over Flanders at the start of Bloody April - 5 confirmed kills in five flights so far. The best one was against a pair of Noops at 8000 feet. It was beautiful; heavy cloud and Archie barking merrily away. I hit the Frenchie with a quick blast and he started to smoke as he roared off. I turned after him, lined him up and before I got another shot off he just exploded right in front of me. I though it had to be Archie but I got the credit for it. It was cool, a delay of about twenty seconds before he torched.

I checked my stats afterwards. I hit him with 5 rounds! 5! Sometimes I've pumped every round I had into a crate only to watch it get away.

I had a terrifying fight right over the trenches as well in heavy rain against a bunch of Sopwith Tripes. I can well understand the high regard the German pilots held those RNAS squadrons in now. Wow, those things are difficult to get a bead on. They twist and turn like nothing else out there especially comapred to some of the other craft the Allies are flying at the time like the DH2. I ended up ditching in a field on my side of the lines...

[MobyGrape]

Sopwith trip is my main ride
http://www.aviation-history.com/sopwith/triplane.html

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/4915/tripst1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Sailor Steve]

Was it not A Morane that Garros was flying when the Germans got their hands on it?
Yes. I mentioned earlier that it was a Morane 'L' parasol.

I like your story. Now that you can fly from the beginning of the war I'm planning on getting it as soon as I can.

[GlobalExplorer]

I am having problems to stick with any campaign.. there is always something I dont like (plane, skins flying time, opposition). So far I had the best missions with Jasta 22, starting with PfalzIII in 11/1917, and I could score 4 aerials in three missions. I also flew some missions with an AlbIII in early 1917 but I am having problems getting comfortable with any version of the Albs because of the inferior skins and the structural problems of the airframe. I also found the Nieuport 17 to be a very hard opponent because I cannot get behind them, but thats of course realistic.

Does anybody know why the suadron data is scrambled? I would like to make some changes to plane availability but it seems OFF team wont let me ..

[Biggles]

Wow, everyone should start posting their "OFF stories" here. It would be awsome to see what people live through over no-mans-land, since it's not a scripted game.

[Egan]

Was it not A Morane that Garros was flying when the Germans got their hands on it? Yes. I mentioned earlier that it was a Morane 'L' parasol.

I like your story. Now that you can fly from the beginning of the war I'm planning on getting it as soon as I can.
I knew I read it somewhere..:p

My career goes on. A couple of washouts without the Allies even being sighted but that is life I suppose.One scary lone wolf mission above Arras as well against 4 Noop 17s; got one of them but his mate shot me up so badly I had to cut my losses and run. Just made it back to base and no more. My claims are up to 7 now and I got awarded the iron Cross and promoted to OberLeuntant. On the downside my Wingman is missing in action....

I was never keen on the Albs before but I seem to have been doing well enough in the D2.

GlobalExplorer: I don't know anything about the Squadron data. I know that they intend all of this sort of thing to be modable at some point but perhaps they are just not comfortable with that yet seeing as there will be far, far more stuff added in Phase 3 when that arrives. As for the skins, I like them well enough myself but perhaps - if your computer can handle it - you should activate the 2048 x 2048 Hi-res skins and try them out. You can do this through the cfs config you will find in the OFF folder.

I think the secret to the Albs is to ease off against more nimble opponents and get a height advantage whenever you can. Noop 17s will outturn you all day if they can and it is very difficult to keep up with them unless you pull right back on the throttle and wait it out. a tactic I've been trying with them is to hang just above and hit them when the are on the Apex of a climb before they pull away to the side. I think most of my kills in this campaign are Noops of various sorts. The problems really begin when one of them gets on your tail...not much to do except splitarse around the sky and hope....:D

Biggles; I'm still going to do an AAR at some point. I've got a few screenies I need to get around to posting as well.

That is one of the things I really like about this game, though; stories do emerge that are different for everyone.

[Biggles]

From my experience with phase 1, I have noted that (just as the real war) you often meet the same kind of enemies over the same part of the front, mostly because they have certain squadrons placed along the front....I wonder if that's something they've looked up....where a certain squadron is deployed? I've met Jasta 11 (Richthofens Cirkus) near Amiens some times.....it was near Amiens that the Red baron got killed.....

[GlobalExplorer]

From my experience with phase 1, I have noted that (just as the real war) you often meet the same kind of enemies over the same part of the front, mostly because they have certain squadrons placed along the front....I wonder if that's something they've looked up....where a certain squadron is deployed? I've met Jasta 11 (Richthofens Cirkus) near Amiens some times.....it was near Amiens that the Red baron got killed.....

For sure. The OFFManager uses a lot of historic squadron data - though it could always be improved of course. I think it is not that far from RB2 as to its underlying dynamic campaign, and ingame everything is much better.

[Egan]

The OFF guys keep hinting at what is going to be in phase three. I think the start of big offensives is going to have a huge bearing on squadron activities at last. New aircraft as well (natch,) WindingMan was commenting on the EIV that will be coming, plus the Parasols and other missing aircraft. Doesn't look like there are plans for the Snipe which is a shame but I'll be happy enough trying the Dolphin.

Anyways, ObLt. Carl Neumann met his end over Arras in mid April 1917...:cry: He got too low on a ballon busting mission and took a fair bit of damage from Archie. As he struggled back towards the German lines he was jumped by a pair of Sopwith Pups who made short work of his shot-up bus.

10 claims, 7 confirmed and an Iron Cross holder.

[Biggles]

Least we forgot.....

I just love the feeling of war you get in OFF....to play DiD is way more exiting with this kill-claim system and the dynamic campaign.

[Tikigod]

are there observation balloons or zepplins included with this mod?

[GlobalExplorer]

Yes they are included. In Phase one you could even fly a Zepellin, dont know why that was removed - or was it?

[Egan]

I think they removed the Zeps and the Home defence campaign. I think the reasoning was that they didn't work right and they wanted to concentrate on getting more important things going ok first.

[Biggles]

Well balloons are there...and you'd better stay off them or you're bloody dead!:dead: Balloonbusting was one of the most dangerous things a pilot could do in WW1.....

[GlobalExplorer]

New article on simhq.com (lots of screenshots):

http://www.simhq.com/_air10/air_295a.html

[HunterICX]

I have downloaded it,
installed it and tried it out for a bit


and I love it!

damn, its a whole different story getting in a dogfight....you have to know the plane very well for what its capable off:up:

its a job nice done!

[Egan]

Phase three will be payware apparently. I'm happy enough to buy it, to be honest, there are sims i've bought at full price and haven't enjoyed anywhere near as much ( nor have they been as good or professionally done ,) and given how much you can pay for single aircraft, campaigns or new terrain for other sims I'm sure it will be an absloute bargain.

[danlisa]

For anyone who is interested in OFF, Dowly has added a section to his forum for discussions & vids/pictures.

Please visit & say hi.:up:OFF Forum (http://thegreywolves.proboards55.com/index.cgi)

[Biggles]

Will do Danny m'boy!:up:

[Onkel Neal]

Ok, time at last. I'm downloading all the patches and skins, etc and I'm going to get my wings.

[Biggles]

Yay! I got it too not too long ago, and my GOD is it a good mod! Little annoyed that I can't seem to fly in 1915 yet but...it's great otherwise!

[GlobalExplorer]

Phase three will be payware apparently. I'm happy enough to buy it, to be honest, there are sims i've bought at full price and haven't enjoyed anywhere near as much ( nor have they been as good or professionally done ,) and given how much you can pay for single aircraft, campaigns or new terrain for other sims I'm sure it will be an absloute bargain.

I think not - they had planned that for phase two already, but if OBD soft`s intention has been to earn money with OFF, they should have never made the decision to use CFS3. I am not saying the quality of their work is not good, in fact it`s excellent, but the decision for CFS3 is made and imo it precludes any commercial plans.

Dont develop a killer mod and base it on a five year old flightsim that was really not very good, or you will fail, at least if you want to sell your mod.

Just my 2 cents.

[Biggles]

I actually think that one of the reasons that OFF is so great is that it's built on the CFS3 engine. Little (noteable) script in game, makes the dogfights more exiting. 'Cause in CFS3, you never knew what would happen and the same goes for OFF.

Had a dogfight today, me in my Sopwith Pup and my two wingmen against 10+ Albatros fighters near Cambrai, looked really bad for a while, until a group of Nieuport 17 from a RNAS showed up, and evened things up quite a bit. Scratched two germans, then I had to make a landing on a field 'cause my plane was almost shot to pieces. I survived another flight though, and I better thank those RNAS lads someday:D