B-17: The Mighty Eighth

[Gargamel]

Anybody else play this game? I just dug it up from my folder of old games, and reinstalling it. Anybody know of any mods, patches, etc for it?

[Gargamel]

Woohoo...

http://www.bombs-away.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=df76b2e02fb88e60518b57ffb518aae9

[smithcorp]

Great game and one that, in my view, deserves classic status. I'm still playing it from time to time on Vista 32 (it looks quite good on a modern system) and the flak sounds are excellent.

Neat sim and I'm glad bombs-away is still there as a resource.

[Gargamel]

I'm running into the same issues I had when I first bought the game.... flying the stupid thing... the controls are not intuitive. Although, I remember learning the Nordon bombsight to be very easy and intuitive. Easy enough that I thought if the real thing was similar, I would be able to run one.

[AVGWarhawk]

What I remember most about the flight aspect was the aircraft would slowly decend if you had one engine out. I would make it to the channel and eventually have to ditch.

Any of the mods on the site link above worth looking into?

[Gargamel]

From what I've been reading, and I haven't played with the mods yet though, is that it creates a true flight sim for the B17. The physics may not be there, they probably sue the same flight-engine, but apparently they modeled the hell out of the 4 plane engines. As in you need to tweak oil pressures and inter-coolers levels during flight.

Seems very much like a GWX type situation occurred. They even released it as the 2.0 patch.

I' have been busy with other things, But I'm going to dive into that one shortly.

[Fish40]

I'm thinking about reinstalling this classic on my new rig. I checked out the Bombs Away site, but can't seem to find a way to register. I have some questions I'd like to ask over there, but can't if I'm not registred:wah:

[Valantine]

The forums went down about 12-18 months ago, when they finally came back online the forums have limited functionality, they'd lost their layout, graphics etc.

It doesn't help that it's a very old and dying board over there with the site owner Darren being seen only sporadically since 2006.

I presume they closed registrations due to the amount of spam they started to get back in Dec 2010 / January 2011.

The best bet if you wanted to fire up this old thing is to visit Doc's mod page:

http://www.angelfire.com/fl5/bombardier/help_links.htm

As for discussing things with people you'll be hard pressed since it is rarely posted in anymore and has an active membership that only just scrapes into double digits now. Which is a shame as it was once a very bustling and popular site.
V

[Fish40]

Thanks Valantine. It is a shame that the site drifted away like that. I did manage to visit Doc's Modpage:yep:. Lots of good stuff there! I already D/L some stuff, plus the OMF Mod Utility (Hope I could get that thing to work:hmmm:). We'll see how it goes.

[Valantine]

The manual for the OMF was pretty comprehensive, the downlaod for that shoudl be over at Doc's site somewhere too.
I'd love to help you out more but it's been a long time since I last messed about with the mighty eighth, I occasionally get nostalgic and want to fire it up again then I think of what it would look like now compared to more modern titles and think better of it.
If I may ask, what is it that is drawing you to B17:TME? There are other options for certain attractions although for some others there are not.
V

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

I still have this game and still play it now and then, it was my second combat flight sim that I bought(the first happend to be Red Baron 3D:D). The things that I liked about the game was the fact that you could pick what squadron to fly in, what bomber you be assigned to, and what part of the crew you would be.

Normally I would alway be the bombadier of the lead bomber so I could pick the targets, bomb loads, ect. Other things that I liked about the game where things such as crew management, raido chatter between the bomber crew members and to other bombers in the group, the ablity to switch postions with-in the bomber(both physiclly and just clicking on a crew member to play as them while still in the mission), gun jamming, running out of ammo, giving basic medial treatment to a wounded crew member, the list goes on and on.

I think my best and worst memory that I gave of this game was during a fighter attack my rear gunner was badly wounded so-much-so that basic medical treatment was ineffective so I had to spend 4-5 hours in real time listening to a dying crewmen moaning and groaning in the back of my B-17. I couldn't play the game for a week afterwards becasue of this.

[Fish40]

Yes, the game could get very immersive like that! I guess the main reason I would like to reinstall it is because to my knowlege it is the only true bomber sim around. I also have IL2 1946 with the U.P. mod installed, and have D/L some player developed bomber campaigns to make use of the flyable B17 and B24, and they're good, but these are after thoughts. The game wasn't developed to be a bomber sim. Yes, the graphics are dated (I don't think they're that bad) when compared to newer programs, especially COD. I also play BOB2WOV. Those are dated graphics as well, but those guys have done wonders with that sim. From mid to high altitudes, (that's where you're fighting anyway) the landscape looks great IMO. For offline campaign playing this sim can't be beat for it's representation of the massive air battles over England in 1940.

[Valantine]

I have to say, I do agree with you both there. I was just intrigued that all :yeah:

I found myself going back to it quite a bit a few years back for the very same reasons: more the crew and Squadron management stuff than the actual flying of it, it's something that has been sorely lacking in flight sims of late.

I know it's a bit of a plug but here it goes:

At JG53 we have recently started up a bomber section flying the JU88 in an Online CO-OP campaign and to be frank, we need some bomber pilots to flesh it out as at present we only have a couple of chaps flying the bombers, normally flying in the lead aircraft with two AI "ketten" mates since the AI doa better job when led by a human pilot, however with limited numbers in our bomber section our bomber streams tend to be quite small strategic affairs at present.
Whilst not in the same vein as B17:TME we do have a squadron structure, medals and awards and each pilots statistics are fully tracked throughout the war. So please, have a poke around the website: www.iijg53.com (http://www.iijg53.com) and consider if that's something that appeals to you.

Now, plug over and back onto B17:

Over on Doc's site there are a few graphical tweaks, there was another website by GT that was more focused on this area but I can't seem to find it at the moment it was possibly on geocities if so it would be lost. However if you can find it there was an attempt to improve the graphics substantially.

The other thing I;d say is grab the Hex editor as a LOT of the files can be tweaked and editted with that giving you a little mroe control over how exactly you want thigns to perform.
V

[Dowly]

Here's wishing for someone to make a proper successor to the B-17 series. :up:

(no, not you Ubi, go away :stare:)

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

Here's wishing for someone to make a proper successor to the B-17 series. :up:

(no, not you Ubi, go away :stare:)
It would be amazing if someone did a re-vamp of B-17 The Mighty Eighth, maybe the same company that made BOBII:WoV?:hmmm::D

[Valantine]

There was talk years ago of Shockwave doing the third installment of B17 after they bought the B172 source code in early 2005, I believe they even got as far as getting an alpha engine together before it was put on indefinate hold to concentrate on other projects.
V

[FIREWALL]

Read this review from Amazon

This review is from: B-17 FLYING FORTRESS - THE MIGHTY 8TH (Video Game)
I have Windows 7. When I placed the CD in my computer, it downloaded a Whitney Houson album. Enough said. :har: :haha::rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2:

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

There was talk years ago of Shockwave doing the third installment of B17 after they bought the B172 source code in early 2005, I believe they even got as far as getting an alpha engine together before it was put on indefinate hold to concentrate on other projects.
V
It would be great if Shockwave re-started this "forgotten" project, but considering how well they did with BOBII in respects to stratgey and air-to-air comabt,a third B-17 game should be right up their alley.

[Dowly]

I could well see Shockwave and BDG doing this as a joint-project. :hmmm: :yep:

[Dowly]

GOG.com has a digital copy of B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th for $5.99 :up:
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/b_17_flying_fortress_the_mighty_8th

[oscar19681]

It would be great if Shockwave re-started this "forgotten" project, but considering how well they did with BOBII in respects to stratgey and air-to-air comabt,a third B-17 game should be right up their alley.

I asked shockwave/ a2a simulations to redo a b-17 migthy eight game and they said they wanted to do it but they did not know when , I asked them 2 years later and they game me the exact same awnser and the community seems to be only interested in a non combat b-17 version for FSX which is very good but the b-17 still remains a combat aircraft ! But i dont understand why other company,s that still make good WWII combat flight sims dont make a b-17 flight sim. It seems that when its not the Pacific theatre , or the russian front it seems to always orient around the battle of britain. If they do base it on the later europian air war they alway totally ignore the b-17 or the b-17 it presented arcadish or is unplayable. Its time to another good -b-17 sim now , its been well over 12 years since someone had done it. I still play b-17 the mighty eight because it still fun to do and it features virtual crew managment that adds something that other flight sims just dont add. But to be honoust the game is really starting to show its age , i would really love to see a modern version of b-17 II with the virtial crew managment included offcourse.

[GSpector]

Other than FSX, I think B-17 TME was the only Sim I stuck with for many many months. The Crew Management was the best, especially when you flew a full campaign with 12 Bombers. That was 120 Crewmen to keep track of. I think it took me almost as long to fly the mission as it did to update all the Crewmen records that I was keeping. :yeah:

It is about time that it be remade and to remain as close to B-17: TME as possible. Basically, just update the graphics and fix the problem with Promotions and I'd buy it again.

Is there any way this site could start a campaign to petition Shockwave (Or someone capable up updateing it), to do this project? :yep:

[GSpector]

As for Bombs-Away, that is sad news but since Hasbro took B-17 and then Infrgrames (now Atari), decided to shelve this title, it was only a matter of time for the site. :cry:

I loved visiting that site daily, much like this site, just to see what's new. In fact, to show my support to that site, I was asked to create the Award Ribbons that were being earned on that site. I even designed a patch but never new if they were ever made.

[Taff in Exile]

Hello,

I realise I'm dragging this topic up from the depths but I've recently starting playing this game again and have used the AngelFire links to get a number of the mods etc.

The one thing I'm missing and have been searching for an age is the Olive drab skin. Does anyone still have this tucked away on their HDD or know where to find it as 80% of sites/links are now sadly dead.

Here's hoping.:yeah:

Cheers

Taff

[smithcorp]

I will have a search in my archive Taff. I still play it (and love your YT videos).

[Red October1984]

I'm also interested in the mods for this game. I got it this summer and played the crap out of it. Love it....went looking for mods and it seemed that they were all dead.

I'd like to be in the loop on this one. :woot:

[Aktungbby]

Hello,Cheers Taff

Welcome aboard on your first post TAFF IN EXILE!:Kaleun_Salute:

[Jimbuna]

Hello,

I realise I'm dragging this topic up from the depths but I've recently starting playing this game again and have used the AngelFire links to get a number of the mods etc.

The one thing I'm missing and have been searching for an age is the Olive drab skin. Does anyone still have this tucked away on their HDD or know where to find it as 80% of sites/links are now sadly dead.

Here's hoping.:yeah:

Cheers

Taff

Welcome to SubSim :sunny:

[smithcorp]

Hello,

I realise I'm dragging this topic up from the depths but I've recently starting playing this game again and have used the AngelFire links to get a number of the mods etc.

The one thing I'm missing and have been searching for an age is the Olive drab skin. Does anyone still have this tucked away on their HDD or know where to find it as 80% of sites/links are now sadly dead.

Here's hoping.:yeah:

Cheers

Taff

I collected together a few OD skins, plus a weathered aluminium skin, for anyone who wants them. They can be downloaded from here:

http://www.smithcorp.com.au/files/b172skins.zip

cheers

smith

[Taff in Exile]

Thankyou for the warm welcome and thanks for the links :-)
Always nice to freshen up these great old games :-)

[Deranged]

I'm glad to see such a huge support for this game! I downloaded it off of GOG.com, and have been playing ever since. Such in-depth! I started looking into mods for this game, and Google brought me here. However, it would appear that some, if not most of the links provided are discontinued sources. Would love to see if anyone has anything still available.

I think one of the trickiest part of this game is trying to hit the targets. I don't know if I'm just lacking in the skills department as a bombardier or what, but most my crew dies in plane vs plane crashes, or worse, two dead pilots. I was reading here about a Campaign, but have yet to find one. I've done the single aircraft mode and the multiple air craft mode, but those just seem like selectable missions. If those are the campaign modes, I need more practice then. I can get about three in (all "Complete Misses" of course) and then I'm just outta luck with any good crewmen left.

Anyways, I'm rambling on. Love the game, love these type of games, hope to check out more like it.

[Aktungbby]

Deranged!:Kaleun_Salute:

[CCIP]

Welcome! :up:

Is the bombs-away site still around? I do remember downloading a few things via there recently.

As far as collisions and crashes, after flying what's probably a few dozen missions, I did the math to keep track of losses etc. and I realized that on average your chance of dying in a mission was a lot higher than in real life, and that the enemy fighter AI was unfortunately not that smart at avoiding crashes and often not good enough to be a threat, except as a kamikaze of sorts. I also found that flak is more deadly than it should be.

So as a compromise, I found that the most "realistic" if you want accurate results would be to turn plane collisions OFF (as much as that sometimes creates silly planes bouncing across the sky), turn the flak accuracy down to low or medium at most, and set enemy AI fighter difficulty to highest. With that, I found the game a lot more enjoyable and challenging and turning out with much more historical mission results. You always have 18 B-17s flying in that box formation in campaign missions (6 from your squadron, 12 from two others in your wing), and in the long term the average should be no more than 2 bombers lost per mission. If you're constantly losing much more than that, it's not really realistic.

As for bomb sighting, practice practice practice! The bombsight is actually extremely accurate, probably even more so than it was in real life. Numbers are important, but really the important thing is just to make little adjustments by feel as you're approaching the target and keep making them so that the target is as stable as you can get it in the sight, all the way till release. And remember the goal is not laser accuracy, you just need to be close enough. With a little bit of practice, the game's sight is forgiving enough that you'll learn to get that "close enough" pretty much 100% of the time.

[Jimbuna]

Welcome to SubSim Deranged :sunny:

[Deranged]

Thanks for the warm welcomes, y'all and big thank you for the insight and advice, CCIP! I will try the new setup!

As far as the bombs-away site, I clicked on quite a few and they all came back with 404 error messages.

[Captain Dave]

I have'nt played this Sim in ages. The one thing I never liked about it is you can't save the game at any time. Other than that, it's a good Sim.

[CCIP]

The one thing I never liked about it is you can't save the game at any time.

To be fair, I'm pretty sure this is true of the vast majority of flight sims. I think one difference here is just that the average B-17 mission tends to be quite long :hmm2:

On the other hand, it does have a very functional time-skip function for those of us in a rush :yep:

[Red October1984]

On the other hand, it does have a very functional time-skip function for those of us in a rush :yep:

Yeah, until the Navigator is lost. :O:

"I don't know where we are!" = No time skip for you

[Deranged]

I have'nt played this Sim in ages. The one thing I never liked about it is you can't save the game at any time. Other than that, it's a good Sim.


There is a save game/load game feature. When you are on the office areas, ESC will bring you to the Options menu. In there, there is a image of a floppy disk. That's where you can save and load games.

[Captain Dave]

I know about the save after the mission, you just can't save anytime you're flying. The creator of the sim was very adamant about that. Says the real life flyers couldn't just quit in the middle of a mission.

[Eichhörnchen]

I loved playing this sim as an air-gunner: great realism in the way enemy a/c attacked and peeled away. One thing that always bugged me though (and I tried in vain to get rid of it) was the intrusive noise of the turret motor.

[tusg43]

Its happening! Microporse is remastering its whole series of B-17 games. It is also making a new one! cant wait to get these.