Over Flanders Fields phase 2 released! - Page 2

GlobalExplorer · 03-14-07, 12:40 PM

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

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/OF...eleaseV1.0.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 · 03-14-07, 02:19 PM

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.

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 · 03-14-07, 03:36 PM

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.

I need a clone.

NeonSamurai · 03-14-07, 03:41 PM

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

SUBMAN1 · 03-14-07, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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/mpPro...tail.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 · 03-14-07, 04:40 PM

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.

MobyGrape · 03-15-07, 02:54 AM

Good Luck Egan..Claim a headache

:rotfl:

Egan · 03-15-07, 06:55 AM

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 · 03-15-07, 09:31 AM

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 · 03-15-07, 10:32 AM

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 · 03-15-07, 12:50 PM

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

Egan · 03-15-07, 01:09 PM

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 · 03-16-07, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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 · 03-17-07, 09:26 AM

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 · 03-17-07, 01:16 PM

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

03-14-07, 03:41 PM	#19
NeonSamurai Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Socialist Republic of Kanadia Posts: 3,044 Downloads: 17 Uploads: 0	Or 2 pc's side by side (or one pc with a dual core and 2 monitors) __________________ SH3 Newbie Guide Links and other helpfull stuff

03-15-07, 09:31 AM	#24
Biggles Silent Hunter Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Sweden (I'm not a Viking...) Posts: 3,528 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	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? __________________

03-17-07, 01:16 PM	#30
GlobalExplorer Admiral Join Date: May 2005 Location: Berlin Posts: 2,015 Downloads: 165 Uploads: 0	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 __________________

03-14-07, 02:19 PM	#17
Egan Admiral Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 2,019 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	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. 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.

03-14-07, 03:36 PM	#18
Onkel Neal Born to Run Silent Join Date: Jan 1997 Location: Cougar Trap, Texas Posts: 21,284 Downloads: 534 Uploads: 224	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. I need a clone.

03-14-07, 04:40 PM	#21
Egan Admiral Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 2,019 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	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.

03-15-07, 02:54 AM	#22
MobyGrape Frogman Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Mid Pacific Posts: 292 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Good Luck Egan..Claim a headache :rotfl:

03-15-07, 06:55 AM	#23
Egan Admiral Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 2,019 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	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.

03-15-07, 10:32 AM	#25
Egan Admiral Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 2,019 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	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.....

03-15-07, 12:50 PM	#26
MobyGrape Frogman Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Mid Pacific Posts: 292 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Egan 3slider in OFF is equal to 5slider in CFS3..5 is for the future

03-15-07, 01:09 PM	#27
Egan Admiral Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 2,019 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	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.

03-17-07, 09:26 AM	#29
Egan Admiral Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 2,019 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	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...