A/C Performance Instrument View?

[Todt Von Oben 0]

Hi guys!

 

When I go to my internal cockpit view, I get the three "phantom" (translucent) guages showing RPM, Altitude, and Airspeed: but they are crammed together in the center of the cockpit and overlap each other about 50%.

 

Any way to spread those out so they don't overlap and are easier to read at a glance?

 

Prost!

 

TvO

[Rickitycrate 10]

I think you can left click and drag them to where you want them. Same with the TAC.

[Todt Von Oben 0]

I think you can left click and drag them to where you want them. Same with the TAC.

 

Vielen Danke, Herr Rickitycrate! But of course you realize, you are only helping me destroy more of your men, yah?

 

Okay, reality check. Last night and today were my first opportunities to fly OFF/BHAH.

 

In 1915 I shot up a balloon in an Eindekker, then got nailed twice by archie, forced down on the Front and captured, and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner.

 

Took my D-III looking for trouble behind-the-lines in 1917, and got into a swirling dogfight with about seven Nieups from Esc 88, including a couple aces. It was very Voss-like. The whirling dirvish routine, if you know what I mean. Hit and split. Extremely steep turns with a lot of rudder / elevator interchange. Always flying it on the ragged edge of the envelope. Managed to get shots into more of them than they did me, but didn't put anyone down. Finally stalled and crashed at low altitude.

 

Then I started a campaign in 1917 where I didn't even see an enemy plane for three missions. Thought I might be doing something wrong with the Warp function. The post flight briefing said there was some action going on, but I never saw it. That flight ended when I was trying to figure out where the enemy ground forces were that I was supposed to be attacking, and two groups of ground machinegunners shot my plane into an unflyable condition and I crashed, was captured, and (again) spent the remainder of the war as a POW.

 

Tonight I've learned a little more about how the TAC works, so I've been a little better at getting where I want to go; and at finding other aircraft in flight. Doesn't seem to have helped the last two pilots, though.

 

Last two flights I was in rain and haze. The TAC said there was enemy aircraft near by, and I was looking all over for them. Just couldn't find them at all. Head on a swivvel; steep rapid turns; sweeping the sky visually; etc. All of a sudden I'm getting lead termites tearing my plane apart. Maneuver for all I'm worth; getting some visual on the other guy, but no hits.

 

I try to escape at low altitude over the front: if I'm going to crash land I want to be in friendly territory. Never made it that far before going in.

 

So far, my pilot log list is a long string of mostly dead guys who bought it early in their career. I've got to improve my ability to visually acquire and maintain the target.

 

Well, I wanted a game that was more challenging than RB3D. Looks like I've found it.

 

Prost!

 

TvO

 

PS: I've heard some speak of "padlocking" the enemy, and I suppose that is like RB3D where you can maintain visual on him? How do I padlock the enemy plane?

 

Edited March 9, 2009 by Todt Von Oben

[+Winder 32]

Vielen Danke, Herr Rickitycrate! But of course you realize, you are only helping me destroy more of your men, yah?

 

Okay, reality check. Last night and today were my first opportunities to fly OFF/BHAH.

 

In 1915 I shot up a balloon in an Eindekker, then got nailed twice by archie, forced down on the Front and captured, and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner.

 

Took my D-III looking for trouble behind-the-lines in 1917, and got into a swirling dogfight with about seven Nieups from Esc 88, including a couple aces. It was very Voss-like. The whirling dirvish routine, if you know what I mean. Hit and split. Extremely steep turns with a lot of rudder / elevator interchange. Always flying it on the ragged edge of the envelope. Managed to get shots into more of them than they did me, but didn't put anyone down. Finally stalled and crashed at low altitude.

 

Then I started a campaign in 1917 where I didn't even see an enemy plane for three missions. Thought I might be doing something wrong with the Warp function. The post flight briefing said there was some action going on, but I never saw it. That flight ended when I was trying to figure out where the enemy ground forces were that I was supposed to be attacking, and two groups of ground machinegunners shot my plane into an unflyable condition and I crashed, was captured, and (again) spent the remainder of the war as a POW.

 

Tonight I've learned a little more about how the TAC works, so I've been a little better at getting where I want to go; and at finding other aircraft in flight. Doesn't seem to have helped the last two pilots, though.

 

Last two flights I was in rain and haze. The TAC said there was enemy aircraft near by, and I was looking all over for them. Just couldn't find them at all. Head on a swivvel; steep rapid turns; sweeping the sky visually; etc. All of a sudden I'm getting lead termites tearing my plane apart. Maneuver for all I'm worth; getting some visual on the other guy, but no hits.

 

I try to escape at low altitude over the front: if I'm going to crash land I want to be in friendly territory. Never made it that far before going in.

 

So far, my pilot log list is a long string of mostly dead guys who bought it early in their career. I've got to improve my ability to visually acquire and maintain the target.

 

Well, I wanted a game that was more challenging than RB3D. Looks like I've found it.

 

Prost!

 

TvO

 

PS: I've heard some speak of "padlocking" the enemy, and I suppose that is like RB3D where you can maintain visual on him? How do I padlock the enemy plane?

 

 

Pleased you are enjoying OFF,

 

Yes you can grab the instruments with the mouse and move them.

 

If you have not bought Trackir then I can give it a very firm recommendation - its the best thing to come along to Combat Flight sims in a looong while.

 

HTH

 

WM

[Baywing 0]

You'll kill off quite a few more! It proves to me that I would not have made a very good fighter pilot in real life. I took a Pitts for a spin last night in FS9 just for a change. It took me by surprize how quick it rolled compared to the crates of WW1, but after a few minutes of adjustment, I was terrorizing the GA community.

Edited March 9, 2009 by Baywing

[Todt Von Oben 0]

Pleased you are enjoying OFF,

 

Yes you can grab the instruments with the mouse and move them.

 

If you have not bought Trackir then I can give it a very firm recommendation - its the best thing to come along to Combat Flight sims in a looong while.

 

HTH

 

WM

 

I think such things are allowable in the game because, in real life, a pilot's situational awareness in an open cockpit is much more than what we can easily see with our forward view, or by manipulating the hat switch.

 

Please tell me; what is TRACKIR, and where do I buy it?

[Ras 0]

Please tell me; what is TRACKIR, and where do I buy it?

If you do a search for it on google and on you tube, you will find many examples of how it works. i don't personally own it yet but am saving my $ for it. Have heard nothing but good about it.

[Todt Von Oben 0]

You'll kill off quite a few more! It proves to me that I would not have made a very good fighter pilot in real life. I took a Pitts for a spin last night in FS9 just for a change. It took me by surprize how quick it rolled compared to the crates of WW1, but after a few minutes of adjustment, I was terrorizing the GA community.

 

Yes, the Pitts does roll quickly by any standard. IIRC: 360 degrees in 1.2 seconds or something like that.

 

I used to dogfight my buddy Joe: I was in my 1946 Luscombe 8E and he was flying an Ercoupe. We'd get out over the farmlands in the central California valley and maneuver for the firing advantage, and make gun noises over the unicom frequency when we'd lock on. With a C-85 12-F and long wings, she rolled pretty slow. And loops were interesting. Hanging on the seatbelt...dust coming up from the floor...oh, THAT'S where I left the tie wire pliers!

 

I never had the opportunity to fly a vintage WWI bird; but so far it seems to me that what I'm flying in OFF (Tros-3 and 5, mostly) should be more maneuverable than what I'm experiencing. Could be my set up. I want to get a better joystick and rudder pedals.

 

Also, in campaigns, the AI seems like he's flying a P-51 sometimes! I flew a few QC's during 1917 in an early Albatros III, and was eating Spad VII and Nieuport 11's. Then I flew a campaign to attack an enemy aerodrome, and promptly got the schnit shot out of me by some famous British Ace who seemed to be outflying and outshooting me exponentially. It was over in a few seconds; all I could do to crash land and get captured.

 

I've got the settings kicked up high because I like the challenge; but maybe it would be better if I slow the AI down a bit until I get my feet under me a little more. Or are they always that good?

 

Prost!

 

TvO

Edited March 9, 2009 by Todt Von Oben

[Todt Von Oben 0]

I just went up on Youtube and saw a video by the people who make TrackIR.

 

Man! THAT IS TOO COOL! If it will do that with OFF/BHAH, I've got to have one.

 

One important thing about air combat is acquiring the target quickly and then maintaining situational awareness. Through the keyboard or joystick controls, we have an "artificial" way of doing that. The AI seems to respond more naturally.

 

To be able to move your head and body, and get the same visual input one would normally experience in the cockpit...well, that's just how it ought to be, IMOHO.

 

Definitely going to look into what the best TrackIR is for my setup, and buy it as soon as possible.

 

Thanks for the heads-up!

 

Prost!

 

TvO

Edited March 9, 2009 by Todt Von Oben

[Blackdogkt 0]

TrackIR is a device that detects the motion of Infra-red light emitting sources. It sits on top of your monitor and can either project IR light towards your head which is then reflected back by certain devices (reflectors placed on the brim of a baseball hat, small adhesive dots glued to your glasses,headband, etc) or you can fork over some extra cash and get an associated clip device that attaches to your headphones and has 3 IR emitting LEDs on it for the device to track (ie you don't need the device to broadcast IR light and you don't need reflection, Track Clip pro as it is called is right beside your head and projects IR light itself directly towards the tracking device).

 

What this means is that this device knows which way your head is pointed. By the way, IR radiation is completely harmless, it's energy is less than harmful radiation, heck even visible light has more energy than IR light. So by using the provided software and the ability to track your head's motion you create profiles for each game you play and it moves the camera wherever your head points.

 

So, how do you check six without losing sight of your monitor? Well, each profile has adjustable sensitivity curves. In the center of motion (you can set where center is, just sit comfortably on your chair looking straight ahead and press F12) you want it to move relatively slow. Otherwise even tiny head motions will make the picture jitter around and spoil your aim, which means you'll strain your neck trying to remain immobile. The farther away you move from center, the higher the sensitivity you set, so that when turning your head a moderate direction and can still look at the screen, the ingame camera is in a "check six" position.

 

The beauty of it is that the software is stable, simple and completely intuitive. You even get a display popup that shows the movement of your real head and how that translates to the movement of your virtual head, so you can set everything up in a way that makes you comfortable.

 

TrackIR can be bought from various online vendors, or directly from the company that produces it at www.naturalpoint.com. It takes some getting used to as you will need to roll your eyes opposite to where you're turning your head in order to keep your monitor in your field of view. Some people have also said that it induces motion sickness to them. However after 1-2 evenings of using it, it becomes second nature and you'll never want to go back to hat switches. In the rare event that you are not satisfied with it, it won't be hard to unload it on eBay or a similar website for a small discount.

 

I got one last summer and it's been the best sim-related peripheral i have ever bought. I'd go as far as to say that if you are not running modern sims with complex aircraft systems (like Lock on and Black Shark) but fly era with "simpler" aircraft, it's better to have TrackIR than a fancy HOTAS stick set. There's not 15 different radar modes in WWI fighter to use up a bunch of buttons on your stick, but that makes it all the more important to keep sight of your enemies at all times.

 

Most incredible thing about it is that my flying improved considerably because of TrackIR. I have found out that if you can easily maintain visual contact you don't yank the stick around so much. Previously, due to the blind spots between snap views, i would try to turn around sharply to reacquire the enemy as fast as possible. With TrackIR, i do this by moving my head around and simply looking at him, so i only maneuver my plane when i have to (to evade attacks or to attack myself), so i don't bleed as much speed and i keep my speed up for when i'll need it.

Edited March 9, 2009 by Blackdogkt

[griphos 0]

You'll kill off quite a few more! It proves to me that I would not have made a very good fighter pilot in real life. I took a Pitts for a spin last night in FS9 just for a change. It took me by surprize how quick it rolled compared to the crates of WW1, but after a few minutes of adjustment, I was terrorizing the GA community.

 

OT alert!!!!

 

Which GA community are you terrorizing Baywing? The folks at Friday Harbor put together a petition and banned me completely from the whole international border area! The folks at the marina put out a contract on me, I've heard. And all just because I enjoy an occasional low pass!!! In the Hornet!!!!

 

On TOPIC:

 

TrackIR is the greatest thing since running water. It's better than sliced bread. The electric light and refrigerated air pale in comparison! Flying with it is an amazing immersive experience. I feel as if I am IN the sim world.

Edited March 9, 2009 by griphos