Phase 2 vs 3 questions

[Kelly Mo 0]

Well, I haven't finished out a "full" career in Phase 2 (courtesy of friendly planes flying into me or unrealistic crashes landings), but I really like what I see... for the most part. But I have some issues with it, and I'm wondering what is fixed or changed in Phase 3. Just a note: I worship the ground that Knights of the Sky (MicroProse ~1992; not the new add-on that seems to be floating around) was coded upon and I base all opinions on that. Sadly, I never thought Red Baron even came close to appealing to me when it came down to the gameplay. (I still play text-based games. Graphics aren't going to impress me. Although, now that I'm mentioning it, it seems that the anti-aliasing doesn't seem to work in OFF... Talk about really hard to find foes when the terrain and clouds blink more than a casino in Vegas.) Also, I wanted to say that I really haven't played much CFS3, since I bought it with the intent of playing OFF. So, if an issue I mention is based on CFS3's engine and cannot be changed, feel free to point that out. And btw, I'm going to state my experiences with the Esc. 3, unless otherwise noted. 1 "Bullet issues") First thing I noticed is that I was set up with something like 146 bullets in my Nieuport 11. Who sent up a pilot with that few bullets? Seriously. After encountering numerous EIIIs, I could easily plow all 146 bullets into one plane (trust me, I carefully made sure I was less than 20m from these planes anytime I'd let a burst go) and it'd still fly away seemingly unharmed. Frustrated, I turned infinite ammo on, despite that I really hate using features like this. Now that I have played a bit more -- and started up a few pilots later in the war-- I see that some other planes go down a bit easier. But, those darned EIIIs still can hold hundreds of bullets without being affected. And on top of that, after I turned on infinite ammo, I've shot at least seven planes to a point where they caught on fire. So for the first few, I figured that was good enough and sought out other targets. But I soon learned that these flaming Fokkers were seemingly unaffected by their apparently unaffected condition... one of them even shot me down once. Talk about seriously frustrating. And, it's also frustrating since I seem to get a bullet to the gas can anytime I forget to check my six. But anyway, I've yet to see a plane break apart, except for the numerous times my teammates flew into me. I know this isn't a CFS3 issue; I shot apart planes constantly. Also, I've never had my guns jammed. I'm not trying to ask for a jinx, but I'm about realism. They did jam back then... but apparently someone forgot to include that in the game.

 

2 "Gas and bullet issues 2") And in regards to that gas can and bullets... my gas tank is constantly being punctured... I'd say out of five times I get strafed, four times result in gas loss, and two to three also in oil loss. Granted, I get hit maybe every third or fourth dogfight, but seriously. Why aren't the guys I'm pumping full of lead going down as quickly as I do? (I'm namely talking about the EIIIs and planes of '16). Is this "fixed", or at least, can I damage the enemy as well as they seem to get me? And don't they run out of ammo too? I can't say I've noticed a plane not shooting at me, but all the ones who managed to get into my six never seem to be deprived of bullets. Hello, let's keep the realism even?

 

3 "Ace planes") Now here's the only non-gameplay issue that bugs me. My squadron always seems to come with a few aces included. So, they get a fancy Spad 7, while I'm stuck with the Nieuport 11 or 16. That's all fine and dandy... until I've got more kills than the leading "ace". So where's my Spad? Does Phase 3 supply ace planes to all true aces, or just the ones with "ace files"?

 

4 "AI and a 'term of WWI flight tactics I cannot remember'") The enemy AI issue is mentioned in other posts around here, and it's supposedly phenomenally better. But I still need to know: do all the pilots still pull back on the stick to slip to the side when they stall? (You know, my KotS manual stated a whole lotta great flight tactics from WWI, including both the Immelmann turn and this "stall/slip" move, but it's at my parents' house and I cannot remember what it's called.) I thought it was just a clever tactic the EIIIs were using in my first few runs, but as soon as I joined Jasta 2 in late '16, the Allies were doing it as well. That also reminds me, do your teammates actually do anything? In Phase 2, they hang around, they do moderately shoot at enemies, but they're not pulling all the clever manoeuvres the enemy does... until you join the other team. >:( Actually, they tend to "hang around, moderately shoot at enemies, and die if you can't kill the opposition quickly enough".

 

5 "Balloon verification") 'Nuff said. I've seen posts regarding this, and they all say to make sure your wingman is close enough to verify the kill. Except... mine was listed at about 70m away when I made a kill, and I still didn't get credit. Does he need to be sitting in my plane to see it or what? I mean, let's be realistic. Are they claiming the kills as well? Otherwise, someone's gonna be in the area of the balloon (since they're pretty easy to spot from a distance) and can verify that it is no longer there. Is this fixed?

 

6 "Follow the leader") This is sort of related to #4. All the enemies seem to do the exact same things. Is this also fixed in the whole "enemy AI is definitely improved"?

 

7 "Futility") Mkay, you know it was possible to down planes (and in my case, be downed) without crashing and dying. Seriously, the landing in this game is erratic and retarded at best, unless you're at full health and your aeroplane is untouched. Being the hardcore sort of gamer, I turned on the "dead is dead" option, since I'm looking for a WWI flight simulator, not a WWI flying nanny. When my wing crumbles and I spin out of control into the ground, I ought to be dead and not resurrectable. But also, I realise that often pilots' crafts were damaged but not to the point of imminent death. Unfortunately, for both my squad and my valiant enemies, I've yet to see one land. Same with me; like I said, if I'm not fully healthy, I crash-land. With that "dead is dead" option, I was dying faster than Europeans during the Bubonic Plague. Does Phase 3 level the differences out a bit? Do pilots actually try to land their crafts when they cannot continue flying as expected?

 

8 "Claim timing") I know there've been at least 10 claims I should have had, except that my plane went down and I ended the mission. So suddenly, I get no credits for claims, just because I've exited my plane. A few times I'd be quite sure that eventually the planes I'd hit earlier would down, so I would land and let the game keep running... and get the credits when they crashed. And then, once upon a time, I was forced to land, and I had a few bullets in a few planes. So, I left the game running but I shut the engine down and as a result, I added three more kills to my original one that I obtained before I was downed. Then I exited to the mess hall (after seeing four downed planes in my summary) and read that I only had one claim. I didn't realise that claims only counted when your engine is on... >:( Ummm... I was under the impression that if I shoot an enemy and he eventually falls courtesy of my bullets, I should get the credit. (Whether or not the claim is accepted isn't the issue. And by the way, I LOVE how not all my claims are verified! I think that's a great realism issue that hasn't been addressed in any of the prior WWI games I've played.)

 

9 "The weather sucks") What is up with the snow wall? I'm highly irritated when it's snowing because it looks like there's a sheet of snow falling about two centimetres into my screen (when I'm stationary). If I could look past that, it seems that the rest of the "world" is un-snowy at all. And seriously, I've had encounters with both snow and rain where I flew up to a point where there were no clouds above me. And it kept snowing/raining. You know, when you travel about 50km, the weather often changes, especially in Europe. Is the weather doohickey changed at all?

 

10 "Controller elevator cable") Okay, I realise the wings are a very real and large part of the aeroplane's structure. But seriously, I get pounded like crazy in them. Yet, *I* have never actually been shot. I don't know, I've only seen WWI flying in movies (okay, in movie... "Flyboys"), but it'd seem a bit more realistic if pilots were actually hit by bullets. And maybe the tail. I really hate losing agility in any part of the plane, but I don't think I've ever lost anything except the turning ability (ailerons/flaps or "controller elevator"). And, cables are quite thin... I'd think that the chances of hitting them would be minute in comparison to having your wing's cloth covering torn up, or like I mentioned before, being shot yourself. I know that regarding those EIIIs I first became aquainted with from behind, I'd put at least 20 bullets at the pilot from a distance so close that I thought I'd be colliding with the enemy plane before I could pull away. (And once, I did collide.) Yet, the pilot never slumped, the plane never righted into a default flight due to operator failure, or anything of the sort. I know this isn't a CFS3 thing, because I never had an issue with limited ammo. I've left numerous dogfights in WWII because I was out of ammo, but it was after wasting numerous enemies and after watching their crafts crumble or plunge in firey flames.

 

11 "Time warp") I'm not talking about Rocky Horror . I know that it's been set up a bit more properly in Phase 3, but I was wondering if it's offered to go places other than just the next waypoint. Seriously, that'd be a nice addition. And, it'd also be nice to just accelerate the time, instead of taking over complete control of the plane. Once again, I think the acceleration was an *EXCELLENT* feature of KotS.

 

12 "Where's the party?") And now, to my last and most important complaint: I think this may have to do with CFS3's engine and not OFF... but I'm going to mention it anyway. I think the #1 reason I loved Knights of the Sky over any other WWI flight sim I've encountered is because I can randomly fly around and encounter the enemy. That was my biggest peeve of Red Baron; Dynamix flight sims always had pre-programmed encounters set up (I'd previously played Aces Over The Pacific and Aces Over Europe and noticed the exact same setup). If you ran into a squadron that was going to kick your backside back to last week, you simply flew around the area you discovered that area to be, and you were kosher afterwards. But KotS allowed you to encounter numerous enemies; granted, I will admit that it was a bit gaudy with how many enemies you'd find -- especially when you hung around an enemy aerodrome. But I can't really understand how after I've completed a mission in OFF and decide to fly around on the enemy side a bit, I never find anyone (because they haven't been "programmed" to be there). I'm trying to wean myself off of the radar and have already removed the little labels that show bogies and how far away they are. I really want a realistic sim. And while I understand that often there were missions that offered no encounters with the enemy, if you go off looking for them in enemy territory, I'd kind of expect them to show up once in a while.

 

Well, these are the questions I have come up with after playing OFF Phase 2 for the past two weeks off and on. (Mostly off the first week, and a lot of on the second.) I do like the game, but I would not want to pay $40 for what I currently have. The graphics are really the only thing it has a 1-up on the Knights of the Sky, and like I said, I still play text-based games. So, KotS wins. Actually, I'd gladly pay the $29.99 that KotS is costing on Amazon and have the manual again, then pay for OFF Phase 3 right now. I'm not trying to disrespect OFF, but to me these issues aren't negotiable.

 

Anyway, if anyone can answer or rectify the questions/issues I've asked about, I will be greatly appreciative. Thanks in advance!

 

Btw Sitting Duck... thank you SO MUCH for sending me a copy of Phase 2. :D

Edited May 22, 2009 by Kelly Mo

[sitting_duck 3]

My pleasure,,,,,,now go buy yourself phase 3, and hook up in a mp game with us...

[Cameljockey 3]

IIRC the ammunition loadout for the N11 in Phase 2 is based on 4 47 round drums, that's 188 rounds total, and yes, they were sent into battle with that much ammo. I know it sucks, but that's the way it was.

There was a little glitch in Phase 2 affectionately called "the 50 yard bug" where your hits would not register when you are closer than 50 yds from your opponent. I believe that was fixed in the final hotfix. No such animal in Phase 3.

Yeah those flying flamers suck don't they. They never were fixed in Phase 2. They're nonexistent in Phase 3. I saw a vid the other day where a plane was going down smoking, then you saw a slight flicker of flame, and then it was a full blown fireball! Fell like a rock.

The AI in Phase 3 will kill you, dead. I consider myself a pretty good sim pilot, but I've had my butt handed to me by the AI on several occasions. They don't just fly around like drone targets. The aces do not fool around with you, they will outmanuever and dispatch you in short order if you're not careful. Your wingmen will aggresively dogfight with the enemy. I have circled high above a dogfight (my prerogative as flight leader) and watched as my wingmen mopped up. It's something to see.

In Phase 3 there can be as many as 225 or so aircraft in the air at any given time. Real flights carrying out their missions at the time and place they are supposed to. No random spawns. After you complete your mission you should, by all indications, be able to find more aircraft in the sky if you look for them.

Everything in Phase 3 BH&H is scaleable. The FMs, DMs, the accuracy, potency, and spread of the guns, etc, all scaleable. Set 'em like you like 'em. You can make it as easy or as hard as you want.

Do yourself a favor and get BH&H. If Phase 2 intrigues you, BH&H will blow you away, sometimes literally!

 

In short, there is no comparison between Phase 2 and BH&H, none.

Check out this video by Jammer28...

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=41352

 

 

CJ

[Kelly Mo 0]

Firstly if you loosen the formation tightness, there won't be so many mid-airs. I personally never did like the N11, as there are NO usable gunsites

It would be 'Nice' if you familurized yourself with how the N11 was actually armed in Real Life, prior to showing your ignorence to everybody.

The Lewis Gun featured a 97 round drum magazine, which was almost Impossible to reload in flight. It was pretty pitiful, but it beat shooting your own propeller off in a fight

 

If your screen is Flashing, you my friend got problems, what are you using for a video card ?

Hey first of all, everyone's a newb at some point. I knew the lewis guns were mounted on the top wing for N11s, but since I'm no WWI buff, and I'm basing all my experience (well, most of it) on previously-played WWI flight sims, I've never actually known the limits. Seriously, it's not like we're taught how many bullets each gun had in WWI in history class... heck, I don't think I actually learned anything specific about flight in WWI in any history classes.

 

My computer is quite capable of handing the game (and the video card is an Nvidia 8800). I mucked around with the CFS3 settings before I got OFF2, and I guess I fubar'd something in there. I'll try screwing things up more, see if it makes something better.

 

The Uncle AL method of getting credit for a balloon in Phase II. Hit 'R' over, and over, and over, feverishly to get their attention, as you fire your rockets from point blank range.

Damn. I just gave up on the voice commands and whatnot. I didn't see any confirmation that I sent it, so I figured it was just one of those left-out features.

 

The AI in Phase 3 will kill you, dead. I consider myself a pretty good sim pilot, but I've had my butt handed to me by the AI on several occasions. They don't just fly around like drone targets. The aces do not fool around with you, they will outmanuever and dispatch you in short order if you're not careful.

Hmm... See, I've been downed now by two aces (honored to encounter and fall to Albert Ball... I had a crush on him back when I was a teen and played my first WWI sim ). Fortunately I didn't die, but they definitely got the better of me. Granted, if my wingman and his compadre hadn't been twirling around with their thumbs up their backsides :angry2:, I might not have had that surprise drop-down from above with absolutely no chance of survival.

 

I want to thank you (plural) for replying. I think I might try to convince the hubby to allow me $40... shouldn't be hard since he's now bought two new xbox games this month. :D

 

I'll seek out the multiplayer options when I've got it.

 

But, I'd still appreciate if anyone else can answer any questions not already addressed!

 

Cheers!

K

[Cameljockey 3]

I hope you have a long list of pilot's names picked out. If you go looking for trouble in BH&H, you'll find it, and it won't be pretty!

 

CJ

[sitting_duck 3]

Damn kelly mo, after reading your posts i would think it would be your hubby asking YOU if he could get a game.......

[Kelly Mo 0]

Damn kelly mo, after reading your posts i would think it would be your hubby asking YOU if he could get a game.......

Well, the problem is that he's got spending issues, and that's why I'm the one in charge of finances (that's also why we're on such a strict budget). I originally bought CFS3 and a joystick with the intent of using it for OFF (which, last I had checked, was free)... then suddenly, I'm required to pay more than I did for the game ($11+s&h) and joystick ($17+s&h) to get what I originally made these purchases for.. I'm not a flight sim enthusiast, aside from WWI (which basically implies that I'm not a flight sim enthusiast), so these things are basically useless without OFF.

 

Tell me if I'm wrong, but I seem to have stepped on a few toes with the original post and my replies. This wasn't my intent at all! I haven't meant to sound pissy or come across as ignorant, but this "setback" also wasn't something I counted on, and that has frustrated me. I had downloaded the old versions of OFF before, with the intent of buying CFS3 (but never did), but I also am a computer freak who insists on having a "clean" system, and have since reinstalled my system. (Reinstalling, for me, involves formatting my hard drive 2-3 time a year, and thus, my previous OFF downloads.) Trust me, my hubby expressed his opinion as to why didn't I "just buy all that <crap> last year when the stupid game was free". (Slightly paraphrased)

 

Phase two is fun, but I'm getting a bit bored of it already. I'm not trying to give you all (specifically: Uncle Al and Cameljockey) a finger, offend, or sound like some dumb broad), but I'm just very hesitant to spend money on something I don't know I'm going to like. I just thought that asking these questions would clear up a lot of issues I have with Phase 2. I do want to thank you for your informative replies.

 

Sorry if I came across as an ignorant jerk who is just trying to find problems with the game.

[Cameljockey 3]

No sore toes here Kelly. Just trying to answer your questions. All BS aside though. If you're looking for a great, and I mean great WWI air combat sim, you can't go wrong with BH&H. On hard settings it's extremely difficult, which is as it should be. WWI wasn't a picnic. Talking about the AI, there have been times when I actually felt like I was being hunted by them. They were predictable in Phase 2 after awhile but in Phase 3 they will really keep you on your toes and like I stated before, they will kill you dead, in short order given the chance.

And you couldn't ask for better tech support as most of the dev team frequent the forum and a couple are even moderators. Also many of the folks here are knowledgeable about not only OFF, but computers and software in general.

Great game, great community. Do yourself a favor and take the plunge......or not.

 

Welcome to the OFF Community!

 

CJ

[SirMike1983 3]

I've found the oddball "crash on touching down" thing that was in some P2 planes is gone in P3.

[sitting_duck 3]

Well,,im not a flight sim enthusiast either. All i do is bi-planes....period. But i am a wwi simulator fanatic, especially when it comes to mp. Am i jealous of all these ppl that have the time to get into these envolved long campaigns? You bet, but i just dont have the time for both.

 

Considering how close this game (even phase 2) comes to be actually flying, (as close as you can come on a computer anyways), find it hard to understand you could be bored with it already.

 

This is a link to missions that used to be up at our old site. They recently crashed, and are in the process of rebuilding. Cant say for sure if they will ever rebuild all the downloads, but it may be worth your time to check there everyso often to see if they have. The ones prefixed ph-3 are for off3 only.

 

 

http://sim-outhouse.com/index.php?lloc=dow...otsden#download

 

Hope this rebuilds your enthusiasm for the game.

 

And, it goes without saying, Multiplayer adds another dimension to this sim. Unfortunaly off2 can not play with off3. So when you get off3, we just started doing some afternoon games that are a good time slot for ppl overseas.

[Kelly Mo 0]

No sore toes here Kelly. Just trying to answer your questions.

You know, that's what I thought. But I know for myself that often text doesn't quite convey as accurately without tones and body language for me.

 

I just want to say first and foremost that I've put in my order for OFF. So now I'll be up and flying in 7-50 days. (Yay for unreliable APO mail!)

 

Sitting_duck: I've lurked about the sim-outhouse website quite a bit. Actually, I lost my internet connection and ended up having to format/reinstall everything, and I tossed Red Baron 3D back on. So the past week-ish I've been enthralled with that (and utilising sim-outhouse in the meantime... when my internet worked). I've bookmarked that page though, for when my shipment arrives. :D

 

On hard settings it's extremely difficult, which is as it should be.

I think my biggest peeve with Phase 2 (all my questions aside) was that Archie was insanely deadly. As in, more than it ought to have been. As far as I know (and feel free to correct me), but Archie was pretty much a joke in the earlier years of WWI, and even in the latter times, it was hardly something to consider unless you were just flying too low (e.g. MvR). Yet, being downed semi-regularly seems a bit ludicrous. Also, I'm not looking for an insanely-challenging game. I'm looking for realistic. I think one of my biggest pet peeves of WWI flight sims is that it doesn't matter if you start out at the beginning with Immelman and Boelke or at the end with Richoven... the pilots are all just AI. I think that if you start a career in '15 or '16, it's a place where very few knew how to fly, and even less understood the concepts of fighting with these flying machines (although, I think it'd be awesome to have a career you can start with throwing bricks and shooting pistols at an EIII or Morane). Of course, as the war went on, more and more joined the fight for the air, and more intelligent pilots appeared. I'm a bit saddened that it doesn't matter whether I join a career in 1916 or 1918... the pilots' skills don't matter. Maybe there are less planes floating around during a mission, but I dunno. Just a personal thing I guess.

[Guest British_eh]

You know, that's what I thought. But I know for myself that often text doesn't quite convey as accurately without tones and body language for me.

 

I just want to say first and foremost that I've put in my order for OFF. So now I'll be up and flying in 7-50 days. (Yay for unreliable APO mail!)

 

 

 

 

Hi there Kelly Mo:

 

If you're tired of P2 already , perhaps this isn't for you. In three or so years, I've gone thru P1, and P2. P3 is the best flight sim period, for WWI. You really need to have Pro Pedals to fly with in addition to the Joystick. TIR is an added bonus, but I find somewhat overrated in combat.To fly P3 at 100% realism DiD, is near impossible if you are not completely defensive minded and extremely carefull, with a superior aircraft.

 

Bletchley did a piece on FLAK, and basically setting should be on EASY or ROOKIE until late 1918.

 

Cheers,

 

British_eh

 

Glück-Pilot

 

I think my biggest peeve with Phase 2 (all my questions aside) was that Archie was insanely deadly. As in, more than it ought to have been. As far as I know (and feel free to correct me), but Archie was pretty much a joke in the earlier years of WWI, and even in the latter times, it was hardly something to consider unless you were just flying too low (e.g. MvR). Yet, being downed semi-regularly seems a bit ludicrous. Also, I'm not looking for an insanely-challenging game. I'm looking for realistic. I think one of my biggest pet peeves of WWI flight sims is that it doesn't matter if you start out at the beginning with Immelman and Boelke or at the end with Richoven... the pilots are all just AI. I think that if you start a career in '15 or '16, it's a place where very few knew how to fly, and even less understood the concepts of fighting with these flying machines (although, I think it'd be awesome to have a career you can start with throwing bricks and shooting pistols at an EIII or Morane). Of course, as the war went on, more and more joined the fight for the air, and more intelligent pilots appeared. I'm a bit saddened that it doesn't matter whether I join a career in 1916 or 1918... the pilots' skills don't matter. Maybe there are less planes floating around during a mission, but I dunno. Just a personal thing I guess.

[themightysrc 5]

"Sorry if I came across as an ignorant jerk who is just trying to find problems with the game."

 

Actually, I thought you expressed yourself rather well and intelligently, if you were wondering. Uncleal (I believe that's Uncle Al, and not un-cleal as I originally thought...) can be rather, er, terse at times, but don't let it put you off.

 

I would unhesitatingly recommend OFF:BH&H (P3) to anyone, and I'd say that the current price tag is very reasonable indeed, given how much play you'll probably get out of it. It's supplanted First Eagles and my (heavily patched - FCJ/WFP2) copy of RB3D, which is saying something as the latter got considerable hammer on my PC!

 

One word of warning though. Check carefully that you can adequately run BH&H on your current system. You indicate that money's a bit tight, and if you find that you'd have to invest $$$ in upgrading your setup then it's likely to be a frustrating ownership for you. If you're already capable of running BH&H, then there's no question it should be on your hard drive. Oh, and do download mattmatt's superb self-installer for various SP missions. Gothas over London is sublime fun.

 

HTH,

 

Si

[Kelly Mo 0]

"Actually, I thought you expressed yourself rather well and intelligently, if you were wondering."

 

Woohoo, I'm not a total failure! :D

 

"I believe that's Uncle Al, and not un-cleal as I originally thought..."

 

Haha, that's exactly what I thought as well!

 

 

But anyway, thanks for the last few posts since I've last been around. I think when I've got a few more flying hours under my belt I'll come back and answer my questions for me, in case anyone in the future ever cares about my issues.

 

I got my DVD yesterday, and despite the fact that I ought to be doing other things (definitely not more important though!), I've already donated too much time to BHH. And it's awesome. My computer handles it wonderfully, although I keep forgetting to go in and change the graphics (OFF comandeered my previous CFS3 settings and I'm probably back to 800x600, with the map/radar/whatever taking up almost the whole screen. At least it plays more than smoothly at this grainy rate). I'm now wishing I had rudder pedals, or at least a twisty stick (hehe twisty stick) so I could leave off the auto rudder feature. But maybe I'll get one of them soon.

 

I've only flown 5 missions (but I'm still alive, courtesy of unarmed Bristol Scouts!), but my eyes have been opened to a whole new realm. It's like it's a whole different game. And it's awesome... although I think the "fighting unarmed aircraft" is my biggest glee point.

 

So, thanks all for the repeated push to buy it. I'm hesitant to start up a later-date pilot until I get this whole claim report thing down (no warning there... like wtf? I have to make claims?!?). I actually had four of my first six acknowledged, and I only put in the number of aircraft and a guess on what types of planes they were (didn't bother with a description haha). I got lucky I suppose, but I'm off to search for the "idiot's guide to filing claim kill reports" threads.

 

Once again, thank you all.

 

S!

[sitting_duck 3]

bhah does not commender anything from cfs3....(other than the files it needs when you do the install) 2 totally seperate games on your system.

 

and if you havent noticed,,,,we are working on a american/european multiplayer dogfight match, and from ive seen,,,the europeans need all the help they can get..

[Wildfowler 0]

You know, that's what I thought. But I know for myself that often text doesn't quite convey as accurately without tones and body language for me.

 

I just want to say first and foremost that I've put in my order for OFF. So now I'll be up and flying in 7-50 days. (Yay for unreliable APO mail!)

 

Sitting_duck: I've lurked about the sim-outhouse website quite a bit. Actually, I lost my internet connection and ended up having to format/reinstall everything, and I tossed Red Baron 3D back on. So the past week-ish I've been enthralled with that (and utilising sim-outhouse in the meantime... when my internet worked). I've bookmarked that page though, for when my shipment arrives. :D

 

I think my biggest peeve with Phase 2 (all my questions aside) was that Archie was insanely deadly. As in, more than it ought to have been. As far as I know (and feel free to correct me), but Archie was pretty much a joke in the earlier years of WWI, and even in the latter times, it was hardly something to consider unless you were just flying too low (e.g. MvR). Yet, being downed semi-regularly seems a bit ludicrous. Also, I'm not looking for an insanely-challenging game. I'm looking for realistic. I think one of my biggest pet peeves of WWI flight sims is that it doesn't matter if you start out at the beginning with Immelman and Boelke or at the end with Richoven... the pilots are all just AI. I think that if you start a career in '15 or '16, it's a place where very few knew how to fly, and even less understood the concepts of fighting with these flying machines (although, I think it'd be awesome to have a career you can start with throwing bricks and shooting pistols at an EIII or Morane). Of course, as the war went on, more and more joined the fight for the air, and more intelligent pilots appeared. I'm a bit saddened that it doesn't matter whether I join a career in 1916 or 1918... the pilots' skills don't matter. Maybe there are less planes floating around during a mission, but I dunno. Just a personal thing I guess.

 

If you want to try firing pistols at enemy aircraft try Fighter Squadron WW1. It is based on the old Fighter Squadron Screaming Demons game

but you can for free download the whole mod (No need for the original game) there you can fly the Taube and other early war machines with pistol only!! Some aircraft you bomb by literally droping

the bomb out of the cockpit! Hit "A" and an animation shows the pilots hand emerge out of the cockpit clutching a bomb by the tail!! On FE2's etc you can even get the observer to sit down or order him to man the guns when hostile aircraft are about.

 

Graphics are good for the age of the engine and the aircraft a real handfull to fly. Even has wind on take off. You can hear the wind in the wires as you fly!!

 

Well worth giving a try.

[Wildfowler 0]

Sorry meant to supply link!

 

http://www.moddb.com/mods/fighter-squadron-world-war-one

 

Check it out. Don't expect OFF graphics etc but still well worth a look.

[Kelly Mo 0]

http://www.moddb.com/mods/fighter-squadron-world-war-one

 

Check it out. Don't expect OFF graphics etc but still well worth a look.

Graphics do not impress me, I still enjoy MUDs and playing "Knights of the Sky"...

 

So I downloaded it and I finally got around to testing it out. But, due to lack of any instructions or any clue as to what any key does... I'm about to scrap it. I first tried to fly a bit, but the F keys confused me so much (and the fact that I started in the air), that I just quit. So then I tried a training mission. Nothing was accomplished except to get me confused on the various views. I saw my teammate in a Moraine start his engine and begin to take off. The tragic part was that I thought it was a view of my plane and my button-mashing was successful.

 

Not.

[Wildfowler 0]

Graphics do not impress me, I still enjoy MUDs and playing "Knights of the Sky"...

 

So I downloaded it and I finally got around to testing it out. But, due to lack of any instructions or any clue as to what any key does... I'm about to scrap it. I first tried to fly a bit, but the F keys confused me so much (and the fact that I started in the air), that I just quit. So then I tried a training mission. Nothing was accomplished except to get me confused on the various views. I saw my teammate in a Moraine start his engine and begin to take off. The tragic part was that I thought it was a view of my plane and my button-mashing was successful.

 

Not.

 

I agree the key commands are confusing but there is a key code in there some where!

[Lewie 7]

Holy Cow!. A woman shows up on a mainly men's hobby sim forum, asks some intelligent and pointed questions, and you guys send in the cranky curmudgeon to help her out.

 

Whole lot of chivalry there guys..

 

Yeah, she's married, and still learning the sim. But uncleal? And he berated her about her 'ignorence' ( spelled with an 'e",... brilliant..)

 

Hi Kelly Mo, if you're still on the forum, greetings and good luck with the sim. I'm waiting on OFF3 BHaH myself.

 

I thought I'd share a few things about Fighter Squadron-WWI, the free SDOE download Mod, if you still want to play it.

 

There's a keyboard .ini file editor that will get you up and running using keys you are familiar with, available as one of the additional downloads with FS-WWI. I make 3D models for FS-WWI, and I have to say that give it time to soak in, the game play is actually better understood when you figure out the various 'F' key views. What you have is the ability to jump to any other aircraft in the sim running at the time using the F5 key. You have to remember which plane you are flying, usually jump to external view, (F2) and cycle quickly through your aircraft while waggling the joystick if you lose your place.

 

It's all in real time, and there's a bunch of different manable positions in the two seaters. Plus the latest version will have 1914 and earlier kites as an option, in addition to the AEG GIV and Handley-Page O/400 bombers, both with a half dozen different functions. You can also tweak the bullet loadout in the loadout .ppf that's in the aircraft's 3D file folder. Just remember that additional ammo weighs more.

 

Yes I know this is a really old thread..