Out of fuel

[Kelly Mo]

So I began a flight on my newest pilot, as I do almost every other time I boot up OFF, and I received a Lone Wolf mission. So up I went. As soon as my map keyed me in to what I'd be flying, I began having curious doubts about my fuel situation. But, I figure the powers that be knew what they were doing when they assigned me this mission (read: coded the game. Note that this is not a slam against the coding... but apparently something slipped through perhaps?). So I flew out. I flew for a long time. A looooong time.

 

Long story short: I ran out of fuel way behind enemy lines while on my third loop of a huge shape resembling a kindergartener's attempt at drawing a star. So um, how do I avoid this? I mean, I can't see where these lone wolf missions go beforehand (and as far as I know, I cannot change or alter or decline them), and I feel absolutely shoddy when I do not complete a mission (even if I'm missing large chunks of plane and am lucky to make it to the hospital). Has anyone else had this issue? Can it be avoided? Or am I an idiot and should have just flown home?

 

Short story long: Anything by Dickens.

Edited June 14, 2009 by Kelly Mo

[Launchbury]

If you were curious about your fuel why didn't you turn back? WWI pilots did that all the time for any host of problems.

[+Polovski]

Just fly over the lines and come back. No need to stay out for hours, it's a LONE patrol no one cares :). If waypoints bug you then fast through them with "next waypoint key".

Also remember if you changed fuel loads in previous missions they swill stick until you change em back to 100%.

[Hellshade]

Kelly Mo,

 

I just cheat and set fuel to Unlimited in the workshop. I too lost a pilot behind enemy lines due to a fuel shortage issue (involving warp, for which there is a work-around). Obviously if you want to fly DiD standard though, that isn't going to work for you. Still, I hate to lose a pilot to a glitch involving fuel or destination, so that takes care of it. On the downside, I'm denying myself the possible experience of being in the middle of a dogfight and having my fuel run dry, which could make for a rather exciting story.

 

/salute

Hellshade

[von Baur]

If I've been airborne for a long time or if I get in any scraps I use F5 (the writing, not the guages: they've all been turned off) to check on my fuel if the plane I'm in doesn't have a fuel guage. If I'm running low, I head home. Returning safely has a higher mission priority than hitting a waypoint. Also, P3 doesn't seem as hungup on waypoints for determining success or failure of a mission as P2 did. Or that could just be me.

Edited June 14, 2009 by von Baur

[Kelly Mo]

Thanks for the input. I'd originally started out letting my plane fly to the first waypoint without warping. Then I was like... wow, this is deathly boring (I couldn't find an enemy to save my life... I'd actually grabbed a magazine and started perusing). So I set warp up. That was my downfall... I guess warp does guzzle like a '67 Impala. I was kicked out of warp for low fuel and I was caught wayyyyy over enemy lines.

 

On the 'Lone Wolfer' exactly whom were planning on using for a witness

Not quite sure what you mean? Are you simply saying that lone wolf missions are a waste of time?

 

I know it was my own stupidity to rely so heavily on warp, but I still do think it's a bit ludicrous that there'd be a mission that would require more fuel than I could carry when I simply flew the route with no diversions (whether warping or not). I remember thinking... dang, I've been zooming about for quite a while. So I popped up the map window and watched me zoom back and forth. And back and forth. And... no fuel.

 

I'm just gonna take off and land for those assignments from now on.

[Rickitycrate]

Kelly, some might say that Lone Wolf missions are a waste of time. I take them for the fun and adventure of checking things out. Nothing is scripted so you do not need to fly the waypoints for any reason. You may while flying low see all kinds of things happening in the war and targets of opportunity. You are out hunting on your own and may find an easy target or you may fly into a flight of 6 enemy aircraft. It can be exciting or it can be dry. If you find that's dry you can land at any friendly field. You could land anyplace you pick and have a look see. Land by some tanks and watch them, an army camp and check things out, the train depot and watch the trains pull through. You have the freedom. I say enjoy.

[Duce Lewis]

I warp alot and never had this problem

 

A nice little feature of OFF is that performce varies with fuel load

I set up 50% extra fuel for missions behind our lines

100% extra when crossing over the front

Good balance between performance and safety

 

As Pol said, it's good idea to advance waypoints (Shift+W) or even abort the mission as circumstances require

 

Happy Hunting,

[von Baur]

I'm with Duce (except for the warping..never use it) and reduce my fuel load for nearby missions.

 

As for the Lone-Wolf missions, I've only ever had one and it came on my first mission with a new pilot. I loved it and used it as an opportunity to familiarize myself with the landmarks within 25 miles or so of my airfield. After that I never needed the map to find my way home, whether my mission took me North or South of my airfield. I even lucked out and ran across a flight of BE2's and brought down all five behind our lines. I say, "Bring 'em on".

 

Unfortunately the pilot was killed attacking a train station with 8+ hours flight time and 14 confirmed victories.

[Kelly Mo]

Once again, thanks for the input. I guess I was dead-set that I MUST visit all the waypoints for the mission to be a "success". I've been assigned one since then, and I just flew around and enjoyed the scenery until six SPAD VIIs decided to enjoy it with me. It seemed about time for a new pilot anyway.

 

My final consensus is this: my in-game superiors just hate me and wanted to get rid of me. Yeah, that's the ticket.