Are you happy with OFF multiplayer?

[Winston DoRight 3]

If you've never played a multiplayer game in OFF, please do not vote. This poll will also give us an idea of the number of multiplayer users at this forum.

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

I voted yes.... But it was quite a tough one!...I think a 'yes' vote would be a lot 'less' tough, after seeing what Stump's mods are like..cos that will make a huge difference i reckon.

Vanilla MP only just scraped a 'Yes' from me sadly

[Vasco 3]

I voted yes because even with the incorrect rendering of aircraft encountered in dogfights matches, co-operative missions are still eminently playable and highly enjoyable - replacing AI wingmen with real people is about as good as it gets for me. I did find it frustrating that the new patch introduced further problems in multiplayer, but I'm pleased we figured out how to overcome them temporarily and that Winder has consented to look into the issue.

 

Perhaps one day multiplayer will recieve as much love as the development team lavishes on the single-player campaign. If they do, then this really will be the pre-eminent WWI flight sim in all respects.

Edited July 9, 2009 by Vasco

[+Winder 32]

I voted yes because even with the incorrect rendering of aircraft encountered in dogfights matches, co-operative missions are still eminently playable and highly enjoyable - replacing AI wingmen with real people is about as good as it gets for me. I did find it frustrating that the new patch introduced further problems in multiplayer, but I'm pleased we figured out how to overcome them temporarily and that Winder has consented to look into the issue.

 

Perhaps one day multiplayer will recieve as much love as the development team lavishes on the single-player campaign. If they do, then this really will be the pre-eminent WWI flight sim in all respects.

 

Thanks Vasco...

 

Guys basically the MP part of OFF/CFS3 is very hardcoded and not something that we will easily attend to.

 

We have posted on numerous occasions that MP is no better in OFF than CFS3, well infact it probably is better because it still works in OFF whereas CFS3 MP no longer works as far as we can tell and is one of the reasons MS dropped CFS3 servers.

And we have posted on many occasions and its even stated on our website that MP is not a primary focus of OFF - at no stage have we ever punted improvements to MP in any of our features lists.

We are into historically accurate SP campaigns so that everyone can enjoy an idea of what WW1 is about even with poor internet connectivity.

 

However as I committed to you in e-mail recently and on a post hereabouts I will look into the three craft that seemingly cannot be used in MP and moreover I will look at a Manager system that invokes a master set of online XDPs when you enter OFF MP so that people can have offline craft as they wish and online craft will always be 'standard'....and they simply swap in seamlessly.

 

But I think as long as MP teams know that XDPs and all craft files must be identical - then its not hard to ensure that the Host has the same set of craft XDPs as the Clients, most online teams know and do this quite well by sending out craft packs etc.

 

All the online teams used to do this with CFS3 - share the XDPs etc and craft folders to ensure smooth online connection. OFF cannot be any different as customisation is inevitable.

This applies equally well to the DM options that we have offered since 1.30, user DM packs, as well as the recent FOV flexibility in 1.31l.

 

Please guys be aware that if I introduce a feature of standard library of online XDPs (stored on HD) to auto load when you enter MP in OFF, it still remains the online team organisers responsibility to make sure that everyone has the same 'library' - it just allows flexibility between online and offline XDP customisation beit FOV DM effects or whatever other craft customisations the Teams invoke.

 

In P1 and P2 we did not allow for any customisation of XDPs, so there was no optional DMs (OFF or user) or Effects or Seat customisations allowed for.

Slowly in P3 we have opened this up - and yes the benefits are great but it means the Online guys have to be as vigilant as the CFS3 onliners used to be.

 

HTH

 

WM

[Winston DoRight 3]

.........We have posted on numerous occasions that MP is no better in OFF than CFS3, well infact it probably is better because it still works in OFF whereas CFS3 MP no longer works as far as we can tell and is one of the reasons MS dropped CFS3 servers.........

 

This is completely untrue. MP for the original CFS3 and the ETO mod is alive and well and flown each weekend. See the posts at SOF here: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/forumdisplay.php?f=7

 

Sitting duck and I hooked up in the original CFS3 multiplayer just a few weeks ago to veryify that none of the problems that we currently have in OFF are present in any way in the original game. I have since then flown several multiplayer sessions in the European Theatre of Operations (ETO) mod and also see none of the jittering, warping, and spinning issues that are present in OFF multiplayer.

 

And Microsoft didn't abandon the CFS3 servers because CFS3 no longer worked. They simply do not support their older products forever. If it doesn't make money for them anymore, it's simply dropped. When's the last time you saw any cool updates for Windows 98?

 

I love this sim and will probably never quit playing it. I may give up on it's multiplayer half though as some from my weekend ETO group has done. The word is getting out that MP is broken and that's not a good thing.

 

I fully understand that single player is the focus of the OFF teams fixes, and I think this is the greatest single player WWI sim available, but please try not to give out false information to the forum members here. I'll accept any MP fixes you can muster. I'll accept it if you can't fix the MP issues we have so diligently reported to you. What's hard for me to accept is not trying, or denying that these problems exist. I have full confidence in you guys and that you can do something about this when you have some time to devote to this side of the game. We now feel that we have you listening to our problems and that is a great start and much appreciated.

[+Winder 32]

This is completely untrue. MP for the original CFS3 and the ETO mod is alive and well and flown each weekend. See the posts at SOF here: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/forumdisplay.php?f=7

 

Sitting duck and I hooked up in the original CFS3 multiplayer just a few weeks ago to veryify that none of the problems that we currently have in OFF are present in any way in the original game. I have since then flown several multiplayer sessions in the European Theatre of Operations (ETO) mod and also see none of the jittering, warping, and spinning issues that are present in OFF multiplayer.

 

And Microsoft didn't abandon the CFS3 servers because CFS3 no longer worked. They simply do not support their older products forever. If it doesn't make money for them anymore, it's simply dropped. When's the last time you saw any cool updates for Windows 98?

 

I love this sim and will probably never quit playing it. I may give up on it's multiplayer half though as some from my weekend ETO group has done. The word is getting out that MP is broken and that's not a good thing.

 

I fully understand that single player is the focus of the OFF teams fixes, and I think this is the greatest single player WWI sim available, but please try not to give out false information to the forum members here. I'll accept any MP fixes you can muster. I'll accept it if you can't fix the MP issues we have so diligently reported to you. What's hard for me to accept is not trying, or denying that these problems exist. I have full confidence in you guys and that you can do something about this when you have some time to devote to this side of the game. We now feel that we have you listening to our problems and that is a great start and much appreciated.

 

I think you need to read a bit more carefully - I said as far as we can tell.

False info as committed devs we have never subscribed to and have kept an open portal all the time - so I take that with much salt.

Also I state OFF MP does work - so its not broken- I just setup MP connectivity this evening.

You have to play MP via OFF so that the hardcode mods become enabled - I carefully explained this in the recent MP reply e-mails I sent out and to date no one has replied to that?

 

I have asked in numerous threads here and on SOH how the CFS3 guys are managing to connect online because on two test rigs in our team vanilla MP CFS3 gives mismatch errors....and I am not chasing that one up...

 

Howver this is not the case with OFF - it connects fine although it has been recently brought to our attention that 3 craft seemingly do not - we will investigate.

 

In any event the key to successful operation of OFF online (and CFS3) is to ensure all players have the same craft configurations - IT HAS always been this way and now in OFF to always start MP via OFF manager to ensure hardcode mods are enabled.

Raf-Puff uninstalls OFF then reloads OFF latest patches on host and client to achieve online matching - this is a brute force method but does ensure this.

 

CFS3 teams regularly used to send out standard online craft packs with the correct matching files again to achieve the same end result.

And now in P3 I am afraid users will have to do this as well as there are now DM mods (since 1.30 via both OFF and user) and recently FOV mods as well as up and coming OFF dynamic DM effects mods that will enforce this.

 

So I have built in some MP managment tools.

I need two MP players to test these tools and basically the build is ready so whoever wants to test please contact us on support email addy:

 

support@overflandersfields.com

 

It is ready for test now... so Winston if you are keen....

 

Finally we cannot attempt to fix what is not brought to our attention nor do we intend to improve 'CFS3 MP'. It certainly is not the best MP sim.

 

We fixed MP soon after release - as it was broken - and since then we have had only one e-mail via support on this and I did reply to all with pointers and agreed that there needs to be investigation into three craft.

 

If there are other issues you need to let us know - I cannot guarantee to fix them but as ALWAYS we will look.

 

I believe the slow feedback on MP is due to the fact that most users are SP?

 

 

HTH

 

 

WM

[+Winder 32]

Guys also if you are not happy with CFS3/OFF MP you do need to say what you are unhappy about as I cannot guess!!

 

I say this with a certain caveat that we echo on our website - we will not improve CFS3 MP functionality - this may change with an 'engine' change but not at the moment.

We will do our best to make sure that OFF MP works as well as it can based on the CFS3 code!

 

Also I am looking forward to seeing how many OFF MPers there are out there!

So vote and reply stating what etc.

 

Ta

 

WM

[Vasco 3]

Winder,

 

Winston and I (and very probably Sitting Duck) would be more than happy to test fully any utilities you put together to enhance multiplayer. Please could you provide a link or other method of downloading the software for testing.

 

Regards,

 

Vasco

[+Winder 32]

Winder,

 

Winston and I (and very probably Sitting Duck) would be more than happy to test fully any utilities you put together to enhance multiplayer. Please could you provide a link or other method of downloading the software for testing.

 

Regards,

 

Vasco

 

 

Great - e-mail us on support and I will e-mail the test patch through as it is less than 7 mb

 

Ta

 

WM

[griphos 0]

Thanks Winder. I appreciate your attention to MP. I'm willing to test your new tools and will send a message to that effect to support.

 

But I voted no to the poll. For me the problem is not so much the mismatch issues (which can, after all, be dealt with by groups if they are attentive...and Madmatt's installer is just the ticket for that problem I think). What's kept me offline lately is the other issues which I suspect, as Winder says, are pretty much hardcoded into CFS3 MP. These issues make dogfighting unplayable for me. Well, I can play it, but I don't enjoy it. Planes don't fly like planes. They often stand on their tails and fly backwards. I can't tell you how many times I've been turning on an enemy plane, have him say 30 or 40 degrees above my wing and trying to get on his tail, so he's basically still in front of me, at least above me, and then he shoots me down. From in front of me!! I have a great computer and fly OFF offline at pretty much max settings with high FPS. It's a lag issue.

 

Planes fly under the ground and then come up again. Planes stand still in the sky.

 

Even in co-op, which is MUCH better and MUCH more enjoyable, there are those odd issues like planes just sitting in space, or vanishing. These are just some of the issues. The jittering, the sudden leaps from one spot to another, etc, also are a bit of a pain. I think that CFS3MP just wasn't coded well, and causes serious lag issues.

 

I'm certainly no expert, and have really only flown MP in OFF and IL2 (heavily modded and which flies MP like a dream compared to OFF MP). I've almost always flown online in OFF through a desktop shortcut to the CFS3MP.exe. I noticed Winder's message on the other thread about this a few days ago and will only fly through the manager in the future. I'm hoping that will help.

 

But I just wanted to mention the issues that really keep me from flying. I'd LOVE to see some of these fixed. I'd LOVE to fly OFF MP a lot more, but as it stands, I'll only fly co-op now, and there are still issues with that which diminish the fun.

[+Winder 32]

Thanks Winder. I appreciate your attention to MP. I'm willing to test your new tools and will send a message to that effect to support.

 

But I voted no to the poll. For me the problem is not so much the mismatch issues (which can, after all, be dealt with by groups if they are attentive...and Madmatt's installer is just the ticket for that problem I think). What's kept me offline lately is the other issues which I suspect, as Winder says, are pretty much hardcoded into CFS3 MP. These issues make dogfighting unplayable for me. Well, I can play it, but I don't enjoy it. Planes don't fly like planes. They often stand on their tails and fly backwards. I can't tell you how many times I've been turning on an enemy plane, have him say 30 or 40 degrees above my wing and trying to get on his tail, so he's basically still in front of me, at least above me, and then he shoots me down. From in front of me!! I have a great computer and fly OFF offline at pretty much max settings with high FPS. It's a lag issue.

 

Planes fly under the ground and then come up again. Planes stand still in the sky.

 

Even in co-op, which is MUCH better and MUCH more enjoyable, there are those odd issues like planes just sitting in space, or vanishing. These are just some of the issues. The jittering, the sudden leaps from one spot to another, etc, also are a bit of a pain. I think that CFS3MP just wasn't coded well, and causes serious lag issues.

 

I'm certainly no expert, and have really only flown MP in OFF and IL2 (heavily modded and which flies MP like a dream compared to OFF MP). I've almost always flown online in OFF through a desktop shortcut to the CFS3MP.exe. I noticed Winder's message on the other thread about this a few days ago and will only fly through the manager in the future. I'm hoping that will help.

 

But I just wanted to mention the issues that really keep me from flying. I'd LOVE to see some of these fixed. I'd LOVE to fly OFF MP a lot more, but as it stands, I'll only fly co-op now, and there are still issues with that which diminish the fun.

 

I only tried MP seriously in the early CFS3 days.

 

Planes flew underground then - warped stuttered and lag was bad...internet connection dependant - any yes Co-op was much better too,

 

So I will attend to OFF Mp functionality but yes we will willnot fix MS CFS3MP issues as we would rather put that effort into a new engine.

 

Thanks - contact us on support!

 

Cheers

 

WM

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Well, I didn't vote as it would be unfair for me to state an opinion since I have only tried MP one time. Please note, however, that my lack of MP time is NOT because of lack of interest. Instead, it is because I rarely have any time after perusing this forum, playing SP, and working on my IDM. Maybe once I finish work on the IDM, I will be able to devote more time to MP.

 

I will say that the one time I tried MP, it was lots of fun! We were testing the IDM and I had no mismatch problems after I installed Madmatt's MP Installer. There was a little bit of stutter, briefly, but I did not see any severe lag. Occasionally, someone got kicked out, but that was pretty rare. All in all, I give OFF MP a thumb's up!

[sitting_duck 3]

I voted yes.....

 

Campaign multiplayer is coming along great. Have done some missions that lasted well over an hour...

 

Stumps "multi skin" squads is going to add a great dimension to multiplay

 

We are flying incredibly detailed planes, over incredible scenery, with some great clouds to look at...

 

I am having way too much fun in this game, and it seems to get better all the time.

 

Its not perfect, but its good points far outway its bad points.

 

Have i said thanks to the devs lately?

[Winston DoRight 3]

...........You have to play MP via OFF so that the hardcode mods become enabled - I carefully explained this in the recent MP reply e-mails I sent out and to date no one has replied to that?........

 

All MP sessions are now conducted by starting MP from the OFF manager. No further CFS3MP.exe starts have been permitted in our group in order to make the bug reports valid to you.

 

Vasco will be getting the "fix" for 1.31L from you and we will test it and let you know.

 

The problem of the AI in our flights crashing on takeoff is now solved by entering MP through the OFF manager. This is welcomed and appreciated information, hence the new rules that require all of us to start OFF MP from the manager from now on. I'm hoping Vasco will take the duties of reporting the problems we encounter to you, as it would seem that would be better than having several people try to explain a "bug" to you in different ways, and the format of reporting would then always be the same.

 

One problem down, a few to go, and thanks for your help so far!