Noob questions

[Broadside uda Barn 0]

Finally got OFF today (and CFS3 as well, both arrived at the same time).

I got OFF installed (didnt need to install CFS3), patched it with all 3 patches, read the whole FAQ and pretty much followed all the recommendations, and read the tips/cheats thread.

If anyone can help me with a few questions, I'd greatly appreciate it:

 

I deleted all the entries for brakes in the controls, so that the brakes on my pedals wouldnt activate.

Did these crates even have brakes? Do I need to reassign them?

 

I followed the suggestions for graphics settings for a high end nvidia card (I have a 260GTX). Many of the settings were different from what I had set for other games, but I havent tweaked them in a long time. Are the suggestions in the FAQ pretty much the best settings for a high end system? Any recommendations?

 

The cockpit is different than I expected. I'm looking over the guns but that's it, and if I press F5, I get 3 gauges that are lapping each other (altitude, speed, compass). I'm assuming this is the virtual cockpit? I assigned a key to the virtual cockpit, but it's basically the same as F3. Is there another view for the cockpit so that I can see all the gauges? (I only have RoF as a reference, which shows gauges, your stick, etc.) (with TrackIR, I can scoot back in my chair and see the stick, and clock, etc, but then I'm too far from my desk to fly! lol )

 

Slightly related to the above: Is there a key to reset trackIR (while in the game) so that the position you are looking at becomes your home view? (for instance, if I set it so that I can see the cockpit from further back in the seat, then when I need to reset to that position, I just hit F12)

 

And which bubble or command in TrackIR will allow me to adjust how far I have to turn my head to see 180 degrees behind me? As it is now, I have to turn my head really far, and can only see the screen thru the corner of my eye!

 

 

Hitting the windows key to go back to the desktop doesnt work. It kind of locks up unless I hit Alt Tab to get it running again. Is there a better way to get to the desktop?

 

How many people are using the hard core damage patch?

 

Any other things I should know?

 

 

Thanks! (and sorry for the lame questions.)

 

Broadside

 

 

 

ps--(I got the pedals working so they're not reversed, deleted the twist rudder, set the details settings to 5 for all except Terrain and Scenery, which are set at 4, TrackIR is working great with the beta drivers)

[themightysrc 5]

Hi Broadside,

 

Glad you got sorted. I'll try to help with one or two of these.

 

There's no brakes - well, none I've ever found! I've given up on the (admittedly useful) ghostly instruments and now get by with the stuff in the cockpit. I find that leaning in towards the instruments makes them fairly readable. F12 is the only way I know of centring, thankfully you can belt it repeatedly until you're happy with the view.

 

As for TIR - if you have to turn your head that far round, it's not set up properly. I think I'm using the standard air combat default, renamed to OFF, and that works a treat for me.

 

No such thing as dumb questions - we were all beginners once (some of us still are!!)

[Hauksbee 103]

Finally got OFF today (and CFS3 as well, both arrived at the same time).

Let the good times roll. And dive, loop, bank...all standard in OFF. You'll be wanting a good supply of 'butt bandages' and a place to store it when the Boche hands it to you, a good .303 Plucker to get the slugs out, and a water pistol for the still-steaming tracer.

I've one foot out the door this morning, but before I'm back, I'm sure all questions will be answered.

[Hellshade 110]

Finally got OFF today (and CFS3 as well, both arrived at the same time).

I got OFF installed (didnt need to install CFS3), patched it with all 3 patches, read the whole FAQ and pretty much followed all the recommendations, and read the tips/cheats thread.

If anyone can help me with a few questions, I'd greatly appreciate it:

 

I deleted all the entries for brakes in the controls, so that the brakes on my pedals wouldnt activate.

Did these crates even have brakes? Do I need to reassign them?

 

I followed the suggestions for graphics settings for a high end nvidia card (I have a 260GTX). Many of the settings were different from what I had set for other games, but I havent tweaked them in a long time. Are the suggestions in the FAQ pretty much the best settings for a high end system? Any recommendations?

 

The cockpit is different than I expected. I'm looking over the guns but that's it, and if I press F5, I get 3 gauges that are lapping each other (altitude, speed, compass). I'm assuming this is the virtual cockpit? I assigned a key to the virtual cockpit, but it's basically the same as F3. Is there another view for the cockpit so that I can see all the gauges? (I only have RoF as a reference, which shows gauges, your stick, etc.) (with TrackIR, I can scoot back in my chair and see the stick, and clock, etc, but then I'm too far from my desk to fly! lol )

 

Slightly related to the above: Is there a key to reset trackIR (while in the game) so that the position you are looking at becomes your home view? (for instance, if I set it so that I can see the cockpit from further back in the seat, then when I need to reset to that position, I just hit F12)

 

And which bubble or command in TrackIR will allow me to adjust how far I have to turn my head to see 180 degrees behind me? As it is now, I have to turn my head really far, and can only see the screen thru the corner of my eye!

 

 

Hitting the windows key to go back to the desktop doesnt work. It kind of locks up unless I hit Alt Tab to get it running again. Is there a better way to get to the desktop?

 

How many people are using the hard core damage patch?

 

Any other things I should know?

 

 

Thanks! (and sorry for the lame questions.)

 

Broadside

 

ps--(I got the pedals working so they're not reversed, deleted the twist rudder, set the details settings to 5 for all except Terrain and Scenery, which are set at 4, TrackIR is working great with the beta drivers)

 

1. There were no breaks on these kites. I believe <shift> M shuts off the engine once you've touched down.

 

2. The graphics recommendations should be good for any game. You can always experiement, but I think you'll be in good shape.

 

3. Set your TrackIR so that you can look down and see your gauges. Believe me when I say though that to survive 95% of the time you need to be looking around for Enemy Airplanes. If you have a Force Feedback joystick (I don't anymore, *sigh*) then you can actually feel when your plane is about to stall out which helps significantly.

 

4. I think you can adjust your default Field of View (FoV) in the Workshop settings.

 

5. I went into TrackIR and turned off all of the axis except 1 at a time X, then Y, then Z, etc and adjusted each setting to my perference. It's less confusing to do it when you are only dealing with one axis at a time.

 

6. I use Alt Tab myself so if there is a better method I'd like to hear it.

 

7. According to a recent poll, the majority of people use the Hardcore Damage Model.

 

8. Yes. Perpare to die a lot, especially if you fly "Dead is Dead" rules. It's not the worst idea in the world to start a Test Pilot, change your Workshop settings to "Easiest : Pilot Never Dies" and run a lot of practice Quick Combat flights to get used to the different types of planes. You just have to fly an SE5A and then a Sopwith Camel to get an idea of how different the flight models for the craft really are. All that said, prepare to have the most complete and immersive WWI air campaign experience you have ever had. There is so much to do in OFF, you'll be discovering stuff for years. Welcome to Over Flanders Fields.

 

Hellshade

Edited July 11, 2009 by Hellshade

[77Scout 3]

The [ and ] keys are useful for adjusting the Field of View (zoom) on the fly. If you have a big monitor you can zoom all the way out and see more of the cockpit and more of the sky. Still, to see the guages you normally will have to look down into the cockpit like a real pilot did. You can't see everything (sky and guages) all the time.

[Broadside uda Barn 0]

I'm getting about 25 fps from a backed up view of the cockpit, and about 60 from right over the guns. Also getting white jagged boxes when I pan right or left quickly with TrackIR. I remember reading something about this in the help file I think....

 

 

Somethings odd....I actually get better fps in RoF with bloom effects on than with OFF. Gotta figure this out.

[Broadside uda Barn 0]

I assigned the virtual cockpit to the joystick.

 

I have 896mb memory on my video card.

 

Just spent the last hour + updating my driver, but the newest one 186.18 seems to crash OFF hard.

I couldnt even do a rollback, it was that bad...nightmare. Couldnt even restore to earlier point, the driver

borged things horribly.

I get this error message:

The Nv4 display driver has stopped functioning. And this happens when I use trackIR to look left...it locks things up not the first time, but the 23nd or 3rd look.

 

Interestingly, RoF doesnt have this problem. Looks good, no white triangles even if I snap my look behind me.

So it's not a driver issue with TrackIR.

 

So it must be something in OFF or CFS3. I guess I'll have to try and reinstall everything from scratch to see if that fixes it.

Any other ideas?

Edited July 11, 2009 by Broadside uda Barn

[Broadside uda Barn 0]

reloading to my original drivers. If that doesnt work, I'll have to nuke the drivers completely and reinstall the card from scratch. Hopefully that'll solve the lockup problem in OFF. Come too far to not have it work.

 

I'll start a post in the tech forum.

Thx

[77Scout 3]

I'm getting about 25 fps from a backed up view of the cockpit, and about 60 from right over the guns. Also getting white jagged boxes when I pan right or left quickly with TrackIR. I remember reading something about this in the help file I think....

 

Somethings odd....I actually get better fps in RoF with bloom effects on than with OFF. Gotta figure this out.

 

Your framerates are similar to mine, and about normal for a decent computer (e.g. E8400 processor, 8800GT vid).

 

With fast head movements, some white jaggies are normal, unfortunately . I have been able to reduce them with some graphics settings tweaks, but not eliminate them. If someone has eliminated them completely, maybe they can advertise the secret (maybe using one of the very latest/fasted vid-cards?)

 

It makes sense that ROF will have smoother graphics. It is ten years newer and is (I believe) optimised for dual core processors, etc. This is one of the few areas I would give ROF the nod over OFF. In most other aspects of simulating the real WW1 experience, OFF is still far ahead in my opinion. Nice that you are set up to try both.

[Olham 164]

Broadside, you may have to change some things for better fraps. One of them was the actual

Maximum Fraps = 0, that should be changed to = 35 or more. But you must check the FAQs

or hope, someone else remembers. Also, certain setting have to be clicked or unclicked in

"Graphic settings". If you can't find it, I may look tomorrow - too tired now. Good night...

[Olham 164]

Broadside and Scout,

I have an older system than you two, but my OFF performs great.

 

So I have made screenshots of my "Graphics config" settings.

You find them in "workshop" under:

 

graphics config > file > custom settings (ignore warning) >window > overrides

 

You should not move the sliders in 'texture info' (at least I think that; not sure) -

just click or unclick the boxes.

 

For the max fraps, hope someone else remembers.

[Olham 164]

PS: Disable advisor messages, simulation warnings and target cone is after my "DiD Standard taste",

you can have them on; they don't "eat" fraps and may help.

[+Polovski 425]

Welcome Broadside if you are in campaign there's an lot of stuff going on around you on the ground, battles across the whole front etc (not just near you for effect or whatever). Intensity of which also co-incide with real major battles.

 

Also 1000's of trees are generated far out to the horizon, which looks good. We don't just show trees near to the player for example.

 

There can be 200 craft or more in the air all doing real missions all around you too. Lots going on eats some FPS.

 

With some tweaking you should be able to get the fps up. The TIPS page is just a start, others have better setups perhaps.

 

Some pics of cockpit view you don't like would help.

 

You can change FoV in workshops with the latest patch. 23/16 is zoomed in to natural angle, but you can say set 25/19 or wider.

 

Play with AA settings too and make sure you run it on max res. Try scenery or terrain on 3 and then go up to 4 if it's good.

 

Sounds bad if the driver falls over. Could also be some errors on the PC or in the registry maybe worth checking those too.

 

Check out Alacrity tips by Homeboy (links on FAQ page) for freeing up memory and resources which may help, could be 1 or 2 background programs something doesn't like.

Also he has TrackIR setup tips (For V4 I think but may be usable).

 

RoF and OFF use completely different engines so can't directly compare things that work in one and not in the other.

[Condor44 0]

Go here http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n199/sn...diaSettings.png for Homeby's nVidia settings and here http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n199/sn...figSettings.png for his in game graphics settings. Note that in the nvidia settings you should set your resolution to the max supported by your monitor. He and I use 19200 x 1200 becuase we both have 24" LCDs that support that resolution. You mayl need to set a different resolution depending on your monitor. Homeby and I both have nVidia GT8800 cards. Mine has 512Mb of memory. His as 640. The graphics are outstanding with his settings. He started with the settings in the homepage an they did not work well for his card. I was fortunate to be able to get his settings and not go through a whole lot of work. As he would say, there is no guarantee, becuase every machine is different, but the settings have worked very well for me.

[Olham 164]

Don't know if it does anything good, but since my performance is good, I'll mention it - may someone

with deeper knowledge comment it:

I have ALWAYS, when I fly the sim, my virus protection shield switched off (of course I'm not connected then!)

Advice of a friend - he said, those programs can check things to be loaded, in the background, and delay the

whole process.

Edited July 12, 2009 by Olham

[Broadside uda Barn 0]

Your framerates are similar to mine, and about normal for a decent computer (e.g. E8400 processor, 8800GT vid).

 

With fast head movements, some white jaggies are normal, unfortunately . I have been able to reduce them with some graphics settings tweaks, but not eliminate them. If someone has eliminated them completely, maybe they can advertise the secret (maybe using one of the very latest/fasted vid-cards?)

 

It makes sense that ROF will have smoother graphics. It is ten years newer and is (I believe) optimised for dual core processors, etc. This is one of the few areas I would give ROF the nod over OFF. In most other aspects of simulating the real WW1 experience, OFF is still far ahead in my opinion. Nice that you are set up to try both.

 

Thanks Scout. This makes so much sense.

I finally was able to revert to my original drivers ( 181.22 dated 2/7/09) and everything is stable again....no crashes or lockups.

I guess I was expecting very fluid graphics and FPS because of my system, but you're so right, an older program isnt going to necessarily run things as well.

 

I'm glad I can compare RoF and OFF. For my 2 cents, they are both necessary :yes:

 

I'm just going to live with the jaggies until we can find a solution...newer drivers isnt it!

 

Olham, thanks for the images. I copied most of those (they are very similar to the ones in the graphics FAQ) settings.

 

I'm off to search for the maximum fraps location.

 

 

One more noob question: how do I stop my plane? I can land, reduce throttle, but I just keep going until I hit a tree and die a horrid and conspicuous death. Cant find the command to turn off engine...thanks!

[Olham 164]

I think, UncleAl will say, this isn't the right way, but I use the command for

"Magneto off" - that's Shift+M, or Ctrl.+M - just look into the command keys chart HomeBoy made,

above in the stickies.

[Broadside uda Barn 0]

If you READ the Sticky OFF Tips & Cheats rather than just glance over them as most tend to do. You'll find a wealth of information,

 

Al--I actually read so much over the last couple of days, some of it twice, that I forgot much of what I read, or worse, where I read it.

 

Thanks Olham. You've been VERY helpful!

 

Thanks Condor! I copied those settings and am getting 50+ fps. very smooth...and no white jaggies at all! Doesnt matter how fast I spin or snap my view....makes me wonder what was the difference.

Homeboy, you have any clue what might be causing it?

also, since my 260gtx has a bit of umph, got any recommendations on what I can adjust for better quality?

[Mr. Lucky 0]

Several ways to stop.

After landing, and slowed enough, stick full back. This causes the tail skid to 'dig in'.

Also gentle turns on the ground can slow you down.

If necessary, when you get close to where you want to stop, shut down your engine.

I read a WWI book where they cut the engine just before landing. This is very useful for the lighter birds. But, it leaves you stranded in the middle of the field and the ground crew doesn't like to tow the aircraft all the way to the hangar.

 

You can either use mixture cut off or magneto cut off to shut your engine down in both cases, but it's a one-way ticket. No restart, so if you shut down just before landing, you need to be sure. In OFF , generally not a problem.