FE Immersion

[Mike Dora 171]

I've read a lot in the OFF forum about the immersion factor of that excellent sim, so I thought I'd share a recollection of a recent very immersive mission in FE.

 

 

I was running the Operation Michael campaign, using Stary's new terrain & effects mods and Panama Red's recent realistic sky mod. My persona was Lt Tom Cundall of 46 Sqn, flying a Clerget Camel (readers of Yeates' classic "Winged Victory" will understand).

 

It started as a simple morning four-machine Offensive Patrol over the Hun lines. Recently I've re-set the starting position to "on the ground", so that I can enjoy Stary's new terrain as I take off and climb out. The early Spring countryside looked very nice, turning green with just the occasional field still showing signs of frost. The trip to the Lines was uneventful, though there was quite a lot of cloud about. Even at this stage in the war it was sad to see how the villages closer to the Lines show the ravages of almost four years of conflict.

 

Shortly after crossing the lines at about 8000ft, we spotted a couple of Hun 2-seaters heading out to do their morning mischief. We swung round to take them from the east, and after a quick scan to make sure that no other HA were in sight I gave the signal to attack. I took on the right-hand Hun, which turned but to be a remarkably tough-skinned DFW. I must have hit him with a couple of hundred rounds, but he simply refused to go down. This was odd, because often only a few dozen hits suffices, and I have known EA go down with the pilot killed after only the shortest of bursts. Maybe I was firing from too far away. Mind you I must have hit the gunner, because during the engagement I noticed that he wasn't firing back any more.

 

In the end I heard the ominous "click" meaning that I had shot off all of my ammunition. Time to go home Tom. But as I gave the "reform" signal, I realised that the rest of the flight, and the other DFW, were nowhere to be seen. To be seen instead were a couple of Tripes and an Albatros, heading straight for me...

 

So it was stuff the nose down and get the hell out. Went down to tree-top level, and ran away bravely to the west. Shades of Biggles hedge-hopping back to the safety of the Lines! One of the Tripes started taking pot-shots at me, and soon I was using all the tricks, swinging into the last line of fire, skidding sideways, popping up then diving to the side, and all the time tracers were flashing by so close I swear I could almost smell the cordite. Often I would see the dirt kicking up from bullet striked on either side or in front, and often (too often) I would hear the clacking sound of bullets hitting my Camel.

 

After a few minutes of this the Lines arrived, and I began to breath a wee bit easier. Everyone knows that the Hun prefers to stay on his side of the Lines, right? Wrong!! This one followed me over, shooting all the time, with his mates close behind. Thank God he was in a Tripe, so that he wasn't actually fast enough to catch up. So now it was time to get down really low, go like hell and hope to get home in time for the mid-morning tea and toast without twisting so hard that I gave the other chap time to catch up. BTW this is where Stary's new terrain really starred (sorry.. )

 

To cut a long story short, I made it back to my home airfield with the engine still running full chat, and not enough airframe damage to seriously hinder my machine's flying ability. So I plonked her down as quick as I could and as close as I could get to one of the ack-ack MGs, which was already blazing away at my pursuer. To give him credit, he came all the way, and tried to shoot me up on the ground on my own home airfield!

 

As he zoomed overhead, I saw for the first time. It was a Fokker Triplane alright. An all-red Fokker Triplane...

 

At this point all I wanted to do was run and hide in the kitchen!!!

 

The other two Huns then turned up and took a couple of pot-shots before heading home, the other Tripe was flown by von Wedel, I recognised his "wheel", and the Albatros carried Flashar's well-known dragon. Not sure how much I'm looking forward to the next mission in this campaign, now that I know who we have for neighbours..

 

 

BTW only one of the other three chaps made it back, and they didn't get their DFW either.

 

Mike

[Heck 496]

Thanks for sharing this story, Mike. Your tale of hedgehopping back across the lines with the Huns in hot pursuit certainly reminds me of many moments I've had in this sim. I sometimes fly in the sim just for the beauty of it, buzzing French Villes and practicing aerobatics, swanning about I think they used to call it, finishing my flight by spinning down over the aerodrome as I've read one German aviator whose name escapes me at the moment used to do. And I can honestly say that First Eagles is the first combat flight sim that I've flown non-combat since Red Baron 3d.

[Southside Bucky 1]

Yeah, nice report, Mike.

 

You're right...Once you have the game set up just how you want it, it's right up there with the best of 'em. In fact, using Peter01's (Gawd bless him!) flight models the AI aggression factor is probably the best there is!

[+Tailspin 3]

I'd almost guarantee 99% of those who say FE isn't "immersive" enough for them haven't spent much time with it. Next time those beggars give chase try and fly over as many friendly airfields as you can on the way home and give our boys on the ground a chance at them.

[+quack74 329]

If you go to the A-Team Skunkworks Site, http://cplengineeringllc.com/SFP1/, you'll find a download of AA Gunners (single man armed machineguns). If you place them in your ground objects folder they appear at random all over the map. Also around all the airfields. They shoot some good bursts with tracers. They will help take care of those vultures that follow you home. You can find it under weapons and vehicles. You do need a password though. It's easy.

Edited September 1, 2009 by quack74

[Mike Dora 171]

If you go to the A-Team Skunkworks Site, http://cplengineeringllc.com/SFP1/, you'll find a download of AA Gunners (single man armed machineguns). If you place them in your ground objects folder they appear at random all over the map. Also around all the airfields. They shoot some good bursts with tracers. They will help take care of those vultures that follow you home. You can find it under weapons and vehicles. You do need a password though. It's easy.

 

Q74,

 

You must be telepathic. I was about to post a thread asking how to place multiple machine gunners around balloons, to make them riskier to attack (BTW Stary's new balloon-busting effects are excellent, far far better than the original). Be good to place some 37mm ack-ack there too, maybe that would give the famous "Flaming Onions" effect?

 

Mike

[+quack74 329]

Hey Mike Dora, have you tried the Armed Balloons method by WarlordATF? http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=7544.

Adding AAA around Balloons is very time consuming. It has to be done in the Terrain files ex: Cambria/ types.ini files etc, etc. Every coordinate there is for a balloon, you can add a AAA gun around the Balloon by changing the coordinates just a hair. I havnt done it yet but it can be done. There is a thread for it I think from a couple of months back. I dont know the link to it. But look around. It can be done easily. Just time consuming.

[Southside Bucky 1]

You guys do have Peter01's latest campaigns pack, don't you?

 

It contains all the ground fire objects you could possibly want, IMO...Brings the ground war alive!

 

Here's a link to it:

 

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=9240

[+quack74 329]

Have not tried it yet. On the list of things to try out for sure. It's hard to keep up these days with all the good stuff available.

[Hansa 12]

Add a bunch of aces to your campaing data files along with their proper skins (thanks quack74) and you feel like an ace.

 

I made my custom cambrai campaing for Edward's flanders with many skins for the fokkers and it looks amazing and adds a very immersive gameplay.

 

In some missions i fought the Red Baron and his brother along with many other aces like Voss (maybe it's not 100 % historical but it's a lot of fun)

[+Tailspin 3]

Airfield MG mod you say? Go here.

 

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=6202

 

Get your 37mm guns here and subsitute one of these for one of the AAMGs.

 

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=6165

 

Or as suggested, download Peter01's last campaign files and all the hard work is done for you.

 

You want BRIDGES with AA protection? Go here.

 

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=6201

 

Stand by and I'll post my terrain target .ini for Cambrai so you can do brigdes for Cambrai too.

[+Tailspin 3]

OK. Here is the Cambrai targets.ini. It already contains all the coordinates for AA MGs, Bridges, and Bridge AA defenses. All the necessary bits to get them to work should be in the Verdun Bridges and or AAMG mod in the above links. Don't forget the Sandbag pit mod too if its not included...frankly I did these so long ago I don't remember. Set up for the Cambrai TYPES.ini will be exactly the same as the Verdun TYPES.ini so just copy and paste the pertinate info to the Cambrai TYPES.ini. Like I said its been a while since I made these so if you have problems let me know and we'll fix it.

WWICAMBRAI_TARGETS.zip

[Southside Bucky 1]

Bridges for Cambrai?...Now yer talkin'!

 

I never venture south...Only ever fly the British sector.

[+Tailspin 3]

BTW...that file is my working modding file so if you find anything strange like a bridge turned the wrong way or something like that its because I started doing one and didn't get around to "tweaking" it. Sorry folks. This is one of those projects that I started on but never cleaned up and posted. It should be very nearly complete though and is certainly OK to use. I use it everyday when I fly FE.

[Mike Dora 171]

Hey Mike Dora, have you tried the Armed Balloons method by WarlordATF? http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=7544.

Adding AAA around Balloons is very time consuming. It has to be done in the Terrain files ex: Cambria/ types.ini files etc, etc. Every coordinate there is for a balloon, you can add a AAA gun around the Balloon by changing the coordinates just a hair. I havnt done it yet but it can be done. There is a thread for it I think from a couple of months back. I dont know the link to it. But look around. It can be done easily. Just time consuming.

 

Thanks Quack74,

 

No I haven't installed armed balloons, because I don't think that's very realistic. The balloonatics didn't hang around to take pot-shots with a Lee-Enfield or a Mauser or whatever, they jumped! It's a shame that the FE engine doesn't seem to include the ability to show parachutes.

 

I'm thinking of doing instead what you suggest above, placing a few more guns around the base of each balloon. What I'm looking for is a sky full of tracers as well as archie bursts when a balloon is attacked. So, one last question - to place an MG or a 37mm near a balloon, what title should I use instead of "AAA"? (I'm assuming that placing an "AAA" gives a 13pdr or a 77mm FlaK gun)

 

Thanks

 

Mike

[+Tailspin 3]

Mike,

 

The mods I did for the 37mm and AAMGs are already set up as different objects than AAA. Everything for setting them up is in the readme. To put them around balloons all you need to do is find the offset coordinates.

[Southside Bucky 1]

 

No I haven't installed armed balloons, because I don't think that's very realistic...

 

 

 

I'm with you there Mike. Good fun as that mod no doubt is, historical accuracy is what I prefer. Hence, it's the only 'ground fire' mod that I haven't used.

 

Also, for a bit more realism, I can recommend the little adjustment I made recently in deleting the bullet hit flashes and the long, thick yellow tracers...Much more authentic, if you ask me.

Edited September 2, 2009 by Southside Bucky

[Emp_Palpatine 501]

Good topics, lots of usefull stuff!

 

Should be a sticky!

[Mike Dora 171]

Add a bunch of aces to your campaing data files along with their proper skins (thanks quack74) and you feel like an ace.

 

I made my custom cambrai campaing for Edward's flanders with many skins for the fokkers and it looks amazing and adds a very immersive gameplay.

 

In some missions i fought the Red Baron and his brother along with many other aces like Voss (maybe it's not 100 % historical but it's a lot of fun)

 

 

That's a good idea Hansa, how does one include an ace and his aircraft in a campaign file? What text goes where?

 

Mike