Stiffy 1 Posted October 4, 2009 Are there any plans to add early war aircraft to the game? I dont have the game yet so stop me if its already in there! I'd love to fly in 1915... or even observation flights in 1914! Some planes i'd love to see.. Vickers Gunbus Taube Caudron G3 Moraine Saulnier Type N Anyone know of any other early aircraft that made it into service? have to admit i dont know a great deal about 14/15. You could even include unarmed planes with the option of a handgun/rifle... perhaps working like a single shot turret? And of course theres records of dropping bricks through enemy planes! ... as i say i dont yet have the game so not sure if it is set up for observation missions. would also be great when the eindekker first turns up, seeing if you can survive long enough to get your DH2 delivered! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UK_Widowmaker 571 Posted October 4, 2009 I'm quite a fan of the early air war too...but as Uncleal says, not much action around! Eventually it may be in the 'OFF'(ing) to see some more early aircraft...but I think the team are currently up to their necks in getting the Expansion done. And, as a mad keen Skinner...I don't think the early birds would be much fun Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rickitycrate 10 Posted October 4, 2009 (edited) All of those would be great and maybe one day we'll see them. AFAIK for now we can expect the Morane "Parasol" before too long along with some later year crates. Now I'm not sure about the parasol..... I know we've discussed it alot. I know in good time our devs. will continue to take care of us. That's why we have Phases Edited October 4, 2009 by Rickitycrate Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
itifonhom 6 Posted October 4, 2009 I'd like to see some early birds too! At least one Parasol, just to simulate the Fokker Scourge. I know it's boring early '15 but the view is wonderful and if a Frenchie shows up then the party can start! But Jasta 2 in September '16 is wonderful too! itifonhom Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Lucky 0 Posted October 5, 2009 Don't forget the Voisins. I don't think I want to get into 1915 either due to the lack of air activity, but these all could help fill out early 1916. Besides,it'll all be over by Christmas! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
carrick58 23 Posted October 5, 2009 Yes, More cannon fodder please. or signal recon aircraft instead of flights of the silly beggers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Waldemar Kurtz 1 Posted October 5, 2009 I'm quite a fan of the early air war too...but as Uncleal says, not much action around! Eventually it may be in the 'OFF'(ing) to see some more early aircraft...but I think the team are currently up to their necks in getting the Expansion done. And, as a mad keen Skinner...I don't think the early birds would be much fun but think of all the fun you could have changing serial numbers! :p to be fair, the early machines didn't have a lot of colorful paint schemes. most aces could only be "identified" by the serial number on their aircraft-- which is something we'd only have the luxury of doing now! I don't think people would be going "on no! it's E.I 13/15! I'd better run for the hills lest I become another unhappy victim of..." the Voisin served in some for or another for almost the entire war-- even if by the war's end they were only flying night-bombing raids. some of those Farmans actually had really interesting paint schemes-- like that famous Belgian "Death's Head" Farmans... those things looked awesome! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UK_Widowmaker 571 Posted October 5, 2009 some of those Farmans actually had really interesting paint schemes-- like that famous Belgian "Death's Head" Farmans... those things looked awesome! Actually Yes, thats true!...but it must be a pig trying to find colour Pics of these guys to copy? (I'm going to get Inundated now arent I?) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flyby PC 23 Posted October 5, 2009 I'd like to see some early birds too. I'm not impressed with the arguments that early flights were dull affairs. There are all sorts of challenges which could keep you interested. First is control, and actually being able to fly the thing and land it. You could simulate early pilots waving to each other, and like Stiffy says, bricks, darts pistols, and all sorts to chuck around. You could also play with cameras, - build missions to screen capture mission goals. The Tabloid was the first British Aircraft to bomb Germany, and once also drove down a Fokker by chucking metal darts at it. And with regards to single shot weapons, I remember reading somewhere someone getting three 'kills' in one flight using a shotgun. -( This might even have been the Tabloid too???). Whatever comes forward from the team, I'm looking forward to it. They've already set the bar very high, and I think it's safe to say that future developments are in safe hands, whichever direction they take us. There's also the American factor to bear in mind too, in that early aircraft are perhaps of less interest to the wider U.S. flight sim community, for obvious reasons. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stiffy 1 Posted October 5, 2009 There's also the American factor to bear in mind too, in that early aircraft are perhaps of less interest to the wider U.S. flight sim community, for obvious reasons. Not so sure about that... most americans seem to favour German planes! :) I'd forgotten about the tabloid, yes that would be fantastic. Would be great to have real photographic missions etc and would make for interesting gameplay. Its easy to fall into the trap of assuming the only interesting activity is dogfighting.... there was so much more to the skills of a pilot/observer. Just survivng the flight would be a challenge in itself.... instability of craft, ground fire, and i love the idea of pistol dueling a taube pilot from 40 feet away! And dont forget some early craft like the gunbus had fixed front facing machine guns, i think it would be great fun and a great challenge fighting an early 2 seater while strugling to keep your plane in the air. Seems the potential is there to create the first game to include the whole of ww1 avaition rather than just the stuff that appeals to the mass market. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stiffy 1 Posted October 5, 2009 For anyone not familiar with early aircraft... Taube Narrator really can't pronouce Taube! Caudron G3 Sopwith Tabloid Moraine saulnier type L.... (is it moraine or morane? oppinion on the internet seems divided..) Not the morane everyone usually thinks of! very early.. even a record of one pilot fitting a machine gun in 1914! Not sure if there are any working replica Morane saulnier type N? or Vickers Gunbus? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullethead 12 Posted October 5, 2009 Not so sure about that... most americans seem to favour German planes! I dunno. I mostly fly for the Republique in 1916, for the King in 1917 and early 1918, and for Texas in late 1918. The only time I fly for the Kaiser is in mid-late 1918 when they're really up against the hordes. Its easy to fall into the trap of assuming the only interesting activity is dogfighting.... there was so much more to the skills of a pilot/observer. Just survivng the flight would be a challenge in itself.... To each his own. But IMHO that's what non-combat Flight Simulator is for. Folks have made lots of anemic early planes for that. In the meantime, if you have to see such things in OFF, feel free to make your own. Gmax and the necessary CFS3 SDKs are free. All it takes is knowing how to use the tools, which comes with practice. So pick some plane and see what you can do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hasse Wind 46 Posted October 5, 2009 The problem with the early air war (1914-1915) is that not much of interest happens compared to the later war years. Air combat was very rare and mostly ineffective before machine guns became common. So it would be mostly flying recon missions, which are very boring without enemy activity. If we really had cameras in OFF and actually had to take photos of various targets, things would be different, but now recon missions are nothing but flying from one waypoint to another. I don't mind having peaceful, uneventful missions every now and then, but if I must fly for weeks and months without ever spotting enemy aircraft and never having to fight against them, I'll lose interest. It's not my idea of fun in a combat flight simulator. What we really need in OFF is more two-seaters. Now there are too few of them compared to single-seaters - we shouldn't forget that two-seaters were always more common in the air than the scouts designed to hunt them. The French for example currently have no two-seaters at all (except for some Strutters in service for a short time), which is a problem when you fly as a German fighter pilot in a sector with only French squadrons on the Entente side. I understand that OBD has very limited resources, but I hope we'll get also new two-seaters in the future and not only fighters. I'd rather get new bombers and reconnaissance planes which were produced in large numbers and had a major role to play in the war than some obscure late war fighters which saw very limited service in the final weeks of the war. Of course I won't turn down any new plane add-on packs, but the two-seaters should be a top priority for historical reasons, and for giving us fighter jockeys more crates to shoot down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted October 5, 2009 (edited) Boys, from all I have learnt about OFF and the devs, I dare to assume, that they won't stop, until they have the aircombat of WW1 complete. What they do first and what they do later, remains their secret, but I'm sure, they'll do it all! So we will sooner or later get Morane Parasol, more two-seaters, all Nupe variants, all Fokkers and Rolands, Siemens-Schuckert and Pfalz D XII, maybe even the early Taube. But only they know when. As for me: I have the patience to wait for the planes to come. Edited October 5, 2009 by Olham Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flyby PC 23 Posted October 5, 2009 The other factor in favour of the early stuff is the educational aspect. I've learned TONS of stuff about WW1 just by flying OFF, and I've also been inspired to read a lot more. Talk about bringing history to life... Big problem is that the early years saw all sorts of flying machines adapted for military service, but bar the French, little standardisation. According to Wiki, for all it's contribution, there were only 40 actual Tabloids built (though more variations were built too). It's a lot of work to recreate a 'token' gesture, but it depends on how 'token' you think it is. It's still a very fitting tribute to the early pilots. The other complication is having the correct 1914 context to fly in. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rickitycrate 10 Posted October 5, 2009 To answer Stiffy and other new guys; As stated by the OBD dev team work is going on towards add-on plane packs, Phase 4 and who knows what secrets they may be keeping close to the vest. It is very kind of them to share the information that they do share. Our "heroes", the OBD team continue to add to the OFF world and carry over their good work from phase to phase. As long as the team has the heart and we give them encouragement I think we will see additional planes and improvements for the forseeable future. I don't mean to speak for OBD but Winder, Pol et al are consistant in their statements and this is the understanding that I have. Meanwhile the flying is great and I appreciate having more goodness to look forward to. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bullethead 12 Posted October 5, 2009 They took up some heavy hardware early on. Yup, and they had armor for the aircrew in 1914, "jet" engines in 1910, helicopters of a sort in 1909, etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
