Can someone explain to me what in the heck just happened?

[Javito1986 14]

Long time flight sim player, mostly RB3D and Rowan's Battle of Britain. OFF arrived this afternoon and I'm loving every bit of it.

 

Here's the trouble though. Mission 2 of my career I was following my squadron through a dense cloud formation. Weather was nasty, very stormy. Think we were going after a British scout or something. Anyway I maintained visibility with them through the mist more or less well, was being very careful as I'm aware of the dangers clouds can pose. Didn't expect things to happen the way they did though...

 

Hard to explain after the fact. I think the plane seemed to shoot upward and I THINK I was spinning... hard to tell when you're in the middle of a cloud. Eventually I caught glimpses of the ground in between round abouts and it was pretty obvious I was getting tossed about every which way. "Danger excessive speed" "Stall imminent" messages left and right. Realized I was pretty much screwed at this point. In the end I really didn't even feel myself crash, the spinning just seemed to stop and the screen went red. I felt like Albert Ball.

 

So... yea. What in the heck could have happened to me?!?!?!?!

 

Another question I have about it is that in the Workshop I'm set to 'Dead Is Dead'. In RB3D I became accustomed to permanently losing pilots, so I thought I'd carry on the tradition here. Trouble is the game didn't register me as having died. Or having crashed at all. Debrief was relatively routine and I was able to carry onto the next mission. A bit confusing to be honest. In Mission 1 I took it upon myself to attack a group of DH2s (if my RB3D memory serves me), got riddled, and made a rather spotty landing on the German side of no man's land. Hit a tree. Got a "pilot damaged" message and the sim ended. There was no mention of the crash then either but I figured that was because I was just lucky and survived (was not going fast when I hit the tree). It's happened twice now and I'm a bit confused by it all however.

 

While I'm here, I'm having a bloody tough time managing rudder, trim, ailerons, elevator with the keyboard and I'm not really sure when to use what. I also notice that it's hard for me to gain altitude or keep up with the squadron. Any where I can read up on how to 'get the most' out of my plane using the engine and flight controls?

 

Thanks in advance chaps!

[FastCargo 412]

Here's the trouble though. Mission 2 of my career I was following my squadron through a dense cloud formation. Weather was nasty, very stormy. Think we were going after a British scout or something. Anyway I maintained visibility with them through the mist more or less well, was being very careful as I'm aware of the dangers clouds can pose. Didn't expect things to happen the way they did though...

 

Hard to explain after the fact. I think the plane seemed to shoot upward and I THINK I was spinning... hard to tell when you're in the middle of a cloud. Eventually I caught glimpses of the ground in between round abouts and it was pretty obvious I was getting tossed about every which way. "Danger excessive speed" "Stall imminent" messages left and right. Realized I was pretty much screwed at this point. In the end I really didn't even feel myself crash, the spinning just seemed to stop and the screen went red. I felt like Albert Ball.

 

So... yea. What in the heck could have happened to me?!?!?!?!

 

Sounds like exactly what would happen flying an ultralight into a building storm. The violent up and downdrafts would probably rip such an aircraft to shreds.

 

FC

[Rickitycrate 10]

Are you current with all the patches? There used to be terrible turbulence in the clouds but that's been fixed. Please click on the banner at the top of this page and check for the patches and do them in order if you have not. Welcome to OFF btw.

Edited January 24, 2010 by Rickitycrate

[carrick58 23]

Wecome to the meat grinder where Taps is the number 1 tune. I play BoB II also its fun. Both of these games have a steep learning curve. Fun Times.

[Winston DoRight 3]

......... having a bloody tough time managing rudder, trim, ailerons, elevator with the keyboard and I'm not really sure when to use what.............

 

Are you using the keyboard for flight? If so, get a cheap joystick w/ throttle and see the difference. IMHO this sim really can't be flown properly with digital keystrokes where analog input is used (pitch, yaw, roll).

[Bullethead 12]

Welcome aboard, Javito! New guy buys the drinks .

 

I think Rickity is correct--the various patches have tamed the once-fearsome clouds. When OFF originally came out, you'd get sucked away like Dorothy and Toto just getting near the things, but now you can fly through most of them with no problem. There's usually a bit of turbulence insdie, but generally it's no worse than outside. On stormy days, though, that turbulence can knock you off level and without an artificial horizon, you sometimes don't know you've gotten into the Deadman's Spiral until you come out the bottom of the cloud.

 

Before the patches, though, I had a real adventure. I was going upwards at over 5000fpm with zero forward airspeed while inverted and slightly nose down . Glad that sort of thing doesn't happen anymore.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

A big welcome from me as well Javito. After your cloud adventure you can now say you've had your first initiation into the wonderful world of OFF. As mentioned, it does sound like you need the update, however I still don't recommend flying into large storm clouds even after you have that installed.

 

Now then barkeep, as it is still a bit early for a pint'a I will instead have a large mug of fresh, hot coffee with a bit of cream, and a shot of your best Irish single malt on the side; on Javie's tab of course.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

.

[Olham 164]

Welcome, Javie!

Even with "dead is dead" setting, the sim decides, whether you died of a crash or not.

That does not always happen in a believeable way (like in your cloud case), but maybe

in a future version.

 

From your last bit, it looks as if you fly without a joystick?

If so - that is something you should change quickly. You need a stick for really piloting

such a craft, and rudder was very important.

So either get a decent twist stick, where you control rudder by twisting it,

or get pedals (but that is of course more expensive).

 

The Thrustmaster T.Flightstick X works alright for me, and it's only about 30,- Euro.

 

And when you REALLY get into LOVING this early combat, you should get the view devise

"TrackIR Pro" one day. It's about 125,- Euro, but worth every cent - you feel like you are

really in the cockpit, looking around.

 

Oh, and please give me your hometown and country/state for the OFF Pilots map, okay?

[OvS 8]

Hello Javito...

 

What version of OFF are you playing? Between Heaven and Hell or Phase 2? Are you current with all updates?

 

Thanks,

 

OvS

[Javito1986 14]

This is the first sim I've seen with killer clouds!

 

Thanks for the warm welcome :-). I went out this morning and was browsing joysticks for this game, flying is much easier now. I -did- have one in the RB3D/BoB days but that was quite busted.

 

Anyway, I have Phase 3 and Hat in the Ring. Was experiencing some anomalies (failure to load missions and such) but after I reinstalled everything I made sure to patch up BHH to v.132 BEFORE installing Hat in the Ring (yesterday I just installed HitR right after installing BHH). No more anomalies.

 

PS. My second pilot career just ended I'm afraid. The flight log states "Died in the line of duty. Total flying time: 1 minute". Yes, 1 minute. I quite literally took off from the airfield in an SE5, was riddled by bullets from a diving Albatross, crashed and died. It was simultaneously pathetic and awesome :-p

 

PPS. I do have one question! I read somewhere in the FAQ that I can change the options so that I don't have to fly 2 - 3 missions in one in-game day? I'm in December 20, 1917 right now and I'd like to have at least a minuscule chance of surviving to see 1918, but if that's 11 days away I quite doubt I'll survive the 20 - 30 sorties necessary to get there :)

Edited January 24, 2010 by Javito1986

[Javito1986 14]

That's quite a statement, about the 'Killer Clouds,' that's the way it is in real life, why should this be any different ?

 

 

 

 

 

Yea, true. But coming off of the other older flight sims I've been playing til now it's new to me :-)

[Rickitycrate 10]

Hi Javito. It's a noble Idea to have a long campaign and live to the end of the war. You can do that by selecting pilot never dies in Workshop. You can do a great many things in the Workshop it's your sim/game. AFAIK you can select "Light" in the Campaign Mission Frequency" box and have fewer daily missions or you can select time advance when you are in Campaign mode rather than going to the briefing room. Time Advance is just below the Briefing Room button. Enjoy yourself.

[Javito1986 14]

I notice other squadmates go on leave. Does the player ever go on leave? I'm in April '18 flying three missions a day under the historical setting (figured I'd leave it historical) and I saw an option called "Pilot Fatigue" somewhere... can your pilot get tired out from all this frequent flying and near death experiences every day?

 

Also, does historical mission frequency vary depending on the situation at the front? I.E. if your region goes into a pitched battle (like mine in April '18 is) are you more likely to go up three times a day? And visa versa only once a day or every other day during a lull?

[Javito1986 14]

Ah I do have another question for you chaps. On a recent mission I pushed my plane too hard and its wing fell off. I started going down and the simulation ended immediately, before I could even crash. Since I didn't have a chance to crash and die and it happened over friendly lines the campaign went on as though nothing had happened. Bit of an immersion killer!

 

Odd request I know, but can I set it to not auto-end the moment I suffer such catastrophic structural failure? I'd like to actually see my stricken craft going down and crashing.

 

On a related but slightly different note, I like the effect of dying in this game. It's very... sudden. When you do crash there's no lingering over your crash scene, the simulation just ends. I've died in a midair collision twice now and in both cases my pilot died instantly in the crash and it produced quite a nice "blink and you're dead" effect.

[+Polovski 457]

You need to update HITR to the latest version Javito, there's a Workshop option to not auto exit immediately (although if you hit the ground hard it will still exit).

 

and btw in Workshop you can also set campaign to "auto/manual advance" which means you can time advance to the next day etc if you want to "go on leave".

[Cameljockey 3]

Welcome to the OFF Community Javito! You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy! You must be careful!:wink2:

 

A shot of Wild Turkey and a Budweiser side, please!

 

CJ

[Javito1986 14]

You need to update HITR to the latest version Javito, there's a Workshop option to not auto exit immediately (although if you hit the ground hard it will still exit).

 

and btw in Workshop you can also set campaign to "auto/manual advance" which means you can time advance to the next day etc if you want to "go on leave".

 

 

 

 

Ah ha! I have HITR updated I just didn't recognize that that's what that option meant! Danke :-)