Best(easiest) aircraft to begin with in OFF?

[bruceD 1]

Just started this great sim and wondered what your opinion was as to the easiest aircraft to get kills with in OFF? I went up against the Fokker DVII and was immediaitly consumed. that is one deadly aircraft. Wierd this is it really isn't even part of the Fokker "scourge". Also I tried using just the straight ahead pilots view and can't keep track of the enemy aircraft. If I use an outside view its easier to at least know here they are.Usually If I can get on there six I can stay there, unless they go out of view and then I'm lost again.

[rabu 9]

Just started this great sim and wondered what your opinion was as to the easiest aircraft to get kills with in OFF? I went up against the Fokker DVII and was immediaitly consumed. that is one deadly aircraft. Wierd this is it really isn't even part of the Fokker "scourge". Also I tried using just the straight ahead pilots view and can't keep track of the enemy aircraft. If I use an outside view its easier to at least know here they are.Usually If I can get on there six I can stay there, unless they go out of view and then I'm lost again.

 

 

Hi, Bruce, welcome to the CA OFF forum. Hope you got your system running finally. I think the easest and most enjoyable plane to fly is the Sopwith Triplane. I'm sure you'll get more opinions though!

[Hellshade 110]

I think it's a matter of pilot preference. Some prefer a stable gun platform and two guns. On the Allied side, that would probably be an SE5a. On the German side, the Fokker DVII was considered to be the best built fighter of the war, all around. Can't go wrong really with either one of those.

 

Others prefer a manueverable twitch fighter. Many like the Nieuports for that on the Allied side, while the German side has the DR 1 triplane.

 

Still others prefer to do Energy attacks. The Spad XIII is probably the king of those.

 

Myself, I like a balance of speed, high manueverabilty, good visability and a stable gun platform, so I love the Sopwith Triplane. Olham loves the Albatross line which isn't quite as manueverable but has two guns to make up for it.

 

If you want hard to master but lethal in the right hands, try a Sopwith Camel. But that's not really recommended for beginners unless you just want everything else to seem easy afterwards.

 

Welcome aboard. No matter which side and plane you choose, you definately chose the right sim. You have a tremendous variety to choose from.

 

Hellshade

[themightysrc 5]

Hi Bruce,

 

As noted, you'll get a lot of opinions, so here's mine!

 

I would plump for the Sopwith Pup.

 

Go into a campaign as early as you can with the Pup, and you'll learn most of what you need to know about WWI fighting and flying. It's an immensely easy, forgiving and able scout and you should be able to outmanouvre everything else that you come across. You don't have twin guns, so you have to learn to shoot close up. What could be better? I know - the Camel; but it'll kill you in your first fight, so forget it for now!

 

Cheers,

Si

[Olham 164]

Welcome to Flanders Fields, Bruce!

Easiest plane German side should be the Albatros D.II - you can get it in September 1916 with Jasta 2.

 

You don't even have the "Coolie Hat" on your joystick, to change views with?

Don't say, you are trying to fly this with mouse and keyboard?

No way to survive that! You should get at least a joystick like the THRUSTMASTER T.Flight Stick X;

it provides you with a coolie hat and the throttle; it also has a vertical twist axis for rudder.

 

If you stay with flight sims in general, and particularly Over Flanders Fields, I recommend to save some

money for the view system TrackIR Pro 5 by NaturalPoint. It's not cheap, but worth every penny.

 

Please send me a PM with your town and country - I'll add you to our "OFF Forum Pilots map" then.

Edited June 28, 2010 by Olham

[Dej 17]

Welcome Bruce. I started my OFF flying in the SE5 with No. 56 Squadron RFC, April '17. I'd personally recommend that when you come to try your hand at a campaign, not only do you have a stable gun platform but you're faster and stronger than anything the enemy have which means you can dive steeply out of trouble at full throttle and watch those pesky Albatri shed their wings if they try to follow.

 

Best thing to do though is try all the aircraft people recommend, but in the Quick Combat facility. Select Free Flight and bumble around until you're confident of the machine, then start over with a few contemporary enemies... rinse and repeat with next recommendation.

[Slartibartfast 153]

Welcome... me I have been for the past 10 months learning to fly the Sopwith Strutter early 1916 RNAS okay its not a super dogfighter its more a multi-role light bomber has a vickers up front and with the added advantage that you have a rear gunner to cover your 6 if it all goes pear shaped... Also on the same note it means that the Germans you are up against aren´t super-powerful either the likes of the eindecker etc... its an easier period to learn in also means you can get the challenge to try and survive the war!!!

 

By the way new guy buys the drinks... mines a single malt thanks...

[carrick58 23]

Not the Allied planes they are like like Someone said The Fokker D-7 or an Albatross D-2 or D-3 are good ones Then U

will be like a:assassin:

 

 

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

Welcome to the OFF skies Bruce, you're in for a treat. And as Slarti has noted, new lads buy the drinks!

 

I agree with all the recommendations above, (well, except for carrick's ), and will also echo using the Sopwith Strutter. Very easy to fly and a stable gun platform, yet quite good in a dogfight, and it can hold it's own against any EA of it's day. Just be sure to choose the two-seater model so you have a rear gunner to watch your six whilest you learn the ropes.

 

Now then, I believe this evening I'll have a Tullamore Dew with a red ale chaser, thank you very much.

 

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

.

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

The Twin Gun Tripe takes some beating

[Ras 0]

I'd give them all a try. But as Widowmaker said, the Tripe with Twin Guns and as Hellshade has been showing in his videos it has great maneuverability.

[Hellshade 110]

Perhaps it's just me, but I found the twin gun tripe was great in the firepower department, However on Realistic a bit noseheavy in flight, and a lot quicker to stall than the single gun version. Which is easily to understand, because as far as I know, there was No engine modifications whatsoever

 

There's the extra Machine Gun that's one thing, But all that extra ammo . . that's seriously heavy

 

I have to agree completely. The twin gun version has that extra firepower but I find it to be nowhere near as responsive as her lighter, one gun sister. After some practice making the single gun rounds count, I find I prefer the standard model over having the two guns. Now if it had a better engine in it, as you say....well that might be a different story.

 

Hellshade

[rabu 9]

I have to agree completely. The twin gun version has that extra firepower but I find it to be nowhere near as responsive as her lighter, one gun sister. After some practice making the single gun rounds count, I find I prefer the standard model over having the two guns. Now if it had a better engine in it, as you say....well that might be a different story.

 

Hellshade

 

Right, Uncleal and Hellshade. The French got a 130HP engine, wonder if that would have helped with two vickers over the 110hp the Brits had? And I looked into it and could find no indiaction of it being dropped because of mechanical problems, it was mainly because the other company contracted to make them went out of business and it was just out gunned and the triplanes from Germany finally gave it some fair competition.. again, just like they did with the Fokker E series copy of the Morane-Saulinier, they improved on the design, especially with the DR.I with more firepower over the Tripe.

[nbryant 8]

Bruce, as you can see everyone here has a hearty opinion and preference. My offering........ enjoy them all. Accept the challenge of each and use your time to learn. One of the many joys that OFF offers is the inherent challenge that each of these crates brings to the sim, and to you as you fight to survive.

 

 

 

.......that being said, the SPAD XIII is a truck that was a beautiful design with plenty of power and firepower to help you improve your odds in almost any engagement. It is my craft of choice, as the others have theirs.

 

 

 

So fair skys and may your flights succeed in accomplishing the most important part of any OFF mission............ surviving to fight another day!

[Bullethead 12]

Welcome aboard Bruce! New guy buys the drinks . It's been a long, hot day so I'll need a strong margarita, on the rocks with extra salt.

 

Anyway, be advised that the ease or difficulty of flying OFF isn't just a matter of getting a ride with benign habits. It's also a question of your workshop settings and, perhaps even more importantly, when and where you decide to fly and in which unit.

 

I strongly discourage you from flying with less than fully realistic flight and combat settings. This is because eventually you'll want to go that way, and if you don't start that way, you'll have a lot of bad habits to unlearn. So I say go fully real on this stuff, but make it so you never die, or have "death on die roll" which is almost as safe. This is NOT being invincible/god mode (which is a separate setting); you still get shot down, you just don't die from it. If you never die, then you can try your hand at anything and find something you really like, while still seeing how easy or difficult things are with realistic flight, combat, and AI settings.

 

So, on to the when and wheret. In WW1, airplanes were slaves of the ground forces, so both sides massed their planes wherever the big battles were raging at the time, so things are hot there but relatively quiet elsewhere. As the war goes on, however, airforces grow so the hot spots get hotter and the cold areas warm up a little. In general, however, prior to 1918, if you're not in the zone of a major ground battle, things are pretty boring. So, break out your WW1 history books, find out when and where the big battles were, and fly there, because it's pretty boring elsewhere. Note, however, that there are exactly zero late-war French 2-seaters in the game at present, and damn few early-mid-war ones, so the French/US sectors aren't much fun as the Germans for most of the war. First it's endless herds of Nupes, then its endless herds of SPADs. Flanders is were it's at.

 

Having selecting your time and location, check the quality of the squadrons there that have the type of plane you want to fly. Avoid POOR squadrons because your wingmen won't help you at all and will die like flies. Also avoid ELITE squadrons because your wingmen will kill everybody before you can get a shot off. Go for a GOOD or AVERAGE squadron.

 

So, now start thinking about the airplane. I second the recommendations of the Pup and Albatros D.II, perhaps even the SE5. However, I can't recommend the D.VII to a noob. Although it has no vices and is quite easy to fly, it only appears in the latter half of 1918 when the Entente has overwhelming numbers of planes that are at least as good if not better in some respects. That's the best example I can give of it not being all about the flying qualities of your plane, but also its environment.

 

In general, you should be able to fly just about anything fairly soon. Don't worry about it. However, there are a few planes that are pure evil and should be avoided for as long as possible. These include the DH2, the E.III, the Pfalz, and perhaps even the Albatros D.III.

[tranquillo 10]

Welcome,

 

When I started with OFF I tried several planes in Quick Combat and settled for the SE5a. I started a campaign in 56 squadron and, although I've got several pilots going in different squadrons/planes, the SE5a is still my favourite. I guess that will change eventually.

[bruceD 1]

Thanks to all for your responses, although I wish I would get an email to let me know I had responses ! Now that I'm in the poor farm for buying all the drinks(guess I'll have to just sniff the castor oil and hope for the best !) I'll let you know I've killed at least 7 pilots so far. Only about 3 died from being shot down, the others shall we say had an early demise by hitting old terra firma, and/or trees. It amazes me you ca shoot anything down at all. I'm not the best shot in the world but seeing constant pcs flying off and then seeing the enemy flyaway, or wprst yet come back and plaster you is amazing. Most of the fights were instant ones, with me taking off and trying to get enough altitude so as not to crash into the ground. BTW I am using the Thrustmaster stick X and it works very well.

The most difficult part is just seeing the enemy. I now flt from an outside view most of the time, except when in an actual dogfigh, and even then i might pop out to see where he went. I tried one campaign, however i was supposed to attack a railway hub , and never did find it at all, soI strafed an airfield instead. When i returned I was told to keep up the good work.So far the only plane I could shoot down the Fokkor DVII with was the Sopwith Tripe, although the pup isn't bad, seeing out of it is rather difficult.

The rear engine DH2? is great for seeing out of ,but it moves along in a rather liesurely fashion.

 

And who flies in the rain in these things anyway, its hard enough seeing where your going !

 

 

[Olham 164]

bruce, after a while, there won't be no need for E-mails telling you that someone answered -

you will be unable to resist checking the forum at least three times a day!

 

Easy British craft:

 

early: Sopwith Pup, Sopwith Strutter

mid: Sopwith Triplane, Sopwith Strutter, S.E.5a, Bristol Fighter

late: S.E.5a Viper, Bristol Fighter

[Olham 164]

Well, in it's time, when it was new, it was a good fighter!

After some training, you can get used to this pusher, and I would always prefer it to the Eindecker.

I even had a DH-2 campaign - until Rudolf Berthold finished my young life.

He KNEW how to fly and win in the Eindecker!

[Dej 17]

Bruce,

 

If as I guess (as does Olham) you haven't Track IR then I'd recommend giving Padlock a try. The default key is ' (apostrophe). It's a toggle so assign it to a button on your j/s and snap it on/off to see where your enemy's got to. You'll need to be able to target him first so bring up the TAC, cycle the Target Type to 'Aircraft' (default key is T), reduce the range (default is CTRL+SHIFT+T) to 4 miles. IF I remember those keys correctly you'll be left with dots on the TAC which are the aircraft around you. Select an enemy (default is TAB) snap on Padlock and you'll follow him with your virtual 'eyes'. If you get disoriented (and you will ) snap Padlock off, re-orient and reacquire. Also useful is Target Attacker (default CTRL+').

 

I'd map all these key commands to j/s buttons if you have enough. It's what I used to do before I had Track IR, and you can learn to fight quite well... but I'd heartily endorse Olham's advice - put all your pennies and birthday/xmas gift hints toward Track IR, this sim is several orders of magnitude better when you have it.

[rabu 9]

Bruce: What a great thread you started, pretty good for a new recruit, thanks!

[Duce Lewis 3]

Welcome to OFF Bruce!

I concur TrackIR is the way to go

It allows you to look around in the sim just by turning you head

It's very natural and pretty soon you'll really think you're peering over the cockpit side with you head in the slipstream

Check out the Video Sticky above to see how it works

HTH,

 

 

[rabu 9]

Bruce needs help.. I directed him over here after seeing his plea on the SimHQ forum, but not many bother to look at the "General Help" section of this forum. I hope some of you more techie types will try to help him get OFF running better. Please take a jump over to his post there in General Help (click here) The help he has gotten so far over there has been a bit gruff.

 

Thanks, guys

[bruceD 1]

Thanks Guys, especially you Rabu !:)

[Olham 164]

Bruce, your processor is a bit slow for this sim, I'm afraid.

What you should try once, is to RAISE the setting - it is often heard here, that OFF runs

more smooth with HIGHER settings.

Leave terrain detail on 2 or 3, put scenery detail to 1 or 2; but push up the others.

Aircraft: 5

Effects: 3 or 4

Clouds: 3 - 5 (clouds don't seem to be a problem)

 

You can switch off "shadows" in Workshop; also set "Scenery detail" low there.