Life span of a pilot?

[bruceD 1]

Well I tried early in the war around 1916 and dintsurvive more tha 1 mission, now I'm in the Sopwith tripe and I've made it 2 missions. How long should pilots live anyways?

[Barkhorn1x 14]

Better off posting a question like this in General Discussions as not as many people visit the tech section.

 

Anyway, I can tell you that:

- 1918 is HARD for the Germans (GAS) as there are so many Allied (Entente) crates about

- 1916 - 1917 is more "balanced"

- But...the GAS planes must be flown correctly (never turn fight in an AlB DV and rarely in a Pfalz - they bleed speed rapidly and then - curtains ).

 

- Try to stay w/ the first flight so, if a scrap develops, you will have 8 vs. X instead of 4 vs. X.

- Pick a plane and really LEARN that plane. I prefer the Fokkers (DrI & DVII - and I do fight in 1918 - but I've been at this awhile). And I still get shot down.

- When outnumbered - run - unless you are real good.

- Try not to fight on the wrong side of the lines - this is one area where the historical accuracy of the sim falls short for the GAS as there are too many attack missions on Entente facilities than was historically the case.

- CHECK YOUR SIX - - OFTEN !!! - target fixation gets you killed.

- Get Track IR and rudder pedals - these will allow you to fly more "naturally" so you can concentrate on SA and tactics.

- Practice, practice, practice. Set up a pilot and fly him in Quick Combat against various opponents. Be sure to check the Pilot Never Dies box (or some such - it's below the weather variables boxes) so you don't have to constantly re-enlist pilots.

 

Good luck w/ the best WWI sim to date.

Edited July 6, 2010 by Barkhorn1x

[themightysrc 5]

Good advice there, Al.

 

Also, stay high and don't be afraid to be very afraid! Avoid any fight unless it's on your terms, and the numbers are right.

 

Essentially, follow the Dikta Boelcke, read the advice of those who really flew in the war and treat OFF as only marginally less dangerous than tap-dancing blindfolded on a busy three lane highway. Do that and you might even get to 11.00am on 11.11.18...

[bruceD 1]

Should I re-ask this in General Discussions, or can I request that this question be moved there? That was my fault I was in General discussions and moved over here, and just plain forgot. Yikes 17 hrs isn't very long. Now I know why the music in OFF is sort of downbeat, just the same its really good BTW.

I think it might be an interesting question for others to read as well.

[Barkhorn1x 14]

Yes, Boelcke is relevant - he wrote the book after all.

 

But go ahead and post in General Discussions as it will give me a chance to post my laundry list again.

Edited July 6, 2010 by Barkhorn1x

[Smithy26 0]

I am fairly new to OFF aswell (but not flight sims) and I get killed fairly easily, so don't worry - it is practise that will keep you alive. My best is to live 2.5 weeks and get 18 kills. An enemy crashed into me removing my engine!

I have noticed weird things happening now though - I am using DID but my last 2 missions I was shot down over the lines at very low height and the 2nd crashed in the sea evading. I lived both times - no death/injuries? I was expecting to be toast in both, or if survived serious injury. I have also noticed stress ripping a wing off - me plummeting from 5,000 feet and mission ends and i survive.

Can any of the experts help here? I would like to survive more, but in a realistic manner.

I have also died when starting my engine, the wheels hadn't even done one revolution and i nose dived into the ground and exploded?

[Smithy26 0]

You weren't playing DID then, because the life of your pilot is governed by OUTCOMES in Workshop

 

EASY = You can never die, but be hospitalized rather easily

 

NORMAL = ( Default ) Death depends on Lady Luck

 

HARD = Do anything wrong, you're Dead Period

;

;

;Choose your words more carefully, you can't nose dive, if you never took off

 

Well the Workshop settings were on hard the whole time, for all of the examples i have given. For the death on (pre)take off one, i started my engine using E button, moved my throttle to 100%, the a/c moved fractionaly forward (without me touching the joystick at ant time) and crashed into the ground nose first - well that's what it looked like from my external view. Flipped i suppose you could call it.

Whatever you call it, i was killed on take off without actually moving more than a couple of feet. A bit of a suprise for anyone?

[Smithy26 0]

In response to that . . something is horribly wrong. To rule out any possibilities, might you be running a NO CD crack, as that been known to produce some oddities.

 

If not I'd reinstall following the Sticky "Pilot Training Videos" #13 in the Knowledge Base

 

But first following the uninstall of OFF and CFS3 run a search for all files that contain Over Flanders Fields = Delete Same

 

Then run a second search to include your Hidden Folders, one always shows up, perhaps two. . . failure to nail those puppies . . you're just wasting your time

Only using original CDs. Just recently re-installed after an issue i was having - don't know if that is the problem. If it persists i may try another fresh re-install.

[Smithy26 0]

I am continuing to have the same problems even after re-install an it is getting frustrating. I thought it was fixed and actually tried to test it by getting shot down in a QC.

In Campaign mode I will be flying along and get damaged either by fire or stress to aircraft - a wing rips off and i start going down. Before I can actually "die" by hitting the ground, the game cuts out to the report page and i survive. Settings are on Hard - Dead is Dead. I can just retire the pilot but it seems very odd, and i don't want to re-install all the time. Any suggestions.

In CFS you can see your plane go all the way into the ground, and your campaign is over - has this been changed for some reason? Or am i missing some perameter?

[+Polovski 460]

You need to install the latest version then you can optionally stop the sim exiting when craft is totally damaged etc in Workshop.

If you play DiD rules if you think you should be dead, and the sim didn't make it so simply stop using the pilot he's dead?

[Smithy26 0]

Thanks to Uncle Al I have figured out what the problem was. You need HiR to be able to stop the game cutting short before you hit the ground. BH&H doesn't have the tick box in Workshop to do it. So i gave in and bought HiR - all good now!