Questions about OFF

[BigAl56 0]

I'm not sure if I chose the right sub forum, but I was wondering, are pilots ever transferred to other squadrons? And if so, is it possible to transfer from a bomber squadron to a fighter squadron?

[Dej 17]

I'm not sure if I chose the right sub forum, but I was wondering, are pilots ever transferred to other squadrons? And if so, is it possible to transfer from a bomber squadron to a fighter squadron?

 

It's not a feature implemented in Phase 3... but has been mentioned before so who knows what may be coming along. It can be done by editing your pilot dossier. I think you just change the name of your unit if you want the same wingmen to go with you... but I confess I haven't done it so I'd await the advice of those who have... Creaghorn has, I believe and maybe, Hasse Wind?

[Olham 164]

BigAl, you need to check the pilot's number in your ingame log.

Let's say for example, he is Pilot No. 6 there.

 

Now you leave the sim and go to the pilot files here:

 

(your sim folder) > campains > CampaignData > Pilots

 

There, you look for the Pilot dossier of Pilot 7 (their number is always one higher in the files, so Pilot No. 6 is pilot7)

 

You open the dossier file, and find in the third line his current squadron/Staffel.

You can overwrite it with the one you want to change to.

If uncertain, how it is called or written, you may enlist a test dummy in the desired squadron, check his dossier,

and copy the line from there.

Edited July 22, 2010 by Olham

[BigAl56 0]

Thanks to both for the info.

[Olham 164]

BigAl, I forgot - it always makes sense to copy the Pilot folder before changes

and save it somewhere - just in case you mess something up.

[BigAl56 0]

BigAl, I forgot - it always makes sense to copy the Pilot folder before changes

and save it somewhere - just in case you mess something up.

That's a lesson I learned a long time ago.

[Hasse Wind 46]

The method Olham described has worked well for me for a long time, and also for Creaghorn. I haven't experienced any strange behaviour and everything has worked fine. I usually start my careers as a 2-seater pilot, and if the guy stays alive, maybe transfer him to a fighter squadron at some point. Adds greatly to realism and immersion, IMO.

 

It's VERY important that you write the name of the squadron you are transferring in to EXACTLY as it is used by the OFF manager, otherwise it won't work, ie. the system won't recognize it. The emblem of the squadron you see in the pilot book won't change immediately, but only after you've activated the pilot and flown with him, so don't be alarmed if you transferred from squadron X to squadron Y and you still see the former's emblem.

 

The devs have said that transfers will be included in P4, so in the future we can do all this "officially" in-game without having to manually edit anything. Have fun in your new squadron!

[BigAl56 0]

The method Olham described has worked well for me for a long time, and also for Creaghorn. I haven't experienced any strange behaviour and everything has worked fine. I usually start my careers as a 2-seater pilot, and if the guy stays alive, maybe transfer him to a fighter squadron at some point. Adds greatly to realism and immersion, IMO.

 

It's VERY important that you write the name of the squadron you are transferring in to EXACTLY as it is used by the OFF manager, otherwise it won't work, ie. the system won't recognize it. The emblem of the squadron you see in the pilot book won't change immediately, but only after you've activated the pilot and flown with him, so don't be alarmed if you transferred from squadron X to squadron Y and you still see the former's emblem.

 

The devs have said that transfers will be included in P4, so in the future we can do all this "officially" in-game without having to manually edit anything. Have fun in your new squadron!

 

That would be nice.

 

I did have one odd thing happen to me in a mission. I started the mission in the air, as I wanted to see how different that might be. This was a balloon busting mission, and my target was not very far across the lines. I got to the target, blew it out of the sky, and then proceeded back to base.....or so I thought. I watch as the warping thing starts taking me out over water, and it starts to get dark out. As my fuel drops to 50%, I'm like "Uh oh, where am I going, to Britain?" So, I drop out of warp, and take a look around. I can see coast line to the South of me.

 

My only concern now is, which side of the lines am I on? I switch the warp back on for a about 20 seconds, and am now heading SW along the coast line, and little aerodrome markers start showing up on the map. So I stop the warp again, and hover the mouse pointer over the aerodrome markers to get some idea of where I am. Oddly, some of the names seem to be "Dutch sounding" to me.

 

Understand, I'm one of those stuck up Yanks who doesn't really speak any language other than English. Oh, I took German and French in high school, but with out an real opportunity to use either one, they're almost completely lost to me, now, at 54.

 

So anyway, I'm flying further and further SW, and my fuel is dropping lower and lower, and then, viola, (See I still remember some French. ) The trench line shows up, and I'm on the German side of it, thank goodness. I drop out of warp, pick the nearest field, fly to it, and land. Needless to say, I'm NEVER starting another mission in the air, ever again.

Edited July 22, 2010 by BigAl56

[Hasse Wind 46]

Always use your flight map when warping, so that you can see where the warp is taking you. If something goes wrong, you'll see it immediately and can stop warping.

 

I learned this the hard way after losing a French pilot when warping went wrong. I was leading a flight of 4 N.17 in southern Flanders and pressed warp. I didn't immediately notice something was wrong, but when I found my flight over sea, I realized I'm not in Flanders anymore. Turned out the warp took over the North Sea, and I didn't have enough fuel left to get back over land. So there we ditched in the icy waters of North Sea, with no hope of rescue. It reminded me of the Bermuda Triangle and Flight 19.

 

Since this little incident, I've always had my map ready when warping. But I haven't had any problems with warping after this, and I've warped a lot.

[Olham 164]

Good advice, Hasse Wind - and the air start has nothing to do with it.

Occasionally, that famous butterfly flaps a wing in China, and then,

as an outcome of some thousand processes started by it, our warp

goes hopelessly wrong. The map open should prevent you from

getting VERY wrong.

Although it might be nice - could lead you to St. Tropez or Cannes!

[BigAl56 0]

Good advice, Hasse Wind - and the air start has nothing to do with it.

Occasionally, that famous butterfly flaps a wing in China, and then,

as an outcome of some thousand processes started by it, our warp

goes hopelessly wrong. The map open should prevent you from

getting VERY wrong.

Although it might be nice - could lead you to St. Tropez or Cannes!

 

St. Tropez or Cannes, I might not mind, but I was out over the sea, with no land in sight for a while. Then it started getting dark out, and I was REALLY worried. But, it all worked out finally. Oh, and just had 4 out of 7 new claims, confirmed, for a total confirmed score of 9 victories. Also got promoted to Unteroffizier.

Edited July 22, 2010 by BigAl56

[shredward 12]

Hi Al,

I confess I am a bit startled at your choice of colour. I rather expected that you would be sporting cockades, and the markings of No 60 RFC:scratch:

 

Welcome aboard,

shredward

Edited July 23, 2010 by shredward

[BigAl56 0]

Hi Al,

I confess I am a bit startled at your choice of colour. I rather expected that you would be sporting cockades, and the markings of No 60 RFC:scratch:

 

Welcome aboard,

shredward

 

Until I can master the tricky DH2, I find the EIII much easier to keep in the air. Besides, I've always been a fan of Bruno Stachel and Ursula "Undress."

[Olham 164]

Shredward, the man has taste! Chosen the side with all the beauties - craft and women.

Oh, and just had 4 out of 7 new claims, confirmed, for a total confirmed score of 9 victories. Also got promoted to Unteroffizier.

BigAl, congratulations - 9 victories is a lot to have already; Lanoe Hawker had less!

 

The DH-2 is not too tricky IMHO - of course it stalls easier than the later craft, when energy

bleeds out, but apart from that I find her a good fighter in her time.

Even managed to shoot down Rudolf Berthold in his Eindecker, when flying a DH-2.

Greatest forward vision!

Do you use the TrackIR device? If not, that is the next thing to save your money for. Free looking

around without

[BigAl56 0]

Shredward, the man has taste! Chosen the side with all the beauties - craft and women.

Oh, and just had 4 out of 7 new claims, confirmed, for a total confirmed score of 9 victories. Also got promoted to Unteroffizier.

BigAl, congratulations - 9 victories is a lot to have already; Lanoe Hawker had less!

 

The DH-2 is not too tricky IMHO - of course it stalls easier than the later craft, when energy

bleeds out, but apart from that I find her a good fighter in her time.

Even managed to shoot down Rudolf Berthold in his Eindecker, when flying a DH-2.

Greatest forward vision!

Do you use the TrackIR device? If not, that is the next thing to save your money for. Free looking

around without

For me, the DH2 just falls into a spin way too easy. But if I don't try to haul it around as quick as I can, I get shot up. Then again, with the EIII, i've only been going against BE-2C's and balloons so far, not really much of a challange. But now that my campaign is into 1916, I expect that will change soon enough. However, I do like the foward view you get with the DH-2.

 

No, don't have TrackIR. So I have to compensate in other ways.

 

What I miss from RB3D was the ability to chart your own course on Lone Wolf missions. That was a nice feature. RB3D also had an auto pilot that would just fly in a straight line, regardless of your charted course. That came in handy as well, from time to time.

 

Also noticed, doesn't matter how many balloons you shoot down, the manager will only accept 1 claim for downing a balloon. Even if you change the number on the line to 2 or 3, it ends up being just one. And choosing Observation Balloon only appears on the first line, and none of the subsequent lines.

Edited July 23, 2010 by BigAl56

[Olham 164]

Yes, a balloon is a given target. You are sent out just to destroy this one Balloon.

And it really only appears in the first line.

So for everyone who didn't know that: even if you have shot down an enemy craft

before you actually got at the balloon: always claim the balloon with the first line,

then the aircraft. Otherwise you will loose the opportunity to claimit at all.

 

BigAl, the easiest to fly craft in OFF are:

 

- all Albatros

- Fokker D.VII

- S.E.5a

- Sopwith Pup and Triplane

- SPAD

 

Just in case you get frustrated - the early war craft are the most challenging ones,

but you may want to succeed somehow.

Edited July 23, 2010 by Olham

[Hasse Wind 46]

The early war fighters are mostly crap. The Eindecker is horrible: underpowered, quite clumsy, loses energy easily - it really is meant to hunt only helpless Entente two-seaters and not enter into fights with other fighters. The problem is that almost none of these weak two-seaters are currently included in OFF. We have the BE2c, but it's currently used for all the various models of BE2, so it performs much better than the actual early BE2's did.

 

The DH2 is much better and can easily beat the Eindecker when you know what you are doing. But when the Nieuport 11 arrives in early 1916, you'd better watch out as an Eindecker pilot - the Nupes are better at everything, and will eat you for breakfast, if you stay around too long to provoke them.

 

The only thing the Eindecker had to help it become successful was it's forward firing synchronized machine gun. This gave the Eindecker an advantage over enemy bomber and recon planes. But when the first true Entente fighters joined the battle, and even though they didn't have such synchronized guns at first, the were so much better performance-wise than Eindeckers that Germans were in trouble and anxious to get better plane types in service.

 

For a newbie OFF pilot, the early fighters can be a pain to learn. Of them, the Nupe 11 is actually the easiest to fly and behaves very nicely, but you have to be careful with its weak lower wings. And it really kills Eindeckers, give it a try!

[BigAl56 0]

For a newbie OFF pilot, the early fighters can be a pain to learn. Of them, the Nupe 11 is actually the easiest to fly and behaves very nicely, but you have to be careful with its weak lower wings. And it really kills Eindeckers, give it a try!

That's just a little difficult for me right now. Since I'm in a German squadron, unless they let us fly captured examples, or unless the devs put the Siemens-Schuckert D I into the game, soon.

 

But, personally, I've always found the early war machines to be the most intriguing of the lot. Most WWI flight sims (computer and table top) pay too much attention to the middle to late war period and tend to ignore the early war stuff. And even though it was included in one of the first WWI air combat games, "Richthofen's War" by the late, great Avalon Hill, it was not really given it's due. That game pretty well generalized many of the planes in the war. Oh, hell, it generalized them all. But it was a start, at least for 1972.

 

FITS, or Fight In the skies (now called Dawn Patrol) also avoided the early war stuff. But since the author of that game readily admits he was inspired by "The Blue Max" I suppose it's understandable. Still, I've always liked the early war stuff.

 

One other thing I've noticed, in RB3D, if I was playing an early game (made possible by the people who created the Western Front patch) with 9 victories, I'd likely be up for the Blue Max medal. I don't know how they did it in the game, if it was already hard wired into RB3D or if the WF patch guys managed to make it possible, but I do know in "real life" the first Pour le'Merit medals were given out at around 8 victories, and it went up from there. Took the red baron 16 to get his. And yes, 20 at some later point. And as we all know, with paperwork slowing stuff down, some didn't receive their medal until they''d had even more victories. Some didn't receive it at all, if they were killed or captured. Seems the Imperial German gov't didn't like giving out medals to those "too careless" to get themselves killed or captured. I sure hope that attitude has changed.

 

What gets me, in this age of computers, with rumors of going "paperless" seems to me, there's more paperwork involved in various things now, than ever before. Progress, ain't it great.