Watch this space!

[Olham 164]

Von Oben: It must have been a big leak though, because the tank was quickly empty.

 

Actually, it wasn't the leaking out of the fuel, that stopped the engine rather quickly.

The tanks had to be pressurised (with a hand pump), and a single hole would let the pressure escape;

now the fuel wasn't driven to the engine anymore, and it stopped running.

[vonOben 55]

Hi Olham

 

I didn’t know that! Thanks for the info!

Is it the same in all plane types?

 

Cheers

 

vonOben

[Olham 164]

Not sure, I think so. Any WW1 engine experts around?

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

I'll check into the Alb DII fuel leaks. However, I don't think I changed much in that particular plane. I could be wrong, though!

 

Thanks for the report!

 

Interesting information about the pressurized fuel tanks. I had forgotten that piece of information.

 

I recently began an Alb DII career (for the first time) and after four flights two have been ended because of fuel leaks. Will admit though it was hard to tell from the melee but it didn't seem as if I took that many hits. Otherwise I have been flying the Nieup 11, SPAD 7 and 13. I have had a couple of instances in the Nieup where I lost fuel pretty quickly but what I have found more often then not is how quickly I lose aileron control after a good burst or two. Seems the AI crates take a lot more damage before they lose their ability to manuever where one good pass and I am done. Then again, it could always be the pilot!

Edited October 20, 2010 by Herr Prop-Wasche

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Olham, I believe I have a very nice surprise for you regarding the "sinking over the tailplane" difficulty. Check your PM box for more info.

 

If Olham can confirm I am correct about this, I should have an announcement for the "general public" soon.

...it may take a bit more damage to the stabilizer before you notice increased control difficulty.

 

And hopefully a better horizontal level flying of damaged kites - instead of that "sinking over the tailplane" attitude,

that makes them try to climb on the prop, until they crash, tail first. That would be a good improvement.

Edited October 20, 2010 by Herr Prop-Wasche

[Bletchley 8]

"Is it the same in all plane types?"

 

Some had a small gravity tank - if there was a failure of the main system these could keep the engine running for about 15-30 minutes or so.

 

Bletchley

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

New DM sent for approval! Look for it in the downloads section. The update is meant to replace previous updates.

 

Here is a look at the additions in the new update:

Version History

 

2.3

 

--Hit points for elevator and rudder cables reduced in all aircraft.

 

--Probability of "hit" to aileron cables reduced in all aircraft. Hit points on aileron cables also reduced.

 

--Hit points for observer/rear-gunner reduced slightly.

 

--Hit points for central fuel tank increased slightly in several aircraft, particularly Nieuport's, DR1, and DH5.

 

--Rate of fuel loss due to hits to central fuel tank adjusted in all aircraft.

 

--Adjusted frequency of oil leaks from damage to nose and oil reservoir in several aircraft.

 

--Spad's, DH2's, SE5a, and all Albatros and Nieuport types somewhat less likely to catch fire. Roland, Hannover, and DFW somewhat more likely to catch fire.

 

--Probability of "hit" to left and right gear reduced slightly in all aircraft, hopefully reducing number of crashes due to collapsed landing gear just a bit.

 

--Hit points to wings and wingtips of Fokker Triplane reduced slightly.

 

--Corrected error in DH2_early models which caused central fuel tank to be only half-strength.

[vonOben 55]

Great news!

 

On my way to download right now!

 

S!

 

vonOben

[Olham 164]

Downloaded your DM, Herr Prop-Wasche, and will test it as soon as possible.

Right now, I have broken memory and need to find out first, which of the four sticks it is.

Hope I will still find time for flying today.

If your method works well, you should concentrate this tailplane correction thing on Nieuports

and Pups - I think those are the craft, that react most badly, when their tail end lost lift.

They often tend to hang on the prop, until they crash, tail first.

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Good to hear from you, vonOben! Let me know how you like the update.

 

Olham, I think the Pup and Nieuport problem is an FM problem similar to the Albs problem. If so, it probably can be fixed with a simple change to the empty weight CoG setting in the .cfg file.

 

If anyone is interested in testing the same change to the CoG setting for the Albatros series of planes, just reply to this thread. Note: you will need JSGME to install the mod. This FM fix WILL work in the campaign, but it is still in the preliminary phase. Basically, the change makes the Albs slightly more "nose heavy" by moving the center of gravity forward an inch or two. The AI seems to fly a little better and doesn't hang on the aeroplane's prop so much with this change. Any effects on human pilots seems to be minor, but additional feedback from other humans would help.

[OlPaint01 0]

Herr Prop-Wasche

 

Really like what you have done with the DM. I am running version 2.3 currently and have no complaints.

 

I would like to test your FM mod efforts as well if I could.

 

BTW, have you had a chance to look at the Nieuport 16. IMHO, the aircraft is way too nose heavy. I cannot seem to adjust the craft to manageable level flight without my joystick full pitch-up with the stick pulled all the way back into my stomach, even with all the available elevator correction applied. Pol recommended that I apply bungy cords to the stick to hold it back!

 

OlPaint01

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Well, the N16 was a notorious under-performer compared to the N11 and reportedly nose-heavy, so I am hesitant to mess with it too much. Let's just say it's low on my list of FM improvements at the moment. I want to start out slow with obvious fixes, like the Albs "backwards sliding" problem first.

 

For others who are interested in trying my Albs fix, here is the zip file. This only changes the sliding problem and does not address any other FM issues at this time. Also remember you have to use JSGME in order to install the fix.

 

 

[vonOben 55]

I’ll be happy to try your FM changes Herr Prop-Wasche! :yes:

 

Does this mean that you now know how to get the edited FM files to work in campaign also?

 

Cheers

 

vonOben

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

It seems as long as I only edit the .cfg file, the changes will work in both QC and the campaign. Changing the .air file is what seems to create the conflict.

 

For the most part, not being able to edit the .air files seems to have no major effects on the flight characteristics of the aircraft. The only major problem is that I cannot directly change the amount of parasitic drag set for each aircraft type in the .air file. This is unfortunate, because the drag setting is the major factor that controls the cruising speed and maximum dive speed of each aircraft type. This is why the Tripe has a level flight speed of 125 mph and has the fastest maximum dive speed in the stock game! I can alter this a bit by editing the .cfg file, but editing the .air file would be better.

 

I still think there are some changes I can make to the .cfg file that will enable me to adjust the turn radius, cruising speed, and stall behavior of some of the 'problem" aircraft in OFF, at least to some extent.

 

My ultimate hope is that the devs will reconsider the parasitic drag settings of some of the aircraft in OFF, like the Tripe for instance, in P4.

[Olham 164]

Your changes are almost subtle about the forward moved center of gravitiy - very good.

The Albatros had the tank behind the pilots I think, and so it should be a bit tail heavy, which it still is.

That can be solved by each pilot's own trimming.

 

The problem with the "hanging on the prop" was never so very much an Albatros problem, although even

they do that, if the tail plane is very badly shot up.

It was and still is more a problem for the Nieuports and Pups. Those craft seem to try to climb almost

desperately, when they are low. For climbing, they would need good forward flying speed to get airflow

over the wings; but they can't fly forward, cause their damaged tailplane doesn't balance the craft anymore.

At least this is what I think is happening.

It might perhaps work to place more damage/hit points on the elevator, and less on the rest of the tailplane.

That way, the elevator can still be damaged badly, but the tailplane's lift would be less destroyable.

 

 

For the Albatros I can say, you haven't changed it to any worse; and I'll report when I see a badly shot up craft,

and how it behaves.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Olham

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Thanks for the report.

 

I'll take a look at the Pup and some of the Nieuport's tonight. The solution looks like a combination of changes to the damage model (DM), as well as some changes to the flight model (FM).

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Good news! I have discovered what was causing the "my pilot never dies" problem. For details, check out the OFF General Help forum.

 

I hope to have the fix ready by the end of the weekend.

 

Cheers!

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

For those of you still listening, the revision has just been submitted to the downloads section for approval by the moderators. It therefore should become available later today or tonight.

 

Use the mod in good health!

[Olham 164]

Will try it next year, HPW! Sounds terrible, doesn't it - next year - but there's only 11 days left

of 2010, and I'm packing my bags to travel to Ostfriesland.

To be honest - I'd prefer to test it over Xmas - but family duties are stronger.

[Hasse Wind 46]

I already installed the mod, HPW. Seems to work just fine. Keep up the good work!

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

It seems the Grim Reaper has been appeased. Death again haunts the skies above Flanders' Fields!