Taps for Multiplayer

[Axgrinder 0]

Well it looks like the developers got their wish! Their disinterest in supporting the multiplayer aspect of OFF has finally paid off and everyone that worked their asses off to fix what they could and those I used to fly with have all moved on to other Flight Sims.

 

So to everyone I ever met in the virtual skies of OFF, Salute! I'm done with multiplayer. I will still fly OFF offline from time to time though because I still like the game.

[von Baur 54]

Don't ya just hate it when someone pushes the issue and ruins the surprise?

 

 

It started a couple of months ago, wanting to run a full bombing raid on London. I modified the "Gothas Over the Thames" mission to start at an airfield in German occupied Belgium and return there. It has blossomed to include 15 Gothas taking off from three different airfields at night, rendezvousing over a fourth, flying to and bombing different targets in and around London, reforming and returning to the rendvous field together before heading to their original bases. I've done a test flight (5 hours and 15 minutes total flying time, but I was at max power all the way...I'll have to refly at 85% to prevent flight leader separation) and recorded headings for all legs except bombing runs. I've also taken recon photos of the airfield approaches and final approach ip's (it takes alot of work to bring those beasts in but it can be done easily with the right information). I start a run of 13 days straight off work on Friday and I've already informed my wife that I will be using whatever of it I need to place more targets of a military nature (I'm thinking some shipyards around the mouth of the Thames, a railyard or two inland and maybe even the Sopwith aircraft factory if it was located nearby) and include searchlight and AAA batteries farther out, as well as some recon photos of the targets.

 

My intent was to arrange everything just as a real mission would have been, from briefing to landing, and seek interest from both the multi-palyer and single-player communities. I expected a decent response from Vasco's Volunteers and I was hoping that a good number of the DiD crew would pick up the gauntlet. I wanted to have everything organized prior to letting the cat out of the bag, but now I feel compelled to make a pre-announcement announcement just to keep people like you from being lost .

 

 

There it is...a teaser. I'll toss up a couple of the friendly airfield recon photos this weekend, but I'm a little pressed for time right this instant.

[Axgrinder 0]

VB,

You are one of the people I mentioned that work on the game to make it better and are really under appreciated for you efforts. I hope your new mission is a success.

[Winston DoRight 3]

There's nobody to blame except ourselves, we all let this fine Brotherhood of exceptional multiplayer pilots die out of our own disinterest. In the summer months many found other things to do and never returned. Vasco got a new job and honestly, I just forgot to check and see if there was ever a game up. After all, very few if any were flying anymore anyway. I know many were lost to RoF, but there's people like me who won't buy it. I just can't support that kind of DRM and money-hungry marketing. Is that a $200 sim yet?

 

It could all return as easily as it ended, if enough interest were pledged again. I for one am tired of making missions and mini-campaigns and having no one show up to fly them. Maybe Phase 4 will stir up some new interest (if MP works in the new product).

 

So if anyone wants to revive OFF multiplayer, just add your pledge here. If there's an interest of six players or more, I'll start up a Saturday session again.

 

If not... well Ax, I'll see you in the WW2 skies of IL-2 with the Boys of 60! Don't miss the New Years Day MP Marathon!

 

 

IL-2 WW1 is a reality:

 

 

 

 

 

[Axgrinder 0]

Winston you definately are persistant! A buddy of mine is ordering OFF as I send you this. He finally got a computer that will handle the game. I will help him get set up once he gets his disks. Heck, you might even see me back on for a while to get him sorted out! I also just ordered Track IR for myself and need an easier game than ROF to learn to fly with it!

 

I have plans of being on IL2 New Years day for a little bit. Going to a party later in the evening though!

 

Cheers buddy!

Keep up the good work and the persistance!

[themightysrc 5]

I'm more than happy to indulge in MP OFF - it didn't happen this Summer because my wife's mum has been diagnosed with Loius-Body Syndrome and we've been spending what little spare time we have either at the hospital or else visiting my aunt who apparently is in the first throes of terminal pelvic cancer.

 

I quite understand the frustration of MPers who've gone to all the trouble of setting games up, and I guess I should apologise for not having said anything about my absences. Sorry gents.

 

It looks like I may well now have more time on my hands, due to being turfed out of a job that I loved, so MP is again more likely, so please keep me posted as to where and when, and I'll do my best to attend.

 

Cheers,

Si

[Winston DoRight 3]

OK Simon. I will count us both in for the return. That makes two. Four more to go!

[Vasco 3]

Count me in also.

 

I'm afraid that when no one turned up for Vasco's Volunteers two weeks on the trot, I gave up and headed off to RoF where a few of the old regulars had migrated. But I'll come back if we get the numbers.

 

Vasco

[Winston DoRight 3]

Tks Vasco. Three down and three more to go!

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Guys, I am interested in MP but I'm afraid I would be unable to participate on a regular enough basis on Sundays. Both of my parents are in a quasi-nursing home facility near my home, and I frequently go over to visit and check-in on them late Sunday mornings for a few hours.

 

I also prefer to fly using my mods (naturally), but I don't want to force everyone else to also use my mods in order to keep away from game mis-match errors. If necessary, however, I can disable my mods in order to join the rest of the gang.

 

My largest concern is the scheduling problem. How much flexibility do you have in your flight schedule? Can I join in in the middle of a mission?

[Winston DoRight 3]

Herr Prop-Wasche, it would be good to have you in MP. We only use the standard damage model however and this is not flexible. We used yours at one point, but that proved to be a hassle because you were always changing it and we were spending more time sorting out mismatches than we were flying. If we get this going again you're welcome to give it a try if you can return your install to original and put in the required extras (none of which affect single player functioning). We have a slightly modded version we fly but it's pretty easy to get up to our install IF you install, patch and add-on in a certain order. Getting a new player sorted is sometimes a challenge but so far we have an excellent record of success.

 

You can always join a session or a flight in progress. If we get the requisite number of firm pledges to restart this, I'll again post the install procedure and required downloads for our game.

Edited December 30, 2010 by Winston DoRight

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Hee, hee.

 

Mercifily, I think I am just about finished patching my DM. I'm close to getting burned out over fixing the DM as it is! At most, I may have one more patch, but I don't forsee releasing it any time soon.

 

I understand about sticking to the standard DM in order to avoid mis-matches, so that is not a problem for me. What I should have mentioned, but forgot, is that I am currently without high-speed internet connectivity. I hope to remedy this within a few weeks, but I am probably excluded from on-line play until then. In the meantime, I'll keep abreast of your plans for MP on the forum.

[von Baur 54]

Update to Gotha mission:

 

I was hoping to make more progress, but my son leaves for the Army on the 4th and I've spent most of my vacation doing family things. Not complaining, mind you...if I had the week to do over I wouldn't change a thing (well, maybe rousted him out of bed earlier every day...I'd love to see his first week. lol). I've added two large ports with adjacent railyards as targets. One is northeast of Shoeburyness and the other is on the south shoreline of the peninsula across the River Medway from Sheerness (look them up on Yahoo or Google maps). The third set of targets will be the bridges spanning the Thames. Should be fun and significant damage can be inflicted. I've also put a searchlight/AAA battery near each of the rail/port facilities for atmosphere. I've taken reconnaisance photos of the targets as well as the airfields so everyone can be familiar with the areas. We will need someone to host and we'll have to make sure any DiD folks who want to join have all the necessary files.

 

 

ON TO ENGLAND!!!

[Winston DoRight 3]

Once we get 6 firm committments to join, I'll post the necessary files and install sequence. There will then be a "test" session to see that everyone can connect before flight day. This is to insure that on flight day we can jump right in to flying and not have to waste time sorting out mismatches when we all just want to fly. Here's hoping we get the turnout for this to happen.

[Burning Beard 14]

I will try to make it. Of course, I now have the new DM for the N28 loaded and some other effects. I hope they come out gracefully, lol.

 

Beard

Edited January 2, 2011 by Burning Beard

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Just so everyone is on the right page...

 

The DM includes changes to ALL of the aircraft currently available in BHaH and has had several versions. The latest, and recommended version is 2.5, which includes the "pilot never dies" fix.

 

The FM changes, however, only include changes to the N28 so far, and I have only released two versions of the FM: a beta version sent out to a few posters for testing, and a release version for use by the general public. I am currently testing some FM changes to a few other planes, but no other FM changes have been released yet.

 

I hope this helps clear things up. Let me know if you have any questions.

[+Polovski 460]

Just for the record it's not "our wish" . Microsoft started the problem by turning off their MP servers so now people have to arrange games themselves more, plus we are a very very small team we do not have the hours in the day to revamp MP - our core has always been single player and we have always stated that's where our time is mostly spent. We do appreciate everyone who contributes to OFF in whatever way.

[Winston DoRight 3]

Just for the record it's not "our wish" . Microsoft started the problem by turning off their MP servers so now people have to arrange games themselves more, plus we are a very very small team we do not have the hours in the day to revamp MP - our core has always been single player and we have always stated that's where our time is mostly spent. We do appreciate everyone who contributes to OFF in whatever way.

 

It's not a problem Polovski. We had Phase 3 working quite well at one point and I believe multiplayer has just run it's course. It was a great ride while it lasted and good times were had by all. I asked for 6 firm comittments and I would begin holding sessions again, but got only 4 people interested. Maybe interest will perk up again when Phase 4 is finally released. That's assuming multiplayer issues aren't present on the new release.

 

I'm still undecided on a Phase 4 purchase as single player doesn't interest me much anymore. I'm flying WW2 in a highly modded version of IL-2 1946 with the Boys of 60. We are looking for a few good men to join us for coop allied missions. Anyone interested?

[themightysrc 5]

"It could all return as easily as it ended, if enough interest were pledged again. I for one am tired of making missions and mini-campaigns and having no one show up to fly them. Maybe Phase 4 will stir up some new interest (if MP works in the new product)."

 

I'm still willing to bump this and encourage people to try MP - it's a riot. And now, to help encourage the little flower of MP to grow, here's a little anecdote - which you may find puzzling or odd - but which I think is apposite and worth telling.

 

I'm the secretary for local Labour party in my constituency. There: outed myself. Our local council has been run for the last 4 years by the Conservatives - boo, hiss (obviously) - aided and abetted by the Liberal Democrats - again, boo, hiss, etc.

 

That's the end of the political minefield.

 

Last September, after the defeat nationally of Labour in the 2010 election, we gained a lot of new members in a ward (electoral voting area for non-Brits) called Ramsbottom, which, in the past had returned Labour councillors. The ward membership aged, died, or gave up bored over a period of years, and the Tories took all the seats in the ward, and, with them and others gained elsewhere, control of the council.

 

So, I arranged a meeting of the members, new and old, in this ward (and in a pub, naturally!) to see if their moribund branch which hadn't met for probably 3-4-5 years couldn't be kickstarted again. In short order, the meeting went ahead, they elected a chair, secretary and other worthies and reorganised themselves towards Xmas.

 

Come this year, we had local elections in the borough in May, and needed to win 6 seats to return the council to Labour control.

 

The newly reformed Ramsbottom branch worked their collective bollocks off to get their candidate elected, and, after all the votes in the wards were declared, the fate of the council came down to the result in Ramsbottom, which the Tories had held comfortably in 2010. In 2011, the result was a tie - 1822 votes for the Tory and Labour candidates.

 

The result was then determined by the drawing of straws, and the Labour candidate drew the long straw, thereby gaining the seat and ensuring that the Labour party would be the majority - ruling - party in council.

 

For the want of a nail, etc.

 

What did I draw from this event?

 

It's only the efforts of dedicated people - usually in small numbers - that change the world.

If you keep trying, you can make a difference.

Even if you think you don't stand a chance - do it: you might be very surprised (Joanne the new councillor, certainly was!).

Hard work is usually rewarded, and was in this case.

 

I pledge myself to fly in MP: my poor old mother in law died the day of the election in Ramsbottom (and nationally), which is quite ironic in a way, so I've more free time. If you fly OFF solo and have free time on a Sunday, you should seriously consider it, and pledge here too.

 

Cheers,

Si

 

PS - if you go to Youtube and type in 'ramsbottom election 2011' the top hit is the historic drawing of straws, as mentioned above. And I think I'm on that vid somewhere too!

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Congratulations that all your hard work paid off! My condolences for your mother-in-law.

 

I too, make a pledge to support MP. Although Sunday's are a little difficult for me at times, I think I can swing it! I still have the equipment--mic, earphones, etc.

[themightysrc 5]

Right then - what are the numbers up to?

 

I think that even though we're approaching summer (in the Northern hemisphere, that is), it's worth a punt.

 

Winston, VB, Vasco and others - can we not arrange a one off mission to see if there's the appetite out there to play more widely? If I'm wrong - I'm wrong forever, and P4 will be a solitary pleasure. I can't believe, though, that OFFers only ever wish to fly solo.

[Vasco 3]

Right then - what are the numbers up to?

 

I think that even though we're approaching summer (in the Northern hemisphere, that is), it's worth a punt.

 

Winston, VB, Vasco and others - can we not arrange a one off mission to see if there's the appetite out there to play more widely? If I'm wrong - I'm wrong forever, and P4 will be a solitary pleasure. I can't believe, though, that OFFers only ever wish to fly solo.

 

Hi Simon,

 

 

I sincerely hope that P4 will actually support MP, but in all honesty I doubt it. OBD have stated that MP functionality has never been high on their list of priorities and as those who've flown MP would know, when HitR was released it included aircraft that would not work in MP without our little community creating modded versions..I even emailed one of the developers and gave a step-by-step breakdown of the problem and how it could be rectified in P3 (the solution was curtesy of Stumpjumper) and I never even received a reply. I'm afraid the most of our old gang have made the transition to Rise of Flight where MP was and continues to be a priority of the development team. if you (or von Baur, Burning Beard, Winston, etc) would like to get in touch with any of the old gang I've made a list of where they can be found below.

 

 

Black Haze (Jasta 7)

Dutch

Schultz

Osten

von Guber

von Dudley

Firecage

Vasco

Red Dog

Loopy

 

Old Fokkers

 

Sitting Duck

Axgrinder

 

You can find the squadron websites easily enough and we'd always enjoy seeing members of our old club dropping by to say hello. You never know - perhaps we can even temp you into coming over to the dark side!

 

 

 

Regards,

 

 

 

Vasco

Edited June 15, 2011 by Vasco

[themightysrc 5]

Hi Vasco,

 

I'm saddened that the MP side appears to have ground to a halt in OFF - I really enjoyed those marvellous sessions that you ran. I can see that, given the number of servers available to RoF players that's a big attraction, but I'd be very interested to hear from you what MP gaming is like in RoF with regard to aspects like technical issues, sustainability, player input, and, perhaps most importantly of all, historical accuracy, which is why - I'd guess - we got involved with OFF in the first place.

 

Cheers,

Si

[Vasco 3]

Hi Vasco,

 

I'm saddened that the MP side appears to have ground to a halt in OFF - I really enjoyed those marvellous sessions that you ran. I can see that, given the number of servers available to RoF players that's a big attraction, but I'd be very interested to hear from you what MP gaming is like in RoF with regard to aspects like technical issues, sustainability, player input, and, perhaps most importantly of all, historical accuracy, which is why - I'd guess - we got involved with OFF in the first place.

 

Cheers,

Si

 

Simon,

 

 

Here's an interesting fact - none of the servers available are provided by the developer. A PC with a good ISP can host games pretty much the way we used to. The proper servers have been rented by squadrons like The Syndicate and Les Harlequins from professional providers and are paid for by their squadron members for the benefit of the community. Black Haze also has one but we're running stress test before hosting our own campaign. One squadron is even planning a persistent enviroment so the community can take part in an ongoing war (very ambitious and very worthwhile). There have been several proper events hosted on line like 'Bloody April' that ran over 4 weeks. We've also found that the missions generated by the new offline campaign can be coverted into online cooperative missions quite easily like I used to do with OFF so the game's potential is increasing rapidly.

 

 

 

The multiplayer engine is rock solid, the aeroplanes are beautiful to look at and chalenging to fly well with the amount of engine management involved. Overall, the game still has a long way to go before being able to offer the plane set available in OFF (and the front line still looks a little too pristine for my liking), but the multiplayer experience (especially when flying with your mates) is a thing of beauty. In the early days of RoF I pre-ordered the sim and bought OFF to give me something to do while I waited. In those days I was so impressed with OFF that when RoF was released I installed it, flew in it for about 3 hours then when back to OFF because it was so much more immersive. But things change, sims evolve and the terrible lack of support by OBD for MP in OFF finally took its toll. RoF isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination - one of the things that OFF got right was the comparative flight models of the aircraft (e.g a well-flown N17 can cream an Alb DII or DIII in a turn fight) and the flight models in RoF need (and will soon be receiving) a much-needed review, but with regard to WWI MP, it has become the only game in town. It's a shame really - as I've said many times if OBD had made OFF MP a priority RoF would have been stillborn as it simply couldn't compete in the early days.

 

 

 

RoF is now available free to fly with two aircraft available so it's worth investigating. If you want to drop and and talk/fly with us in game I'll PM you the TS3 address and password. When I mentioned this post to Red Dog, Loopy, von Guber, etc they all started reminising about the OFF campaigns and how much you and the other MP players were missed in RoF (that YouTube video of our gang encountering Mick Mannock and his whole squadron and von Baur swearing on the track when he fudged the first pass made us all chuckle). Guys, your old friends are all here and we'd love to fly with you all again, even if it's only to touch base before going back to await P4.

 

 

 

Let us know guys. You'd all be most welcome.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

 

 

Vasco

Edited June 18, 2011 by Vasco

[Burning Beard 14]

I downloaded the ROF demo so I could possibly fly with you guys and my old buddies from Red Baron, but I get stutters and stall all over the place when flying offline. Have FPS from 25 to 60 but it isn't as smooth as OFF then it just plane stops for a second or two. Don't no what to tell you guys, I'll keep trying to tweak it, but if I can't fix it its a no go and I will pass on buying the actual game. By the way my system should run it fine according to what I have read.

 

Beard