DukeIronHand 8 Posted May 20, 2011 Getting ready to give a two-seater career (48 Squadron in April, 1817) a whirl for the first time this weekend and had a question. In "real life" the pilot and observer apparently had their own kill tallies that were tracked separately. How does it work in OFF? Does the program track kills separately or does it think of the kills coming from the players plane as the players? If the second case I will then have to fill out a claim form for the observers kill? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted May 20, 2011 Yep - each kill is regarded as the player's kill, and you always fill in the claim forms. You can, by the way, switch over to the observer's seat (F8 or so) and try to do the rearward defense. But my experiences were, that it is better to pilot the craft in a good way, at the same time evasive and to give your rear gunner a good field of fire. The AI pilot will rather fly straight on. I wish you luck and fun with it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+elephant 36 Posted May 20, 2011 In WWI kills by two seaters were credited to both crew members so an observer could well be an ace... In OFF the observer is not an actual member of the squadron, (non existent in Duty Room), so all the "crew" kills are credited to the pilot, (player). As Olham suggested, piloting your plane to a favorable position to the rear gunner and at the same time keeping yourself away from enemy fire can be great fun! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DukeIronHand 8 Posted May 21, 2011 In OFF the observer is not an actual member of the squadron, (non existent in Duty Room), so... Ahh...that was supposed to be a Part 2 to my original question that I forgot to ask in the original post. Thanks to both of you for the info. Maybe in P4 the observers will be a little more "visible" in the squadron. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rickitycrate 10 Posted May 23, 2011 Ahh...that was supposed to be a Part 2 to my original question that I forgot to ask in the original post. Thanks to both of you for the info. Maybe in P4 the observers will be a little more "visible" in the squadron. This is one of the things I have indicated amongst our "wishlists" for P4 developement. A proper Observer career. So much of the potential is there for this to happen. I know it would mean a lot of programming/work/time. But what other sim/WWI has ever offered an Observer carreer? By the way I have most often used a gamepad during Observation. It more closely mimics the hand positions and operations of the gun than a flightstick does of course. I find Observing to be fun. Not as glamourous as a pilot perhaps but as a window into what it may have been like for the real men of the time I find it almost informative and definately interesting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DukeIronHand 8 Posted May 23, 2011 This is one of the things I have indicated amongst our "wishlists" for P4 developement. A proper Observer career. So much of the potential is there for this to happen. I know it would mean a lot of programming/work/time. But what other sim/WWI has ever offered an Observer carreer? By the way I have most often used a gamepad during Observation. It more closely mimics the hand positions and operations of the gun than a flightstick does of course. I find Observing to be fun. Not as glamourous as a pilot perhaps but as a window into what it may have been like for the real men of the time I find it almost informative and definately interesting. That would be very cool especially if some observer tasks, besides working the MG, could be programmed into the game - my ideas on it though would require much code time! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted May 23, 2011 Good ideas, guys - would make the two-seaters much better frequented by the simmers, and could even lure me into the back seat. Something like being able to guide artillery, or taking recon photos. Not easy to program surely, but it would be such an extension. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hasse Wind 46 Posted May 24, 2011 An observer career would be interesting, yes. But even if we can only fly as the pilot, the addition of working recon cameras and wireless sets for artillery fire direction would revolutionize the way these careers work. Then it would be something more than just bombing and pretending to do the other things. And it wouldn't hurt to have working bombsights in all the two-seaters and bombers that historically had them. Being able to transfer from a recon/bomber squadron to a fighter squadron without having to manually edit files would be nice too. I know perfectly well that most people prefer to fly only as fighter pilots. But I'm sure there are many of us who greatly enjoy also the two-seater careers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lewie 7 Posted May 24, 2011 An observer career would be interesting, yes. But even if we can only fly as the pilot, the addition of working recon cameras and wireless sets for artillery fire direction would revolutionize the way these careers work. Then it would be something more than just bombing and pretending to do the other things. And it wouldn't hurt to have working bombsights in all the two-seaters and bombers that historically had them. Being able to transfer from a recon/bomber squadron to a fighter squadron without having to manually edit files would be nice too. I know perfectly well that most people prefer to fly only as fighter pilots. But I'm sure there are many of us who greatly enjoy also the two-seater careers. If you want to play in a two seater 'career' in another sim, SDOE's FS-WWI has the abilities to fly as either pilot, bomber, or photographer in their respective veiws and places, The HP 400 and the Caproni Ca33 are a treat because of the multiple choices for gunnery stations. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites