OFFbase: the Barmy Automated Squadron Experience for OFF

[corsaire31 7]

The girl also says "Czech mate"... so not german either !

[DukeIronHand 8]

The girl also says "Czech mate"... so not german either !

 

Hehe

[+Lothar of the Hill People 6]

Good eye, corsaire31, guess Olham and I were focused on... other details. But it looks like the Czechs got the last laugh after all.

[Bullethead 12]

Hilarious, Bullethead, thanks for sharing. OFFbase needs a drinking song mini-game or something.

 

What was funnier, the song itself or my pathetic attempt at translation? I do think, however, that many of the verses are double entendres in both versions.

 

IMHO, an old hussar drinking song is fitting music for the Sacred Order of the Flaming Dodo. Hussars were to the 1800s what aviators were to the 1900s, and many WW1 pilots began their careers as hussars. And that old saying, "Any hussar who lives to be 30 is a coward", fits in perfectly with WW1 flying .

[Beanie 4]

Hussars got the glory - it was the lancers that did the fighting! It was a lancer regiment that lead the charge of the light brigade (17th Lancers). The cherry bums (11th hussars) were in the second line.

 

Being an ex 17th/21st Lancer of over 14 years I always feel that it's is the hussars that always gets the lime light!

 

'Death or Glory'

[Bullethead 12]

Hussars got the glory - it was the lancers that did the fighting! It was a lancer regiment that lead the charge of the light brigade (17th Lancers). The cherry bums (11th hussars) were in the second line.

 

Being an ex 17th/21st Lancer of over 14 years I always feel that it's is the hussars that always gets the lime light!

 

'Death or Glory'

 

Well, for some strange reason, there just never were many lancers compared to hussars, so I guess the lancers got drowned out in the general drunken din. I've never understood why there weren't more lancers in Napoleanic times. The longer reach of the lance compared to the sword or the bayonet would seem a great advantage in most situations, and not long before, all cav had been lancers anyway. Very strange.

 

Lancers did get their props, though. For instance, when Napolean went to Elba, the Chasseurs of the Old Guard composed a song of good-bye to the Polish lancers, a typical bit of which is:

 

Et partout la Gloire est fidèle

Aux braves lanciers polonais

[Olham 164]

Like in WW1 aviation, Beanie - the two-seats made all the tactical important work

taking photos or leading the artillery, or bombing targets - risking their bums every

day on far flights into enemy terrain.

And who received all the attention?

[Beanie 4]

Agreed Bullet and Olham, but I did get to wear the coolist 'motto' (badge)!

[Mr. Lucky 0]

Quick Question:

I got the whole package up and running with minimal difficulty (OFFice and the listed mods). When filling in the squadron info, I was unable to find in OFF anything concrete about the activity in my sector. I'm in RFC 29 in early 1916. The description mentions activity in Verdun but not in our sector. So I gleaned it to be active but it didn't definitively say what it was like it did for the squadron operational rating. Did I miss it somewhere? Thanks. BTW, got me back in the spirit of flying OFF after a many month hiatus. When the smoke clears, has anyone thought of outside interaction like trips to town, courtships, etc?

[Bletchley 8]

Hello Mr.Lucky, if it says that there is activity elsewhere but not in your area, then you are in a Quiet sector.

 

Bletchley

[Mr. Lucky 0]

Hello Mr.Lucky, if it says that there is activity elsewhere but not in your area, then you are in a Quiet sector.

 

Bletchley

 

Thank you. Now...onward and upward.

[Mr. Lucky 0]

Okay...follow up. I had set my sector activity to 'active' when it should've been 'quiet'. Can I change it? I haven't seen an option in OFFbase. Do I need to worry about it? What can I / should I do? Thanks

[+Lothar of the Hill People 6]

You can change it in the Adjutant's office, Mr. Lucky. The next version will keep track of changes automatically so you won't have to worry about it.

[Mr. Lucky 0]

Damn! You guys are good!

[+Lothar of the Hill People 6]

Just a tease of one of the many new features that will be in the next release--a complete overhaul over how OFF handles its flight and claims logs:

 

 

The Campaign Journal: Off's Flight Log has been upgraded to a true journal of your pilot's time in the Great War. The text of your claims is listed in the log chronologically, no longer at a later date and only conditional on confirmation. You can edit the text of your claims in the log when returning to OFFbase after your mission, as well as view and edit your Journal any time in your OFFbase quarters. You can even write post-mission entries even if you haven't scored any claims! All entries are seamlessly displayed in the OFFbase Journal and the Flight Log in OFF Manager, with the former even featuring pictures of you and your claim witnesses!

This is just one new feature that pilots of two-seater campaigns will especially appreciate--now you can actually report your observations of troop movements and enemy activity and such and document what happened on your missions just like those kill-happy fighter pilots.

 

Screw "two weeks"--give me two more days.

[Olham 164]

Lothar, man, you are beginning to get "serious" now, eyh? My mouth begins to water.

Especially since you seem to have found a definite way of making all mods REALLY work

(in other words: you seem to have found a solution for the problems with different - and

thereby partly wrong - install pathes of users?).

[+Lothar of the Hill People 6]

Lothar, man, you are beginning to get "serious" now, eyh? My mouth begins to water. Especially since you seem to have found a definite way of making all mods REALLY work (in other words: you seem to have found a solution for the problems with different - and thereby partly wrong - install pathes of users?).

Yep, all the path problems are sorted and everything's automatic. Everything "just works." The OFFramp mod manager's pretty amazing, you should try it. Version 0.8.3 is now available!

[Olham 164]

One more question: do I still need JSGME for it? Or is there...

Well, two! Two more questions!

Is there a good self-explaining install guide and info with it?

[+Lothar of the Hill People 6]

One more question: do I still need JSGME for it? Or is there...

Well, two! Two more questions!

Is there a good self-explaining install guide and info with it?

JSGME isn't required (yet) but future versions may. The installer version will automatically put it in the right place, no worries just double click and run. The same is true for installer versions of JSGME mods themselves, such as my names mod and German music mod. You don't have to worry about any paths or anything.

 

Same thing for installing OFFice. Instructions are on the download page, but it's pretty simple:

Just download and run the OFFice exe, and it will automatically extract the OFFice folder into your root OFF installation (usually "C:\ OBDSoftware"). This will also create shortcuts for OFFbase and OFFset (see OFFset.readme.txt) on your desktop and/or start menu.

 

OFFbase will ask to run at Administrator level as this is required by JSGME. OFFbase can elevate the OFF manager, but you should set CFS3.exe (and TrackIR5.exe) to run as Administrator as well.

 

To play OFFbase, simply double click one of the installed shortcuts.

You can choose to install the full documentation as well.