A Newbie's Experience of Phase 3

[CaptSopwith 18]

So, one might think that after a few years of playing Phase 3 and HiTR, I'd be an expert pilot by now. And, in my old life, I was. But after being gifted a TrackIR system I've decided to go full DiD...

 

...and the results aren't pretty.

 

OFF has become a new, and far more terrifying experience. Without my old crutches like the Tactical Display and the ease of simply selecting and padlocking targets, I'm finding life in the skies over the Western Front to be more dangerous than I've ever seen them! Flying with TrackIR and with all of my settings maxed to the most difficult (including shooting ranges, ground fire, AI, etc), I am far more on edge during my patrols. Even in my early war missions, life is a taxing experience! I find I'm wearing my own neck out craning around the skies looking for trouble. Without the aid of my tac display to show up little dots on the horizon, it's all down to my own situational awareness.

 

Oh, and I've already lost three pilots. Shot right out of the sky without even knowing they were coming.

 

So, while many out there might think that Phase 3 is sun setting on my hard drive as we all eagerly await OFF 2, I am learning OFF Phase 3 all over again... for the first time!

[themightysrc 5]

Scary isn't it? I still use TAC and labels, but the TAC blobs are always white, and the labels are opaque until you're close up - this emulate (for me anyway) the better vision I'd have IRL, and which the AI has regardless. Try those mods, use TAC and it's still a challenge.

[carrick58 23]

Full DiD is an experience.

[CaptSopwith 18]

I agree. Mostly, I'm just amazed at how much more difficult this sim now is. Not that OFF was ever a cake walk, but I felt I had come to grips with it over the years. Switching up to a TrackIR system and turning off all of the aids makes this sim so much harder that it feels like a different game altogether. Patrols are no longer dull. By removing the tactical display, I no longer know if I'm in the clear or not. It seems like such a simple change, but it fundamentally alters the way you play. You don't just cruise along waiting for a dot to show up on your tac. You have to keep looking, even behind your own lines. I had an RFC pilot shot right out of the sky within a few miles of home because I wasn't looking. In the old days, I would have seen trouble coming on my display, whipped around, and racked up another kill. Not this time. My TrackIR test dummy was shot down and killed by a lone Albatros scout because I wasn't looking.

 

It really changes everything.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

I have been flying with Track IR and sans TAC and aids for quite some time and fully enjoy it. I also navigate with a paper map and the in-sim compass rather than the in-sim map, and this too adds another dimension to an already deep sim. Having to rely on 'Eyeball 20-20' and distant flak puffs to sort out where my opponents might be also brings the kills down to a much more realistic level. I will say however that I do not use the 'DiD' setting anymore but rather the 'Dice Roll' as there were times when our RL counterparts walked away from crashes that should have killed them, but didn't. This of course is one of the great things about OFF, you can tailor it to precisely your liking.

 

So Soppy, I agree with you completely Sir that OFF is a entirely new sim when flown this way.

 

.

[Olham 164]

Same for me - I use "Die roll at death" since some time, because I had died twice in minor little accidents.

Now it seems quite balanced.

Edited March 19, 2012 by Olham

[Buddy1998 2]

Sorry, to deviate a bit from this thread, but couldn't resist commenting since I believe this is in line with what is being discussed about DiD. So, while waiting for OFF2, I've been trying to modify the "xdp" files which contain the hit points and probabilities for each plane to make it more "real". The motivation for this came from reading various threads on how planes would just make one pass and up close to take out the enemy (I believe it was mentioned that it was either all or nothing most of the time during dogfights). Also, there was mention of how a shot to the fuel line with the engine running would be lethal. I only worked on the Pup and Alb II files. I tried to make the PUP fragile and the Alb more likely to catch fire with a fuel leak (I apologize if this is not historical). What I saw was either coincidence or amazing... my wingman in a PUP shot the Alb in its engine which caught fire then... exploded! All of this in one pass. Then an Alb made one pass at me and I was disabled and forced to land.

 

 

In a different flight, I tried an experiment and did a straight dive from 10,000 ft? when my lower wings just snapped off my plane. Sounds stupid, but I couldn't get this to happen with the current DM no matter how much I abused the PUP. I'm going to experiment a bit more, but so far I am enjoying the vulnerability of my plane.

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Try my DM, Buddy, and you should see flamers and wings coming off in power dives.

[Shiloh 12]

Good for you Capt.

 

I just started a serious pilot as well after a year of flying on and off and it's a whole new experience. I only use labels while in combat to identify targets but turn them off when I'm actually engaged. I'm not using the TAC at all other than hitting my lat waypoint just prior to landing so that mission registers as successful. I did try one thing on my last flight. I used the TAC so that I could hit waypoints, but switched it to 'ships' so that I won't be warned of enemy planes. I'm not sure if I'll stick with that or not but I do prefer it without.

 

I've had my head on a swivel at all times and it can get nerve-wracking after a while. My last flight I spotted some Albs over my left shoulder high above then lost sight of them. I frantically scanned the skies and just happened to see them right before they attacked us from the rear. Another few seconds and they would have chewed us up good. Good luck to you Capt. and keep searching those skies.

[RamblingSid 3]

Me too Cap'n,

 

I don't usually fly as wing lead which adds...piquancy to the experience. I've literally jumped

in my seat on more than one occassion.

 

I don't do DiD though - Die Roll is enough for me.

 

P3 is a gem, isn't it ?

[Olham 164]

Patrols are no longer dull. By removing the tactical display, I no longer know if I'm in the clear or not.

It seems like such a simple change, but it fundamentally alters the way you play. You don't just cruise along

waiting for a dot to show up on your tac. You have to keep looking, even behind your own lines.

I had an RFC pilot shot right out of the sky within a few miles of home because I wasn't looking.

In the old days, I would have seen trouble coming on my display, whipped around, and racked up another kill.

 

It really changes everything.

Doesn't it? This feeling of constantly possible threat from any direction makes me feel closer to the real pilots.

Now, once you have got used to flying with TrackIR so much, that it feels almost "natural" to you, you could go

a step further and fly after a map like Lou does, and me sometimes too.

You would not follow the waypoints of the inflight map then anymore - you would draw a course following the

roads, railways and landmarks. This works astonishingly well for me. After some time I know the lakes in my

area, and can distinguish them from their shapes; I give them names in my map.

Railtracks are surprisingly correct, and you can fly distances of 60 miles and more, following them.

 

I have often paused the sim over a landmark, like a railway bridge over a river, and noted the longitude and

latitude from the ingame map's upper right corner. And I was amazed to really find a railway bridge crossing

a river in GoogleMaps at that position. Same for lakes. Roads are more difficult to follow, I find.

 

I print my area out on a letter size paper, put it into a solid clear plastik jacket which I fix in a clipboard.

I draw the course with a red marker. It must be a waterproof one, so your fingers cannot wipe them out.

You can later wipe out the lines with cleaning-alcohol.

I mark events there too. Where did I spot EA, where did we fight; where was my victory location.

 

For the victory locations, I also pause the sim and note Longitude and Latitude.

I like to go to GoogleMaps (Satellite view) at that exact position, to see the environement there.

This brings the whole event even more to life for me.

If the roads there were already photographed by GoogleStreetView, I pull the yellow mannikin down

into the nearest road, and then I look around, take a short walk around the spot.

 

With these little additions "Over Flanders Fields" is even more able to "put me into the plane",

to let me breathe the scents of spring, when I shut down the engine near my tent hangar; to listen

to the climbing larks' song on the afternoon of a warm summer day.

I haven't found such deep immersion in any other sim.

Rating: "Made with Love and Dedication".

 

.

Edited March 20, 2012 by Olham

[carrick58 23]

.

 

I have been flying with Track IR and sans TAC and aids for quite some time and fully enjoy it. I also navigate with a paper map and the in-sim compass rather than the in-sim map, and this too adds another dimension to an already deep sim. Having to rely on 'Eyeball 20-20' and distant flak puffs to sort out where my opponents might be also brings the kills down to a much more realistic level. I will say however that I do not use the 'DiD' setting anymore but rather the 'Dice Roll' as there were times when our RL counterparts walked away from crashes that should have killed them, but didn't. This of course is one of the great things about OFF, you can tailor it to precisely your liking.

 

So Soppy, I agree with you completely Sir that OFF is a entirely new sim when flown this way.

 

.

 

I tried using a map, but the blast from the Prop ( A Fan turned on to make my scarf flap) knocks it around. I wonder if the WWI Pilots used a clipboard ?

[Olham 164]

Hey, Carrick, I just wondered why you don't have the "Barmy OFFers Club" badge yet - did no one invite you?

I guess you are more than barmy enough to join the club. I will ask our president Lou about that.

[RamblingSid 3]

I tried using a map, but the blast from the Prop ( A Fan turned on to make my scarf flap) knocks it around. I wonder if the WWI Pilots used a clipboard ?

 

Oh god,

 

I too have a white silk scarf...

 

There is a large fan...

 

I have on occassion...

 

I am 58, is there any hope ?

:no2:

[CaptSopwith 18]

Thankfully, I am happy to report that I'm getting the hang of this TrackIR business. It's also upping the immersion to fly with a headset - it drowns out everything, including my girlfriend's phone calls - which was quite unfortunate! I'll have to keep that phone within eyesight of me when I fly next time. Thankfully, being a flight simmer herself, she understood!

 

I'm over the motion sickness and I'm finding that the immersion factor is much higher. I keep scanning the skies every chance I get and it's made dogfighting a much more visceral experience. Rather than simply padlocking my target and bringing my guns to bear, I have to keep watching my opponent and I have to say, I've lost a few of them so far when they jinked out of my line of sight. It really does make OFF a different game!

 

And as for the scarves and the fans... when I was a teenager (quite a while ago now!) our family computer that I used to play Red Baron 3D on was in our loft. The loft was a wonderful place. I could open all the windows in the summer - smell the countryside and more importantly, all of the pine that framed out the loft and formed the floors under me. The smell of wood and fresh air made RB3D a wonderful experience. I spent entire days lost in the loft...

 

I still miss it.

[Olham 164]

I'm over the motion sickness and I'm finding that the immersion factor is much higher.

And you will still get more and more used to it, until it feels natural to you, Captain.