Preview Movie No. 3 out now!

[DukeIronHand 8]

Before I head over to check it out apparently I missed the official Phase 4 name.

 

WOFF=?

 

DOH! Disregard...its right on the first line of the movie page!

Edited July 2, 2012 by DukeIronHand

[Olham 164]

Bullet, you may get what you want.

An earlier Preview Movie showed the text announcement, that the AI will "think" about taking on a fight - or giving it a miss.

That sounds like they will carefully calculate their chances.

Also the breaking off of a fight and retreat was mentioned (if I didn't dream this part).

 

What I meant will get even tougher, is the direct fighting/flying ability of AI pilots.

Until today, I could fight Triplanes or Camels very well.

But I guess these turn fighters will get harder to beat.

Hopefully also the energy fighters. That would be the most difficult task - to "teach them" good energy fighting.

[Beanie 4]

Just in time. After being unable to play OFF for some time due to work, I am now able to spend more time playing OFF as my work rota has changed - and just in time for WOFF - happy days!

[Olham 164]

Beanie, I wish you, that you will have enough time for flying WOFF, when it comes out.

Work can eat you up. Good luck!

[JFM 18]

Good points, BH.

 

I agree, the "17 hour" thing is exaggerated. It's fun and challenging for flight sims, and I've done it once ( ) but one needs only look at the casualty figures to see the inflation. For illustration's sake, say a sortie was two hours. Takes 8.5 sorties to reach 17 hours. At two sorties per day, takes just five days to reach 17 hours. To account for poor weather, etc., let's double that to ten days. So everybody in a Staffel or Squadron died every ten days? Jasta 11, for instance, only lost 17 KiA in all of its two years of war(28 Sept 1916 to 11 Nov 1918).

 

Still, what to do? People want a simulation--but only to a point. If the simulation is too realistic, they'll not like it or get bored (most of actual combat flying involves a lot of flying and little if any combat), so you need the gaming element. That's right, everybody, I said it: gaming. Embrace it! It's not an evil word or concept. You've been doing it for years with OFF, anyway. If you use TAC, or start an engine with a single keystroke, or use external views, or select FM variations, or issue wingman commands for help/formations/who or what to attack, or don't do a runup before takeoff, or use personalized skins, or use icons, etc., you're gaming. It's okay! Accept it. It's the part that makes simulation fun/more fun; the seasoning that turns a bland dish into an extraordinary one, if you will. I'm confident most people wouldn't want to fly ten sorties without ever seeing an enemy plane, or shoot one down (or at least have the chance to), or spend 20 minutes trying to start an engine that never does, etc.

 

Circling Fees would be great to see! And initiate, when flying Fees.

[Olham 164]

The "17 hour thing" was - AFAIK - only especially about the average life expectancy of a British pilot in "Bloody April" days.

 

Any sim can only provide us with a believeable AI, technology and environement.

What the sim cannot reproduce or simulate for us is, that we would be vulnerable; and that we would die from our mistakes only once.

No further learning - just full stop.

So, a believeable carreer must be simulated by the flyer himself - if he wants to.

 

Edit: Devs, give the man a "Lufberry Circle" if you can (should be even an interesting new tactic).

Edited July 13, 2012 by Olham

[Beanie 4]

As always goods points Bullethead and JFM. The devs can only do so much, to give us a realistic sim before it ceases to be fun - its why I play OFF and looking forward to WOFF.

Edited July 13, 2012 by Beanie

[Hasse Wind 46]

 

So, a believeable carreer must be simulated by the flyer himself - if he wants to.

 

 

Exactly. But it's only possible when the sim is built to really allow it. A Terminator mode for all AI pilots does a pretty good job of making realistic flying by the player almost impossible to achieve in practice. I hope this will be different in WOFF.

 

If somebody wants to fly in Terminator mode and shoot down 20 opponents in five hours before dying himself, I have no problem with it. But the sim should also allow people who want to have a more realistic WW1 experience to fly in a more peaceful way and not be forced to fight to the last man and bullet in each and every sortie. This very much depends on the AI.

 

If WOFF can do this well, it will be the best sim ever released.

[+Winder 32]

Actually, I'm hoping that WOFF will be less deadly. My only real problem with OFF as it stands now is how the AI treats nearly every encounter as a cage fight: 2 flights enter, only the survivors of 1 flight go home. Once the AI scout commits to a fight, it only tries to disengage if it's taken so much damage it probably won't make it home anyway, much less outrun pursuit. The result is that OFF fights are way deadlier than is historically accurate. This has 2 main effects: players get way more kills in way fewer sorties than anybody in WW1, and players get shot down after fewer sorties than the historical average.

 

What I'd like to see in WOFF's AI is scouts being able to count noses and know when the odds are badly against them. And also knowing when the energy situation is going against them, so they disengage before they're mortally wounded. And then everybody running away after a few high-speed passes, and the player suddenly finding himself alone in the empty the sky with nothing to show for it. Or 2 flights circling around some distance from each other, trying to out-climb each other, and individuals on both sides making the occasional foray into the "no-pilot's-airspace" between them like ancient heroes. This sort of stuff is what you read about in memoirs, not how 6 Nupes met 6 Albs and 2 riddled Nupes limped home leaving 10 columns of smoke behind them.

 

NOTE: the above is for prior to 1918. I have no complaints with how the massive furballs I find in 1918 work out in OFF. And I hope the AI in WOFF keeps them going :).

 

But what I really most want out of the AI is for it to do a Lufbery Circle in Fees and various 2-seaters. This is also something you read about a lot but never see happen in the game at present.

 

 

 

:-)

 

 

HTH

 

WM

[Olham 164]

HTH ??? Another cryptic message... ???

[+Winder 32]

HTH ??? Another cryptic message... ???

 

Not at all HTH = Hope This Helps..

[Olham 164]

Hope this helps??? And that isn't cryptic??? Do you mean the Smiley??? What does the Smiley mean????

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

defo 2 weeks

[Dej 17]

Hope this helps??? And that isn't cryptic??? Do you mean the Smiley??? What does the Smiley mean????

 

It means Winder knows exactly how much of BH's request is already in WOFF. It also means he knows that you know he knows and that he knows you know he knows you know he knows. Simple. You know.

[Olham 164]

Ah, THAT meaning was the meaning of it! I thought it was too simple to be the correct answer...

Edited July 13, 2012 by Olham

[Bullethead 12]

@JFM

Gaming isn't evil. Or if it is, then it's just one more of many "evils" I wholeheartedly embrace and will gladly burn in Hell for. Why do you think Hell's got better bandwidth than Heaven?

 

That said, I think OFF is rated "M for mature". This isn't because of any graphic or profane content, it's because it's the sort of game that appeals to folks who've outgrown their puppy-love crushes on instant and massive carnage. I still dally with such things, especially when I've had a really bad day, but I'm much more comfortable around things like OFF as my long-term commitments.

 

Thus, IMHO, OFF shouldn't cater to the twitch-gaming crowd. Let them play ROF. In these days of widespread low-ping connections, there's no longer a need for AIs to attempt to simulate this environment. Instead, IMHO AIs should focus on being more true to real life.

 

@Hasse Wind

We already have a "Terminator" mode; no need to get rid of it. Just add a new Workshop setting to choose between it and the (hopefully) more realist WOFF AI.

 

@Winding Man

Thanks for explaining "HTH". At first I thought you meant "head-to-head", which would have been the worst news imaginable. But isntead, I'm now looking forward even more to WOFF.

[+Polovski 414]

It is indeed a thing of beauty :)

 

Oh sorry was just looking at a pic of Paula Patton, or was I talking about the AI no that can't be :D

[Olham 164]

Psychoanalyst to Polovski:

"Now let's talk about Paula Patton for a bit, Pol, shall we?

How would she behave, when you try to jump her? Can she counter your "turn fighting" with good "energy fighting"?

Would she sometimes withdraw your fiery attacks? Would she break off her engagement, when you get too rough?

How elegant or clever would her manoeuvres be, if she tried to evade your powerful rushes?

Questions we should talk about in detail, don't you think?"

 

 

 

Comics used without permission by, but with lots of love for Charles M. Schultz and his Peanuts

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2012 by Olham

[+Polovski 414]

Lol Olham, in impossible Mission 4 she does all of those moves, but I'm hoping she surrenders and lets me guide her down to my field ;)

 

Or I may be in need of that 5¢ advice ;)

[Olham 164]

Paula Patton - I just checked and found pics of her in the web - you don't like it soft and easy, eyh?

[+Polovski 414]

Lol "Hot n spicy" is fine for me :)

[77Scout 3]

Damn, such juicy hints. I must say, if you guys have managed to conjure up AI that know when to break off from fight then that would be incredible, and I mean truly incredible. What a massive increase in realism that would be. Combined with the announced real-outcomes for our flight-mates, this would really take the simulation to a whole new level. WOOF will be great regardless, but this particular line of hinting is making me drool.