CaptSopwith

Still busy flying - ordering a new graphics card to ramp up my settings in WOFF and finally get WOTR to a playable frame rate. Can't keep away!

Hi gents! Hope you are all doing well. Seemed fitting to post this over on the board that started it all. I randomly stumbled across this upload from Pol and happened to notice the date: June 13, 2008. Here is where we were a decade ago, with a preview of OFF: Between Heaven and Hell. My how far we've come. How has it been ten years already? Take a look for yourselves and enjoy the nostalgia!

Looks tempting! I was always a fan of the ETO in European Air War. Hellshade, what kind of system specs are we looking at to run CLoD at a decent frame rate? My system has a geForce 745 GTX which is modest, to say the least. Runs WOFF at a decent clip with the occasional hiccup here and there. Cheers! PS: OLHAM! How are you doing my friend! I have been away from the boards for far too long! Hope you are doing well and staying warm in Berlin.

Well for me WOFF UE is still somewhat new. I'm still flying about 1-2 nights a week and sometimes more if time allows. I have posted less mostly because of time constraints.

Some fantastic scenes from an evening's flying. Hope you enjoy!

I'm not usually one for preferring one board over another but... I have to say that my desire to post dropped off after the move over to the other site. There's something about the design that doesn't quite work for me, the inability to see people's avatars - which I very much grew to associate with handles - and now the clunky manner in which we are required to post photos for our AAR... I just don't feel like I want to take the time to post like I used to. Would be nice to see a move back here - under a streamlined WOFF board but... who knows.

And another round from this morning's 1915 patrol over the lines with a pilot who, I think, would qualify for the DiD campaign. There isn't any action here. Instead, I was enthralled with the staggering lighting and texture work that is now so prominent in this sim.

Had some excitement last night in Quick Scenario where I was trying to get the hang of my Halberstadt DIII. Wound up in a large furball with some French N11's and I was hit early on. My aircraft's roll ability was compromised pretty badly but thankfully, some crafty throttle work on my part allowed my French assailant to overshoot my craft and I didn't hesitate to take advantage of the situation. Managed to put quite a few rounds in at close range and the rest, as you can see, sorted itself out from there. My favorite touch from this exchange? The cows or sheep in the field next to where the poor French pilot met his end. It's the little things in WOFF!

Bloody bureaucracy and all that. You know those paper pushers back at Whitehall can get those commendation forms jumbled up sometimes!

Gorgeous shot 33LIMA. I have a real attachment to the N28 in those colors. I think it was one of the first crates I took up in Red Baron II back in the day and that livery always gives me a wave of nostalgia! Cheers!

Hi Olham! Hope you are doing well my friend. My apologies for the... belated reply. Yes, I am still flying my campaign in the Halberstadt, but this time we've been upgraded to the DIII model. It has slightly better horsepower. As a German pilot, I was usually piloting Albatros fighters, but I'm growing quite fond of the Halberstadt, and it's helping me understand the attachment pilots developed to their machines, even if they were not the most "cutting edge" at the time. I believe my pilot has passed about 9 flying hours or so and he's still plugging along. Funny how you sometimes make a "throw away" pilot to get the hang of the sim and he winds up being the one that lasts a while! Cheers mate!

Hi Lou! Glad to see you around as well mate! Hoping the boards will get a bit more active again. I was just looking over the DiD Campaign rules. Might be time to set up a pilot and see how long I can coax him through the war. Given my survival rate (how far below 1% can you go before it no longer counts?), I might work my way through the alphabet with disturbing speed! I'll be glad to buy you around my friend. What'll have?

Well now, it has been a little while since I last posted. November to be exact... My apologies for the considerable delay in my presence around here. RL has gotten incredibly busy as I'm in the last stages of closing in on my degree. With holiday travel back and forth I've had very little time in front of the gaming computer. Toss in some surprise Christmas presents in the form of Battlefield 4 for PC and a brand new PlayStation 4 with Star Wars Battlefront thrown in, and the time quickly got away from me. But I have to say, the other night I finally had some gaming time that was longer than the 20 minute chunks I've been working with lately, and I got back to some WOFF. My 1916 German pilot has survived a few weeks of combat duty and even notched up his first confirmed victory (so that's 1 for 3 so far) and I was terrified of losing him so I spent about two hours bouncing around the fantastic Quick Scenarios that WOFF has to offer. Bombing runs, balloon busting and defense, close air support and of course, the massive furball dogfights of 1918. I'm also happy to say that I have fine tuned the graphic settings in WOFF and the game looks gorgeous! At this point, even with my nvidia GTX 745, I'm running all of my settings on 5, with the exception of scenery detail, which I have ticked at 4. I've got all of the graphical goodies cranked up on my video card settings and the skies are stunning. I'll say this as well, the new games are fantastic. The attention to detail in Star Wars Battlefront is astonishing for any fan of the series. And the set pieces in Battlefield 4 are epic. But, like getting back to a classic Jazz album after listening to just so much pop, there is an explosion of endorphins when I fire up WOFF. It's not just entertaining for the eyes and the twitch reflexes, but it's the most immersive digital experience I've ever had for my brain. Flying some training flights for my soon to be certified 1916 ESC LAF pilot, I noticed the smoke from the trains steaming out of Paris as I sat in the observer's seat on my first flight. Back over the lines, I could hear the eerie echo of the barrages as our early war Halberstadt's flew over the front. The explosions below combined with the atmosphere of it all - the haze of the summer sky, the lighting casting shadows across my wings and the patches of dark earth from the cloud's shadows below. It completely sucks you in. Rather than those 20 minute bursts in star fighter or cargo, I lost two HOURS simply flying and staying alive. I love how different the goals are in this sim. It's not about racking up victories, it's about the incredible, soul-satisfying feeling of your wheels touching down on friendly grass after an hour up in the very unfriendly skies of WOFF. Hoping to post far more often. I've missed hearing your exploits and tales from the front and darn if I haven't missed seeing the familiar names around here. Hope you guys are well. If you have time, give me a shout and let me know what you've been up to! Cheers! Soppy

Hello again and welcome back to another installment of "CaptSopwith Plays WOFF!" Or, perhaps I should re-title it, "CaptSopwith Survives WOFF!" It's been a few weeks since I've had a chance to really put in some flight time. RL will tend to do that. However, I am happy to report that not only is WOFF running smoothly - even more so after the latest patch - but is continuing to leave me white knuckled and ever so thankful to be back on the ground after a mission. After losing my previous German pilot due to the terrible blunder of using time compression for just a tad too long, I created another German aviator, this time flying in the Autumn of 1916. Willy Fußl is serving with Jasta 3 and flying the Halberstadt DII. Willy's first few missions were pretty eventful, with his squad mates getting into a few nasty dogfights along the way. Willy, wisely with a grand total of 8 flying hours under his belt before deployment to the Front, stayed high and out of trouble. This morning's escort mission, however, finally gave Willy a taste of combat. The patrol took Jasta 3 over enemy lines escorting two Aviatik reccy aircraft as they photographed the enemy sectors of the Front. A-Flight broke off early in the patrol to tend to other matters, leaving Willy and his two wingmen to escort the Aviatik to enemy territory. All appeared well - the reccy aircraft took their snaps of the Front and began to turn for home. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a lone French Nieuport sweep in to attack our Aviatiks so I turned and attacked. Aiming from the Halberstadt is a difficult process. I tend to lean towards the iron sights and follow the tracers out ahead of me. It's usually just enough to get a few well placed strikes on my target. So as I pulled in behind the Nieuport - he failed to see me - I opened fire and immediately hit something vital. The enemy plane jolted in the air and a billow of black smoke poured from the aircraft. He tried to get one last burst into the Aviatik in front of him as I hit him with a second burst - careful not to hit our friendlies further ahead. This time the French craft lurched and nosed over, spiraling until it hit the ground. A second Frenchmen appeared out of nowhere and was making a b-line for b-flight. I turned and nosed my Halberstadt down slightly to gain speed on him. My flight leader and his wingmen failed to engage the first Nieuport and were flying blind as the second closed in. I managed to open fire and clip the Nieuport with a few rounds as the rest of b-flight finally woke up and engaged. We opened fire on the Nieuport and a fellow member of Jasta 3 put him down for good. By now I was low on ammo and the Aviatiks were nowhere to be seen so I split for home. As I neared our side of the lines, two Nieuport 16s dived out of the clouds and took on my wingman and myself. By now I was incredibly worried that the next round I fired would be the last in the gun. I turned and went after one of the Nieuports as my wingman and the second Frenchmen vanished somewhere into the morning haze. The second Nieuport pulled into a high left climb and, as I got my sights through him, I opened fire. Again I got lucky, striking something vital and sending black smoke pouring from the back of the plane. As he turned to bank right, I followed, and put another long burst into him. This finally finished him off, leaving him to fall into the shell holes of No-Mans Land. By now it was really time to get on the ground in friendly territory. I managed to make for the nearest field and as I approached, I spotted black flak bursts overhead. It was one of those moments when you really have to weigh your options. The closest field is right in front of me, but there are obviously enemy aircraft nearby. Do you try to land? Do you bank away and find another field and hope that whatever is circling over head in front of you doesn't follow? I zoomed in the view and as I did, saw a friendly Halberstadt from Jasta 3 shooting down an enemy aircraft - a trail of smoke and fire highlighting the meteor like decent. And, with the impact, the flak burst ceased. As I circled in I spotted the rest of my flight, all circling for their approach to the field. We made it... The Small Things What struck me over and over again during this sortie is just how incredibly lifelike this sim feels now. The way observation balloons seem to actually float at the end of their tethers. The way the light plays off your wing struts and casts shadows as you slowly turn to change formation. The way other aircraft seem to actually fly through air rather than track along a linear flight model. The haze on the horizon, the shadows cast by trees and buildings. The thunder of artillery and the explosions in no mans land. It all adds up, little detail by little detail to completely immerse you in this amazing world that is alive around you at all times. And the interface picks up where the sim leaves off. After landing, Willy filled out his next claim form and found out that he had been awarded one kill, complete with a victory cup! I spent the next fifteen minutes just looking around - reading intelligence reports, looking over the daily newspaper, flipping through the squadron profiles, reading the immense history on Willy's goblet. It's a completely immersive time machine that instantly transports you back to a completely different world. One that's always hard to leave when the night is over...

Poor Gerhard Roth... I suppose he didn't stand much of a chance, what with being the first "Skip Training and Deploy Straight to the Front" pilot of the lot. No take off and landing training. No flying circuits. No chance, really, to even enjoy a little peace and quiet - unlike his British counter-part: Cecil Coles, who just finished flight training around London in 1915. Straight into the meat grinder - that was poor Roth's fate. And he fared well. Our pilot entered the war at the worst possible time: 1918, just before the Michael Offensive. His unit, Jasta 74, was often outclassed in machinery and the unit's airmen lacked a certain... how should I put it gently: situational awareness. But Roth not only survived, he thrived. He shot down two Sopwith Strutters that invaded German airspace near his own field. But, as the saying goes, "Unconfirmed by Army means unconfirmed." The weather that day was atrocious and, given the state of the lines at that point, Army Command simply didn't have time to go rummaging through some woods for a few wayward Strutter carcasses. Roth finally earned his goblet, however, with a third Strutter, this time bagged over friendly lines, with a squadron witness. It took just eight missions. Already he had been wounded once, with a nasty gunshot wound that left him in hospital a fortnight. But Roth got a bit impatient and started to time compress during his missions. And it was the compression that killed him... His final mission, just three weeks since he joined Jasta 74, took him near the front lines again on a line patrol with only two wing men who, as I mentioned, often to fail to catch the small details. As he came out of time compression, three dots rapidly grew clearer at his 6 o'clock. Three SPAD VII's with the fangs out. It was not only Roth's final mission, but that of one of his wing men. They came in fast and opened fire. Before Roth's flight could even break, he was hit. Roth, the lowest rank in the group was flying at the rear of the formation, leaving his comrades clueless as to the fate about to descend upon them. The sounds were awful. Gunfire ripped his Albatros DIII OAW to shreds in a matter of a few seconds. Wood shattered, support wires snapped violently and then, with the sickening thud and thwack that will stay with me, the rounds hit Roth. The screen flashed red, the Albatros slipped out of control, and crash landed about a minute later. Smoke trailing as Roth slowly faded while strapped in the shattered remains of his craft. Four days later, he died in hospital. So the telegram says. WOFF is indeed an enhancement in every respect. It models the flight characteristics, the tactics employed, the history from the period, and the horrific end that so many pilots faced. Even after all these years of playing WWI sims, and all of the fatalities along the way. Roth's death felt especially hard to take. You cannot help but care much more for these virtual pilots than any that preceded it. WOFF is a holistic sim - everything you see and interact with forges a connection with your pilot. You feel invested before they ever get off the ground. Even the simple act of picking a birth date and place of birth changes your attachment to them. Well done OBD. WOFF is the first sim where I truly "get" the sort of loss experienced in this war. RIP, young Roth.