CaptSopwith

Hey Rich. Make sure you've got Time Advance set to Auto/Manual in the Workshop settings. If you get a mission in the briefing room you don't like - back out, click advance time (should be at the lower right part of your screen) and voila, a new mission will be generated.

And rightly so IMHO. There is no way a squadron of BE2's would scramble against incoming fighters. The pilots would take cover or man the ground guns and try to fend them off that way. Dispatching a squadron of Quirks would only result in the destruction of a squadron of Quirks and the death and dismemberment of their pilots.

Scrambles are real pilot killers! I echo Lewie's thoughts on Red Baron's frequency of Airfield attacks - they were the pilot killer back then! In a way, you got off lucky to have a Quirk pilot only hospitalized and not being put in the dirt for a longterm nap. Even when you are a late-war SE5 jockey, scrambles are no guaranteed thing. Oftentimes my guy winds up getting horribly wounded or killed outright - within meters of his own barracks. Damn unsporting of those Germans, I tell ya! This, a thousand times! Everytime I think the OFF manager has spit out a bit off an oddball, I back out, advance time - pretend my engine couldn't start or my pilot had a sudden onset of upset stomach from the Castor Oil, and try it again. Especially if they are airfield attacks at any time earlier than say late 1917, as they were nearly unheard of. Still, it's nice to even have a dynamic campaign - and I'm sure P4 will be an even better system.

It's ironic that you mention this... I've gotten the flu shot every year for the last 12 years... this was the first year I skipped. Lesson learned.

Did Blackburn make a single good plane? My fiance picked me up a copy of 101 of the world's worst aircraft and Blackburn practically has its own chapter. That... thing, makes the "spinning incinerator" look positively stable! I wouldn't go within ten feet of that thing, let alone get in it.

Ah, thanks Lou. I remember coming across these videos some time back but lost track of them since. This will make for some good watching today.

Oh man, Olham. You're right. I should stop posting until I'm well enough to be coherent again! I just watched The Blue Max a week ago too... I can't believe I blanked on the part where the gunner tried to return fire on Stachel. I'll be glad when I'm over being sick, this is killing me lol.

Just thought I'd check in. I too installed the service pack and so far, all appears well. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find a large piece of wood to knock on!

I too have let a few go in my time. Perhaps I'm not as cold-blooded as I thought. I remember a particular instance with a Hanover CLII in Red Baron 3D. I had chased down several of its comrades and dispatched them. The final Hanover was booking it for the lines, running scared. I lined it up and opened fire, and heard the tell-tale scream of a fatality. It turned out that I hit the gunner, the only way I could tell was the sudden lack of rear-gunner fire. The plane was horribly damaged - billowing black smoke, wings all shot to hell. I could tell that he might make it home if I let him go. I didn't have the heart to blast a defenseless pilot out of the sky (clearly I'm no Bruno Stachel! lol). And so, I let him fade into the horizon. I'd like to think he made it home...

Ahh, forgive me, I didn't realize that recon planes weren't included. I've been incredibly sick the last few weeks with bronchitis and I guess in my cough-syrup induced stupor, I miss-read. And wow, 10 Bristol Fighters! If they were anything like their digital counterparts in OFF, I wouldn't go anywhere near them!

I echo Lou's sentiments. Have a safe journey and I hope all goes well. We'll be here when you get back.

I echo your thoughts Olham. There really was nothing romantic about air combat in World War I. The idea of the chivalrous dogfight, with two pilots squaring off to duel was an anomaly during World War I. If you were a fighter pilot between 1914 and 1918, your ideal dogfight was to catch your enemy from behind and shoot him in the back before he ever knew you were there. I noticed something interesting about MvR's tally. I don't see a single Be2 Quirk or an RE8 on the list. Did MvR never shoot one of those down? If that's the case, I'm surprised after reading about how these two types were essentially easy meat. I also noticed that even the greatest dogfighter of World War I only bagged 3 Bristol Fighters - I bet even old Manfred was leery about tangling with them!

...starting tomorrow, February 21. So, I'm turning 29. I'm prepared for all of the "you're still just a damn kid..." comments you can fling at me. In fact, they will probably help as 29 just doesn't even sound like the right number. To be honest, they stopped making any sense around 25. Every since then it's been a feeling of "okay... so I'm how old now??" I remember announcing my 18th birthday over on the Delphi Forums. I'm pretty sure I was "the kid" by a pretty decent margin back then. Aw Hell, I guess the "getting old" part starts now...and I had just gotten really good at being young.

Wow, well put as always Shred. I need to go visit these places in person. Thankfully, in my future line of work I will be able to. Perhaps a "research" trip to the Flanders region is in order in a few years. I already have Munich on my "to visit" list for work. @Olham, have you visited these battlefields in person? If so, what's your take on them? @Shred: I know what you mean by "you are not alone." I had a very similar experience at the Gettysburg battlefield. I have no idea why - I haven't traced by family history back far enough to know about the Civil War, so I have no direct ties, but there is such a strong feeling, an emotion that creeps up on you as you visit and grows more and more the longer you stay. By the end of the afternoon at Gettysburg, my family and I (I was only 14 at the time) felt ready to leave - that a weight had been placed on us that we didn't feel at the start of the day. There is something to it... and I don't easily buy ghost stories either.

Wow... I think these are the first photos I've ever seen of No. 24 RFC with their DH'2s. I'm so glad you posted this, JFM... this put chills down my spine. Wow.

I echo Lewie's sentiments - we're a community, not just a bunch of pilots. I'm glad to hear that Max is okay too! I've had quite a few dogs in my time and tragically, none of them seemed longed for this earth. I switched to cats and found they seem to last longer around me. I still have a soft spot for dogs, though and Max is a handsome fella. I'm glad he's home with you and yours. Cheers WM.

Well, I certainly wasn't slighted in the least either, Pawgy - of course, I wasn't around for the first post! I'm glad you're getting the feel for OFF - it does take some getting used to. So let me add my welcome to you. To try and help, I searched through my posts for something I wrote a while back that seems to describe OFF - and what makes it what it is - pretty well. I've added here in case you'd like to read it. During the 15-20 minute breaks I've taken in the last few days while working, I've been playing a lot of Call of Duty 4 on my PC. I've played all of the COD games and I'll likely wind up with Black Ops for Christmas - as I asked for it a few months back (I should have asked for TrackIR lol). And I've noticed a perceptible difference in how I feel after playing a CoD game versus flying a mission in OFF. Now, take the following with a grain of salt - your mileage may vary - these are just my own odd opinions. First, both are immensely fun - no doubt. But a game of CoD (which on the PC features up to 50 people all blasting away on a single map) is a frantic, run and shoot affair. There are always targets in front of you. You sit, clicking away on your mouse, sending rounds downrange while taking fire from all directions. Push too far up the map and your opponents start spawning behind you (we call it a spawn flip). Take cover for too long and you're labeled a "camper" (can you imagine what they'd think of Trench Warfare!? ). Do too well and you must be hacking. Etc. I end a game of CoD feeling hopped up - like a junkie getting a fix, wanting another kill, but never feeling really satisfied. Fire up a mission in OFF, on the other hand, and it's a completely different experience. By COD comparisons its a much slower game. You fly, you look around, you wait. On any given mission you might have one or two dogfights - but usually you'll see dots in the distance and never encounter much trouble (at least when you fly in 1915 as I am). And I feel so much better after a mission in OFF. Is it tense and exciting? Absolutely! But it is so much enjoyable than a quick, manic game of shooting up in CoD. I feel satisfied with the time (and I'm very aware of my time these days lol) I invested in my choice of game. OFF feels great to play, immensely satisfying to fly, and after I'm finished, I feel refreshed and inspired to get back to work. I played one more game of CoD today - and wound up being banned from a server. Why? Because I took cover for too long and hopped to get out of a window. Silly me! It was at that moment when I came to my senses, thought "What the hell am I doing here?" and went back to my OFF career. I flew another Fokker EIII mission, saw no trouble over the lines, and landed safely without ever firing a shot. And I felt great! I guess my rambling point is this. While the gaming community at large seems to view us as a group of fringe oddballs who worry about details that your average CoD player could care less about - I'd much rather be a "fringe oddball" of a "niche" community, than continuing to battle among the masses who think war games should be fought by running into the streets, shooting as many people as they can before they are mowed down, and then repeating. While CoD had its hooks in me for the last three years - I just don't get it anymore. It reeks of the mindless lather, rinse, repeat gaming that seems to be flooding the market these days. It's time to suit up again - put back on the goggles, dust off my old pilots and give OFF the attention it deserves. Thank God my old Sidewinder 2 joystick (which I've had since 2000) still works! Cheers! OFF is a different kettle of fish - but if you put the time into it, it will reward you like no other "game" out there - and that's because, as Olham will quickly add to my post, OFF isn't a game at all! You've also lucked out - you've stumbled upon one of the best bunch of guys to mingle on a board. Sure we all have our odd personalities, myself included, but you'll rarely find a more helpful and enthusiastic group. Keep asking questions, post your results as you fly and we'll be glad to give the advice where we can. I'll take a pint of Guinness myself. Hey, Olham - what is this Warsteiner Pilsener you keep talking about? Perhaps I should try one someday.

Bingo. My apologies for being a tad too obtuse with my historical references.

I believe that's what we call "pulling a Hess."

I'm sure this has been done several times, but as Winder, Pol, and the rest of the members of OBD are pulling long hours and working hard on P4, now seemed like an appropriate time to thank them again for all of their work. For me, having known a lot of these guys for years, this is a very personal thank you. The last few days has re-fired my passion for these great sims, and OFF in particular. It has also given me a new appreciation for all of the great sims that have come before. The great thing about a lot of the OBD members is that they were responsible for those moments too. I've always felt somewhat inadequate as a member of the flight sim community. I can set up and run a flight sim, add a new flight model, swap some sound effects out to my liking, and tweak everything from my nvidia card to dgvoodoo to get things to run the way I want them. But I've never been able to make a patch, paint a plane properly, create a new terrain set, or tweak data files to create a more realistic flight model for a Fokker Dr1. The closest I've ever gotten was writing the history of Red Baron 3D's community many years ago - and with the advantage of time, I cringe over the clunkiness of some of those passages. But you, on the other hand, have given me so much. Ever since I stumbled upon the ancient Delphi Flight Sim Forum in 1999, my flight simming has benefited from their handiwork. I've flown over Rabu's terrain, piloted Royce's flight models, expanded RB with Pat Wilson and SWWISA's WFP, watched CdT make new models, and followed every step of Otto's work on Hell's Angels. The list goes on and on... I'm lucky enough to consider many of these guys my friends - or at least they've been stuck with me for so long now they tolerate my posts well. And while I know many of those "old timers" moved onto other things - so many of the core Red Baron modders moved to work on OFF. And nothing has come close to this amazing project called Over Flanders Fields. I remember the messages James sent me to come check out this new project back in, what was it, 2005 or 2006? While my old computer didn't have a hope of running OFF, I kept my eye on it. You were there working on this thing when there was no one else around in the WWI sim genre. Sure, we all got our hopes up over various projects but most of the professional, studio backed efforts fizzled and failed. And as new projects came and went, the OFF team kept working away. P1, P2, and then P3 BHAH and HiTR. The sheer amount of work done on OFF, the intricate attention to detail, the graphical fidelity of the sim, the flight models, the AI, all of it - to turn a mediocre WWII also-ran flight sim into a world class WWI simulator has to be the most remarkable thing I've ever seen from a group of modders scattered across the world. The work is stunning. And sometimes you have to step back and really marvel at it to fully appreciate the mammoth labor of love that we lucky pilots get to save on our hard drives. And the community that has grown around it is equally impressive. I haven't enjoyed posting on the boards this much in years - it feels good to be back and it feels good to make the time to do it again. Flying missions in OFF, posting my adventures, the exploits of my pilots, and immersing myself in the screenshots and stories of my fellow pilots, all scattered across the world too, keeps the excitement for flying going strong. The biggest thing about OFF that keeps all of us rabid addicts coming back for more is this: It feels right. It just does. And feeling is something you have to know in your gut - you can't program it into a data file. You guys absolutely nailed that part. So please, keep up the good work. As I said in another post, you're one of the very few left fighting the good fight. Whatever you charge for P4, I'll pay for it somehow - even on my shoestring budget. This isn't a labor to make money, it's a labor of love, and it shows. I'm sure the "profits" you've made off of the sales of OFF probably just barely cover your server costs - let alone the hours you spend working away on the sim. I'm sure if you calculated the hours I played for whatever it was I spent for P3 and HiTR, you would make fractions of pennies off of me. And for what we've paid, we've gotten more than enough bang for our buck. From the constant updates, to the open door policy to find out from us, those playing OFF "in the wild", what you can do next to make a great sim even better has been worth far more than the asking price. Just know that while there's very little I've done to contribute, I am incredibly grateful. Without OFF and the work of Winder and everyone else involved, my gaming world would be a much poorer place. No matter how long it takes, I'll be here watching for the next round of previews, rooting on the team, and lining up to buy the final product. Something tells me, I won't be alone. In the meantime, if I can ever be of assistance, let me know. Best Wishes for the successful completion of Phase 4. CaptSopwith

Lewie, you are a genius sir! MST3K is one of the greatest works of art in modern times, possibly ever. I'm as diehard of a fan as they come. Well played, sir, well played.

Hi guys. I was flying a patrol with 24RFC this morning in February 1916 on a flight over the front. Along the way we ran into a flight of Bristol scouts with the strangest paint scheme I've ever seen. Their pant scheme had wheel bitmaps and part of their rudders appearing on their elevators. I snapped a screenshot, but Windows is telling me the file isn't supported and I can't get it to open so a written description will have to do for now unless I run across them again. I wanted to bring it to your attention. My workshop settings have the planes set to normal res. If you need any further details, let me know.

Hey Pol. I probably figured it was a one-time hic-up. I haven't seen many of those in OFF. I went ahead and attached the log file - I had no idea those things were so intricate... gives you an idea of how much OFF is doing behind the scenes. Hope this helps.

Thanks for sharing this one Creaghorn. I'm not one for re-incarnation by any means, but dreams like that do make me pause and scratch my head.

Tbolin. Let me say welcome to the boards and welcome to OFF. You won't be disappointed with BH&H. I just wanted to say that I echo your sentiments about being excited to fly a new sim. It was a long decade between RB3D and the next big thing for me, which was OFF BH&H. I followed and played P1 and P2 as OFF developed but I didn't have the computing horsepower to really run anything. Thankfully, my new computer arrived around the same time P3 was nearing completion and it was worth the wait. Think back to the most atmospheric, immersive sims you enjoyed in the past and OFF is exactly that, immersive. Flying a patrol over the lines, hearing the flak bursting nearby, watching for other planes in the sky, and then feeling your stomach knot up as you see a group of planes approaching, but aren't sure yet if they are friend or foe. That's OFF to a tee. It's the first sim I've played that made me happy just to return in one piece, let alone rack up any kills. You're in for a treat man, and you found the right group of crazy pilots to share the experience with. I've been on various boards over the years, and this is by far, one of the absolute best. Let us know if we can help with anything and I think I speak for everyone when I say, we look forward to your first combat reports and impressions of OFF. Cheers!