CaptSopwith

Red Baron II / 3D was the reason I wound up here. The long version, in case anyone is interested (not sure why lol) is this: I played the Wings of Glory demo on a PC Gamer CD (it came with the magazine in those days, not sure if they still do that). I immediately fell in love with the game and played the 1 demo mission some 600 times. I even taped myself playing it and provided commentary in a squeaky 13 year old voice - that old VHS is kicking around somewhere! My parents bought the full version for my birthday some months later. The packaging on that game was amazing. Wings of Glory came with a big fat manual, a CD, and a giant (at least it seemed giant at the time) color poster of all of the aircraft on the Western Front in WWI. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. Sadly, the game didn't work and the whole thing - poster and all - was returned to the store. I was crushed. WoG was a finicky little thing to run - and actually required more hard drive space than I had. I have the full game installed on my Windows 7 machine and even with the CD copied over, the thing takes up less disk space than the first 6 tracks of Sgt. Peppers! I can't believe we had so little space back then. Anyway, my WWI flying hobby sat dormant for a few years - from 1995 till the fall of 1998. That September we bought a new Dell computer and a month later, I came across one remaining copy of Red Baron II in the PC game section of Wal-Mart (those were the days lol). I begged and pleaded with my parents to buy it (I think it was $30 or something like that) and I've joked with them that it was the best 30 bucks they ever spent. We got internet access in January 1999 and I found the Delphi forum not long after that. Which is how I met OvS, Shred, Rabu, a guy named Rookie109 and Pat Wilson, among others. From there I started downloading patches - UOPs - and figuring out how Red Baron II's file system worked. In the summer of 2000 I worked some odd jobs and saved up enough money to buy a Voodoo 3000 card and the rest is history. Sometime around 2006, James sent me a message (probably on his old Hell's Angels board) saying hey, there's this new project I'm working on called OFF, you really should take a look. I had such an attachment to the 'old gal' as we used to call RB, that it was hard to see myself moving to a new sim. But as OFF improved and I got a new computer, I hopped on board. I can't really remember how long I've been flying OFF - I guess that's what happens when you grow up and years of your life feel more like months instead of the other way around. I remember flying P2 not long after it came out. Anyway, long story short. RB set me up with my obsession with WWI flight. It finished the work that WoG started. I'm a WWI and German historian now because I became obsessed with Red Baron II back then. Like I said, it was the best 30 bucks my parents ever spent. Cheers!

Glad you liked it Olham. Imagine what the team could accomplish if someone invested in OBD and paid them handsomely for their hours of toil at the computer!

Congratulations old man!

Wow! Damn fine work Olham! That picture sent a shiver down my spine.

I visited home for the first time in a while, and came back with the old Dell computer I first played RBII on all those years ago. I fired it up and hooked up my joystick. It was a great feeling. But as you said, it was nostalgic. There was no immersion, there was no suspension of belief. There was only the feeling of "wow, look at the old gal run. We've come a long way." And we really have. I imagine that for you, moving from RBII to OFF was like going from painting postage stamps to having a full canvas to work with. The attention to detail that you guys bring to the game is simply remarkable. I'm a so-called "expert" in the field - at least in the eyes of academia. I'm working on a thesis and I read about the period all the time - but you guys have an encyclopedic knowledge of the bits and pieces of the war that leaves me floored every time. I'm really looking forward to P4 and seeing what comes next. And hey, with any luck it will run on the hardware I've got - cause as a grad student, I certainly can't afford anything new! I'm glad to hear you're doing well mate. You and the rest of the old-timers are thought of frequently. We all go way back, and hopefully, way into the future as well!

Nice find Ratatat! I've bookmarked all three games and spent a good twenty minutes playing through the first Dogfighter game!

I'll also chime in (even if I'm a bit late to the party)! MSE works great on my machine as well. I was using avast until MSE came out. I installed it on my Windows 7 right and it's as if I'm not running any anti-virus software at all, as far as any noticeable hit on my performance is concerned. My PC starts quickly, loads my games and my sims smoothly, and I never have any hic-ups while playing. Quite a far cry from the old days of Norton - when I would have to disconnect from the internet, turn off my Zone Alarm Firewall, and then shutdown Norton Anti-virus just to get Red Baron II to run smoothly! My only complaint about MSE was that it played havoc with my HiTR install process. I would double click on the install exe and the entire machine would lock up. I resorted to booting into safe mode and installing my OFF goodies and then I was all set. That said, that's a pretty small gripe - so I'm quite happy with it.

Glad you guys liked it. TaillyHo: I think this film definitely raises a lot of historical questions. I wish I could get my hands on the original document and do some more research. I think Moritz's assessment is as plausible as anything I can come up with. Here's information on all three possible aircraft featured in the film: http://www.theaerodrome.com/aircraft/germany/aviatik_ci.php http://www.theaerodrome.com/aircraft/germany/dfw_cv.php http://www.theaerodrome.com/aircraft/germany/rumpler_ci.php

Nice find Carrick! Just did some research on the Geneseo Air Show. I might have to go visit. It would be a much shorter drive than going to see The Vintage Aviator in NZ!

Very nice! This music still takes me back. Menu 3 was my favorite of the lot - which comes at the end of the clip. I still catch myself whistling it from time to time!

If it's of any consolation Widow, I've been stuck in my apartment since last Thursday. We've been bombarded with snow, high winds, ice, and below zero temperatures. It has been miserable. Thank God I haven't had to go anywhere! And yet, I've still had a mountain of writing and grading to do. Cheers! And here's to getting out soon!

Someone actually made MIDI files of the Wings of Glory soundtrack and uploaded it as a zip file. I can't remember the site I found it on, but it's out there! So were you playing Dawn Patrol and Flying Corps Gold in the 1990's?

I completely agree. And not just the feeling of responsibility but also the sense of utter futility and helplessness in the air when you see a wingman go down in flames. What a horrible feeling. No wonder they drank so heavily!

Wow, gorgeous skinning work as always, mate! Bet your glad not to have to deal with a 256 colour palette anymore!

I was wondering the same thing... James, where are you mate?

Lou, I had to write you a note of thanks for sharing your WWI aviation library. I had not seen these posted until today and I'm in the process of downloading them. Set 1 looks brilliant and I'm really looking forward to reading these volumes. It's just too bad that I'll be away from my PC for winter break and I don't have access to a Kindle or else I'd take the whole collection with me. Many thanks again, this is a HUGE contribution to the community. Cheers!

Thanks for sharing Carrick. That's a nice N-17. RC flying was always a hobby I thought was cool but could never afford. It's much cheaper to get a $1500 computer and a copy of OFF than spend $1000 on a plane and then repair it after crashing over and over again! Also... the bloody thing sounds like a lawn mower taking off! Me thinks the pilot should install Creaghorn's sound mod!

From your account, I think you did everything that could be reasonably expected from a Quirk flight leader. Sadly, the Be2 was simply not equipped for aerial combat the likes of which you encountered. And with 3-1 odds, I'd say that fact that anyone made it home alive is pretty exceptional. So - unfortunately - I think you did everything you could, short of equipping yourselves with Bristol Fighters! PS: Just out of curiosity, what attacked you? I'm assuming it was a flight of EIII's but I could be wrong.

Wow... well, dramatized or not, that brought a tear to my eye. Thank you for sharing that Olham. Here's one of my favorites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikekLJdY_kE

Looks like Rise of Flight is trying to sweeten the pot and attract some new pilots with a new release of ROF dubbed ICE (Iron Cross Edition). Here's the press release. http://riseofflight.com/Blogs/post/2010/06/03/ROF-ICE.aspx

Here's my Windows 7 desktop.

I was just thinking the same thing James. So how old are you now Shred? Are you finally 30? Happy Birthday mate! You've always been one of the great board members to know over the years. Cheers!

Well, it only took fifteen years, four computers, three more hours of work this morning, and a lot of guess work, forum searching, and teeth gnashing. But this morning, after a decade and a half, I managed to get this classic working: (Note: The video isn't mine, but a great example of Wings of Glory in all its well... glory.) It works pretty well, and that trademark scream when you down an enemy is too good to pass up. It's also amazing to see how far we've come. After a few missions in the pixelated world of Wings of Glory, OFF feels like a true High Def sim. Just wanted to share with my fellow sim enthusiasts. I should also add that this was the sim that introduced me to WWI aviation and started the itch I've been scratching since I was 13 years old!

I'll chime in again and mention another possibility: browser. I just had my system lock up three times this morning using Mozilla Firefox. I had the same applications open each time, iTunes and Firefox, trying to perform the same task each time, and each time it locked. The computer booted to a black screen the second time, and the third time I got a full on BSOD. Just restarted, and I'm using Chrome with no issues.

Wow... and done! I knew it was an N28 and I knew it was a Twilight Zone Episode but I do belive nbryant wins the thread!