CaptSopwith

Hi All! Just thought I'd check in and see how everyone's summer is progressing. Things are pretty quiet here - which is a nice change of pace from the last six months. Diving back into my games - especially OFF (Olham: I'm still using your terrific Wilhelm Roth "R" skins). So, how is everyone here? What are you playing these days now that we're still in a holding pattern for WOFF? Hope everyone is well! Cheers!

Hi Olham! I came across this video while having my coffee this morning. It's a gameplay video of Red Baron 3D that also shows the intro and how the sim's interface functioned. For those of us who played it, it's a nice trip down memory lane. And for you, my good friend, I thought it would be a fun glimpse at what had us all terribly addicted back in the 90s! And, I would dare say you can see where some of OFF's inspiration came from! Hope you like it!

Looks fantastic Lothar! And thanks for taking the time to work in the RB3D soundtrack - I think it makes for a fun retro experience. Tossing in Wings, too, is a great idea! I'm looking forward to seeing what the new version does. I do have a technical question for you, however. Whenever I run OFFice, I have noticeably lower frame rates and a lot of intermittent stutters in my gameplay when flying. When I unload Andy's sound mod, it's a little bit better but my FPS are down a good 25% from the stock game when I run OFFice. I don't think it's the software... is it possible that my rig is just too old to run the mods? I'll list my system specs below to see if you have any suggestions. The stock game runs between 20-60 FPS depending on how busy things are on screen. I usually run with regional activity set to medium as high can also cause a degradation in performance. Here are my specs - try not to laugh too hard Gateway FX7024 2 x 500 GB HD (Games installed on one disk, OS on the other). Windows 7 SP1 3GB RAM nVidia GeForce 9800 GT Intel Core 2 Duo Quad Q6600 at 2.40GhZ

That's fantastic Lothar! Very happy the Red Baron 3D soundtrack is alive and well once more! I love Matt's score to OFF - but there's something about the more upbeat tone of RB3D that I remember quite fondly. And Wings, wow... I wish I had played that one but 1990 is just a little before my time. We got our first PC in 1993 and shortly after that, Wings of Glory came out (which I have installed on my current rig in DosBox). Love the soundtrack through. Great stuff! And for anyone who hasn't heard the Red Baron 3D soundtrack - which I still catch myself humming around the house all these years later - here's some previews of what it sounded like. The audio quality is pretty low in these videos but they'll do.

Apparently so! Glad I got a little discussion going! And I remember those flame wars quite well - I believe there was one rather infamous thread entitled "The Fokker DR1 is Porked!" I got quite an introduction to life on message boards back in the late 90s. And Royce - I'm pretty sure I still have some of your handiwork on my PC. I have all of the major RB3D patches installed and I'm sure your FM is still kicking around there somewhere!

I have to say, I certainly agree! Matt's scores are magical - and I'm dying to hear the rest of his work when WOFF is released! Somehow, my Microsoft Sidewinder Precision 2 is still working after all these years. Got it for my 17th birthday... in 1999.

It is indeed, heartening to see all of the old names coming out of the woodwork! I was getting a bit worried (as you saw in my other post...). I'll happily take up a game of darts, and make my pint a Guinness! PS: Glad to see PW is still working on all things WWI - I remember he had a terrible time of things years back (I believe his wife passed away quite unexpectedly). I too play some ROF when I get time but with my system, if there are more than a half dozen planes on the screen ROF drags to a slow-motion crawl. Not sure there's anything I can do to fix that - short of buying a new system. And being a PhD Candidate, I don't have a lot (read: any) extra income right now.

Glad you like it Javito! I've got a few years on you, but not much: I was 16 when I picked up Red Baron II in 1998. Got it with our second home computer, a Dell XPS R400 that still sits in my closet. It's funny how we remember the missions we flew in that sim as if they actually happened. My girlfriend gets a kick out of my stories - and even asks me how my latest mission went when she knows I've been flying OFF. Out of all of the hundreds of hapless lads I sent up, only one actually made it through to 1918. He flew for the RFC, I think started in 1RFC, then 24RFC, followed by a stint with 60 before finishing the war behind the controls of an SE5 in 56 Squadron. Wound up with 82 kills - only two better than Manfred and I wound up with a VC (partly because I was maimed... ouch). Had another Brit pull a stint with Roderick Stanley Dallas and I felt terrible on the mission where I saw him shot down in the clouds over the lines. Funny... this is all getting close to 15 years in the past now but I still remember those evenings playing like yesterday. Your fights sound truly epic! Thanks for sharing them Javito! Hope you're doing well, mate.

I have to say, it's good to see a lot of names I recognize! Hope you're doing well Hellshade! I still enjoy watching your OFF videos over on YouTube. I also wasn't aware that people were actually complaining about getting previews... seems really baffling to me. I'd much rather enjoy some eye-candy to tempt me along for another two weeks!

Funny you should mention that. I've worked up a mod that incorporates the original RB3D music into OFF - replacing the original score. I'll get it posted at some point - I was seeing if Lothar could incorporate it into OFFice but once Combat Ace gets the downloads up and working again, I'll post it. Brings back a flood of nostalgia every time I play!

It is indeed, the one and the same! I wonder what OvS is up to lately... haven't heard from him in over a year now...

I seem to remember you saying that you never played RB3D, so I thought you'd like to see what all the fuss was about. Indeed! I remember upgrading my old Dell XPS R400 a few times just to play RB3D. The ATI card it shipped with did not do Glide, which was so essential back in the late 90s so I saved up my pennies and bought a Voodoo 3000 card. I also upgraded my RAM to 128MB, which was huge back then! It's amazing to me how quickly the time has passed. Doesn't seem like that long ago until you stop and really think about it and then, oh dear... it really has been. BTW: I've been meaning to ask this, is the Pat Wilson behind the ROF Campaign Mission Generator the same Pat that worked so tirelessly on RB3D over the years?

Once again, the skies of OFF left my palms sweating and my heart racing this morning as another patrol ended in near disaster! Attached is my Claims Report from this morning's action in the skies over Arras. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMBATS IN THE AIR: REPORT 9/8/1917 8h17 Flanders Ste-Marie-Cappel Balloon Defense Flying: Sopwith Camel. On this day claims: 4 Alb DV . 45 Squadron - B Flight was designated to defend an observation balloon just north of Arras this morning. While en route to the patrol area, our flight encountered a large formation of Albatros scouts. I am unsure of how many Boche scouts there were, as our formation turned due East rather suddenly and I found myself quickly surrounded by Hun aeroplanes. I also lost contact with my own formation as I followed one German scout down several thousand feet. His craft was painted with black diagonal stripes down the length of this fuselage and his tail was painted in white and black stripes as well. I managed to lead shoot rather well, and damaged his control wires which sent him into a spin. Being low to the deck, it led to his crashing just about a mile East of the friendly RFC field due North of Arras. As he was going down, another Boche chased after me to avenge his comrade. We entered into a turning fight which eventually allowed me to put my sights through the Hun flier and open fire. This time his engine was hit and I saw huge bellows of smoke pouring from the plane as he caught fire and subsequently crashed. I then spent the next several minutes trying to locate B Flight, but to no avail. As I climbed to gain altitude I noticed more Archie flak bursts behind me and, much to my astonishment, saw two more Albatros fighters, painted in the same colours, diving towards me. The next several minutes were a terrifying blur. The two Boche pilots worked together to trap my Sopwith Camel. Thankfully, the Camel out-turned the Huns, and I led them back over the same RFC aerodrome I had flown over a few minutes earlier. The ground gunners began pouring fire into the sky and the Huns were left to Zig-Zag all over to avoid being hit. This allowed me to circle back again and down one of them, leaving his scout stalled in the air until he fell tail first to the ground. The Final Hun then attacked and, unfortunately, severely damaged my Sopwith. As I led him back over the aerodrome, the ground fire clipped his Albatros, allowing me a killing shot on the Hun, which also saw him crash near the base. All scouts crashed somewhere in the vicinity of the Arras Aerodrome. Due to the severity of the damaged sustained in the final scrap with the Hun, I was forced to land my Sopwith at the base and file this report from there.. Witnessed by: Quentin Powell, Rob Ackland Status : Pending . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Simply stated, I am yet again amazed by the intensity of a mission in OFF. Even on the sim's stock settings, and without mods, the work done by OBD leaves me astounded at how well they replicated the danger pilots in World War I faced. Also, I have to say that flying an entire mission without Warp is, quite possibly, the most rewarding flight sim experience to be had. Our formation of Camels took off, circled our field a few times, and headed out to our patrol area. I spent most of the ingress sipping my morning coffee and struggling to get my Camel to match the speed and altitude of my wingmen. As we drew to within three miles of the observation balloon we were assigned to defend, I finally joined the formation. I spent much of my time focusing on keeping my scout in line with the rest of my formation when my flight leader broke formation and banked hard right to the East. A quick check of my map showed me that we were nowhere near a waypoint change and, as I glanced up through my upper wing, I could see a flurry of white flak bursts in the sky... but no planes. Clearly there was trouble but I couldn't make out what. Half of B-Flight trailed, also unsure of the danger and I stuck close to them... after all, some wingmen are better than breaking formation and being separated. As I trailed behind them I suddenly saw three German Albatros DV's dive between us. My pulse jumped immediately and I could feel the taste of adrenaline in my mouth. My wingman broke formation violently and from there, the fight was on. Initially I performed gentle turns left and right and kept checking my six o'clock. The difference a TrackIR setup makes cannot be understated in a moment like this. Being able to simply glance behind me over and over again is what kept me alive this morning. Then the fight began... An Albatros dove for me and opened fire - I violently kicked the rudder and rolled my Camel out of harms away and, again, glancing for my attacker, brought my scout around until I could get my guns on him. The dogfight described in my report was incredibly nerve-wracking. Even in a Sopwith Camel, the most successful scout of the war, I found myself on the ragged edge to keep the German pilots at bay. The Camel is also incredibly twitchy, and I frequently had to remind myself to pull back easily on the stick. 3/4ths input usually worked better and prevented me from snap spinning my camel and leaving it hanging helpelessly in the air. The interlude between my two violent engagements was also a moment of pure tension and worry. After downing the first two Germans, and I only just downed them - they put up a terrific fight - I was completely alone over a friendly base. I started circling gently again, adjusting my mixture, trying to climb quickly to get off the deck, and desperately looking around for my wingmen... which I saw none. Then, glancing up through the centre-wing cut-out once more, I saw more flak bursts about 2000 feet above me. Then, as I'm wearing headphones with my TrackIR rig, I could hear bursts directly behind me. Glancing back, sure enough, there were two more Albatros scouts and they were angry! They dived through the flak, their wings wagging as they opened fire on me. This time, I yanked the stick as hard as I could, snapped the rudder, and dropped my Camel out of the sky like a rock, leaving them to overshoot. The hard part was regaining control and any semblance of speed. The next several minutes were the most intense I've yet had in this sim. Diving, banking, turning, and snap shooting - just like Cecil Lewis describes in Sagittarius Rising. It's all really just a blur of colour, ground, and sky, and you're desperately hoping you're going to catch a break. Thankfully, I was able to drag the Germans towards that friendly airfield again - and here's where having good Situational Awareness is key - as the ground fire hampered their ability to get me. Still, that last German shot my Camel completely full of holes. There is no feeling to rival the sickening sensation you feel in your gut when you glance behind and realize that you're cold meat. The German pilot opened fire on me and I could hear his rounds tearing my plane to pieces. In that instance, you pray that your scout holds together and that you and the engine are spared. Later, it was out of pure luck that I caught him climbing away from the base's ground fire. Had the airfield not been there and had I not had the where-with-all to fly back to it, I would have most assuredly been killed this morning. As that last German crashed, I frantically looked around to make sure I was at least temporarily clear - as I could feel my Camel struggling to stay aloft, and banked hard right until I was at least mostly lined up with the field. I immediately cut the engine and, though my descent was rapid, I held my breath until I was safely stopped on the ground. I sat back, took a deep breath, and wiped the sweat from my hands. It's amazing. This sim has been out since 2009 and, when I stop modding it long enough to actually play it, I am always left breathless by just how nerve-wracking the thing is. I also play Battlefield 3 in my spare time, and I never, ever, feel that sense of sheer terror that I get in OFF. Here, I always feel as though I am on the kife-edge of disaster and death... much like the men who experienced the war nearly a century ago. Nicely done OBD! A four year old flight sim based on a graphics engine that's over a decade old beats out a Triple-A, multi-million dollar game every single time. There are no words for you guys: Pol, Winder, Shred, Sandbagger, and the rest... you guys are incredible! Can't wait to see WOFF!

These are absolutely fantastic Lou! Terribly sorry I missed them back in the day! Would be wonderful to see a new edition printed sometime soon. *wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more...*

Crikey Lou... can't believe it's been two years already. I'm now in my early thirties and I am astounded as the speed at which time now passes. I'm also feeling mildly depressed that we've been discussing P4, WOFF for that long already. It doesn't feel like that much time has passed (graduate school does funny things to your perception of time) but my, my, I do so wish they would release this thing soon. For those of us who remember older flight sims, WOFF is starting to feel a bit like Falcon 4.0 - the proverbial king of vaporware in the 1990s...

This is a fantastic list fellas! Thank you so much for your help. I wasn't getting too far on my own and now I have some excellent avenues to pursue!

Hi Robert! Olham has created a few skins for my German pilot. So far I have an Albatros DII in two variations and a brand new DIII. I do wish I had some proper photo editing software so I could take a stab at making some new skins. I remember doing that back in the RB3D days, although I fear Microsoft Paint no longer cuts it as an editing tool. Cheers! CaptSopwith

Hi zoomzoom! Nice to see you back on the boards again. I think, given the amount of time being put into WOFF, that the devs are aiming for a one shot, complete install of everything. Now granted, I'm just guessing, but I can't fathom something taking this amount of time and not being a complete, out of the box experience from day one. In the meantime, I'm still finding more and more things in OFF that I haven't seen before. My latest batch of pilots have run into new squadrons, all flying new paintschemes that I haven't seen before in this sim. OFF... the gift that keeps on giving. Cheers!

Hi Kaische! Thanks for the kind message. I had a few observations about OFFice's latest iteration with HPW's flight model. All is working quite well! The updated sound effects no longer stutter on my rather aged system - which is a massive improvement! As always, the dynamic interaction with my squadmates is satisfying and it feels good to get back to flying again. I am noticing that HPW's FM is still causing a lot of issues with the early war scouts. My DH2's frequently crash into the trees at the end of RFC 24's field - I easily lose half a flight on each mission. I've also seen a lot of issues with the Fokker EIII's in combat. During our RB3D days, we used to call the behavior I'm seeing "porposing" because the EIII will climb, stall, dive, and then climb again. Finally, the AI will lose so much altitude that they eventually crash into the mud. Which was the case here. So the solution for me so far is to fly with Buddy's DM and the stock OFF FM. Seems to iron out most of the issues. Otherwise, Lother, OFFice is running beautifully! I'd love to join OFFworld but, having just moved to a new apartment and being a grad student, my budget is beyond tight at the moment - a plight I'm sure you can understand. That said, good luck with the project - it looks like a fantastic idea! Cheers!

Hi Olham! Good to hear from you too! I don't think you did. You did do an all black DII with a blood red "R" for Roth which was gorgeous. I frequenly use both.

Looks good Lothar! I haven't had a chance to fiddle with OFFice now for several months. Can you tell me what's new in the latest addition? I'll have to give it a whirl during my downtime this summer. Cheers!

It does?? Darnit Andy! I'm supposed to be grading exams this morning and now you're going to send me off to playtest OFF again! I think Shiloh is on to some important ideas here. It's a difficult tightrope to walk, and I too, can see both sides of this discussion. On the one hand there is a growing frustration with the seemingly endless wait for the next release of OFF. We've been teased beyond reason and, as with other kinds of teasing, there is only so much one can take before it becomes more irritating than enticing. If I recall correctly, the original Red Baron was released in 1990; it's successor in 1997. That's a pretty long wait between releases. I'll also add that our collective memory of RBII is probably one that was heavily patched and improved by the community - as the dev's released the RB3D Superpatch, a few server fixes and Sierra decided Dynamix could call it a day. The rest of the improvements - the ones we remember so fondly, are derived from the hard work of many of the guys who went on to work on OFF. As for hardware requirements, mine skates by on OFF (it's an early 2008 machine), and I'm sure if I dumb down the settings, WOFF will likewise squeak by until I can get a new machine (oh graduate school, when will you end?). But others who posted here are correct: WOFF, even at its peak, will probably not require the graphics processing power that a game like Bioshock Infinite will consume. It will require processing speed - as the CFS3 engine pulled much of its energy from the CPU and not the GPU. But again, most of us should be in good shape. And yes, there are thousands of encounters yet to be had in OFF! The campaign engine mirrors that of RB3D and the reason I played RB for so many years was because my missions were different each time. Yes, "other" sims might be plugging in feature here in there - and that's great! We should have a healthy and vibrant community of WWI simmers - but OFF, IMHO, is still THE game to get if you want to play offline - which I do most of the time. The AI, when set to aggressive, is still more than a handful for me and there are so many planes to tackle and learn, that I don't think I will be an expert on every kite anytime soon. The downside, of course, is the threat that it might never be released. But I doubt this would ever come to pass. If there was some terminal issue with WOFF and it's development, the devs would have told us. Pol, Winder, Shred, Sandbagger, and OvS are all straight forward guys. They wouldn't be leaving us hanging unless they were on to something. Patience is a virtue - not one I possess. But with my newfound OFF-time this summer (I am finally ABD and get a break for the first time in four years!) I know there is much left for me to explore in my current copy of OFF before I put the old gal out to pasture. Hang in there guys - keep flying - and keep the screenshots of your current exploits coming! Cheers!

Fantastic photos guys! Keep them coming! I promise to upload some more this summer once I'm finally, finally, finally free!

That's a damn fine point, Widow! And, truthfully, I feel a bit ungrateful considering how much I have left to explore in OFF! In the nearly four years I've been playing BH&H, I'm sure I've barely scratched the surface of what the sim has to offer. There are still so many missions, so many squadrons, so many more fights to be had. I played Red Baron 3D for nearly 8 years before my love of the game started to dull. So, by RB standards, I'm only halfway through my journey in OFF. You're absolutely right though - they need to get it right, and I have every confidence they will - they haven't had a misstep yet!

For some reason - in my post exam haze - I thought those posts were recent. Then I checked the year... 2012. *sigh* and another year goes by... Fingers crossed boys - I think the community has reached a point where it needs WOFF to release soon. Been far too quiet around here!