CaptSopwith

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.

While I'm shamelessly spamming away on the board - or at least it feels like that as I haven't posted regularly in so long! I'm starting a new pilot career in OFF - as Friedrich Rothmann, flying for Jasta 1 in September 1915. We're flying the Fokker Eindecker. To reflect the times, I've got enemy air activity set to low - so that the number of flights reflects the lower numbers of aircraft on the front in 1915. My question is this: Should I also dip the altitude settings down to "up to 3000ft" as well? If I do, will this alter the AI flights as well, or does this just reduce my flight of Fokkers to low hanging fruit on the food chain?

I was cleaning up my old bookmarks today and stumbled upon this little gem from a few years back: http://www.wingsofhonour.com/overflandersfields/articles/interview_off-team_20081121/html_woh_overflandersfields_interview_off-team_20081121.en.html It's an interview Wings of Honour did with the OFF team and includes comments from Winder, OvS, Pol, Shred, and Sandbagger. I re-read it again for the umpteenth time and it always gives me an appreciation and respect for all that this team accomplished and continues to accomplish. Considering that most of the team live on different continents from each other and have full time jobs / lives of their own - the work done by OBD is remarkable. So enjoy the write up again - as a little snack until P4 comes along.

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!

I'm sure this clip has been shared before. I've watched this many times today, and just wanted to share with the rest of the gang.

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?

What do you think guys? Is it any good? I can't seem to find my old CaptSopwith signature with the airplane crashing into the ambulance, so I tried to spruce up the signature space with something appropriate.

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

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!

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!

I had a hunch the Snipes would find their way in...

Origin made some amazing, under appreciated, and finicky titles in their day. But what they did release was generally quality stuff. Sadly, WoG was actually too large for my first computer's hard drive. There literally was not enough space for Windows 3.1 and a minimum install of WoG. I was crushed. It's been nice to go back and see what it would have been like. Granted, I'm playing it on a 22" flat panel monitor, something not even dreamed of in 1995. But I like to think it's close. Just out of curiosity, do you ever go back to RBII and have you had issues running it on newer hardware? I think the "old gal" is going to be in mothballs for the foreseeable future. After all, I have too many OFF pilots to kill... erm... I mean, train. ;) Hope you get that PC issue sorted soon mate.