OlPaint01

Britisheh I love flying the Tondern Mission off the flight deck of HMS Furious Aircraft Carrier. Were you able to fix and overcome the 'switching flight deck elevation' quirk that the HMS Furious had - going down to sea level on close approach when landing your kite back at "Home Plate"? Hauksbee, Britisheh can be an excellent resource for Mission Building hints. OlPaint

When you get the Old Missions Collection DVD, you will find I have a separate folder for 'OFF Missions for P3'. These particular missions either did not have spawns coded in or I removed the code that called for spawn actions. I've run these from 'Quick Scenarios' tab in OFF Manager with no issues. To make them playable, I just studied the code and made note of particular differences. It is fairly easy to manually edit the missions in XMLNotePad if you know what needs to be removed. The .xml code is arranged in a block manner with an opening tag <tag> and a closing tag </tag> with the code statements contained within them. In XMLNotePad the 'tree view' is easier to read than the 'XSL Output'. OlPaint

Hauksbee, sorry to hear that the Mission SDK was not a editing tool. You know, recalling my experiences, I had the same frustration working with Mission Builder. I never could find a utility that would allow me to edit my custom mission in the same manner that Mission Builder permitted me to make them. XMLNotePad at least allowed me to read the code in a reasonably formated manner then to manually edit any changes. BTW, the Old Missions Collection DVD is on the way to you via SnailMail. OlPaint

Bullethead, it tastes like chicken, correct? OlPaint

Hauksbee said Hauksbee, There are patches (read that Mods) that are 3rd-Party creations, beyond the realm of Officially Sanctioned OFF patch releases, currently at version 'OFF:HitR_V1.47', Or fondly know to all of us as P3. You will not find Mods on OBDSoftware's Website. 3rd-Party Mods will be published in both SimHQ and CA downloads sections. The OBDSoftware Sanctioned Patches are: After installing MS Combat Flight Simulater V3.0, there is a Microsoft CFS3 patch to get to CFS3 version 3.1. After installing OFF there is a SuperPatch to get to OFF version 1.32. followed by a MiniPatch to OFF version 1.32g. After installing Hat in the Ring Mod onto OFF, there is the HitR version 1.47 Update to install. In addition to the above, several industrious community members have studied the code 'behind the curtain' and have published "improvements" to the product that the Devs had initially provided to us. CFS3, on which OFF is built, is unique in that the XML code running the game can easily be read and edited when one knows how and what changes need to be made. Mods have been built for new and improved sounds, new flight models, new damage models, new missions, new weather, new weapons, new aircraft and skins, etc, etc, etc. Of course, we as individuals, have our own ideas how, for example, a Fokker Dr1 should fly, right? But if someone released an "improved" FM, someone else in the community is going to cry, "The Dr1 is Porked!!!". That was the way it was in Red Baron. OBD has given us a pretty well balanced simulation of the Great War in the Air. But in the opinion of some, that simulation can and will be improved. Until WOFF is released, in two weeks, correct? Many of us with continue to Tweak the product. To make it perfect... OlPaint

Hauksbee, that is the way the XMLNotePad displays .XML code, just like your screen shot shows. Pol is very right. SE5a_Sqd is the file name for an AI version of the aircraft. The mission code can be edited to use a pilot-controlled version of the same aircraft like SE5a_AC1 or SE5a_SQ1. ATT, I can not remember which one. BTW, I am waiting for the USPS office to open Monday morning to get you a copy of my files collection of Old Missions from SOH. I think you will gain a lot of insite into what is needed codewise for a successfully designed custom mission by studying these examples. All I can say is, "Patience Grasshopper...Patience" Here is a copy of the CFS3 Mission File Format Documentation that may be helpful CFS3 Mission File Format Documentation.doc OlPaint

Hey, I get it. Use of the railroads was first introduced in the American Civil War. But in WW1, entire Western Front battles were fought 'by rail'. I read somewhere that that was the actual reason why MVR's Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1) got called the 'Flying Circus'. The "Big Tops" of the day like Barnum and Bailey and Cole Brothers moved their circus via railroad. The Germans also moved whole Jastas around to active fronts via the trains as well. Thus the name 'Flying Circus'. I orginally thought it was because the German Aces painted up their kites in gaudy colors like 'Clown Faces'. Olham, with your knowledge of Google Earth, aren't each and every one of the German Aerodromes at railroad lines? OlPaint

I dug up an old Custom Mission written by PilotsDen called "Train Busters". It has three, count them, three fully loaded trains chugging along the Rhine River. The goal is to blowup the trains with a flight of Camels. With Leprieur rockets and MG fire? Easy, right? Against waves of Dr1's. Oh My! OlPaint

Bletchley, I am also blocked from sending a PM to you as well. I haven't tried to figure out sending messages via SimHQ PM system yet. OlPaint

Hauksbee said You need a .XML file viewer/editor like "XML NotePad 2007". I got this one from Microsoft Downloads. XmlNotepad.7z Unzip this file and run the .msi file contained within and you will get an executable file with several support files in a Programs Files sub-directory. Just copy a shortcut of 'XMLNotePad.exe' to your missions folder. You can then 'Drag and Drop' the mission you want to edit onto the shortcut icon. This opens up the Mission file in a very viewable manner. Edit your changes and save the new Mission file. Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy. BTW, I finally got a short glimpse of your "Calais CleanUp" vid but I have not been able to duplicate my limited success since. Could you possibly post your video on YouTube like Hellshade does with his creations. Then link it back to this CA Forum. That would be perfect! I now see what you mean by the pilot facing the rudder. You will probably discover that there is a value to be adjusted for pilot POV in the XML code for your custom mission aircraft. IMHO, I have never seen video captures successfully posted to the CA Gallery. Dave must know a trick... P.S. There were a huge collection of OFF P1 and P2 Custom Missions at Sim Outhouse in their Combat Flight Simulator Add-On Library. IIRC, Many folks have tried their hands at Mission Builder: Parky, Britisheh, PilotsDen, StumpJumper, Gimpys, O1Driver and many many others. There is even a Custom Mission I found with HMS Furious aircraft carrier with Sopwith Pups. And Gothas and Zeppelins... P.P.S. I managed to save the collection before we move our forum to CA several years ago. Send me your snail-mail addie in a PM and I will burn a DVD with all my collection for you. There are a lot of good ideas for custom missions in those files. Some of them worked, shaken out of the box, no editing required, But I got frustrated when I discovered that the Devs disabled the Spawn Feature of CFS3 in OFF P3. So that many of the missions must be hand-edited to remove the spawn code for most of the missions to work in OFF. OlPaint

Hauksbee, Were you flying with any Mods installed? Or were you flying stock OFF:HitR? Could be a simple typo in the SE5a_QC1 files from one of the installed Mods. OlPaint

Hauksbee, I am unable to play your image file you just posted. What viewer/player are you using. I don't understand...Did you say you launched your Custom Mission in the 'Campaign' tab of OFF Manager? I was convinced that Custom Missions launched from 'Quick Scenarios'. That is where I always placed my Custom Missions. And they start just fine for me. Curious! OlPaint

Hauksbee You can't launch your Custom Mission from the 'Campaign' tab - you can launch it only from the 'Quick Scenarios' tab in OFF Manager. Firstly...you must save the Custom Mission that you built in the proper directory. It must be saved to the matching nation sub-directory of "C:\OBDSoftware\CFSWW1 Over Flanders Fields\missions\scenarios\" then inside either Britain, France, Germany, or USA sub-folder depending on which the nation the mission is written for. Then... Important Notice: You must have an active pilot for that Custom Mission's particular nation of the in order to see it in the 'Scenario Selection' dropdown selection list. Finally...all you need to do is "Start/Go Fly". OlPaint

What a little sweety. I know you both, Dadsy and Mumsy, are button popping proud. OlPaint

Hang in there, Tranquillo. Your on the mend. You will feel stronger every day. When you return to the squadron, you can look forward to light duty. I am jealous. OlPaint

Thanks, Olham, for the tip. My German is a little rusty but Google Translate helped me a lot. I believe I successfully completed the order for the Ubisoft version of CFS3. These DVDs are rare as 'hen's teeth.' Looking forward to an international delivery from Deutschland! OlPaint

Yes, indeed! We should tip our collective hats to the Master FM Guru, Herr Prop-Wasche. OlPaint

Panama Red, those are the ones I have as well. HPW N16 FM 2.0 Fix.7z HPW Dr1 FM 2.0 Fix.7z OlPaint

Lothar, HPW's FM 2.0 Mod or FM/EW 2.2 Mod were never a part of my Realism Bundle and I believe it should not be duplicated in the my Damage Model Bundle either. So I feel I must respectfully bow to HPW to update his FM 2.0 Mod for JSGME Enabled format. OlPaint

Panama Red, the aircraft takeoff successfully with HPW's FM 2.0. So IIRC, Lothar, HPW's FM 2.0 has two paks - "HPW Allied FM Pack_2.0" and "HPW German FM Pack_2.0" And HPW, wasn't the Lighter AI EW mod originally an add-on to FM 2.0? Or was it a precursor to HPW FM 2.1? OlPaint

And the wreckage is left burning on the ground...with a dust cloud billowing up at impact site.

Britisheh, is this the list that constitutes Bletchley Missions Mod (also know as Realistic War Years Mod) that is currently a part of the Great Bundle of Realism Mods in the CA Downloads? OlPaint

I noticed that when I my current running campaign is with RFC 24, flying DH-2, in spring of 1916, all, each and everyone, of my squadron sortie mates, crash land short of the field back at our home aerodrome at Bertangles . I suspect that there may be a bug in the airfield elevation tables that the AI pickup and fail to adjust for when taking off and landing. Pol said, in another thread, that this will be fixed in WOFF. And the New WOFF Preview Movies (#1 or #2 I can't remember which) confirms that - the AI land perfectly well. OlPaint

Olham This is excellent work. I have been using your old OFF TrackIR profile in conjuction with Requiem's '6DOF' profile made for Rise of Flight - I have merged them into a sort of hybrid profile that I like very much. I look forward to put your new profile through it's paces. OlPaint

Glad to hear the surgery went well. Aside from a little setback. You will find that your strength will be slow to come back, but don't lose patience with yourself. You will be fit as fiddle in no time. OlPaint