OlPaint01

@Hellshade We are getting so many custom FM and DM mods published that it is hard to decide which ones are best and how they interact for 'good or evil.' Have you tried HPW's Lighter AI Weight Mod with Buddy1998's Modified DM yet? @Herr Prop-Wasche Can you give us an update on status of your Grand FM Mod that is tuned to your Lighter AI Weight Mod? OlPaint

Oh Blast! Us folks in the States are unable to view the video from Channel 5. Has anybody got an alternate link? OlPaint

Thanks Bletchley for the clarification. I will give your AA Mod a test after removing 33Lima's Flak mod first. OlPaint

@33LIMA Does Bletchley's AA Mod supercede your Flak Mod? or can I just let JSGME over-write with any particular new files that Bletchley has in his mod? OlPaint

@Waco Bring the mouse down to the bottom of the screen and click the SKIP hot spot on the window bar that appears. That will move you past the video training sequence. I found that I could make a climbing turn to the left or right to gain the last hundred feet without stalling. That did the trick for me in Mission #3. OlPaint

@33Lima Thanks for the list of mods you use. The install order was what I was particularly looking for. @von Baur I use JSGME to manage all my various game mods (OFF:HitR, ROF and First Eagles). I use it to install/uninstall my various selections of both Bletchley's Active/Quiet Sectors Mod files and also HPW's Active/Quiet Weather files in addition to HPW's and 33Lima's FM and DM mods - highly recommended. OlPaint (I DO need a touchup, lol)

Great work, HPW and 33Lima! Would it be possible to summarize all the latest versions of DM and FM mods you guys have built for us and the recommended order in which they should be installed with JSGME utility to gain the full effects. Outstanding!!! OlPaint

@Olham I was disappointed to discover that Herr Prop-Wasche's new FM mod does not address the 'crash landing squadmates' issue. I have been attempting to fly patrols lately a quiet sector (no dogfights) with TAC off and make a real effort to stay with my wingman from waypoint to waypoint. At the end of the sortie my flight-lead always carries us several klicks past our home aerodrome, reverses direction and then makes a standard approach, only to drill into the ground several hundred meters short. Moreover each of my mates follow him in like robots and crash almost at the exact same spot. I of course am able to finish by flying on to a normal landing. I wonder if Bletchley's Active/Quiet Mod files could be edited to adjust the home Aerodrome altitude to allow AI pilots to land without crashing? I am curious to know if you have heard whether OFF 2 will have a RTB command? And will AI squadmates land without clashing? OlPaint

@ HPW Just curious...how is the new FM package coming along. How about an update status for us who await expectantly. OlPaint

@Abyss Here are the remaining 5 single key commands, not used by OFF, making the total of nine: Chat Window ...................... C Panel Lights ..................... L Measurement System ............... U War Power ........................ W Left Brake ....................... , (comma) Right Brake ...................... . (period) OlPaint

Hi 33Lima Your Stall.wav file sounds great when played by itself. I am unable to discern the stall sound in the game, however. What four Sound Levels are you running in Workshops to be able to hear stall sound in the cockpit? I have set the following in my game: Engine 60, Effects 40, Cockpit 100, and I/F 80. OlPaint

@33Lima and HPW Would it be possible to merge the Al Empty Weight Mod with the AlliedFMPack and GermanFMPack - as you did with the ArcMods for UltimateDM v1.25? Thanks. OlPaint

@Lothar I still have a question about squadron transfers. When I go into OFF:HitR to create a new pilot dossier in the destination squadron, should I use the 'same name' and 'same rank' for the new pilot? Or should I make a 'place filler' name? Also what does 'NPC pilot' stand for? I am really enjoying the immersion that OFFbase brings to OFF:HitR. Great Work! OlPaint

@Lothar I have version OFFbase 0.5.9 running with the latest OFF:HitR v1.47. I have a couple of questions: 1)I have all four nations represented in my OFF:HitR Pilot Dossiers with at least one squadron per nation with at least one pilot in each squadron. A total of 5 fighter pilots of various ranks. OFFbase sees all the pilots. I am having difficulty trying to 'Play Pilot' the British Squadron pilot. I can get to the screen where the British pilot is listed and he can be highlighted with no issues but when I attempt to Play Pilot, OFFbase locks up hard. I must halt the OFFbase in TaskManager to recover. All my pilots can be made active inside OFF:HitR and all pilots play and advance normally without OFFbase running. All the other squadrons pilots will play normally in OFFbase with all screens working when I select 'Fly Mission'. My question is there a limit to the total number of Nations, Squadrons, Pilots that OFFbase can manage? 2)What is the process for transferring out of a squadron into another one from inside OFFbase? I have yet to see that described in any kind of detail. OlPaint01

@33LIMA and HPW I vote for merging 33LIMA's ArdMod and HPW's UltimateDM mod OlPaint01

@33Lima I understand that HPW's AlliedFMPack and GermanFMPack both must be removed before loading your AI Empty Weight Mod. Is that correct? OlPaint01

How about "OFF: Daring above the Clouds" OlPaint

@Olham I discovered that this website must be viewed in a browser other than MS Internet Explorer for all the tool options to display correctly. It works just fine in Firefox browser. OlPaint

Bletchley said... "Yes, both the Allied Shrapnel and HE (Amatol) rounds burst with white or light grey smoke - this is already present in OFF, so not part of the mod. In theory the other AAA types could be included, but the guns themselves would have to be included in the game first. They are not at the moment, and this would be beyond my very limited abilities (this is the first mod that I have ever done, for OFF or any other game). The 'flaming onions' were a form of larger calibre tracer or incendiary round, I think." I remember that Stumpjumper designed a working "Flaming Onions" AAA Mod several years ago, maybe for P2, but I cannot find the reference information for it in my archive any more. IIRC It was quite a starteling effect flying into it or trying to avoid it. OlPaint01

@ Bletchley An Absolutely Marvelous Mod! Do you plan on extending the Weather Mod to include your extensive research for the day-by-day atmospheric conditions through to the end of the war? It would be tremendous, also, if somehow the SIA information that you and British_eh have summerized in the Realistic Survival Settings section could be Modded into the game as well. Talk about immersion - Wow Doggies! OlPaint01

@ Bletchley The file link is not working...And I don't see your file in the CombatAce OFF Download section yet OlPaint01

Thanks Beard You beat me to the punch. Saved me from having to post the how-to again. BTW, Olham, here is VonBaur's tweak for making the Labels a little more transparent. "I like to be able to ID the aces as well as my flight mates (I count noses on the way home to know who, if anyone, I lost). About 1/3 of the way down the ViewUI file (XP users, BOOTDRIVE:\Documents and Settings\your user folder\Application Data[a hidden folder]\Microsoft\CFSWWI Over Flanders Fields) you'll find the color settings for the labels. The numbers are in hexdecimal, with A=10, B=12, C=13, D=14, E=15, and F=16. To represent colors in CFS3, each number is preceded by an 0x. The first two numbers after that represent opacity, as explained above, and the next six numbers represent the amount of red, green, and blue or RGB values. Each color ranges from a value of 0 to 255. So, 0x00000000 is a solid black, representing the absence of color, and 0x00FFFFFF is solid white, representing the maximum amount of red, green, and blue mixed together. Red=0x00FF0000 Green=0x0000FF00 Blue=0x000000FF Yellow=0x00FFFF00 Cyan=0x0000FFFF Magenta=0x00FF00FF and so on. I use 0x2FCCCCCC for the Friend, Enemy, Bogie and Goal colors. That renders all AI labels the same from any distance. The two numbers after the 0X are the level of transparency, 00 being invisible and FF being 100% opaque. You have to add the opacity value in front of the codes. 0x2F will be quite transparent; try also 0x4Fand 0x6F - I have even used 0x7F. 2F makes them clear enough to be read without having to pause the game but at the same time they're not overwhelming in a dogfight (i.e. you'll usually see the plane before the label...and if you're looking for the labels I hope you've filled out your will before taking off). I find this a good compromise between the full DiD standard and a playable game. It's also a good middle ground for those wishing to work their way up to full DiD without having to go off labels cold turkey. Of course, you may want to modify the specifics to suit you, should you even choose to try this at all. Another side of this is that it makes the information lines ("you hit enemy aircraft", "structure damage",etc.) the same as the labels, so they're not gone but they're not in your face. The waypoint advisory lines are still a solid red." OlPaint01

Herr Prop-Wasche Really like what you have done with the DM. I am running version 2.3 currently and have no complaints. I would like to test your FM mod efforts as well if I could. BTW, have you had a chance to look at the Nieuport 16. IMHO, the aircraft is way too nose heavy. I cannot seem to adjust the craft to manageable level flight without my joystick full pitch-up with the stick pulled all the way back into my stomach, even with all the available elevator correction applied. Pol recommended that I apply bungy cords to the stick to hold it back! OlPaint01

Just as an aside, in addition to Saitek Pedals, I am using a Saitek Throttle Quadrant and the accompanying SST programming software for setting up my Throttle Quadrant buttons in addition to my Cyborg Evo Force Feedback Joystick buttons. I have setup the throttle axis, the mixture axis and (lord forbid!) the elevator trim axis on the Throttle Quadrant levers. And I am using the three rocker switches on the Throttle Quadrant for each of following six keyboard commands: Toggle HUD (F5), Toggle Labels (Ctrl+Shft+L), Toggle TAC (Shft+T), Cycle TAC Display (T), and Cycle TAC Display Range (Ctrl+Shft+T) and also Engine Auto-Start (E). I had to follow UncleAl's advice to change the several multi-keypress commands I wanted to use as single-keypress commands to satisfy the SST programming restrictions. So I now can clear the screen of HUD, Labels and TAC displays by toggling three buttons by sense of touch (I don't have to look at the keyboard anymore!) OlPaint01

Saitek Rudder Pedals for me... OlPaint01