themightysrc

If I'm allowed a working camera, then surely any era in the past, and more or less any event would be worth capturing and returning to the 21st Century! Specifically, and because I'm local, I'd like to have recorded evidence of the Peterloo Massacre, the Battle of Nantwich (much further south) and a snapshot of life in Lancashire/Manchester in the 17th to 19th centuries, perhaps as a slideshow! I'm surrounded by a mass of history here in Bury, so in many ways I don't need a time machine - I live in it, if I have enough wit to go looking...

I hope it's true, and I hope that OFF P4 can match that - it's a definite USP for a WWI aerial warfare game. Let's just hope that it appears in a timely fashion.

"It could all return as easily as it ended, if enough interest were pledged again. I for one am tired of making missions and mini-campaigns and having no one show up to fly them. Maybe Phase 4 will stir up some new interest (if MP works in the new product)." I'm still willing to bump this and encourage people to try MP - it's a riot. And now, to help encourage the little flower of MP to grow, here's a little anecdote - which you may find puzzling or odd - but which I think is apposite and worth telling. I'm the secretary for local Labour party in my constituency. There: outed myself. Our local council has been run for the last 4 years by the Conservatives - boo, hiss (obviously) - aided and abetted by the Liberal Democrats - again, boo, hiss, etc. That's the end of the political minefield. Last September, after the defeat nationally of Labour in the 2010 election, we gained a lot of new members in a ward (electoral voting area for non-Brits) called Ramsbottom, which, in the past had returned Labour councillors. The ward membership aged, died, or gave up bored over a period of years, and the Tories took all the seats in the ward, and, with them and others gained elsewhere, control of the council. So, I arranged a meeting of the members, new and old, in this ward (and in a pub, naturally!) to see if their moribund branch which hadn't met for probably 3-4-5 years couldn't be kickstarted again. In short order, the meeting went ahead, they elected a chair, secretary and other worthies and reorganised themselves towards Xmas. Come this year, we had local elections in the borough in May, and needed to win 6 seats to return the council to Labour control. The newly reformed Ramsbottom branch worked their collective bollocks off to get their candidate elected, and, after all the votes in the wards were declared, the fate of the council came down to the result in Ramsbottom, which the Tories had held comfortably in 2010. In 2011, the result was a tie - 1822 votes for the Tory and Labour candidates. The result was then determined by the drawing of straws, and the Labour candidate drew the long straw, thereby gaining the seat and ensuring that the Labour party would be the majority - ruling - party in council. For the want of a nail, etc. What did I draw from this event? It's only the efforts of dedicated people - usually in small numbers - that change the world. If you keep trying, you can make a difference. Even if you think you don't stand a chance - do it: you might be very surprised (Joanne the new councillor, certainly was!). Hard work is usually rewarded, and was in this case. I pledge myself to fly in MP: my poor old mother in law died the day of the election in Ramsbottom (and nationally), which is quite ironic in a way, so I've more free time. If you fly OFF solo and have free time on a Sunday, you should seriously consider it, and pledge here too. Cheers, Si PS - if you go to Youtube and type in 'ramsbottom election 2011' the top hit is the historic drawing of straws, as mentioned above. And I think I'm on that vid somewhere too!

"Maybe include the over wing Lewis equipped Bristol Scout with P4?" Why ever not? And if they'd be so kind as to chuck a Martynside scout similarly armed into the mix....well....

It may well be that one of the test DR1s was red - to some degree. It would also be not unreasonable if a fair number of Jasta 11's pilots test flew it to acclimatise and evaluate the new planes. My 2d.

"I can hold my own against the only available enemy kite of that era" There's the rub - we actually need 1915/16 scouts and two seaters for the Huns, Frogs and Crumpets respectively. We've got one or two, but more would round the game out immensely.

JM, Ahh.. aren't we demanding lil' critters these days??

Hi Jav, Just see it as yet another cockup by the admin wallahs and retire to the mess for a few drinks. That's probably what your counterparts in WWI did, so do it too! Cheers, Si

Hi JM, I'm not a habitual flight sim gamer, so I really can't comment on any other game (except IL2, which ran increasingly slowly on my rig in each of its iterations. 1946 just doesn't run at all). I would like to RoF to be a great success and the yardstick by which all flight sims are judged, but I will stand by my POV regardless of ad hominem comments. I loved RB3D and its add ons, whilst recognising its weaknesses (but, boy, what immersion!). I loved First Eagles, once I'd loaded as many planes and other mods as I could find, but didn't sense the immersion. I hated OFF P3 when I first loaded it, until I realised that I had to tweak my rig like I'd never done before. Then I began to realise that it was rather good. I'm still not sold on aspects of it, although the Hitr add on was admirable, but I look forward to P4 in the same way I look forward to RoF finally fulfilling its potential and my dreams of a WWI flight sim that really does 'do' WWI. OFF P3 is closer to that. I hope both titles prosper. Is that clear enough for everyone? Cheers, Si

"i would like to start again early 1916 a brit campaign, a bit like in bbc's wings. but the downside is the lacking enemies in this period. you only have eindeckers and rolands" Oh, trust me, you'll have plenty on your hands with them. I've been there, done that, and got the bullet holes...

I'm sorry if my reservations come over to you in that manner - that is not what I intended. I'm fairly sure that RoF will, in due course, take its place in the pantheon of WWI sim 'must haves'. What I take exception to is that it is already perfectly formed and that anyone taking exception to this view is in some way perverse or a gainsayer. If RoF is already such a great sim, then why are there still so many people arguing about aspects of it that displease them? Do you honestly believe that it's a fully formed sim when there are only 2 recon aircraft available? Do you genuinely think that that is a fair portrayal of WWI in the air? Further, why do object so strenuously to other people pointing out that it's not the 9.85 sim that we were asked to comment on? "And have you actually tried it ? Or are you just relying on outdated rumours and misconceptions to formulate your arguments ?" Yes, I've tried it, but my rig wasn't up to handling it to the point where it was tenable. And, no, I simply read the opinions of others, see what planes they've released and refuse to be drawn into the fanboism that appears to be so prevalent amongst RoF owners. I dare say I'll but it due course, but it will be when the standard package comes with about 30 flyables, a realistic campaign, enough 2 seaters to make it actually look like WWI and no necessity to log on to a server elsewhere to provide me with the entertainment that I've shelled out hard earned $/££ for - you know: a bit like Red Baron 3D that I bought over 10 years ago. I wish them the best of luck; I simply don't believe that sitting back and proclaiming that all is well now is an option. Do you understand me now?

"The Eindeckers really are over-rated. Unless they are above you in greater number, the ol Bee is not too badly off in terms of avoiding them (coz it 'runs' faster!) or even fighting back (just remember: "avoid if at all possible and only fight when there's no other way out" - have I got it right now, Si?!) " Spot on, Mr. Ho.

Well, for a title that is subscripted with 'the first great air war', I'd be a little surprised to find that it only consisted of a few types of scout and two recon planes, one per side. "when you see a German one you know it's a DFW CV. Is that really so bad?" Er, yes. "You'd think that 90 percent of aircraft over the lines and 75 percent of the squadrons formed were two seaters." Don't know the proportions involved in WWI of recon/bombers to scouts, but I'm willing to bet on it being 60/40 recon planes to scouts. Anyone got accurate figures to hand? By year?

Sorry VB - I meant P4! But, yes, I did ask Winder if this could be part of the workshop, and he didn't gainsay the idea, so I'm hopeful that something like it (or the same) might pop for P4. Let's hope.

"Spent yesterday avoiding the wedding like the plague." Me too. I went out leafleting in the morning before it kicked off, and then hosted a breakfast do for friends/rellies/colleagues who couldn't give a stuff about the whole shebang. By one o'clock I'd eaten too many bacon sarnies and had more than a few bottles of wheat beer and stout from a wonderful local brewery. As for the rest of it, and the abject and pathetic fawning of the UK press; well, how sad was that. I can feel a part of my country without being told how I should feel about it: that's why I wore a T-shirt with a picture of Cromwell on it, underneath which was the legend - he was right.

Good to have another flyer back. Hope it's OK with you and that your OFFing is fun/action packed. Drop a report in the action thingy if you can!

VB, Yours is the single most useful mod that I've downloaded for OFF. I use it to this day, and don't understand how anyone could object to it becoming a standard part of OFF:P5. It is the most elegant solution to the problem that we face with regard to the visibility/identifiability of other planes and the fact that our monitors and graphics cards are no match for reality. I would urge anyone out there who hasn't tried Von Baur's labels mod to give it a go. For me, it made a material difference to the game and made it more enjoyable as a result. As they say, YMMV...

"I'm not surprised. I'm a cat lover and have had dozens in the last 35 years. And any cat lover will tell you that the only difference between house cats and jungle cats is they're size. They all behave exactly the same way in everything they do. And any cat lover will also tell you that they are probably among the smartest animals around. Nor am I surprised at how well Christian's mate accepted his friends. Again, being an intelligent creature she understood that if he saw them as not food and not a threat then she should as well. I've often had stand-offish cats come to me, albeit cautiously, once I've managed to get one of their number to trust me, especially if the first is one considered a leader (prime member in the group or kittens following a mother's lead). " As the 'owner' - or rather staff - for three cats, I'd heartily agree. Henry, our large and ferocious Maine Coon, presents us on a regular basis with dead animals - mice, voles, rats, starlings, magpies, blackbirds; his appetite for murder seems insatiable. And yet. When he comes back in and comes to us (me and MrsMighty), he is as soft as s**t, and clearly, if there's some sort of pecking order or bonding going on, he sees us as providers and friends. It's just the butchery that makes you shudder: a little like living with Jeckyll and Hyde...

"My first pilot in #13 died 20 seconds after his wheels left the sod when a flight of DRI's did a airfield strafe, I hadn't even checked his six yet!" A sad end. At least you didn't have to nurture him through dozens of flights before he copped it, so it's not all bad news. Well done on the DIII's thobut. "1) How do you know where you are on the map when you enter a fight? Hitting (m) leaves you with a pretty crude map. Does the info. help get a claim accepted? 2) You can put more than one witness? It says to only put one when you fill out the claim form. 3) What is the absolute vital information that needs to be on every claim?" Shiloh, I use the rubbish CFS map with Google maps, and can usually name towns, villages, etc if I down something. I suspect it does help, and yes, name your entire damn flight if you can! Absolutely vital to claims are, IMO, time, wingmen witnesses, location and, if possible, id of the opposing squadron/jasta. Having said that I've put in some frightful claims and had them accepted. Sometimes, old chap, it's down to luck. Seeing as that's what's also determining your continued survival, it's best just to get used to it! Cheers, Si

Hi Lew, I've spent the last (IRL) year flying nowt but BE's and RE8's. If I can't make the most of them now....

"Certainly a sim that misses on dozens of features that were present in sims before is worthy of criticism, but I've seen an undue amount aimed at RoF over the 2-seater issue as if that's the single most important facet of a WWI sim." Well, if you feel that way, fine, but for many, authenticity of environment is important. Consider also the single player campaign: how playable will it be when all that you ever encounter is scouts (or the very occasional multiseat aircraft)?

Read this and weep... 15/11/1915 9h11 Flanders Hesdigneul Scramble Flying: Royal Aircraft Factory BE2C. On this day claims: 2 Fokker EIII . Scrambled at 9.10 from arifield, and led flight into around 10-12 Fokker EIII monoplanes. Engaged first EIII and fired approximately 200 rounds at him at low level. He crashed around 9.15 near Hesdigneul, identified as being part of FA62. The second EIII was attacked and downed into trees at around 9.20, after a further 200 rounds. This aircraft of FA62, was identified as being flown by Max Immelmen, and therefore I get extra brownie points!. Witnessed by: Brian Rhodes, Brian Bristed, Jimmy Buckston Status : Confirmed . And another - to annoy Olham! 16/9/1916 16h58 Flanders Avesnes-le-Comte Artillery spotting Flying: Royal Aircraft Factory BE2C. On this day claims: 2 Halb DII . Attacked by five Halberstadt scouts from Jasta 4 at 17.25, at around 5000 feet. Fought down to around 1000 feet, inflicting fire on a number of Hun scouts. One definitely forced down into a meadow North West of La Gorgue airfield at 17.30, suspect another forced down after another 250 rounds fired in the same area at around 15.40.. Witnessed by: Fred Morgan, Edward Leese, Nick Ross Status : Confirmed . And the piece de resistance... 17/7/1917 13h8 Flanders Ablainzeville Artillery spotting Flying: Royal Aircraft Factory BE2C. On this day claims: 1 Alb DIII . Attacked by Albatros DIII from Jasta 18. Fought out at around 13.25 and managd to put bursts into one or two DIIIs. Probably only downed one though. Witnessed by what's left of my flight.. Witnessed by: Nicholas Miller, Wally Fisher, Fred Morgan, Tom Cleaver,Nick Ross Status : Confirmed . I really hope that P4 introduces a full screen claim form instead of that flaming line editor... Cheers, Si

It's a very funny, very cynical, and, I suspect, very accurate book about that time and place. The book is much better than the film, but having said that, the film is a head and shoulders above most war films which tend to be gash. Worth bearing in mind that The Green Berets was only a few years prior to Catch 22, and that was an enormous pile of s**te. Simply choose your viewing well. Happy royal wedding everyone (pauses to vomit).

"For what I paid for it, I'm not complaining about anything! If I don't care about 2 seaters, which I don't other than to use as targets, I don't have to buy them to see the AI and other players use them. I really like that part." Which, I guess, reinforces the point made by many people regarding RoF. If you want to fly a WWI scout, then that's probably the best route for you: if you want to fly in WWI, warts and all, then OFF is probably better suited to you.

I'd also recommend to all A.G.Lee's "No Parachute" (as Olham is finding out!), which is a superb first hand account of life as a Pup pilot in 1917, and then Camels in 1918. For an overview of the entire war, you can do a lot worse than to read Huw Strachan's single volume history of it. Utterly superb, from start to finish, with the sort of mastery that you expect of a historian who would have made a great novelist. Recommended.