themightysrc

Well, thanks to everyone who's posted additional bits and bobs regarding maps (and the use thereof). It's this sort of thing that tends to get OFFers a good reputation for being helpful souls. I will now slope off and actually try some of the tips passed on here, whilst looking at the maps that Al linked to. Thank you everyone. All I need now is about a grand to spend on a f*** off PC rig, and I think I'm good to go... Night all!

Hi Hairyspin, I don't have W7, but on behalf of those that do and might benefit, I felt that a thank you was definitely in order. Cheers, Si

Shred, Thanks for that - I certainly trust you chaps, so if you say it's being addressed, that'll do nicely for me. Scout, Well - live and learn, eh? I never knew that, and I've been flying OFF since the beginning of the year, more or less. Thank you for posting that little gem: if it doesn't make sticky status I'll want to know why!

Hi Ax, Thank you for that very illuminating and friendly answer. I must confess, on Sunday night when Vasco called it a day after the second mission (which was the only one I participated in), I breathed a sigh of relief, because I simply couldn't take any more of the problems that had been gathering prior to that. I'll try your suggestions, in the order of least severity first. I suspect that my internet link - via wireless - is a problem, and I seem to remember reading somewhere how to increase the strength of a wireless link (it's only to about 20 feet away upstairs, FFS), so I might look for those as well. I'll definitely be ditching CFS3 WWII - I didn't know you could do that - and I'll post my specs up here soon. I think it's quite likely that they're borderline for MP, but, hey ho, I needed a reason to build a new rig... Thanks, Si

"The map is inadequate??? What a revelation!!! We had absolutely no idea." Well Shred, the point of this thread, unless I'm much mistaken was to offer constructive criticism of BH&H and to suggest improvements. I'm sure you're aware what a pain the current map is, and I'd very much like to know why it is such an obstacle. I'm mostly growed up and have spent the last 20 years in IT in various roles, so I think I can probably handle some technical details as to why it's such a bugbear, if you'd be so kind. TIA, Si

Well, I guess it has to parse the text, but that text is going to be held as a string unless I'm much mistaken, so the issue is one of presentation rather than the behind the scene dibblings that occur when those heartless bastards in the brass are going through claims (ie, when the parsing occurs and a dice is rolled). As I say, it's not a major issue and I can happily live with it. But that map must go.

Well, I'd probably have enjoyed it more but for a couple of issues. First, my FPS is absolutely s**te, and rarely gets above 10 FPS in MP, and secondly, planes just seem to be bouncing around and appearing and disappearing like nobody's business. Oh, and when I inevitably got shot down by the sniper AI, I respawned near Cambrai, which as far as I could tell was miles and miles away from the action. Ho hum. Oh, and when I did respawn the cockpit of that poxy DV didn't resemble a cockpit, more a plumber's shed, and even deliberately crashing and respawning again didn't change this, although all external views were bob on. Are my gripes unique?

"As far as the map is concerned, in order to provide a more detailed map in your area of operation, means half of France. And most of us lack the 16gigs of RAM required to do it. Everything would be running fine, then we'd hit 'M', and CTD immediatly" Why? What's the problem with identifying the distance to target and providing a map that's that size plus perhaps 50% of the distance (for when you start straying...)? God knows, Winder and the rest of the chaps at OBD have thoroughly gutted the rest of CFS3 - Pol, Winder; what's the difficulty with the map thing? "As far as picky mode goes, nobody is twisting your arm to use the most difficult claims forms in the game, last I checked there were 2 easier modes in Workshop. One of them completely eliminates the need for filling out any claims of any kind" Well, no s**t Sherlock! I file claims (on the rare occasion I actually hit something) because I like doing it, however it would be easier to do so with a notepad rather than that single line. Quite easy, n'est pas?

Whilst it's not entirely on subject, may I also recommend Roger Mellie's Profanisaurus?

I've got one or two gripes about BH&H, but the main one that annoys me beyond reason is that damn map. It's either too large or too small, dependent upon the mission, but either way it's singularly lacking in relevant detail - town names, prominent rivers, land features, etc - which makes lodging claims rather more difficult and guesswork than it really should be. I suppose, whilst I'm in picky mode, that I'd far prefer a notepad sort of UI for claims, rather than the endless single line, but it's hardly a major league hassle when it comes down to it. I've got a few other thoughts for improvements, but I'm fairly content to be surprised and pleased by whatever comes our way by way of add-ons and patches, and it's nice to have developers and designers around who respond swiftly and positively to suggestions and criticisms. Unlike TSTDNBN.

Hi BH, I think the two lines below from your last post give us the reasons. "So, if you take Nahum's position that castor oil was used in rotaries simply because it was a superior lubricant, why didn't the Entente use it in all its engines, ground and air?" and "because the castor oil blew out of the engine at every stroke, the rate of sludge build-up was greatly reduced, meaning that rotary engines had to be torn down no more than usual." So, you end up with a situation where castor oil was used because it was well suited to rotary engines due to its tenacity as a lubricant, and because it could be carried in the petrol - I assume that rotaries, unlike convention piston engines, don't require a sump. A car or truck motor would not be as stressed or as powerful and therefore you can get away with crappy mineral oil which is less good as a lubricant, but which doesn't require the maintenance overheads of an aircraft engine. I suspect my argument's a little circular, but effectively it's horses for courses.

"And the kind of behaviour of which we speak is not "rare". Try taking yourself for a stroll in our city centres late on a Friday night, and see whether you would go again. ( Hopefully you wouldn't take your wife with you, for her sake )." Actually, I live near a mill town in Lancashire and get into Manchester reasonably often, and although you can see some nonsense going on, it's invariably harmless and hardly presages the destruction of All Which We Right Thinking People Cherish. I'll leave the Daily Mail to be outraged on my account. MrsSRC is not a shrinking violet, but equally, she's sensitive to her environment. I can't recall a Friday - or Saturday - night in Manchester that had me outraged in any particular manner. If you've had bad experiences, then I feel a bit sorry for you in that respect. "As for the "acts following these people around.. etc.." - Do not make the mistake of thinking that yobs have a sense of shame, remorse etc, as you may consider you would have , if you misbehaved. It would be nice to think they may have, but I think forgiving natures like yours are placing too many decent members of society at the mercy of Anti social behaviour. The levels of such behaviour in this country are now sky -high, and a change is urgently required. My motives would not be revenge, but to protect decent society. So, please don't tell me to "Whoa!"" I'm sorry, but I suspect that we've been going to Hell in a handcart since before you or I were born, and crime figures bear this out. In our own lifetimes we've seen a lot of behaviour which was previously considered quite acceptable - queer-bashing, Paki-bashing, random discrimination against the Irish, blacks, etc - become beyond the pale, and a bloody good thing too. We really don't live in some Kafkaesque nightmare of random violence, as, again, the British Crime Survey would confirm, and the chances of getting twatted on a night out (or in) are far, far lower than in years gone by. The fact that it sells newspapers to overblow isolated instances of random violence says rather more about the media than the country in general. I'm not forgiving by nature, per se; I'm simply pointing out that this guy did a f***ing stupid thing and will pay a chronic and quite unpleasant price for it. Do you really imagine that his family and friends will stand behind him? I can't imagine that for a minute. He's probably simply a slightly dim student who thought that - whilst pissed up - it would be vaguely iconoclastic to have a slash in the most inappropriate circumstances. Hardly public enemy No. 1.

"I'm not in the mood to listen to excuses any longer for some of the namby pamby, disrespectful cowardly youth which this Country is now breeding." Whoa there! We're talking about one person here. The fact that it made the papers at all indicates what a rare act of stupidity it was. And don't forget that there are plenty of young people his age who are actually serving in Afghanistan and elsewhere, so let's not make blanket judgements, eh? In the case of punishment: it's pointless sending him to jail, unless you're heavily into revenge. I suspect that that particular foolish act will follow him around for very many years to come, and his proper punishment will be for him to face people and explain why he did what he did. I think that that will be a very salutary experience for him...

"Oldham - does that really come from "old ham" " I suspect so, Olham. Oldham was but a small village nestling in the cold and windy Pennines until King Cotton came to town in the late 18th Century. As anyone from the North West will readily tell you, since that time Oldham as a place has become synonymous with culture, good taste and a Baroque system of stately canals only exceeded in their beauty by the pier at Wigan. S'true.

Hi gwar, I think everyone who's OFFing online is doing so on P3 - PM Vasco.

"Nein mein Herr... I meant Oldham as in the town in good old Blighty" Gosh - small world! I live near Bury and work in Oldham...

Can I ask the $64 question? We've seen screen shots of the N17Bis, N24, N28 and Fokker E5 - would you be so kind as to tell us what else (besides the DH5) is likely to surface in the plane pack? Cheers, Simon

That's a very, very pretty plane. I do hope that this thread presages the next release of aircraft. I would personally prefer to see AWK8s, early Alb 2 seaters and a plethora of other mid/early war aircraft, but I do understand if the N28 is released, even if it's of marginal historical value. I realise that OBD have to keep the American market happy before other considerations.

Pappy, If it's not right, then hie thee off to the nearest shop selling holiday knick-knacks - generally airports and major railway nexuses. You'll find that you can pick up an inexpensive two to three prong convertor, especially designed to cover this very issue for Briddish holidaymakers heading out to thatEurope with kettles, hair dryers, blast furnaces akimbo.

I was tempted to start a thread similar to this about a week ago - bah! pipped at the post! I worked for more years than my scarred psyche would care to admit as an IT support person, then developer, then analyst, then project manager. after 911, I was made redundant from my dream job (due directly to a fall off in business after said event), and then had to endure a succession of crap programming jobs which culminated in 2005 in my walking out, with no job to go to - yessiree, IT is such fun when you work with a bunch af anally retentive racists and xenophobes... Any road up: my dear wife persuaded me to take a PGCE in further and higher education (that's a teaching/lecturing certificate), which turned out to be a fabulously rewarding time. After that, because there's apparently little or no demand for IT lecturers (!!), I sloughed my way into a temporary job with a local council doing administrative work in the local Children's Services department - a real hothouse: when social workers get it right, you never hear about it; when they get it wrong - which is pretty rare - you never hear the end of it. Anyway, after a year or so, a temporary job at a different council came up doing the IT for the library service. I got it and in April this year, on the week of my birthday, they made me permanent. So that's where I am now. It's brilliantly rewarding and varied work that gets me meeting plenty of bright people and mixing with the hoi polloi. There: that's more than you'll ever need to know about me, other than the fact I'm a dreadful cyberpilot...

Hi chaps, Sorry, but I'm probably not going to be able to make this Sunday (25th). For reasons with which I won't bore you, I'll have to be elsewhere. If I manage to get back by a reasonable time (ie, about 8ish GMT), I'll try to look in, but won't participate unless I can do so seamlessly and without disrupting everyone else's enjoyment. Please note, all you colonial types out there, that the clocks go back in the UK tonight (Saturday), and hence a 7.00pm start in the UK will be different those of you in America. I've no idea whether you adjust your clocks this weekend or not, so caveat emptor. We will gain an hour. Cheers - and good luck! Si

"go and join the potato queue" Probably refers to rationing in WWI? Don't know for sure but that would be reasonable. Certainly 'see it through' means 'follow through to conclusion'. The poem's pretty easy to understand and deconstruct - there's no hidden message here: it's simply the pathos of a bombing event from WWI that clearly killed women and children in Folkestone, and their (attributed) naivety that they wouldn't be molested by German zeppelins on the basis of their prior good deed. I dare say that all wars throw up similar tales.

Hi Wels, "That just William 2nd of all did not break HIS alliance, and did what all those others did, is still being used as a justification for blaming the sole responsibility of this world war to Germany." I think that that is being a bit simplistic, although I'll readily agree that Britain had imperialistic ambitions that overrode any sense of propriety with regard to Germany's expanding fleet - and thus empire. It is a key point, though, that viewed through the prism of long term British interests WRT Belgium, any attempt by Germany to tackle France via Belgium would inevitably bring it into conflict with Britain. Observe how the Congress of Vienna and beyond effectively granted Belgium its independence at Britain's insistence. Those ports made a terrific jumping off point for invasion, and ready access to the North Sea for the Imperial Fleet was Britain's nightmare, and had been ever since the 1500s, although the threatening country obvously changed as years went by. Germany was simply the latest threat, coupled with the fact that the 'balance of power' - as brokered by Britain for centuries - was being effectively swept away by a new central European superpower. In the final analysis, the Schleiffen Plan ensured that Britain would go to war, regardless of prior diplomatic machinations by Russia, France or anyone else. Incidentally your English is excellent! Cheers, Si

Hi SW, Don't know for sure, but apparently OFF runs happily on W7. Email the devs at ODB and I think they're likely to confirm this.

"This is what i thought, however i have changed my view, of only a bit. In WW1, Germany as such was not the bad guy." I think it's fairly well agreed that there was plenty of blame to hand around for WWI, however it's not disputable that the essential causes of the war were German militarism which arose from having a non-democratic form of government allied to a desire to make an empire - not unreasonable from the contemporary POV in Germany, but a tad awkward for Italy, Britain and France. Essentially, it was a war between flawed democracies and even more flawed military imperial oligarchies. To deconstruct the war renders ideas of 'good' and 'bad' ultimately meaningless, however there is a strong argument to be made - and has been made by Prof. Gary Sheffield, amongst others - that the Entente victory in WWI spared Europe a rather unpleasant period of Axis domination. That said, WWII showed up the absurdity of WWI by Hitler harnessing false grievances from the first war to ensure that a second one became inevitable.