themightysrc

Well, in reply to the original post (partly) and because it is simply one of the best and most evocative and honest books ever written about flying in WWI, you can do very much worse than to track down copy of "No Parachute" by Arthur Gould Lee, who served in the RFC flying Pups and Camels and had a fairly distinguished career. It's a great book because it's a collection of jottings and letters, rather than setting out to be a book in its own right, or some self-serving panegyric to a particular pilot. Because it's letters from the front, you get to hear of the true thoughts and feelings, stripped of patriotism or jingoism, of a man watching the world go mad around him, and realising the effect it's having on him. His account of the fellow pilot who had a recurring nightmare about a face that appeared distant and ended in a screaming fit when his own dream face was (literally) face to face with the approaching dream face is one of the most spine-chilling evocations of the stresses pilots of the time endured. No wonder he chose the title for the book that he did.

I think I'm pretty much in accord with the stuff that other people have mentioned - certainly transfers would be nice, but filling out the aircraft rosters must come well before that. Seeing as we're now in musing/wishlist mode, how about proper spotter/photographic operations for two seaters? Yes, it's fun to blast about in a Deef or Brisfit doing what comes naturally (in my case dying rather frequently), but it would certainly be fun to have missions for the poor old BE2 drivers where they could bob into the front seat and start relaying artillery spotting instructions to the RA or similar, or else take those precious exposures of the latest pile of mud that needs to be captured. Of course, you wouldn't know until days after (with the photo missions) whether you'd had a successful mission, but the artillery support could be scored directly after a mission: either you spotted well, and the Hun batteries are under the cosh or else you've got to go back tomorrow (gulp!). No idea how doable those are, but they would certainly add real meaning to life as a two seater player.

"scything down Soldiers in their thousands in just one day!" Err... is it worth pointing out that that's exactly what happened at Waterloo...and Borodino, Wagram, Poltava, Ramilles, Breitenfeld, Towton, Crecy, Manzicourt, Teutoberger Wald, Cannae, etc, etc?

Hi all, I've been pondering getting a force feedback joystick for a while, mainly to get a bit more feel when flying (and I hope to help me stop getting killed quite so often), but I'm not sure what the best choice would be. Can any of you kind souls offer me the benefit of your wisdom on the subject? Cheers, Si

Did you know that the venerable Elite - which i'm sure most of us dabbled in at one time or another - is now available for Linux, Mac and Windows as Oolite? Some geezer had a VC++ compiler, the urge and time on his hands. The result? Well, it looks and plays just like Elite, except it's much prettier and has lots of user generated goodies to add to it (open source, I believe). Find it at http://oolite.org/download. Plenty of commentary and support from a dedicated wiki and discussion site.

Thank you once again to everyone who's responded - I very much appreciate your views and comments. thanks particularly to von Baur for the heads up about the Logitech stick - it's now off my shopping list: looks like I'll be tracking down a mickysoft FFB stick. S! (as they say) Si

Thanks for that Al - I hadn't realised that Microsoft had dived out of the market. I have however noticed that Ebay UK has a reasonable number for sale around the £10 mark - although I'm sure they go for more at the end of auctions. To be honest, all the options I've looked at via Ebay seem pretty cheap, certainly compared to brand new stuff (inevitably), so I'm questioning whether FFB sticks simply wear out, or whether it's just that people don't take advantage of genuine bargains for their own nefarious reasons. Ho hum. People, eh? Come chaps and chapesses - is the Logitech stick (see above) FFB? I suspect it is, but can someone give me a yea or nay. Thanks, Si

Hi, Thanks to everyone who's replied thus far. From what I can see, the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Twist Handle Joystick might be my best choice, as I'd like to have rudder control without investing in pedals, however I'd just like someone to confim - if possible - that it's also a FFB joystick. I suspect it is, but if someone out there is using one, can they confirm one way or the other? The Microsoft offering looks pretty good too, but doesn't have the twist control for the rudder, but that's probably no.2 on the list. Gosh: I'm turning into a hardened air combat simmer. Cheers, Si

Winder, My reasoned response to your last post: 1) Bloody marvellous 2) Can't wait! I'd certainly like to see a better in flight map, and the post flight debrief showing pilot/squadron names, if poss. Still, I think that it's rounding out the aircraft variety that'll do the most to enhance OFF, so I'll be happy with that. Will the plane/mission pack cost anything, or will it be free (he hinted not-very-subtlely)? Cheers, Si

Just checked on UK Ebay, and someone's selling CFS3 and OFF:BH&H - current bid about £5, with 4 days left to go. Sounds like a major league bargain to me. Perhaps OBD should advertise via Ebay, selling OFF and CFS3 as a bundle?

Hello chaps, Just to let you know that I'll be exploring all the MP stuff that's been posted on here, plus I'm in the process of getting a decent FFB stick, and, probably, a mike and Teamspeak. Once I've got it all plumbed in, I'll be available to uphold the honour of His Brittanic Majesty (which in my case consists of ensuring that I collect all the bullets that would otherwise hit my fellow squadron members. We all serve in our own, different, ways...). Pencil me in for the end of next week or thereabouts, work and wife permitting. One final thought: would a 6pm (BST) start make more sense, or would that be too early for the colonials? One further final thought: any chance of we Yurpeens having an MP do amongst ourselves? Cheers, Si

"Sorry if I came across as an ignorant jerk who is just trying to find problems with the game." Actually, I thought you expressed yourself rather well and intelligently, if you were wondering. Uncleal (I believe that's Uncle Al, and not un-cleal as I originally thought...) can be rather, er, terse at times, but don't let it put you off. I would unhesitatingly recommend OFF:BH&H (P3) to anyone, and I'd say that the current price tag is very reasonable indeed, given how much play you'll probably get out of it. It's supplanted First Eagles and my (heavily patched - FCJ/WFP2) copy of RB3D, which is saying something as the latter got considerable hammer on my PC! One word of warning though. Check carefully that you can adequately run BH&H on your current system. You indicate that money's a bit tight, and if you find that you'd have to invest $$$ in upgrading your setup then it's likely to be a frustrating ownership for you. If you're already capable of running BH&H, then there's no question it should be on your hard drive. Oh, and do download mattmatt's superb self-installer for various SP missions. Gothas over London is sublime fun. HTH, Si

Thanks both for the quick advice! WF2 - I'll have a look at the spec and get in touch if it looks like a goer - is that 22 Dollars or 22 squids of the realm? Cheers, Si

I'd just like to add my ha'penneth at this juncture. I've been doing WWI flight sims (and very badly too, I might add) since I chanced upon RB3D many years back. Basically what grabbed me was the long term immersion of a campaign - too many years doing FRP and reading books on WWI - and I played RB3D to death. After a layoff (for various reasons) I came back to RB3D, still as a campaign game, SP, and patched the hell out of it to make it look and fly better, which again improved immersion for me. I bought FE soon after it came out, and whilst it was a lovely looking game in many ways, glaring omissions such as a decent campaign game, couldn't be compensated by the 3rd party mod support. Even Bloody April was simply a superficial (if laudable) attempt to improve on the original game. So, I've gravitated towards OFF:BH&H, where I am now. Still SP, but with the depth, detail and historicity that FE and RB3D combined lacked. I've considered carefully whether I will plump for RoF, and the answer - for the moment, at least, is alas no. I wish to play when *I* want to, and rarely have much time to spend, so that immediately mitigates againt RoF. Secondly, I don't like the idea of MP only, and having to log on in the hope of flying. What happens if (God forbid) sales aren't good enough to justify those servers remaining online? What happens to RoF then? If the SP is only for practice, or limited as per FE, then what about those of us who've lashed out X quid on a copy? That doesn't even take into account the potential perils of being online to play. Finally, the real killers are the system spec needed - I'm in no position to upgrade again/buy a new PC - just to be able to benefit from all the lovely eye candy, and the lack of aircraft in the game as standard. I understand the sales model (buy planes as and when you want them), but two aircraft to begin with is, I feel, rather taking the piss. Still, it's not released yet, and perhaps I'll be proven wrong in all my concerns. I'll check again once the Great Unwashed finally have their mitts on it.

Did American pilots really mutter "oh s**t..." when they got shot down? Frightfully bad show. Luuuurved it!

I'm waiting on a kill confirmation for one of my German pilots. Because I'm such a s**te pilot/shot, when I'm in a Halberstadt scout I can blaze away for hours without harming any allied kites. I was on a flight recently, and trying to avoid the deadly defensive fire from a group of Fe2b's having spent most of my ammo ineffectually trying to do more than just scare them a bit, when our Archie cracked the lower wing off one of them, and he started a long slow descent into captivity. I wasn't having that. I bobbed in and added about 10-15 bullets to his woes, then scarpered. Get back to base and there's that claim form. It's mine I tell you! MINE ALL MINE!!!! I'll have that sodding Blue Max yet....mutter, mutter...

Sab "A supposedly "true" story but I've never found any confirmation or 2nd source so it's really just a good story - and it would make a lovely little short film." An RFC pilot called Louis Strange did actually have this happen to him in WWI. He was flying a plane - it may well have been a Niueport or Bristol scout - Lewis gun, stuck magazine, etc, etc. And yes, the drum he'd been so desperate to shift shortly before became the only link he had to his plane for some seconds, until he managed to kick himself back into the cockpit. Bet he had to change his undies after he landed. All perfectly true and documented. "Mannock could be a very interesting character to study as well...a contrasted and strong personality with an unusual life" I quite agree - particularly since he was not only not 'officer class', but was also a socialist - something almost unheard of. A deeply interesting and arresting man.

Hi, I suppose this question is specifically for Stumpy, but please anyone feel free to chime in, as it may be of interest to a fair number of folk. I've noticed in the last few days that some 3rd party add-on planes have popped up here, and I was wondering a couple of things. First - are these aircraft from OFF phases 1/2? I had neither version, so I've no idea what was added in by non-OBD people. Second - is OFF:BH&H close enough to the previous releases to ensure that these new planes function correctly/as designed for BH&H, assuming that they came from previous versions? Third - Stumpy - what software do you use to design/produce new aircraft? Finally (deep breath) - assuming that add-on aircraft work OK in BH&H, would the holes in the squadrons/jastas be filled satisfactorily by add on planes? In other words, if squadron 123 was flying the Arklethwaite Buzzbomb in March 1917, and it's not modelled in BH&H as it currently stands, would a Stumpy (or another modder's) Arklethwaite Buzzbomb added to BH&H enable a pilot in said squadron to start using them in March 1917, rather than be retired, which I bleieve is the current fate of pilots whose planes are unavailable? I hope the above makes sense (vaguely), and look forward to reading Stumpy's reply, and everyone else's views. Cheers, Si

"Also what guarentees from neoqb do I have if they go under that I will still be able to play RoF? I got shouted down at another forum for bringing this up (like I was jinxing RoF or wishing ill will) but I felt it was a reasonable question. This isn't an issue of computer hardware advancements or a new OS making the game unplayable, but because there is no way to connect with a defunct server?" This should be a very real concern to potential buyers, IMHO. We know that WWI flight combat sims are a minority interest - that's simply the nature of the beast - and sales are likely to reflect this (along with any worries from potential buyers, effectively scared off by the necessity to be online, and the nature of the add ons, ie, via continued purchase). So how long would an online (only) game last if sales are poor? Who in their right mind would reinforce failure by continuing to support servers for a game that's only shifted X units, where the projection was for rather more than X?

"What comes after Z? (I'm just wondering because I'm not sure 26 pilots will be enough!)" Fortunately, it's quite common to come across WWI pilots with multiple middle names. Regards, Captain A. K. N. G. Fortescue-Smythe-Templeman.

"really wonderful acting by malcolm mcdowell and the younger guy. overall good acting by everyone. not so much because the fighting scenes, although pretty good showing the horror in the faces when fighting." Actually, the main strength of the film (such as it had strengths) was the quality of the scripting regarding the home base bits and bats. Unfortunately, it had a tendency to stray into well-worn cliche land, presumably to make it more recognisable to the Great Unwashed, rather than to cut a furrow without resorting to effectively 'stock' WWI stereotypical characters. It's the best of a bad - no, atrocious - bunch. The definitive WWI air movie remains to made.

Balalaika, "I'm in the NW of England" Cor, me too! We must have a beer and chew the fat about OFF some time!

"If I am totally honest, I guess it's the Two Seaters which are begging for more reinforcements" Er, yes. I'd be delighted to see a largeish number of personal favourites that aren't currently in BH&H, but the real need is to - as has been said - fill the gaps where 'common' aircraft (and we are talking primarily about recon/bomber planes here) that saw extensive service are currently prominent by their absence. I think that most people would probably agree that an Albatros 2 seater would tick that box, as would Voisins for the French, and perhaps even Big Acks for the Briddish.

To be frank about it, there hasn't ever been a decent fillum about WWI's air war, which is a pity, given the stark horrors and dangers of the fighting, and the chances of an early grave for combatants. You'd think that would provide fertile ground for a decent scriptwriter, even before taking into account any interest in the technical and historical details. The BBC did a series in the late 70s (I think, don't hold me to dates) which was rather doomy as I recall, and had a good period feel to it, but which wasn't an endless bloodfest. Top notch stuff. I suppose the best films about WWI are the ones made about the fighting on the ground, and for good reason. I'd thoroughly recommend 'All quiet on the Western front' and 'Paths of Glory' to anyone.

I'm afraid that that and the paucity of flyables has sort of done it for me. My sim of choice for WWI is now, and will remain, OFF:BH&H, particularly once the next set of planes comes out.