themightysrc

Well, I've had a fettle at the configuration for CFS3, and it's improved the FPS considerably - under certain cricumstances. In a bright cloudless sky, skittering towards Ypres in my trusty Strutter, I get an excellent 29-30 FPS. Yay me, etc. Unfortunately, under leaden skies, and looking round close to the ground, it grinds away at anywhere between 5-10 FPS. Not quite so yay to me. I suspect I'll simply have to drop the sliders back to 52221 and wait for such time as funds allow a more muscular PC. Pity that. Thanks to everyone for their help, it's just a bit of a shame that my kit isn't up to snuff, despite recent hardware changes. I'm envious of those of you with regular 30+ FPS responses, and will look forward to joining in due course.

CJ, "Still, IL2 engine or not, it ain't no BH&H by a looooong stretch." Well, to be fair, the screenshots shown didn't exactly look like the finished product, rather than WIP. You wouldn't judge the Sistine Chapel on the basis of Leonardo's etchings on the back of a fag packet now, would you? I'm pretty agnostic when it comes to the engine/original producer - Microsoft have, let's face it, produced absolutely dreadful software in their time, CFS3 being an example. BH&H is what should have been from the word go. Let's just wait and see...

I've taken to flying in whatever squadrons have a full roster of existing BH&H planes, rather than gaps that would enforce retirement in the exceedingly unlikely event of a pilot lasting longer than tiffin on the third day of the second week of service. More specifically, if I'm flying Briddish, I'll try to aim for an entree into a period of the war where you stand a chance of racking up a few missions without the constant fear of being endlessly mauled by superior Bosche crates - ie, try avoid enlisting into a squadron flying BE2cs when you know that the major protagonist is likely to be Albatros IIIs, for example. Yes, it's immensely cowardly, but it avoids the frustration of a succession of 2-3 mission pilots.

BirdDogICT, Thank you very much for two highly informative and useful posts! I'll be back on OFF this evening (after the new cat flap's installed), so I'll go through the setup as carefully and as systematically as possible. I'm much indebted to you for taking the time to spell out the steps to take, and I'm hoping for good results <inserts suitable thumbs up emoticon by way of thanks>. Cheers mate! Si

Certainly looks quite interesting. I wonder what sort of PC will be needed to handle it? I presume if can handle IL2:1946, it would be able to handle the WWI version. I'd be glad to have a crack at it, and very pleased never to hear my miserable co-pilots berating me for wandering off out of formation. Cheers, Si

Carlos Tex, "it´s just me i don´t have the balls to buy online. Actually i prefer saving my balls to something i enjoy even more! But the fact that i never bought online doesn´t imply i will NEVER do it and the utmost important thing i never said that it wasn´t safe to buy from OFF site. I truly believe everybody when they say it´s safe to buy from there." I'd ignore Uncleal's intemperate comments - he does appear to be somewhat, er, gruff at times. May I suggest a solution to your (understandable) worries about purchasing via t'interweb? Once you know the price off the purchase of BH&H including taxes and shipping as appropriate, why not open a bank account and put exactly that amount of dosh in said account? Then, when you've transacted and the money has been siphoned away to OBD to fund their legendary fabulous lifestyle, you can shut down the account. One transaction, account now empty and void, job done. Just a wee suggestion! Cheers, Si

"Can you provide any more info on your sytem??" Hi SD, Didn't see your post until I'd launched my last one. It shows what I suspect are all the relevant bits, however if you need any more specifics, I'll have to supply them later as I'm currently at work. Thanks for the reply! Cheers, Si

Wow, and I thought I was having hassles. Sorry to hear about your travails. I'm going to keep on trying with my current setup - basically, I can't afford a new PC - so if I manage to find a workable config, I'll post here as to what my settings are. Just so as you know, for comparative purposes: RAM - 2 gb, DDR (new!) Vid - AGP ATI Sapphire HD2600 512mb DDR2 (new!) Chip - Intel P4 2.8 dual processor (I think the boards an Asus P5DVC-MX - does that make sense?) TheRestOfIt - just stuff that was already sat around in the machine. For the record: I can play FE, RB3D, IL2 without real probs, the IL2 adds on get slooower and sloooower, up to IL2:1946, which I gave up on as being mostly unplayable (but that was on my old RAM and video card, which were respectively 1mb and s**te). I'll try 1946 again this evening to see whether it's simply BH&H which is being a monstrous hog. I should add that BH&H does now play halfway decently, but I'm sure I could make it run better... Ah, well: the drawing board beckons.... Cheers, Si

"I'll probably reduce my sliders somewhat to improve gameplay, but this goes against the FAQ advice of using the highest resolution you can." Hi, I'm following this thread with some interest (and probably not a little ignorance!), and I've been wondering about reducing the resolution on my setup. I've now bagged a Sapphire HD2400 512mb AGP card for my system to replace the rather weedy card I had, but even that combined with 2gb of RAM hasn't been able to hoik my FPS above about 20 - and that's on a good day. Most of the time, I seem to be dawdling around 13-18 FPS, which is a wee bit disappointing. Given that it's a new card, and has additional gizmos and settings that the previous card didn't, can you recommend a few "must do" settings that I should set? I'm sorry that I'm not a PC guru in any way (as previous posts of mine will show only too clearly, I suspect...), so if I'm asking daft questions, please let me know gently. At the mo, my aim is to get a regular 20-2 FPS, but knowing exactly what the best basis for this is, is something that it's taking me an achingly long time to attain, so all help is gratefully received. Thanks, Si

Hi all, My current XP based system is about 3 years old, and currently runs a dual core P4 2.8 processor, has 1gb of RAM (soon to be 2gb) and....a Radeon 7000/VE card. Not being a PC guru, I've been doing some reading up on the Radeon card, and views are mixed, but all seem to indicate that my pathetic fps in BH&H is largely due to the video card (yes, I know that I need more RAM...), so I've been having a shufti round for a reasonably priced and more modern replacement which will allow me to enjoy the textures and detail that I've seen from various screen shots posted here. Which is where you, dear reader, come in. Given the above, what recommendations do people have for the replacement card? I'm not keen on spending more than about £70 (about $110 ish), but I'm sure that there are plenty of suitable cards in my price range. Suggestions? Cheers, Si

Hi again peeps, I've now got my PC running 2gb of RAM - and it's really not made a huge amount of difference, so the next step is a new AGP video card. Any recommendations for a good one? As I say above, I'm willing to lash out about £70. Also, I notice that some of the newer cards (512mb ones) say they have DDR2 memory. Given that my PC runs DDR RAM, would it be OK to buy such a 512mb card? Also (and finally) is the difference twixt a 256mb card and a 512mb card worth the price difference? Thanks for your help and patience! Cheers, Si PS - still getting killed on a regular basis.

Hi all, Sorry to ask what must be an obvious question, but is it possible to reprogram keys in OFF? I don't like the idea of autorudder, but equally, I don't want to bugger about with the numeric keypad either to get L/R rudder! Is there an easy way round this? I recall that IL2 and FE both allow keys to be reprogrammed, and given that there are a few left over from CFS3 as a WWII sim, can such a change be made, even if by hacking files? TIA. Simon

"I too have read all that i can, im just trying to get a feel for if its worth dumping RB3d. Basically, Im looking at if OFF3 has all that RB has (minus aces paint) and more. Sounds like QC and maybe mission builder is much better, campaign sounds the same but better, graphics and FM/DM better, planes are the same with a few additionals like 2 seaters (Im a scout pilot, but its always fun to experiment) etc ?" I wouldn't dump RB3D. I still play and enjoy it, as it's actually OFF:BH&H lite, so to speak, but still pretty immersing in the experience. My only real problem with BH&H is that my system - as people here probably already know - isn't up to running BH&H in its full glory, so I can't really participate in the threads that mention the extreme detail, how the commandant's monocle has the exact correct glint for 1917, how the smell of the dope on a Camel's wing is just right, etc. If I were you, I'd keep on with RB3D, and when you do get your new machine, make sure you take RB3D onto it, fully patched and FCJed, as well as BH&H. More options, more fun.

Hi Rick, That's very interesting indeed! I know there's no formal transfer mechanism in BH&H, so i may well give this a try later today. For those of you who'd like to build up flying hours on a new pilot in a fairly safe manner, I can strongly recommend joining an RFC outfit dedicated to home defence in 1915/16. I've got a Strutter pilot who's already clocked up about 9-10 hours without seeing any enemy aircraft whatsoever. A very peaceful existence indeed, although the temptation to go and dive bomb Clacton is beginning to prey on my mind a little. I might get him to about 20 hours and use your transfer thing to send him to...{gulp!}....France... For the moment though, a warm billet, regular British ale and weekends spent at The Ritz in his splendid uniform, enjoying the admiration of young gels and Home Counties fillies is a splendid way to spend a war. Cheers! Si

hi MAICO, Probably very good advice! I'm exploring to see whether I can upgrade the PC satisfactorily in its present form, but there's obviously a point at which it's probably easier and less painful to bin the current box and go for something with more oomph. Given that my PC runs DDR type RAM, for example, I suspect I'm already at least one generation behind what's current, but I have to balance that against the cost of a well-equipped and up to date PC. Of course, if I come up on the lottery tomorrow night, I'll be able to go mad and probably buy a Sopwith Pup replica... Thanks, Si

"I think they block non UK IP's as the UK population pays for the BBC" Have they? That's a bugger. Sorry, I hadn't appreciated that. I wonder if the full programme can be downloaded, saved and zipped off to interested colonials and Huns? Incidentally Pol, thanks again for all your efforts on BH&H. I know it's OT, but please, please, please can my observer in my BE2c have a Lewis or Vickers to fend off the ghastly Bosche? I'm approaching industrial levels of paranoia any time a white blob appears on the radar...

I think that the BBC iplayer may well help out you Johnny foreigners. AFAIK, it should allow you to watch web based content from the Beeb anywhere at all, assuming that the programme is still available to view on the site (which generally happens within a day or two after the original screening, staying up for some days or weeks). I'll be watching, supping a heady mix of Marston's Pedigree and hot castor oil.

Hi Ducks, Cheers for that! I'll check out Newegg, although I suspect that the trans Atlantic shipping charges might give UK based suppliers the edge. Thanks for the advice and the wise words. Si

As someone who's never served in any armed forces, or ever wanted to, may I point out to people here that we're playing a game? Tiger and Sig - please play nicely: the World's quite full enough of people getting cross with each other without two very intelligent blokes with very similar interests falling out over what is, after all, a figment of our powers of imagination. Peace.

Fortiesboy, "I'm still trying the different modes- Hardcore and normal- but I am finding that there is hardly any damage shown much in either. Sure, the planes go down -Hardcore, eventually, and Normal, easier- but I don't see any damage of wings off, explosions etc in either mode.. To me. a plane slowly sycamore leafing it down is not realistic- whether it's taken many or few shots to do it." May I ask if you have at least reasonably high settings on your PC with regard to detailed graphics, etc? The reason I ask is that I don't see much damage occurring either (on the rare occasions I actually hit anything), but in my case I've put it down to having to run BH&H on very meagre graphic settings (1s and 2s only).

"What part of PHASE do you fail to grasp?" Uncleal, I'm pretty well au fait with the English language, thanks for asking. I simply wished to find out when/at what point/if at all the bits missing from BH&H will be filled, ie, with regard to the absent aircraft which would round out and simplify squadron selection in the campaign game. Not an unreasonable request, I would have thought.

"Next we want to make more craft, and to do that all other things become secondary." Is this what P4 will be about, or will it be the final bit of P3? Sorry if someone's already asked this and you've provided an answer. It just seems to me that the only real need for P3 is to fill in the gaps in the historic squadrons' aircraft rosters.

I have to say, I didn't see the point of the 'scoring' anyway. For purists, surely it's more realistic to fill out the claim on the back of a beer mat (or fag packet), send it off to Capt. Darling at Le Chateau Comfiy-Livinge and then have it ignored or pooh-poohed for some weeks by an anally retentive adjutant until it's finally rejected, by which time you're already dead or trying to grow several acres of fresh, shiny, pink skin in a burns unit in Chelmsford?

I also contribute to the Guardian (or Grauniad, if you prefer) talkboards, and introduced one or two contributors there to RB3D, which had just become downloadable. One chap came up with a couple of cracking names: the first was Rupert de Baer, and when he carked it, his brother Ted de Baer. Well, they made me giggle anyway. Must go and spend a bit more time running away from Hun scouts. See you later. Perhaps.

Thanks Winder, Your Herculean efforts are much appreciated. Take a bit of time out and relax - you might want to try OFF Phase 3: I'm told it's very good. Cheers, Si