themightysrc

Hi all, I recently started flying again having neglected OFF for a month or so, and, alas, the force feedback element of my beloved Sidewinder FFB2 had gone walkies in the meantime. I've deleted the program from my Win 7 system and tried to reinstall from CD, and it's telling me that it's not compatible, which is bollocks because I've had it loaded and working previously from the CD. What's the trick get round this, so I can have my lovely FFB Sidewinder 2 back to where it should be? Cheers, Si

Incidentally Lou, congrats on your promotion to playground monitor!

"Agreed Si, it does help one build characters." Well, as opposed to having to dispose of so many dead ones, yes.

"Si, I've gone on the attack as well, and I agree it does scatter them. However, I've also found it can really get them quite PO'd at you." It's the only way you'll get away with it. I attack them and then run like buggery towards the nearest Entente site, diving as steeply as possible. Do that and you'll save your skin. Stick around for a fight and there's only going to be one outcome, which is why I run away. To be fair to Redmonkey though, it's probably not a great idea to start off in a BE2 unless you wish to have your imagination and ability to think up new pilot names exercised on a weekly basis.

"Nothing quite compares to the sheer horror of being under attack by red-nosed Albs in a B.E.2" It's survivable - just make sure you attack them before trying to escape. Puts them off a treat.

BTW, did I mention Come and See? Pretty sure to put you off any form of organised violence so long as the world exists.

"at least northern france and belgium is usually rather dull. the further south you go, the more mediterranean it gets, and southern france of course is a completely different ballgame." I wouldn't disagree. I'm a real Grecophile and have flown out to Greece many times over the years. Apart from the quality of the light and detail you can see - which I put down to the bone dry climate and the absolute lack of moisture in the air causing clouding - the other major shock on a holiday is flying back into Manchester to see just how earthy, dull and unclear it is, like there's semi permanent haze through which one must pass to be able get back to the legendary land of Moorhouse's ales and black puddings. This lack of clarity is quite shocking at times. It's also a reason why I fly with hdr & bloom. The darker the better I think.

A thing (or things) of beauty indeed. Can't wait for it to be released....only two weeks!

"Thank You for the feedback. I did much research on this sim before I made my post. And have heard of others with win 7 problems and OOF along with CFS3. So I just wanted to make sure before I buy the product that I am not going to have a problem with it. I appreciate the promt reply of the devs on this issue." Understandable caution, but I do wonder where you were looking for the information that you turned up about Win7 and OFF being problematic? If you could let us know which sites have stated this as being a problem, then I'm sure that the devs (and posters here) would be happy to pop over and put the record straight. Just to let you know - I was running OFF and HitR (you really must get that too!) on XP SP3 32 bit and it ran fine. I've recently bought an i3 based Win7 machine with a bit more RAM and it runs oodles better than on XP (and I rated XP highly, and Vista as a pile of s**t). Go ahead and buy it. You genuinely won't regret it. Ask around here if you have any problems, and spend a bit of time configuring your CFS3 files. It's absolutely worth it, and a fine addition to your PC. Cheers, Si

Hi Olham, Brilliant - I will reconstruct the diary forthwith and ship it off to Harper Collins for about £50,000. Many thanks, Si

Hi everyone, I'd just done a mission as Major Vic Timm, and decided that it was way overdue for me to update the famous war diary - it's beginning to look like War and Peace these days - when I found, in panic, that the document I transferred in January to the new W7 machine only has diary entries up to and including 21st January 1918! Eek! I've checked all my archives and there's nothing there, SimHQ is worse thn useless - no change there then - and trolling back through pages at random from the current reports from the front thread (now 180+ pages) is not finding me the posts I need to reconstruct this unique historical document (ahem!). Seriously, I'd really like to put it back together, so if people would be so very kind as to post the page numbers in that thread where there's a Vic TImm entry, that would be very much appreciated and probably more than halve the time I'd otherwise spend on reconstructive surgery. Thanks to all in advance. Si

I have to agree with people saying buy it, and HitR. I've not really played any other games for a couple of years now, and I've always enjoyed the ride that OFF offers. If OFF2 is twice as good as the current set up, it will be an absolute gem. As for the DVD/download thing - it can be terribly timeconsuming downloading stuff like HitR unless you hae a very good internet connection (certainly not a given, even in the UK!), and I think I prefer the 'safety' of a DVD, as it's only too easy to download software and forget to back it up. Hope you enjoy it when you get - do spend serious time on setting the CFS3 config files up, as it's an instant win, as they say. And look forward to raising your screen res! Cheers, Si

I think that FlybyPC was pretty much said everything that I would have in terms of critical look at the prose you've submitted. I'd add that descriptions of people and things as being just so - the example of Tilley is a good one - should be avoided. Only enlighten the reader objectively if there is no doubt about the fact. Hence, you can say that The Somme ran through chalky soil, or that the nearest town was set in flat countryside, blah, blah, but don't say that Tilley was a born leader and flyer; let that be the hero's opinion of the man. In fact, we may find out he's a nutter or a coward, but Allow Dearing an opinion or stardust. Take it easy on the exclamation marks in the diary. Remember the period. Read some contemporary diaries. You'll find that strong feelings are often expressed, but generally in language that appears muted until you go back and read it again, and then appreciate the depth of feeling. Remember also that formality was still something of a given at the time, and the structure of society didn't engender much in the way of "I love you guys" bonding. Surnames - yes; initials - yes; nicknames - frequently; first names? Far less so. They weren't remote men, they simply followed the social mores of the time. I would strgonly recommend that you read as many accounts as possible, as written by participants in both the war and also in the period between say 1910 and 1920. It will influence the way you interpret the period and the people who lived through it if you see through their eyes, and read their thoughts. And that will make whatever you write thereafter much more authentic, and hence, believable. Keep it up!

"In my view the guy deserved topping and thats from info I know about and yes I do joke about it" Looking back from nearly a year after, would you say that his being killed by American troops (and the subsequent revelations regarding the whole operation) still sustain your view, or do you think that it might have been useful to capture him alive, as opposed to indulging in what can only be described as a judicial execution? The facts have become clearer, and it's apparent that there was no intention to capture bin Laden and find out what he knew. Also, the facts regarding his existence in Pakistan, and who knew, are extremely embarrassing to various governments and agencies. My view has not changed. Has yours altered at all?

Unavailable, I suspect, to our colonial cousins. Having said that it could have been much better - and let's face it, it could, particularly had it been 90 minutes, and if they hadn't arsed around so much in the first 1/2 hour - it was a genuine and decent attempt to try and cover the subject. I would have approached it a little differently, I will confess. The Somme and Arras offensives were covered, but I would dispute the blanket contention that without the RFC the British army would all have been slaughtered, which was the not very subtle contention. That's not the case. They probably would have suffered the same casualties, just quicker and have given up sooner. There should have been a section on both Cambrai (combined arms) and, perhaps most importantly, the German 1918 offensives which foundered due, not in small part, to the relentless pursuit of German troops by the RFC/RNAS/RAF. That was both a turning point in history and in military experience and doctrine. I would have emphasised that the German air service got it wrong (in effect) by undermanning and underusing their aircraft compared to the highly aggressive strategy and tactics of the RFC and RNAS. The aeroplane is not primarily a defensive weapon, and yet the Germans treated it as such and apparently undervalued it. The formation of the Flying Circus was, in effect, an admission of weakness. They couldn't control the front as Allied aircraft did, so they needed an elite force to throw in and pinch off local hotspots. It may look successful, prima facae, but it's a sure fire recipe for surrendering overall control of the front. Never addressed.